By Lawrence Grodeska

Effective leaders in the growing movement for social and environmental change recognize the need for both experience and humility. Further, without personal resolve to ground professional commitment, even the best ideas and actions can ring all too hollow. Aaron Lehmer of Bay Area Relocalize exemplifies these disparate qualities and has used them to craft an impressive and inspiring record.

By resume alone, Aaron's experience speaks volumes of his dedication to the sustainability movement. His tireless commitment has improved the operations of 5 organizations over the past decade, including: ReThink Paper, Earth Island Institute, Circle of Life, Post Carbon Institute and, most recently, Bay Area Relocalize, which he co-founded with peak oil and energy preparedness expert David Room. Given this latest project, Aaron chooses to frame his personal and professional life in terms of "relocalization" - the process through which a community reverts from ever-increasing dependence upon the global economic system back to local and regional networks of economic interdependency. And so it is not surprising that his personal life mirrors that of his professional life. In his words, he strives to "leave a light footprint low on food chain, drive only when absolutely necessary and cut down on daily consumption as much as possible". He derives his inspiration for these efforts from both positive and negative sources: increasingly precarious dependence on fossil fuel resources on the dark side and historic opportunity to become a more cooperative, community-based society on the light.

Aaron is the consummate professional, bringing clarity and precision to his speech, his relationships and to his work, especially Bay Area Relocalize. BAR embraces "a vision of sustainable communities living within their means, provisioning themselves in close proximity to the natural environment upon which they depend." The current alternative to this model is one of "extraction, market importation and the need to take control over other lands and people to sustain itself." Aaron notes that this unfortunate situation has led to approximately 1/3 of the Bay Area being "food insecure." In the next breath he points to the Alemany farm in San Francisco as a wonderful, shining example of efforts to change this model. And that is exactly the kind of work BAR is doing, "helping people develop their own skill-sets, ability, and power to create what we need locally." This mission has manifested as three of their current projects: the Rooftop Resources Project, the Relocalization Asset Map, and the Localization Strategy Campaign in alliance with Redefining Progress, the International Forum on Globalization, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and the Center for Sustainable Economy.

These efforts do not come without their challenges. Aaron feels that one of BAR's biggest hurdles is portraying sustainability so that it does not seem like "drudgery, but instead as something to enter into with sense of joy and creativity." He feels that is often difficult to really communicate the positive advantages of adopting a new, more sustainable lifestyle. Another challenge for BAR has been getting volunteers "engaged in ways that they feel invested." As a solution, Aaron points to their welcoming, open door policy as being a huge part of their success and momentum. He also says that providing lots of food and drink also helps to make meetings feel like more of a social occasion.

These challenges fade in significance when Aaron thoughtfully cites a list of positive trends that he sees in the sustainability movement. Primary among them is the mainstreaming of the movement: "A growing number of both young and older people are getting engaged with the issue (local food and energy) and are coming at it from different angles." The growing response of local politicians such as Nancy Nadel and Supervisors Mirkarimi, Daly and Maxwell in SF also seems to indicate an institutional shift towards a greener perspective. From what he sees, "some policy makers are starting to wake up." Aaron also cites the connections being made between grassroots organizations and projects as being an "extremely positive trend." In particular, he is excited about "newfound collaborations between social justice and traditionally environmentally focused 'name it and save it' organizations and campaigns." He points to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights as a local example of this integration of environmental and social justice communities.

When asked if there is one thing readers of this article could do tomorrow to embrace a more sustainable society, Aaron's answer was short and sweet, yet formidable: "Get rid of your car." Challenging though this advice may be, such a change can bring about great benefits both personally and globally. It is this connection of part to whole that makes Aaron's work so poignant, professional and vital as we enact our visions for a better world.

--------

For more information or to contact Bay Area Relocalize, visit their website: www.bayarearelocalize.org. You can also download "Building a Resilient and Equitable Bay Area," their recent policy report co-authored with the Localization Strategy Campaign: http://www.regionalprogress.org/BuildingBayArea.pdf.