Archive for September, 2007
Event - Water recycling and reuse talk, 27 September
Posted in Events by Ferne Edwards on September 20th, 2007
Melanie Holmes, Melbourne Water, presents “Water Recycling & Reuse”
Thursday September 27
6:15pm to 7:30pm
Council Chambers, 699 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster
Free
Recent water restrictions in Melbourne have increased interest in water recycling and reuse for various applications. This presentation will discuss how recycled water is currently being used and managed in Melbourne as well as its future direction. It looks at the issues associated with recycled water and other alternative water sources and how these fit into an integrated urban water cycle.
Bookings: Kay Toussaint 9840 9348 or eepadmin @manningham.vic.gov.au
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Event - World Car-Free Day, 22 September
Posted in Events, Movements by Ferne Edwards on September 19th, 2007
From the Adbusters mailing list. www.Adbusters.org.
Every September 22, people across the globe get together to swear off their cars - if only for one day - in a collective reminder that we don’t have to accept car-dominated societies, cities, or personal lives. Since its earliest incarnations in the 1970s and ’80s, WORLD CAR-FREE DAY has grown into a massive global celebration of human-centric communities and people-powered transportation.
Car-Free Day 2007 could turn out to be the biggest yet. For the first time, China’s government is hopping on board, with official events talking place in more than 100 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. Officials will reportedly be trading in their famed black sedans for public transportation, and some roads will be closed to private cars.
As the world tunes in to the fact that the climate is heating up, this is the perfect opportunity to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of oil-hungry automobiles.
Visit ADBUSTERS.ORG for links to global resources on going car-free, first on September 22, and then in your everyday life. Let World Car-Free Day be a showcase for just how our cities might look, feel, and sound without cars - 365 days a year.
Cheers,
The Adbusters Team
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Event - Celebrated biologist and author Tim Low in Melbourne, 26 September - book now!
Posted in Events, Policies, Research by Ferne Edwards on September 19th, 2007
Under climate change Australia can expect more floods, cyclones, fires and droughts, but what does this mean for our natural environment? Could increased temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns expose our native plants and animals to yet another threat?
Tim Low, celebrated biologist and author of six books including “Feral Future” and “The New Nature“, arrives in Melbourne this month with a warning for everyone who cares about the environment.
“A warmer world will mean a weedier, more pest-infested and diseased world. Not only will climate change create many losers, but also winners we would rather not have,” he says.
Tim’s talk, “Climate Change and Invasive Species - Turning Nature on its Head“, is a free event but numbers are strictly limited. It will be held at Space 39, Level 2, 39 Little Collins Street in Melbourne on Wednesday, September 26 at 7.30pm as an adjunct to the Invasive Species Council’s Annual General Meeting.
To book please RSVP to John Sampson at Victoria Naturally by emailing info @vnpa.org.au or by phoning (03) 9341 6508.
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Seeking employee - Climate justice major donor liaison, by 28 September
Posted in Research, Seeking by Ferne Edwards on September 18th, 2007
This position with Friends of the Earth, based in either Brisbane or Melbourne, will primarily consist of relationship building with individual donors and supporters and generating funds for the climate justice campaign. It is for one day per week for 4 months.
Full details:
http://www.foe.org.au/campaigns/climate-justice/media/news-items/front-page-news-feed-1/position-available-climate-justice-major-donor-liaison
Applications close by September 28
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Event - The Understandascope - Positive Ageing, 18 September
Posted in Events, Visions by Ferne Edwards on September 17th, 2007
The Understandascope @ Fed Square Series - Tuesday 18 September - #3 Positive Ageing as an opportunity to give back. The fabulous resource – recognising the value of retirees ["top enders"]
www.understandascope.com
A long known constant in the search for human happiness is giving to others. More recently, Abraham Maslow recognised that those who are doing what they want to be doing are also happy. Indeed, after decades of research one of the world’s most famous epidemiologists, Australian Michael Marmot, was able to show that such people live much longer than those who don’t feel in control of their lives (Social Determinants of Health, Oxford UP, 1999).
Much has been written on the “threat” posed by the dependency of ageing and infirm baby boomers. This forum looks instead, at the “fabulous resource” they constitute: retirees happy in giving to others. By definition retirees are educated. Can we arrange to help them share their insights and skills? All would benefit, not least the retirees themselves who would live longer and happier lives!
Governments are working on “positive ageing” strategies; mainly about supporting retirees. How about offering retirees opportunities to give back, or, to give forward!?
Panelists will outline the demographics and then discuss social changes to improve opportunities for retirees to re-involve themselves.
Speakers:
Bob Birrell, Director, Centre of Population and Urban Research, Monash University
Delys Sargeant AM, Advocate for Healthy Older Ageing
Patricia Reeves, Policy officer & formerly ED, Council on the Ageing, Victoria
Helen Killmier, Manager Community Development, City of Whitehorse
Jess Allen
Convenor: Frank Fisher, Director, The Understandascope, Monash University
Time & Date: 6:00 - 8.00pm, Tuesday 18 September 2007
Location: BMW Edge theatre, Federation Square, Melbourne
Cost: Voluntary “gold coin” donation.
Biodynamic Apples courtesy Greenwood Orchards, Merrigum.
Media Enquiries:
Frank Fisher, Convenor, The Understandascope, mob. 0428 862693
Ron Smith, Corporate Media Communications Federation Square, mob. 0417 329 201
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Seeking feedback from members of environmental groups by 24 September
Posted in Movements, Research, Seeking by Ferne Edwards on September 14th, 2007
The Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS is undertaking research into the benefits of, and barriers to joining environmental groups of all kinds. People who are involved with one or more environmental group are invited to participate in an online survey. As an extra incentive, everyone who completes the online survey can go into a prize draw to win a hamper delicious organic goodies. Second prize is a copy of Al Gore’s book ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ kindly donated by ACF. Prize draw entry is optional and you will find instructions at the end of the survey.
It’s an anonymous survey and your contact details will not be passed on to the research team or any other third party.
Click here for the survey:
http://surveys.uts.edu.au/index.cfm?surveyid=3049
This research will help environment groups to be more effective so your participation will be very valuable. The survey closes on Monday 24 September so your prompt response would be appreciated.
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Local Action - Ride with Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle (CANC), 17 September to 10 November
Posted in Events, Movements by Ferne Edwards on September 14th, 2007
17 Sept to 10 Nov
Canberra to Adelaide
The Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle (CANC3) crew are converging on Canberra on September 2 to celebrate the end of the first leg of a 4 month campaign. CANC3 will have travelled 2200 km from Rockhampton, Queensland along the east coast toward our nations’ capital. Along the way, CANC3 has met with community groups to speak out the nuclear industry in Australia.
Over 90 people have joined the CANC3 campaign so far, and you are cordially invited to join them for the second leg.
After a 2 week hiatus, CANC3 will ride through Melbourne to Adelaide. The fun restarts in Canberra on September 17 finishing in Adelaide November 10. They average 45 km each riding day with a rest day in every 3 days. Join the campaign for as long or as little as you like.
More information: http://canc.org.au, contact @canc.org.au or 0405 105 101 / 0414 604 64.
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Event - Earthdance this weekend!
Posted in Events by Ferne Edwards on September 13th, 2007
Earthdance is happening this weekend! SUNDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER, Collingwood Children’s Farm, 8.30-8.00pm, $15 with all funds going to local charities (including the Refugee Action Collective, the Family Cancer Clinic, Friends of Merri Creek and more!).
Tickets on the door but also available at www.greentix.com, be sure to get tickets because it sold out last year.
Attached is the Earthdance newsletter with more information.
earthdancenewsletter.pdf
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Event - Food Politics author Raj Patel in Melbourne, 17 & 19 September
Posted in Events, Policies, Research by Ferne Edwards on September 13th, 2007
Meet the Author: Raj Patel - “Stuffed & Starved”
Monday September 17: 6.30 PM – 8.00 PM Friends of the Earth, 312 Smith St. Collingwood - An informal workshop
The Friends of the Earth Real Food Campaign have organised an informal workshop on food politics for activists with Raj Patel, author of the just-released book “Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System” (Black Inc.).
Active food campaigners and others interested in campaigns to transform the global food system are welcome to come along and join the discussion. Entry is by gold coin donation and optionally we would like you to RSVP to globalisation @foe.org.au so we can provide some yummy real food to share.
For more info contact: globalisation @foe.org.au or +61 3 94198700 or www.foe.org.au
September 19, 6pm-8pm Trades Hall. Forum facilitated by Dr Gyorgy Scrinis, Research Associate, Globalism Institute, RMIT University.
Raj Patel has worked for the World Bank, interned at the WTO, consulted for the UN and been involved in international campaigns against his former employers. Currently a researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and a visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, his education includes degrees from Oxford, the London School of Economics & Cornell University. He’s also a researcher with the Land Research Action Network. His thoughts on food, hunger, and globalization have appeared in a number of US and international news sources, including the Los Angeles Times.
“Here’s a book that takes Jamie’s Dinners, Supersize Me, mangoes in the Arctic Circle and McFatties, and puts them in a blender to make an intoxicating cocktail. Stuffed and Starved takes us into the supermarket aisles and reveals the stories behind the products in our trolleys, some of them very dark indeed.” (From the Publisher)
The book presents a wide ranging critique of the inequalities at the heart of the global food system, including the plight of farmers in the North and South, GM foods, corporate control, the power of supermarkets, and the forces shaping contemporary cultures of food consumption. The book also
discusses the ways in which farmers and others are fighting to create a food system based on a vision of food sovereignty, such as the Via Campesina peasant farmers’ movement.
More about the book:
www.blackincbooks.com
www.stuffedandstarved.org
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone
Announcing the Growlocal initiative
Posted in Movements by greenthumb on September 11th, 2007
As our market orientated way of life has reduced our everyday relations to the question of want and its satisfaction what we can do to address this impoverishment becomes pressing as the consequences of our rampant consumerism becomes increasingly apparent. Issues of environmental degradation and waste bear down on us with the imperative of a solution, one lightens ones ecological footprint in response, yet does such remedial action address the underlining cause of these maladies or do we rather conceal from ourselves meaningful change in gestures as we maintain the everyday relations that service our wants reduction? For we may reduce our consumption, localize its sourcing whilst still substantiating the continued impoverishment that enables the substitution of meaningful relations with things to go on unabated and so never address the underlining cause of our over consumption that is responsible for so much ecological damage. Growlocal is conceived with this in mind as it seeks to address the underlying cause of environmental issues by approaching them from the stand point of our everyday relations. By providing a search capability that enables people to find others whom not only share a passion for food but a commitment to social change, Growlocal hopes to be a means of facilitating the establishment of an economy that does not reduce our interaction with others to matters of want, but rather nurtures with the soil we attend to, a participatory culture of mutuality and sharing that is integral for an alternative future to become a working reality.
Visit www.growlocal.net.au to find out more.
Tags: community initiatives, Food, food production, growing food, growlocal
No Comments » |
Email this post to someone