Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Welcome to my regional powerdown blog. Thought I'd take a change in direction away from the organic gardening blog as now days my husband does most of the food production (and lifeboat building) and I'm focussing much more on regional activities, energy descent action planning and poweringdown.

As you've probably already guessed I read a lot of Richard Heinberg's work and this is for a very good reason. He is offering solutions and I like to offer solutions to. I think when you walk into a situation you have to have a positive solution up your sleeve, whinging and moaning about what's wrong is easy. Taking a step toward solving the problem takes a lot more courage and its a lot more fun. People want to be around you when you offer solutions. Inspiring others is key to success in relocalisation and any other form of climate change mitigation action or peak oil preparation.

I'm also one for a good quote - apparently Winston Churchill once said, "Any fool can see what's wrong, but can you see what's right." The power of positive thinking, the power of intent, like attracting like, the principle of favourability...

It's a lot easy to work for something than fight against something.

We've been busy ferreting away here on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia. We've set up a community education centre, an energy descent action planning course (for the region), and we have written Australia's first Energy Descent Action Plan. We are also offering people the chance to build their own lifeboats with skills in food growing and preservation, seed saving, alternative energies etc etc. Take a look at our website www.seac.net.au to see the whole picture.

We are also part of the Transition Town Network.

I also run two relocalisation groups in my (very) local area - again building those lifeboats, poweringdown and most importantly working toward the preservationist model - rather than the survivialist one.

For those of you who haven't read Powerdown or David Holmgren's book Permaculture; Pathways and Principles Beyond Sustainability, I'll endevour to expand of their ideas over future blogs.

It's strange that it seems the well known phrase, think global act local, is actually turning into act global - as in get on the internet and tap into what others are doing - to start thinking about your local situation.

Cheers,
Sonya