"People here are embracing the project because they hope it will be an economic generator," he says. "If doom and gloom hit the international economy, if we have developed a local network of industry and farming that is sustainable, we could be self-sufficient."...
..."It has to focus on economic stability, growing our local economies, and food security," McDowell says. "Those are the kinds of things that are going to resonate once it gets beyond this bubble."... the Oberlin Project. A "green arts district" would catalyze a green redevelopment of the city and surrounding area as a whole. The outdated Oberlin Inn would be replaced by a new hotel, bars and restaurants, a conference center, student residences, facilities for the college's arts programs, and a sustainable-design center. Those facilities would employ local craftsmen and use local products in their construction, kick-starting a local wood-products industry..... drawing on its strengths in education and the arts, with a commitment to sustainability," Mr. Krislov says. To make things even more interesting, he says, "We are not doing this in a new city, a new area, or a growth area, but in an area that is experiencing decline."
The college dining services and restaurants would get their food from a 20,000-acre greenbelt in the region -- Orr is working with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to identify a patchwork of Ohio farms that might be willing to give up some commodity crops to grow more vegetables for the city. Students from the local vocational school, which has a top-notch culinary program, would work in the conference center and restaurants. All the sewage would run through a Living Machine -- a system that uses plants and microbes to clean wastewater.
The project unfurls from there, with details changing as Mr. Orr makes new deals and dreams up bigger plans. Most recently, he said that the Great Lakes Brewing Company, in Cleveland, had stepped forward with an interest in setting up a brewpub in the green arts district. Mr. Orr scrapped his plans for setting up a Living Machine in town. Instead, he said, why not build a sewage digester at the town's wastewater-treatment plant to produce methane for electricity?
This story is the first of two pieces excerpted from a feature story in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Read the full story here...by Scott Carlson.
