Last Saturday Gloria and I joined members of the North London Sustainable Housing Partnership to visit the lovely Springhill Cohousing community in Stroud. The video above is a quick tour of the site (unfortunately my battery ran out before I got to show you around inside the common house, and I hadn't put the camera in high resolution mode). Below are the photos I took during our tour, where together with lots of outdoor picture you can take a sneak peak inside some of the houses (some of which … [Read more...]
DeSchool, D-Skool, ReallyReally Freeschool
Just got this message from Persons Unknown January - February 2011 Fingers crossed Surrounded by institutions and universities, there is newly occupied space where education can be re-imagined. Amidst the rising fees and mounting pressure for ‘success’, we value knowledge in a different currency; one that everyone can afford to trade. In this school, skills are swapped and information shared, culture cannot be bought or sold. Here is an autonomous space to find each other, to gain momentum, … [Read more...]
Coworking at The Clouds – An Invitation
Every Tuesday from 11am until about 4-5pm (sometime later - lots of good stuff happens here in the evenings too) United Diversity and VisionOn.TV will be hosting upstairs at Passing Clouds (1 Richmond Road, London E8 4AA) as a free Coworking space. Are you working on an intelligent response to climate, energy or economic uncertainty? A community land, money or media project perhaps? Or any other imaginative initiative for a radically better world (hat tip toour friends at The Hub network of … [Read more...]
Will The Brixton Pound Buy A Brighter Future?
by Leo Hickman Tomorrow the Transition Town movement launches a currency designed to boost local trade and bring communities closer together A Brixton market stallholder . . . 'It's Monopoly money,' says one. 'I won't be having anything to do with it'. Photograph: Graeme Robertson It has all the makings of a taxing pub quiz question: what links dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, environmental scientist James Lovelock, black civil rights activist Olive Morris and comedian Chris Morris with … [Read more...]
Squat Freeshop on Commercial Road
Swap shops, Freeshops, give away shops, they all aim to go against the capitalist framework, and often people can't quite get their heads around the idea, that, yes it is free and you can take it! Illustrations by Thereza Rowe When I dropped by the free shop near Brick Lane, I received firsthand experience of this when a woman asked the way to the ‘trendy’ Shoreditch area and when invited to look around the Freeshop declined with a shrug of the shoulders. It appears it just wasn’t hip enough, … [Read more...]
Who Has The Best Taste? OneTaste does.
If you have been to a UK festival in the last few years, chances are that at some point you found yourself dancing in the OneTaste tent. Having residency at Glastonbury, Big Chill and Secret Garden Party to name but a mere few, OneTaste have acquired a devoted fan base of festival goers who want a guarantee that when they walk into a tent they will get the following components; top quality live music, an high-spirited and friendly crowd, and twenty four hour revelry. OneTaste in Hyde Park, … [Read more...]
Save The Spike Surplus Scheme
The Spike in Peckham is under threat. With free permaculture courses, a community garden, recording studio, rehearsal space and much more, Spike is an exemplay example of volunteer community based regeneration. It is an important local resource. If you haven't already done so, please sign the petition to help Save The Spike! If you have already signed the petition, please forward it on to your (e.g. myface) friends and networks. For an idea of how great this space is check out the pictures … [Read more...]