Elevate Blog

Elevate LLC and Regional Innovations Australia announces: New Land Restoration Group Working Across Two Hemispheres.  In September 2012 a group of highly respected place makers from across the globe met in Vail, Colorado at the Elevate: Creating and Sustaining Special Places Symposium to discuss what it takes to make and sustain special places.   Following the success of Elevate a consortium of delegates have gone on to work together to create a multi national plan of landscape restoration, which has the ability to change our ideas about the practical ways human can learn from and partner with nature.

Mark Woodberry, one of the leaders of the Elevate Symposiums, explains the significance of the event, “We know that there are times when certain people meet and something extraordinary happens – this happened last September in Vail.”  He went on to say that, “Some of us went on a picnic and horse ride at the Colorado River Ranch following the Elevate Symposium and came away that afternoon determined to work together on a program of restoration and repair based on the natural functions of the landscape.“

Mr. Woodberry went on to say that, “Peter Andrews, renowned landscape function expert and land restoration pioneer, was at this picnic and his insights as we traveled across this very dry landscape here in Colorado opened all of our eyes to the prospect of using the natural functions of the landscape, apparent all around us, as the baseline for restoration of what has become, due to historical deforestation, climate change and previously damaging land practices, a mere shell of a once abundant place.”

As a result of these experiences a number of visits to Australia have been organized to see the evidence of Mr. Andrews work including the famous Baramul Park thoroughbred horse-breeding stud.  The visits to Australia are not coincidental as it is considered by many leading international scientists to be the optimum “landscape laboratory” for revealing landscape functions and therefore provides some of the fundamental answers about landscape restoration.

Will Marcus, international architect and master planner was among the Elevate speakers and has been part of the contingent visiting the properties in Australia in January this year and came away with a powerful impression and equally powerful determination to act.  As Mr. Marcus explains, “This January in Australia was one of the most significant examples of climate extremes: Fires; floods and record high and record low temperatures, all within 30 days and all within a relatively small geographic area.   But amongst all this we also experienced some of the best examples of landscape restoration, reenergized and expanded biodiversity and the amazing capabilities of the land and plants to restore the health of a habitat – without having to resort to applied irrigation in the driest continent on earth.”

The next group to visit will be from Colorado.  A representative from the Colorado River Ranch (home of the now famous picnic) in central Colorado will be joining the Australians at the end of this month to further examine how nature is able to lead the way.  Scott Schlosser, from the Colorado River Ranch is excited about the prospect of restoring the ranch to its natural abundance.  He says, “No longer do we need to accept that our only alternative is to adjust and adapt to the results of the devastation of the landscape, which even the most blinkered skeptics has to admit is evident everywhere. There is a simple message and that is the landscape itself holds the keys to understanding how it functions and the landscape can advise us how to repair it.”

“My time with Peter at the Symposium and at the ranch really opened my eyes to what is possible and I look forward to my trip to Australia to see the results of this approach to land management.”  He went on to say that,  “As we see it, this approach, based on the natural functions of the land, is not just a good way to restore the Colorado River Ranch but also is a way to improve the economic health of the property.”  He explained that, “ the Colorado River Ranch will remain a working ranch and will not be lost to commercial residential development, we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to prove that the ranches of the West can be economically viable and environmentally sustainable.”

Elevate LLC invites anyone interested in learning more about the Land Restoration group to contact: Constance Woodberry by calling 970 471 6455 (US) or (043 8879 768) or at constance@elevatesymposium.com for interviews or further information.  More information is available on the Elevate website at www.elevatesymposium.com.

Constance Woodberry, leader of Elevate LLC and originator of the Elevate: Creating and Sustaining Special Places Symposium, which was recently held in Vail, Colorado, is spearheading a grass roots approach to finding workable, evidence based solutions, to the complex problems, which seem to be so unsolvable at the moment.

As part of their commitment to a systematic and pragmatic approach to problem solving Ms. Woodberry and Elevate asked Mr. Peters Andrews, OAM, to take part in the Elevate discussions.  “We invited Mr. Andrews because he embodies the solution finders of today. They are people who are keen observers, able to apply knowledge and experience and who as importantly, are able to take the slings and arrows, which inevitably materialize when commonly held beliefs are challenged by clear-cut evidence. “ Ms. Woodberry explained. 

“Mr. Andrews has spent 30 years as a horse breeder and pastoralist in Australia working out how best to work with the natural sequences apparent in the landscape, in order to restore the land back to health.  His methods, Natural Sequence Farming (NSF) and Natural Sequence Land Care (NSLC), have been substantiated by the productivity of the land on which they are applied and the health of the animals and plants living on that land.  While the proof is in the obvious visible differences between NSF properties, in contrast to adjoining properties, the methods have also been verified by a succession of leading international scientists.”

Mr. Andrews has approached his methods as a practical farmer as well as a systematic scientist.  His attention to the stories the landscape is telling us is evident in his explanations,  “Each of the various shapes within any landscape tells a story, so by observing the various shapes in the landscape and analyzing them it is possible to work out what is happening below and what needs to done to repair the surface.  The landscape gives up its secrets willingly, but quietly.   Now the whisper has turned into a shout and the repaired land under NSF is demonstrating all the evidence we need.”

Ms. Woodberry is adamant when she states that, “Many of the solutions to some of the most intractable problems we face with respect to climate change, environmental damage and eco system viability are available to us now.  A perfect example is the work done by Peter Andrews, who has developed his Natural Sequence Farming and Natural Sequence Land Care Methods with such extraordinary success. “  She goes on to say that, “ it is ironic, to say the least, that policy makers are so willing to stand fully behind unproven reductionist theory and failed land management experiments yet find it so hard to believe, let alone support, such a simple and elegant, as well as immensely scalable, solution as that provided by Mr. Andrews and NSF/NSLC – with people like Mr. Andrews there is no need to believe that it is the end of the world – in fact we are entering a new era of Restoration.”

Elevate LLC and Regional Breakthroughs Australia, along with Mr. Andrews, are moving forward with planning for a number of projects in Australia and the USA, which will demonstrate the potential of NSLC for wetland reclamation, mining affected land restoration, drought proofing valuable range lands and management of other degraded landscapes.

For more information about Elevate and Peter Andrews contact: Constance Woodberry by calling 970 471 6455 or at constance@elevatesymposium.com for interviews or further information.  More information is available on the Elevate website at www.elevatesymposium.com.

VAIL, Colo. – Oct. 18, 2012 – Elevate/Vail 2012, the global symposium on creating and sustaining special places, was carried out in September with great success. And Vail resident Elizabeth Henle came out a winner.

Henle won the Special Places Facebook competition, sponsored by Vail Resorts Development Company (VRDC), securing an Epic Pass for the 2012-13 season.

Henle’s entry focused on her secret spot, Two Elk Trail in Vail: “Anytime I need to get away from it all or would like to have an adventure, I come here. I am alone with nature. No one will judge me if I talk to the trees and ask them questions only hundreds of years of life experience could answer. They stand there in quiet certainty. And I am certain they know all the answers. But they can't give away such secrets. They only whisper them to each other as the wind gently rustles their leaves. No one hears as I yell out to the sky my proclamation of how I feel so alive.”

VRDC and Elevate LLC recently collaborated on the 2^nd Annual Elevate: Creating and Sustaining Special Places Symposium held in Vail.  Guests and speakers from Australia, the U.S. and Colorado met to discuss the essential elements to special places.

Alex Iskenderian, senior vice president and COO of the VRDC, gave praise to the symposium and contest focus on the necessity to sustain special places for both current and future generations. “Elizabeth’s photo and description of her special place was the perfect example of how important our forests are to us all. “ 

Visit the Special Places Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/R4ZESF; the competition may be over but it is always great to share your special place.

Elevate LLC in Colorado recently held the 2nd Annual Elevate:

Global Forum on Creating and Sustaining Special Places in Vail

Colorado. Among the 30 speakers was the eminent horse breeder 

and land management pioneer Peter Andrews, OAM.

“While many people and organizations debate theories on land

management Mr. Andrews is able to provide that most extraordinary

of things – 30 years of proof that his techniques work,” says Connie 

Woodberry, leader of the Creating and Sustaining Special Places

forums and regional development expert. “Central to the implementation

of Mr. Andrew’s technique is the need for human beings to quit 

considering themselves as the pillagers of this planet. We are able to

do more than create the latest technological apparatus, we can in fact

take responsibility for our landscape and repair what has been damaged

by our previous actions.”

Peter Andrews understanding of land restoration relies on the most 

basic of tools, the natural forces that form landscapes, gravity, the sun,

hydrology and an understanding of biodiversity. The massive transformation

of the many properties, which have employed his methods, is well 

documented in Australia and soon in the US.

“I am a practical farmer who does not belong to any particular movement

or adhere to an academic premise but instead I have spent most of my 

70 odd years observing the landscape and emulating, as closely as 

possible, what nature would do if unimpeded.” Mr. Andrews explained.

“While we have the scientific evidence to prove the validity of these 

methods we need to move forward both with research to improve our

understanding of what is happening in the landscape and with policy 

decisions based on evidence and actions, not bureaucratic handwringing.

” Mr. Andrews continued with, “I see every day the results of people so 

afraid to make a mistake, so afraid to address the evidence in the landscape

rather than break an ill conceived rule and I can tell you the results are not 

good, I see many examples in Australia but there are equally disturbing

 examples here in the US.”

The purpose of the Elevate: Global Forum on Creating and Sustaining

 Special Places was to bring together multi disciplinary place makers and

 special place caretakers such as Peter Andrews in order to ensure there 

is a source of information for better decision making concerning special places.

For more information about the Elevate Forum and Peter Andrews 

Contact: Constance Woodberry by calling 970 471 6455 or at

 constance(at)elevatesymposium(dot)com for interviews or further information. 

More information is available on the Elevate website at http://www.elevatesymposium.com.

Elevate LLC announces the – Elevate. Creating  and Sustaining Special Places Symposium- A Small Group of People Doing Very Big Things.

When Elevate Founder, Constance Woodberry first proposed the series of symposiums on special places she didn’t realize how significant the idea would become.  Having worked for many years with special place communities and businesses she knew that choosing out of the box solutions rarely worked in the short term and never in the long term.

“It doesn’t take many people to create or grow a special place community but it does take a way of thinking, understanding and acting that is at the core of making sure special places are not squandered, or worse, lost.”  Stated Mrs. Woodberry.  “We are aware that in these difficult financial times special place communities are tending to the status quo when all evidence suggests that this is the time to come to be pro active and embrace the need to understand sustaining special places, not just in the boom times, but through all time.”

“To quote Douglas Adams – “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from others experiences, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”

Elevate organizers point out that this is not so for the place makers and care takers who will be joining Elevate from September 25^th to 27^th .  They will be learning from the ancient cultures of the Colorado Utes (Nucha people) and the Australian Butchulla people and from groundbreaking architects such as Will Marcus and Sarah Broughton.

Joining them will be the highly effective and courageous land management reformer Peter Andrews, who recently was awarded the Order of Australia by HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Elevate’s own Constance Woodberry, who will provide the platform for understanding what makes a prosperous and sustainable special place community.

Importantly two of the leaders in the sustainable development and management of mountain communities: Alex Iskenderian from Vail Resorts Development Company and David Perry from Aspen Skiing Company, will be lending their insights into not just the action, but the vision, it takes to act responsibly on behalf of  two of the most significant special places in The West.

“This is a rare opportunity for place makers and special place care takers to meet and be inspired by those who take special places seriously.”  Said Mrs. Woodberry.  “But it is not just about the serious work, for special places are places where people enjoy themselves and so Vail Resorts and Vail Resorts Development Company have donated one of their sought after Epic ski passes.  Any one, not just Elevate participants, can upload a photo of their own special place and be in the running to win the EPIC Pass.  Go to the Special Places Facebook page to find out more.”

Elevate organizers remind all interested place- makers to contact them now as only a few places remain at this not to be repeated gathering.

Contact:  Constance Woodberry by calling 970 471 6455 or at constance@elevatesymposium.com for interviews or further information.  More information is available on the Elevate website at www.elevatesymposium.com

I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who have read and responded to my columns of late and to extend an invitation to you.

As you know, on September 25-27 we will host Elevate/Vail 2012, the global symposium on creating and sustaining special places. The idea for this gathering was born back in 2010 when I visited this beautiful valley for the first time.  I was blown away by not just the natural beauty, a common enough reaction, but also by the idea of how Vail was created, not from a geophysical standpoint  (although that too is of interest) but how it came to be, and what the people involved did and have done to create and in some cases sustain, this special place.

For many years, I have worked in various capacities with communities developing their economies, workforce and structures, so I guess I am particularly well suited to know an unusually good example of community development when I see one.

Subsequently, when we asked some Vail community leaders to come to Australia last year for the first special places symposium, I knew we were onto something.  For it is very clear that special places do not just happen. They will not remain viable without constant thought and vigilance and we, the people responsible for them, have an extraordinary duty to make sure that not only do we care for those places but that we also provide opportunities for new special places to emerge.  

Our faith in this valley has been well placed.  Not only did the guests from Vail bring great insights to Australia, they have opened their arms to embrace our venture here as we conduct the second Creating Special Places event in Vail.

We have had incredible support, and indeed much enthusiastic assistance from those people and organizations in the Valley who seem to always be the ones doing the most for the community.  Just to mention a few; Vail Daily, The Antlers at Vail, Vail Resorts, Inc., Vail Resorts Development Company, Town of Vail, Vail Valley Partnership, KZYR-FM, Colorado Mountain Express, Vail Restaurant Month, Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability and Prosper Studios.  Their support and understanding of the significance of Elevate/Vail 2012 have made an admittedly difficult task, that much easier.

The strength and purpose of this event are reflected too, in the people who are traveling from Australia (and any of you who have made that flight knows the effort that takes) across the US,  from Colorado and the Vail valley. 

People like; Gayle Minniecon,  Australian Aboriginal Elder and a significant community leader for the Butchulla people; Peter Andrews, recently awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his work in land reclamation and management; Will Marcus, an internationally recognized architect who understands, in a very special way, that built structures can in themselves do amazing things for communities. Mickey Zeppelin from Denver, David Perry, of Aspen Ski Company, Sarah Broughton and John Rowland from Aspen round out a great mix of regional, national and international authorities steeped in knowledge about and involvement with the endeavor of creating and sustaining special places.

On the local level, five former Mayors of Vail will have a unique opportunity to discuss their success at passing the baton of leadership.  Alex Iskenderian from Vail Resorts Development Company (VRDC) and wonderful extreme athlete and global citizen, Chris Anthony will also add their intellect and passion to the mix,  along with a raft of others, in fact 30 speakers in all.

We are serious too, about leadership and have awarded five student ambassadors from Colorado State University, the University of Albany, Yale University and Colorado Mountain College, scholarships to Elevate/Vail 2012.  They will share their enthusiasm and research findings while they work to expand their capacity as emerging leaders who will develop future special places.

Without exception these are people and organizations that do something significant everyday to make special places better, and it is a rare thing to have them altogether to share their insights. 

I often tell people that you can’t “unknow” what you know. What I know with certainty is that Elevate/Vail 2012 will be a significant event for anyone tasked with making or caring for special places.   I extend a personal invitation to you to join us. 

Connie Woodberry is the CEO of Regional Breakthroughs Australia, and Elevate, LLC., in the US, and is currently undertaking a doctoral research project on special places.  She can be reached at constance@elevatesymposium.com or at 970-471-6455.  To register, go to www.elevatesymposium.com. 

VAIL, Colo. – September 4, 2012 – Elevate, LLC., producers of Elevate/Vail 2012, the global symposium on creating and sustaining special places, announced it will give away an Epic Pass for the 2012/2013 season. The pass, donated by event sponsor Vail Resorts Development Company (VRDC), will be given to the contestant who uploads the most compelling photo and description of their own “special place,” to http://bit.ly/QSHBT6 . The contest is open to all.

Constance Woodberry, director of Elevate, LLC and producer of Elevate/Vail 2012 said, “We’re very grateful to VRDC for the gift of the pass and very excited to see what comes across the link. It’s a big, well-traveled world out there. So, from modern built environments to rarely encountered ancient locales like World Heritage Sites, we expect a wonderful variety of pix and descriptions. All, of course, will be fodder for discussion at Elevate/2012.” That event will be held at Antlers at Vail, September 25-27, 2012.

Ms. Woodberry also announced today that Elevate, LLC., will award scholarships for attending the event to students from Yale University, Colorado State University and Colorado Mountain College. Winners will be announced shortly.

For additional information on Elevate/Vail 2012 or to enroll, go to www.elevatesymposium.com.

Elevate, LLC., is a uniquely innovative global organization with capabilities suited to the performance of feasibility studies, economic benefit analysis, urban design, architecture, civil engineering, water and electronic engineering, quality assurance observation, work force development, social inclusion and economic development.

Contrary to popular opinion Tasmania is not just a place a cartoon character originated from.  It is an island (near that other rather large island, Australia) that is the equivalent of Shangri La for many Australians looking for the good life.  Plenty of rainfall, pristine air and relatively inexpensive, more than a few people I have known have said, “ All I want is to get out of this traffic in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth (insert your choice of city) and move to a little farm in Tassie.

They dream of living near the rainforest, having a vegetable garden and raising a few animals and maybe even a little vineyard.  But ultimately what stops most people is the nagging question –Who will I talk too?

I am not about to say that there is no one of substance to pass the time with in Tasmania but what I think people are expressing is that a special place in our mind is not just a physical destination, but a destination where we can share our common bounds and explore our differences. 

I bring this up because as you know we have been working our way towards the Elevate/ Creating and Sustaining Special Places Symposium in Vail in late September.  When we set out to bring this event here we had a simple motivation – special places require and deserve careful consideration and Vail (and this valley) was a good place to do that considering. 

It has the physical beauty and the amenities but it has more than that, it has someone to talk to. 

The most wonderful places hold little appeal if we sit alone in a hotel room, are treated with disdain or even worse, as a number, especially a number proceeded by a $ sign.  We all lose if special places aren’t also magical places,  with people who are keen to not only make that expectation of magic a reality, but something which is so much a part of that special place that guests, and those who live there fulltime alike, have a confidence that the magic will be protected.

One of the biggest risks to a special place is complacency, both of how we plan and act in protecting special places physically and environmentally, and also in how we live in special places and deal with each other.  Be it a mountain trail or a main street, if the people we encounter in them are not special too there is no doubt that something is lost.

With Elevate we are making sure there are plenty of people to talk to about special places – in fact this could be the only place that the conversation we have started in these columns, and with the speakers who will be presenting, will take place as this is indeed a unique opportunity to have someone to talk to about creating and sustaining special places. 

By the way – to all of those attentive readers who have made it to the end of this article: Vail Resorts and Vail Resorts Development Company have generously contributed an EPIC Pass to Elevate. To be in the running to win the 2013 Epic Pass go to the www.elevatesymposium.com website, click on the Facebook symbol, upload a photo of your special place and tell us why it’s special and you might be the lucky one to win this fantastic prize.

Connie Woodberry is the CEO of Regional Breakthroughs Australia and Elevate LLC in the US and is currently undertaking a doctoral research project on special places.  She can be reached at constance@elevatesymposium.com or on +1970 471 6455.  The Elevate Global Symposium on Creating and Sustaining Special Places will be held from the 25^th to the 27^th of September in Vail. To register go to www.elevatesymposium.com

Elevate LLC in Colorado is launching a Special Place Renaissance in the Rocky Mountains this fall. As a timely reminder to all those people who have recently returned from vacation, special places don’t just happen. It takes special placemakers and caretakers to ensure that special places are there next year and for the next 100 years.

The Special Place Renaissance event- called Elevate/Vail 2012, Creating and Sustaining Special Places will take place in Vail, Colorado, which is celebrating its own unique 50th Anniversary. Vail was opened in 1962 after a group of WWII 10th Mountain Division Veterans decided that creating a snow town in the Rockies would be a very good idea, and so they did it.

Like the intrepid Vail Founders, the creators of Elevate (originally from Australia) decided to get on with doing something that needed to be done - taking a multi disciplinary approach to understanding special places before that specialness is lost.

The Elevate partners have brought together special placemakers from Australia, the US and beyond to discuss the complex and sensitive nature of special place sustainability. Working across the areas of cultural connectivity,economic sustainability and how the built and natural environment intersect these, special place leaders have come together for what may well be the only such gathering in recent times.

As Connie Woodberry, Elevate Director and organizer explains, “We feel a real affinity with the Vail founders, which is one of the reasons we chose to have this years 2nd Annual Elevate event in Vail. As a business, which has worked with many small towns and special places, we are aware of the need to look past the specializations and often self serving sustainability organizations and take a different approach to sustaining special places. With respect to funding we are wearing the financial risk ourselves. But we realized that if we don’t do this, then who will?” Mrs. Woodberry went on to say, “what has been gratifying is the in-kind, and indeed moral support from many local organizations such as Vail Resorts, the Town of Vail and The Antlers at Vail and the willingness and enthusiastic response we have had from the guest speakers.’

Rob Levine, General Manager of The Antlers at Vail and former Board Chair of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, attended the first Creating Special Places Symposium in Australia last year and will host the guest speakers at The Antlers this year in Vail. “ From my experience working with and in special places over a lifetime, I have not come across an event, which encapsulates the nature of special places in the way the Elevate event is able to do. By bringing together a multi disciplinary group of people, who all get that by understanding a special place as a whole, the people, the environment, the why, and even the how you design streets and manage activities, down to the way people are made to feel welcome requires looking at all aspects of a place, including how and why people are so attracted to that place in the first instance.”

Mr. Levine continued, “Renaissance conjures up the idea of looking at the world as a whole and with people as an important element to that whole, but it also implies a new way of thinking about special places and our responsibilities for them. We are more than excited to be a part of this event again this year.”

“It is often said of the Vail Founders that Vail is confirmation of the belief that anything is possible. The Elevate organizers also believe that it is possible for a business and a small group of highly thoughtful and committed people to make a real contribution to understanding creating and sustaining special places.” Said Mrs. Woodberry. “Only equally intrepid and thoughtful people need apply.”

Details on the Elevate. Vail 2012, Creating and Sustaining Special Places Symposium, taking place on the 25th to the 27th of September 2012 in Vail Colorado, are available from Constance Woodberry. Places are limited and early bookings receive a lodging discount.

Contact: Constance Woodberry by calling 970 471 6455 or at constance@elevatesymposium.com for interviews or further information. More information is available on the Elevate website at http://www.elevatesymposium.com

Here is an interview we did on KZYR about the Elevate Symposium. Present were Michael Kurz, Connie Woodberry and Mark Woodberry. Please have a listen 

http://www.kzyr.com/images/comm%20focus%20-%208-8-12.mp3