Home

Relocalize - February '07 - Vol. 2, Issue 2

Relocalization Network News:

Welcome to New Local Post Carbon Groups

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



: : Go back to table of contents



Last call for Annual Report 2006 group submissions!

We are currently putting together information for the first Relocalization Network Annual Report and would like to feature your group in this important document. We aim to make this report a valuable fundraising tool for the Relocalization Network and Local Groups, as well as an extensive informational resource for groups to learn about what other groups are doing. We would like this report to be a representation of milestones and successes not just of the Relocalization Network initiative, but of all the Local Post Carbon Groups in the Network.

Visit www.relocalize.net/annualreport to browse group reports and download the template for submission. Be included in the annual report! If your group has yet to submit a report, but would like to be included, contact Shelby before February, 10th, 2007.

: : Go back to table of contents



Relocalize.net: New Universal Log-In

Over the last month, the Post Carbon tech team has been busy on two exciting projects. We are designing a single sign-on process that will give people access to Relocalize.net, Global Public Media, and the Energy Farms Network, no matter which site you sign up on first. You’ll only have to remember one user name and password for access to all the Post Carbon family of web sites.

We have also been furiously adding new tools to the relocalize.net homepages for Local Groups. Soon groups will be able to set their own menus and banners, choose their themes, and upload photos. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for Local Groups to build spaces on their group web sites where their members can collaborate.

--Mack Hardy, Technology Manager

If you have questions relating to the functionality of the website, contact our team.

: : Go back to table of contents


Update from Andi Hazelwood, Australasian Regional Coordinator

I've just wrapped up the three month pilot project as the Australasian Regional Coordinator for the Relocalization Network. It was great to meet the groups in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines and get a better idea of what our local groups are up to, where they're succeeding and where they need assistance. In those three months we signed up three new groups in the region, received interest from several other communities and organisations, and promoted and presented the concept of relocalisation through several different media and organisational avenues.

Last month we had a bit of a flurry of media attention, with Sonya Wallace of CASSC, Elisabeth Frankish of the Karamea, NZ group, and Charles Glaspole of Post Carbon Northern Rivers all doing radio interviews about their projects, coincidentally within days of one another! Sonya and Charles talked about their relocalisation groups, while Liz promoted her knowledge swap on sustainable living. Keep up the great work, everyone! The more you spread the word, the better the chance that relocalisation will succeed in your community.

Thank you to all our groups in the Relocalization Network here in the Australasian region - I look forward to seeing where you'll go next!

: : Go back to table of contents


New on Global Public Media

Global Public Media, an initiative of Post Carbon Institute, is an internet broadcasting station that streams long format audio and video interviews with world experts. Click on the links below for the latest additions on GPM.

Richard Bell, Post Carbon Institute Communications Director, has a suite of articles on Energy from Washington DC:
     Top Energy Scientists Agree, Bush Wrong on Alternative Fuels
     State Of The Union: The Danger of a Few Little Words
     The Rise of “The Axis of Oil”—Big Trouble for the United States

Richard Heinberg: Five Axioms of Sustainability
Peak Moment: Yes! Building a Just, Sustainable, and Compassionate World
Limits to Growth co-author, Jorgen Randers, on climate change
Dale Alan Pfeiffer on Eating Fossil Fuels

: : Go back to table of contents


Feature Interview: Sonya Wallace, CASSC, QLD, Australia

We spoke with Sonya Wallace, Coordinator of Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast, Nambour to Mooloolah, Queensland, Australia, about how she got involved with the Relocalization Network, plans for 2007, and her advice for groups and individuals interested in starting their own local gardens. Check out Sonya's Organic Gardening blog on relocalize.net.

What would be your advice for people who want to get started growing their own food?

SW: Don’t wait until you have acreage or the ‘perfect’ place (it doesn’t exist), just start growing food in whatever you have available where you are right now. You can grow a lot of food on a balcony or in pots for example. Grow pots of herbs near your kitchen door and start making all sorts of yummy teas – mint, chamomile even stinging nettles make a great (sting free) tea, eat a little something from the garden every day. Buy some organically certified potting mix and get started. Grow pick-n-pluck lettuces, Lebanese cucumbers and cherry tomatoes in pots or a polystyrene box free from the supermarket. Take a salad from your garden to work every day.

Read the rest of the interview with Sonya Wallace on www.relocalize.net.

: : Go back to table of contents


Feature Article: Big Sur Grange Hall Revival by Linda Parker

Our small community of 1,500 residents has a grange hall in the heart of Big Sur, California. As an effort to connect with our community, some of our members of Big Sur Powerdown joined our local grange. We got quite an education of the history of our grange from the hand full of elders that have kept our grange going for the past 50 years. We also realized from attending the monthly meetings that the long time members were exhausted from holding it all together without very much community input or assistance from the community. So, what began as a project to bring community together for our group, Big Sur Powerdown, has now blossomed into the revitalization and rebuilding our grange hall from the foundation up.

Read more...

: : Go back to table of contents


Upcoming Events

Have an event you would like to share with the Network? Please send an email to Shelby by the last week of the month and we will include it in the next edition of Relocalize.

Peak Oil and Community Life in California: A Public Policy Seminar

March 24, 2007, Sunnyvale, California, US
Contact Deborah Lindsay at decal@deborahlindsay.com, or visit www.relocalize.net for more information.

"Transforming Energy: Inverting Power, Transitioning to Renewables and Preparing for Climate Change"

March 26-30, 2007, Binna Burra, Lamington National Park, Beaudesert Shire, Australia
Visit www.relocalize.net for more information.

Living Today For Tomorrow Sustainable Living Symposium

March 31, 2007, Loyalist College - Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Visit www.fofc.ca/symposium2007.htm for more information.

April 14th National Day of Climate Action

April 14, 2007, United States
Visit www.stepitup2007.org for more information. Click on the map to plan or find an action near you!

: : Go back to table of contents


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

Best,

The Relocalization Network Team

Post Carbon Institute
Tel. +1 604 736 9000
Contact Us
201-640 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C., V5Z 1G4, Canada
www.relocalize.net
www.postcarbon.org


  • 805 reads