Convergence 13: Transition Strategies

Posted on February 24 by Josef

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This looks set to be an amazing event…

Cultivate Update

cultivate your self | community | world

Friday 22nd Feb 2008

Convergence 13: Transition Strategies

Post Carbon Cities, Transition Towns and Eco-Villages 

3rd to the 7th of April 2008 | Festival Pass: €120 until March 10th (€150 thereafter)

Bookings 01 674 5773 or Online

Attention climate activists, community workers, environmentalists, academics, change agents and cultural creatives, if you are at the leading edge of sustainability, or want to be, then this festival is not to be missed. There are only 100 tickets available for this timely event.  Book now!

Convergence brings together people and ideas to explore how communities can build resilience in a future of energy and climate uncertainty.


Featuring:

  • The Community Powerdown Symposium, two days of workshops and discussion
  • Lecture by Daniel Lerch, author of Post Carbon Cities
  • Film and talk with Megan Quinn Bachman, Community Solutions, Ohio, the co-writer and co-director of The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
  • Fantastic networking opportunities  

Full Schedule 

The Rethinking Lecture : Rethinking the City for an Uncertain Future

Thursday 3rd April | 19.30 – 21.30 | €18
Daniel Lerch is the author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, the first major municipal guidebook on peak oil and global warming. He is a program manager with Post Carbon Institute, and has worked on urban planning issues for over ten years in the public, private and non-profit sectors

Vital Viewing : The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006)
Friday 4th April  | 18.00 – 19.30 | €5 (included in lecture price)
This documentary film explores the economic collapse and eventual recovery of Cuba following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Following the dramatic steps taken by both the Cuban government and citizens, its major themes include urban agriculture, energy independence and sustainability. The film was directed by Faith Morgan, and co produced by our main speaker, Megan Quinn

The Transition Lecture : Plan C: Community Strategies for Oil Depletion and Climate Change
Friday 4th April | 20.00 – 22.00 | €18
Megan Quinn Bachman, Community Solution, Ohio, USA
Introduced by Ben Brangwyn, Transition Network, Totnes, UK  

The Convergence Symposium : Skilling Up For Powerdown 

Saturday 5th April | 9.30 – 17.00 and Sunday 6th April | 11.00-17.00 | €120 (Includes a light lunch on both days) (full details)

Talks, workshops and World Café discussions on how we communicate and accelerate community responses to oil depletion and climate change

With John Gormley, Davie Philip, Daniel Lerch, Megan Quinn, Ben Brangwyn, Jonathan Dawson, Anne B Ryan, Graham Strouts, Professor Peadar Kirby, Paul Allen, Tim Helwig Larson, Seamus Hoyne, Adam de Eyto, Magnus Wolfe Murray, Bruce Darrell, Dave Yaffey, Graham Strouts, Pat Fleming, Chris Chapman, Oisín Coghlan and David Korowicz

An Introduction to the Irish Transition Network
Saturday 5th April | 18.30 – 20.00 | €Free
Special networking meeting for communities involved or interested in Transition initiatives in Ireland

The Powerdown Lounge

Saturday 5th April | 19.30- 00.00 | €Free in

The basement bar in Crush at the bottom of S. Great Georges St. will be the venue for this year’s Lounge.  Enjoy local brews from the Porterhouse, chilled out music and visuals and relax with festival participants.

Convergence Events at the Village (Cloughjordan, North Tipperary) – Monday April 7th

Rural Transitions Open Space: “How will our towns and villages reduce carbon emissions and build resilience in an era of climate and energy uncertainty?”

14.00 – 17.00
Organised in association with the Cloughjordan Development Association and the Cloughjordan Business Network


Vital Viewing: The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
18.00 – 19.30
See above

Public Presentation: Cloughjordan, a Village in Transition

20.00 – 22.00
Local, national and international speakers on how Cloughjordan can prosper in an era of climate and energy uncertainty.
Organised by the Cultivate Centre with Sustainable Projects Ireland, the Cloughjordan Development Association, the Cloughjordan Business Network and SERVE
 

Biographies 


Megan Quinn is from the Community Solutions, a non-profit
organization in the US focusing on achieving sustainability by reducing
energy consumption in the household sectors of food, transportation,
and housing. Megan co-wrote and co-produced her organisation’s
award-winning documentary, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006).



Daniel Lerch is the author of ‘Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty’,
the first major municipal guidebook on peak oil and global warming.
Daniel is a program manager with Post Carbon Institute, and has worked
on urban planning issues for over ten years in the public, private and
non-profit sectors.



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GuerrillaGardening.org News

Posted on November 12 by Josef

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Via GuerrillaGardening.org

Dear Troops

It has been a month involving the police, a death, new guerrilla cells, poppy planting at the Ministry of Defence, bulb planting in the hundreds and lots of very smelly envelope stuffing.

POLICE
It’s been a while since the police took an interest in our gardening (usually they’re more concerned about the suspect car bomb I drive around in). Two jittery officers jumped up onto the traffic island with us in response to reports we were stealing plants. I applied the now much-tested approach of smiling, frowning and launching into a strident explanation. I recommend you do the same. In this instance we were planting a lot of daffodils (Narcissi ‘Carlton”) “We are volunteer gardeners etc” is the line to take. They asked the obvious question about permission and in the same matter of fact tone I told them “no we didn’t have permission from Southwark Council, but we saw no reason why any one would object to use turning this miserable patch into something more colourful”. It helped that our nine-foot sunflowers were still in bloom as compelling evidence that our crime was a good one. They left so swiftly after this I didn’t even have time to take their photo.

A DEATH
I was very sorry to hear of the death of a passionate, inspiring and victorious guerrilla gardener in New York. In the early 1970s Adam 276 was a Green Guerilla, one of the original troop who illicitly transformed big pockets of land across Manhattan. He helped create many of the established community gardens that are enjoyed today. His home turf was the Clinton Community Garden (http://www.clintoncommunitygarden.org), a thriving bit of heaven in Hell’s Kitchen. I met Adam last year and we spent most of one sunny day talking about guerrilla gardening and walking around his patch. Although the big battles at the Clinton Community Garden were over elsewhere he continued to champion green community space. Fortunately his death was not a casualty of gardening at the front line but at 53 his loss is still tragically well before the autumn of his life.

NEW CELLS
There are several enterprising new pockets of guerrilla gardening springing up around the world. Take a look at the following for ideas or to get involved:

MILAN - A small new group have transformed a few patches: http://www.guerrillagardening.it/
SANTA BARBARA – A solo guerrilla transforming a huge space near a railway line: http://in-this-life-like-weeds.blogspot.com/
NEW YORK - A very organised network into guerrilla tree-planting and in some cases working with the authorities: http://www.treesnottrash.org/

POPPY MEMORIAL
In Britain people wear paper red poppies to remember soldiers killed in war. In London four guerrillas gardeners decided to plant some instead - around the lawns of the Ministry of Defence without permission. Their short film can be viewed here: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2007/10//383053.mp4

BULB PLANTING
We’ve planted hundreds of daffodils, allium and tulips over the last month in London. For those in climates like ours it is still not too late to dig some more in. Bulb planting is an immensely easy and satisfying form of guerrilla gardening, dare I say it, almost fool proof. November 1st was No More Landmines Day (http://www.landmines.org.uk/) but why not make tomorrow your day for planting something explosive in a good way?

SMELLY STUFFING
This year’s Guerrilla Gardening London Lavender Pillows are on sale. 200 were made but are selling swiftly. The lavender was grown illicitly on public land near Westminster Bridge Road and were stitched and stuffed by nibble green fingered guerrillas. Please visit the website for more details. They make great Christmas presents and I certainly don’t mind stuffing these sweet smelling pillows into lots more envelopes. http://www.guerrillagardening.org/gglavender.html



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