Relocalization Network Coordinator Newsletter - December 2005,

Dear Post Carbon Group Coordinators,

For those of you who I have not yet been in correspondence with, my name is Shelby and I am Program Coordinator with Post Carbon Institute, working with Celine to facilitate communication with regards to Outposts and Affiliates in the Relocalization Network.

It would be great to have a phone conversation with those of you that I have not yet spoken with to learn what you are all up to and how I and Post Carbon Institute can collaborate and help you in the future with your initiatives. Please email me any times that you are available and a number that I can reach you at. I am currently in the middle of my winter exams, but will be working full time at Post Carbon during the holidays, so just about anytime after the 16th (Dec) would be ideal!

We currently have 56 member groups in the Relocalization Network,
operating in 8 countries around the world, and growing every week. There are still a handful of groups without websites - if you are one of those groups, please do contact me and we can set you up and give you a web presence on relocalize.net right away.

- Website ----

Celine and I will soon be working with Mack, our new programmer, to revamp the website to make it more adaptable to specific group preferences, and make navigation much more easy and clear. We received great feedback from the California Coordinators who met with Celine and Julian in November. If you have any further suggestions, we would certainly appreciate them.

I've recently posted some basic instructions on setting up and organizing websites, which can be accessed through the "group help" link in the membership features box on the left side of the group webpages. The direct url is http://www.postcarbon.org/groups/help - I would like to keep adding to it, so if you have any questions, or feedback on tips that you would find useful, let me know.

I've also started a page exclusively for Coordinators on the Post Carbon site - the 'Outpost Coordinator Noodle Bar'!. You will see it listed under the Relocalization Network link in your personal box at the top right of the screen (If you don't see it just yet, have a look in the next few days). It will appear with the other group(s) to which you are members of, only it will be hidden to the public. The purpose of the page is to provide a place for Coordinators to bounce ideas off each other, collaborate on projects, post events, discussion, and materials/resources that groups can use. I will also check the page fairly frequently and add any materials that I come across that might be handy, so if you have any questions, you may post them there and I and others can respond.

- Education

The new Education Coordinator for Post Carbon Institute is Chris Borstad, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia. Chris will be working on a number of projects, including establishing an Educational Advisory Panel, organizing educational material on the PCI website, and helping to compile and create lecture and course material for distribution. If any of you have educational material that you or others would be willing to share (slides, presentations, reports, brochures, etc.) or if you have suggestions or requests for specific educational support from Post Carbon Institute, please contact Chris at chrisborstad@postcarbon.org.

- Plan for Peak

Lastly, you have all hopefully received our email sent earlier in November regarding our major Plan for Peak Fundraising Campaign. I hope you were able to forward it on to people in your group and network. We're really hoping to be able to provide more support to Post Carbon Network Groups in the coming year; however, the huge growth that we've recently undergone means that we need more core organizational support to be able to provide this. If you have any questions about our Plan for Peak or have any suggestions for other Outpost leaders about how to help fundraise, please don't hestitate to get in touch with either me or Liz McDowell, our Development Coordinator (liz@postcarbon.org).

To donate now and support our growing effort, go to http://www.postcarbon.org/contribute/donate !

I am generally here in the Vancouver office three afternoons a week, as I am still currently a full time student at the University of British Columbia - however, I will be here just about every day all day after the 16th of this month. This would be a great time (I realize it will be a holiday break for most of you), to touch base and go full steam ahead with the development of the website and resource materials for groups to use in the
New Year. So, your feedback would be much appreciated - I'm looking forward an exciting 2006, and collaborating with all of you in the near future.

Best wishes and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Post Carbon
Institute.

All the best,