NORWAY — Celebrations for Earth Day have become a spring staple in Norway. In past years the community has hosted a week’s worth of events, incorporating walks through town and its natural sites like at Ordway Grove on Pleasant Street.

There are usually book and poetry readings, a parade, activities for and by students, a community clean-up and gathering at the Alan Day Community Garden on Whitman Street for presentations, and its annual blessing of the garden to open the growing season.

Earth Day events have been scaled down or canceled due to the pandemic but, in 2022, the celebrations return as the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy presents 2030 Vision, a three-day gathering of collective power for climate justice. It will be held at the Cottage Street recreation area in Norway.

“This is our third year of 2030 Vision,” said Scott Vlaun, CEBE’s founding executive director and organizer of the event. “Our first year we held it indoors, in March. Last year we made it a virtual weekend with a series of webinars using Zoom.

“This year we decided to move it outdoors and commemorate it with CEBE’s ninth birthday, which is Earth Day.”

Information on workshops, entertainment and registration can be found online, at ecologybasedeconomy.org/2030vision. Participants are asked to register for each day separately. There is a sliding scale for registration fees/donations.

2030 Vision kicks off tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. with remarks by Vlaun and CEBE intern Liz Dunn, an Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School senior who will study environmental justice at the University of Maine Orono.

Friday’s featured speaker is Lakotah Sanborn, Penobscot community organizer and food sovereignty advocate. A leader of Maine’s Indigenous community, Sanborn will talk about relationships with the environment and the role his community has with it.

Saturday will see breakout sessions throughout the day. Participants can learn more about two CEBE projects, establishing a community solar cooperative that will shift energy from a purchased commodity to a local resource. There will also be a presentation on ways to make affordable, sustainable housing a reality, and will include time for group discussion on the topic.

Following morning sessions, a panel of Maine youth climate activists will gather to talk about climate education and combating climate anxiety.

On Sunday at 10:25 a.m., Maine Democrat State Sen. Chloe Maxim of Nobleboro will talk about her work as a youth climate activist and her recently published book, co-written with Canyon Woodward, titled “Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics.” She will be joined by Republican State Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford.

The full schedule of 2030 Vision is online at CEBE’s website.

For more information, call the center at 207-739-2101 or email events@ecologybasedeconomy.org.

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