Our journey
Over the past six months we‘ve talked to people of different backgrounds, from farmers to artists, architects to engineers, retailers to teachers: people obsessed with bike paths, solar energy and worm farms; people involved in schools, community groups and churches; people of different religions, politics and race.
People different in almost every aspect except one: they care about the future of our planet and they want to do something about it. Transition Towns can harness that passion and connect people in a way that breathes life into communities and creates sustainable, resilient ways of living together. It's transforming communities overseas and it's starting to take hold in Australia.
To start this process in Newcastle we have spent the past six months getting organised. We've built a strong and inspired working group who‘ve been learning about the model and making connections in the community.
To get an idea of how transition works, we invited Janet Millington from the SEAC to share with us how they got the movement going in Queensland. Over lovely dinners we've shared ideas and local produce with many passionate people including food growers, producers and distributors.
We incorporated in August 2008 and have applied for funding grants to help move the process along. With the help of some gifted generous souls we have created promotional materials and the embryonic website.
We've given a number of formal presentations including one to NCC Environment Advisory Panel and driven people to distraction with conversations about the possibilities for this movement.
In 2009, two of our working group attended a transition workshop in Bowral with two founding members of the UK transition movement. Another did a similar course on the Sunshine Coast to glean what they've learned.
So we feel like it's time to get out there.
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Permaculture Food Blitzes Start at Lambton
After months of planning and gathering resources, the first Permaculture Food Blitz was held on Sunday 31st May 8am-5pm at the Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre, 3 Illalung Rd, Lambton to create the Multicultural Community Garden.
The Centre won a grant from Newcastle City Council, and Permaculture Hunter Region additionally contributed funds from its Sustaining Our Suburbs project, sponsored by the UnitingCare Ageing (Hunter, New England, Central Coast).
The centre, in partnership with PHR (now a Branch of TTN) began developing this great food garden with fruit trees and vegie beds, ponds and compost bins with about 40 Volunteers.
The next Permaculture Food Blitz will also be at the Multicultural Community Garden (address as above) to complete it from 9am to 2:30pm on 28/6/09, and locals will again be given preference. So bookings are essential and please contact John Shiel on 4959 1350, or jafshiel@tpg.com.au. The following Food Blitz is planned for Beresfield area around August.
You can get your own house Blitzed if you are a TTN member and if you work on 6 Food Blitz days (conditions apply).
Open Space afternoon - 24th May
15 people turned up for the Open Space meeting at Hamilton Public School on a beautiful Sunday afternoon recently to use and experience this great tool. It gave us an opportunity to develop our ideas and actions on the sustainability of our neighborhoods and transitioning to a lower energy future (and the kids had a ball - with a special thankyou to Ross). The agenda was based around the seminal question of "Creating connected and sustainable neighbourhoods - where do we start"? With that as the theme, a number of different questions arose from the floor that became the focus of engaging and sometimes intense discussion groups. It was a thought provoking and valuable afternoon, and we look forward to exploring other themes and questions using this technology.
THose who were there are invited to comment.
Film night & Discussion - The End of Suburbia -Oil Depletion etc
About 50 locals attended our first showing of the American film "The End of Suburbia -Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream" on Friday 15th of May at 7:30pm at the Baptist Church, Hamilton.
This was a powerful documentary film concerning peak oil, its history and its implications for our society and future, and there was some opportunity for discussion following the film, and to explore the Transition response, and the audience was invited to come along to the Ideas Cafe the next day to continue the lively discussion.
Some stunning facts in the film:
1. For every calorie of food we consume, it takes 10 calories to make (which is completely unsustainable, and shows how we need to return to local food production instead of agribusiness food that uses fossil-fuel-focused fertilisers, pesticides, mechanisation with transport to the supermarkets in plastic - oil derived - packaging.)
2. Our society is addicted to oil.
3. We are running out of time (Richard Heinberg) to find alternatives to our energy supply - hydrogen is too volatile (who will volunteer to conduct hydrogen car crash tests?) and the infrastructure (production and distribution outlets) will take too long to establish.
4. The new urbanism will be walkable cities (Peter Calthorpe).
5. James Kunstler wondered what jobs we will all have in 10 years, especially if we can't travel, and there will be much less car use.
6. Matthew Simmons (oil consultant and businessman) regards energy as much too cheap, and we need to develop localised energy sources.
7. Suburbia will be regarded as the Oil Age.
Some interesting discussion in our group afterwards included:
a. Need free public transport in city CBD.
b. Give way to bicycles on the road.
c. Reside in multi-storey buildings and have walkable cities like Europe.
d. Grow food in backyard like our parents did during the depression.
e. Our currency should be units of Energy eg. Joules, instead of money, which has a fabricated value.
f. A local community or sustainable village should include facilities for the whole human lifecycle eg. schools, community halls, hostels and aged homes.
g. Maybe harness lightning energy.
h. Have free bicycles left around the CBD to borrow, maybe with a deposit.