Please help us welcome the following Group Coordinators and their groups to the Network. Take a moment to have a look at their websites:

• Andi Hazelwood, Relocalization Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI) – Burnett Inland Region, Queensland, Australia
• Roy Smith, Seattle Peak Oil Awareness - Seattle, Washington
• Lorrie Carlson, Carbondale Economic Localization (CEL) – Carbondale, Colorado
• Charles Glaspole, Post Carbon Northern Rivers – Northern Rivers, New South Wales, Australia
• Karen Andreassen, Committee for a Strong and Sustainable Salmon Arm (CASSSA) – Salmon Arm, British Columbia
• Louise Rouse and Chris Vernon, Post Carbon Bristol - Bristol, UK
• Rick Kehret, APPLE Elk Grove - Elk Grove, California
• Marcus Gitterle and Jonathan Crain, Post Carbon Wimberley - Wimberley, Texas

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Peak Moment Visits Post Carbon Institute

Janaia and Robyn from Peak Moment Television came to visit Vancouver and Post Carbon Institute this month as part of their journey up the Northwest coast. We had a wonderful visit and talked about their trip up the West Coast, ideas and goals for the Relocalization Network, and their plans for Peak Moment Television. We will be featured in one of their episodes discussing ideas and experiences around Relocalization Network. We will post the link as soon as the episode has been added to Global Public Media, along with the other 28 episodes currently featured there.

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New Resource Sections on Relocalize.net

We have been busy adding information and resources to the Resource Section of Relocalize.net. What you see on the website now is just one step toward our goal of providing Local Groups with valuable information and tools to take on Relocalization projects in their communities. Eventually we would like to create a way for users to contribute information and to rate the links, articles and books in these sections.

Take a couple minutes to browse through our Resource Pages:

• Group Development
• Governance
• Education & Outreach
• Food Systems
• Energy
• Transportation
• Production & Manufacturing
• Currency
• Built Environment
• Culture
• The Big Picture

If you have any ideas, especially any good resources that you come across to add to the existing ones, please send us an email.

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New Outreach Toolkits and Film Screening Guide Posted

As part of the development of the resources that we provide Local Post Carbon Groups, we have developed the first version of the Outreach Toolkit. For the second version of the toolkit we plan to develop a brochure template for Local Groups as well as create additional information sheets. All comments are welcome. Please let us know if you have ideas about what should be added to the Outreach Toolkit.

We have also re-released our Film Screening Guide and other information on holding a film screening event. Both are posted on the resource section of the website under Education & Outreach.

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Defining the Relocalization Network, Post Carbon Institute, Local Groups and Outposts

Some of you have asked the question, “What is the difference between Post Carbon Institute (www.postcarbon.org) and the Relocalization Network (www.relocalize.net)?” We thought we would share with you the answer that we gave in our FAQs.

Over the last six months Post Carbon Institute has developed into an umbrella organization with several different initiatives, including Global Public Media, Local Energy Farms Network, Oil Depletion Protocol, and the Relocalization Network.

For this reason, www.relocalize.net has become the center for communication between on-line users who are actively pursuing Relocalization. The Relocalization Network website was established as an interactive outlet for community members to share ideas, post blogs, news and events, hold forum discussions, and communicate with other members of the Relocalization Network. The Post Carbon Institute website, www.postcarbon.org, will continue to develop into an informational resource website with, among other things, an academic and policy focus where you will be able to go to find all of the most recent updates on current developments.

This transition has been and will continue to be gradual and open to adaptation based on what is needed. Understandably, the transition has left a number of people confused and we thank you for your patience. We are working to clear up the confusion by re-organizing the information on www.postcarbon.org and by posting the information about these changes on www.relocalize.net as they occur. We welcome your feedback and suggestions as to how the websites can be improved as we go forward. Please send us an email.

So then,“What is the difference between Local Post Carbon Groups and Outposts?”

The term “Outposts” is essentially an older name for “Local Post Carbon Groups.” The Outpost program started in 2004 with a few groups that took on projects, or “experiments,” to see which strategies worked and which didn’t in their communities. As the Outpost program started to grow, the idea of having a network of Outpost groups, who could help each other and share experiences, came about and out of that grew the Relocalization Network initiative. The Relocalization Network program was originally hosted on www.postcarbon.org, but it was migrated onto its own independent site, www.relocalize.net, when the number of groups joining the Network continued to grow and it became clear that the Network needed its own web space. It was also apparent through feedback received from Local Groups that the Relocalization Network needed its own identity to help highlight the distinction between Local Groups and Post Carbon Institute and help reinforce their autonomy.

In January 2006, we decided to change the name from Outpost to Local Post Carbon Groups, after many groups commented that the term ‘Outpost’ sounded more like a post in the middle of nowhere or a postal outlet than an active community-based group! This change was reflected in the literature released by Post Carbon Institute and adopted throughout the book, Relocalize Now! Getting Ready for Climate Change and the End of Cheap Oil, which was initially intended to be a manual for Post Carbon “Outposts” describing the philosophy behind Relocalization and steps that could be taken to organize Relocalization projects. This book has undergone many revisions in the last year and much of the initial content has evolved to incorporate many of the new developments that have taken place in the last year, both within the Relocalization Network program, and in the broader global community. We hope that it will be a useful guide for Local Groups and anyone interested in the strategy of Relocalization, and we hope to release it for publication in the near future.

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New Features on Relocalize.net

We're all about the taxonomy here at the Relocalization Network - there are just so many cool things you can do with articles and other content when they have meta tags. In our effort to improve the searchability and navigation of Relocalize.net, our tech team has recently installed a feature that lets users "free tag" their posts with keywords. Free tagging, also known as just tagging, and commonly associated with folksonomy, is an approach to classifying the content created through the website in a more free-form, user-driven manner.

You can use the "free tagging" field to add as many keyword descriptors as you feel appropriate, separated by commas. This tells the system that the content you’ve created belongs in those categories. If your tags identify an existing group or topic "space" your post will be grouped accordingly.

In the longer term, this tagging feature will have some useful collaborative possibilities, and will help us deliver better articles and searches. It will also help us to organize the content that is generated throughout Relocalize.net in a way that directly reflects the intent of the authors who use it. If you have any questions, contact us by email.

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Welcome back David Strongman - Relocalization on the Road

David Strongman has returned from his thrilling six-week trip trip down the Coast to California and back. He has traveled and visited many communities along the way including in Bellingham, Portland, Orcas Island, Astoria, Ashland, San Francisco, Oakland, Willits, and has taken great pictures along the way. He captured his experiences, as well as the experiences of the people he met along the way, through photography and audio recordings. With a total of about eighty rolls of film and raw digital audio recordings, he has his work cut out for him. We're all waiting with much anticipation to see what comes next. He thanks everyone for all of their help along the way. You can read all about David's trip through his blog.

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Upcoming Funding Opportunity – The Threshold Foundation

The Threshold foundation has a Sustainable Planet Committee that is looking to invest in replicating community based sustainability solutions. In the past, the committee has assigned grants ranging from about 15-20K USD. Their mission statement is as follows:

Community-based Solutions

Through Community-based Solutions, the committee seeks to fund practical, grassroots solutions to building a sustainable world. We are looking for projects that have either been successfully replicated at least once, or are currently in the process of being replicated. We are particularly interested in localized, but widely applicable, solutions for energy efficiency, reducing consumption of natural resources, alternative and distributed energy, or innovations in local sustainable agriculture and food production.

Both the concept and implementation of the project should be so catchy and straightforward that it is already inspiring others, in other communities, to ask for assistance in replicating your work. We would like to help fund the expansion and dissemination of these solutions.

The Letter of Intent (LOI) form is available at: www.thresholdfoundation.org

The deadline for submission is September, 25, 2005. If you are interested in applying, or would like more information, visit the website, or contact Mark McDonough, leader of the sub-committee that is searching for potential candidates. He is also the Chief Technical Officer of TimeBanks USA, and can be reached by email at Mark@timebanks.org.

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Upcoming Events

Have an event you would like to share with the Network? Please send an email to Sarah and Shelby before the last week of the month and we will include it in the monthly newsletter.

Third Regional Bay Area Post Carbon and Affiliate Network Meeting

Saturday, September 30th - San Francisco, CA

The Bay Area Post Carbon and Affiliate Network groups are holding their 3rd regional meeting on September 30th at the Potrero Community Center. The meeting will be held from 10 am to 4 pm with a special evening session from 5 to 8 pm for Peak Oil women.

The day will feature sessions on sharing "Success Stories" or "Best Practices" from each local organization, a report from Janaia on Peak Moments Northwest Tour and information workshops on group development, public outreach and membership building. Deborah Lindsay writes that “the purpose of this event is to support each other in this very hard work of relocalizing communities.”

For more information, please visit the posting on this event, visit the Sustainable Monterey County - Beyond Peak Oil (CA) website or contact Deborah Lindsay.

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Washington State Odyssey Days – Energy Conference Exhibit

October 13-14, 2006 from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM in Shoreline

The 2006 Washington State Odyssey Days is a major alternative energy and sustainable living educational event that will be held on October 13-14, 2006 from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM at Shoreline Community College (SCC), co-hosted by Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition.

This local two-day Odyssey event – part of an international biennial event in 50+ cities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Germany – will empower the public to understand the role of climate change and the importance and urgency of choosing cleaner energy, conservation, and advanced technology to reduce fossil fuel energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Odyssey Days will present the latest in seminars, exhibits and innovation in three areas:

• Global Warming & You: Your Actions DO Count!
• Alternative Fuels & Energy Security
• Sustainable Development & Clean Technology

To learn more about this event, please visit www.shoreline.edu/odyssey. Watch for event details and agenda to be posted soon.

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Third U.S. Conference on “Peak Oil” and Community Solutions

Friday, September 22 – Sunday, September 24, 2006, Yellow Springs, Ohio

This annual event is a key educational and networking opportunity for all those concerned about Peak Oil and climate change and who are working to make the necessary changes in their lives and communities.

Speakers include Vicki Robin, David Orr, Richard Heinberg, Julian Darley, Peter Bane, Richard Olson, Jeff Christian, Sharon Astyk, Pat Murphy, Faith Morgan, and Megan Quinn.

For registration information, a detailed conference schedule, and speaker bios, visit www.communitysolution.org.

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RWBI Launch September 25th

Burnett Inland, Queensland, Australia - September 25, 2006

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (affectionately known as Ruby) is celebrating her official launch on the 25th September with a pot luck afternoon tea in Biggenden, south east Queensland, Australia.

Ruby is set to become the relocalisation hub for the Burnett Inland, which encompasses 12 shires from Monto to Kingaroy and is home to some 55,000 residents. Ruby founders, Chérie McGregor and Andi Hazelwood detailed their vision and values in a prospectus, which they presented to a select group of potential patrons and partners. Richard Heinberg and David Holmgren agreed to support Ruby as patrons, and Foresters ANA Mutual Society and the Relocalization Network have agreed to be partners. Negotiations continue with another potential partner.

Chérie and Andi are guest speakers at the Burnett Inland Economic Development Organisation’s Annual General Meeting on the 25th September. The AGM represents a forum of delegates from each of the Inland’s shire councils, together with representatives from some state and federal government departments and local businesses. Hervey Bay MP Andrew McNamara is tentatively scheduled as the opening speaker to discuss peak oil. Andi will talk about relocalization and the Oil Depletion Protocol and Chérie will introduce Ruby and invite the forum to attend Ruby’s official launch following the AGM.

All residents of the Burnett Inland and surrounding areas are encouraged to attend the RWBI launch on 25th September, contact Chérie or Andi for more information.

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Photo credits: Mateusz Zdanko (library) & Anja Ranneberg (stone mark)

If you have any comments on this Newsletter or suggestions for the next, please contact us.

Best,

Shelby & Sarah

Shelby Tay & Sarah Smith
Relocalization Network Coordinators
Post Carbon Institute
Tel. 1 + 604.736.9000
Contact Us
3683 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C., V6R 1P2, Canada
www.relocalize.net
www.postcarbon.org