cultural systems with natural ones. GREENWASP proposes to accomplish this by coordinating partnership-building initiatives and activities that integrate human subsistence economies with local native resources. This strategy can potentially make native resources (and the ecological systems that support them) more valuable to modern-society, which makes society more likely to invest in them (see image 1). GREENWASP anticipates direct and indirect beneficial effects from its initiatives. These include direct benefits, such as material gains generated by community efforts; and indirect benefits, such as long-term improvements to public health, re-vitalization of native ecology, reduced demand for harmful, costly & non-local materials and ultimately, sustainable equilibrium between humanity and the natural world (see image 5). GREENWASP is integrative. It is grounded in ancient wisdom and supported by modern technology. It is inspired by native sustainable cultural traditions that have existed for generations. GREENWASP proposes to integrate native culture with modern science to resolve the planet's problems. GREENWASP initiatives are practical and feasible. In addition to being grounded and proves, GREENWASP initiatives are proposed to the community and the public before they are actualized, which is an important measure for ensuring feasibility of projects, and also provides a process for addressing public concerns. GREENWASP is constantly developing its techniques and methodology to become more effective. GREENWASP’s success is measured by how effectively participating populations integrate sustainable native materials into their overall subsistence economy. GREENWASP initiatives are based on regional native resources, but its strategy for enhancing society’s relationship with the ecological systems responsible for life is applicable globally.

Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

GREENWASP will work with partner organizations to establish experimental cultural events that focus on local native resources and their potential benefits to humans and to the local ecology. The explicit purpose of these events is to develop partnerships between people and nature by installing large numbers of useful plants in and around civilization to support and restore native ecological systems.

Presently, GREENWASP is developing sustainability models that isolate plant resources in the Northwest and their potential benefits (please see image 1). These include acorns, hazelnuts, and other native fruits, big-leaf maple syrup, and nettle fibers.

GREENWASP proposes to establish community activities that serve in the establishment of these plants and their native companion to improve native ecology within and around civilization, while providing useful and sustainable functions for humanity. Ultimately, GREENWASP anticipates these small-scale social experiments will fluoresce into major cultural activities. They are specifically intended to enhance society’s relationships with the following Northwest resources:

Native Foods and Medicine: GREENWASP proposes to establish experimental social-events focusing on native food and medicine, especially acorns, hazel nuts, and maple syrup. Each year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of high-quality fats and proteins literally fall off the trees and go unused. There is no justifiable explanation for such neglect of these generous renewable resources. GREENWASP develops their potential as a local alternative to more costly and harmful foods, especially meat and soy. This is illustrates how organizing cultural events around wild-foods can increase the public's awareness of the value of native resources and how responsible use can even lead to decreased demand for more harmful products.

Nettle Fibers for Textiles Fibers from stinging nettles can produce textiles comparable with hemp and cotton. Nettles are a perennial growing throughout North America. GREENWASP is researching methods for sustainable applications of nettle fibers.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

GREENWASP's strategy is comprehensive and can be applied globally - the potential for sustainable equilibrium between local environmental conditions and human culture exists worldwide. GREENWASP encourages harmony by coordinating initiatives that advance community stewardship through responsible utilization of native ecology in a way that provides for the needs of society and the environment.

GREENWASP is anticipatory and acts directly on the evolution of humankind by applying culture as an adaptive mechanism. The trend of modern culture continues to grow more disharmonious with the environment. GREENWASP remediates this by coordinating initiatives that increase ecological awareness and generate alternatives that utilize and compliment local native resources and the needs of humanity.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

Competent leadership is an imperative for GREENWASP's success. The organizers of GREENWASP and its advisors are respectively experts in their fields. Because of their initiative, GREENWASP is not only possible, it is becoming a reality.

The primary impetuous behind GREENWASP is an anthropology student at Portland State University named Richard J. Ralls. Over the past ten years, Ralls has gained experience working as an archaeological field technician on research projects related to the material cultures of prehistoric societies in North America. This work has granted him an in-depth perspective of the evolutionary process humanity is experiencing and its relationship with nature. GREENWASP spawns from this experience.

Ralls is supported by partner-organizations in the Northwest area. GREENWASP organizers founded a precursory organization called the Earth Community Alliance (a social-project based on the Earth Charter Initiative), that has experienced remarkable success organizing community activities around central issues. The inspiration for GREENWASP has arisen from this the success of ECA. Therefore, GREENWASP organizers have a history of making things work.

GREENWASP is also supported by volunteers who are often experts in their respective fields. The cooperation of the community ensures the potential success of GREENWASP. To of these supporters are listed below.