Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

LJ — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:32:40 -0700

Start: 2008-06-20 19:30

End: 2008-06-20 22:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Necessary Voices Speaker series continues at the VPL

LJ — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:27:34 -0700

Start: 2008-06-18 19:30

End: 2008-06-18 22:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Necessary Voices Speaker series continues at the VPL

LJ — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:26:36 -0700

Start: 2008-06-02 18:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Recycling the Newsreel with Paul McIsaac - Film Fest

LJ — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:23:58 -0700

Start: 2008-05-27 09:00

End: 2008-06-01 22:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars Inaugural Symposium Keynote Address: John Ralston Saul

LJ — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:16:33 -0700

Start: 2008-05-24 19:30

End: 2008-05-24 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Beyond the Carbon Tax

jfrobertson — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:36:11 -0700

Your Ecological Footprint – Does it Matter?
Today's crumbling environment, racked by climate change, mass extinction, deforestation, collapsing fisheries and more is evidence global total consumption has gone too far. As a species we are destroying our life-support system. In ecological terms we are in "overshoot" of Earth's "carrying capacity" for humans, our demand exceeding the planet's absorptive and regenerative capacities.
To avert catastrophe as a species, we need to reduce total global consumption. The equation for total consumption can be expressed as follows:
(Per capita consumption of the earth’s resources) times (total global population) equals (total global consumption). There are two factors in this equation: our population numbers and our per capita consumption.
Techno-optimists sidestep the constraints of this equation and hope for some scientific breakthrough that will save both the planet and our life style by doing more with less of the earth’s resources. Debate about how some new exciting technology will solve our problems painlessly in the future is often a way to avoid dealing painfully with these same problems in the present with existing technology. Think of the “Hydrogen Highway”. In addition implementing new technology requires capital investment in infrastructure and may not significantly reduce total consumption. However I am one with the techno-optimists and look forward to drawing my energy from the sun and my food from the atmosphere. However at that stage I may be one with nature (a Scotch Broome perhaps) in the Saturna cemetery.
Eco-moralists take another approach.
"John, if everyone here just consumed less, as they do in Cuba, say, we wouldn't have exceeded the Earth’s carrying capacity.” It's a simple notion: reduce per person consumption and end our environmental problems.
The work of the Global Footprint Network (GFN), home of the "ecological footprint," gives these eco-moralists their ammunition. Measuring consumption as the use of biologically productive land and sea, their data shows a global maximum sustainable footprint, at today's population, of just under 1.8 global hectares (gha) per person. Currently, by drawing down nonrenewable resources, we're a bit over 2.2gha, overshooting Earth's limits by about 22 per cent.
The eco-moralists portray Canadians as among the most egregious abusers of the earth. This is a gross canard. While we consume 7.6gha per Canadian, we have a natural endowment of 14.5 gha per Canadian. The 6.9 unused gha per Canadian contributes to the sustainability of the Earth. With our 7.6gha we produce surplus grain, lumber, and mineral as exports that sustain the world economy.
In comparison the United States consumes 9.6 gha per American and has an endowment of 4.8 gha per American. The “overshoot” of 4.8 gha by 294 million Americans represents 12.4 % of global capacity and more than half of the 22% “overshoot” of the earth’s limits.
China consumes 1.6 gha per Chinese and has an endowment of 0.8 gha per Chinese. The “overshoot” of 0.8 gha by 1,311.7 million Chinese represents 10.4% of global capacity and the rest of the 22% “overshoot” of the earth’s limits.
This is simplistic but my choice of the United States and China as examples is to show that reducing per capita consumption will not solve the problem. To avert catastrophe, we need to reduce both factors in the equation: our numbers and per capita consumption.
If we have 6,301.5 million people and a 1.8 gha limit on consumption, what sort of standard of living would we enjoy if all were equal? Welcome to Jordan and Uzbekistan, which are at 1.8, gha. Residents of Panama and Mauritius at 1.9 gha will have to reduce their standard of living.
However even that standard of living will be too high in the future. The United Nations Population Unit projects world population will reach 9.2 billion in 2050. This will reduce our gha limit to 1.2 gha per capita. Africa is currently at an average of 1.1 gha and the Asia-Pacific region at 1.3gha so a future of abject poverty is a possibility for mankind.
There's more. The GFN authors point out their data is conservative, underestimating problems such as aquifer depletion and our impacts on other species. In response, the Redefining Progress group publishes an alternative footprint measure, which has humanity not at 22 per cent overshoot, but at 39 per cent overshoot. But that too, their authors concede, is an underestimate.
While in overshoot, moreover, we erode carrying capacity. Once we'd got to some level of consumption on a par with countries living today in abject poverty, we'd find there were fewer natural resources on which to draw than there had been when we started.
Ultimately, there are limits to how much we can reduce per-person use of land, water and other resources. A purposeful drop on the part of industrialized countries to consumption levels comparable to those of the poorest areas in the world is not only wholly unrealistic but, at today's population size, would not end our environmental woes. The sheer numbers of humanity prevent it.
We have no alternative but to return our attention to population, the other factor in the equation. Already in overshoot, we must aim for population stabilization followed by a decline in human numbers worldwide.
There is a lot of intellectual dishonesty and evasion connected with issues of population but any numerate analysis shows population reduction is the key to world environmental health.
A modest proposal would be to supplement the carbon tax with a baby tax. Those countries in overshoot like the USA would negotiate population reduction targets and be penalized appropriately for their overpopulation. If their population grew they would have to buy “baby credits” from countries like Canada and Finland that live within their gha endowment. The price mechanism would then work to decrease world population to sustainable limits.
The average gha of the developed world is 6.4. This standard of living would give a sustainable world population of 1,772.3 millions. In 1900 the world population was estimated at 1,600 millions. By 1950 world population had reached 2,475 millions. There was much debate by economists and development experts about population and growth in the sixties and seventies as it was thought population limits had been reached.
This debate was effectively ended by the “green revolution” based on cheap oil-based fertilizer, which enabled the growth of agriculture production beyond ecological limits. Cheap and plentiful food has sustained population growth at exponential levels in the developing world for the past thirty years. Medical intervention has also pushed up survival rates.
The end of cheap oil and peak oil means the end of cheap food and the eventual return of mass hunger and famine to the human experience. War, disease, famine and natural disaster have all played a major role in limiting human population in the past and seem to be surfacing again in the news.
Our current understanding suggests a peaceful and prosperous future for mankind is only possible if population is stabilized followed by a decline in human numbers worldwide. Reducing our consumption will not be enough or perhaps even relevant to environmental problems we face. ∆

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

New Community Garden Oak & 16th, Vancouver

greeninsight — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:43:09 -0700

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Living Car Free Cafe

Shelby Tay — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:23:19 -0700

Start: 2008-05-20 19:00

End: 2008-05-20 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay - A talk by economist & author Mike Nickerson - June 28, 7pm-9pm

vlsavage — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:04:43 -0700

Start: 2008-06-28 19:00

End: 2008-06-28 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

BC Carbon Tax Panel Discussion

Shelby Tay — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:00:07 -0700

Start: 2008-05-12 18:30

End: 2008-05-12 20:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Green Economy - Responsible Investment

Shelby Tay — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:42:19 -0700

Start: 2008-05-06 18:30

End: 2008-05-06 20:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Climate Change and Peak Oil: Transport Revolutions and Municipal Responses

greeninsight — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:08:20 -0700

Start: 2008-05-22 07:30

End: 2008-05-22 09:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Cultivating Food and Community

greeninsight — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:36:34 -0700

Start: 2008-06-13 19:00

End: 2008-06-14 16:21

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Kitsilano Car Free Festival workshop

Kevin Washbrook — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:53:52 -0700

Start: 2008-04-13 14:00

End: 2008-04-13 16:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

April 11 Movie Night: End of Suburbia Followed by Panel Discussion

stimulator — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:04:10 -0700

Start: 2008-04-11 19:30

End: 2008-04-11 23:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

BC Carbon Tax Cafe

Shelby Tay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:37:09 -0700

Start: 2008-03-18 19:00

End: 2008-03-18 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Quadra By-election Candidate Responses on Climate Change, Peak Oil and Relocalization

Shelby Tay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:46:58 -0700

On March 6th, I attended the Quadra By-Election Candidates debate on climate organized by VTACC (Voters Taking Action on Climate Change). Liberal candidate Joyce Murray, NDP candidate Rebecca Coad and Green candidate Dan Grice were in attendance. For a full recap, go to www.vtacc.org - you can view the full recording of the candidates' climate change town hall.

Last week, after seeing Andi Hazelwood's candidates' discussion for the Bundaberg, Australia, regional council election, I sent a quick email to all of the candidates asking them these three questions:

1. What are your thoughts on peak oil and climate change and their potential effects on the Metro Vancouver region?

2. Do you support the relocalization of the Metro Vancouver region, and other communities across Canada?

(relocalization means reducing consumption and sourcing daily
needs as
locally as possible to reduce dependence on declining fossil fuel
supplies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support our local economy
and local producers)

3. What motivates you most about being involved in politics? at a federal level?

All four candidates responded:

Response from Dan Grice:

1. Peak oil is real, imminent, and going to cause real havoc on our economy if we don't begin redesigning cities and preparing for a post petroleum world. Global warming risks causing rising sea levels which endanger low lying areas of the Fraser Valley, may cause the loss of snow on the local mountains, and may result in increasing storms across coastal areas.

2. Yes. We need to think locally and create sustainable local institutes. We also need to protect agricultural land to ensure we have arable local land, create better transportation systems and encourage people to work closer to where they live.

3. I've always wanted to be an agent of change and am inspired by how the Green Party in Germany and now Ireland are able to put forward meaningful changes with a handful of elected candidates. I think we need to change how we think in government, work together collaboratively with other parties to put forward strong policy. However, our biggest challenge, is turning government into a grassroots organization that is responsive to the needs and ideas of local communities.

Response from Rebecca Coad:

Hi Shelby,

Thank you for your email.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Thomas Homer-Dixon and hearing one of his lectures. He's a strong advocate for building resilient communities- and I agree.

To answer your questions:

1) Canada needs to move away from oil dependency and towards sustainable, renewable energy sources. The NDP has a plan to make this happen and you can find the details at: http://www.ndp.ca/page/4048

Some highlights of the plan are:
- create market incentives for new technology,
- mandate that big polluters pay their fair share,
- provide alternatives for ordinary folk (better transportation, building retrofitting...),
- legislate leading efficiency standards in vehicles, buildings and appliances.

2) Buying local is good for the economy and good for the environment. I support it wholeheartedly.

3) Our lives are shaped by political decisions. I am concerned about social justice and the environment and these challenges require political solutions.

Thank you again for your email,
Rebecca Coad

Response from Deborah Meredith:

Hi Shelby

Density reduces energy consumption and is a good thing for our cities.

We have to make sure though that taxes do not drive business out of the cities.

Public policy interests me greatly and when I was approached to run I seized the opportunity because I think that public policy is too important to leave to career politicians and bureaucrats. I want to do my best so that my children and their children and all our children have a clean and prosperous environment. It is a good time to be running for the Conservatives because we have a good platform, great leadership, and the will to actually accomplish something.

Thanks for your interest.

Deborah

Response from Joyce Murray:

Hi Shelby,

Thanks for your interest in climate change. I invite you to check my website to see my 1992 Thesis on this critical issue and the environmental endorsements from people I worked with. I will give you a call to discuss your questions as I prefer a personal conversation to email dialogues. Or feel free to call me.

regards,
Joyce
604-221-9490

-----

The Quadra by-election is tomorrow, March 17th - use this opportunity to make your voice heard. Quadra-ites get out and vote!

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

How peak oil affects you and your future community.

greeninsight — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:17:45 -0800

Start: 2008-03-15 19:00

End: 2008-03-15 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Why Culture is Critical to the Climate Change Debates

greeninsight — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:17:40 -0800

Start: 2008-04-15 18:30

End: 2008-04-15 21:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Building Sustainable Communities

greeninsight — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:12:49 -0800

Start: 2008-03-25 19:30

End: 2008-03-25 21:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Banning Plastic Bags -- Resources?

soultime — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:16:45 -0800

I'm trying to find some information about plastic bans both in the USA and abroad -- while I've found plenty of articles (and blogs that link to said articles), I haven't been able to find a resource that has cold, hard facts about where bags are banned, restricted, taxed, etc., and what the results have been, and the processes that led up to the restrictions, etc. So -- if anyone can post something along these lines, that would be just fantastic. Thanks so much!

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

David Suzuki Lecture

Shelby Tay — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:08:23 -0800

Start: 2008-03-01 20:15

End: 2008-03-01 22:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Petition to allow Elizabeth May in televised debates

greeninsight — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:11:40 -0800

Here's copy of a request from Green Party of Canada for interested people to sign a petition to allow democracy in Canada and have Elizabeth May invited to participate in any upcoming televised debates.

News ALERT

I just spoke with the President of CTV. He called to let our leader, Elizabeth May, know that the heads of Canada's broadcast consortium met today with representatives of the four parties currently invited to participate in the next nationally televised leaders' debates: the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois.

"No decision has been reached", he told me, in regards to the inclusion of Elizabeth in the debates.

You can really help, right now, by signing the Demand Democratic Debates petition. By signing today, a message will automatically go to the members of the television network consortium who ultimately determine who will be included in a televised leaders' debate.

Sign today and then forward this e-mail to at least 3 other people you know who support the Greens or who simply feel that, in this country, all party leaders have a right to voice their party's platform and be heard by the people who make the voting decisions.

It will only take a moment of your time and it will provide a meaningful push for free and democratic debate in Canada!

77% of Canadians say they want Elizabeth in the debates. Our Green Party polled ahead of the NDP last November as Canada's third most popular party. We have tied the NDP again this month and have polled consistently ahead of the Bloc.

This is a matter of fairness and democracy. Please help - with an email to the heads of the TV consortium now.

Thanks so much,

Deputy Leader Adriane Carr

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Quadra By-Election: Candidates Debate Climate Change

Shelby Tay — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:58:38 -0800

Start: 2008-03-06 19:00

End: 2008-03-06 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Lessons for the Future from Canada’s Climate Policy Failures

Kevin Washbrook — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:44:30 -0800

Start: 2008-03-04 19:00

End: 2008-03-04 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Climate Cafe: Eating Locally, Thinking Globally

Shelby Tay — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:13:05 -0800

Start: 2008-02-26 19:00

End: 2008-02-26 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Epiphany, Serendipity, and the Genesis ofEcological Footprint Analysis

Shelby Tay — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:15:35 -0800

Start: 2008-02-28 18:30

End: 2008-02-28 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

A Year without Oil

greeninsight — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:13:35 -0800

Start: 2008-02-17 22:00

End: 2008-02-17 23:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Global Warming: Evidence, Inspiration for Action, Solutions

Kevin Washbrook — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:25:07 -0800

Start: 2008-02-19 19:00

End: 2008-02-19 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Rogers and too much paper!

Celina Starnes — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:50:38 -0800

Hi guys and gals,
This is my first posting! I felt inspired to share a message that I recently send to Rogers (the phone/cable company). I hope that you might like to send a similar one if you are with Rogers and feel the same. Here is the message:

I have recently received an invoice from Rogers. The new format used to fold the bills (folded only once) necessitates a larger then typical envelope size. I wish to complain that this new format is an unnecessary waste of paper and other resources. I have already switched to email billing but I fret that there is most likely a huge number of people still receiving the paper bills. Could you please provide me with the reasoning behind the change in format and also the paper provider used by Rogers (i.e. virgin paper / recycled paper)?

See ya,
Celina

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

NetSquared meeting

Shelby Tay — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:35:18 -0800

Start: 2008-02-05 17:30

End: 2008-02-05 19:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Howard Kustler Interview

stimulator — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:08:49 -0800

I got to interview Jim Kusntler on Tuesday as world markets crashed.

Short video interview (Kunstler comes in about 3 minutes in)
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/?p=132

You can listen to the 25 minute interview which is linked at the bottom of this page.
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/?p=132

enjoy//frank

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Protest the Giveaway of BC’s Rivers and Hydroelectric Power

Shelby Tay — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:58:38 -0800

Start: 2008-02-02 13:00

End: 2008-02-02 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

James Howard Kunstler: The Long Emergency is Vancouver's problem Too!

greeninsight — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:14:25 -0800

Start: 2008-01-24 19:00

End: 2008-01-24 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Urban Meltdown

greeninsight — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:47:07 -0800

Start: 2008-01-14 19:30

End: 2008-01-14 21:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Relocalization Network - Sustainable Bellingham

relocalize — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:06:46 -0800

Thurs Dec 27, 07
Exploring Relocalization Net and Sustainable Bellingham.
Comparing to other social local networks like facebook and myspace and tribenet.
Comparing useage of site space for flexiblity of designing pages & photos, privacy, spam, quality of users and groups, distractability of ads, and who owns the site, and how fees/income is made to manage site.

Interested in others observations on other social network sites as to quality sites that are stable and not owned by big corportations for purposes of growing network through advertising or gathering users personal data.

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Outraged at Canada's participation at the UN Climate Conference in Bali?

Shelby Tay — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:26:56 -0800

This is an ad running in Ottawa and Calgary papers put out by the Avaaz team (see below).
If you haven't signed this petition yet, there's still a few hours left - go to http://www.avaaz.org/en/another_canadian_climate_crime/9.php?cl=46187661

Here are some articles reporting on Canada's participation at the UN talks in Bali:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071212.BALIMAIN12/TPS...
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/285171

Here is a message from Avaaz about the petition (Dec13/07):

Dear friends,

Wow - on Tuesday we aimed to get 25,000 Canadians to join the emergency call to Prime Minister Harper to stop blocking the crucial UN climate change talks in Bali - and we hit that target in just 18 hours!! In two days, 71,187 of us have signed the petition, and rising fast [it's now at 98, 607]- one of the largest online petitions in Canadian history!

The petition ads are running in papers tomorrow, including the Ottawa Citizen and the Calgary Sun. At the Bali summit, it is touch and go - with almost the entire world vs. Canada and the US over whether to accept targets on harmful carbon emissions. The draft agreement changes every hour, with carbon targets dropping in and out. We now have just over 24 hours left for an all-out push to get Harper to do the right thing. Let's ramp it up and hit 100,000 voices by Friday! If you haven't yet, please click below to sign up, see our ad, and then forward this email to everyone you know:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/another_canadian_climate_crime/9.php

Let's make sure that experts never again give Canada the "fossil" award for worst country in the world on climate change! If you've already told your friends and family about the petition, try calling Prime Minister Harper's office directly at 613 992 4211, or calling the House of Commons toll free on 1 (866) 599-4999 to talk to your MP about getting Parliament to act on this issue. Harper leads a minority government, he shouldn't be able to get away with ignoring the large majority of us who want real action on climate change.

Our incredible momentum is a wonderful and powerful statement about the Canada we all love and want to see - one that does the right thing in the world, whose flag stands for people and principles -- not the short term profits of big oil corporations. Let's forward this email round, blog this issue, talk about it at the dinner table and at work, and get an emergency people-powered movement going that reaches 100,000 by tomorrow!

With hope,

Ricken and the Avaaz team

---
ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Geneva, and Rio de Janeiro.

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Rally for Democracy: Translink and "Bill 43"

Shelby Tay — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:57:15 -0800

Start: 2007-11-21 16:30

End: 2007-11-21 18:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

GARDENS OF DESTINY

jocelyn — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:46:46 -0800

Start: 2007-11-13 18:34

End: 2007-11-15 06:34

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Environmental Network potential for PO issues to be part of format...

lifetree76 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:53:05 -0800

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

UBC Terry Speaker Series: 100 mile diet

Shelby Tay — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:03:38 -0800

Start: 2007-11-23 23:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Dr. Vandana Shiva: Defending Food Freedom in a Period of Food Fascism

Shelby Tay — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:40:03 -0800

Last March, UBC was host to Vandana Shiva, courtesy of the folks at Terry (terry.ubc.ca). Now you can listen or watch video of the presentation online - click on the links below. (Originally posted at here)

Quicktime 7 Required
“Defending Food Freedom in a Preriod of Food Fascism.”
(March 12th, 2007, Chan Shun Concert Hall, Chan Centre)

AUDIO | PODCAST | VIDEO PT1/PT2 (~100Mb each)

- - - - -

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of many books. In India she has established Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers’ rights. She directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy.

She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, and others), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as anti-globalization movement.

In 1993, Shiva received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) “…For placing women and ecology at the heart of modern development discourse.” Other awards she has received include the Global 500 Award of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1993, and the Earth Day International Award of the United Nations for her dedicated commitment to the preservation of he planet as demonstrated by her actions, leadership and by setting an example for the rest of the world.

Her most recent books are Earth Democracy; Justice, Sustainability, and Peace and Breakfast of Biodiversity: the Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction.

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Peak Oil and Climate Change

greeninsight — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:55:15 -0800

Start: 2007-12-11 19:30

End: 2007-12-11 21:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Conrad Schmidt, Workers Of The World Relax: The Simple Economics of Less Industrial Work

greeninsight — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:50:10 -0800

Start: 2007-11-20 19:30

End: 2007-11-20 21:30

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Metro Vancouver: public meetings on new Regional Growth Strategy

Shelby Tay — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:29:54 -0800

Start: 2007-11-19 19:00

End: 2007-11-19 21:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

SFU Sustainability Festival recap

Shelby Tay — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:43:43 -0700

This comes a bit late, but oh well.

On October 11, I had the pleasure of helping out with the kick off of the first (hopefully annual) SFU SustainABILITY Festival, an collaborative event organized by the Climate Change Action Group, Sustainable SFU and the Resource and Environmental Management Graduate Student Union. The goal of the festival was to "raise awareness of sustainability issues with a specific focus on climate change and to celebrate sustainability solutions that individuals can immediately apply to their daily lives." The day went by without a hitch, all thanks to the amazing and dedicated organizing team behind the event who met starting in July '07 to plan and envision what the day would look like.

Here are some photos from the festival:

Volunteers showed up at 7am to set up for the day-long event, which featured a local beer garden, marketplace, eco-fashion show, live stage performance with musicians and dancers, and a learning exchange centre featuring innovative local businesses and NGOs passionate about sustainability.

I helped person the media table for the day and got a chance to catch up with other members of the ever growing sustainability community, which was great fun!

The festival also showcased a sustainability pledge where members of the community could learn about how they could make a difference and pledge to integrate those solutions into their lifestyles.

Wrapping up at the end of the day

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

2 degrees of fear and desire: a theatrical inquiry into climate change

Shelby Tay — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:11:42 -0700

Start: 2007-11-08 19:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Living Sustainably in Communities, The Challenge of our times.

greeninsight — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:30:06 -0700

Start: 2007-10-26 19:00

End: 2007-10-28 15:00

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Hello Al Gore, Goodbye Gateway

Shelby Tay — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:19:41 -0700

...was the slogan for the recent anti-Gateway rally that took place on Saturday, September 29, 2007, outside the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Downtown, Vancouver, where former Vice President Al Gore addressed a sold out audience.

It was about the worst weather short of hail and snow that one could possibly want for an outdoor rally. However, despite the rain, and Vancouverites know rain well, there was a good turnout of people present to protest the provincial government's Gateway Plan.

Presenters included:

David Fields - Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC)
Adriane Carr - Deputy Leader, Green Party
Suzanne Anton - Councilor, City of Vancouver
David Cadman - Councilor, City of Vancouver
Heather Deal - Councilor, City of Vancouver
Joe Foy - Western Canada Wilderness Committee
Harold Steves - Father of BCís Agricultural Land
Michael Sather - MLA, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
Peter Julian - Federal NDP Transportation Critic
Betty Krawczyk - Wilderness Defender

According to the Government of B.C. website:

"The Gateway Program was established by the Province of British Columbia in response to the impact of growing regional congestion, and to improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout Greater Vancouver. Gateway roads and bridge improvements are proposed to complement other regional road and transit improvements already planned or underway. (See TransLink web site.) These proposed improvements will help create a comprehensive, effective transportation network that supports improved movement of people and goods, facilitates economic growth, increases transportation choice and provides better connections to designated population growth areas. "

Here are a few websites for more information about why Gateway will not be a long term solution for improving the movement of people, goods, and transit through Greater Vancouver:
www.stopgateway.ca, www.livableregion.ca, www.againstportexpansion.org

Some photos from the rally...(view slideshow)

Folks from the Wilderness Committee send their message.

Volunteers direct traffic.

Adrienne Carr addresses the crowd.

rain, rain, rain..

Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Michael Byers discusses his latest book, "Intent for a Nation", at UBC Robson Square, downtown Van.

LJ — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:33:44 -0700

Start: 2007-09-26 19:30

End: 2007-09-26 22:30