• Regional Localization Networking Conference 2007
• Ruskin Mill Transition Town Inaugural
• Minnesota Climate and Energy Change Conference
• Towards 2020: Climate Change Conference & Expo

Relocalization Network News:

Welcome to New Local Post Carbon Groups

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

• John Weber, Boise Sustainable Living Community – Boise, Idaho, United States
• Don Chisholm, County Sustainability Group – Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
• Perry Sylvester, Postcarbon Macomb – Macomb, Michigan, United States
• Allison Weeks and Dave Ewoldt, Campaign For Our Lives – Tucson, Arizona, United States

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New Relocalization Network Program Manager

This month we are thrilled to welcome Janet Beazlie, who recently joined the staff of Post Carbon Institute as the Relocalization Network Manager. Janet has more than 20 years of training and consulting experience in management and organizational effectiveness. She has a wide field of experience, having been Executive Director of the World Business Academy and Council Coordinator at the national Sierra Club, as well as being active in local community groups. She recently served on the planning team for a successful local conference, Sustainable Enterprise 2007 in Sonoma County, California.

Janet will be calling local groups to find new ways of expanding and improving the services groups receive. Contact Janet and share your ideas.

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2006 Relocalization Network Report online

The 2006 Relocalization Network Report is now available online. Click to download the PDF. The report looks back at the past year and highlights the projects and milestones of Local Groups in the Relocalization Network. If you have any questions about the report, contact us.

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Relocalize.net: New Group Theme, Buttons & More!

Post your comments
What do you think about the articles and interviews on Relocalize.net and Global Public Media? Register on any of Post Carbon's websites, and then start browsing. Click on the phrase "Add a Comment" (which appears at the bottom of every item) and share your ideas, questions, criticism, links to other articles or websites...it's up to you.

Last month we rolled out the new group webpage theme. Have a look at some of the groups who have made the switch! For instructions on converting your group page to the new customizable theme, visit the website.

• Sustainable Maleny Project
• Sacramento Post-carbon Action Network (SPAN)
• Post Carbon Eugene
• Sustainable Burlington
• APPLE Bloomington
• Sustainable Muskoka

For more information on how to use the new group features, visit the Tech Support page on relocalize.net or contact Tim Whiteway.

If you or your group maintain a separate website or blog, add one of our stylish Relocalization Network buttons!

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Post Carbon Cities is here!

Post Carbon Institute is pleased to announce the official launch of our new Post Carbon Cities program, and the unveiling of the Post Carbon Cities website at postcarboncities.net.

Post Carbon Cities will be helping cities respond to the challenges posed by peak oil and climate change. The program provides technical assistance and resources to the people who work with and for local governments, from elected officials and staff to consultants and non-governmental organizations.

The Post Carbon Cities website at postcarboncities.net has daily updates on news, policy tools and other resources related to local government actions on peak oil and global warming. This spring we are also releasing a guidebook for local government officials and staff in the U.S. and Canada, Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty. The guidebook explains the relevance of peak oil and global warming to local needs and concerns, and presents case studies of previous municipal actions as well as resources for developing local responses.

Please visit postcarboncities.net and spread the word about this great new resource to your local government officials and staff!

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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 and climate change from Washington DC:

     "House Hearing Puts the Heat on Climate Stagnators" - 22 Apr 2007
     "Wanna Bet the Farm on Carbon Capture and Sequestration?" - 17 Apr 2007
     "Gingrich Goes Green in Kerry Climate Debate" - 12 Apr 2007

Other additions to Global Public Media during the last month include new audio recordings of Post Carbon Fellow Richard Heinberg’s recent Museletters, and check out the new Peak Moment TV episodes.

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Timebanks Pilot Project Update

In February, 2007, the Relocalization Network began sponsoring Project Port Lyttelton, a Local Group in New Zealand to test out TimebankUSA's Community Weaver software. Here's is an excerpt from PPL Timebroker Chris Twemlow's blog:

"Now that we have so many of our protocols in place we can design promotional material and use a range of publicity to raise awareness of our Time Bank in Lyttelton. Combined with this is to design a survey to help us understand what the residents of Lyttelton indicate they need help with and what in turn they can offer their neighbours. We are also trying to promote a way in which local community organisations can participate in our Time Bank." Read more...

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Feature Article: A Renaissance of Local by Michael Brownlee

This month's feature article is a speech given by Michael Brownlee of Boulder Valley Relocalization in Boulder Valley, Colorado, United States - one of the founding groups in the Relocalization Network - at Boulder's Step it Up campaign rally on April 14th. The article is published in this month's issue of HopeDance Magazine (which also has articles by Post Carbon Cities Program Manager Daniel Lerch and a Post Carbon Institute article on global relocalization.). The following is an excerpt (click on the link to read the full article or download the full issue in PDF):

We are calling for our communities to quickly become largely self-sufficient, to develop the capacity to produce locally our most essential needs in food, energy, goods and services. Such relocalized communities will naturally trade their surpluses interdependently with surrounding relocalized communities, forming self-sufficient bioregions that trade surpluses interdependently with each other. This will be a radical and welcome shift from the tangled web of codependent relationships that we call a globalized economy.

Read more...

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May Fund Raising Tip: Inspire Artists to Inspire Donations

When your Relocalization Group hosts a film night or a guest lecturer are the walls bare? Art can inspire imaginative responses to challenges such as peak oil and climate chaos. And art can also inspire donations to your Group.

Consider asking the artists in your circle to contribute a piece of work to a silent auction. Promote the silent auction in your flyers and group mail lists. The night of, or days leading up to the event, post a sheet of paper asking for names and e-mail addresses, and attach a pen to take bids. The artist can always suggest a minimum bid that they feel comfortable with. And, how about posting notes from the artists explaining why they support your Group?

Important: After the event - thanking your donors increases the likelihood of their continued support in the future.

Good luck!

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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 issue of Relocalize.

Regional Localization Networking Conference 2007

May 18-20, 2007, Willits, California, USA
This event is sponsored by Willits Economic Localization and the City of Willits. Click here to download the information and sign-up package.

Ruskin Mill Transition Town Inaugural

May 31, 2007, Ruskin Mill, Nailsworth, Glouscestershire, UK
Post Carbon Institute Fellow Richard Heinberg will be discussing peak oil at the Ruskin Mill Transition Town Network Conference. The conference’s purpose is to add momentum to existing Transition Towns and increase the connections between them.

Minnesota Climate and Energy Change Conference

June 6, 2007, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Julian Darley, President of Post Carbon Institute, will give the keynote address at Minnesota’s local government conference Preparing Your Community for Climate and Energy Change: Opportunities for Local Sustainability.

Towards 2020: Climate Change Conference & Expo

June 8-9, 2007, Sunshine Coast, Australia
Visit the website for details or download the program and registration form.

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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. +1 707 827 3221
+1 800 590 7745 (US toll-free)
Email Us
327 Murphy Avenue
Sebastopol, California, 95472, USA
www.relocalize.net
www.postcarbon.org