Bioregional Regeneration
A bioregion is an area defined not by political boundaries, but ecological or geographic ones. Our mission is to regenerate our bioregion, the Miami Valley of Ohio.
What is Bioregional Regeneration?
“Through a glocal (global-local) process of re-inhabitation at the bioregional scale we can learn to nurture and reintegrate into the regenerative community of life as a planetary process — place by place, ecosystem by ecosystems. We can re-learn the art of appropriate participation and being a healing influence on the systems we depend on and emerge from.” —Daniel Wahl
Bioregional regeneration is both a philosophical framework and a way to think about the scale of our work.
The Miami Watershed is in Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana and includes the Great Miami River Valley (left) and Little Miami River Valley (right).
As a local organization with an international audience, our vision is to embody bioregional regeneration at multiple scales, through:
On-the-ground work in Yellow Springs and our region, the Miami Valley (which includes portions of the Great and Little Miami River Watershed;
Connecting regenerative initiatives throughout the region and Ohio;
Conferences, education, and other media that promote bioregional regeneration as an important tool for repairing communities and the planet; and
Regional and national networks, such as the BIPOC Farming Network, through which farmers, herbalists and other practitioners can connect, share resources and explore cooperatives or other economic models.
Bioregional Initiatives
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BIPOC Farming Network
Our BIPOC Farming Network is both a regional and national network through which farmers, herbalists and other practitioners can connect, share resources and explore cooperatives or other economic models.
The network puts on an annual Black Farming Conference in the fall.
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Regenerative Farmer Fellowship
The fellowship is a 25-week, in-person training program for beginning or current farmers who want to learn more about regenerative agriculture practices and how to grow their farming operations. The training is geared toward farmers from under-resourced communities and pays participants $12/hour during the fellowship.
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Melrose Acres Urban Agriculture Center
Agraria established and operates a 7 1/2 acre farm, orchard and educational center in an area suffering from food apartheid in Springfield, Ohio.
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Jacoby Creek Partnership
Agraria is one of several partners in the Jacoby Partnership Project, an initiative launched in 2018 by the Yellow Springs, Ohio-based Tecumseh Land Trust.
For more information about Bioregionalism and its philosophical roots, visit Planet Drum Foundation.
“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.”
“The bioregional perspective recreates a widely-shared sense of regional identity founded upon a renewed critical awareness of and respect for the integrity of our ecological communities.”
Other Bioregionalism organizations and links: