Announcing the Upper New Confluence
Here at the Upper New, we are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a local bioregional “confluence” in parallel with the global r3.0 Conference happening in September 2026. While the r3.0 Conference will be held remotely, with daily sessions available as video conferences or webinars, our local Upper New confluence will be a small gathering of people interested in bioregional learning, planning, and building in the Upper New bioregion. In fact, most of the participants in the conference will be gathered in similar small groups in bioregions all over the world.
Where’s the Upper New bioregion? It’s in northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia, stretching from Blowing Rock to Blacksburg. You can find us on the map below. We encourage you to locate yourself on the map.
If the embedded map is difficult to use, here’s a link to the map.
Quick side note: The featured image for this post, showing a small rock in the bend of a river reflecting clouds, is actually the New River, where it crosses the state line between North Carolina and Virginia. The photograph was captured by Benjamin Erlandson, and is used with his permission.
About the Conference
Taking place from September 8-10, the theme of the 2026 r3.0 Conference is “Bioregional Regeneration as Collapse Resilience: Earth-centric Biocultural Kinship, Knowledge & Governance”. As noted on the conference website:
“The r3.0 Conference kicks off Global Bioregional Month in September 2026 by gathering the bioregionally committed and the bioregional curious for three days online together. Each day will be anchored by a two-hour interactive panel, on the 3 central themes of Relational Kinship, Knowledge Commons, and Self-Governance. These will be bookended by cross-bioregional Reflection Sessions at diverse timings to bridge global time zones. And most of the audience will attend via in-person Confluences organized by bioregional groups globally – last year, more than 50 bioregional groups registered to host Confluences across 6 continents, and we expect even more this year!”
2026 r3.0 Conference
2026 Conference Structure
Each day of the conference is centered around a single interactive panel session, with each day focused on a particular theme.
Day One: Relational Kinship
Day Two: Knowledge Commons
Day Three: Self-Governance
More detail is available about these themes and sessions on the Conference agenda.
Each day of the conference, time will be allotted for local Confluence groups to engage with the recordings of the panel sessions, and to share reflections about the Conference themes, to discuss developments in our own bioregional contexts, and to foster any other discussions unfolding as a result.
Confluence participants will have ample time to engage internally on each day of the r3.0 conference. Due to time zone differences around the world, the r3.0 conference tech team will ensure that panel recordings are available within two hours after panel conclusion, allowing for those of us that cannot “watch live” to catch up on the contents before our reflection sessions.
Upper New Confluence Format
As the Upper New is, organizationally speaking, relatively new on the bioregional scene, we have elected to hold a “Living Room” Confluence, which is a smaller self-hosted gathering of approximately 5-10 people. These smaller events are typically geared toward folks who are early along on the pathway to bioregionalism: curious and ready to find out more by engaging with others of similar interest.
Conference Agenda + Schedule
Over the three days of the conference agenda, the schedule follows a stable pattern. Each day, these sessions will occur as follows on eastern time (converted)
- 9:30AM: Introduction Session (online via r3.0)
- 10:00AM – 12:00PM: Conference Panel Session (online via r3.0)
- 4:00PM – 5:30PM: Confluence Reflection Session (in-person/hybrid via Upper New)
Tuesday, September 8th
- Conference Introduction: Bioregional Regeneration as Collapse Resilience
- Conference Panel Session One: Relational Kinship
- Confluence Reflection Session
Wednesday, September 9th
- Day Two Introduction: Global Bioregional Month
- Conference Panel Session Two: Bioregional Knowledge Commons
- Confluence Reflection Session
Thursday, September 10th
- Conference Panel Session Three: Bioregional Self-Governance
- Confluence Reflection Session
On Wednesday and Thursday, there are optional additional reflection sessions at 6:00AM. For the Upper New Confluence, these will be considered opportunities for additional individual solitary reflection time over breakfast, etc.
Confluence Conference Registration
Confirmed participants in the Upper New Confluence will receive access to a customized r3.0 Conference Registration link that allows them to register and attend r3.0 free of charge. If you are a budding bioregionalist in the Upper New bioregion and wish to participate, please contact us to indicate your interest and we’ll be in touch ASAP!
If you know someone in the Upper New bioregion who would be interested in attending this confluence, please do not hesitate to share this post with them and encourage them to sign up for a slot to attend!
Beyond r3.0 – Turtle Island Bioregional Congress
In addition to participating as a confluence host organization, the Upper New will be following up this bioregional experience with another. Upper New Founder Benjamin Erlandson will be attending the 11th Turtle Island Bioregional Congress (TIBC11) from September 15th – 19th. For the first time in 17 years, a Continental-scale Bioregional Congress for all of North America (Turtle Island) will be hosted in-person in Vernonia, Oregon, in the heart of the Cascadia Bioregion.
As a delegate, we will be networking with bioregionalists across the continent of North America, sharing notes and best practices, and building momentum for each other. It’s possible that Dr. Erlandson will be presenting some of the frameworks we’re putting in place here in the Upper New as well.
