Group forum RSS feed

Best way to move forward

Janet Millington — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:20:30 -0800

I just wonder how to get going.
I think we need to first ensure that the community is aware of energy descent and the consequences. Chris Carroll and her team are managing a tour to follow the success of the Al Gore movie....soon to be posted...then of course the impact of climate change that will require so many more resources. And then the other impact of population on already fragile eco-systems and their energy demands.

So awareness is number one and that is already into mainstream....but I fear a sensational and doomsday approach for media .

Number 2 has to be the removal of fear by giving proven solutions and this is where Permaculture comes to the fore with 30 years of practical solutions in all the most harsh climates of the world.
So 2 must be promote permaculture design solutions.

Number 3 has to be identify what we want in our future. Rather than rage against what we don't want we need to show and demand what we want. So deciding that and the priorities is next.

When we have that then we can lobby.

So what I am saying is 1 and 2 are up and running. We need a manifesto or a vision statement. Maroochy has one...called 2025 we can base our work on. We need to get that and prioritise what is is that residents wanted in their future and lobby for it.

What do you think and how can we get the human energy for it. We need to do it soon before the fear creates denial and lethargy.
Janet

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Your say at State Govt level - last call!

Sonya — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:53:59 -0700

Have your say at State Govt level.

How can we prepare for climate change and peak oil?

On August 29 I have been invited to attend a roundtable discussion at Parliament House in Brisbane.

The forum will look at how we can best prepare for the long haul on these global issues.

As part of my role in the discussions, I have been asked to discuss these issues with my local community (geographical or virtual) and bring their input and comments to the table.

My interests in this are relocalisation, permaculture solutions, energy descent action planning and community education about these issues and the many solutions we have available to us to act.

I will be discussing the energy descent action planning course we have in place, the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre and the relocalisation groups I am involved with.

Could you please consider the following background information and questions and let me know if you have any suggestions or comments you would like to include;

Leading for the future…

Building resilience in social and economic systems to deal with sudden discontinuous change and uncertainty.

Strengthening our capacity to learn, adapt and innovate in businesses and communities.

Think ‘local’… think ‘dispersed’… think ‘diverse’…

Focus questions

What conditions allow people to collaborate across boundaries to generate social resilience and innovation?

What do we (as community leaders) need to do differently to meet the challenges of climate change (and peak oil)?

What support and resources will we need to be effective in this role?

What steps can we take in SEQ and NENSW to develop local leadership?

How can we support networking and learning between leaders?

Your comments would be most appreciated,
Sonya

SustainaBundy

New book lifts lid on Howard's 'greenhouse mafia'

Sonya — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:40:15 -0700

High & Dry by Guy Pearse
John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future.

Guy Pearse's revelation about Australia's 'greenhouse mafia' made headlines. In High & Dry this Liberal Party insider shows why John Howard's climate change policy is reckless, how it came about, and who is behind it.

Released only a few weeks ago, this book outlines the reason behind John Howard's refusal to sign Kyoto and explains why he will never do anything to cut carbon emissions while he is in power. The story featured on ABC TV's Four Corners in February 2006.

If you wonder why our leaders are steadfastly refusing to respond to the greatest threat posed to our planet - read this book.

Not only are our politicians doing nothing to stop emissions, they are resolutely taking us in the exact opposite direction - one they know will lead to a very grim future for us all.

It's hard to understand how anyone could consciously do this, but Pearses' book explains the reasoning and the 'behind the scenes' very well.

Not a cheery read by any means, but an absolute must read for any Australian concerned about climate change, the future of the planet and future generations.

From the book jacket...

In this damning account, Liberal Party member, lobbyist and former Howard-government advisor Guy Pearse takes us behind the rhetoric he once helped write. He reveals that the government has no plans whatsoever to reduce Australia's emissions, and explains why this is bad for Australia's economy. He exposes a prime minister wilfully blind to Australia's real interests - a man who has allowed climate change policy to be dictated by a small group of Australia's biggest polluters and the lobbyists they fund.

Just as Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers explained the science of climate change, High & Dry explains the politics. You cannot understand the future of Australia without reading this book.

Published by Viking as an imprint of Penguin Books - ask for it at your bookstore

Visit www.highanddry.com.au for more information and updates.

SustainaBundy

Resilience in the face of the long emergency

Sonya — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:42:42 -0700

Resilience in the face of the ‘long emergency’

(With acknowledgement to JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER)

My new mantra is ‘resilience’. It’s officially my new favourite word and I have a lot of favourite words as they are my tools of trade. But resilience is my absolute favourite as of now.

It perfectly sums up how we need to approach peak oil and climate change. It’s succinct, positive, definite and strong.

We need to build resilience, we need to be resilient. Our systems and infrastructure need to be resilient.

Our food gardens, water supply, lighting, heating, cooling – they all need to be resilient.

Our finances, our means of earning money, our health, even our psyches needs to be resilient.

To me, resilience means that if one thing ‘falls over’ not everything does, that there is diversity and strength in systems to weather a shock and still be standing. That something can ‘fill the gap’ left by a problem, life continues to some degree…you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket and subsequently backed over your basket.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines resilience as; elasticity, rebound, recoil, ready recovery, buoyancy, even cheerfulness.

But how do we go about it?

I’ve summed up what I believe is the start of a resilience plan. The Steps we need to take to build resilience in our communities. I’ve taken my years of working in media and communications for emergency services, where I responded to emergencies using communication as my tool on a daily basis, and I’ve applied the same ‘crisis management’ strategies to preparing for a post carbon future.

Aside from the topics raised in this article, now is the time for communities to carefully and thoughtfully examine how they can build resilience and preserve the following; society and social structures, law enforcement & justice, health, culture, bio-diversity, emergency response, insurance, and recovery.

This is a long emergency, as James Howard Kunstler has described. Most emergencies I dealt with in emergency services lasted a few hours, perhaps a few days – never weeks, never years, never decades – never like we are now facing with peak oil and climate change.

It’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be tiring, frustrating, exhausting, depressing, busy, draining. Our energies will be shattered and scattered as we look for solutions. We’ll respond and react to problem after problem, to crisis after crisis at a heightened level day after day after day after day… it could easily take a tragic toll among us.

You first
Firstly, YOU must become resilient. Build support systems, create networks, find your inspiration, TAKE TIME OFF, rest, eat well, keep in contact with Nature, support others, acknowledge, accept, celebrate, have fun, laugh, and cry.

Steps to resilience
Identify
Admitting and identifying the problem is a good first step and one a lot of people will struggle with. People honestly think nothing will change and everything will just keep going the way it is today. Discuss and identify the issues, ensure you include lots of diversity in the groups you discuss these problems with. Talk about vulnerabilities, what are they and how can they be managed, improved, changed, or accepted. Who’s in your community? What strengths do you have in your human resources? What skills are lurking in the masses? Do you know your neighbours?

Pre-plan & Pre-pare
Being prepared is a wonderful thing, it gives you such confidence. It’s not bad luck to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ In fact it’s a sign of good management to discuss scenarios and to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ Perhaps it may not be as bad as what you expect, if you think the worse, you might be pleasantly surprised. In all seriousness, table top scenarios, community discussions, acknowledging the possibilities and planning for them – they are all powerful tools of preparation and preparation is the key. Whether it’s a public talk you’re giving or laying a concrete slab, preparation pays off. It’s also good to underpromise and overdeliver. Preparation = information therefore information = empowerment.

Mitigate where possible
Is there something you can do today, right now to mitigate a problem? To reduce your vulnerability. To build resilience today?

Communication
Ah, my favourite subject. Communication is another powerful tool we humans have in the face of adversity. Communication = information, information = empowerment, When we communicate, people have an understanding (hopefully!). If we communicate before a situation arises, even better. If people are prepared and know what might happen, what might be expected of them, how others might respond, and where to get more information it often leads to less panic and mayhem when the incident actually happens. Communicate early and often. Communicate pre, during and post events. Keeping people informed reduces rumour, mis-information and problems later. PS there will always be someone who asks “why wasn’t I told?” no matter how thorough you are – it’s just one of the mystical laws of communication.

Have structures in place
Another current favourite topic. Google ‘peak oil’ or ‘climate change’ and see what happens. There is SO much information out there we can no longer excuse our ignorance and continue living in denial with “well I didn’t know that” or my other favourite “no-one told me” – another mystical law of communication that must be followed for the fabric of the universe to be maintained. Community groups, activists and even some leaders around the globe are telling anyone who will listen what is on our horizon. Leaders know – and they have an absolute moral and ethical responsibility to HAVE STRUCTURES IN PLACE. My personal aim is to lobby for the systems to be built around the people. Put the structures in place. Those of us who know have a responsibility to do this.

Resources
We will need resources. Now is a really good time to identify them, where they are located, who can get to them quickly, how many we have and how they can best be activated in an emergency. Are they readily available and easily accessible? Resources can be many things and should include people.

Build confidence in the community
Isn’t it just so much easier to do something when you know how to do it, what’s expected of you and what’s expected of others? That’s confidence! A confident community = an empowered community. Communication plays a key role as does education and practical experience in building confidence. Resilient psyches are very powerful!

Have a back up plan
Murphy’s Law – whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Take note of it and have a back up plan. If one road is closed does your plan fall in a heap? Have a back up plan.

Have more back up plans
The long emergency is a unique situation. Sure we’ve dealt with crises here before, but not of the intensity and frequency we will face in the future. Add to that the fact we will have less available ‘energy’ – power, electricity, petrol, goods, food etc – in the future due to peak oil. Increasing demands (for emergency response) in a depleting energy environment – who’s planning for that?

Have alternatives
When all else fails have an alternative plan – creativity, flexibility, responsiveness, the courage to accept feedback and make the necessary changes are all good things.

Diversify
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – someone may drop it. Practice resilience in all its glorious forms.

Feedback
Factor it in, accept it, do something about it. If something isn’t working change it. If something is working keep doing it.

Identify
The closing of the loop… go back to the beginning and start working through it again.

So that’s my 13 steps to resilience.

But who is going to do all this? We need leaders and those leaders need QUALITIES…

Qualities needed for community resilience
Leadership
Isn’t it great when someone knows what to do? Someone who inspires you, someone you want to be around? Leadership is an innate quality. People are born with it (or not). It can be honed, but it can’t be ‘made’. Poor leadership has got us into this mess. Good leadership can get us out. The same bad leadership that got us into this mess is NOT the same leadership that will get us out. If ‘they’ had that foresight in their thinking, we wouldn’t be here in this mess in the first place.

Trust
‘Sigh’ so lacking in today’s leaders… Trust is the key. We need to trust our leaders because we will be following them. Without trust it’s all over. If I don’t trust you, I’m not going to do what you ask of me.

Ingenuity
Being ingenious! Inventive, talented, skillful. Excellent qualities to have and encourage in others.

Creativity
As it relates to flexibility. The ability to creatively look for answers, solutions, new ways of doing things, new ways of using things. Not being locked up by that “we’ve never done it like that before” type thinking.

Know limitations
One of the greatest qualities a leader or a community could have. It takes great strength and self-awareness to know, let alone acknowledge your limitations. A good leader surrounds themselves with good people who possess the skills that complement their own personal limitations. It also shows a lack of ego, which is a good thing.

Able to ask for expert support
See above

Community empowerment
An empowered community goes a long way toward a resilient community. Understanding, feeling ownership, being involved in the process and in decision making all lead to empowerment.

Established networks
Now is a really good time to build networks – not when the crisis is happening. Networks, whether physical or social need to be establish BEFOREHAND, not during, not after, but before. Now is a really good time to build networks, while we have the time, resources and technology to do it.

Understand skills base
In your community, in your leaders. A skills base of expertise is part of communication, networking and preparation. All important strategies for emergency preparation.

Identify inequities and those most vulnerable
‘They’ say the measure of a community is how it treats it’s most vulnerable. People who have nothing to lose – have nothing to lose. Identify and ADDRESS inequities. This is part of social cohesive and inclusiveness. People who feel isolated probably are isolated and they also feel desperate. Desperate people will do desperate things. Ensuring equity and support and caring for our most vulnerable is GOOD social management and will go a long way in the long emergency.

Things will change
Understand that things will change. We are living in an illusion of stability. Things will change. It is very likely that our future situation will be very different to our current situation. Things may never return to ‘normal’ and they will definitely not be ‘stable’ once the long emergency really kicks in. We need to define a new ‘normal’ and be prepared to redefine that too. We need to communicate this to people so they are prepared.

Responsive to and understanding of change
A fundamental quality we must all adopt. See above.

Communication
Back to my favourite subject. Communication. One I’m dedicating a thesis to in fact. But let’s just focus on one aspect of communication in society. How do a lot of people get their ‘information’? From the media. The television news, radio, internet and newspapers are their sources of what’s happening. When a disaster occurs there is a predictable pattern of reporting that newsrooms follow and it is timely for our leaders to understand this process – no surprises then. These stories and the process of reporting them will go something like this…

How the media will report a ‘disaster’
• Initial reports – media report what hard facts are immediately available and vision of the incident.
• Cause of emergency – more details, more information emerges of the incident
• Stories of individual courage – the ‘human interest’ of the story, in depth ‘features’ appear
• Effect of the disaster – financial costs, industry costs, ‘loss of’ costs, final fatality numbers, and more features of various aspects depending on the type of disaster
• Safety warning and inadequacies – the media (public) examination of the incident begins includes letters to the editor, more features etc
• Emergency response and inadequacies – media (public) examination of the emergency response
• Blame – who is to blame?
• Aftermath and recover – the one year on story, costs, losses etc, lessons learnt

This is my take on resilience, why it’s important and perhaps a few ideas and thoughts on how we might go about creating it.

I hope you find it useful and please ask yourself; ‘how can you build resilience in my community?’

SustainaBundy

Meeting outcomes for Dec 9

Sonya — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:26:52 -0800

Thanks to everyone who turned up today...

We heard from Alberto as to how the working bee went from his point of view (very well and the vegies are booming along!)

Also we decided to only meet monthly in 2008 - first Sunday of every month still at 8.30am, so the next meeting is Jan 6.
We have another idea for a working bee, this time harvesting amaranth, which should be ready in March/April
The idea of starting a carpooling forum here on this site (people log on when and where they will be travelling so others can share a lift) and that will start under FORUMS
There was a request for a talk on solar energy - Sonya to arrange
The idea of a raffle with a permablitz garden makeover as the prize was discussed and will be followed up
And there was also talk of the potential to hold a weekly market of fresh and bulk food right in the heart of Eudlo, but more on that as the idea progresses.

Dates for a seed saving course will also be arranged for 2008.

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Climate change & Peak oil are not a problem

Sonya — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:43:45 -0800

I don't think climate change and peak oil are a problem... let me explain.

There is so much media, government and public attention focused on the ‘problem’ of climate change and, to a lesser degree peak oil, but aren’t we all looking at this from the wrong angle?

I see the changes in our climate and our impending energy descent as symptoms, not problems.

The problem is much deeper and much more personal.

The problem is the way we – those of us in developed countries – are living our lives.

It’s the way we consume way beyond what we actually need, it’s about the food we throw away, the culture of consumerism we’ve created and have now become enslaved to.

Try telling someone that they don’t need the latest model car, they don’t need a wardrobe full of clothes they don’t wear, that we don’t actually need shopping malls full of useless ‘crap’ and see how far you get.

Somewhere, somehow, we all started believing we had the right to live the high life. Marketers jumped on the bandwagon – or perhaps kicked it all off – and we were on our way. The latest handbags, boxes and boxes of shoes, the latest in-season fashion. Live like a celebrity!

What’s hot and what’s not? Our passion for fashion (not just clothes of course, but the latest model kitchen appliance, the celebrity style overseas get away …) is directly related to what’s hot that’s for sure. And another thing that’s hot is the climate.

Human behaviour – consumerism, land use, deforestation, fossil fuel burning – has now changed the world’s weather patterns – perhaps irreversibly. Warning after warning, each more dire than the one before and appearing in our newspapers, our nightly news programs yet… where is the revolution?

Yet, we continue on our merry way, worshipping the consumerism of today’s life… very few people have really made any serious effort to change the way they live. Our societies make it hard for those of us who would like to seriously change the way we live – you try living without a car on the Sunshine Coast!

We continue to pump out (the problem) carbon emissions in huge amounts (the symptom) despite knowing it is going to cause extinction of species (note to all – WE are a species!), destruction of the environment, major disruptions to food supply and loss of available land…

As for peak oil, do you think an ant cares that we are running out of oil, or a bird, or an elephant?

We care that we are running out of oil because we’ve built ourselves into a corner. A corner built on oil, lives dependant on oil, economies dependant on oil, employment, housing, food, mobility… all dependant on oil.

We’re running out because we’ve consumed what was available at an alarming rate. We’ve wasted oil on frivolous, meaningless things that have done nothing to really improve our lives. We’re less happy and more stressed than our pre-oil ancestors.

Looking at climate change as an environmental problem is taking us off course and away from where we should be focussing. We are losing valuable time and wasting valuable energy if we look at this as an environmental problem.

Because what happens is councils and other organisations, thinking they are doing the right thing – climate change is about the environment right? – employ environmental scientists to get to work fixing the problem.

But then, the poor person put in that position realises the problem is not the environment, the problem is people - social, economic, psychological, planning, infrastructure, systems, systems, systems.

Yes, climate change is about the environment, but climate change is only a symptom, not the problem. Same with peak oil – if we didn’t use (waste?) so much of this precious fuel and if we hadn’t designed our whole lives to revolve around it – it wouldn’t be reaching it’s peak and if it was, we wouldn’t care.

When I worked in the medical field, often patients would be being treated and hospitalised for their symptoms, not the problem. Our health system is a reflection of our current crisis.

Yes we can treat symptoms, we can mask symptoms – but unless we treat the underlying problem – and in this case it’s human behaviour and abuse of earth’s resources – we are only ever going to have a bandaid effect.

Let’s instead bite the bullet and address the real issues 1) consumption – or more to the point overconsumption and 2) a change away from linear globalised systems – resource in waste out – extraordinary transport miles and carbon emissions attached to everything we buy.

Let’s be brave and let's be visionaries
reduce consumption,
produce locally,
build resilient communities
relocalise and
make the transition to our post carbon future with our eyes wide open and looking forward.

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Local Farmers' Markets

Sonya — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:38:39 -0700

Did you know that the Big Pineapple Farmers' Markets are now on every Saturday morning from 7am? Support local food supply chains, shop locally, buy direct from the grower, buy fresh food, support local business people, reduce your carbon emissions, cut down on food miles, and enjoy a true local feast!

The Noosa Farmers' Markets are on every Sunday morning at Noosaville.

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

the Eudlo Co-operative

Sonya — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:08:28 -0700

We are about to start the process of forming a co-operative right here in Eudlo.

Other ideas include;
creating some type of social hub in our town - this need has been raised by new people who are moving here and don't know how to find out what's going on.

starting the EGG group - the Eudlo Grain Growers group - researching and growing grains in our local area.

If you live in or very near Eudlo and would like to be part of these initiatives, please contact eudlogardenofeatin@yahoo.com

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)