2026 CT Compost Conference

THANK YOU for joining us on March 19, 2026, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, for a full-day conference dedicated to compost, soil health, and climate resilience.

Hosted by the Connecticut Compost Alliance (CCA), the CT Compost Conference brings together composters, farmers, educators, municipal leaders, policymakers, and sustainability advocates. Speakers from Connecticut and across the country will share innovative ideas and practical approaches to composting, soil health, and resilient systems.

We welcomed Didi Pershouse, as this year’s keynote speaker. Author of The Ecology of Care and Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function. An internationally recognized educator and organizer, her work on soil health and watershed function is used in over 100 countries. She is co-founder of Rehydrate California and hosts The Wisdom Underground on Substack.  Her keynote, “Growing Community and Climate Resilience through the Soil Sponge and Living Climate,” will explore how healthy soils strengthen ecosystems, communities, and climate resilience.

Support

The conference was FREE for all to attend thanks in part because of a matching grant from Sustainable CT and support from our host Wesleyan University’s Bailey College of the Environment.

CONFERENCE RESOURCES

From Keynote Speaker Didi Pershouse

General Resources

• Articles, podcast, and workshops, on Substack "The Wisdom Underground"

• More resources and sign up for general mailing list: The Land & Leadership Initiative

• Free Downloadable Manual: Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function

• Book: The Ecology of Care: Medicine, Agriculture, Money, and the Quiet Power of Human and Microbial Communities 

Specific articles and videos related to keynote presentation

• Article: Why Communities Should Invest in Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Sponge

• Article Here’s what I think everyone needs to know about climate change

• Article: Other Species are Essential Workers Whose Economies Enfold Our Own

• Article: The Biotic Climate and the Soil Sponge

• Article series on how we lost track of the Living Climate by Rob Lewis

• The Great Work of Our Time

• Walter Jehne and Didi Pershouse at Harvard

• Walter Jehne at our first soil sponge gathering: Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming

New work from Didi Pershouse 

• Layers of Intelligence in Living Systems: Why We Can't Think and What to Do About It

• Wisdom at the Edge: What Can We Learn From Membranes?