Transition Cambridge Summer Festival

Transition Cambridge Summer Festival

Skillshares, films, talks and cafe followed by a party with music

Saturday 13th July, 2:30-5:30pm Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, from 6:30pm onwards in the Maypole pub (upstairs); free, donations welcome.

Links: Skillshares and talks - Films - Cafe - Books - Party - Timetable - Get involved

Skillshares and talks

These events are also listed on Greeniversity.

Beekeeping - an introduction 2:30-3:30pm in the Annexe. Colin Clews will give an introduction to bee-keeping, illustrated with photos of every stage, from building a hive right through to collecting swarms, treating them for varroa, and extracting honey). He has been keeping bees for 5 years now, first near Angelsey Abbey and now in his garden.

Cycle maintenance 4:45-5:45 in the courtyard (doors open at 4:30 due to another group using the room next door until then; also if it is raining this skillshare will be cancelled). Please book via the Greeniversity web-site as numbers are limited by the space in the courtyard. Lead by Andrew Clark: Does your bike look accusingly at you every time you sidle past it? Don't worry, bring a smile to your bike!. Come to the class and show it that you care. I will show you how to make your bike safe to ride. You will discover how to make all the necessary checks, and what to do if things are not quite right, or even completely wrong! If you have some tools that you can bring, such as spanners, allen keys and scredrivers, that will be great. If you can't, don't worry, I will have a comprehensive set of tools to help you. Bikes are great but they can be dirty! Wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty, and you might find it useful to bring latex gloves or similar.

Eco-games 2:30-3:30 in the Aldren Wright Room (same room as cafe) Pippa Vine will introduce Eco Action Bingo and Eco Action Trumps, made by Eco Action Games. The games are a fun way of learning about things we can do to live more sustainably. Suitable for all ages; children should be accompanied by adults.

Grow your own 3:30-4:30 in the Meeting Room Find out how to grow your own vegetables with experienced allotmenter Dave Fox, who runs regular Grow your own sessions on his allotment in Trumpington.

Jewellery making 2:30-3:30 in the Meeting Room Naomi Sklar will demonstrate how to make jewellery out of recycled paper, beads and wire.

Knitting for beginners 2:30 - 3:30 in the Meeting Room Jade Cawthray will show you how to knit - how to cast on and cast off, and basic knit and pearl stitches. Jade is an experienced and enthusiastic knitter!

Origami peace cranes 3:30-4:30 in the Aldren Wright Room (same room as cafe) This is a lovely fun activity for all the family, and a great way of way recycling old paper to make this international symbol for peace (read about this here - pdf, 300kb). Lead by Joy Magezis. All ages are welcome to take part, children should be accompanied by adults.

Permaculture - an introduction 3:30 - 4:30 in the Annexe. Jocelyn Cutler, a permaculturist from Australia, will give an introduction to the principles of permaculture, suitable for people interested in all aspects of permaculture, not just gardening!

Rope-splicing 4:30-5:30 in the Meeting Room. Dave Jackson will show how to splice rope - a very useful but rarely used skill these days. Splicing rope is when you join two ends of rope together seamlessly. Rope splicing is described here on Wikipedia.

Saving energy at home 4:30-5:30 in the Annexe. Lead by Nicola Terry: There are many ways you can reduce your energy use at home without spending a penny - just by the things you do. From closing curtains at night or turning the heating off half an hour before you go to bed, to not overfilling the kettle, turning off the TV when no-one is watching it ... This workshop is about what we can do, why we don't always do it and what we can do to make it easier. Nicola Terry gave this workshop first at Warm Homes in Trumpington and got good reviews. It will be even better this time.

Sewing on buttons 4:30-5:30 in the Meeting Room Ever stopped wearing something because a button has fallen off, and you never got round to sewing it back on again? Kate Boursnell will show you how to fix it, and even if you already know how to do it, this will be a chance to meet new people while catching up on some mending. Everyone welcome, even if you've never used a needle and thread before!

Spinning using a drop spindle 3:30-4:300 in the Meeting Room Helen Holmes will demonstrate how to make and use a drop spindle to spin some wool from the sheep at the Cropshare farm.

We also have some ready-printed if you would like some.

Films

All films will be shown in the Caroline Stephen Room (upstairs, on the left through the doorway and down some stairs - it will be signposted).

2:30pm: A Farm for the Future Made for the BBC in 2009. This a brilliant short film featuring filmmaker Rebecca Hosking returning to the Devon farm where she was brought up, intent on taking on management of the farm. Realizing high input agriculture is becoming increasingly threatened, she explores ways of farming in a post-oil world, finding inspiration in nature itself and in permaculture techniques in practice all over the UK. Running time 49 minutes.

3:20pm: The Power of Community - How Cuba survived peak oil When Cuba lost access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, the country faced an immediate crisis - feeding the population - and an on-going challenge: how to create a new low-energy society. Cuba transitioned from large, fossil-fuel intensive farming to small, less energy-intensive organic farms and urban gardens, and from a highly industrial society to a more sustainable one. This film tells the story of the Cuban people's hardship, ingenuity and triumph over sudden adversity - through cooperation, conservation and community, told in their own words. While things have changed in Cuba since this film was made in 2006, it nevertheless provides an inspiring and informative account of one country's transition to a lower-energy economy when need arose. Released in 2012. Running time 53 minutes.

4:30pm: In Transition 2.0 The following is adapted from a review of the film by Chartotte Du Cann. "In an abandoned lot in Pittsburgh a boy is selling lettuce. Down Tooting High Street a carnival is in full swing. In a village in Portugal two men are walking in a field beside horses. These are all small stories. You might not know they are happening or take much notice of them. But if you were curious, you would discover how that lettuce came to be growing in such an unlikely neighbourhood; why everyone in the carnival was wearing clothes made of rubbish; why the elders of the village were teaching the young people to plough. If you pulled these stories together, you would notice they all had a common thread. That’s the moment you realise it’s a big story. The story in fact. The story of how people are coming together in the face of difficulties and making another kind of future. That’s the story of Transition 2.0." Running time 1h 6mins.

Cafe

There'll be tea and cakes at the Transition Cafe, hosted by Liz, Margaret, Elisabetta and Christie. Come and have a chat with others interested in Transition, or just have a rest after joining one of the skillshares! Tea and cakes by donation (and if you'd like to bring a cake, that would be wonderful!)

Books and newspapers for sale

We'll have some copies of Rob Hopkins' new book "The Power of Just Doing Stuff" for sale (Rob Hopkins is the founder of the Transition movement - read his blog here), and we'll also have copies of the Transition Free Press to give away - so if you haven't got one yet, come and pick one up. It's full of inspiring stories about ways that people are making the transition around the world!

Party in the evening

In the evening, we'll move over to the Maypole pub for food, drinks and music, courtesy of Liam Stewart, our very own DJ. We'll be in the upstairs room and there'll be pizza. From 6pm till late. All welcome! Help us celebrate 5 years of Transition Cambridge!

Overview and timetable of events

Location Times   
upstairs in FMHActivity2:30-3:203:30-4:204:30-5:306:00 onwards
AnnexeTalksBeekeepingPermacultureSaving Energy at HomeAll move
Meeting RoomSkillsharesKnitting, Jewellery makingSpinning, Grow your ownSewing on buttons, Rope splicingto Maypole
Caroline Stephen RoomTransition CinemaA farm for the futureThe Power of CommunityIn Transition 2.0for party
Aldren Wright RoomCafeTea and cakes throughout afternoon(cont.)(cont.)with food
Aldren Wright RoomFamily activitiesEco-gamesMaking origami peace cranes and music
CourtyardOutdoor skill-shares  Cycle maintenance(and maybe dancing!)

Get involved

We're going to need lots of help! Here are some specific things we're looking for help with, but if you could just help out generally with whatever needs doing, that will also be appreciated - just come along.

  • baking cakes for the cafe
  • help putting up posters round town/libraries/workplaces etc - we will have lots if you'd rather not print one out (a bit heavy on the green ink!).
  • help setting up (1:30-2:30) and clearing up (5:30-6:30) in the Friends Meeting House
  • transport to take things and bring them back (possible to park in the car park by the Maypole, we can pay the parking fee)
  • helpers for the cafe, serving tea and cakes, or possibly in the film area, just helping with changing over the films.
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