The Village Building Convergence 2007 – Portland, Oregon
May 24th, 2007 Posted by Dj Francis
The Village Building Convergence 2007 (VBC7) is a 10-day event from May 18th – 27th, 2007 in which neighborhoods activate to build shared public places that they have envisioned, designed, funded, and will maintain for themselves. Projects are created as a way for neighborhoods to craft physical places that express their local relationships, culture, and facilitate gathering and communication. All projects are built through collaboration, community conversations and commitment of a neighborhood to strengthen itself. Projects are founded on developing strong local relationships, social capital and equity, placemaking and ecological design, and supporting our local economy.
VBC is powered through an all-volunteer effort and established by partnerships between neighborhoods and local schools, government agencies, businesses, organizations and individuals. Projects are funded through grants, in-kind and monetary donations and creative neighborhood fund raising efforts.
VBC7’s theme is 7 Generations Beyond: A 200 Year Story of Portland. Let us be reminded of the impact that we will have on generations to come and the impact past generations have had one us today. As always, VBC seeks to develop long-term partnerships and expose the links between our Village Centers. Through effective communication, feedback, creative resourcefulness, education and hands-on learning, we will continue to envision a city that is built on all our previous hard work. We also encourage existing VBC sites to continue developing their community with new cycles of activity. This could include community gardens, non-monetary barter systems and, skills sharing.