Our Newsletter
On this page you'll find an archive of items from our email newsletter, which goes out monthly. Since December 2009, our newsletter has taken a new form, and consists of links to articles on our Blogsite. Visit our blog on http://transitionleicester.wordpress.com to read all the latest news.
To sign up to receive Transition Leicester news (no more than one email a week on average) send a blank email to: transitionleicester-subscribe [AT] lists.riseup.net
If you'd like to send us something for inclusion in a newsletter, drop us a line on info AT transitionleicester.org.uk.
Old newsletters
19th November 2009
19th October 2009
22nd September 2009
17th September 2009
21st August 2009
24th July 2009
18th June 2009
12th May 2009
18th April 2009
9th March 2009
24th February 2009
27th January 2009
17th December 2008
26th November 2008
31st October 2008
11th September 2008
3rd September 2008
16th August 2008
31st July 2008
14th July 2008
11th June 2008
19th May 2008
1. Transition Leicester latest
Our Apple Day event on Saturday 31st October was a wonderful success. We estimate that around 300 people came along over the course of the day, and some of the highlights included some great talks on apple growing by our visiting apple expert, gallons of apple juice being made using our pedal-powered apple crusher and locally-made apple press, and all of the delicious food-with-apples-in that people brought along to share. Big thanks to Zina for all her hard work in putting it on and to everyone else who helped beforehand or on the day.
The Transition Leicester apple press also played a starring role at the first Leicester Farmers' Market to take place in Humberstone Gate in the city centre, organised by Leicestershire Food Links. Quite a few passers by commented that the locally-picked freshly-pressed juice they tasted was the best they'd ever had in their life. Transition gets a mention in the Leicester Mercury's very positive report on the market which you can read here. From now onwards, the market will be happening in Humberstone Gate on the first Thursday of every month.
More exciting news from our Food Group... our Community Supported Agriculture project, Community Harvest Whetstone, has a new website which has been set up by Mike Holmes, one of the crop-sharing members. He's keen to emphasise that it's still very much a work in progress and welcomes any suggestions for improvements on wch AT michaelh.org.uk. The latest newsletter from the project can be viewed here on our blog.
In took us a while to realise, but in late September of this year, North West Leicestershire district council followed in the footsteps of Leicestershire County Council by passing a motion recognising peak oil and the Transition movement. Read about it on our blogsite here.
Our ongoing work to develop a project to enable people in Leicester to support each other in small groups to reduce their carbon emissions received a boost in the past month, where we were awarded £1000 of funding from Transition Town Totnes and access to the materials they've put together for their Transition Together project. Our own project is aiming to start in April next year - drop a line to Zina on zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk if you'd like to help make it happen.
For anyone that uses Facebook, you can now find Transition Leicester events regularly listed on our group's page thanks to Linda Faulkner's efforts. You can join our Facebook group here (there's no Transition Twittering planned as yet...).
2. Future Transition Events
We've got several dates for your diary here - pens at the ready!
Our next Transition Leicester Cafe will be on Saturday 21st November, from 12pm to 4pm in the Bishop St Methodist Church foyer. November's Cafe will feature a Book Swap: if you have any books more or less loosely related to Transition themes or any other printed publication you'd like to pass on to other people, please bring it along and swap it for something else that you'd fancy reading. There will also be an opportunity to take part in craft activities suitable for the whole family using recycled materials.
On Friday December 11th we're organising a showing of the film "Home" - a beautiful homage to life on planet Earth and the story of the critical juncture humanity finds itself at now. The film is based on lots of incredible aerial footage, shot by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (creator of "The Earth From the Air"), of different landscapes and settlements on Earth. This event will take place from 7pm until 9.15pm at the new "Arts Organisation" independent arts centre on Humberstone Gate (between Charles St and Rutland St). The film lasts for 90 minutes (going on from around 7.15pm), and the Arts Organisation cafe will be open for drinks before and after the film.
Our final cafe event of 2009 will take place on Saturday 19th December from 11.30am to 3.30pm in Bishop St Methodist Church foyer. As well as the usual offering of food, the library and info on getting involved with Transition Leicester, we're also going to have a jam-preserves-and-chutneys swap, a wreath-making workshop, an end of year raffle draw and (hopefully) some live seasonal music to make us feel cosy and festive. More info is available on our blogsite here and on the attached poster (please do print out some copies and put them up in your workplace/local takeaway/living room window).
Raffle tickets for the December cafe draw will be on sale at the November cafe and our film night on Dec 11th - prizes including homemade cake, apple juice, apple and blackberry juice, spiced elderberry cordial, apple wine vinegar, and a beautiful children's book of tree stories from the Apple Day storyteller. If you'd like to take on selling some tickets for the raffle, contact Zina on zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk.
At the cafe in January 2010 (on Saturday January 16th), we'll be having our annual TGM event - a chance to Take stock, Get together and Make plans for the year ahead. We'll send some more info out asking for your ideas and summarising what we've been up to during the past year over the next month - for now stick the date in your diary, as we'd love lots of people able to come along.
As we move into the new year, we're hoping to be able to put on monthly small events (things like film showings, talks and discussions), and occasional bigger, themed events (like our Be-Spoked! and Apple Day events), but to make this possible we could do with finding more people with a passion for event-organising to help make that happen. If you're keen to get some experience of organising and promoting events, or have some issue you feel passionate about that you'd like to take on organising an event around, then please get in touch!
3. Getting involved
We're trying to make it easier for people to get involved with Transition in Leicester, and to that end Louise Hall has put together a list of specific volunteer roles (some big, some small) that we'd love to fill. Take a look on our website here and see if there's anything you'd like to help with.
In general, if you'd like to get involved, then contact Louise for a chat on louisemhall AT ntlworld.com, or call 0116 2677007. Louise will also be on hand at our cafe on November 21st from 12pm to 2pm to talk to any prospective volunteers.
4. Other local events
For any local farmers or landowners, Forum For a Future are organising an event on renewable energy that could be of interest...
WORKSHOP - 'THE BUSINESS CASE FOR INVESTING IN RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR FARMERS AND LAND MANAGERS'. 2nd December 2009: Burrough Court, Melton Mowbray. Renewable energy generation can offer a significant source of farm income, but with the Leicestershire region currently ranked the third lowest in England for renewable energy generation, farmers could be missing a business opportunity. The event will explore a range of renewable energy options including wind, solar PV, and biomass. Attendees will learn about the technologies available, securing planning permission and financing the project. Attendees will also learn about the financial incentives, including feed-in-tariffs and RDPE grant funding. There will be a number of opportunities to network with the experts and other farmers, as well as two farm walks (one on biomass and one on wind) which will explore how the technologies are used in practice. The workshop is free and lunch and refreshments are included. To register, please call 0207 7324 3637 or email farming AT forumforthefuture.org.
There will also be an event taking place at the Conkers visitor centre in the National Forest on Saturday 28th November, where the online resource http://www.conkertu.com will be launched. This will be the web presence for the "first ever 'Tweet up' on sustainable living", which will be sharing information on "hyperlocal examples of sustainable living". There will be activities for all ages taking place throughout the day and all manner of guest speakers in attendance, so do go along, if only to find out what a Tweet-up on sustainable living is!
The Ecohouse (on Hinckley Road in Leicester) would like to share with you that they've got lots of green gifts available in their shop in the run up to Christmas (including the new Transition book "Local food" on how to set up local food projects). They're also organising a workshop on Sunday December 6th on making green christmas decorations for the home using things you can find in the garden. Check out their website for more info.
For anyone involved in community or adult education, NIACE are organising a training event on how to incorporate action on climate change and sustainability into your work on December 15th. More info here.
5. Copenhagen and other news
The prospects for a strong agreement at the Copenhagen climate talks are not looking good at the moment (for example see here.), but past experience has shown that the more pressure politicians feel in the run up to events like this, the more likely it is that a stronger agreement will emerge.
So, don't forget the chances coming up to campaign for a positive outcome: a demonstration in Leicester on Saturday 28th November, from 12pm at the Clock Tower (organised by Leicester Make Poverty History), and the big Wave protest in London on Saturday December 5th (with Leicester Friends of the Earth organising the coach down - contact Pete Fisher on pffisher AT ntlworld.com or 0116 212 8120 to book a ticket (£15 waged, £5 unwaged)).
Leicester Cathedral will be holding a vigil every day during the climate talks and inviting people from local groups and organisations to light a candle each day to wish for a positive outcome. Transition Leicester were invited to take part, and Anne Scott will be doing the honours on our behalf.
You might have heard the news story about Boris Johnson rescuing a woman from being mugged in London whilst cycling home on his bike, but you might not have heard about who it was that he saved or the implications for the 10:10 campaign (aiming to reduce UK carbon emissions by 10% by 2010. Check out a short BBC news video on the incredible story here.
Peak Oil was in the news, as it always is when the International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes its world energy outlook (a document the UK Government refers to when justifying its view that there is little reason to be concerned about the peak oil issue). News stories over the past few weeks have provided more evidence that the IEA figures seem to be overstated - see here.
On a local front, two stories are of interest as far as nature conservation goes. The proposals to build new sporting facilities on part of Aylestone Meadows and the campaign against it and the request from the Woodland Trust for people to keep an eye out for local wildlife and record what they see.
6. Good news!
This week we've got (at least) two thing to celebrate in Leicester, as far as tackling climate change in our city goes. First of all, Tuesday saw the opening of a new building at Coleman school with all manner of exciting sustainable features, including strawbale-insulated walls, a ground source heat pump providing heating a solar photovoltaic panels providing electricity. More info about it can be found here.
Also, hot off the press today is Forum For the Futures Sustainable Cities Index, which ranks the 20 biggest cities in the UK in a sustainability league table. The good news for Leicester is that it came fourth in the ranking, up from 8th last year and 14th in 2007. The report and results can be viewed here. As far as the particular categories used goes, Leicester came joint third in terms of its natural environment and had the lowest per capita ecological footprint of all the cities. On the other hand, it was second to last in terms of air quality, bottom for education and near the bottom for employment and health, so there's still plenty of scope for improvement.
7. Recommended reading
First of all, there's news of two important new reports (courtesy of the excellent "Oil Depletion Analysis Centre" mailing list)...
In its excellent "Heads in the Sand" report, which was two years in the making, Global Witness provides one of the clearest summaries of the peak oil issue to date. Download the report here.
The second report, "The Great Transition" by the New Economics Foundation (nef), is "a bold attempt at a roadmap for the UK to address the issues of peak oil, climate change and ecosystem pressure’. The approach, which borrows heavily from the Transition movement in terms of method and language, is an attempt to design a workable response to the challenges, with a focus on equity and a rebalancing of values. You can download it here.
Energy expert Richard Heinberg consistently produces thoughtful short essays on our current situation in his monthly blog Museletter, and this month is no exception. Check out his November issue with some interesting thoughts on how the different framings people use to think about climate change effects how we respond to it, and how denial emerges as one of our many coping strategies when dealing with difficult information.
What would a Transition School look like? Here's a short magazine article that takes a first attempt at considering that question.
The new green lifestyle magazine Inspired Times included features on Transition Towns and peak oil in its second issue. Read more about it here (though you need to get hold of the magazine to check out the full articles).
When we discuss climate change, its common to talk about the idea of crossing "tipping points", after which we run the risk of the Earth system shifting irreversibly to another stable state (for example six degrees warmer than the present day) that would be likely to make it very hard for much of life on Earth to survive. Some fascinating new academic research by the Stockholm Resilience centre has tried to identify what "planetary boundaries" exist that we'd do well to avoid crossing, and points towards climate change as one of nine. Read all about it here.
A feature in this month's World Watch magazine has made a strong case for people eating a less meat-based diet by conducting new analysis that argues that livestock and their byproducts are responsible for a whopping 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Check out their arguments here.
8. Link of the month
The "Links" page on our website contains a fantastic amount of links to projects and organisations that relate to Transition Leicester's work, both locally and around the UK (you can find it here. Do take a look if you've not checked it out before, and if you know of something that should be there, but isn't, let us know! Here's a featured Link for this month...
The Low-Impact Living Initiative (LILI) is a non-profit organisation based at the Redfield Community in Buckinghamshire, which runs lots of great hands-on short training courses on many aspects of sustainable living (e.g. low impact building, making biodiesel). They're in particular need of support at the moment after a recent theft deprived them of much of their funds, so if you’d like to help put this wonderful, worthwhile organisation back on its feet take a look at their website and consider supporting them (for example by booking onto a course, or reserving a place on a course as a gift for a friend).
9. Tip of the month
Here's a useful tip from Sarah Higginson... In case you’d like to offset the impact of searching for information on the internet, here are a couple of green search engines you might like to try instead of Google (the first is actually operated by Google so will be similarly powerful): http://uk.znout.org or http://uk.forestle.org.
If you'd like to share at tip through the newsletter (particularly seasonal tips - any ideas for December anyone?), then drop us a line!
1. Transition Leicester update
With apple season in full swing, many Transitioners have been busy working with our locally-made apple press to make juice over the past month. You can check out the full story (with photos) of one household's experience of using the press here, including the fascinating results of calculating the carbon footprint of a day's juicing and comparing it to the carbon footprint of fruit smoothies you get in the shops.
Doug and Andrew from the steering group recently met with the sustainability team at the city council to discuss ideas for bidding for funds from the Government's new Low Carbon Communities fund which makes up to £500,000 available for low-carbon infrastructure in existing communities (read about it here). The main idea we put forward was doing eco-retrofits of some typical Victorian Leicester terraced houses. If you'd be interested in doing that in your area, or if you've got any other ideas for things to bid for, then drop us a line!
We've also been busy as ever over the last month with talks, workshops and stalls - including at the Action for Market Towns national conference in Melton Mowbray, at the Newarke Houses Museum Big Switch Off event and at a meeting of a new community group looking to find a sustainable use for the old St Marys Allotment site.
Many people are still hard at work on our Community Supported Agriculture project, and they're still really keen for more people to get involved - with anything from digging to writing funding proposals. Check out the latest newsletter here.
A number of climate change events took place in the city in the past month, and Aylestone Transitioner Andy Brooks has penned reviews of two of them which can be found on our blogsite at the links below: East Midlands Expo, Climate Change Question Time.
2. Upcoming Transition events
I hope you won't need reminding about our next big event... the Transition Leicester Apple Day, which will take place on Saturday 31st October from 10am-5pm at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Road, Clarendon Park, Leicester. Please do come, and bring your friends!
At the Apple Day, there will be:
- apple-centered writing, printing, and music workshops and apple games,
- juice making with the new Transition Leicester apple press,
- homemade apple food and recipes (if you'd like to make apple food for this contact Zina on 0116 253 1649),
- displays and exhibitions and information,
- apple poetry and prose and childrens books (bring your favourite apple poems, childrens books and marked passages in books to make this stall work)
- someone to identify your apples if you don't know what they are (you need to bring 3 apples with stem and leaf for this)
- If you have apples going to waste bring them with you and add them to the juicing.
More info here.
For anyone in the mood for some practical action, our next Community Supported Agriculture project work day will be on Sunday 15th November from 10 'til 4. It's going to be a "Mulch-a-thon" In the small field: putting down layers of cardboard and straw plus some horse manure to suppress the weeds and improve the soil over the winter months. Meet at the Strawberry tearooms at Whetstone Pastures. It may be worth pointing out that at this stage of the project (and until Feb 2010) everyone is working voluntarily, and it can be of great help as well as moral support if more people could spare the odd hour here and there to get involved in some of the setting up work. Contact Dani Pattuzzi at pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk for more info.
On Saturday October 24th, the event "Climate Change and the challenge for Religions" will be taking place (info on how to register here. Emily Hodgkinson from the Transition Leicester steering group will be leading a workshop at the event on the psychology of our responses to climate change.
For anyone who wants to get more involved with Transition groups in Leicester, there will be a 2-day fundamentals course for those wishing to know how to set up, run, and maintain a successful Transition Initiative. The course will be held in Derby on Sat & Sun 23rd & 24th Jan 2010. Further info can be found on the Transition Derby website. Also, contact Transition Leicester if you're interested (info AT transitionleicester.org.uk), as we could be able to help participants out with bursaries to cover costs if they're needed.
3. News from other local organisations
Firstly a reminder from Leicester Friends of the Earth about their meeting on Tuesday 20th October, where they are inviting any local people or groups with an interest in mobilising for the Copenhagen climate talks to get together to discuss action we can take in Leicester. The meeting will be at the Adult Eduction Centre on Wellington St, from 7.30pm.
From the city council, we have an invitation for people to attend the next Cycle-city Workshop - a monthly meeting for anyone with a stake in improving the conditions for cycling in Leicester. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 21st October from 5pm at the Town Hall, and on the agenda will be organising events to create a long-term vision for cycling in Leicester.
We also have news about two upcoming Farmers' Markets. First, we have the exciting news that at long last there will be a dedicated Farmers' Market happening in Leicester City Centre, organised by Leicestershire Food Links. It'll be happening on Thursday 5th November 2009 from 10am to 4pm in Humberstone Gate. Transition Leicester's Food Group will be there making apple juice (contact us if you'd like to help out on the stall), and Morsbags with be there with their incredible handmade bags. (If anyone has any spare natural materials – old cotton curtains, duvet covers etc, bring them along so they can be used to make more free Morsbags. For more info see here.
We also want to give a shout out for Blaby Farmers Market, which happens on the 4th Saturday of the month, 9am-1.30pm in the Blaby and District Social Centre car park, Leicester Road, Blaby. Come and buy locally produced food direct from the producer, meats, breads and vegetables are organic, there is trout, ostrich meat, cakes and preserves as well as hand made chemical free soap items, hot soups, light refreshments and local crafts in the hall. Only a short cycle ride from Leicester.
From Leicestershire County Council, we have some info to share about sustainable transport... the Council has put together a new Travel Planning and Green Access web site, which you can visit here. Their top travel tips leaflet can be downloaded here. They've also put together a leaflet for local employers called 'Ways to Work' with examples of what some leading Leicester/Leicestershire employers are already doing to encourage their staff to travel more sustainably - see it here.
From De Montfort Uni, we have news of two interesting talks coming up. Firstly, a talk on Carbon Trading called "Reducing and Trading Emissions" by Myfanwy Price-Jones, the director of CarbonAided. Is it a vitally important tool to reduce global emissions or a load of hot air? Find out on Wednesday 21 October 2009, from 1pm to 2pm in Lecture Theatre Q1.10 in the Queens Building. All are welcome to attend. For further information contact Greig Mill at gmill AT dmu.ac.uk. A second forthcoming talk will be a lecture delivered by Tony Wray, Chief Executive of Severn Trent Water, entitled "Severn Trent Water: Sustainable Futures". This event will take place in room 1.10 of the Queens Building, De Montfort University, Mill Lane, Leicester, with tea and coffee available from 5.30pm. Lecture from 6.30pm. To register, contact the DMU Events Office ASAP on 0116 257 7452 or by email at eventsoffice AT dmu.ac.uk.
The pro-wind alliance would like to report that the Gartree wind power co-op (seeking to develop a 3-turbine wind farm near Market Harborough) has just submitted its plans for planning permission (more info here). Support at this stage is vital - visit the pro-wind alliance website to find out more about what you can do to help.
Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire have two interesting events coming up. For kids there's their half-term nature photography event, taking place in the Ecohouse garden on Sat 24th and Sun 25th October, 11am - 4pm. Cost is £2 per person, bring a camera, and you can have your pictures printed out and framed at no cost on the same day. Also a reminder that the EcoHouse's Organic Gardening Course, which consists of nine two hours sessions run over nine months, starts again on Sunday 15th November at 2pm and costs £45 for the whole course or £6 per individual session. Contact Caroline Harmon for more info: 0116 222 0258
4. Climate march news
The day of action in London on Saturday 5th December to call for a strong climate deal in Copenhagen is really shaping up, and there are now going to be several coaches going down from Leicester on the day.
The highlights of the day include:
Climate Emergency Bike Ride: Assemble 10am at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Finishing at the Climate Emergency Rally.
Climate Emergency Rally: 12 noon Speakers Corner, Hyde Park
The Wave: March organised by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition leaving Grosvenor Square at 1.15pm to surround Parliament for “The Wave” at 3.00pm, ending by 4.30pm. More info here.
Leicester Friends of the Earth have organised a coach to the march and they'd like to invite you all to come: “On Saturday 5 December 2009, ahead of the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life will flow through the streets of London to demonstrate their support for a safe climate future for all. The Wave is organised by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.” Come with us to join in the march and be counted. Coach to the Wave march departs 8:00am Saturday 5th December, outside the Secular Hall, Humberstone Gate, Leicester City Centre and returns after the march. Tickets £15 waged, £5 unwaged. To book your seat contact Pete Fisher: pffisher AT ntlworld.com or 0116 212 8120."
The Co-operative Society has also organised a coach from Leicester, which costs £10 leaves at 8am and returns for 8pm. This is only open to members of the Coop or members of Oxfam (but it's simple enough to join the co-op beforehand). More info here.
5. Other Transition-related news.
There was lots of media coverage of Peak Oil over the past few weeks as the UK's Energy Research Centre (UKERC) released a report on the subject which claimed that "a peak of conventional oil production before 2030 appears likely" and "there is a significant risk of a peak in conventional oil production before 2020." You can read the report here and a summary of its findings and some commentary on it by Peak Oil author David Strahan here.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, recently gave a keynote speech on his thoughts on the environmental crisis, much of which resonates with the approach of the Transition movement (see exert below). You can read (or listen to) the full speech here.
“Many of the things which have moved us towards ecological disaster have been distortions in our sense of who and what we are, and their overall effect has been to isolate us more and more from the reality we’re part of. Our response to the crisis needs to be, in the most basic sense, a reality check, a re-acquaintance with the facts of our interdependence within the material world and a rediscovery of our responsibility for it.”
There are two new food-related items to share. Firstly, a new Transition book has been released - called Local Food: How to make it happen in your community, full of practical tips on how to set up local food projects. You can read more about it here. Secondly, this month saw the launch of a new organisation called Climate Friendly Food. Their website boasts the first on-line farm carbon calculator, which is free to use, is for farms and gardens (and can even be used for home gardens), so you can find out how much CO2 your own garden absorbs every year!
For anyone who dreams of developing a renewable energy project in their community, the Energy Saving Trust has just launched a new project called Green Communities to help you - info here. The project offers free training and advice focused on project planning and funding, technical support and a website packed with resources.
Finally, to help lighten some of the gloom we might feel when we think about environmental problems, the New Scientist magazine has collected together some environmental good news stories. Check them out here.
1. Be-spoked! posters and photos
Our Be-spoked! cycling event on Saturday was a big success and great fun for all involved. You can read the Leicester Mercury's coverage of the event here and see photos from the ride here. We'll have a short film of the ride ready by the time of the October newsletter - it'll be added to the Be-spoked! page on our website as soon as we have it.
The search is now on to find venues around the Leicester area to display our Be-spoked poster exhibition (6 beautiful A1 posters of local people on special bikes which can be viewed online here). Drop us a line (to info@transitionleicester.org.uk) if you have ideas for where it could go next, or if your organisation could host the exhibition.
2. News from Transition groups and projects
First of all a message from the newly-formed Transition Leicester Transport Group... "The Transport Group held a first meeting on Saturday 19 September 2009 at the Transition Café, during European ‘In Town Without My Car Weekend’. Starting after the Be-Spoked bike event had returned to Bishop Street, riders were invited to join the lively discussion about “Commuting to Leicester in 2020: One group One focus One journey” and contribute their inspirations. Eleven Transition folk have now joined the Group and there are still opportunities to link into the Group by e-mail at: andycbt2000 AT mail2web.com (“TRANSITION TRANSPORT” header please). The next meeting on this 11-year journey is on Saturday 16 January 2010 at the Transition Cafe, Bishop Street Foyer. All welcome to listen and contribute. More details to come."
The Food Group's Community Supported Agriculture project "Whetstone Community Harvest" is looking for members to sign up to support the project. You can read more about the project and membership on our blog here.
Andy Brooks of the fledgling Transition group in Aylestone and Glen Parva invites you to join him at the Kings Lock Tea Rooms (by the canal near Aylestone) on Sunday 18th October for some Transition-related conversation. From 12pm to 3pm, you're invited to bring seeds along to a saved-seeds-seed-swap, and from 2pm-3pm you're invited to join a discussion over a cup of tea about what peak oil means for life in the local area. Contact Andy on andycbt2000 AT mail2web.com for more info.
3. Transition workdays
Transition workdays are days when everyone is welcome to get together and work on Transition projects in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere - whether you've got something you're working on already, or whether you're new to Transition Leicester and would like to help with some tasks that are already underway. The next three workdays will be at 20 Ingle Street, Leicester, LE3 9FS from 11am to 6pm and are taking place on Sunday 27th September; Sunday 18th October; Sunday 22nd November. To find out more about the idea, take a look here.
4. Upcoming climate events
There's an astonishing amount of climate change activity coming up, as more and more people are working to demand strong action from the world's governments in the forthcoming Copenhagen climate talks. In date order we have...
The Dean and Bishop of Leicester would like to invite you to: "Climate Change, Are There any Green Solutions for our Communities?" Friday 2nd October, 6pm at Leicester Cathedral. This will be a panel discussion event, with elected members of our communities including Roger Helmer MEP, Patricia Hewitt MP, Andy Reed MP, Cllr Ross Willmott Leader of Leicester City Council, and Paul Brannan Head of Campaigns Christian Aid. If you would like to attend, please contact Mrs Pat English before September 28th at Church House, St Martin’s East, Leicester LE1 5FX, Email: Pat.English AT LecCofE.org, tel: 0116 248 7424.
NASA climate scientist James Hansen stated earlier this year “Coal-fired power stations are death factories. Close them” (see here for his explanation why. The Climate Camp is organising its Great Climate Swoop on the 17th and 18th of October at Ratcliffe on Soar power station to try and do just that. Take a look here for more info on getting involved.
Leicester Friends of the Earth, would like to invite all organisations and individuals who want to help with mobilisation for the Copenhagen climate talks (or with the organisation of local demonstrations) to their next meeting, on Tuesday 20th of October, to discuss what we can do. The meeting will be at 7.30pm, at Wellington Street Adult Education Centre.
"Climate Change and the Challenge for Religions" is a a day conference that is being organised by Leicester Council of Faiths and the World Congress of Faiths with St. Philip’s Centre. It will take place from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 24th October 2009 at John Foster Hall, Manor Rd, Leicester LE2 2LG. Transition Leicester will be there with a workshop exploring the psychology of our responses to climate change. To register your interest, contact conference AT stphilipsleicester.co.uk, and to get more info, look here
or call Alan Race on (0116) 273 3459.
Finally, a trailer for some forthcoming climate discussions led by Glen Parva Transitioner Andy Brooks: Andy is planning a series of mid afternoon, city centre, drop-in daily discussions, under the banner “100 Little Conversations to Save The Planet”. The idea is for people to meet up at a city centre cafe, bring newspaper clips, website extracts, copies of blogs and anything else about climate change topics in the round, to discuss over a cup of tea. If you're interested in coming along or in anchoring one or more of the daily discussions on your ‘pet subject’ or expertise (anything from Milankovitch Cycles to Hadley Centre Projections) then please e-mail: andycbt2000 AT mail2web.com (“TEATASTERS” header please).
5. More upcoming events
East Midlands EXPO 2009 - Greening the Economy. Thursday 8th October: The Walkers Stadium, Leicester. 9.30am - 4pm. EXPO in the East Midlands is an annual free event focusing on sustainability. It provides an opportunity to see how we can achieve our vision of a vibrant economy that values all our people and protects and enhances our environment locally and globally. To find out more and register, go here.
Willow Basketry workshop at the Green Place, Sileby. Saturday 17th October 10am- 4pm. A workshop for people with little or no basketry experience to spend a day learning the basic techniques necessary to make your own traditional round based willow basket. For more information or to book your place, look here. For more info on the Green Place, go here.
Groundwork's Ecohouse Organic Gardening Course will be starting its new season shortly. You can go along to a free introduction session on Sunday 18th October, and find out about joining the course which involves monthly sessions until July 2010. For more information about the Organic Gardening Course, take a look here or contact Groundwork on 0116 222 0258, or at ecohouse AT gwll.org.uk.
For anyone interested in campaigning for better cycling provision, the first national CTC Right to Ride conference is the place to be, and it'll be happening in Leicester at the Town Hall on Saturday 17th October. This conference seeks to help campaigners develop their skills to understand and influence local councils and use the media. You can book your place online here (you'll have to become a CTC member first if you're not already.
Moving further afield and into the territory of economics, on Saturday 26th September, a national conference of Quakers in the UK will be addressing the topic : 'A Zero Growth Economy? What would it mean for us all?' . This will be at the Friends House, Euston Road, London. If you are interested in attending the conference, further details can be found here. Tickets for the day are £20 (£5 concessions).
6. In the news
There was a huge amount of coverage of Transition Brixton's launch of the Brixton pound (including on Radio Leicester!). Read some of it here and watch a short youtube film of the event here.
One of the main messages of the Transition movement is that in the coming years we're likely to need a "Great Reskilling" - to relearn many of the basic skills that our grandparents would have taken for granted and that will become more important as we have begin to live more sustainable lives. The Soil Association has been hard at work on this issue, and has recently conducted a survey, that most people agree with this message, but lack the confidence to do things like "growing their own" or keeping their own animals (see here). They're working on solutions though, through an idea they're calling Organic Farm Schools, which are scattered all around the country (including one in Leicestershire) and will be running courses to teach these kinds of skills - read more here.
Transition is also all about generating positive visions of a future in which we successfully address climate change and peak oil, so that we've got something tangible and exciting to work towards. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has recently set out "an inspiring and optimistic vision for the future of the English countryside, describing the countryside CPRE wants to see in 2026, the charity's centenary year. The Vision - produced after wide consultation - pictures a countryside in 2026 that is used and valued by everyone, helping create a healthier, less stressed nation where people are in tune with the environment and aware of their impact on it". Read it here.
A new website, Climate Answers has been launched this year to present the climate change issues in a clear, accessible and unbiased way. Take a look here to find out more.
Finally, and on a much sadder note, this Friday (September 25th) will be "Earth Overshoot Day". This is the day that humanity will have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering carbon dioxide to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can provide this year, according to data from Global Footprint Network (GFN), a research organization that measures how much nature we have, how much we use, and who uses what. Further information can be found on the GFN website http://www.footprintnetwork.org and a useful background sheet providing facts and figures can be found here.
7. Contributing to future newsletters
Finally, a quick reminder that if you'd like to include anything in the Transition Leicester newsletter, drop a line to Andrew on reevesie AT gmail.com - it normally goes out around the 20th of each month. We're compiling a list of any people or organisations who are likely to often want to promote events through the newsletter - we'll drop you a line a week before it goes out to check with you if you'd like to submit something. Email us if you'd like adding to that list.
1. Transition Cafe is back, and bigger than ever
We've got an exciting weekend ahead, with the return of the Transition Leicester Cafe after its summer break, and lots of things happening there. The cafe will be at its usual home, the foyer of Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square, on Saturday 19th September (3rd saturday in the month, as usual), from 11am to 4pm. Drinks and locally made food will be on sale for 50p a go, you can borrow books and DVDs from our Transition Library, and it's a great chance to get to know people involved in Transition Leicester and learn more about what's happening.
This month, the cafe will feature our Be-spoked! exhibition, promoting some of the less well-known ways of getting around town by bike. We've put together a beautiful poster display featuring local people using a variety of exciting bikes to get around (bikes with trailers; bikes with child seats; electric bikes...), we'll have a cycling expert from Leicester City Council's Bike It! team on hand, who can tell you all about cycling with children and cycle training, and we'll have the Be-spoked! bike ride itself - heading off around Leicester city centre at 12pm (if you'd like to join us go here to register. Be-spoked will be delivering items to the Red Cross appeal for local destitute Asylum Seekers (any tinned/dried foods, toiletries and household goods welcome) - if you'd like to donate something for us to deliver by bike, drop it off at the Cafe before 11.45am.
As part of the cafe, our Food Group are following up the positive experiences of seed and plant swaps earlier in the year and organising a Produce Swap. If you have an abundance of some fruit or veggies that you're struggling to deal with, then bring them along and swap them with something else that you don't have so much of - this will happen from 12.30 'til 3.30pm.
From 1.30pm for 3pm for sustainable transport enthusiasts, there will be a Transition Leicester Transport Group discussion - called Commuting to Leicester in 2020. Get together over a cup of tea to share your ideas and visions on how we can get around in a low-carbon and resilient way in the future. Trams? Bikes? Electric cars? More walking? Come along and share your ideas!
The cafe is also the perfect place to come if you're thinking about getting involved in Transition Leicester - we'll have a list of jobs and roles on display that we're looking to find people to take on, and Louise Hall from our steering group will be on hand to talk to anyone who'd like to get involved about how they can follow their passions and interests by doing work under the Transition Leicester banner. If you can't make it to the cafe, you can contact Louise on louisemhall AT ntlworld.com to arrange to have a chat (in person or over the phone) about the best way for you to get involved.
2. Many apple days!
We're very excited to share information about not one, but three Apple Day events happening in Leicester in October to celebrate one of our favourite fruits. The Transition Leicester Apple Day will be on Saturday October 31st from 10am to 5pm at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Road in Leicester, and will have lots and lots of apple-related things going on for all ages... Apple tasting; apple juice making (bring apples!); apple-based songs and stories and loads more - go here for more info.
To link in with Apple Day, our Food Group has produced a very exciting and beautiful Apple Cook Book, which is just hot off the presses - it'll be available to buy for the first time this saturday at the Transition Leicester Cafe (and at the Belgrave Hall Good Food Fair) for just £5, and would make a great gift for any apple-lover.
Our new Leicester-made Apple Press has leapt into action over the past few weeks, with many Leicester Transitioners busy making apple juice. Shares are still available if you'd like to borrow the press and pasteuriser and spend a day or two this year (and next year and the year after) making your own apple juice - contact Zina Zelter on 0116 2531649 or zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk to buy a share or find out more.
We still need lots of volunteer help to help make our Apple Day projects happen: some roles we need to fill include promoting our apple press and managing bookings, sourcing bottles for our Apple Day (we need lots of glass bottles with jam jar style lids), and sourcing apples to make juice. In fact, if you know of any abundant local apple trees that are going unpicked, we want to hear from you! Contact Zina using the details above if you can help.
Let's not forget the other local Apple Days taking place in October... the Franklin Park Community Orchard Apple Day will take place on Saturday 3rd October 2009 from 1pm to 4pm in Braunstone Town - more info here and the Brocks Hill Apple Day will happen from 11am 'til 4pm on Sunday 11th October at Brocks Hill Country Park, with a focus on Leicestershire Apples and apple identification (more info here).
3. Transition Leicester Update and forthcoming events
The past month has been a busy one behind the scenes, with the steering group working on strategies for making it easier for people to get involved, and on developing our aims, principles and priorities for the future - we'll be sharing our ideas and asking for your input on all of this soon. You might have also heard Andrew Reeves from the steering group appearing on Radio Leicester's breakfast show twice in the past month - talking about energy efficient lightbulbs and local currencies. The carbon reduction group are still working hard to develop a project along the lines of Carbon Conversations (see here), which you'll here much more about over the coming year - get in touch if you'd like to help make this happen. Meanwhile, members of the food group are still hard at work on the Whetstone Pastures Community Supported Agriculture project.
Around the corner, the Food Group will be having an open meeting to discuss its shape, structure and future priorities on Monday September 28th. This will be at 20 Ingle Street, Leicester (LE3 9FS) - starting at 7pm prompt, though please come earlier and bring vegan food to share from 6pm. All are welcome, especially people who've not been to a food group meeting before. If you intend to come, or if you'd like to find out more, contact Zina on zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk, or by calling 0116 2531649.
From November, we'll be organising a series of monthly events, with plans for film showings, talks and workshops up our sleeves. If organsing and promoting events is something you'd like to get experience of, then drop a line to Andrew on reevesie@gmail.com to get involved with making this happen.
4. News and events in the run-up to Copenhagen
The Copenhagen climate talks in December of this year are becoming a massive focus for activity to ensure that we get an effective international deal, and lots of things are happening, both locally and nationally.
Within Leicester, the Quakers are hosting a showing of the moving climate change film The Age of Stupid on Saturday October 10th. This will take place at 2pm at the Friends Meeting House, Queens Road, Leicester, followed by time for discussion and tea.
Another date for you diary - there's likely to be a demonstration in Leicester City Centre around lunchtime on Saturday 28th November organised by some of the many groups in the Leicester area that are active on climate change. We'll let you know more details when we have them - for now, contact Alison Skinner on beowulf48 AT btinternet.com if you'd like to find out more.
There's going to be a massive climate change demonstration in London on Saturday 5th December, to link in with the Copenhagen talks. Pete Fisher will be organising a coach (or two? or three?) down from Leicester which will leave from the city centre - contact Pete on pffisher AT ntlworld.com if you'd like to be kept abreast of what's happening with that.
5. Other local events (local food, renewable energy and more...)
Don't forget that the Belgrave Hall Good Food Fair is happening this weekend (19th and 20th September), where you can buy food from local producers (Transition Leicester's food group will be there with a stall too on both days). More info here.
Also, a quick reminder about Groundwork's forthcoming events on energy efficiency and micro-generation, all taking place at the Ecohouse on Hinckley Road... Sunday 20th September, 12pm-4pm: Energy Efficiency Fair - with advice on hand on how to save energy in your home from a variety of organisations. Sunday 4th October, 12pm-3pm: Solar thermal advice session. Pre-book a 20-minute appointment by calling 0116 222 0258. Sunday 25th October, 12pm-4pm: Energy Efficiency Advice Session: With a trained energy advisor, booking info as above.
Newarke Houses museum in Leicester is hosting an event to promote the Big Switch Off on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October, and Transition Leicester will be in attendance with a stall and workshops. Expect to find a programme of displays, talks and film showings to spread the message about energy saving.
Also, our neighbours from Transition Nottingham would like to invite us all to their second Urban Harvest Festival on Sunday 27th September at Green’s Windmill Nottingham. The event will feature workshops, local produce, info on community gardens, apple pressing advice and more: see here for details.
6. In the news (local currencies, incredible footage of glacier melting and more...)
Two more Transition initiatives in the UK have launched local currencies, which are a great way of getting people thinking about our money system and about how money flows (or doesn't flow) around local economies. For news on the Stroud Pound, take a look here, and for news on the Brixton Pound, which was launched this week, read more here.
Also on the theme of economics, many people involved in Transition initiatives have collaborated on an open letter sent to the queen, in response to her call for ideas on why no one saw the credit crunch coming. Read more about it here, and take a look at the letter in question here.
Sepember saw the launch of the 10:10 campaign, calling on individuals and organisations to commit to reducing their carbon emissions by 10% by 2010. If you've not signed up yet, join the thousands of people who have already by going here and read more about it here. If 10% doesn't sound like much to, you keep in mind that this would be just the beginning! Climate researchers have argued that to stand a good chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, we're likely to need to make that level of cuts every year over the next few decades (see here for more), which would put us on a path for reductions of more than 90% by 2030.
If you've never come across the often-incredible TED talks, you might be impressed to see this talk by James Balog, which uses time-lapse photography to make the abstract idea of glaciers melting in the arctic very real and very vivid. Go here for more info and to watch the video.
Some positive recent news was that after a two and half year planning saga, the Lammas Eco Village (one of the most low-impact developments ever put forward in recent years in the UK) has just received permission to go ahead. See here for the full account.
Finally, some food-related news: the government has launched an online discussion debating the future of food in the UK, looking at issues like "Reducing the Food System’s contribution to Climate Change","Sustainable Farming" and more. Share your views and steer the Government in the right direction by going here.
1. Cycling events: Skyride and Be-spoked!
There's just over a week to go 'til the Skyride (on Sunday 30th August), and given the number of people registered so far, it's looking like it will be the biggest mass participation bike-ride in Leicester... ever! To find out about the route and what's planned, and to register go here. Also, for any experienced cyclists living near Saffron Lane, volunteers are needed to escort a choir into Leicester City Centre at 12pm on the day of the Skyride. Contact Elizabeth on barnere AT hotmail.com if you can help. If you're on Facebook, then join the group for the Skyride and invite your friends along here. Also Look out for the Transition Leicester stall in Abbey Park on the day - we're planning some fun activities including rides on the Transition Tandem and Skyride i-spy.
Don't forget that Transition Leicester's own (smaller, but still perfectly formed) cycling event Be-spoked! will be happening on Saturday 19th September, to inspire people to get moving around the city on a variety of special and practical bikes. For more details about what's planned and to register to come along on the ride through Leicester city centre, go here.
2. Transition Leicester projects and events: talk, orchard, CSA, and more...
First of all we've got an "Introduction to Transition" talk coming up at a meeting of the Leicester Vegetarian and Vegan group. This will be on Thursday 3rd September at 7.30pm at the Friends Meeting House, Queens Road, Leicester. Members Free, Guests £2, Free Refreshments for Everyone!. A good chance for anyone who's new to the Transition idea to get a good introduction.
It looks like Transition Leicester will be helping to develop a community orchard in Leicester, to grow fruit and nut trees in one of the city's parks. As we're so excited about this (and because we'll need more help to be able to make it happen), that's going to get a whole message to itself that will follow shortly...
Saturday 19th September will see the return of our monthly Transition Cafe. This will take place from 11am to 4pm in Bishop St Methodist Church, alonside the Be-spoked! exhibition which will occupy the same venue. As part of the cafe in September, the Food Group are following up the positive experiences of seed and plant swaps earlier in the year and organising a Produce Swap. If you have an abundance of some fruit or veggies that you're struggling to deal with, then bring them along and swap them with something else that you don't have so much of. The produce swap will happen from 12.30 'til 3.30pm.
Our Community Supported Agriculture project Whetstone Community Harvest has got a new newsletter out, that you can read here. The project is currently looking for general members to pay £2 per month to support the project (see the newsletter above for more info), and is organising fortnightly workdays to help get the site ready for production. The next workday for all willing volunteers is on Saturday 22nd August from 2pm to 6pm. If you would like to come and help then please email Hilary at hilary_browne2002 AT yahoo.co.uk and she can give you more details.
As well as workdays where we can get our hands dirty, we're also launching new workdays for people involved in Transition (or anyone who'd like to get involved) to get together to do office-type tasks that relates to Transition in a fun and sociable environment. This could be anything from writing leaflets to making displays to collating booklets or anything else that needs doing. The first workday is on Monday 31st August - see here for more info and future dates.
3. Upcoming local events
On the 19th and 20th September, the Belgrave Hall Good Food Fair is on, offering a chance to buy food from local producers. More info here.
Groundwork are also organising three interesting events over the next few months about energy efficiency and micro-generation...
Sunday 20th September, 12pm-4pm: Energy Efficiency Fair - with advice on hand on how to save energy in your home from a variety of organisations. Sunday 4th October, 12pm-3pm: Solar thermal advice session. Pre-book a 20-minute appointment by calling 0116 222 0258. Sunday 25th October, 12pm-4pm: Energy Efficiency Advice Session: With a trained energy advisor, booking info as above.
4. Upcoming events happening further away
Practical Action are organising a weekend festival to celebrate and explore the ideas of E.F Schumacher, author of Small Is Beautiful. The Small Is... festival will take place from Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th September. There will be talks, workshops and information about appropriate technology, sustainable economics and the philosophy of valuing the small and the local, taking place at their base near Rugby. More info here.
Garden Organic, based in Ryton near Coventry, have a number of courses happening this autumn that could be of interest for Transitioners, including how to preserve produce from your garden/allotment and how to plan an organic garden. More info here.
Moving more further afield, in the run up to the climate talks in Copenhagen this December, there are a number of demonstrations already being planned that could be of interest...
This year's Camp for Climate Action will take place in London from August 26th until September 2nd. It offers a great chance to learn more about sustainable living and how to take direct action to protect the environment. More info here.
If you're in London for the Climate Camp, you might want to go to the latest Put People First event, which will happen on Friday 4th September, from 10am to 6pm. Put People First is a coalition of NGOs and trades unions, campaigning for green jobs, social justice and action on climate change. More info here.
With the Copenhagen climate talks happening in December, London will see what could be the biggest demonstration yet calling for strong international action on climate change, taking place on Saturday 5th December. For more info take a look here or here.
5. News from other local groups
The Pro Wind Alliance, which is a local group supported by Transition Leicester which campaigns in favour of well-thought-through wind farm proposals, has this quick update to share...
Leicester Friends of the Earth have recently launched a campaign called "Get Serious!" in support of strong action by our local council to reduce carbon emissions. For some background info on the campaign take a look here. If you'd like to support or get involved with the campaign, contact Kay Snowdon from Leicester Friends of the Earth on hippykay AT yahoo.co.uk
6. In the news: living a zero-waste life, debt free currency and more...
Leicester city council recently launched its climate change strategy. You can read an interview about it with the city council's head of environmental sustainability taken from the Leicester Mercury here.
There was also an inspiring story in the local media lately about a local recycling hero - a man from Leicester who hasn't put any rubbish in his wheelie bin for several years. Read it here.
The Government recently did a review on the country's energy security (the "Wicks Review"), which showed a shocking lack of understanding of the problem of Peak Oil. Jeremy Leggett, the boss of renewables company Solar Century and a former oil geologist, wrote this response to the review in the Financial Times.
One of the big questions that Peak Oil and the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in our food production systems throws up is to what extent we can feed ourselves using local resources. Transition Town Totnes did some research to try to answer that question, and the results can be found in the report "Can Totnes feed itself?" which you can find here.
Finally, some news about an innovative new currency project... the sustainable-economics thinktank Feasta (based in Dublin) is planning to launch the world's first debt-free electronic currency in County Kilkenny early in 2010, called the Quid. The idea behind it is that it will enable people to carry on doing business even if the conventional money system breaks down...
For more info on the project, take a look here.
7. Proof that now's the time to install solar PV in Leicester!
In the last Transition Leicester newsletter I argued that right now could be the best time ever to invest in solar PV in Leicester, because of the unique combination of the new “feed-in tariffs” (FITs), Government grants and Leicester city council grants. I've done the maths using the installation costs paid recently by someone installing solar PV in Leicester, and it seems that it can pay back in less than 9 years. Look here for more info.
1. Cycling events, and new cycling route planner
First of all, we have a date for our exciting "Be-spoked!"event, which will celebrate and promote the less-well known ways of getting around Leicester and meeting our transport needs using bikes. The aim is to show that there's a pedal-powered way of meeting most people's transport needs for journeys in the city - whether that's through bike trailers, electric bikes, folding bikes, tandems, hand-powered trikes, using baskets or panniers, or heaven-knows what else...
The event will be on Saturday 19th September, provisionally from 11am until 3pm and based at the Transition Cafe in Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square. We'll have an exhibition in the cafe and a chance to talk to people with experience of special bikes, and we'll have a mass bike ride around Leicester city centre (pencilled in for 12 noon). If you want to register your interest in going on the ride, or in contributing a picture of yourself on your Bespoke bike for the exhibition, drop a line to Andrew on reevesie AT gmail.com. If you don't already have a Bespoke bike, we'll have a number of trailers and folding bikes available to borrow on the day for the ride, or you can come on any bike you choose, so do still come and join the fun!
Also don't forget that probably the biggest mass bike ride in Leicester's history, the Skyride, will be taking place on Sunday 30th August. Go along here to sign up. Volunteer stewards are needed for the day to help make the event happen - take a look here for more info, and do consider signing up!
One other interesting piece of news for cyclists is that a new online journey planner for cycle journeys for Leicester has been launched on the Transport Direct website. You can choose either the quickest or most recreational routes to get between any two places in the city. Take a look here to get planning your next adventure.
2. Transition Leicester projects and events
Over the last two weekends we held two Open EcoHouse events, showcasing local homes with green features (more details on our website). We'll look to repeat this again in a bigger way next year - get in touch if you'd like to help make them happen.
A date for your diary - our big Apple Day event will be taking place on Saturday 31st October at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Road. You can expect to find all manner of apple-related fun for all ages (apple tastings; apple games; apple juice making; story telling; writing workshops and more...).
Our Community Supported Agriculture project is still being developed - the latest news is that growing on the Whetstone Pastures site should be starting on a small scale this autumn. You can read an update from June's planning meeting on our blogsite here and read a very positive story on the project published in the Leicester Mercury in June here.
There's an effort underway to get a local Transition group off the ground in the Aylestone and Glen Parva area, and Andy Brooks is organsing monthly events based at the Kings Lock Tea Rooms (by the canal near Aylestone) on the third sunday of each month. For details of events, contact Andy on andycbt2000 AT mail2web.com.
3. Alternative ideas for the Ecotown site
With the proposed Leicestershire Ecotown being rejected this month, it seems like a good time to start thinking about positive alternatives for using the Co-op's land in the future. From a Transition perspective, this is especially important, as we're aware that as fossil fuel availability declines over coming years and conventional farming (which relies heavily on fossil fuel inputs) will become less and less viable, we'll need to find a new sustainable use for the land that provides resources for local people.
We put forward some alternative ideas for this in a short report last year (see here), and this week we had a letter published in the Leicester Mercury inviting more discussion on positive alternatives. You can take a look at the Mercury letter and join the discussion here.
4. Low carbon Transition strategy
The Government's Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband, who claims to keep a copy of "The Transition Handbook" by his bed, launched the Governement's low-carbon transition plan last week (see here). There were lots of things to praise in the plan, though ultimately, the level of ambition for emission cuts was pretty low compared to the much greater cuts we'll need to have a good chance of avoiding the most frightening impacts of climate change (see here)
Still, it was nice to hear the recognition of the Transition movement in his talk (“we know from the Transition Towns movement the power of community action to motivate people.”, said he), and the new focus on inspiring people to act, rather than frightening them into action ("If Martin Luther King had come along and said 'I had a nightmare', people wouldn't have followed him" - instead he spoke about encouraging "green hope, not green despair"). Transition founder Rob Hopkins put together a "Transition take" on the Government's plan, which you can read on his blog Transition Culture here.
5. The best time ever to get solar panels in Leicester?
One part of the unveiling of the Low-Carbon Transition plan was the announcement that "Feed-in tariffs" will be brought in to support technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels (you'll get about 36p for each unit of electricity generated, plus more for anything exported to the grid) and a renewable heat incentive to support technologies like solar hot water. The details aren't finalised yet, but from now onwards, if you install solar panels you'll be entitled to get these payments for the next 20 years...
... this means that when you also throw in the grant support that's currently available from Leicester City Council (in 2009 only) for solar panels, this year is likely to be the best year ever to get them installed on your home in Leicester. To find out about the local solar grants (which you get on top of the Government's Low Carbon Building Programme grants!), visit the Groundwork website here (let them know that Transition sent you their way!).
6. New environmentally friendly living course in Leicester
Here's some info on a new course being put together the Worker's Educational Association...
What's your carbon footprint? How can we save energy, reduce waste and improve our recycling habits? This new course makes links between climate change and our everyday lives. Learn how global environmental issues will impact on our lives at an individual level, and what we can do to create a greener, healthier lifestyle. The course is led by Caroline Harmon, manager at EcoHouse, and will include a visit to the EcoHouse.
When? Wednesday 6.30–8.30pm, 10 meetings from 23 September Cost? £58 or FREE for people on benefits or low income Venue WEA, 101 Hinckley Road, Leicester More details? Contact Martin: WEA, 101 Hinckley Road, Leicester, LE3 0TD Tel. 0116 255 6614 Email: mhyams AT wea.org.uk
7. Rusty car pool seeking new members
Leicester's Rusty vehicle sharing group (perhaps the longest running car pool in the UK!) is on the lookout for new members. Being a member of a car pool enables you to have access to a vehicle when you need it, without needing to own a car (and pay all of the fixed costs that come with that). Members quickly find that they only use a vehicle when they really need it, so it's a great way of reducing your car usage. For some more info on how Rusty works see this (slightly out-of-date but still useful) website. If you're interested in joining, or want to find out more, contact Martin Hyams on 07932 138318 or by emailing martin960 AT hotmail.com.
8. Update on Leicestershire Council's support for Transition groups
On the 28th July, the Leicestershire County Council cabinet will be meeting to discuss the recommendations for how the council supports local Transition groups, and other community-based climate change initiatives in the county. It looks like they’re going to be pledging to provide increased support and more funding for carbon reduction projects. For much more info, see a post on our blogsite here.
9. Other local events
Here's info about a variety of environmental events coming up over the next few months...
Q67:15 Islam and the Environment, Thursday 6th August, Ramada Jarvis hotel, Leicester. Hosted by Leicester City Council and Earth Guardians, this conference is an unique opportunity to hear speakers and practitioners on the role of Islam in the environment and the instructions in the Qur’an. Halal lunch, workshops and exhibition. This event is free to attend - to reserve a place, please contact Debbie Hill on (0116) 252 6741 or email debbie.hill AT leicester.gov.uk.
Expo 2009 “Greening the Economy”, Walkers Stadium, Leicester, Thursday 8th October. Calling all businesses and organisations active in the field of low carbon technologies and solutions, do you want to: ● Promote your products and services to an already engaged customer base? ● Showcase your product in a “15 minutes of fame” presentation? ● Be part of the sustainable development event of the year? Exhibition stands are available from £50. You will benefit from an extensive regional and national media marketing campaign, and can make use of full press and media facilities.Contact Debbie Hill (details above) for more info.
Date for your diary: Tuesday 22nd September - seminar and training on green roofs. Venue: Leicester College, Freeman’s Campus. Master class workshop by leading green roofs expert Dusty Gedge. Seminar cost if £29 per person including VAT; training cost (including all equipment and materials) is £59 per person including VAT. For more info, contact Debbie Hill on (0116) 252 6741 or email debbie.hill AT leicester.gov.uk.
Big Switch Off: this year’s Big Switch Off campaign will take place from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th October and is encouraging everyone to reduce unnecessary energy consumption, e.g. by not leaving equipment on standby. If you would like to host an event in your organisation or work place, contact Leics County Council. More info is available here.
Newarke Houses museum in Leicester is hosting an event to promote the Big Switch Off on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October. Expect to find a programme of displays, talks and film showings to spread the message about energy saving.
10. Vestas occupation
In the light of the Government's plans to create thousands of new green jobs, it seems pretty crazy that the only wind turbine factory in the UK (Vestas, on the Isle of Wight), is set to close down, leading to 600 jobs being lost. This week, the workers occupied the factory and a campaign is ongoing to get the Government to intervene to save it. For more info visit the campaign website here, read about it here or watch a Channel 4 News report here.
To support the Vestas workers, there is an online petition that you can sign here, you can donate funds through the campaign website, or send message of support to savevestas AT gmail.com
11. Read this! Transition-related reading recommendations
And finally... here's a bunch of exciting and interesting Transition-related reading recommendations...
The Abundance Handbook: A guide to urban fruit harvesting is available to view on-line and download for free here. Published by Growsheffield.com, its aim is to inspire and encourage harvesting and more in 2009 and beyond!
A new academic report on how Britain could feed itself if all UK farming went organic, has argued that it could be a great way to greatly reduce emissions and the fossil fuel dependency of agriculture. As a result it could be "mainstream farming in waiting". Take a look here.
If you didn't see the powerful lecture given by Prince Charles earlier in the month on TV on future challenges for society, in which he highlighted many of the same issues stressed by the Transition movement, it's well worth taking a look at what he said. You can read the full text at the Prince's website just here. Here's a snippet which seems to show that he understands the situation we find ourselves in: "We are standing at a moment of substantial transition where we face the dual challenges of a world view and an economic system that seem to have enormous shortcomings, together with an environmental crisis – including that of climate change – which threatens to engulf us all."
A final recommendation (another talk transcript) is the talk that Transition founder Rob Hopkins will be giving today about Transition for TED talks, which is inspiring stuff and as good an introduction to the Transition movement as you could wish for.
1. Upcoming events
First of all, a quick reminder that our next Transition Cafe event will be on Saturday 20th June, from 12pm to 4pm in the foyer of the Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square. Once more, we'll be having a plant swap from 12.30 to 3.30, so bring along any plants you've got too many of, or come along to take away some plants for your garden/allotment/windowsill. More info about the cafe here.
The second event for anyone interested in food is a guided walk under the title "Farming in the village" taking place in Ashby Parva on Sunday 5th July from 10.30am, led by local historian John Goodacre from Transition Leicester's Food group. The walk will look at the history of farming in the area and the challenges for farming in the future. For more info or to register your interest, drop a line to John on johndgoodacre AT btinternet.com.
Another food-related event coming up that looks interesting is a talk organised by Leicester Vegetarian and Vegan Society on Thursday 2nd July at 7.30pm at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Road. Tony Wardle, the associate director of Viva!, will be talking about the environmental and climate change impacts of meat production, and arguing that we can help to fight climate change by going veggie. For more info contact Sue Daniels on 07786 175445 or go here.
2. Low impact building
A message from a new group forming within Transition Leicester to explore low impact building...
There is now a group of people within Transition Leicester interested in low impact building. We have some experience in strawbaling, building with cob, lime rendering and green woodworking and would like to encourage the development of low impact building techniques in Leicestershire.
We would like to contact other people who share our interest – and who might share their tools and experience. We want to compile a resource list, so if you have a shed full of froes and draw horses, etc, please get in touch. Experience in plumbing and installing alternative energy technology would also be useful information to gather together at the start of this project. Does this interest you? Please email Pam (pam AT phonecoop.coop). Fun could be had!
3. Mass family-friendly bike ride happening in Leicester!
If you didn't catch the announcement in the local media yesterday, the very exciting news for anyone in Leicester with a bike is that the city will be having a massive bike ride event - called the Skyride - on Sunday 30th August. The aim is to give people of all ages and abilities the chance to ride safely together in the city - it's a brilliant opportunity for anyone who's nervous about cycling in Leicester because of the traffic to have an inspiring, fun and safe introduction to cycling on Leicester's streets. There should be thousands of people participating, and lots of the roads in the city centre will be traffic-free for the day. To find out more, take a look here and to sign up to take part go here. The organisers will also need lots and lots of volunteer helpers to make the day a success (ride leaders, stewards, etc..), so if you're interested in helping, drop a line to cycle-city AT leicester.gov.uk
4. Calling all people with special bikes (bikes with trailers; child-seats; tandems; electric bikes...)
Another bike-related item... in the autumn we're looking to organise a short celebratory bike ride around Leicester city centre to showcase some of the less well-known ways that you can meet your transport needs in the city using pedal power.. this could mean doing your shopping with a bike trailer, cycling around with your children using a trailer or special seats / bike attachments; picking friends up from the train station using a tandem; or lots more! We'll also look to spread the message through the local media and by putting together a photo display of people with their special bikes and a paragraph or two about how it meets their needs.
We'd like to hear from anyone who could be interested in taking part (contact details and what kind of bike you use would do for now) or anyone keen to help make this project happen (would-be organisers, photographers, writers...) so that we can start making plans - drop a line to Reevesie on reevesie AT gmail.com if you're interested.
5. Transition in the media
A couple of interesting articles appeared recently in the media about the Transition movement that are worth a look... a piece from the Observer which discusses Transition as a hopeful antidote to the disallusionment with politics in the UK at the moment, and an article from the Telegraph which looks at how the two UK towns are responding to the financial crisis... one "normal" town (Chester) and one Transition town (Totnes).
6. Any other interesting things
Richard Heinberg, the American energy expert who spoke at a Transition event in Leicester at an event last year, puts out a fine monthly newsletter. The latest issue is a particularly good one and is worth a look, weaving together ideas about the economy, climate change and peak oil, and even some reasons to be cheerful...
It's fascinating to see how the ideas and language of the Transition movement are increasingly been taken up by more mainstream organisations and politicians too. An interesting example of this is a new initiative by the Sustainable Development Commission to get people talking about the idea of resilience. They've put out some short articles on resilience to get people thinking here, and are inviting people to get in touch with them with feedback
Finally, it seems worth giving a mention to the new vegetable allotment in the Buckingham Palace garden, as it's surely a fine sign of the way the wind is blowing. The plot will grow lots of heritage vegetable varieties using seeds donated by Garden Organic, and it'll be the first time that veg has been grown there since the second world war. You can watch a short film about it here.
1. Greenlife Awards success!
On Thursday last week, we were delighted and honoured to be awarded three prizes at Leicester's annual Greenlife Awards ceremony, which rewards local action on environmental issues.
Transition Leicester's entry was based upon the awareness raising work we've done over the past year, and we took away the runner-up prize for best action by a community group, the first prize for best action on climate change, and the beautiful wooden-oak-tree trophy for the overall winner. Many thanks to everyone involved with Transition whose hard work made this possible. Look out for more info on this with some pictures from the evening on our blogsite soon...
2. Grant funding for Solar Panels in Leicester
There's an incredible one-off opportunity in Leicester right now to buy solar panels for houses (to provide hot water or electricity) for a very low price, thanks to the Solar Grants Scheme put together by Groundwork in partnership with the City Council.
The grants are worth up to £2250 per household and can be combined with the nationwide "Low Carbon Buildings Programme" grant to make it really worthwhile to make the investment now. The scheme runs until the end of the year and will fund a maximum of 66 houses - some funds have already been allocated but there are still a lot of grants available. For more info, take a look here.
3. Neighbourhood groups
More and more people are contacting the steering group expressing an interest in starting a Transition group in their local neighbourhood, and we want to help make that happen by putting interested people in touch with each other so they can get talking. In particular, we've got people already interested in Knighton, Clarendon Park and Aylestone/Glen Parva. So, if you'd like to either get in touch with these folks, or meet like-minded people in your own neck of the woods, then drop us a line right now (to info AT transitionleicester.org.uk) with the following info:
the area where you live; your name; contact details (tel/email)
To get an idea of what neighbourhood groups are up to in cities, take a look at some fine examples like Sustainable Redland in Bristol, or the Beeston group in Nottingham.
4. Community supported agriculture update and meeting
We've been busy trying to create a new Community Supported Agriculture project to provide local food for Leicester, and we're looking for more people to get involved to help to make it happen. First of all, we're on the lookout for a grower - someone with an interest in the project who'd have the skills to grow veg for 20 to 40 households. We're also looking for people interested in being either a member, a shareholder (that is committing to a share of the produce by paying between £ 8 and 12 a week), a volunteer, or joining the Core Group to help develop the project.
To discuss all this, there will be an open meeting on Monday 15th of June, 7pm at the Strawberry Tea Rooms, Whetstone Pastures Farm - please come along or contact Dani on pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk for more info. For a more detailed update on what's happening and more info about the meeting, take a look here.
5. Help with Riverside Festival stall
We're looking to have a stall at Leicester's Riverside Festival on Sat 6th and Sun 7th June. We were there last year, had lots of fun, spoke to loads of people and generally enjoyed the atmosphere of this event celebrating Leicester's greatest asset. We are seeking willing volunteers to help man the stall over the two days - this will involve speaking to interested people, handing out information and being friendly. If you are interested please get in touch with Gavin at gfletcher AT gwll.org.uk, 07947 260449 and indicate when you will be available.
6. Events
Lots of events to tell you about, coming up more or less in date order...
Saturday 16th May Transition Leicester cafe, Bishop St methodist church hall. From 12pm 'til 4pm. Featuring from 12.30-3.30 - a Plant Swap - bring along plants to swap (perhaps you've grown too many tomatoes...) or come along to take plants away (if nothing germinated this year...). Also from 1.30pm - 2.30pm there will be a meeting of the Food Group, so come along if you'd like to get involved.
Tuesday 19th May An evening with Rosnara Mohanty, leading activist for Tribal forest rights in India, Madan Kirisani, Tribal community leader and Doctor of Law and Julie George, Skillshare International’s Regional Director for South Asia. At Voluntary Action Leicester, 9 Newarke Street from 7.30pm. Rosnara and Madan will be talking about how globalisation, climate change and social exclusion threaten the millions of Tribal or Adhivasi people living across India.Places are limited so contact Jonny on 0116 257 6615 jonny.gutteridge AT skillshare.org to reserve your place.
Saturday 30th May Birstall local food festival. 10am to 1pm in Birstall Village Hall. A chance to try and buy food from local producers.
Sunday 31st May Ecohouse plant sale. 2pm-4pm at the Ecohouse on Hinckley Road. Featuring organically grown veg plants herbaceous perennials and herbs, heritage varieties and oddities, all grown in peat free compost.
Tuesday 2nd June Age of Stupid film showing in Ibstock, organised by Ibstock Does Climate Change, with an expert panel featuring local politicians and green campaigners. More info here.
There are also three exciting events coming up at Whetstone Pastures just south of the city, with info on each here: De-stress day on Saturday 23rd May (featuring craft skills, alternative therapies and activities for kids); Plant fest on Sat 30th May and Sun 31st May - a chance to get advice from the experts and to buy top quality plants; Open farm day on Sunday 7th June a chance to learn about life on a farm. Watch a video about Open Farm day at Whetstone here.
7. Inspiration!
There was lots of inspiring news in this month's Transition Network newsletter (which you can find here). Two of the highlights were the news of the first Energy Descent Action Plan produced by a Transition initiative (in Forest Row - hopefully we'll have a copy for people to look at during saturday's Transition Cafe) and news about the forthcoming Transiton Movie.
For some food inspiration, check out this short youtube film on organic bread featuring local organic baker Paul Jones.
And for some cycling inspiration, check out perhaps the most awe-inspiring way of getting around a city that I've ever laid my eyes upon...
1. Upcoming events...
Our next public event will be a showing of "The Power of Community" on Sunday 3rd of May at 6pm at the Phoenix cinema. The Power of Community is an inspiring film about Cuba's incredible response to a sudden shortage of oil from the early 1990s onwards, with plenty of lessons for us in the UK. For more info about timings and tickets go here.
For anyone in or near Clarendon Park, there will be a seed and plant swap on Sunday the 26th April from 3:30 to 5pm at the Quaker Meeting House on Queens Road, Leicester. People can bring any spare seeds, seedlings or plants they've grown and swap them for some that other people have grown. Or they can come and pick up some plants or seeds and make a donation. It should also be an opportunity to chat with other gardeners, drink tea and eat cakes!
Also on Sunday 26th April, for anyone who'd rather get out of the city that day, we'll be having a Transition social gathering and picnic. Meet at 1pm at Bradgate Park by the tea rooms, or for people who fancy cycling over from Leicester, gather at 11.45am for a 12pm departure by the fountain in town hall square. Bring food to share and games to play and cross your fingers for decent weather...
2. Behind the scenes stuff...
Members of the food group has been very busy lately working on two exciting projects: creating a new community supported agriculture project to help supply local food to Leicester, and working on developing a Transition orchard somewhere in the city. There'll be more news on these projects as they come together... if you'd like to get involved with making either project happen, drop a line to Dani Pattuzzi on pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk.
Meanwhile, our group of awareness-raising speakers have been busy giving talks to organisations in the local area, including the city council's planning department, officers working on climate change at the county council, MSc students at De Montfort University and the South Knighton Community Group. Drop a line to Sallie on ogdgs AT aol.com if you'd like us to give a presentation to a group or organisation you're involved with and we'd be happy to oblige.
We also collaborated with Leicester Friends of the Earth at the end of March to offer ideas to the council on how to make use of the sustainable communities act - you can read what we submitted here. Let's hope the council opts in to use the act!
3. Sharing ideas, recipes, skills and green-featured homes...
We've got three calls for help for you...
First is a reminder about our ideas meeting on Friday 8th May from 7.30pm - a chance for anyone with ideas and energy to kick off some new practical projects under the Transition banner to get together to brainstorm and plan. Look here for more info.
Another quick reminder: we're still looking for people with green features in their home that would love to showcase them to people in Leicester through an Open House event. The kinds of things we're interested in are: Solar hot water/Solar photovoltaics/Solid wall insulation (internal or external)/Ground source heat pumps/Micro-wind turbines/Wood-burning stoves/boilers/Any other green features that you'd like to share. Drop a line to Louise on louisemhall AT aol.com if you can help.
There's also a new national scheme to encourage people to share their vegetable-growing skills that seems well worth getting involved with. The "Veg Doctor" scheme aims to link up new gardeners with those already well attuned to growing veg, ranging from gardening professionals through to allotment regulars. Read more about it here. If you'd like to get involved, either as a newbie to growing or a hardy perennial gardener, go here for more info.
Finally on a food theme, Zina from the food group is looking for recipe ideas...
Local food glut recipe books: COURGETTTES.
I’m hoping to produce a vegan recipe book each year concentrating on a vegetable which you can grow in your garden or allotment.
The first one, which I hope to produce this Summer will be about courgettes. These are incredibly easy to grow and always over produce. During the season, I find myself eating them everyday, and enjoy it – not least because I know I won’t be eating them again until the next courgette season comes round!
The aims are
- to stop vegetables being wasted when you get a glut of something
- to get people excited about growing their own food
- to get people thinking about trying to eat seasonally
- to get people to move towards more sustainable eating patterns
If you have any favourite ways of cooking courgettes (vegan or veganisable), please would you send me your recipe to put into the book.
Black and white line drawings on the theme of courgettes and courgette anecdotes would also be wonderful... and if you'd like to get involved in this project then hurrah! ring me! I need them by mid May – but the sooner the better. Contact details: zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk / 0116 2531649.
4. Things to take a look at...
There's a great new book on Transition that's just come out, The Transition Timeline by Shaun Chamberlain which explores future scenarios, brings you up to date with the science around climate change and peak oil and outlines some tools for Transition groups to explore how the future might look.
In a similar vein, Future Scenarios is the new book by David Holmgren, the co-originator of the Permaculture concept, and it's a short and accessible introduction to the impact that a change in the way we consume energy will have on our society. More info here.
There was an interesting article introducing the Transition movement and focussing on relationships between Transition initiatives and local authorities published recently here.
And finally, with the G20 summit in the news, the economy still turning resolutely downward, and the whole impossible goal of never-ending economic growth taking a justified battering, the Sustainable Development Commission have just put out a new report called "Prosperity without growth", on seizing the recession as a chance to rethink our economic goals. Read it here.
1. Another seed swap day coming up!
After the success of the seed swap session in Febuary, the food group have decided to do it again this month. So, on Saturday March 21st, come along to the Transition cafe in the foyer of Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square between 12.30pm and 3.30pm - bring along seeds to swap, or come along to take some seeds away.
2. Food group meeting
During the Transition cafe on the 21st of March, the food group will also be having their next meeting from 2pm 'til 3.30pm. If you'd like to get involved with the food group, then this would be an excellent chance to do so. Volunteers to help out with the cafe are always welcome too - just ask on the day if you'd like to help out.
3. "Age of Stupid" - new climate change film coming to Leicester
The powerful new climate change film, "The Age of Stupid" (starring Pete Postlethwaite, from the makers of "McLibel") is coming to Leicester this month. Here are some quotes about it to whet your appetite: "fantastic. knocks spots of An Inconvenient Truth" - The Ecologist; "The first successful dramatisation of climate change to hit the big screen" - The Guardian; "Every single person in the country should be forcibly made to watch this film." - Ken Livingstone. Find out more here:
As part of the nationwide simultaneous premiere, the film will be shown for one night at the Vue cinema in Leicester on Sunday 15th March at 5.30pm, with guest speakers introducing it beforehand and a live satellite link to a question and answer session with the cast and film-makers coming afterwards. To find out more and book your tickets, take a look here:
The film will also be shown at The Phoenix on Newarke Street in Leicester on 27th March, 30th March and 31st March, and Transition Leicester will be on hand with a stall and to introduce the film for some of those showings. More info about the Phoenix showings is here.
4. Ideas wanted for using the Sustainable Communities Act
We're looking to contribute some ideas to the city council on how to make use of the Sustainable Communities Act. To do that we need to come up with ideas for where central Government regulations are blocking the council from doing things that would make Leicester more sustainable (whether that's by developing local food production, improved public transport, or countless other things..). If you've got ideas, then either stick them on our blogsite here or, come along to the next Leicester Friends of the Earth meeting on Tuesday 17th March in the Adult Education Centre on Wellington Street, where we'll be talking about this issue and coming up with ideas from 8.15pm.
5. Work That Reconnects workshop
We're very excited to share the news that the Heart and Soul group have fixed a date for a workshop weekend on "The Work that Reconnects" in Leicester, which will be taking place on Saturday 27th June and Sunday 28th June.
The Work that Reconnects is a really powerful, enlightening and potentially life-changing process devised by Joanna Macy. It uses a number of group processses and activities that explore our connection with each other and the world, allowing people to safely explore and connect with their emotional responses to issues like climate change, and to turn feelings of despair into a deep source of motivation to take action. The Transition Towns concept has been described by Rob Hopkins as basically putting together Permaculture and The Work That Reconnects, so this is a great chance to learn more about this aspect of Transition.
Places are limited so book soon - for more information click here.
6. Ideas wanted for our new website
We're thinking of developing a shiny brand new website sometime soon, and we want it to work for as well as possible - so if you've got ideas about what you'd like to see on a Transition Leicester website, or about things that you think are problematic about our current set up, then leave your ideas on the thread on our blogsite here. If you're interested in helping out to develop a new website for us (likely to be done through Drupal, if you're the kind to know what that means), then drop a line to Sam at sampattuzzi AT transitionleicester.org.uk
7. Transition Network conference open for bookings!
Bookings have just this day opened for the annual get-together for people involved (or looking to get involved) in Transition initiatives. This year will be the biggest one yet, and it'll be happening at the Battersea Arts Centre in London, from friday 22nd May to sunday 24th May - more info here. If you'd like to come along you need to drop a line to conference AT transitionnetwork.org and they'll send you a booking form to complete.
8. Watch poet Matt Harvey introducing Transition
There was a very entertaining 10-minute piece on the Transition movement broadcast on the BBC in the South West a few weeks ago featuring poet Matt Harvey, and it's now available to watch on Youtube just here - why not take a look?
9. Climate Change denial explained!
If you ever find yourself frustrated that some people seem to be intent on denying that climate change is a problem despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you might find this fascinating short article by George Marshall of interest, in which he writes about why people struggle psychologically with the idea of climate change, what seems to be motivating climate change denial, and more practically, good ideas for how to communicate the issue...
1. Transition in the media
First of all we'd love to recommend an excellent documentary that was on the BBC at the weekend that beautifully puts across the Transition perspective on food issues - explaining simply how our current food production methods are totally dependent on fossil fuels, and how approaches like forest gardening and permaculture design could be great fossil-fuel-free alternatives. You can watch "A farm for the future" on the BBC's iplayer website until mid-March here , or read a bit more about it on the Transition Culture website here .
Also, if you didn't catch the Transition coverage in the local media last month, you can see the short film from BBC East Midland's Inside Out on the Transition movement (and a Peak Oil quiz!) here, and listen to a piece on Transition Leicester broadcast on the Radio Leicester breakfast show here. You can read also about the radio piece on our blogsite here.
2. News from Transition groups
The steering group is looking to put forward some ideas to Leicester City Council on the potential for using the Sustainable Communities Act, which could be a really powerful way for local communities to generate useful policy changes from central government. We've set up a page on our blogsite to explain more about what the act could be used for and to harvest ideas for using it, so do check it out and chip in if you're interested by going here.
The food group just organised a successful seed swap event at the Transition Cafe on February 21st, and it worked so well that it's going to happen again at the cafe next month on Saturday March 21st (see here for info). So, come along with seeds to share and be prepared to take all manner of exciting seeds away..
The food group are also starting to make plans for a very exciting Apple Day in October of this year. Read about our ideas for the day, contribute ideas of your own and get involved by taking a look here or contacting Zina on 0116 2531649 or emailing zinazelter AT yahoo.co.uk.
The local economy group has been exploring the idea of campaigning for a debt-free money system in advance of the G20 summit in London in early April. To find out more, have a look here or drop Martin a line on mhyams AT wea.org.uk.
Moving onto the theme of reskilling, the second Basket Weaving course (on the 7th March) is now full but anyone who's interested in giving it a go should contact Sam Woods (sam AT samanthawoods.wanadoo.co.uk) who'll look to put together course number three...
3. Local food growing workshops coming up
If the taste of spring air over the last few days has got you thinking about growing some food this year and you're after some tips, there are some useful events coming up to help you out...
Groundwork have organised a series of free gardening skills sessions at the Ecohouse on Hinckley Road over the next few months:
1st March: Allotments for Beginners
15th March: How to Grow Asian Vegetables
5th April: Growing Fruit in a Garden
26th April: Allotments for Beginners
10th May: Growing Edible Flowers
28th June: How to Grow Asian Vegetables
Pre-booking is essential, so contact Caroline Harman on 0116 2220258 to book.
Also, BTCV are helping to organise a short hands-on introduction to growing your own food for anyone keen to do this for the first time this year. This will be on Saturday 14th March from 10am - 1.30pm at Aylestone Lane Allotments, Wigston. For anyone near the West End, there's a free pickup from the BTCV office at 37 Bruce Street (LE3 OAF). For more details or to book a seat from BTCV contact Nesta on 07735 548452 or mslizard AT live.com.
4. Other local events
For anyone out in west-Leicestershire, there's a really exciting all day event coming up in Ibstock on Sunday 8th March called "(B)eat your bills!", that will combine films, talks, workshops, food and fun, all with a climate-change-solutions flavour. Look here for more info.
We've probably all heard now about the frightening declines in bee populations recently and the impact this could have on food production if they're not buzzing around and pollinating... there's a free and fun family-friendly event in Leicester called "Bee my friend" that's being organised by the British Science Association and is trying to help people support our local Bees! It's from 2 - 5 pm on Sun 8th March 2009 in the Frank May Lecture Theatre, Henry Wellcome Building, Lancaster Road, Leicester. You can get free bee-friendly flower seeds, make a free bees nest, listen to the talks on bees and watch live bees flying! More info here.
And finally, there's going to be a Farmers Market Festival in Hinckley on Thursday 19th March organised by Leicestershire Food Links, which is well worth going along to in itself, but they're looking to make it all the more fun by recruiting some local folk singers/groups who'd like to come and perform. Drop Sallie a line on ogdgs AT aol.com if you can help out, and if you're in that part of the world, do pop along.
And that's all. Enough to be going on with, I'm sure you'd agree.
1. Transition in the media: on BBC TV and radio tomorrow!
Transition will be getting a lot of local media coverage this week. On Wednesday 28th January BBC's Inside Out (7.30pm - 8pm, BBC1) will have a feature on the Transition Movement and the East Midland's local groups. You can see a preview of what's to come here and it'll be viewable through the BBC's iplayer site afterwards if you miss it.
You'll also be able to hear a piece on Transition on Radio Leicester's Breakfast Show on Wednesday morning, which (editing-permitting) might even feature some fine poetry on what the inner ring road in a more sustainable Leicester could be like 10 years from now...
Continuing the media theme, we also had a First Person piece published in the Leicester Mercury in January on the need for more people to get active working locally on climate change (and the great fulfillment this can offer!). You can read it on our website here.
2. Transition Library launched
January's Transition Cafe saw the launch of our Transition Library, which will be a fixture at all of our Transition Cafe events during 2009. The idea behind the library is that Transition Leicester members can share books/films/resources that relate to Transition issues, making useful information easier to get hold of. If you're interested in either offering to share items for the library or in borrowing items, then check out the on our website or contact William Josey (josey.william AT yahoo.co.uk).
The next Transition Cafe will be on Saturday February 21st from 12pm - 4pm (www.transitiontowns.org.uk/Leicester/Cafe).
3. New "Shop Local" campaign in Leicester Mercury
The ideas that we're putting forward through Transition are starting to become more and more mainstream. We saw this through the endorsement of the Transition movement by Leicestershire County Council last month, and this month we can see it through a new campaign led by the Leicester Mercury to support local businesses, that was launched on Monday 26th January.
The piece points out that "It has never been a more important time to buy local as traders face the struggle of an recession" and that "Shopping locally is a good idea for so many reasons. You save time and petrol, which is good for the wallet and the environment, you get to deal with friendly, familiar faces and you seem to get much better service." From the perspective of reducing emissions and having a strong, resilient local economy, this can only be a good thing, and it's great to see the Mercury getting behind this idea.
The Mercury is looking to publish readers' recommendations for great places to buy locally produced goods, so drop them a line with any ideas on newsdesk AT leicestermercury.co.uk
4. Events and action outside Leicester
Inspired by gardensharing projects organised by Transition Totnes and the Incredible Edible Todmorden project, the Landshare project has been set up to connect people with available land for food growing. If you have land that you're not using (from a garden to several acres) or if you're looking for land to grow, then you can register your interest on the site at http://landshare.channel4.com or read more here: http://www.rivercottage.net/landshare. We've already heard tell of one household in Clarendon Park in Leicester being inspired by this idea and inviting a friend to start cultivating a patch in their garden - it'd be great to see this happening even more!
Internationally-renowned climate change researcher James Hansen will be in the UK this year and speaking as part of a Climate Change day of action in Coventry cathedral on Thursday 19th March. This will be a fantastic opportunity to hear from one of the few climate researchers actively speaking out on the incredible urgency to act on climate change. For more info and to book tickets, go here.
Finally, we had the alarming news last week that the Government is looking to go ahead with plans to expand heathrow airport, despite all the evidence from the likes of the Tyndall Centre for Research on Climate Change that expanding aviation is incompatible with the emission cuts of 80% and beyond that we need to make as soon as we can. There are a few quick and easy actions you can take to oppose this. There will be a vote in parliament on Wednesday 28th January on this issue that the Government could lose if enough labour MPs rebel - you can email your MP to ask them to vote against the plans here http://www.writetothem.com. You could also join the "Airplot" and become a beneficial owner of a piece of land bought by Greenpeace on the proposed site of the new runway - it's free, quick and easy, and the more people sign up, the harder it could be to carry out a compulsory purchase of the land. You can sign up here.
1. Fantastic news from Leicestershire county council!
First of all, we should share the news (if you haven't heard already) that Leicestershire County Council unanimously decided at its meeting earlier in the month to declare its support for the county's Transition initiatives, and the Transition movement in general.
You can read more about it here on our blogsite: http://transitionleicester.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/leicestershire-county-council-declares-support-for-transition/. Our next step is to come up with ideas on how the county council can support our work, and on what we can do to support them. Drop us a line if you have any suggestions, or come along to the Transition Cafe on saturday where we'll be talking about it...
2. Event on Saturday 20th December - Transition Cafe
We've got the final Transition Cafe of the year lined up on Saturday 20th December from 12pm-4pm, in the foyer at Bishop St church in Town Hall Square. Come along to have a cuppa, a mince pie and some delicious food and chat about all things Transition-related. We're still in need of volunteers to help out this month - either preparing food in advance or serving on the day. Contact Dani on pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk if you'd like to help.
We'll also be using the cafe to Brainstorm ideas for working with Leicestershire county council - join us from around 1pm if you'd like to join in with that.
And... we'll also look to follow up some of the interest that came out of our TGM event on starting a new Local Economy subgroup by informally discussing what that group would hope to work on. The broad idea for the group is that it would identify key areas of the local economy such as finance (including local currency), new business opportunities resulting from our lower energy-intensive lifestyles, research and develop alternative business models that work on the principles of local sustainability and social justice. Contact Martin Hyams on mhyams AT wea.org.uk if you'd like to get involved with this group.
Transition cafes will happen regularly throughout 2009 on the third saturday of every month from 12pm - 4pm, starting with Saturday 17th January (except for April and July, when we'll go with the second saturday). We're looking to organise other activities to sit within the cafe in the new year - a Transition Library, short film showings, live music, discussions on transition-related topics - let us know if you'd like to organise anything at future cafes.
3. Seeking contributors for our blogsite
Our blogsite is now up and running (http://www.transitionleicester.wordpress.com). This is open for anyone to post pieces on any Transition-related issues to start discussion, and we'd love to see it being well-used. Drop a line to Andrew Reeves on reevesie AT gmail.com if you'd like to contribute something.
4. TGM write-up
We gathered opinions from around 40 people involved with Transition Leicester on how we're doing so far and on what we should look to do next through our TGM event and online survey. We've pulled together the results into a short report, which you can find on the Documents page of our website here: http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester.Documents.
5. In the news...
It's been a month full of interesting and at times downright shocking new reports on climate change...
Two great and vitally important pieces of work have put across just how much more urgent and grave the situation is than most people (and most Governments, including our own) believe...
The Climate Safety report (http://climatesafety.org/) is very clearly written and argues that to minimise our risk of the most dangerous climate impacts, we should be aiming to simply get off fossil fuels as quickly as we can - if possible, within just 2 or 3 decades.
Also some recent research on the levels of emission cuts needed by Professor Kevin Anderson of the UK's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research is coming out with a similar message of unprecedented urgency and a scale of change that's more akin to an urgent wartime mobilisation than the very gradual approach that still dominates discussion on climate change. You can read about his research and find links to the academic paper and conference talk where he presented these findings in September here: http://transitionculture.org/2008/12/10/9-degrees-the-wizard-of-oz-and-sex/
In contrast, most climate-headlines were grabbed by the Committee on Climate Change which put out a massive report (from http://www.theccc.org.uk), where it made the case for an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. Incredibly ambitious as it is, the Tyndall centre research shows that the emission cuts they're talking about are still likely to be a recipe for disaster - it seems that we need a great deal more urgency.
Finally, on a more positive note, a new report by the Green Alliance on the best strategies for creating this popular push for genuine action on climate change suggested that community-level action (rather than just individual behaviour changes) will be vitally important, and that Transition groups are really leading the way this. Read it here: http://www.green-alliance.co.uk/grea1.aspx?id=3358
6. Voice your support for a local windfarm
Here's a message from Herbert Eppel from the Pro Wind Alliance, which is campaigning in support of a proposed wind farm in Leicestershire...
''South Leicestershire Wind Farms Update
The Pro Wind Alliance, with Transition Town Market Harborough listed as one of the affiliated groups at www.ProWA.org.uk, is now firmly established and recognised as a key player in the local wind power debate. Unfortunately, in many cases the arguments brought forward by wind power opponents are still dominated by misinformation and scaremongering, as evidenced by a recent Advertising Standards Authority ruling – see www.ProWA.org/files/LM_ASA_Ruling_03Dec08.pdf. However, it is clear that every part of the country must play its part in fighting climate change by switching to clean, green solutions. Wind power is part of the solution and has been advocated as such by environmentalists for decades. Several local wind farm proposals are currently in the pipeline and have been welcomed by the Pro Wind Alliance and other local groups and individuals. They provide Leicestershire with an opportunity for putting itself on the map as an enlightened, forward-looking county that is prepared to convert climate change talk into action – let's ensure that this opportunity is not wasted.
Swinford Wind Farm
Harborough District Council are likely to hold a special planning committee meeting in January or February to decide on the Swinford wind farm proposal. If you haven't 'officially' expressed your support for this scheme yet, now is a good time to do it via the "Click here to e-mail Harborough District Council in support of Swinford Windfarm" link on the ProWA website at www.ProWA.org.uk. The website also contains comprehensive information about the Swinford project and links to a wide range of other wind-related information. If you wish to discuss any wind-related issues please contact Herbert on herbeppel AT gmail.com''
7. Email address
Finally just in case you haven't noticed, we've got a new email address: info AT transitionleicester.org.uk
1. Events in Leicester
First of all, we have tomorrow (that's Thursday) night a talk on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and a chance to discuss how we could get CSA projects set up in Leicester. CSA is a method to forge a direct link between local growers and local consumers that has been very successful in the US and is starting to attract more and more attention in the UK. Find out all about it on Thursday 27th November from 7pm-9pm at Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square, when Kirstin Glendinning from the Soil Association will be giving a talk about it to get discussion started. Read more about it here.
Then, at the weekend we have our TGM - our first annual meeting to take stock of what we've achieved so far, make plans for the year ahead, and generally socialise and celebrate. This will be on Saturday 29th November, once more in the rooms at Bishop St church in Town Hall Square, and will kick off at 12pm and last 'til 4pm (with a hefty hour in the middle for a bring-and-share lunch). Don't forget to bring the following: ideas on how we're doing and what we should look to do next; thoughts on your own present and future involvement with Transition; food to share (best to be aware of if it's veggie/vegan/gluten-free etc, so we can steer people towards food that's suitable). Take a look at the TGM page on our website before you come for more info here.
By sheer happy coincidence our meeting falls on this year's Buy Nothing Day (http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/), and during peak shopping hours on a saturday afternoon, no less. So why not take a very relaxing and pleasant stance against consumerism by getting away from the hurly-burly of town during the run-up to christmas, and join us upstairs on Bishop Street to buy absolutely nothing and share a great deal?
The events don't stop there... next week the City Council are continuing their fine efforts in spreading the word about Peak Oil by showing the Power of Community (http://www.powerofcommunity.org) at Phoenix Arts on Newarke Street, an inspiring film about Cuba's incredible and sustainable response to a sudden shortage of oil from the early 1990s onwards. The showing is at 2pm on Tuesday 2nd December. Tickets are free and can be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis by contacting Debbie Hill (debbie.hill AT leicester.gov.uk).
We've also got another Transition Cafe lined up for Saturday 20th December from 12pm-4pm, in the foyer at Bishop St church in Town Hall Square. Come along to have a cuppa and some delicious food and chat about things Transition-related. Contact Dani on pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk if you'd like to volunteer to help on the day or to prepare food in advance.
2. Jobshop added to website
We've added a new "Jobshop" page to our website to make it easier for people who want to get involved with Transition to do so. Check it out here.
The idea is that we'll keep it updated with jobs (big or small) that we think need doing (anything from typing up meeting notes to co-ordinating awareness raising talks) so that there are some tasks available to anyone who wants to get involved that fit with the level of commitment they're able to offer.
It's open for anyone involved with Transition in Leicester to both post their ideas for things that need doing and find useful things to do. We should add the disclaimer that the Transition process is all about taking initiative and getting on with whatever you really want to see happen, so don't feel limited by what's on offer there if you've got other ideas that you find more exciting...
3. New blogsite set up
We've set up a new Transition Leicester blogsite to complement our main website, which can be found here http://transitionleicester.wordpress.com/ .
The idea is that it'll have several new items added each week from now on, so do add it to your favourites and check in every now and then. Expect to see something up there about our TGM and our visit to the Transition Cities conference in Nottingham over the next week. The benefits are that we can put stuff out on the blog site as soon as we know about it, rather than waiting for a newsletter to come around (we're very keen not to overload inboxes!) and that we can use it for discussing some of the ideas that the Transition process throws up. We'd like the site to be open for anyone to contribute new posts and start new discussion (so long as they fit in with the goals and ethos of Transition Leicester, of course). Drop me a line on reevesie "AT" gmail.com if you'd like to do a post (so I can register you as an author).
We're not intending for this to replace face-to-face meetings or discussions in any way, which we think are really valuable for the community-building aspects of the Transition project, but hopefully a blog site could be useful for those of us who like a bit of online communication...
4. Things happening outside Leicester
On Saturday December 6th there'll be the annual Climate Change March in London to link in with the climate talks taking place in Poznan in Poland. More info here http://www.campaigncc.org . If you're heading down to the march and want to join up with other people from Leicester, there will be Leicester folk congregating before the march in Grosvenor Square from 11.45 until 12pm at the junction of Upper Brook St and North Audley Street.
It's not an event, but an excellent thing happening over the next few months in Leicestershire (that's only the area covered by the county council, not Leicester-city) is the opportunity to become a Master Composter. If you're excited by the idea of getting trained in the vitally important art of turning today's waste into tomorrow's soil and then getting to work in your local community making it happen, then check out this link... http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/environment/waste/master_composter-3.htm
5. In the news...
The last month saw a big step forward in the issue of Peak Oil hitting the mainstream with a report called The Oil Crunch put out by a coalition of UK businesses who feel the issue is vitally important and isn't getting enough attention from Government and the public. Check out their website here http://peakoil.solarcentury.com/ where you can download the report and watch a short youtube film about it.
1. Our first TGM coming up!
It's just over a year since the Transition Leicester project popped into existence - time to pause and reflect on how we're doing and what we should be looking to do next. At our TGM (essentially an AGM done in a Transition way - very participatory and celebratory, and not at all formal), we intend to look at the past and future of our project, whilst also taking time to celebrate the present. Here's what we'll try to do...
Take stock: review what we've done as a group over the past year, and reflect on what's gone well, and what we could have done better
Get together: to celebrate our achievements and socialise
Make plans: what's in the pipeline for the next year? what should we be focussing our attention on? what contribution do we each individually hope to make to this process?
We'll be meeting on Saturday 29th November from 12pm until 4pm in the upstairs rooms at the Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square. We'd really welcome people to come along irrespective of the level of involvement they've had with Transition so far - in fact, if you're not yet actively involved, your input will be especially valued, as you might have some of the best feedback to offer on how the Transition process can be as inclusive and effective as possible.
We'd also love people to treat the meeting as an opportunity to get involved with the Transition project. Transition Leicester's purpose is to inspire local people to take action in their community on peak oil and climate change (doing whatever inspires and excites them most) - for this to work, we need more people to get bitten by the Transition bug and get actively involved to some degree, so consider yourself thoroughly invited to join the fun!
If you can't make it to the meeting, but would like to pass on your ideas, we've put together a short survey so that you can share your thoughts with us on the themes of the day. You can access it by clicking here.
2. News from groups
The food group has been busy recently - organising a successful Harvest Inspiration event (see here for more info), several Transition Cafes, and putting out a short Position Statement on what the food group would like to happen to give Leicester a low-carbon and secure food supply (read it ).
The food group will organise another Transition Cafe on Saturday November 8th from 12pm - 4pm in the foyer at Bishop St Methodist Church in Town Hall Square. There'll be food and drinks on offer and a chance to get together and talk about all things Transition-related. If anyone would like to help out on the day or offer to help make food for the event, contact Dani (pattuzzi AT tiscali.co.uk).
Towards the end of November, the food group are putting on another event that will explore the idea of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)- this is an approach that links together local farmers with local consumers and could be a great tool to help us move to a more secure and sustainable food supply for Leicester. The event will take place on Thursday 27th November, from 7pm-9pm, also at Bishop St Church foyer off Town Hall Square. Kirstin Glendinning from the Soil Association will be explaining what CSA is and what we could do to start up CSA projects in Leicestershire. Read more about CSA here.
The Heart and Soul group has been working on processes from Joanna Macy's "Work that reconnects" (more on this here), and are hoping to put on an event later in the year using some of these. Contact Marie on creative.heart AT ntlworld.com if you'd like to get involved.
A group working on reskilling is now meeting regularly once a month, working mostly on domestic crafts. Contact Louise on louisemhall AT ntlworld.com if you'd like to find out more about this.
Andy Brooks would love to hear from anyone interested in looking at Transport in Leicester from a Transition angle - drop him a line on andycbt2000 AT mail2web.com if you're keen.
3. Ecotown update
We put out a report on the proposed Ecotown last month, which got Transition plenty of exposure in the local media (see the media page on our website). The main point we tried to put across was that when you consider both peak oil and climate change, both the Co-op's plans for the site and even the existing use of the land need rethinking. We're not sure if our appeal for people to try looking at the issue in terms of the best long-term use for the site that meets local needs (as opposed to only having a "for-or-against-the-Ecotown" discusion) has met with much success, but at least we tried!
We also realise that we ended up putting the report out without consulting our wider network of supporters (through this email list) for their input and we'd like to apologise for that. Our excuse, for what it's worth, is that we were working in a rush to get the report complete for the City Council's consultation on the Ecotown (by the end of August), and didn't find time to ping it out to the list for feedback. We'll do whatever we can in the future to properly consult on anything that goes out under the Transition name, especially with something like the Ecotown where people have strong feelings about the issue.
4. Events outside of Leicester
There are two nearby Transition events that may be of interest. Transition Market Harborough are organising two events on Saturday November 15th with Gardener's Question Time's Bob Flowerdew. Details can be found here.
There is also a 2-day conference taking place in Nottingham from Thursday 27th - Friday 28th November on how to apply the Transition aproach successfully in cities. For details, take a look here.
December will also see the annual Climate Change march taking place in London to coincide with the international climate talks. The march will be on Saturday 6th December. For details, take a look here. There could be a coach put on from Leicester if there's sufficient interest - drop a line to Reevesie on reevesie AT gmail.com if you're interested in this.
5. Other things of interest
The Transition Network, which supports Transition initiatives in the UK and around the world, recently put out a document on how it plans to work, which you can read here. One nice part is where they managed to succinctly express the purpose of Transition projects: "To support community-led responses to peak oil and climate change, building resilience and happiness".
And a nice piece of positive news from the UK: in the various consultation responses we've put together through Transition Leicester, we always find ourselves calling for a local-council-supported project to start insulating the thousands of solid-walled homes around the city. I'm glad to report that this is exactly what is starting to happen in Manchester -perhaps it won't be too long until this happens in Leicester?
Some exciting news to share with you all - we've just released our response to the proposed Leicestershire Ecotown, in the form of a fine report called "From Ecotown to Transition Town".
Rather than simply opposing the Ecotown idea as it stands, we thought that in true Transition style, we should look for a positive solution - in this case an alternative vision for the use of the site that will be truly sustainable and truly support the local community in the years of transition that lie ahead. So that's what we've done - you can read all about it and download our report here.
As well as putting our own ideas forward, we're looking to get people talking less about the pros and cons of the Ecotown proposal, and more about what they think would be the best thing to happen on the site - so, let your imagination loose, and then you can share your thoughts on that and on our report here.
We'd be really interested to hear comments, more ideas for the Ecotown site (and perhaps even statements of support if you're that way inclined) from local people and local organisations, so do get in touch, and we'll stick them on our website.
Hopefullly we should be attracting plenty of media coverage through this work, so do look out for us (we should at least be on East Midlands Today on the 11th), and do spread the word to your friends and family.
We also put together a consultation response for Leicester City Council on the tests they should use to decide whether or not to support the Ecotown proposal. You can find that on our website in the Documents section.
Happy reading, and I hope you find our ideas as exciting as we do!
1. Our next event: "Transition is right up my street" (CHANGE OF VENUE!)
Our first event of the autumn, called "Transition is right up my street!" will be taking place on Monday 8th September, from 7pm - 9pm at Moat Community College , Maidstone Road, Leicester, LE2 0TU. Note the change of venue!
This event will focus on how the Transition Towns approach can be successfully applied in cities, and what we can do in our own local neighbourhoods to address climate change and peak oil. We'll be hearing from Sarah Pugh from Transition Bristol and Brian Wheeler from Leicester City Council (who helped develop a recent fruit tree planting project in the St Matthews area).
Take a look on here to see the poster for the event. It's free of charge, though donations are always welcome to help cover costs.
Hope to see you there!
2. News from groups
A quick reminder about the first meeting of the Reskilling group. This will be on Thursday 4th September at the Serendipity Cafe, Lytton Road, off Clarendon Park Road, 7pm to 9pm. Take a look here for more info.
There's also interest emerging in forming a group looking at Transport in Leicester - focussing on developing a positive vision of a transport system for the city that is not reliant on energy from fossil fuels. If you're interested in participating in this group, or hearing about their events, drop a line to Andy Brooks on andycbt2000 [AT] mail2web.com . There's a meeting pencilled in for Thursday 18th September 2008, from 6pm to 8pm in the cafe at Phoenix Arts on Newarke Street for anyone interested - the date is still open for negotiation if interested people can't do that time, so drop Andy a line if you're keen.
3. Photo Project
Exciting news from the food group.... they're launching a year-long photo project for people to capture images of anything local-food-related. The idea is to celebrate and encourage our connection with the changing seasons and all the exciting edible things that they throw our way. Over to Jonathan from the food group for some words...
Hello Leicester Transitioners!
My name is Jonathan and I am a member of our Food Group and would like to introduce to you a photographic challenge.
We'd like you to go out and about in Leicestershire and Leicester City and capture images of food that's locally produced (end product), sourced (key raw materials) or found (i.e 'wild' food) , or indeed drinks and beverages. You could interpret the subject matter by taking a close up, or a carefully composed composition (i.e fruit bowl) or an action shot (i.e harvesting, brewing or point of sale). There may also be room for one or two photos from 'abroad', as we live in, after all, a 'global village' and many of us find food and drink a vital part of the travel experience when we visit foreign localities.
And what, you ask, do we want with all this art? Well the idea is that a calendar will be fashioned in Autumn 09, for sale and as an awareness raising medium. Therefore I call on all local camera owning transitioners to join in and who knows, your picture could feature to illustrate 1 of the 12 months of 2010!
I think what we'll do is send you an email reminder every quarter (to usher in a new season), to an address you register and also use this list to keep you informed of progress towards the eventual publication date. And on this note, if you would like to put your self forward for judging and production team - that would be excellent. Best wishes and good luck.
Start date: Sept 08.
Contact: jonathan.ofarrell [AT] phonecoop.coop
So drop Jonathan a line if you're interested in taking part, and let's hope that we can accumulate a fine collection of photos over the next year!
4. Community meetings and 10,000 trees
Another quick reminder about the city's 10,000 trees consultation, which is a great opportunity to encourage the council to get planting trees that will be useful over the coming years - especially fruit and nut trees. You can read all about it here, or go along to the next community meeting in your neighbourhood, where the council are currently asking people for places where they'd like to see trees. We've enclosed a list of forthcoming meetings below:
Upcoming Community Meetings:
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields Community Meeting - 2nd September 2008 - 4.00pm Cort Crescent Community Centre http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/braunstone-park--rowley-fields
Freemen Community Meeting - 3rd September 2008 - 6pm Linwood Centre, Linwood Lane http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/freemen
Western Park Community Meeting - 4th September 2008 - 7.00pm St Anne's Church, Letchworth Road http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/western-park
Castle Community Meeting - 9th September 2008 - 6.30pm The Tigers Ground, Aylestone Road http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/castle
Westcotes Community Meeting - 11th September 2008 - 7.00pm Robert Hall Memorial Baptist Church, 147 Narborough Rd http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/westcotes
Abbey Community Meeting - 16th September 2008 - 6.30pm Stocking Farm Community Centre, Marwood Rd http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/abbey
Aylestone Community Meeting - 17th September 2008 - 6.00pm Lansdowne Neighbourhood Centre, Knighton Lane http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/aylestone-
Beaumont Leys Community Meeting - 17th September 2008 - 6.30pm Babington Community College, Strasbourg Drive http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/beaumont-leys
Thurncourt Community Meeting - 22nd September 2008 - 7.00pm Thurnby Lodge Community Centre http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/cabinet-and-committees/community-meetings/thurncourt
1. Upcoming Events
We'll be holding our first evening event of the autumn on Monday 8th September at the Friends Meeting House on Queens Road, from 7pm until 9pm. The event will focus on what the ideas behind Transition mean for cities and in particular, on what can be done on the level of your local neighbourhood. Sarah Pugh from Transition Bristol will give a talk, focussing on what local neighbourhood groups are doing about Peak Oil and Climate Change in Bristol (which became the first official Transition city in early 2007). We'll then discuss in groups what changes we'd like to make in our own communities to reduce carbon emissions and increase resilience.
On Thursday 11th September, the Leicester Partnership will be screening the Peak Oil documentary A Crude Awakening. This will be at Phoenix Arts on Newarke Street, and will start at 2pm. Transition members will be on hand with a stall and to take part in the discussion afterwards. Tickets are free - email debbie.hill [AT] leicester.gov.uk if you'd like to attend.
2. News from Groups
First of all, news of another new group, focussing on re-skilling. The idea of re-skilling is a central part of the transition idea - that people will try to recapture many of the practical skills that former generations took for granted, so that we're better equipped to manage a shift towards a more localised and less resource-intensive way of life.
Louise and Cat from the re-skilling group say... "A re-skilling group is meeting for the first time on Thursday 4th Sept at the Serendipity Cafe, Lytton Road, off Clarendon Park Road, 7pm to 9pm. We'll be sharing skills in domestic crafts, such as knitting, sewing etc. You are welcome to come if you have skills to share or an interest in learning. We aim to meet once a month. There is no fee, the cafe will be selling refreshments like tea, coffee, herbals, flapjack, for about £1. Look forward to seeing you there. Louise Hall (0777 3353 482) and Cat Bellinger
If you have any skills that you'd like to share in the future through the Transition re-skilling group (which could be anything from domestic crafts to basic woodwork to bike repair) then call Louise, or email her on louisemhall [AT} ntlworld.com.
The awareness raising group is organising an all-day training event on September 9th focussed on developing speaking skills to communicate climate change / peak oil / transition. Contact Reevesie on reevesie [AT] gmail.com if you're interested in attending.
The food group organised a successful jam-making workshop in late July, and a wild food walk on August 10th (see http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Brambling for a report). Another walk will take place on Sunday August 31st - meeting at 3pm at Kings Lock Tea Rooms in Aylestone Meadows for a 4pm start. The group are busy planning an event for the autumn, called Harvest Inspiration, which will look to give people information and inspiration to help them start growing food in the city. They're looking to have stalls where people can share seeds from this year's veg, and have tastings of locally made jams, chutneys and other preserves - so get collecting/preserving now if you'd like to help out with that!
3. Take Action!
The city council are currently consulting on their plan to plant 10,000 new trees in Leicester over the coming few years (see here http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/lc/parks--green-spaces/trees). We'd like to encourage people to respond to this, both by letting the council know good locations to plant the trees, and to make the argument that the planting should add to the resilience of the Leicester economy, by focussing on planting food-producing trees (nuts and fruit) wherever possible. To contribute, either write to the council (follow the above link for details), or go to your next Ward Community Meeting (see http://www.leicester.gov.uk/wards/index_wards.asp for details) - the council are currently using these meetings to ask people for their ideas for planting locations.
The Sustainable Communities Act recently became law, and it puts a lot more power into the hands of local people to help create policies that will benefit their communities (for more info look here http://www.localworks.org). However, we can only make use of it if our local authority has opted in to the process, which they need to by October. We think that if the council adopted this act it could really benefit the city, so we think that writing to councillors to show support for adopting this act would be really useful. For more info look here (http://www.localworks.org/node/3) and to find out who your councillors are and their contact details, look here for Leicester http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.asp?GL=1&bcr=1 and here for Leicestershire http://politics.leics.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.asp .
A huge threat to our goal of combatting climate change is that Governments look to go back to coal in the name of "keeping the lights on". This could have an impact locally, as UK coal are proposing the development of a new open cast coal mine in Leicestershire at a site called Minorca, near Measham. A campaign group, Leicestershire Make Coal History, has been set up to organise against this. If you would like to get involved contact: leicestershire.makecoalhistory [AT] yahoo.co.uk
4. In the News
A few things we've come across in the media over the last month that should be of interest...
Firstly, on the bad news front, there's news that rapid decline in arctic sea ice of 2007 seems to being repeated again this year (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/10/climatechange.arctic), which seems to show that the impacts of climate change are being felt faster than the climate scientists thought possible. There's also a new report by WWF detailing the frightening environmental impact of unconventional oils (tar sands, oil shale and the like, which some people suggest are a solution to peak oil), which you can read here http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000005247.asp .
Secondly on the solutions-based front, there's plenty of good news. The idea of a Green New Deal has been launched, as a strategy to restructure our economy to respond to climate change, peak oil and the credit crunch (and create a lot of jobs) - read about it here http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_PublicationDetail.aspx?pid=258. The 100 months campaign (http://onehundredmonths.org/) has been launched to focus our attention on how urgently we need to respond to the climate crisis. A new book by Oliver Tickell called Kyoto2 (http://www.kyoto2.org/) has been released with an exciting proposal to cap global fossil fuel extraction and use the billions generated by selling permits to extract fossil fuels to fund responses to climate change. Finally, there's news from Yorkshire of a project looking to make Todmorden the first UK town to be self-sufficient in food (http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/Todmorden-sows--the-seeds.4103427.jp). How close could we get to achieving that here?
1. Event on September 8th
A date for your diary - we'll be holding an event on the evening of Monday September 8th, from 7pm to 9pm (venue to be confirmed). This will focus on what the questions that our Transition project is raising mean on the level of our neighbourhoods/villages and local communities. Sarah Pugh of Transition Bristol will give a talk on the approach their Transition initiative has taken, of encouraging neighbourhood-scale groups to form around the city, and will inspire us with some examples of what is being achieved in neighbourhoods in Bristol. There will also be plenty of time to discuss ideas for taking action to reduce fossil fuel use and improve resilience to high fuel prices in local communities in Leicester.
2. News from the food group
The food group has organised two Wild Fruit walks in August, one taking place on Sunday August 10th (a Bramble-Ramble...), another on Sunday August 31st. On both dates, meet Andy, who'll be leading, the walk at King's Lock Tea Rooms in Aylestone Meadows - at the end of Marsden Lane, off Aylestone Road. Meet at 3pm for a cup of tea, before heading off to pick fruit at 4pm.
The food group is also planning to organise an event in late September to celebrate locally produced food and raise awareness of the opportunities to get growing in and around Leicester. It'll be called Harvest Inspiration, and it'll feature displays of locally grown fruit and veg (including jams, chutneys and drinks), a seed-swap stall and a chance to learn more about local organisations that can help you start growing your own. The group are looking for volunteers who can either help on the day or help to organise the event, and people who can provide jams/chutneys/drinks for people to try, or saved/unwanted seeds for the seed swap stall. Contact Lisa on lisam183 [at] hotmail.com if you'd like to help.
3. Transition Training events
We've got two Transition Training events coming up for anyone who wants to learn about the Transition process and the issues we're addressing in more depth. First up, on Tuesday September 9th 2008 - a 1 day Transition Speaker Training course, with Sarah from Transition Bristol and Nick from Transition Glastonbury.
Final details aren't arranged yet, but it'll be from 10am 'til 5pm or thereabouts, somewhere in Leicester. Cost is on a sliding scale: either £10, £20, £30, £40 or £50 depending on what you can afford. We need to average about £40 to cover costs, so please pay the full £50 if you can afford to, and we'll use whatever excess we generate to cross-subsidise the cost for people who'd like to attend but can't afford the full cost. Email Andrew Reeves at reevesie [at] gmail.com to register your interest in coming along.
Second, we've got the 2-day Transition Training on the Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th of October 2008. Cost will be £90 for the weekend, but we'll make bursaries available once we've covered our costs to anyone who'd like to attend who can't afford the full rate. Contact Doug Golding on transitioncity [at] freeuk.com if you'd like to attend.
4. Items of interest from the national media A few things in the media over the last few weeks that are worth a look...
A team of green-minded thinkers have proposed a way of tackling the triple-threats of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis - A Green New Deal. This means a massive Government organised public spending programme to retrofit buildings, and invest in the new skills needed for a sustainable economy. Well worth a read - find it here: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_publicationdetail.aspx?pid=258
Al Gore gave a speech last week in which he challenged the people of the US to move towards having 100% renewable electricity within 10 years. Just the sort of radical thinking we need to seriously address climate change! Watch a 7-minute clip of the highlights of his talk here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9cllAiXImg
1. What's new?
Since the last newsletter went out in mid June, we've been out and about at a number of events and we've shown our face in the local media too. You can read our article from the Leicester Mercury that gives a short introduction to Peak Oil and Transition Leicester here http://www.transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Media.
We've uploaded picures from our successful stall at the Riverside festival in early June (see http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Riverside ). We've also added some of the many responses we received when we asked people how life would be better in Leicester, when we meet our energy needs without using fossil fuels. These included "Everyone will know their neighbours", "Streets would be safer", "There'll be more people cycling everywhere, and lots of great bike trailers!" and "There will hopefully be less plastic production, more community spirit, more compassion and a healthier lifestyle for everyone!".
We also held a summer picnic in Abbey Park (see http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Picnic for pictures) and had stalls at the Aylestone Ecofair and a climate change themed event at Leicester cathedral.
We're taking a bit of a break from organising events over the summer, as we gear up for plenty of activity in the Autumn. We will be having a stall at the Watermead Family Discovery Day though (which we thoroughly recommend going to) on the 30th August, so come see us there if you come along. We are also looking to organise a basket-weaving workshop at some point in the summer - contact Sam on sam@samanthawoods.wanadoo.co.uk if you'd be interested in this.
2. Updates from groups
We have four groups on the go at the moment (the Steering group, the Awareness Raising group, the Food group and the Heart and Soul group) and a couple more showing signs of forming...
The Steering group has recently put together a consitution for Transition Leicester which you can find here http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Documents . With a constitution in place, we'll be able to apply for grant funding to start making practical projects happen under the Transition Leicester banner.
The Steering group has also been focussing on planning for the year ahead, and organising a programme of events for the coming autumn. Some of the bigger events we're looking to work on over the year include a Transition festival in summer 2009 (with practical workshops, talks, fun and games), a mass bike ride in Leicester city centre next summer, and an Open House event, where people can visit local homes with energy saving features (in the spring next year). We're also planning to give talks to local groups, organise regular film showings, organise theme-based events (on transport, energy, etc.), organise skill sharing events, and much more. We'll have details about our plans for the Autumn available in late August.
The Food group is now up and running, and focussing on the challenge of promoting more sustainable food production in and around Leicester to meet our local needs. They're currently working on organising a harvest festival event in late September / early October, which will include sharing of produce and workshops on local food production. If you would like to help organise this then please contact Lisa on lisam183 [AT] hotmail.com. The food group's next meeting is on Wednesday 30th July in the cafe at the Phoenix Arts Centre on Newarke Street. 7pm start, all welcome.
The Awareness raising group focusses on raising awareness locally about Transition Leicester and the challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change. We will be holding a speaker training day for anyone interested in giving talks on Transition on Tuesday September 9th, featuring trainers from the Transition Network. If you're interested in attending, send an email to reevesie [AT] gmail.com. As always, we're looking out for groups/organisations who'd like to have a Transition talk/workshop, so let us know if you're interested
The Heart and Soul group is a forum for the emotional and spiritual issues that the issues of climate change and peak oil bring up. For example, this includes working through feelings of despair and powerlessness that may overtake us when faced with such great problems. The group will also focus on what kind of social values we'll need to cultivate to make living low-carbon, community-focused lives possible, and how we go about developing those values ourselves and in our communities. The minutes from the group's first meeting can be found here http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Heartandsoul and the group will be meeting next on Wednesday August 6th. Contact Marie on creative.heart [AT] ntlworld.com if you'd like to get involved or come to the next meeting.
Leicester's Carbon Rationing Action Group (CRAG) will be becoming a group under the Transition Leicester banner - most likely calling itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group. They'll be focussing on education about what makes up individual carbon footprints (especially from energy use in the home and through transportation), helping people calculate their own footprints and taking action to help people bring those footprints down. If this sounds like a group you'd like to get involved with drop a line to Reevesie at reevesie [AT] gmail.com. They'll be having an introductory meeting on Thursday 25th September - drop Reevesie a line to find out more about the group or the meeting, or to register your interest.
There's also interest brewing in having an initial meeting to discuss a Transition Leicester Transport group - drop us a line if you're interested in hearing more about this, or indeed in helping to put such a meeting together (transitioncity [AT] freeuk.com is the email address).
3. News from Kirby Muxloe
One of the main aims of the Transition Leicester project is to act as a catalyst in the local community - to hopefully inspire individuals, communities and organisations in the area to take action to address climate change and peak oil. There's a nice example of this working in practice that's starting to unfold in the village of Kirby Muxloe to the west of Leicester - Rich Claxton from Kirby Muxloe tells the story below...
Open Doors
It seems that for some the name of Transition is not new. My community, Kirby Muxloe is in the process of embarking on a Parish Plan (http://www.ruralcc.org.uk/parishandcommunityplans.html). This involves discussions and questionnaires involving as many local residents as possible to form a plan of what the community needs in the next 5 - 10 years. There is a commitment from the councils, police, and NHS to review this plan with the community. Like Transition, this process is a grass-roots operation. I felt this was an ideal oportunity to include some of the aims of Transition within this process so I hopped on my bike and went to the meeting.
At an opportune time I spoke of how the village needed to look at how it will be affected by climate change and peak oil, and I said that the parish plan was an ideal chance to discuss these things in real terms for our community. After using the Archers as an example I learned that many people had heard of Transition but had not connected it to Leicester or Kirby. I also learned of other initatives in the village such as a plan for the retailers to go plastic bag free.
After the meeting I was approached by two parish councillors asking for more information about Transition and Transition Leicester , I suggested we could have a meeting about Transition and they offered the village hall. So we are in the process of arranging this for early September. I have no idea where this is going... is it awareness raising to gain more support ? or is it the start of a Transition community ? Either way it's very exciting for me, my community and for Transition Leicester.
So, I guess the lessons learned are that if you talk to people in your own community, then you may find that people are ready and keen to talk to us. You'll also find that there are already initiatives going on in our communities and that we can help them, learn from them and support them.
If there is anyone else in Kirby Muxloe reading this who can help out then then please get in touch!
So go push on some doors, you never know where they may lead you...
Rich Clafton rclafton [AT] lineone.net
4. Peak Oil film showing
An advance date for your diaries - The Phoenix Arts Centre in Leicester will be showing the Peak Oil film "Crude Impact" on Thursday 11th September. It's pencilled in at present for 2pm, though the time might change. The film gives a great introduction to the issue and how it could affect all of our lives over the coming years - check out http://www.crudeimpact.com for more info.
5. New resources
Here are three short films that have recently come to our attention that you can watch online, and that we thoroughly recommend...
Cyclovia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELa5CHsUepo - an inspiring 10-minute film about the Cyclovia project in Bogota, Columbia (recently shown at Leicester's bike film festival). Every weekend, streets are closed in the city centre and are freed up to be used by cyclists and pedestrians for getting around, exercise and fun. This is something we think we could try to recreate in Leicester for at least a day next summer.
350.org: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kg1oOq9tY - a 97-second film that simply using pictures and music puts across why we should be aiming for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels down to 350 parts per million (they're at 387ppm now) to avoid dangerous climate change.
Zero Carbon Britain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE8ThoXgGkA - in just two minutes, the people at the Centre for Alternative Technology explain their Zero Carbon Britain project, and why making the UK zero carbon in the next few decades is necessary.
Also, for anyone working in or connected to local authorities we recommend a new report, "Preparing for Peak Oil", put together by the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre on how local authorities should respond to the issue of Peak Oil - you can find it here: http://www.odac-info.org.
6. Plugs for other groups: Wind farm support and climate camp
Leicester's Friends of the Earth group is taking a lead in supporting the proposed Swinford wind farm south of Leicester. They have helped set up an email group for supporters of the wind farm who are interested in becoming more actively involved in the campaign. To join the Swinford Wind Farm Supporters (SWFS) e-group go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWFS/
The 2008 Camp for Climate Action will be taking place in the south east of England this year in the first week of August, near Kingsnorth power station. This is the site where the first new coal-fired power station to be built in the UK for decades has been proposed, a situation that prompted Climate Change researcher James Hansen to write to Gordon Brown last year, urging him to not give approval for the plan (find the letter here: http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Background). Even if protest or direct action isn't your cup of tea, the camp is a great chance to learn more about the issues (with a week full of workshops and talks) and experience low-impact living in a friendly atmosphere. Check out http://www.climatecamp.org.uk to find out more - drop us a line if you'd like to find Leicester folk to go along with.
7. And finally... Transition Leicester goes global!
Whilst casually googling "Transition Leicester" the other day, a fine thing turned up - one of the top 10 links was from the website of an environmental group called Sustainable Saunders that was forwarding our group's "Big Ideas for Leicester" report around to its members, as a shining example of cutting-edge ideas on sustainability (read our Big Ideas here: http://transitiontowns.org/Leicester/Documents).
And where was this "Sustainable Saunders" group based, you might ask? Ten points to you if you guessed Hawaii. Rest assured that our new found global fame won't make us lose our focus on Leicester (and perhaps far flung places like Kirby Muxloe), and if they do invite us over to give a talk, we'll be doing it by tele-conferencing rather than hopping in a plane.
1. High oil prices in the news
You would have had to have been asleep over the past few weeks to miss some of the media coverage about soaring oil prices (up to $139 a barrel), and the impacts this is having on fuel and food costs. It seems that a shortage of supply is one of the main causes behind what is happening, and we'd argue that we should see what is happening now as a wake-up call - hopefully it'll inspire us to reduce our oil dependency so we don't suffer from the likely higher price increases in the future.
Lots of ink has been spilled about what's going on, so we thought we'd share a couple of articles that we think are full of good sense. There's this piece by David Strahan in the Telegraph, this article by Johann Hari in the Independent and this piece from the website The Oil Drum that goes into more detail on why the oil price has got so high recently.
2. Transition Leicester in the news - tomorrow!
It looks like Transition Leicester will be featuring in the Leicester Mercury tomorrow (thursday 12th June) too - check out the First Person column on page 15 for a fine attempt to summarise what we're all about in only 470 words. The article will be up on our website soon afterwards.
Correction - the story went out on the 17th June - see the Media page on the website
3. City Council's 25 year vision - full of great ideas
You might have heard about Leicester City Council's plans to come up with a 25 year vision for the city, which they're branding as "One Leicester". Well, the draft version has been quietly published on the council's website (go here, then it's item 7 - this was back at the end of March, but it's taken us this long to come across it!).
We submitted a response to the council's consultation for this (find it here), and we've been delighted to find that a number of our suggestions feature in the council's plan. We're not sure whether that's because of our input or if they were things that were going to be included anyway, but either way, there's some good stuff in there.
Some of the nuggets from the report are:
"We will develop a network of safe routes for cycling and walking into and around the city centre from all major directions, between key places within the city and along routes used by schoolchildren to get to school. We don't just mean the usual lines painted along the side of a busy road but pleasant, purpose made routes for walkers and cyclists. Essentially this means a new "New Walk" along with new cycle routes for all major routes to the city centre so that people feel safe to walk or cycle rather than use their car."
"Trees are the lungs of a city. Trees also improve the feel of a city. We will plant at least 10,000 more trees in the city to create tree lined streets, small forests and green spaces."
"To ensure that those who can't walk or cycle are cared for we will invest in a joined up and efficient public transport system. This will include work to improve the bus station, introduce 3 further Park 'n' Ride schemes, introduce greener electric buses and a single ticketing "Leicester Card" which can be used on all city buses."
Let's hope all of this happens!
4. Ecohouse organic gardeners question time
There's a chance to get your questions answered about organic gardening this week in Leicester. BBC Radio Leicester are recording their weekly gardening programme, Down to Earth, at the EcoHouse on Hinckley Road in Leicester on Thursday 12th June (to air about 10 days later). The general public are invited to come and be in the audience and ask the experts their organic gardening questions. The event starts at 6:45pm and will be over by 9pm. Refreshments will be available in the cafe.
5. Forthcoming events: speaker training and transition picnic
On Saturday 21st June we'll be putting on a training event, which will aim to increase people's confidence in their understanding of Climate Change/Peak Oil/Transition, and give people practice and increased confidence at giving a talk about Transition Leicester. This is mostly aimed at people interested in helping with awareness raising, but it's open to anyone who'd like to come, and is free of charge (though donations always help). It'll take place from 10am until 3pm - venue to be confirmed (somewhere in Leicester). Email Reevesie on reevesie [AT] gmail.com if you're interested.
On Sunday 29th June we're having a social event - a picnic and games afternoon in Abbey Park. We'll be gathering near the bandstand from 1pm - come and join us, and bring food to share and fun things to do.
6. Get MPs and the PM to act on Peak Oil
You'll no doubt be happy to hear that not every member of parliament is ignoring the challenges that Peak Oil could bring to life in the UK. A small group of MPs has formed the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (which has the fine acronym of APPGOPO and a website here - http://www.appgopo.org.uk), and they've got 50 MPs to sign an early day motion urging the government to look more closely into what Peak Oil could mean for the UK (see here).
John Hemming MP, who proposed the motion, said "the government is failing to address the reality that we are reaching the limits to growth in global oil production. The implications for the way we run our society and economy are profound, but the government refuses even to initiate a contingency study. Rather than making futile appeals to OPEC to raise production, Gordon Brown must recognise that we cannot carry on with the same old assumptions of endless growth in world oil."
Why not drop a line to your MP and ask them to support the Early Day Motion (you can go here)?
If you're feeling active, then in a matter of about 10 seconds you could also sign up to an online petition urging Gordon Brown to look into the issue of how Peak Oil will affect the UK. You just need to go here to do it - if enough people sign up, then the government will have to issue a response. What it says is "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to undertake a reassessment of UK energy supplies, in particular evaluate the risk of an imminent peak or plateau in global oil production."
19th May 2008
1. What's new?
Over the last month we've been doing a lot of behind the scenes work. At the end of April, several members of the steering group attended a Leicester Partnership event on the city's Local Area Agreement, and fed in our ideas for reducing the city's carbon emissions and increasing the resilience of the economy.
We sent out a survey to everyone on this list (over 150 of you now), and big thanks to everyone who responded. The good news was that enough people came forward interested in being part of an Awareness Raising group and a Food group, so they're being created now (more on that later). We also got lots of great ideas for future activities from the responses, and we'll be sharing those with you all on our website soon. If you intended to send in a reply but didn't get around to it in time, we'll still be very pleased to hear from you, and hear your ideas, whenever you get back to us.
We're also steadily adding more content to our website. Coming next will be an extensive selection of Links, and some background information on Climate Change and Peak Oil.
2. Food and Awareness Raising groups formed
There was huge interest in participating in a group focussing on Food (or as one survey respondent nicely put it, Food Security). There will be an initial meeting to set this group up on the evening of Tuesday June 3rd. Venue and time are yet to be confirmed - we'll send out an email to this list and post details on the website once we know. If you'd like to get involved with the Food group, contact Dani Pattuzzi on pattuzzi [AT] tiscali.co.uk to join the Food group mailing list.
There was also plenty of interest in getting involved with an Awareness Raising group, to try and take our message about Peak Oil, Climate Change and the Transition approach out to people, organisations and businesses in Leicester. We held an initial get-together for this group last week (see website for meeting minutes), and we are planning a speaker training event for Saturday June 21st. This will cover more detailed background knowledge on Peak Oil, Climate Change and Transition, and will give people practice in presenting an example Transition Leicester talk. If you'd like to come to this event, or get involved with the Awareness Raising group, then contact Reevesie on reevesie [AT] gmail.com .
3. Transition Loughborough and Charnwood?
A few Transition Leicester folk who live in or near Loughborough got together last week to discuss forming a new Transition Initiative for that area. Perhaps it'll be Transition Loughborough, or maybe Transition Loughborough and Charnwood. If you live in that part of the world and would like to get involved, then drop a line to Sam Woods on sam [AT] samanthawoods.wanadoo.co.uk .
4. New wind turbines.
If you saw today's Leicester Mercury, you would have been excited to find out that the council are considering installing several wind turbines in the city, generally in large parks on the outskirts of Leicester. So long as the sites are well-selected, this represents an excellent opportunity to increase Leicester's resilience and reduce the city's carbon emissions. The council will be consulting people in the city and in areas that might get turbines installed over the coming months, so we can really make a difference during this process by showing plenty of support. A good place to start would be the letters page of the Leicester Mercury - you can go here to submit a letter to the editor.
And there's more! Nuon Renewables are planning to develop a windfarm near Swinford (about 15 miles south of Leicester), consisting of 11 wind turbines. You can see their plans for the windfarm here:
A group campaigning against the turbines is already forming, so again it looks like they'll need support if they're to be installed. Leicester Friends of the Earth are intending to campaign to support the wind farm, and they will be hosting a visit from a speaker from Nuon Renewables this week, who will explain in more detail what is planned. This event is happening tomorrow - Tuesday 20th May - at 7.30pm in the Adult Education Centre on Wellington Street.
5. Transition Picnic in June
We're organising a social event for June, which will be a picnic and outdoor games get-together in Abbey Park. This will be on Sunday 29th June - meet from 1pm by the Bandstand in the park. Bring food to share, and ideas for games to play (for kids and adults). It'll be a great chance to get together with fellow Transition folk, and talk about the price of oil/your plans for reducing your fossil fuel reliance/the weather.
6. Rob Hopkins talk in Nottingham
Transition Nottingham are holding an event on Tuesday 27th May, where Transition Towns founder Rob Hopkins will be speaking, along with Nottingham's own celebrity environmentalist, Penney Poyzer. This is a great chance to see two great speakers in action, so do make it over if you can. The event will take place at the Mechanics Institute, South Sherwood Street, Nottingham, starting at 7.30pm.
If you can't make it, why not watch Rob and Penney speaking from the comfort of your own living room? You can see Penney discussing her ecohouse conversion here and Rob discussing the 12 steps of the Transition process here (steps 1-6) and then here (steps 7-12).
7. Up and coming activities
We'll be doing a number of stalls over the coming months, including the Riverside Festival in Bede Park on the 7th and 8th of June, and the Aylestone EcoFair on the 5th of July. We've got some exciting plans for props and activities at these stalls, including a Peak Oil Slide and an ideas-tree where we'll share ideas on how life will be better in Leicester after oil. If you're feeling creative and would like to help us put together props for stalls, then get in touch (email Reevesie on reevesie [AT] gmail.com).
We'll also be taking the Transition message to local businesses at an event on climate change and business on the 20th of May at the City Rooms in Leicester. We'll be plugging the tool of Oil Vulnerability Auditing, which we intend to offer to local businesses in the future - this is a method for identifying the risk to a business of increasing oil prices, and to find strategies to increase the resilience of the business by reducing fossil fuel use.
Last updated 2nd February 2010