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New member bearing links

ahazelwood — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:00:29 -0700

Greetings- my name is Andi, and as my profile mentions, I'm currently living in the US but moving to Qld before the end of the year with my husband Dean, an Australian. I'm American. We've been making efforts to create connections with other Qld'ers, especially since we intend to buy land as soon as possible when we arrive in Qld. We'd like to live near like minded folks, so the more people we know the better. In that vein, I'd like to share links to a couple other Yahoo groups that might be of interest to members of this group:
Self Sufficiency Australia:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Self-SufficiencyAustralia

Queensland After Oil (Australia)

Andrew McNamara speaks on Peak Oil 4th Nov

pekadillo — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 21:30:35 -0700

Andrew McNamara will be speaking on Peak Oil on November 4th, 6.30pm, Montville Community Hall, Main Road (next to St Mary's Church), Montville (Sunshine Coast hinterland). Entry is by donation. For more info, contact Jenny at bottus@powerup.com.au

Please pass on this news to anyone who might be interested.

Queensland After Oil (Australia)

Blackall Range Localisation

pekadillo — Thu, 04 May 2006 00:24:59 -0700

An email list has been formed to discuss and co-ordinate localisation projects for the Blackall Range, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Some members are already meeting to plan the establishment of a large scale community garden in Maleny.

If you are interested in helping to build a vision of a localised, more self-reliant Hinterland, and to develop and execute definite plans for making that vision a reality, please join our email list.

http://groups.google.com/group/blackall-range-localisation

Queensland After Oil (Australia)

Regional Adaption Map

pekadillo — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:21:26 -0800

At our last meeting, someone outlined a very interesting idea which seems to have generated some excitement in the group. I'd like to run it by you all to see if anyone's tried this before, and if you have any suggestions on how to implement it.

The idea is to host an interactive map on our website, showing the local region in high detail. We then collect data from the community and show it visually on the map, eg:

Home vegetable gardens
Organic farms
Green innovations
Businesses that buy local produce
Solar panels
Biofuel producer
Grey water system
Designated permaculture 'zone'
- Zone 1: Home garden
- Zone 2: Town infrastructure
- Zone 3: Small farms
- Zone 4: Forestry
- Zone 5: Native habitat
etc

Once some of the map has been marked, people in the community moving towards sustainability can identify each other. This could facilitate the creation of 'green clusters' and business networks which could make progress more effectively than they could alone.

The map & data could also be used as the basis for an Energy Descent Action Plan.

There are some technical hurdles to jump before we can implement such a scheme. While I have some web development skills, I don't have any GIS experience and the learning curve may be steep. There seems to be a lot of open source GIS systems out there but it will take a lot of time and work to research to find the most suitable one and to learn how to use it.

Google Maps is not usable in our area due to the low-resolution coverage. Our local council (Caloundra City) already hosts an impressive online map with excellent resolution and numerous useful layers. Perhaps we can leverage this in some way.

Any ideas out there on a way to take this forwards?

Barry
http://www.blackallrangerelocalisation.org

Sustainable Maleny Project

Your say at State Govt level - last call!

Sonya — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:53:59 -0700

Have your say at State Govt level.

How can we prepare for climate change and peak oil?

On August 29 I have been invited to attend a roundtable discussion at Parliament House in Brisbane.

The forum will look at how we can best prepare for the long haul on these global issues.

As part of my role in the discussions, I have been asked to discuss these issues with my local community (geographical or virtual) and bring their input and comments to the table.

My interests in this are relocalisation, permaculture solutions, energy descent action planning and community education about these issues and the many solutions we have available to us to act.

I will be discussing the energy descent action planning course we have in place, the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre and the relocalisation groups I am involved with.

Could you please consider the following background information and questions and let me know if you have any suggestions or comments you would like to include;

Leading for the future…

Building resilience in social and economic systems to deal with sudden discontinuous change and uncertainty.

Strengthening our capacity to learn, adapt and innovate in businesses and communities.

Think ‘local’… think ‘dispersed’… think ‘diverse’…

Focus questions

What conditions allow people to collaborate across boundaries to generate social resilience and innovation?

What do we (as community leaders) need to do differently to meet the challenges of climate change (and peak oil)?

What support and resources will we need to be effective in this role?

What steps can we take in SEQ and NENSW to develop local leadership?

How can we support networking and learning between leaders?

Your comments would be most appreciated,
Sonya

SustainaBundy

New book lifts lid on Howard's 'greenhouse mafia'

Sonya — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:40:15 -0700

High & Dry by Guy Pearse
John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future.

Guy Pearse's revelation about Australia's 'greenhouse mafia' made headlines. In High & Dry this Liberal Party insider shows why John Howard's climate change policy is reckless, how it came about, and who is behind it.

Released only a few weeks ago, this book outlines the reason behind John Howard's refusal to sign Kyoto and explains why he will never do anything to cut carbon emissions while he is in power. The story featured on ABC TV's Four Corners in February 2006.

If you wonder why our leaders are steadfastly refusing to respond to the greatest threat posed to our planet - read this book.

Not only are our politicians doing nothing to stop emissions, they are resolutely taking us in the exact opposite direction - one they know will lead to a very grim future for us all.

It's hard to understand how anyone could consciously do this, but Pearses' book explains the reasoning and the 'behind the scenes' very well.

Not a cheery read by any means, but an absolute must read for any Australian concerned about climate change, the future of the planet and future generations.

From the book jacket...

In this damning account, Liberal Party member, lobbyist and former Howard-government advisor Guy Pearse takes us behind the rhetoric he once helped write. He reveals that the government has no plans whatsoever to reduce Australia's emissions, and explains why this is bad for Australia's economy. He exposes a prime minister wilfully blind to Australia's real interests - a man who has allowed climate change policy to be dictated by a small group of Australia's biggest polluters and the lobbyists they fund.

Just as Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers explained the science of climate change, High & Dry explains the politics. You cannot understand the future of Australia without reading this book.

Published by Viking as an imprint of Penguin Books - ask for it at your bookstore

Visit www.highanddry.com.au for more information and updates.

SustainaBundy

Is a move to Noosa hinterland wise

hefftrigg — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 05:03:31 -0700

Dear All,

I am currently one very frightened resident of an outer Melbourne bayside suburb.

My gut instinct tells me to move to a well watered, elevated, part of non-Coastal Tasmania in preparation for the disasters that have been predicted over the past forty years.

However, family members like the Noosa beach.

I need advice regarding the longer term viability of a permaculture enterprise with contact with like minded people in the Noosa/Gympie/Eumundy/etc hinterland.

I would appreciate all considered opinions,

Regards,
Peter Heffernan

Queensland After Oil (Australia)