This week on Arizona Illustrated… Awareness Ranch uses permaculture techniques to grow a healthier more sustainable community; how social media is influencing our political lives; collective action and resilience help bring water back to the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation and you can make almost anything at Xerocraft, they’ll even show you how!
Awareness Ranch
Awareness Ranch uses the ideas of permaculture design to grow food and create buildings. Following the adage of “think globally and act locally” they aim to provide a working model of sustainable agriculture and construction which can be replicated or adapted to many settings. By cultivating an awareness of our interconnected world, they believe we can create abundance while honoring the Earth.
Social Media and Democracy
Social media has played an increasingly pivotal role in shaping political life, and social scientists are working to better understand its impacts. Yotam Shmargad, a computational social scientist at the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy, is at the forefront of this burgeoning new research field. He examines ways in which social media technology is skewing our political realities, but notes that this might be a temporary blip in the history of democracy.
Making Arizona: Tohono O’odham Water
The video presents a short history of land and water on the San Xavier District on the Tohono O’odham nation, highlighting the importance of the collective action taken by tribal members to return farming to the district. The video is part of Making Arizona, a documentary and educational program by filmmaker and University of Arizona Associate Professor Michael Mulcahy. The program highlights the intensifying effects of global climate change in Arizona and showcases stories of Arizonans experiencing and addressing aspects of climate change.
Xerocraft
Xerocraft is Tucson's local Makerspace! If you have a project, they can help you make it happen. Anything goes! Here is a list of shops you can use if you are a member: wood shop, metal shop, craft studio, classrooms, a computer lab, jewelry studio, glass studio, CNC shop, 3D printing shop, electronics shop, welding shop, Laser cutter … The list keeps going. Their shop managers also teach classes. You can learn more about Xerocraft on their website: https://xerocraft.org/
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