Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA

A group of citizens in western Maine was recently galvanized by their shared, volunteer labor of preparing a course for a major regional ski race during a low snow season. Working late into the night they shoveled snow by hand from the woods to the race course, paving the way for the success of the...

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Main Authors: Matthew McCourt, Gabriel Perkins
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut des Amériques 2018-11-01
Series:IdeAs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/3439
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author Matthew McCourt
Gabriel Perkins
author_facet Matthew McCourt
Gabriel Perkins
author_sort Matthew McCourt
collection DOAJ
description A group of citizens in western Maine was recently galvanized by their shared, volunteer labor of preparing a course for a major regional ski race during a low snow season. Working late into the night they shoveled snow by hand from the woods to the race course, paving the way for the success of the event, as well as animating subsequent efforts to use winter sports to build a diverse economy. Shortly after rescuing the race from a warm spell, the citizens group successfully planned and hosted a larger regional ski festival. Their follow-up festival incorporated an experiment in a walkable/skiable event venue with shuttle buses providing transportation to lodging and off-site parking for day trippers. In keeping with the diverse economies framework (Gibson-Graham 2006, 2008), festival organizers worked with researchers to estimate the value of their own volunteer labor, in addition to measuring the emitted and avoided CO2 resulting from their mitigation practices. This paper shares the results of the festival study while documenting how a particular instance of community labor bridges different interests, performs diverse economies and enacts a “climate politics of hope” in the face of climate uncertainty.
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spelling doaj-art-cb05c3beed7b4b0da6bcfbd46d399cf92025-08-20T03:08:06ZengInstitut des AmériquesIdeAs1950-57012018-11-011210.4000/ideas.3439Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USAMatthew McCourtGabriel PerkinsA group of citizens in western Maine was recently galvanized by their shared, volunteer labor of preparing a course for a major regional ski race during a low snow season. Working late into the night they shoveled snow by hand from the woods to the race course, paving the way for the success of the event, as well as animating subsequent efforts to use winter sports to build a diverse economy. Shortly after rescuing the race from a warm spell, the citizens group successfully planned and hosted a larger regional ski festival. Their follow-up festival incorporated an experiment in a walkable/skiable event venue with shuttle buses providing transportation to lodging and off-site parking for day trippers. In keeping with the diverse economies framework (Gibson-Graham 2006, 2008), festival organizers worked with researchers to estimate the value of their own volunteer labor, in addition to measuring the emitted and avoided CO2 resulting from their mitigation practices. This paper shares the results of the festival study while documenting how a particular instance of community labor bridges different interests, performs diverse economies and enacts a “climate politics of hope” in the face of climate uncertainty.https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/3439Tourismdiverse economiessustainabilityclimate mitigationMaine
spellingShingle Matthew McCourt
Gabriel Perkins
Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
IdeAs
Tourism
diverse economies
sustainability
climate mitigation
Maine
title Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
title_full Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
title_fullStr Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
title_full_unstemmed Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
title_short Valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in Western Maine, USA
title_sort valuing the diverse economies and climate possibilities of a winter festival in western maine usa
topic Tourism
diverse economies
sustainability
climate mitigation
Maine
url https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/3439
work_keys_str_mv AT matthewmccourt valuingthediverseeconomiesandclimatepossibilitiesofawinterfestivalinwesternmaineusa
AT gabrielperkins valuingthediverseeconomiesandclimatepossibilitiesofawinterfestivalinwesternmaineusa