A breakdown of the Unaffiliated. Source: PEW

The decline in affiliation with traditional, organized religion in the United States is a recognized trend, especially among younger people, where 25% of 18-29 year olds are religiously footloose. Compared  to previous generations, Millennials are perhaps more wary of authority and certainly have more outlets for community, entertainment and distraction at their disposal. The migration back into the city  from suburbia and rural areas, where church has historically played a larger role in fostering community, is yet another cause. These are just a few factors in a multifaceted and complex phenomenon in  rapidly changing society.

Although the PEW survey unceremoniously lumps these distinct and not entirely secular groups into a singular mass, at 16.1% of the entire US population, the “unaffiliated” are the fastest growing group  in the country. They represent the shifting religious landscape in the US, and perhaps nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than in Portland, home to a large population of young, idealistic types who are constantly seeking new forms of community and progressive lifestyles.

We don’t tear down the school building when the curriculum changes, so what happens to the church building when people stop attending? In Portland, where recycling is a big thing, they are being repurposed to meet the community’s needs. What was once a church is now home to an experimental dance hall, a bike shop, a theatre or art studios, modified by their owners and tenants as spaces  for housing new businesses or side projects. Collectively, the converts come to reflect the personality of the city itself, and may serve as a barometer of an evolving sense of spirituality, community and  search for meaning in a city with such a large population of “nones”.

A concert at Alberta Abbey. Photo by Van Pham.

After moving into an old church himself, which he eventually repurposed into an art and music venue, Portlander Matthew Henderson was inspired to document the trend of church conversions occurring throughout the West Coast. His Xhuches project draws attention to the colorful variety of repurposed churches with a website and documentary film. Xhurches is a conversation about the thoughtful reuse of old buildings, the decline in church attendance and how new forms of community are rising to fill in the empty space. Interestingly, not all of the conversions are secular per se. If “spiritual but not religious” describes the disposition of many young people today, it’s no surprise that many of those who repurpose old churches are suffusing their business and art projects with an aura of higher purpose, spirituality or tongue in cheek religious zeal. Portland Bike Temple is one such venture, “a non-profit, pan-faith movement that seeks to heal the world by having fun and deepening people’s relationship with their venerated transportation form.” The next PEW Religious Landscape Survey might only need to peek inside Portland’s old churches to see where religion is headed next. 

Germany
Remember when the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act? The presidential race between Obama and Romney was the issue on every mind. The German print weekly Der Spiegel published a round up of German media’s opinion on the court’s decision, ranging from center-left to conservative. The gamut of media praised the decision.

“This health reform package … will go down in the history books as a historical achievement – even though it’s unclear how Americans, who already have the most expensive healthcare system in the world – will pay for the extra costs.” – conservative Die Welt

“The state of the healthcare system is shameful for a superpower like the USA. It is by far the most expensive system in the world – two and a half times more expensive than the OECD average – and offers some of the worst care among industrialized countries. It doesn’t cover 50 million citizens. And treatment costs bring many people and companies to the brink of financial ruin.” – Financial Times Deutschland

“It is a scandal that the biggest industrial nation in the world allows 50 million of its citizens – nearly one-sixth of the population – to go without health insurance. For economic reasons alone, this makes no sense.” – center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung

Americans, please, let’s keep in mind the big picture. The Healthcare.gov website may be a joke, but in the long run, websites can be fixed.

Australia
In Australia, which recently had a landslide election of conservative prime minister Tony Abbott, who vows to abolish the unpopular carbon tax, one commentator used Obamacare as an angle to denounce Australia’s own healthcare system, writing, “Australians are routinely treated to mindless spendathons, where both sides of politics compete to shower the public health system with more money.”

Canada
I was surprised to read this opinion piece, written about the U.S. government shutdown, which concludes that Canadians should conduct politics more like Americans.

“The political system there [in the U.S.] is plainly and obviously crazy, although exciting as in the populism of the Tea Party movement and the passion with which public debates are conducted … Our own system is by no means perfect. Calling it boring is actually another way of saying that too few in our system possess strong convictions about any policy or idea.”

On the other hand, another Canadian commentator wrote, “The government shutdown in the United States has some parallels with Egypt and other places where democracy is thwarted, mostly by sabotaging the will of the voters and the rule of law. The American system of governance — the president vs. Congress, Senate vs. the House, feds vs. the states — was designed to encourage restraint and compromise. Lately it has produced the opposite, due principally to an excess of partisanship and special interests.”

China
China has been enacting its own healthcare reforms since 2009, providing healthcare for the first time to more than 800 million people.

“China is ahead of Obamacare, as they are dealing with two problems at the same time: the uninsured population and healthcare cost inflation,” said William Hsiao, professor of economics at the Harvard School of Public Health.

This puts our situation in perspective – even China is providing healthcare to its uninsured. In spite of the problems surrounding the roll out of the Health Insurance Marketplace, the concept behind the reforms is sound. Instead of decrying Obamacare, let’s focus on how we can improve the way the new system functions.

Beyond the collaborative process of event planning, some events also bring together disparate groups to meet, with a specific goal in mind. On this level, collaboration could produce some amazing results. Here are a few great examples of upcoming events designed to create positive change in the world:

Ontario Council for International Cooperation Global Citizens Forum 2013
Date: Nov. 7 – 8
Location: Toronto, Canada
The Forum will provide an important space for networking, skill-sharing and cross-sector understanding. Focused on the State of the World’s Youth, the OCIC Global Citizens Forum will bring together over 100 youth, international cooperation sector leaders and practitioners, issue-specific experts, advocates, academics, and funders to strengthen individual and collective capacity, and increase multi-stakeholder dialogue on issues most affecting youth globally.

Who We Want to Be: Fostering Jewish-Muslim Connections for a Brighter Future
Date: Nov. 17
Location: Boston, MA
This event welcomes young adults, congregations and all interested individuals to a day of intercultural collaboration. Come and connect with organizations and community leaders who are committed to building relationships between Jews and Muslims. It’s a chance to hear practical and inspirational examples of how engagement works on the ground, join together in a sustainable public service project, and highlight the creative ways we can improve relationships between our communities through the arts, technology, sciences, and spirituality.
The Peace Revolution 2014 Amani African Youth Peace Fellowship
Date: Feb. 15 – 28
Location: Thailand
Peace Revolution offers the opportunity to cultivate a strong peace culture based on the principle of Peace In Peace Out. The fellowship offers a 14 days intensive training program, providing participants with deeper insight into the relationship between inner peace and sustainable world peace, and enhances their ability to create peace within their family, professional and social environment. In addition to intense meditation practice, participants will gain knowledge of various theoretical approaches.

Coop.org’s Event Page is a great place to post information about upcoming events that have a collaborative element. Take a look at:

ICA: Global Conference and General Assembly
Date: Nov. 1 – 5
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
The program will start with statutory meetings of ICA bodies and then move into the main conference. The theme of the conference is Cooperative Decade: Growing the Cooperative Movement. This exciting program will be built around the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, which aims to take cooperatives to a position of being the preferred model and as a result, the fastest growing form of enterprise by 2020.

LaFutura 2013
Date: Nov. 11
Location: Amsterdam
LaFutura is a network and an annual one-day gathering of futurists, innovators and trendspotters from all over the world, to exchange insights with the aim to grow the trend and futures industry. LaFutura has been organized three times before, in Berlin, New York and Helsinki, where it brought together over 100 experts involved in trends and innovation. The event is organized on a nonprofit basis and was initiated by TrendONE. People from all disciplines working with trends and the future are invited, from trend researchers to scenario planners and from concept developers to innovation managers. Our starting point is a map called “The Future Navigator,” described by Delia Dumitrescu in the book “Road Trip to Innovation.”

A naked lady party is a clothing swap get-together. And no, you don’t get fully naked. This is how it works:

1. You and all your girlfriends rummage through your closets for all the clothes you don’t really wear.

2. Invite said friends over to your house. (No men allowed.) Serve munchies, cocktails, whatever floats your boat.

3. All the clothes go in a pile in the middle of the living room floor. No one is allowed to start digging until everyone arrives. Then when you’re all set, welcome to the naked lady party free-for-all. Start digging, start trying stuff on!

This is where the party got its name—pretty soon, clothes come off as people try on tops, skirts, shoes, pants. This is why you don’t invite men. (They can throw their own naked dude party if they want.)

According to the TLC Green Glossary, the free-for-all is actually “west coast style.” Apparently on the east coast, an emcee holds up each item, describes it auction style—size, material, etc.—and a partygoer politely requests it while other partygoers wittily chide the original or new owner on their choice of style.

Sounds like way less fun to me.

Whichever style you choose—the free-for-all or polite auction, hosting a naked lady party doesn’t mean you have to start dressing like one of the cute hipsters in Macklemore’s music video. The concept of a clothing-swap party fits any lifestyle. You can host one with other moms to get new clothes for your fast-growing children, or hold regular parties because you’d rather swap clothes that support corporations who use sweatshops abroad to make their clothing. I had the opportunity to weigh in on this topic for a radio segment about naked lady parties on the program Destination DIY. It’s a great listen to get more insight into the way a naked lady party works, and why people host them.

SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of low-income individuals and families and is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. The program combats “food insecurity,” which happens when consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources.

The 2012 documentary A Place At The Table set out to explore the issue of food insecurity, following the lives of low-income Americans who struggle to put healthy food on the table, despite the fact that they have jobs. Its sad and surprising conclusion is that even when low-income families earns enough to no longer qualify for SNAP, they often continue to struggle with food insecurity.

Can the problem of food insecurity be partially addressed through other programs?

Incorporating Fresh Food Into Medical Services
In Portland, OR Legacy Medical Group – Good Samaritan is providing their low-income patients with food vouchers that can be used at a mobile grocery store – My Street Grocery, a project that is in itself an effort to reach residents in food deserts. My Street Grocery sets up shop in the medical facility’s parking lot once a week.

Community Gardens
Groundwork USA is a nonprofit that promotes environmental, economic and social well-being through community improvement projects. One of their projects is reclaiming brownfields and vacant properties, focusing on smaller brownfield sites in dense, urban neighborhoods that have suffered decades of economic decline and disinvestment. They turn these vacant lots into trails and greenways, parks and playgrounds, and tree nurseries and community gardens. So far, Groundwork USA has reclaimed 393 acres of brownfields and derelict land. These gardens provide the opportunity for residents of the neighborhood to grow their own food. Dr. Nina Scarito Park in Lawrence, MA is a great example of a reclamation project.

Food Banks
The nonprofit Feeding America provides food to more than 37 million Americans each year through 200 local food banks. There are a variety of ways to support a local food bank, from launching a virtual food drive to asking your employer to match your charitable donation.

Improving School Lunches
Kids can be picky eaters and cultural norms influence what kids crave for lunch. Unfortunately, American’s cultural norms are pretty unhealthy. That’s one reason the new nutritional guidelines for school lunches, which aim to lower calories and sodium per meal, and include more whole grains, fruit and veg, got off to a rocky start in the 2012-2013 school year.

According to the USDA, school meal programs feed almost 32 million children each day. Low-income students currently qualify for free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches at school. However, a new federal program, the Community Eligibility Option, allows eligible schools to offer free school meals to all their students. Boston Public Schools is the latest school district to qualify for the Community Eligibility Option. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, all schools nationwide that meet the requirements will be able to offer free school meals.

Big cuts could be in store for SNAP, and communities might have to think of new ways to combat food insecurity. What does your community do, if anything, to deal with food insecurity? Share with us @coopdotorg.

Today the cautionary tale of the Osprey is well known, and the reaction against pesticides—in the form of organically grown food—is a common sight in many grocery stores.

But unfortunately, as “organic” has become more popular and organic labeling federally regulated, the issue of food consumption and its impact on the environment is anything but a simple solution of buying organic.

Organic Pesticide    
Just because a product is organic, doesn’t mean it’s not being sprayed with pesticides. The pesticides are created from natural elements rather than synthetic ones. NPR explored this issue after a U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that 20 percent of organic lettuce tested positive for pesticide residues.

But surely organic food is intrinsically healthier for people, right? Last year The New York Times reported on a Stanford study, which concluded that from a nutritional point of view there’s little difference between organic and conventionally grown food. (The study also concluded that organic foods have 31 percent lower levels of pesticides and fewer food-borne pathogens.)

If cost is no issue, organic is an easy choice. But most American families have a grocery budget, and organic food is almost always more expensive. The question is, is it worth it for personal and environmental health?

Federally Regulated Organic Labeling
It’s pretty obvious why the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires organic certification – to create reliable uniform standards that consumers can trust. However, this certification has had an unforeseen effect on small farmers who find the certification fee a burden. An alternative to federal certification has arisen in the form of Certified Naturally Grown. According to its website, “Participatory Guarantee Systems” provide the label of Certified Naturally Grown through a peer-inspection process using local networks. CNG participation requires a full commitment to organic practices.

Small farmers are a vital part of a healthy, well-fed community, and this new labeling is a great way for them to capitalize on their natural farming methods – but it only muddies the water for consumers trying to navigate the new world of food labeling, crumpled grocery list in hand.

Food Miles
No, I’m not talking about the amount of beef jerky, pop and chips consumed during a road trip, I’m talking about the distance food is transported to reach your grocery store. These “food miles” need to be considered if you are concerned about the environmental impact of the food you eat. The HarvardExtensionHub blog suggests that there are a few ways to reduce your food miles, including buying locally grown, in-season produce and consuming less meat. But there are some unexpected nuances to this issue. For example, products transported by ship – even internationally – have a smaller carbon footprint than food shipped interstate by diesel trucks.

Local in-season produce—that sounds tasty! That is, in July when consumers in temperate climates can find a cornucopia of options. But personally I can’t imagine spending an entire winter eating cabbage, leeks, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and not much else.

Farmers Markets
Ah ha—a solution to the problem! Skip the grocery store and instead buy straight from farmers at local farmers markets. I’m a huge fan of farmers markets, which I explored a few years ago in a blog post about best practices for farmers markets.

If there is a partial answer to this conundrum, it is the farmers markets. They support the local economy, reduce the miles your food travels to get to your plate and usually offer organic options. Plus, shopping outdoors in a farmers market can make the drudge of buying groceries much more enjoyable.

But like the lovely peaches of summer, farmers markets disappear in the winter. Leaving us once again in the florescent-lit grocery store guiltily buying imported bell peppers instead of local organic cabbage.

Organic pesticides? Confusing food labeling? Restrictive in-season diets? It’s enough to make a person give up and add the local pizzeria to speed dial.

But then you remember those Osprey teenagers yelping for mama, learning how to fish for themselves. You don’t want to give up on the Osprey. You don’t want our farming methods to threaten the environment in strange new ways. And you care about the way chemicals effect your own body, the bodies of your children, not just the environment.

There are no easy answers, and we must find our own paths to navigate these issues. How do you balance organic versus conventionally grown? Fast food and prepared food versus fresh food? Do you care about your food miles? Share your strategy @coopdotorg.

This video goes out to the 19 fire fighters killed in Arizona blaze on August 31.

Who doesn’t appreciate well-considered public art, especially when it costs taxpayers less than $200 because it’s made almost entirely from donated industry surplus? Thanks to a collaboration between local industries and non-profits, a large public art installation surrounding the rehabilitation of the historic Hannah Barker house in Boulder, CO, has bolstered public pride and eliminated vandalism to this long-decrepit home near the heart of downtown.

The back fence faces a busy alley. It provides colorful relief to residents who share property lines and have watched the lovely old home deteriorate for nearly 30 years. It also mitigates blowing construction dust.

Serendipity certainly played a part. Historic Boulder, the local historic preservation society, wanted to mitigate the dust and ugliness of a two-year long rehabilitation of the historic Hannah Barker house. They approached The Handweavers Guild of Boulder, one of the country’s largest fiber art groups, seeking art proposals for the chain link fence surrounding the restoration. One of their members, weaver and bead artist Denise Perreault, is also the founder of Art Parts, a burgeoning creative reuse center in Boulder that collects reusable art/craft/school/office, and DIY (Do It Yourself) materials from industry and individuals, to sell at low cost to educators, students, artists, and the public. Just a few weeks before hearing of Historic Boulder’s proposal, Art Parts had visited Hunter Douglas in Broomfield, CO, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of window blinds and treatments, to see what sorts of industry surplus was available. Perreault and Board Co-Chair Pat Whitaker were amazed by the amount of surplus that filled their large warehouse, and carted home boxes of decommissioned tape measures, scissors, and some heavy wheels of 5” wide fabric in seven colors for Art Parts’ growing inventory.

In researching Hannah’s life for an inspired art proposal, Perreault discovered the plat (a legal map of property lines), which Hannah drew up of her Highland Lawn neighborhood in 1884. Perreault meanwhile experimented with weaving the tape measures and fabric into the chain link warp, and was thrilled to see that the high-tech polyester fabric fit precisely within the fence’s 2 ½” wide diagonal warp when folded in half. Better still, it was so strong that it withstood the rigors of being pulled repeatedly through the fence’s sharp, bent, and burred steel warps without tearing, stretching, or snagging. This boded well for its ability to endure Boulder’s outdoor elements for a few years without becoming frayed or tattered, (an important consideration for any outdoor artwork). Best of all, there was an ample supply of fabric to cover a 345-foot long fence.

The east and west fence portions feature peek-a-boo warp skips that create a moving optical illusion as people pass by.

”That’s when the proverbial light bulb flashed on over my head,” said Perreault. “We could honor Hannah’s contributions to early Boulder by replicating her plat onto the fence with these hardy, reclaimed materials. The tape measures would mimic the property lines, and be woven proportionally to the original 100 x 400 foot home lots, while the seven fabric colors would be randomly woven, quilt-like, into each rectangle created by the tape measures.” Because the fence portion that edged the busy sidewalk had to include good views of the restoration in progress, smaller color blocks were woven near the bottom, and the plat’s three streets and Boulder Creek were woven across the front, just as Hannah drew them on the original plat.

Here’s what Perreault learned during the 260 hours it took to complete “Hannah’s Highland Plat, 1884″:

1. “Weaving a chain link fence is strenuous. Long hours squeezing between pallets of old bricks, shimmying between neighbor fences and Hannah’s wrought-iron fence, reaching around fat old trees, balancing on old pipes, and stretching from nose-to-dirt to 6 feet high, (especially when you’re just 4’ 11” like me), left me sore at day’s end.

2. “Cast-off materials have their own stories to tell that add meaning to the artwork. (It’s one of many reasons why so many artists delight in using up-cycled materials). During the three weeks in June that HistoriCorps worked to restore the porch, I became friends with the hard-working crew. On their last day, they gave me a broken tape measure. A weaving metaphor fits beautifully here, because it’s symbolic and appropriate that HistoriCorps is literally woven into the fabric of the revival of Hannah’s home.

3. “You know construction is about to commence when the Porta-Potty is delivered, (thank goodness).

4. “When reclaimed materials are your medium, the volume available determines what can be created. Bottom line: without the generosity of tape measures from Innovative Openings, (another window treatment manufacturer in Lousville, CO), and tape measures and fabric from Hunter Douglas, this artwork would not have been possible. (Even after begging tape measures from friends and family, we still had to buy 30 of the 116 tape measures needed to complete the fence).

A view of the back fence and Hannah’s home. Photo by Michael Shopenn.

Denise Perreault weaves the west fence on a breezy May day.

5. “Public art creates vital community connections and pride. The more the art piece progressed, the more compliments I received from passers-by as I wove, and the more a sense of pride and respect for the property and the art installation grew. So many people expressed curiosity about the historic home that I offered 25 home tours to anyone who wanted to see inside, which Historic Boulder appreciated because it helped them share the history of Hannah’s life and beautiful home. The emotions this conjured for myself and visitors was palpable, potent, and undeniable. No wonder so many studies prove the value of public art in deterring crime and vandalism.”

View of the street names and Boulder Creek on the front fence.

I’m an avid cyclist who lives in Portland Oregon—one of the great hipster clichés of the 21st century, but whatever. In Portland I’m comfortable keeping up with traffic, changing lanes, racing around at night, all those maneuvers that make some people hyperventilate in fear of a collision. Although bicycle accidents are a reality in every city—just like vehicle collisions—I feel safe riding around Portland because it has a comprehensive cycling infrastructure in place that allows bicycles to move around the city efficiently and generally unharmed. Portland’s current bike plan is called is the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 and it lists goals such as strengthen bicycle policies and forming a denser bikeway network.

Unless you grew up in the Northwest, you probably consider Portland—if you consider it at all—as a great hippie commune of sustainability, recycling and cycling. But believe me, Portland has only developed this reputation in the last ten years or so. Before that it was just another small working-class city struggling to adjust to an economy that had shifted away from logging.

Chart by Rutgers University professor and noted bicycle researcher John Pucher

Portland started transforming into a bicycle mecca when a culture of cycling began to ferment and local cyclists started to demand attention. BikePortland.org analyzed cycling trends and pinpointed the time of transformation to the years 2002 to 2008.

BikePortland.org News Editor Michael Andersen also makes a good argument for a few key elements that helped Portland transform into America’s best bike city:

• Fun and creative cycling events
• Working closely with city staffers
• Using programs to communicate directly with citizens to encourage cycling
• Cycling activists and advocacy groups

My point is, the city responded to the cyclists. If cyclists are willing to form groups to work with city planners, then change is possible in your community, whether you live in a sprawling city or small town.

Trying to envision what a bicycle plan could entail for your community? Check out this list of bike infrastructures throughout the world. And for carefully researched, “best practice” information, your best bet is the Urban Bikeway Design Guide created by the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

Unfortunately sometimes increasing the number of bikes on the road can create a clash of perspectives—drivers resent cyclists for holding up traffic and cyclists resent drivers for, well, a plethora of offenses, from ruining the environment to hitting them with car doors. Infrastructure can help diffuse this tension by improving driver awareness and it can separate the spaces where cars and bikes move.

And let’s be honest—driving a car and riding a bike are not mutually exclusive. Many cyclists own cars to get out of town or pick up stuff, and many drivers cycle recreationally. What’s important is to create is a sense of understanding between cyclists and drivers. In Oregon this sense of solidarity is embodied by the emblematic Oregon license plate Share The Road.

The Bedouin people aspire to  integrate into higher education, but they often suffer from low educational achievements in schools. Women are the primary caregivers within the Bedouin family and are unable to help their children with homework. Due to their lack of formal education and a social environment which discourages Bedouin women from working outside the home, most are financially dependent on their husbands and fathers. This lack of infrastructure in the Bedouin community discourages local business initiatives and deters any external businesses from establishing in the neighborhood. As a result, 45 percent of the community population is unemployed.