The idea at its heart is that of ‘resilience-building as economic development’, that by keeping things local we can build richer, stronger and more resilient communities.
Rob Hopkins, notes from Four Thought
Events
Green Skills Workshops - Thurs 23rd February
Carymoor Environmental Centre are offering free green skills workshops starting with hedge laying on Thurs 23rd February, path construction on Thurs 1st March and willow weaving on Thurs 8th March.
Venue: Carymoor Environmental Centre, Dimmer Lane, Castle Cary, BA7 7NR
Time: 10 am - 4 pm.
To find out more or sign up please contact Juliet: 01963 351350 , juliet.lawn@carymoor.org.uk.
Transition Drop-in Café - Sat 25th February
This month we devote to preparation for the various events we have funded with the help of the Local Energy Assesment Fund (LEAF).
If you are interested in being involved in one of the projects we have lined up all around energy efficiency and generation in Taunton please come along.
Venue: Friends' Meeting House, Bath Place, Taunton
Time: 10.30-12.30
Little Things Freecycling Session - Sat 25th February
If you are in Minehead look out for this great freecycling session.
Venue: Reading Room, Friday Street, Minehead
Time: 1-30 to 3-30
Begin now, sorting and clearing out all those "useful things" cluttering up drawers, boxes, etc. and bring them along and meet our local freecycling group - Clutterbusters.
Contact Cynthia 01643 862990.
Tone Conservation - Sunday 26th February
Another meet-up for Tone Conservationists for hedge planting in Longrun Meadow (nr French Weir, Taunton). Meet at 11am in French Weir by the bridge to the meadow.
Each month they will survey the pond area so they have a comprehensive knowledge of what grows and lives there.
As jobs come up other times will be arranged including weekends or evenings so that everyone can come.
If you are interested in lending a hand then contact Helen Lawy - helenlawy@gmail.com
Sourdough Classes: Tuesday February 28th, March 20th, April 17th
Venue: The Space and Bakery, Tracebridge, Somerset
Time: 11.30 – 4.30pm
Gordon takes small groups (up to four people) through the sourdough process from ‘starter’ to finished loaf using the Blue Peter principle of ‘one I prepared earlier.’ This means you get to practice each stage of the process without the waiting. He has adapted the sourdough method to suit home kitchens and routines, so that what you learn you will be able to apply when you get home.
£69 per person.
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| Sourdough by Andy Ciordia, on Flickr (Flickr Creative Commons) |
“It was a magical day. I really enjoyed Gordon's teaching and it was brilliant to come home with warm bread, dough and mother. The lunch was also wonderful.” Sarah Burns Cox
To book and for more info, email kvenner@btinternet.com or call 01823 672301
Get Growing in Sedgemoor - Wednesday 29th February
A public meeting will be taking place in the Sedgemoor Room of Bridgwater House at the District Council's Chamber in Bridgwater for people looking for land to grow food.
The information evening is directed at residents across Sedgemoor. Parish clerks and councillors with responsibilities for allotments, allotment associations, community groups and landowners will all be in attendence. It is hoped that some new growing spaces will be started as a result of the event.
Attendees will hear the success stories of growing projects around Sedgemoor, such as Edcombe Harvest Share in Rodney Stoke and Axbridge Community Allotments Association who were recently awarded a grant to start an edible forest garden project.
The event is free but booking is ESSENTIAL - please book online at www.somersetcommunityfood.org.uk.
Thermalogues - Sat 3rd March
Come and take part in Thermalogues, a unique creative two-day opportunity to work with film makers Tom Stubbs and Stephen Clarke of biggerhouse film.
...as the heat of a warm handprint on a wall dissipates, a ‘Thermalogue’ appears out of the darkness… we are going to take a new way of seeing, a lens for ‘seeing energy’, and make artistic responses with it.
biggerhouse film are collaborating with friends of Taunton Transition Town to make four x 60 second 'Thermalogues' exploring their relationship to energy.
The ‘Thermalogues’ will combine pictures using a thermal imaging camera with the sound of voices talking and explaining what is both seen and not seen.
What are people thinking as they learn to see the world differently?
What is going on in people’s minds as they explore their understanding of ‘energy’?
What happens as they try and invite others to see energy with their new eyes? – How they both use and waste it?
Day One: Saturday 3 March, 10-4, St James Church Hall (behind Brewhouse Theatre). A workshop with Tom and Stephen for all participants to explore the potential of thermal imaging. You will reflect together on your relationship with energy, and capture emerging creative ideas for different “thermalogues”.
Day Two: participants will be split into four smaller groups, with each group working on one Thermalogue. Groups will work with either Tom or Stephen on ONE of the following days: Saturday 10 March; Sunday 11 March; Saturday 17 March; Sunday 18 March. Location will depend on what images you will want to create.
The resulting Thermalogues will be premiered at our Open Space event - GROUNDSWELL at The Genesis Centre on 24 March, put up on our website, YouTube and other online places, and may also form part of a wider Transition creative programme.
ONLY 12 PLACES AVAILABLE FOR THIS PRETTY AMAZING OPPORTUNITY
Cost: £10 for the whole thing
Booking: via Brewhouse Box Office – in person, or by phone on 01823 283244 OR http://www.thebrewhouse.net/outdoor/1329/thermalogues
This project is supported with funding from the Local Energy Assessment Fund.
Spring into Living Foods: Saturday 10th March
Venue: The Space and Bakery, Tracebridge, Somerset
Time: 11am – 4.30pm
Raw and living foods are growing in popularity and can help you to lose excess weight, gain more energy and feel and look more youthful. This way of eating is growing in popularity because it makes you feel great – gives you more energy, helps you lose excess weight and makes you feel younger. We’ll show you how to make some energy boosting drinks, breakfast ideas, easy spreads and healthy butter. Also on the menu are inspiring salads, bean free hummus and a tasty garden burger with a dairy-free mayonnaise. We’ll show how to sprout your own micro greens and fermenting techniques to make nut milk yoghurts. We’ll round the day off with ice cream and lemon cheesecake. (This is Deb’s best ever raw cheesecake - you won’t want to miss it. No specialist equipment required – just a blender and food processor. Substantial lunch and a full recipe pack to take away with you. Suitable for vegans.
£69 per person
To book and for more info, email kvenner@btinternet.com or call 01823 672301
Bristol Green Doors - 17th/18th March
Ecobuild Exhibition - Tues 20th - Thurs 22nd March
Venue: ExCeL, London
There are dozens of attractions and live demonstrations - including ZEDlife, the LoCal House, Cool Concrete and Fabric First plus hundreds of seminars every day on Sustainable architecture & design, Standard guides & regulations, Better through BIM, Sustainable by design, Refurbishing Britain and more.
Find out more and sign up at: http://www.ecobuild.co.uk
Get Your Wellies On - Thurs 22nd March
Another opportunity to get your wellies on and get stuck into replanting hazel at Childrens' Wood, just off Winkworth Road. Bring some sturdy footwear, some gloves and plenty of welly!
Groundswell - Sat 24th March
Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.
Milton Friedman
The “perfect storm” of climate change, peak oil and an unstable global economy mean we are living in extraordinary times.
- What must change next in our locality if we are to weather the “perfect storm”?
- What are our own “ideas lying around” that we urgently need to have front-of-mind for a sustainable future?
- Which ideas are we already acting on, and which ones might we discover we have the energy and ability to act on next?
Join 99 other like-minded people from Taunton and its surrounding area to create Groundswell. Join up the dots of where we are already rising to the low carbon challenge. See where our collective potential might take us. Using the Open Space process, you can have the conversations you really want to have, make new connections, add to a melting pot of ideas, and go away knowing what your next step might be.
The Genesis Centre is on the campus of Somerset College, Wellington Road, has ample parking for bikes and cars, and level access. It is on bus routes 22, 22A and 92 from the bus station.
Cost: £10 to include a light vegetarian lunch, tea and coffee
To book, contact Vicky Matthews vickym@uk2.net,or by post to 1 Obridge Lane, Taunton, TA2 7QN.
Cheques payable to Taunton Transition Town.
Places limited – book now!
Looking for Land Events in 2012
I have already advertised the Sedgemoor meeting but if you live elsewhere then check the diary below.....
Are you looking for land? On a waiting list for an allotment but eager to grow and don't know what to do next? Somerset Community Food are holding a series of events across Somerset this Spring to support individuals & groups looking for land.
Are you looking for land? On a waiting list for an allotment but eager to grow and don't know what to do next? Somerset Community Food are holding a series of events across Somerset this Spring to support individuals & groups looking for land.
Information Evenings have been organised for Town & Parish Clerks, Councillors and Residents to explore, enable & support access to land for new and existing food growers. For full details & to book your place see here.
Provisional dates for the remaining Looking for Land events include:
Sedgemoor - Bridgwater, 29th February
Taunton & Deane - Taunton, 27th March
South Somerset - Yeovil, 24th April
West Somerset - Dunster, 29th May
The Sustainability Show - Sunday 17th June
Something for your calendars to book in now. After the great success last year we are back at the Sustainability Show this June.
http://www.sustainabilityshow.org.uk
News
Western Power Distribution's Community Chest
Western Power Distribution (WPD) have just launched their Community Chest grant scheme, and £50,000 is available to enable communities to install energy efficiency measures in community buildings. The grant is being administered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) who can also provide expert advice and guidance to help groups to carry out an audit of their buildings.
Community groups within WPD’s distribution area, which serves the Midlands, South and West Wales and the South West of England, can apply for grants of up to £1000, in order to pay for simple but effective energy efficiency measures to not only reduce their energy costs but also reduce the carbon emissions of the buildings they use for their activities.
Eligible measures include insulating loft spaces, installing energy monitors, draught proofing windows and doors, fitting effective heating controls and installing low energy lighting.
The application process is simple. Groups are asked to submit a short application form and provide quotes for recommended improvements, as well as completing an audit of their building. Guidance is provided on CSE’s website here, www.cse.org.uk/wpdcc or email wpdcc@cse.org.uk for more information
Somerset Co-operative Community Land Trust
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| Somerset Co-operative Community Land Trust |
Their first property will be Hertford House in Taunton where the purchase will shortly be completed. The building has been neglected for many years and they will need a lot of help getting it ready for occupation.
Please contact them if:
- You are interested in being a tenant of the co-operative. You must be in housing need currently, or at risk of homelessness in the near future.
- You wish to join as member. Somerset residents can join with a minimum investment of £25; however, it will be often be possible to make this investment 'in kind' if you are able to volunteer some time. Member including tenants democratically control the co-op, and can join the management committee.
- You are able to make a larger investment. Anyone can buy shares in the project if they are able to invest a minimum of £500. You will have the reassurance of knowing that the money has been put into a durable asset, and that the financial projections are based on fixed price contracts.
- You can help as a volunteer with the renovation of Hertford House. We are in need of a wide range of skills, not least simple labour.
Find out on www.somerset.coop/landtrust
or by post: The Hot House, Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AX
Talking Climate Change
The peak fossil fuel argument has always been seen in reference to climate change. We might have enough fossil fuels to last us but they will increasingly be from areas where it is more difficult and expensive to extract and have ruinous effects on our environment (eg tar sands). It is clear that, with the help of unconventional extraction (eg fracking), we have carbon fuels to take us to climate chaos several times over.
Something to help communicate this binding contract of extraction of fossil fuels and climate change can be found at:
http://talkingclimate.org/
Co-ops Community Energy Challenge
The Community Energy Challenge will provide 12-18 months of enterprise development, mentoring, technical advice and community facilitation for six to eight communities, enabling them to initiate co-operative renewable energy projects at a significant scale (e.g. valued at £1m to £3m and/or rated in excess of 500kW).
This support is being delivered by CSE on behalf of The Co-operative Group and aims to bring the selected community projects to a state of readiness for further support and investment from The Co-operative Enterprise Hub and The Co-operative Bank.
The Community Energy Challenge offers a supported application process designed to help communities develop strong project proposals, even from a standing start. Lack of technical know-how should not be a barrier and communities with ambition are encouraged to apply.
To find out more go to: http://www.cse.org.uk/projects/view/1178
Ecological Land Co-operative
The Ecological Land Co-operative is a project to provide affordable smallholdings for people who wish to live low impact lifestyles while running agricultural businesses; as you will know, that is extremely hard without buying a rural property costing £300k or more, or having a terrible scrap with the planners.
What the ELC do is buy parcels of agricultural land, subdivide them into smallholdings, and secure the necessary planning permission. They can then sell them on to smallholders at a price they can afford - hopefully around £70k for somewhere they can both live and work without hassle from the authorities.
Their first project, financed by a wonderful group of social investors, is Greenham Reach in Mid Devon (near Holcombe Rogus and Wellington, on the border with Somerset). The proposals are presently before MDDC and it is touch and go whether they will pass. So they need support or rather letters of support...
See www.ecologicalland.coop, and especially http://www.ecologicalland.coop/submitting-letter-support.
Inspiration
Listen to Rob Hopkins from Transition Totnes on 'Breathing new life into the concept of resilience' on Radio 4's Four Thought programme.... you can still listen to it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01by7d1
If you want to read about what he said then have a look at his informative notes about the Four Thought programme - http://transitionculture.org/2012/02/16/breathing-new-life-into-the-concept-of-resilience-the-notes-from-my-four-thought-talk/
