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Halifax Daily News, Sunday, August 13, 2006 Carleton trio envisions a sustainable future By Janet Barlow The Daily News We sit in a shady spot by the house. We're surrounded by 165 acres of forest, meadow, wetland and lake. Scattered throughout are hiking trails, organic gardens and sustainably constructed buildings. This place is called the Shire, and it's in Carleton, Yarmouth Co. Katie Condon and her husband Tim Merry sit down with me to explain what it's all about. While we talk, Katie's brother Jimmy Condon is busy cooking for an environmental conference being held at the site. Katie and Jimmy are originally from New Hampshire and Tim, though born in Nova Scotia, grew up in England. Two years ago, this trio of 30-ish visionaries came together to buy a little piece of Nova Scotia and create the Shire. It's a gathering place "for the study and practice of how to build a sustainable human future" - that is, an environmentally and socially sustainable one. 'Cut the crap as human beings' "What would it look like if we just cut the crap as human beings and started doing stuff that really mattered and started operating from our best potential?" says Tim, describing the Shire's vision. "All of us have come from different backgrounds and at some level hit a wall of dissatisfaction within that." Jimmy has a background in sustainable building, and wanted a place to experiment with it. Katie is a landscaper and gardener who wanted to try permaculture and have a positive impact on the environment. Tim is a professional facilitator interested in social and organizational change with a focus on youth. "It's all of a sudden become something, almost organically - and quickly," says Katie. "We're definitely playing it by ear. We've thought about the structure quite a lot over the last few years." There are three components to the Shire (www.oftheshire.org): The Split Rock Learning Centre, the Shire Venue and Conference Centre, and the Discovery and Practice Ground. The Split Rock Learning Centre is a nonprofit organization offering learning experiences in self-reliance and community leadership. Programs range from youth leadership to soap-making to how to build using upcycling - with materials recovered from the dump. The Shire Venue and Conference Centre is a for-profit entity. A marquis tent, a yurt (a traditional nomadic home) and the great outdoors are the meeting spaces. Accommodations are found wherever you can pitch a tent or at local B&Bs. There are composting toilets, solar showers and hearty, organic catering. The Discovery and Practice Ground is where creativity runs wild. The founders and volunteers experiment with alternative forms of education, building, agriculture, health care, social entrepreneurship, land management and the creative arts. 'Maximum positive impact' "It's all built around, 'How do humans have maximum positive impact?'" says Tim. "We're not interested in minimum footprint. "How do we create buildings that contribute to the local ecology around them, that fertilize the ground, that use the sun in such a way that supports them? How do we do that with agriculture? How do we do that with community leadership? We're not going to die saying we didn't give it a go." ---------------- Janet Barlow is an environmental educator and co-author of the trail activity book Earth Adventures in the Halifax Region: 25 Nature Trails for Fun and Discovery. She lives in Halifax. j.barlow@ns.sympatico.ca
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