Welcome to Planet Drum
a voice for Bioregional sustainability, education and culture

What approach can we take to move beyond environmental protests and actually begin living sustainably wherever we are located?

Planet Drum was founded in 1973 to provide an effective grassroots approach to ecology that emphasizes sustanability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance. In association with community activists and ecologists, Planet Drum developed the concept of a bioregion: a distinct area with coherent and interconnected plant and animal communities, and natural systems, often defined by a watershed. A bioregion is a whole "life-place" with unique requirements for human inhabitation so that it will not be disrupted and injured. Through its projects, publications, speakers, and workshops, Planet Drum helps start new bioregional groups and encourages local organizations and individuals to find ways to live within the natural confines of bioregions.

Green City

With more than 50% of the world's population in cities, there needs to be an urban transformation before bioregions can be lived in sustainably. Planet Drum brought together representatives of working groups, small businesses, government agencies and activist organizations to recommend changes in urban sustainability policies. The resulting book, A Green City Program for the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond, is a comprehensive platform for urban issues, and uses the San Francisco Bay Area as a model for integrating any urban environment into the natural bioregion that supports it. We are presently carrying out local projects which cover five program areas: coordinating a Green City Volunteer Network, publishing a bimonthly Green City Calendar of volunteer opportunities, carrying out hands-on Education+Action projects in schools, conducting collaborative community Workshop/Workdays, and establishing a Green City Center. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope for current Green City Project information.

Planet Drum Activities

Publishing

Planet Drum's bi-annual review, Raise the Stakes, presents thought-provoking essays on issues ranging from restoration ecology to the greening of cities. A "circles of correspondence" section describes the recent activities of bioregional groups. See insert for listings. We also publish books and bundles. A Green City Program for the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond has an easily accessible format: it describes the present situation, agendas for short and long term changes, "fables" for how changes might occur and "visions" of what a Green City anywhere would be like. Reinhabiting a Separate Country is a collection of essays, natural history, biography, poems, and stories revealing Shasta Bioregion (Northern California) as a distinct area of the planetary biosphere. It has served as a model for indigenous collections in New York, the Ozarks, and the Rocky Mountains, among other places. Discovering your Life-Place: A First Bioregional Workbook leads readers to a new appreciation of their relationships with local natural systems through a practical, hands-on map-making exercise. The book is an exciting way to teach local ecology and natural science in either urban or rural areas for all ages.

Lectures, Seminars, Workshops & Performances

Staff members present talks and conduct seminars and workshops on bioregional topics for community, college and activist groups. Workshops teach participants to identify their bioregion through awareness of natural features and included map-making activities.

Bioregionally based story-telling and performances are also available.

Networking

Planet Drum provides networking services to start and assist bioregional groups, to provide resources and expertise, and to put people who are interested in particular subjects in touch with each other.

Gatherings

Planet Drum sponsors Shasta Bioregional Gatherings in Northern California and has co-sponsored the bi-annual Turtle Island Bioregional Gathering, a North American continental meeting of bioregionalists.

Bioregional Association

Planet Drum has helped develop the Bioregional Association of the Northern Americas. It is a membership-based organization that carries out ongoing activities needed by the growing number of groups and individuals who are concerned about life-places.

Library Resources

Our San Francisco office contains a unique archive of journals that relate ecological thinking to society, politics, and culture. It is open to members, researchers and others.