Panel 2: Let the Land Speak: Human-Scale Technologies for the Future
Thursday, October 28
3:45-5:00 p.m.
- David and Elsie Kline, editors, Farming Magazine
- Bryan Smith, watershed coordinator, Belmont County Soil & Water Conservation District
- Keri Willever, associate director of admission, Warren Wilson College
Presentation 30 minutes / Discussion Q&A 45 minutes
Description: Visiting Olney Friends School, one quickly gets the sense that the land itself – fields, forest, lake, hills, gardens, farm, orchard, creek – has a stake, a voice, and no doubt full membership in the community. What does the land say? This panel seeks to address topics ranging from watershed conservation; to farming close to the land; to the “triad of academics for the mind, work for the hands, and service for the heart.”
Do we need palm pilots or pitchforks, or both? How does Quaker simplicity – buying, making, taking, doing only what is necessary or useful, or that which brings joy – inform our approach to the many opportunities facing us? Can our connection with the natural world help us shape a human-scale approach to the use of technology? What indeed are “the joys [and challenges] of living well on a small, ecologically-conscious scale”?
With this general framework in mind, we ask each panelist to speak briefly (5-8 minutes) to one of the following questions:
- What is your personal understanding of simplicity in relation to technology? (or) How does the organization you represent seek a balance between living in the world as it is, and leading a transformation?
- What can Olney’s relationship with the natural environment tell us about our way forward?