Conversations, Socials and Bulletin News

Hi Everyone

Fancy earning some horticultural stripes? Growing spaces have some plots that need keepers-  adopt one, make friends, and green up your fingers and local neighbourhood! You can meet some of the TC team on Saturday at this year's Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum -  a valuable opportunity to join this vital  conversation and get upto speed on all the latest news. More events are in the pipeline for next month, including a Cropshare social on 6th February, but first, some impotant news: this weekly bulletin will now appear every fortnight, read how you can stay informed between mailings. Finally a massive vote of heart-felt thanks to the lovely team at Lush Cosmetics in the Grand Arcade: they helped us raise a whopping £449 last month. Thank you! :-)

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  • Monday 06 February: Cropshare social
  • Wednesday 08 February: Transition uptown social
  • Pivotal Festival Video
  • Adopt a Growing Space
  • Thanks to Lush for Best Charity Pot ever.
  • Your Bulletin goes fortnightly from Today
  • Repair Cafes spreading across Cambridgeshire!

Community News

Latest on our blog

From #RateMyPlace to #ShapeOurPlace: a Collaborative Enquiry

Other News and Events

  • Friday 27 January: Organisations & change: questions for sustainability
  • Saturday 28 January - Monday 30: Big Garden Birdwatch
  • Saturday 28 January: Talking about climate change
  • Saturday 28 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2017
  • Saturday 28 January: Great Shelford's 1st Repair Cafe
  • Monday 30 January: Future Economies: a Cafe Conversation with Climate modeller, Chris Hope
  • Saturday 04 February: Cottenham Repair Cafe
  • Saturday 04 February: All Ages Dance
  • Sunday 05 February: Seedy Sunday 2017
  • Monday 13 February: Repair Cafe and Eco Family Funday
  • Events for your calendar

Transition News and Events

Monday 06 February: Cropshare social

19:30, Kingston Arms, 33 Kingston Street CB1 2NU

Winter's a quiet time on the farm, so time to get social in the pub! Come along if you're a Cropsharer, or if you want to meet some of the Cropshare folk and find out a bit more about it. More info about Cropshare here and info about the Kingston Arms here.

Wednesday 08 February: Transition uptown social

12:30-13:30, Daily Bread

A Transition social for people who happen to be in the frozen North of Cambridge. All welcome. Although it's lunchtime there isn't a massive range of lunchable foods here so you may want to bring something extra or eat first.

Pivotal Festival Video

James has made a beautiful video of the Pivotal Festival of Environment, Community and Technology last November. Watch it and reminisce or wish you had been there!

Adopt a Growing Space

We need gardeners to adopt some of our growing spaces! If you think you will have time to adopt one growing space this year, please have a look at our map. Perhaps there is one close to you, just waiting for you! Growing Spaces aims to reclaim unloved and underused public spaces around the city of Cambridge and transform them using edible landscaping.

Thanks to Lush for Best Charity Pot ever.

On the weekend before Christmas Lush, the handmade cosmetics company, invited Transition Cambridge to come into the shop and raise money through their charity pot scheme. It was a huge success raising £446, a record amount for the Cambridge stall. We wish to say a big thank you to Lush (especially Rose Williamson who personally invited us and gave excellent advice) and to all the people who bought charity pots for us. We hope you took away our leaflet and come back to the website to see if there are other ways you would like to get involved. Some of the money raised will go to CropShare for their lay down weeder project and the rest will go into our general fund for core spending, awareness raising, venue hire for events and other equipment. See here for Jacky's blog post last year on how we raise funds and spend them.

Your Bulletin goes fortnightly from Today

After eight and a half years of sending this bulletin out weekly, we agreed on Monday at the Hub meeting to turn it into a fortnightly newsletter with immediate effect. We hope this will give some much needed breathing space to our team and also create an incentive for new editors to join us in due course. Our next bulletin will appear the week beginning 6th February. If you have items and news to share please submit as usual with a bit more advance notice! However, moderators and editors will still check bulletin submissions, which will appear on the Transition Cambridge news and events webpages once approved for publication. (See the News and Events tab on the home page) So please do check in there for all the latest news updates between Bulletin mailings. If resources and energy permit, the Bulletin could return to weekly later this year. Please contact Anna. if you'd like to join the team.

Repair Cafes spreading across Cambridgeshire!

Tune in tomorrow (Thursday) to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to hear Chris Moller (Cottenham and Cambs Repair Cafés) and Nicole Barton (CCF) talking Repair Cafes with Jeremy Sallis 12.15-12.45pm. There are several more Repair Cafes coming up in the Cambridge area (including Shelford, Histon and Sawston), and these are all listed on the Circular Cambridge web-site here. Plus tonight (25 Jan) there's a social event for repairers, to share skills and find out more about how to join the cafes as a repairer (more info here). The evening will have focus on the more technical and electronic/electrical aspects of repairs rather than sewing, bike and cycle repairs.

Other News and Events

Friday 27 January: Organisations & change: questions for sustainability

14:00-15:30, LAB 109, Anglia Ruskin University

From Corporate Social Responsibility to digital revolutions, organisations are constantly having to respond to, and also instigate, change. What are the issues they are facing, how do they approach change, and what impact does it all have on their employees and working towards sustainability? This panel discussion, co-hosted by the GSI and the Lord Ashcroft International Business School, brings together three speakers from a range of disciplinary perspectives to discuss some of the issues and respond to audience questions: Dr Rebecca Whiting (Birkbeck, University of London), Deniz Seebacher (University of Vienna) and Megan Meredith (Tavistock Centre) Funded by ESPRC Balance Network: exploring work-life balance in the digital age. Lunch available from 1:30pm More details here.

Saturday 28 January - Monday 30: Big Garden Birdwatch

09:00-09:00, your garden, local park or anywhere in nature

Big Garden Birdwatch is back for another year, and they say it's the world's largest wildlfe survey. Last year more than 519,000 people took part, and counted 8,262,662 birds in total! You can take part over the weekend this year if you get outdoors for just one hour (whatever the weather) and count the local birdlife... More info and how to order a free pack here

Saturday 28 January: Talking about climate change

09:30-17:30, The Old Divintiy School, All Saints Passage, Cambridge. CB2 1TP

'Talking about climate change' is a workshop being offered by Cambridge Carbon Footprint as part of the Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum seminar Many of us are concerned about climate change and would like to encourage awareness and action in others, but have run into the familiar difficulty that friends, family and colleagues find the topic unwelcome. The aim of this workshop is to explore how we can talk openly about climate change so that everyone involved feels comfortable and empowered. More details here.

Saturday 28 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2017

09:30-17:30, Old Divinity School, St John's College

The Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum is a one day annual seminar organised by a group of Cambridge University students and run in partnership with the Cambridge Hub. The Forum is aimed at increasing awareness on climate change, sustainability and surrounding issues. It comprises talks, workshops and debates revolving around this year's theme, 'Imagine If? The Undetermined Future of Earth.' Tickets can be purchased here and further information can be found on our website More details here.

Saturday 28 January: Great Shelford's 1st Repair Cafe

14:00-17:00, Scout Hut behind The Great Shelford Memorial Hall, Woollards Lane, Great Shelford CB22 5LZ

Repair Cafes match experienced repairers with people who need stuff fixing. Great Shelford is holding its very first Repair Cafe. You can bring along the following to be repaired and maybe pick up a few repair skills at the same time: small household appliances and electrical items, computers, mobile phones, bicycles, clothes (clean clothes only please) and general bits and bobs. Please book your item in by filling in this form telling us what the item is and what's wrong with it (if you know!), or you can turn up on the day. The repairers are experienced and can fix most things but there are no guarantees. This is a free event. However, donations to cover venue hire and other costs are very welcome. More details here.

Monday 30 January: Future Economies: a Cafe Conversation with Climate modeller, Chris Hope

19:00-21:00, Hot Numbers cafe, Gywdir St

Zoe Svendsen wil be talking policy and its consequences with Climate modeller Chris Hope , Cambridge Judge Business School link asking 'What is the best possible economic structure for responding to climate change? and 'What would it be like to live in this future system?' Exploring climate change scenarios is not only about the changed landscape and atmospheric conditions of those situations, but also invites the question 'how to live' and brings with it the opportunity to ask the question 'how do we want to live'? This is a free, bookable event - tickets can be booked through the Junction More details here.

Saturday 04 February: Cottenham Repair Cafe

10:00-14:00, Cottenham Community Centre Coffee Shop, High Street, Cottenham CB24 8RZ

Repair Cafes match experienced repairers with people who need stuff fixing. You can bring along the following to be repaired and to pick up repair skills: small household appliances and electrical items, computers, mobile phones, bicycles, clothes (clean clothes only please) and general bits and bobs. Booking is preferable or you can turn up with your item on the day. The repairers are experienced and can fix most things but there are no guarantees. This is a free event. However, donations to cover venue hire and other costs are very welcome. Enquiries: 0845 123 2688 or email More details here.

Saturday 04 February: All Ages Dance

10:30-12:00, St Paul's School, Coronation Street, Cambridge

All Ages Dance is a chance for babies, elders and everyone in between to enjoy a free form of dance together. Experience a wide selection of excellent music with an experienced Five Rhythms Teacher. Bring water and wear lose fitting clothes. Adult £8, Concession adults £6, 1st child £4, 2nd child £3, 3rd child £2, and concessions children each £1 cheaper. Usually on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. Email us for more details. More details here.

Sunday 05 February: Seedy Sunday 2017

13:30-16:00, Trumpington Village Hall

This is a wonderfully successful annual local event. There will be stalls, vendors, a tombola, cakes and tea/ coffee from the WI and most importantly the Seed Swap!! We are looking for volunteers, stall holders and seed swappers. Barbara and Kim, the Seedy Sunday 2017 organisers, look forward to hearing from you - Barbara and Kim

Monday 13 February: Repair Cafe and Eco Family Funday

10:00-14:00, Ely Cathedral Conference Centre, Palace Green, Ely. CB7 4EW

Cambridge Carbon Footprint is teaming up with Amey and Cambridgeshire County Council to run Ely's very first Repair Cafe as part of a February half-term's Eco Family Funday. This event is supported by the Cambridgeshire Repair Cafe Network. The Repair Cafe welcomes small household appliances - electrical items - computers - mobile phones - bicycles - clothes - gadgets and general bits'n'bobs. It's best to book your item in by emailing Amey Please tell us what the item is and a bit about the problem (if you know). You'll be sent a time slot but you can also drop in on the day. Other activities on the day include arts and crafts, the chance to become a superworm composter, a treasure bug hunt, real nappy stall etc. More details here.

Events for your calendar

Thursday 23rd February, 2nd March, 9th March, 16th March: Cambridge Climate Lecture Series 2017 - Local tickets available

Saturday 04 March: Histon Repair Cafe

That's all for this week, 

Catch you in a fortnight - 6th February!

Jacky and the Bulletin Writers

Our Mission

Transition Cambridge aims to help Cambridge make the transition to ways of life that are more resilient in the face of rising energy prices and a changing climate.

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