So, we're both a day late, but Gloria and I somehow decided that every day in May was going to be inspirational! Each day Gloria will a post about an inspirational person, and I'll highlight an inspirational project. Her first person is Maya Angelou, and my first project is... Transition Towns The Transition Towns project was initiated by permaculture teacher of 10 years, Rob Hopkins. Focussing on the central issues of peak oil and climate change, Transition Towns are "towns that are … [Read more...]
David Korten – The Great Turning
Last night, when I should've been asleep, I watched these video clips and was left totally inspired. :) I strongly encourage you to watch them too. Its great stuff! You should also buy the book: [amtap book:isbn=1887208070] UPDATE: The book in bullet points from David Korten's new site: "The Great Turning provides a powerful framework for understanding our time within a deep historical context and for defining the collective choice we must now make as a species. These are the key … [Read more...]
Prophecy, Peak Oil and the Path for the Faithful
I recently watched this video and thought it was really good summary of some of the important issues it covers. If you are a Christian you might want to get it shown in your church or invite Rev Sam Norton along for a talk. Even if you don't classify yourself as a Christian (I don't), it is still very informative and interesting... A summary of Rev Sam Norton's recommendations found in this film can been found here … [Read more...]
Carbon Con update
A while ago, prompted by a load of Hub members sending details about numerous Carbon "offsetting" companies to the Hub list, I wrote The Carbon Con. One of the comments I got was from tav of green.tv "well said! wish more people would think like this." Thankfully it seems more people do now indeed think like this. Going through the news that I've aggregated on the Commons Creation site, I ended up reading a member's blog, which in turn led me Dougald Hine's excellent blog where I saw this … [Read more...]
Commons Creation meeting
The first Commons Creation meeting took place on Sunday 21st January: So far I've got some great groups signed up to the collective: Peace Not War: https://peace.fm The Synergy Project: https://thesynergyproject.org OneTaste: https://onetaste.co.uk Movimientos: https://www.movimientos.org.uk/ (site down!) they bring together all the Latin America solidarity groups and do regular monthly events with film and music. This is just the beginning, but together these groups already regularly … [Read more...]
The Carbon “Offset” Con
Here is the text of an e-mail I sent out earlier today: Sorry to smash the illusion folks, but I've done considerable research into this and carbon "off-sets" are a con. We cannot neutralise, nor "off-set", carbon we have already emitted (or are about to emit by driving, flying etc.) by giving someone £7.5/per tonne of carbon we emit. We cannot consume our ways out of trouble by simply buying a few carbon credits each time we fly, or even by totting up our total carbon footprint for the year … [Read more...]
Commons Creation Collective
UPDATE: the first Commons Creation meeting was held at Limehouse Town Hall on Sunday 21st January, 2007. A copy of the presentation given can be downloaded here as a PDF (1.1Mb) file. Enjoy! :) Introduction The Commons Creation Collective is all about harnessing the wealth and power of our networks and working together to raising funds and awareness. It will initially bring together conscious event organisers, radial media publishers, and their supporters, to collaborate on two complementary … [Read more...]
Free ‘Peak Oil’ conference in London, 15 July 2006
The agenda is available here as a PDF A free-to-attend conference looking at many aspects of Peak Oil is taking place on Saturday 15 July 2006 at the BedZed development in Hackbridge, just outside London. The event, Peak Speak 2, is the follow up to the successful Peak Speak 1, held at the same location last year. Organised by PowerSwitch.org.uk, and run in a friendly and informal manner, it is designed to give plenty of opportunity to discuss an issue that will dominate the 21st century – the … [Read more...]
The Merton Rule
uniteddiversity built and manages https://themertonrule.org The 'Merton Rule' is the groundbreaking planning policy, pioneered by the London Borough of Merton, which requires the use of renewable energy onsite to reduce annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the built environment. Hundreds of local authorities look set to follow Merton's lead, which will impact all new major development projects throughout the UK. … [Read more...]
The London Fund
Extract from an e-mail I sent recently... My current focus is on building the necessary partnerships needed to launch The London Fund: a community finance, fundraising and marketing solution for social enterprises committed to building a sustainable collaborative economy. Apparently the Mayor's vision is "for London to become an exemplary sustainable world city". The London Fund will invest in building and maintaining the shared sustainable infrastructure needed to make this vision a … [Read more...]