Monthly meeting change: TTKD now meets on Thursdays

Starting with our July meeting, TTKD is changing it's meeting night to the 3rd Thursday of the Month.

So, only the night has changed, it is still the 3rd week of the month and we will still meet at the Kenmore library at 7.30pm. The advantage of meeting on Thursdays is that it is no longer after-hours so as long as you arrive before 8pm you can get in the building without someone giving you access.

We'll have more information about our next meeting on Thursday July 21st soon.

Brissie's own TRANSITION PICNIC - Sat 9th July

Click image to expand

From noon, Saturday 9th July, at New Farm Park rotunda (or nearby). BYO picnic lunch. See flyer for more info.

It would be great to know who's coming, so please RSVP here.

One little detail - BCC charges for the hire of the Rotunda - so we haven't booked it! Instead we'll just turn up and try our luck; if the rotunda is in use we can shift to the alternative area nearby (marked below on the map).

Still open to offers of entertainment, and suggestions for promotion - please add comments here.
Come along, bring a friend, and spruik for 60 seconds on your particular project.

See you at the picnic!

Editorial in The Age: Of droughts, flooding rains and climate change

Interesting editorial in The Age yesterday: Of droughts, flooding rains and climate change. Or as the subheading states: "We respond well to an emergency, but global warming is an emergency too."

An excerpt:

"The loss of life and property in Queensland and the resilience of those affected have gripped Australians. Victorians, too, pulled together during the bushfires, and will again during the current floods. We are good at emergencies, revealing ourselves a compassionate and resolute people. Yet dealing with longer-term threats is just as hard, and calls for different skills - political courage, patient explanation, refusing to be thrown by denialists and the self-interested. The time has come to devise a policy framework that will reduce our carbon footprint at a national and individual level."

Well worth a read as we begin to think about what we can do in the short and long term to prevent future disasters and adapt and build our resilience to those that will occur. I hope to have more to say on these topics in the near future.

Emergence - how life creates radical change

I wanted to share my thoughts with you on an article that a friend recently gave to me on 'emergence' - of community, of connection, of ideas and of movements. I think it really captures what Transition Towns is all about and why we are all involved. The article was written by the founders of the Berkana Organisation, who work with and for communities all over the world. Transition Towns also is about communities working with and for each other, encouraging and supporting people to live more sustainably. How we can actually achieve that is something that I know I for one am grappling with, constantly searching for answers.

Emergence happens when individuals connect with other other individuals in the same locale, sharing knowledge and ideas and forming new ways of doing things. If those new ways and thoughts stayed in that locality, then it would be hard to discern that change. When individuals share their knowledge and their ideas with other like-minded individuals in other communities, and they too begin to change, suddenly a pattern emerges, and a whole new movement has arisen.

Transition Towns is a model of an a emerging movement. A loose network of connected communities, full of people with the same hopes and desire for change. It is up to us to keep sharing our knowledge and stories, within our diverse communities and other networks, and forming new connections, until gradually these ideas become new ways of doing things.

If you're interested in reading about the 'Lifecycle of Emergence' here is the link:
http://berkana.org/berkana/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=6&id=168&Itemid=219

I hope this article inspires you as much as it did me.

Green Idea and Drinks - 7th Oct at The Apple Tree

A reminder this Thursday (the 7th) is our monthly Green Ideas and Drinks get-together.
It is a great opportunity to get to know new people, hear what others are doing, and be inspired!
See you there for a Sip and Chatter about all things Green.

When: Thursday 7th August....from 6:30pm
Where: The Apple Tree
The Courtyard: 2060 Moggill Rd Kenmore

Green Ideas and Drinks is a relaxed way to introduce your friends and neighbours to the ideas of transitioning to a lower carbon lifestyle.
Green Ideas and Drinks occurs on the first Thursday of each month. So come down, say Hi and share you Green Ideas.

350.org - 10/10/10 Global Work Party (this weekend)

"With your help, 10/10/10 is going to be the biggest day of practical action to cut carbon that the world has ever seen.

We're calling it "A Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions"--together we'll get to work in our communities on projects that can cut carbon and build the clean energy future.

But we won't stop there--we'll be using the day to pressure our leaders to Get To Work themselves by passing strong climate policies promoting clean energy and reducing emissions.

Thousands of people around the world have already registered their plans, including bike repair workshoppers in San Francisco, school insulating teams in London, waste-land-to-veggies-gardeners in New Zealand, and solar panel installers in Kenya."

This weekend marks the global day of action for 350.org, a worldwide grass roots network working towards getting carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere back to 350 part per million, considered to be a safe amount for maintaining a climate similar to the one we have now.

The emphasis of the Global Work Party is to get to work in your community doing something that reduces carbon emissions and by doing so show our leaders that we're taking action and you should be too. Currently there are an incredible 6174 events planned in 184 countries, including a number in Brisbane (click the link for information about all the listed events and how you can get involved/ RSVP).

Popular events for Brisbane include, setting up community gardens and permablitzing gardens, planting trees, picking up rubbish and cleaning up creeks and making energy efficiency improvements.

Here are some of the event being run by the community climate network members and friends

• Creek clean up and tree planting work party! - St Johns Wood Sustainability will be working to regenerate local bushland.
  


• Launching the Inspiration Community Garden - Transition East are creating a new community garden follow by a worm farm and composting demonstration and more.......


• Help start a Community Garden - Transition Annerley will also be working on a community garden in Fairfield

• Permablitz - Transition Kuripla will be transforming a backyard into a productive fruit and vege garden

• UQ Gets to Work! - UQ Climate for Change will be having (environmentally friendly) bbq on campus and helping people to create plans to cut their carbon footprint by 10%.

• Electric Bicycle buying group - Sustainable Jamboree will be promoting their electric bicycle bulk buy
  

Hopefully you can make it to one of these events, if you can't consider doing something around your house, plant a tree, sign up for green power, look into getting solar hot water etc and "get to work".

TTKD Growing Food & Landshare Initiative

Growing Food and Landshare Initiative:
Interested in growing food?

Your local Transition Town: Kenmore District group is continuing the process of self-empowerment.

We are launching the Growing Food & Landshare Initiative.

Please share the following information with your email lists, neighbours, friend and family in the area.

Here in the Pullenvale Ward (from Kenmore/Chapel Hill through to Moggill) we are very fortunate to have a mixture of medium density housing through to peri-urban acreages. This diversity creates an opportunity for those without land, or land unsuitable for growing to match with landholders who do not have the time or resources to utilise their land. This synergy can result in a very productive and stronger community.

This idea of matching people keen to grow food to people with available land came to fruition in the U.K . Landshare was launched by KEO films in the UK in 2009 through the River Cottage TV program. The concept is simple: to connect people who wish to grow food with landowners willing to donate spare land for cultivation. Since then it has flourished into a national movement of more than 50,000 people, sharing more than 3,000 acres of land, with matches in every region of the UK.

TransitionTown: Kenmore District (which covers the Pullenvale Ward) would like to engage with people interested in exploring the possibilities of:

1.Landshare and setting up an online Landshare register

2. Co-ordinating people who are already growing food and have a surplus, no matter how big or small.

3.Co-operatively selling food through the local Moggill Markets in the first instance then onto a wider local food supply network.

______________________________________________________________________________________
Who should register interest?

Anyone interested in growing food.
Anyone with land they are happy for others to use with a written agreement as to the terms of that use.
Gardening Mentors: people in the area who have experience in growing food and are willing to share that knowledge.

Register your interest by sending us an email: transitionkenmore"at"gmail.com

"From little things, big things grow" - Lets start growing!

Green Ideas and Drinks - August 5th at The Apple Tree

A reminder this Thursday (the 5th) is our monthly Green Ideas and Drinks get-together.
It is a great opportunity to get to know new people, hear what others are doing, and be inspired!
See you there for a Sip and Chatter about all things Green.

When: Thursday 5th August....from 6:30pm
Where: The Apple Tree
The Courtyard: 2060 Moggill Rd Kenmore

Green Ideas and Drinks is a relaxed way to introduce your friends and neighbours to the ideas of transitioning to a lower carbon lifestyle.
Green Ideas and Drinks occurs on the first Thursday of each month. So come down, say Hi and share you Green Ideas.

The Symposium - Awakening the dreamer - Sunday the 8th of Aug

This coming Sunday 8th of August Transition Kenmore will be hosting The Awakening the Dreamer symposium at the Brookfield Centre, 139 Brookfield Rd.

If you are like me and find the idea of "awakening in the dreamer" a little hard to define, then it might be easier to think of the event as more "the future of our community" both locally and worldwide.
The symposium will trace how "we" have got ourselves into a number of environmental and social predicaments, but also encourage us to look for and work towards solutions. If we want to transition to a more sustainable community and a more sustainable world we'll need to be working towards solutions right here in Kenmore/ South West Brisbane, hence my thinking along the lines of "the future of our community".

Over time these symposium's, which are held worldwide, aim to redefine the way we look at the world, or as the website puts it:

Our mission is bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on Planet Earth

You can watch the trailer for the symposium here.

Sunday 8th August
The Brookfield Centre,
139 Brookfield Rd
Kenmore Hills
Cost: $20 maximum, $50 per family

RSVP to our email: transitionkenmore(at)gmail.com
Hope to see you there

Annerley Sustainability Fair - This Saturday

Transition Annerley have been busy organising a sustainability fair, there's a whole heap of stuff going on, so if you feel like an outing on Saturday this look like a good bet.

Annerley Sustainability Fair

Saturday 19 June 9 am—4 pm

Junction Park State School – Sports Hall

Waldheim Street, Annerley

See the full program, maps and further information Online

Everyone is invited to join in a great day, featuring stalls, presentations and demonstrations, plus organic food & beverages to enjoy!

• Transport alternatives
• Water and energy saving ideas
• Waste options
• Recycling initiatives
• Organic food & beverages for purchase

TED talk from Transition founder Rob Hopkins - Transition to a world without oil

TED talks bring some of the world best thinkers and doers together to share "Ideas worth spreading". Along with its once a year conferences in California and Oxford, TED affiliated events are now held around the world and many talks are put online for all to see.

Here's Rob Hopkins talking about the transition to a world without oil at TEDglobal in Oxford last year.

There are lots of other great TED talks available on the website, many along the Technology, Entertainment, Design subject areas but increasingly others too, such as A Greener Future? I'll be posting some more interesting talks in the near future.