Newsletter October 2012: Sustainability skills and ceilidh in October!

Our great SkillsFest is this Saturday – no need to book, just show up on the day to learn new, exciting skills towards a sustainable future!

If you haven’t experienced our Carbon Conversations yet, you still have time to sign up to one of the groups this autumn. We are also training new facilitators this autumn, so if you have already taken part and would like to facilitate groups yourself, get in touch!

Later this month we are organising a ceilidh. Our ceilidhs have always been great fun with lots of dancing and great music, so join us for truly amazing evening! We are also looking for some volunteers to give us a hand, so if you’d like to help, read more below.

To read about our highly successful celebration of local food, with talks from local producers and feedback from a panel of Eating Local participants, see here.

Carbon Conversations groups this Autumn!

A chance to catch one of our award-winning Carbon Conversations groups this Autumn! If you haven’t yet participated, now is your chance, as we have three groups starting in October in Cambridge on Tuesdays (Mill Road area) and Thursdays (in Newnham)! We are also planning to run a group in Cottenham.

Hundreds of local people have found these groups life-changing and immensely enjoyable. Whether you know a lot or a little about climate change and how to reduce your carbon footprint while still enjoying life, these groups are for you – some environmentally conscious people, who knew a lot about certain areas of carbon reduction, have been surprised about how much more they learned in a different part of their footprint (for example, food).

Even if you have already participated, please encourage your friends, colleagues and family to join a group. I have always found that people respond best to hearing about what I got out of it (and I felt taking part in Carbon conversations really did make an enormous positive difference to my life!).

You can email info@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone 01223 301842 to find out more and book a place. Look at our website to find out more about Carbon Conversations and read some quotes from previous participants.

SkillsFest 6 October

Saturday 6 October, 12pm – 4pm, St. Andrew’s Hall on St. Andrew’s Road

SkillsFest is a free skills sharing event featuring workshops, demos and tutorials on a variety of skills, including willow weaving, sewing, knitting, DIY energy saving tips, growing your own, bicycle maintenance, herbal healing, and lots more! We will also have a cafe, creche, recipe swap and lots of information on how you can continue learning and sharing skills after the event is over. Please note the creche will require booking ahead, which you can do via info@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org. There will be so much to learn and to do on the day; check our website for more details and latest updates!

CCF’s great fundraising Ceilidh 20 October

Saturday 20 October, 7.30 – 10.30pm, Arbury Community Centre, Campkin Road

Don’t miss this wonderful evening! We have the fantastic Cambridge University Ceilidh Band playing live for us, with their own caller, so you don’t need to know the steps in advance! There will be food and drink and a raffle with great prizes. Our last ceilidh was a packed-out success, so do book early! In order to make sure you are not kept away by cost, we have two ticket prices: £5 and £10 (or more if you can afford it – this is a fundraiser, be generous!) and you decide which you pay. This covers entry + food + one drink.

Have a look at our gorgeous ceilidh poster, which we would love you to download and display! Tickets can be booked from the office (info@cambridecarbonfootprint.org or phone 01223 301842).

Carbon Conversations facilitator training 20 October

 

If you have participated in a Carbon Conversations group, this is your chance to co-facilitate a group yourself! The training is free and you are always paired up with an experienced facilitator for your first group. If you enjoyed the course and want to help ensure others can experience it, sign up for this workshop and see if this is for you. (There is a wonderful facilitator’s guide, as well as the participants’ handbook you are familiar with, so you get a lot of guidance.) Email elizabeth@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone 01223 301842 if you are interested.

Low Carbon Future: Dream or Nightmare? 29 October

29 October, 7.30pm – 9.30pm, St. Andrew’s Hall in Chesterton

What will peak oil and climate change bring to Cambridge, positive changes, negative consequences, both? Cast your imagination to the future in this interactive talk that explores the possibility of a low carbon world which is rewarding and enjoyable.

This workshop provides a taste of what Cambridge Carbon Footprint covers in our award-winning six-session course, Carbon Conversations, and touch on what Transition Cambridge created for their positive vision of Cambridge in 2030 earlier this year.

The event is part of the 2012 Festival of Ideas. To book please email info@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or call 01223 301842.

Warm homes in Trumpington 10 November

Saturday 10 November, 10am – 4pm, Trumpington

Following on from our successful Eco-renovation in Progress evenings, we are very excited to be offering a Saturday daytime workshop focusing on the types of houses in a certain area: Foster Road, Paget Road and Byron Square in Trumpington, which have 350+ post-war semi-detached and terraced homes, some council-owned and some owner-occupied. These include homes with cavity walls and some steel-framed houses which require external cladding.

We now have confirmation that we will have two Eco-renovations in Progress visits to offer on the day (times TBC). There is only room for small numbers of people (probably eight at a time), so you need to book early (bookings have already started!). Everything else will be open to all on the day: specially-made videos of homes in the area, Question and Answer sessions with experts (including Anne Cooper of Acarchitects and Alex Rice of Green Tomato Energy), supplier stalls, DIY workshops. Detailed programme to follow.

If you live in the Foster Road area (post-war council housing, now partly owner-occupied) and are interested in having a free expert eco-renovations visit, giving you advice on how you make your home more energy-efficient in return for our filming you, or if you would be willing to host an Eco-renovations in Progress visit on the day, please contactinfo@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone 01223 301842. More information to follow onour website.

The Bioregional Economy, a talk by Molly Scott Cato 15 November

Thursday 15 November, 7.30 – 9.30pm, St. Philip’s Church Centre, 185 Mill Road

When ecology meets economics…The Bioregional Economy

A public talk based on the new book by renowned green economist Molly Scott Cato

A strong local economy is important to sustainability, but how large is a local economy, how self-reliant can it be, and what resources will still need to be imported? A bioregional economy explores these questions while challenging the values of the current global economic system, putting people and locality before profit and growth. Join Cambridge Carbon Footprint and leading Green Economist Molly Scott Cato as she sets out a visionary account of what a bioregional approach to the economy would mean — and how to get there from here.

Molly Scott Cato is professor of Strategy and Sustainability at Roehampton University, Green Party spokesperson on economics and a Director of Transition Stroud.

Help needed for ceilidh on October 20th!

 

Can you help us with our forthcoming ceilidh? We need:
• help with the cooking
• raffle prizes
• help on the evening

Free tickets for people helping on the night! Email bev@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org. It’s going to be a great evening!

Gardening in October – Skills to adapt to changing climate

A huge area of low pressure sits over the UK as I write (25th Sept.) bringing flooding and strong winds to many parts of Britain, especially northern areas. Warm wet air from the tropics dumped up to 100mm of rain in some areas – a month’s worth in one go! Our rainfall in Cambridge the day before was more modest but saw the end to a month with little or no rain…the latest ‘block’ of weather.

Read Keith Jordan’s full article on our website.

Poles apart

The record melting of the Arctic ocean this month is causing more warming, because the sea absorbs much more sunlight than reflective ice – causing more melting and so on! This may become of the feared climate tipping points – eg: Nick Toberg of Cambridge University, DAMPT, predicts that “If the remaining 4 million sq. km of sea ice disappear in summer, that would equal adding 20 years’ worth of CO2 to the atmosphere (at today’s levels of CO2emissions). That’s how vital the arctic sea ice is.”

The British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, discovered the ozone hole and leads vital research down south. A proposed merger, leading to management from Southampton, threatens their climate change research. Please see Tony Juniper’s description of this and consider signing this petition.

Meanwhile George Osborne proposes building 20 new gas-fired power stations! This new “dash for gas” would blow a hole in the emission-reduction targets of the Climate Act,according to the Climate Change Committee who oversee it. Government doublespeak still talks of decarbonising UK electricity by 2030 by assuming these new power stations will be fitted with effective carbon capture and storage, which has yet to be achieved at large scale with even low efficiency. The Lib Dems and Labour appear to oppose to this “dash for gas” and support more renewables: their votes will be crucial in how the Energy Bill shapes UK power-generation for decades to come. Greenpeace offer an easy way for you to lobby your MP on this.

Tom Bragg

Engaging with climate change: psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary perspectives

Can grappling with the darker side of human experience help us understand the inadequate responses to climate change that we see all around us? A new book – Engaging with climate change: psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary perspectives, suggests that it can.

Read more at www.rorandall.org

Book launch: Looby McNamara – “People and Permaculture – Caring for ourselves, each other and the planet” 26 October

Friday 26 October, Heffers Bookshop, 20 Trinity Street (time TBC, finalised details from Penny Hall tcheartandsoul@gmail.com)

Book launch in Cambridge with Looby McNamara: People and Permaculture – Caring for ourselves, each other and the planet – The first dedicated Peoplecare book.

“This is the first book to explore how to use permaculture design and principles for people – to restore personal, social and planetary
well-being. People & Permaculture widens the definition of permaculture, taking it right into the heart of our own lives, relationships and society, making it relevant to everyone . It provides a clear framework and guidance for both experienced permaculturists and people completely new to permaculture, and indeed for anyone who wishes to live a more creative, abundant life. Including over 50 practical activities, People & Permaculture empowers readers with tried and tested tools to initiate positive change. It is a hands-on, powerful guide to creating a sustainable world.”
Permaculture Magazine

More reviews here. To find out more about Looby, visit her website.

People and Permaculture: Creating synergetic productive groups – a workshop with Looby McNamara 27 October

Saturday 27 October, 10am – 17pm at Trumpington Pavilion, King George V Playing Field, Paget Road, Trumpington

We will explore group life and how to make the most of the group energy and people’s skills. This will include decision-making, facilitation techniques and roles within groups. The workshop will be fun and interactive. Cost £45/£35 unwaged if booked and paid for by September 25th. After this date the cost will be £55/ £45 unwaged.

For more information and to book contact Penny Hall at tcheartandsoul@gmail.com. Please book early if your keen as places limited.

For more info about Looby go to her website

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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