Common Ground is a recently released documentary which urges viewers to rethink our relationship with soil and approach to agriculture and food production.

Are you familiar with the term “regenerative agriculture”? Essentially, it is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to land management and food production and is the focus of the documentary Common Ground. Unlike industrial agriculture, this approach focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting bio-sequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.
As Siri Chilukuri explains in her review of the film, regenerative agriculture uses a variety of methods to promote healthy, living soil, which in turn promotes healthy crops that are more pest resistant and require less or no chemical pesticides. This is in sharp contrast to industrial farming which encourages the heavy use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides, causing an array of illnesses and damage ecosystems. Regenerative agriculture also mitigates climate change through carbon dioxide removal, i.e. it draws carbon from the atmosphere and sequesters it.
While Common Ground focuses on food and farming systems, it can also prompt viewers to think more broadly and globally about our relationship with the land and the need to heal it. The idea of land regeneration, for example, is consistent with the push to restore additional degraded lands such as brownfields and oilfields into parks, open space, and other land uses that generate multiple benefits to communities.
To learn more about movie and the merits of the regenerative approach, please read the source article.
FULL STORY: This Earth Day, Common Ground Urges us to Rethink Our Relationship With Soil

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont