In collaboration with the US Composting Council (USCC) and BioCycle, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance announces two events to be held in conjunction with the USCC’s International Conference and Trade Show, COMPOST2018, in Atlanta:

Best Practices in Community Composting Workshop
Monday, January 22, 2018

Cultivating Community Composting Forum 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018

These events will bring together composters to network, share best practices, and build support for community-scale composting systems and enterprises. The Cultivating Community Composting Forum 2018 is the 5th national forum sponsored by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and BioCycle. Check out last year’s event here.

Interested in sponsoring, exhibiting, or contributing to our scholarship fund? Click HERE. Any amount is welcome!

Community composters, we invite your participation and input on the agenda! What topics or experts would you most like to hear from? Are you interested in presenting? What are your biggest challenges?

Limited scholarships are available to community composters! Apply by Tuesday, October 17. We have scholarships up to $500 to help offset COMPOST2018 registration fees, and travel and hotel costs. A limited number of community composters are also eligible to receive a waived registration fee (a $375 value) with a commitment to volunteer 8 hours at the COMPOST2018 conference.

TO APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP OR PROVIDE INPUT ON AGENDA AND TOPICS, CLICK HERE.

BEST PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY COMPOSTING WORKSHOP

8:30 AM TO 4:30 PM, Monday, january 22, 2018

In this full-day workshop for community composters, we will walk through practices that work and address how to take your community-scale composting to the next level. Through both presentation and small group discussion, walk away knowing how to adapt the efforts and achievements of other programs for your community. Open to community-scale composters who are composting on-site at schools, community gardens and farms or otherwise keeping the process as local and small-scale as possible while engaging the community through participation and education. Pedal-powered collectors welcome.

Practitioners: A diverse team of community composters will lead this workshop. If you’re interested in participating, please email Virginia Streeter at [email protected].

Facilitators/hosts: Brenda Platt and Linda Bilsens Brolis, Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Workshop Cost: USCC Member Price: $275 / Non-Member Price: $350

If you are seeking scholarship assistance, please apply at this link. DO NOT register on the USCC site. Scholarship awardees will be automatically registered for the workshop. Apply by Tuesday, October 17th. Any questions? Email Virginia Streeter at [email protected].

If you are not seeking a scholarship nor a waived registration, please register as a regular attendee on the USCC web site, here.

CULTIVATING COMMUNITY COMPOSTING FORUM

8:15 AM TO 6:15 PM, TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018

This Forum will take place as a track on the first day of the US Composting Council’s International Conference and Trade Show (January 23-25).

The Forum aims to:

Foster greater interconnection between community/small-scale/urban composters and the USCC membership/conference attendees
Show how community-scale composting fits in and complements the larger composting industry, both collection and processing, and both for individuals and organizations.
Showcase the variety of models and innovative ideas that are growing from the ground up.
Spur a community-based composter network that will stay connected following the conference.

If you are not seeking a scholarship nor a waived registration, please register as a regular attendee on the USCC web site, here.