Bountiful Bristol Bulletin

A talk by Megan Quinn - film maker of Power of Community - How Cuba survived
Peak Oil.
Tuesday 7.30 pm on Monday 1st April
At Easton Community Centre, Kilburn St, Easton, BS5 9AW.
Megan will cover the basics of peak oil and climate change, but focus on the
potential solutions including curtailment strategies for housing,
transportation and food, and the importance of local community living and
community values in addressing the challenges at hand.
Followed by an open space session.
£3 donation on the door

For those who cant make that date Transition Bristol are screening film The Power of
Community also
At 7pm on Monday 31st March
At The Pickle Factory, All Hallows Rd, Easton

GROFUN (Growing Real Organic Food in Urban Neighbourhoods) is a grass-roots, community lead inititative where teams of neighbours help one another set up back garden veggie patches and then reap the rewards of a mixed and locally grown ‘veg box’!

It teaches practical skills, address’s the problem of air miles and pollution and builds communites that are closer and more resilient to ever increasing energy shocks and food insecurity! Think about it, there’s only 3 days worth of food stocked in the supermarkets-what do we eat then???

For 2008 we need new recruits with gardens, preferably in the St Pauls, Montpelier and St Werbs area (to keep it local and ’sustainable’) and anyone interested in being involved, any which way, is invited to come along to the Grand Premiere of the GROFUN Movie to be aired at a get-together in the Albany Hall on Shaftesbury Avenue at 6.30pm on March 4th.

Please please tell your friends with gardens, a desire to grow veg and an interest in ‘relocalization’ and community etc to come along.

Furthermore, the current group has a Yahoo group where we stay in touch. It would be a great idea to join this…

We need many hands to make light work of this rewarding and fun project.

Vegetables need people like people need vegetables.

A tree is for life, not just for Christmas!!

Transition Bristol is trying to persuade the good people of Bristol to buy
fruit trees and plant them in their gardens as part of the biggest Fruit
Tree Offer ever! Following on from the project that has run in Easton and
Barton Hill for years we’re hoping to extend the project city wide and get
hundreds of trees planted.

We’re buying in bulk and passing the saving on to you….trees from £7 to
£8.50 The perfect sustainable Christmas present.

Lower food miles, increase biodiversity, and improve the environment all in
one go. Start building food security and local resilience into the city
landscape. And apart from all that… you’ll have fresh, tasty, organic
fruit on your doorstep.

Trees are available to buy online and will be delivered to one of 10
collection points around the city on February 16th. When you pick up your
tree Transition Village groups will show you how to plant and care for it.
All the trees have been selected to be easy to grow, the right size for
small gardens, self fertile and tasty.

Due to the scale of the project we are not able to specify varieties.
However we are sourcing them from a local, decent supplier.

http://www.transitionbristol.org/ Please order early to avoid
disappointment. Last orders at end of January.

For details or enquiries please contact Matt and Rob on
trees@transitionbristol.org

TRANSITION BRISTOL PRESENTS THE BIG EVENT

SUNDAY 25TH NOVEMBER All day 9.30am to 6pm

AT THE COUNCIL HOUSE, COLLEGE GREEN

With chilled music at the Folkhouse after-party 6.30 to 11pm. You are invited to The Big Event - a lively day of talks, workshops, films and discussions designed to inspire and inform local action. Find out how you can get involved with a community led, radical rethink Bristol’s dependency on fossil fuels and planning how we can move towards a resilient, creative, positive future. Keynote speakers include leading experts Richard Heinberg, Jeremy Leggett, David Strahan and Dr Chris Johnstone. There will also be a packed programme of workshops covering topics like sustainable transport, eco-building, alternative energy, community gardening, herbal medicine, local economics, composting, carbon reduction action groups, how to work effectively as a group and much more. Many workshops will be run by local groups who are already initiating positive changes in their community plus experts fom national organizations Sustrans, The Soil Association and Centre for Sustainable Energy and others. Full listing on www.transitioncitybristol.org

Lifecycle UK will be providing Dr Bike to give your bike the once over while you fill your head with positive ideas. If you’ve already changed your light bulbs and turned your heating down a notch and are wondering what to do next The Big Event is a chance to find out how you can get involved with shaping Bristol’s transition from energy dependence to a sustainable, resilient and positive future. You are invited to come, be inspired and learn how to find the confidence to act. Ticket sales online or at The Better Food Company, Fresh and Wild, Windmill Hill City Farm and other outlets.

For details visit www.transitionbristol.org. Cost £14/£8 concessions. Please book in advance. Tickets are limited so early booking is advised. Bristol Permaculture Group are holding a benefit at the Folkhouse from 6.30pm to 11pm. Chill to beautiful music from Slow, The Dearlings, Eirlys Rhiannon and Susannah Waters. Simple affordable food. £5 on the door. Flyer

Contact Sarah Pugh

sarah@transitioncitybristol.org

www.transitionbristol.org

Transition Bristol is a not for profit community led organization working in conjunction with the national Transition Network. The project is run entirely by volunteers. Transition Bristol supports and is accountable to a network of locally active Transition Villages including Easton, Barton Hill and Redfield, Bishopston, Redland and Ashton. We also have close links with Transition projects in Bath, Wrington and Thornbury. Sarah Pugh 0117 370 1362 07765 604571 sarah@transitioncitybristol.org www.transitioncitybristol.org Transition City Bristol The Hub King St Bristol BS1 4DZ

Full Programme of Talks and Workshops here

At a guess, thirty or so local residents came along to tonight’s meet at Seven Generations. Some general concerns were raised about the speed of the process and the methods by which the previous meetings had been handled. While some were concerned that the ethos and tried and tested (though evolving) principles of Transition were not being followed, some, it seemed were more happy to drive forward with positive, local actions now! (more…)

andykisaragi

Just got this in me inbox…

Sustainable Solutions presents a filming of ‘Power of Community’

‘This is the story of how Cuba transitioned from large, fossil fuel intensive farming to small, less energy-intensive organic farms and urban gardens…’
Film screening + informal meeting and discussion + plant swap (just bring along any spare plants you have to swap) - refreshments and drinks available from bar.
Thursday 3rd May 2007 7.00pm FREE ENTRY

Fielden Theatre
City Academy (main entrance)
Russell Town Avenue, Bristol, BS5 9JH
For further information contact Matthew Cheney, Neighbourhood Solutions 0117 353 2308/ matthew.cheney@ndcbristol.co.uk

…anyone who hasn’t seen this, you really should! It’s a very inspiring, thought provoking film, and it was partly Nadia screening it last year at the Audi garage which made me realise that I not only should but could be doing something (or at least trying) to futureproof our world.

Cuba has one of the best quality of life / ecological footprint balances in the world, with a human development index of about 0.8 and ecological footprint of less than 1.9 ha/person (the global average earthshare). When you compare this with the UK’s HDI of just over 0.9 and eco footprint of about 5, and consider the fact that our large footprints probably help keep quality of life down in poorer countries, you can see that we have a lot of lessons to learn from Cuba.

So next week is all planned out: Rob Hopkins at the Trinity on tuesday (see below), then the Power of Community on Thursday. Then after that, for a little light relief, why not head to Mr Wolf’s to see The Mandibles? rockin.

Bristol – Tuesday 17^th April

Less is a Four Letter Word is the title of Paul Mobbs’ forthcoming book on energy, economic growth and climate change. The book continues from where his previous book, Energy Beyond Oil finishes: If we are truly to find the solution to energy depletion and climate change then we must tackle the driving force behind both – economic growth.
At the heart of our economic policy there is a serious inconsistency between public policy and the Laws of Thermodynamics: Public policy, and the position of all our mainstream political parties, suggests that inexorable economic growth is not only attainable, but essential to our well-being; this is in contrast to the Laws of Thermodynamics which state that energy is constant, that our use of energy merely degrades its quality, and hence that human society must, as some point in the future, meet the absolute limits of the Earth’s environment.

In this sense, Peak Energy, climate change, water shortages and environmental pollution should be looked at as a problem that is inherent within a system that strives for continual growth. In the past we have used dense energy source, especially fossil fuels, to stave off the problems of environmental limits (e.g., by pumping water further, transporting natural resources further), but the advent of Peak Energy precludes the option to solve environmental constraints in the future. Consequently any solution that might bring our use of finite natural resources must first resolve the conflict between Earth systems science and economics – the human species must learn to live within the Earth’s natural limits, and ultimately this means that we will have to abandon the concept of continual growth.
Presenter: Paul Mobbs

Find Your Power –with Dr Chris Johnstone
at the Trinity Centre
Wednesday 21st March.
Starting at 7pm. Get there early!
Donation of £3 on the door.(No-one turned away through lack of funds!)

Interested in changing your ways and the ways of the city to create a more sustainable future? Transition City Bristol a series of talks and workshops on how we can work together to make Bristol a better place to live. You’re invited to participate in talking about, planning and acting for a vibrant, sustainable city for this and future generations to enjoy. Over the next year we’ll be looking at every angle - food, transport, energy, community, water, buildings and more to find out how we can increase the city’s resilience and reduce our dependancy on fossil fuels.

Dr Chris Johnstone will talk about how we find our power in the face of environmental crisis. How we gather our creativity, strength and determination to act for change. A must see for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the global issues of climate change and peak oil.

Sarah Pugh will introduce Transition City Bristol, the project that aims to unleash the collective genius of the community of Bristol!

Ffi and directions www.transitioncitybristol.org
www.chrisjohnstone.info

andykisaragi

Just a quickie from me, I’ve been a bit lame about posting stuff here for the past few weeks, but fear not! For I have about 50 half-finished pieces which might someday soon see the light of day. Maybe I should just make a mash-up of them all? Postmodern activism!

Anwyay until that happens, thought I’d just mention that the Soil Association has posted audio from its annual conference on its website.

This years conference was on the subject of peak oil, and its interesting - no wait, vital - listening, with talks from Vandana Shiva, Rob Hopkins (of Transition Culture) and a host of other luminaries in the field.

Cuba, a laboratory for Urban Agriculture. How has the collapse of the Soviet Union and a decrease of 80% of fossil fuel imports in the country given birth to a healthier, more sustainable society.

Speakers are Dr. Humberto Rios Labrada, top agricultural researcher and Head of the Cuban Participatory Plant Breeding Programme and Green Party Councillor, Charlie Bolton .
Thursday 1st February, 7.30pm Southville Centre, Beauley Road
Bristol South Green Party and Bristol Cuba Solidarity Campaign
FFI Tess, tel 0117 9852795 or Yvonne, 0117 9445383

esteemed interested,

GROFUN had our first two meetings for the project this week and there is a great team on board. eleven definite growers plus a team of willing helpers keen to learn some skills and make new friends. there are sure to be a few others joining in too. the meetings were upbeat and productive and gardening experience amongst volunteers ranges from decades to zilch! the whole thing was filmed by a UWE film student on a very expensive piece of borrowed technology.

we have our first work/fun day coming up on sat in Montpelier and on the 11th feb we are doing a GROFUN-gardens Grand Tour, before hitting the seed swap over at the ACTA Community Theatre, Palmerston St Bedminster (11-4)

i have started a Yahoo group for GROFUN which will be key to the success of the scheme. if you want to be kept abreast of developments, meetings, updats, requests and invites etc, ask me to send you an invite!

keep Groing

nadiahillman@yahoo.ca

Montpelier’s innovative, urban food-growing initiative is growing! GROFUN (Growing real Organic Food in Urban Neighbourhoods) is taking shape and we need a couple more participants in the York Road area with a small patch of light garden and a few hours a week to tend crops. In return a weekly delivery of free, fresh, organic produce will be yours. Also, for the work weekends we are looking for a few extra hands. If you want to help out just for a day and pick up some new skills and friends please get in touch as soon as you can.

There will be two meetings for anyone curious to know more. You are invited to join us for one or both of the meetings.

Option 1. 23rd Jan at 24 York Road, Montpelier, 7.30-9.30
Option 2. 24th Jan at 2 Brigstocke Road St Paul’s Bristol 7.30-9.30

The meetings will follow a format. First an introduction/outline to this urban permaculture experiment, a little about me and my motivation, one possible vision for the scheme, an open-discussion to share all possible ideas, seed sowing and tea drinking throughout.

Participants will be expected to attend a work weekend on the 27th/28th Jan in Montpelier where basic raised bed building, soil conditioning and sowing will be demonstrated and info sheets distributed. All materials will be provided for this.

The time is now. If you know anyone in the Montpelier area who you think this may appeal to OR know someone who may want to come and help out with sowing some modular trays or pushing a few wheelbarrows of earth around do let them know about the meetings or pass on my details.

I have a 4 page outline of GROFUN should anyone want more details.

Those planning to come to a meeting could let me know so I buy enough buscuits! Thanks and look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes for the new year!

Click to join GROFUN
Nadia Hillman (Coordinator)

Dear All
Just wanted to say thanks for making the BPG day school such a brilliant day.
Thanks to you all for coming, for helping out and adding your enthusiasm, thoughts and ideas to the day. As ever - it wouldn’t have happened without your help.
All the workshops, talks and practical sessions were really inspiring so a huge thank you to those who worked so hard to put them together.
The food was fantastic - big thanks to Kebele for their culinary genius and smooth kitchen operation.
Big thanks also to the talented performers who entertained and soothed our tired little heads in the evening.
What a talented bunch we are!
Big love to the BPG!
Emma and Sarah

Bristol Permaculture Group Dayskool and SW Convergence.

A chance for SW groups to network, share skills and ideas and celebrate all things Permaculture.
Sunday 26th November

At St Werburghs Community Centre, Bristol, BS2 9TJ
9.30am registration and opening meeting to 6.30pm then party till 11.30pm (more…)

GROFUN got a bit of print space in the 50th Anniversary issue of Permaculture Magazine-just out and I thought I would post it here for those of you who dont buy the mag.

“GROFUN is a beautifully simple idea with a beautifully silly name. GROFUN stands for Growing Real organic food in Urban Neighbourhoods and focus’ on small communities cooperatively growing food in their own back gardens, sharing labour, resources and produce.

The pilot’s overall aim is to produce a working model and a ‘How-To Guide’ which contains a clear set of guidelines for individuals to plant GROFUN seeds in their own community, across the country and across the world! A number of elements are now urgently and keenly sought grow this idea. A friend at the recent UK Permaculture Convergence (if you missed it this year, don’t miss it next time) illuminated how much more productive the pilot could be if it was being established several times over, simultaneously. Facilitators could interact and offer support via the telephone and internet and the learning curve would be far steeper (and therefore much quicker). After all, the level of urgency regarding relocalization cannot be emphasised enough. Time really is not on our side. With the implications of peak oil being felt more and more we will soon be quite reliant on our remaining market gardens, city farms and allotments but back gardens have the exceptional advantage of being a stones throw from the chopping board.  

I am seeking volunteers for three roles. Firstly to help prepare back gardens for small-scale growing in Dec/Jan. GROFUN seeks also to ‘skill-up’ the participants in practical, urban permaculture and so long as volunteers are communicative and capable, teaching experience would not necessarily be required. Unfortunately I can give no guarantee that there will be wages available, but at the least I would expect to be able to provide food and accommodation for the 2-3 week period in which we are building beds and propagating seeds etc. I would like GROFUN growers to end the year feeling at least more confident in their gardens.

Secondly, growers are also sought for the pilot I am facilitating in Montpelier, Bristol. Growers would need about half a day to a day a week once the initial on-the-ground hard work was completed.

Finally, I am hoping to hear from a few people who would like to read the four page proposal (a work in progress), discuss ideas and then run with a pilot themselves. Funding is likely to be available but it is not yet known if it can be used to pay any wages. Incidentally, the facilitator should profit from fresh and free herbs, fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, even honey each week.

Other outputs in the future would include the creation of part-time positions facilitating further GROFUN schemes, more skilled food growers, wide environmental advantages and stronger communities/local economies etc. So if you are interested in fulfilling any of the three roles please don’t hesitate to contact me. Participants don’t need a huge garden, green fingers or money, just a love of fresh, quality food and a little time each week to care for your small crop. You and the others taking part will share the produce between you and create your own localised, urban, sustainable food-growing system!

Please contact Nadia Hillman at nadiahillman@yahoo.ca or 07973 847894″