BIG Community Voices Launches First “Earth for the AGES” Summit at Villa Woodbine – Day 1

Photography by Ryan Troy on April 20th, 2021 in Lifestyle

BIG Community Voices Launches First “Earth for the AGES” Summit at Villa Woodbine from World Red Eye Films on Vimeo.

Miami, FL – April 20, 2021- BIG Community Voices (BIG) launched its first annual Earth Day conference entitled “Earth for the AGES”on the grounds of Villa Woodbine in Coconut Grove, Florida – a venue the grassroots organization is fighting to save from development with their “Stop Grove Gridlock” campaign. The first-time two-day event offered a program beginning with a roundtable and awards presentation by Maria Freed to Joyce Nelson, Sandra E Martin, Sylvia Heller and Agnes Morrel who were nominated by local community leaders, personalized Villa Woodbine tours by local arborist Ed Petersen and a workshop series consisting of speakers in the areas of art, government, empowerment and science – or “AGES” for short. The series concluded with a world premiere performance against the backdrop of the majestic property by internationally acclaimed artistic director Rosie Herrera – choreographed specially for the Earth Day 2021 Summit. The summit concluded with a subsequent garden party and kickstarted fundraising for BIG’s on-going environmental protection efforts featuring two live trios and an evening of live art-engagement.

BIG began its mission to advocate for the preservation of historical and environmental sites with the “Stop Grove Gridlock” campaign launched in November of 2019. The grassroots effort displayed bright yellow signs reading “Stop Grove Gridlock” alongside Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove and quickly garnered local community support rallying against Carrollton School of The Sacred Heart’s planned development of an all-boys school.

“It became clear we needed to fight against Carrollton School’s planned-usage once we understood that the new school on the almost four acre site, would threaten Villa Woodbine’s impressive tree canopy and adds compromising structures that increase likelihood of flooding in an area that is already suffering from rising sea-levels,” said Rose Pujol, co-founder of BIG Community Voices. “The original spirit of our campaign in Coconut Grove set the foundation for our mission to transform concern into widespread action and shape solutions for environmental sustainability while empowering our community to advocate for a more resilient future. Our mission at BIG has ultimately led us to where we are today with the launch of Earth for the AGES summit.”

The first “Earth for the AGES” Summit provides a multifaceted approach to how provocative grassroots community engagement can shape conversation about environmental issues and inspire policy best practiced to improve resiliency.

The speaker workshop opened with a message from State Attorney General for Miami-Dade County Katherine Fernandez-Rundle and addressed the “AGES” topics such as Art: art’s power to delight, educate, stimulate and inspire resilient solutions (keynote: Rosie Herrera, Artistic Director for Rosie Herrera Dance Theater), Government: policy which accelerates response to threats on the environment (keynote: Sara Gautier, founder of Recognized Trading and Shipping (RTS)), Empowerment: geographical world’s bearing on inclusivity/diversity feature of sustainability (keynote: Magnus Liljedahl, U.S. Olympic gold medal sailor and founder of Team Paradise), and Science: science and technology education to create a more Sustainable future (keynote: Christine Rupp, Dade Heritage Trust).

Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre

Yvonne Ferrao, Alex Moskovitz, Rose Pujol, Rachel Cardello, Scott Silver, Bill Harvey, Derick Ferrao, & Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre

Alex Moskovitz, Rose Pujol, Arlene Erven, Yvonne Ferrao, Lynn Lewis, Mary MacDonald, Derick Ferrao, Rachel Cardello, Christine Rupp, Bill Harvey, Scott Silver, & Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre