Resolutions and real solutions

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year! and may 2014 be a great year for you. At our house we're certainly full of good intentions, with old toys being pulled out of the shelves and re-organised at this very moment.  One of my (many) resolutions is to put some of the most enticing Transition Cambridge events into the diary at the start of the week - that way I won't miss out on so many of the great opportunities this year. This week, for example, we've got the Energy Group Meeting on Wednesday evening, an open and super-welcoming Cafe evening on Thursday designed to help you find out who we are and how to get involved, and next Monday evening there's a group meeting for Skillshare/Greeniversity. This might sound like quite a few meetings - but there are a lot of exciting things being discussed at them, including a series of masterclasses on how to create positive change in Cambridge - read on below to find out more!...

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  • Wednesday 08 January: Energy Group Meeting
  • Thursday 09 January: Cafe evening: Welcome to Transition Cambridge!
  • Monday 13 January: Cambridge Skillshare (aka Greeniversity) group meeting
  • Tuesday 14 January: Food Group meeting
  • Thursday 16 January: Media group meeting
  • Thursday 16 January: Film: Collapse
  • Sunday 19 January: Trumpington Seedy Sunday
  • Monday 20 January: Transition Hub meeting
  • Sunday 26 January: Hedge Laying
  • Thursday 30 January: Permaculture Pub night (NEW!)
  • Sunday 02 February: The Work that Reconnects
  • Events for your calendar

Other News and Events

  • Sunday 12 January: Wassail at Trumpington Community Orchard
  • Saturday 25 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2014
  • Monday 27 January: Bev Sedley on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Network

Transition News and Events

Wednesday 08 January: Energy Group Meeting

20:00-21:30, Judith's house

We will make final plans for the community energy forum and consider what to do after that. We will get the latest news on Action on Energy and anything else interesting.

Thursday 09 January: Cafe evening: Welcome to Transition Cambridge!

19:30-21:00, CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, CB1 2AD

Come along to the first cafe evening of 2014 to find out who we are, what we do and (optionally) how to get involved. If you've got ideas, bring them along - or just enjoy meeting others who want to help make Cambridge more sustainable and resilient. All welcome.

Monday 13 January: Cambridge Skillshare (aka Greeniversity) group meeting

19:30-21:00, Anna's house (on Suez Road)

At this meeting we'll be planning a series of masterclasses on how to bring about change in your local/wider area (ideas so far include running events, social media, public speaking, fundraising, finding your energy, engaging with local and national government, getting in the local media, running effective groups, and more!). The first of these workshops is already planned (The Work that Reconnects on 2nd Feb, which is a chance to connect with an issue that is important to you, and help you find your energy to get started). We'll also be discussing our next SkillsFest (probably in early May). Everyone is welcome, bring along your ideas! (Contact Anna for details of her address.)

Tuesday 14 January: Food Group meeting

18:30-20:00, CB2 restaurant (upstairs room), Norfolk Street, CB1 2LD

All welcome at the Food Group's first meeting of 2014. We'll be making plans for the new year...

Thursday 16 January: Media group meeting

18:30, Oscar's house, off Victoria Road (details below)

The media group hopes to meet every third Thursday of the month from now on. January's meeting will be on the 16th January at 6.30pm at Oscar's house (e-mail Oscar for his address, which is off Victoria Road). We'll be thinking about our new blog, and Oscar would also be interested in discussing this article on "A New Agenda on Climate Change: Facing Up to Stealth Denial and Winding Down on Fossil Fuels" from the Action and Research Centre. Please bring along any other topics you would like to discuss or ideas you'd like to put forward.

Thursday 16 January: Film: Collapse

19:00-21:00, CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, CB1 2AD

Hugh Chapman and the CB1 team have offered to host a showing of this film about Michael Ruppert and his views on peak oil and its implications. Read more about the film here and here is the official website. All welcome, free. Facebook event here.

Sunday 19 January: Trumpington Seedy Sunday

13:30-16:00, Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington CB2 9HZ

Trumpington Seedy Sunday is a fun annual event. Be sure to come, and maybe check our plea for help below. * bring self-saved seeds to exchange * exchange bought surplus seed * take seeds in exchange for a small donation If you don't have any spare seeds, don't worry - there are always plenty to go round. * Speaker: Keith Jordan - The Joy of Seeds (2:00pm) * Film: Seeds of Sovereignty (3:00pm) * Stalls include: Trumpington W.I. refreshments, Thomas Etty Heritage Seed Merchants, Trumpington Community Orchard * Children's activity - Fun with Seeds! * Student Networking Session - Grow your Own Entry costs £1.50 for adults (children free). WE NEED... * you to publicise Trumpington Seedy Sunday. * people to assist on 19th January anytime between noon and and 5:30pm. * A photographer to help us record the event. * donations of garden and seed-related gifts for the raffle which will help to fund the event. To make your offer please get in touch before January 11th 2014. If you can help, please contact the organisers More details here.

Monday 20 January: Transition Hub meeting

19:00-21:00, Nicola's house on Chesterton Road

At our next hub meeting, in addition to our usual topics relating to coordination of the different Transition group activities, we'll take half an hour to discuss Transition policies (i.e. how we work, what we do and what we avoid). All are welcome to contribute to this discussion, and we hope to create a set of policies to help new groups get started along Transition lines. Attending hub meetings is a good way to see how Transition Cambridge works, and to get a sense of the range of projects that make up Transition Cambridge. Contact Nicola for details of her address - we may move to a large venue if lots of people want to come.

Sunday 26 January: Hedge Laying

10:00-16:00, Trumpington allotments

We will be laying the hedge of the area where we grow hazel next to the one we did recently on the Community Orchard hedge. Bring food to share for lunch. Please contact me so I have some idea of numbers.

Thursday 30 January: Permaculture Pub night (NEW!)

19:30-21:00, The Six Bells pub, 11 Covent Garden, Cambridge, CB1 2HS (we'll put a permaculture book on the table so you can find us)

Come along to discuss your permaculture ideas, successes and challenges! We'll aim to meet on the last Thursday of every month for an informal chat and to share experiences. All are welcome, if you have been practising permaculture for years, or if you're just learning about what it is.

Sunday 02 February: The Work that Reconnects

10:30-17:30, The Community Room, Newnham Croft Primary School, Chedworth Street, Newnham, Cambridge

The Work that Reconnects is a process designed by Joanna Macy to help us find our energy to bring about positive change in the world. It is a chance to connect with the issues that we care about, explore our feelings about these issues, and possibly decide on some first steps to engage with the issue. It can also be a place to face difficult feelings that we may feel when we look at the state of the world, and to help us move through these to find a bigger vision of the world we'd like to create. The day will consist of a variety of experiential exercises, including some time alone in nature. The workshop will be facilitated by Anna McIvor, Liz Serocold, Bev Sedley and Kate Honey. The cost of the workshop is likely to be around £10 to £20 (to cover the cost of the venue hire). To book, please send an e-mail to Anna with your name, e-mail and phone number, and we'll send you more information closer to the date.

Events for your calendar

Other News and Events

Sunday 12 January: Wassail at Trumpington Community Orchard

15:30, Trumpington Community Orchard, next to the Foster Road Allotments and very near the guided bus station

Everyone is welcome to our Wassail, a traditional ceremony to celebrate the apple trees and encourage them to bear a good crop in the year to come. There will be a bit of traditional dancing, some hearty singing of wassail songs, and a cup or two of mulled cider (or apple juice) to keep out the cold. The orchard will be decorated with lights, ribbons and anything else we can lay our hands on, and we will celebrate apple trees, traditional orchards and the Old Twelfth Night all in one go. The event will start at 3:30pm with a musical procession, where we will hang toast on the oldest apple tree, and sing a wassail carol. We will then go round the orchard adding ribbons, decorations and lights, before warming up with a wassail cup. Adults and children very welcome - wrap up warm, bring a torch or a lantern, a musical instrument or something to make a noise with, and a ribbon or anything you like to decorate the trees.

Saturday 25 January: Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2014

09:00-17:00, Murray Edward College, Huntingdon Road

Interested in climate change and sustainability? Want to learn more about innovative solutions to the challenges ahead? Keen to network with like-minded environmentally-conscious individuals? Get your tickets for the Cambridge Climate & Sustainability Forum 2014 now! For more details, check out our website. The conference aims to raise awareness of pressing environmental issues surrounding the world today, and seeks to be a platform that allows students to discuss and debate critical issues and trends evolving around the topic of climate change and sustainability. It is organised and run by a group of students each year who are dedicated to spread the word about climate change and environmental issues. The initiative is supported by Cambridge Hub.

Monday 27 January: Bev Sedley on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Network

19:30-21:30, Friends Meeting House, 12 Jesus Lane, Cambridge, CB5 8BA

Bev will discuss the recently launched project to turn Cambridge into a “Sustainable Food City”. This is part of a new national network to help businesses, the public sector, communities and NGOs make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of where they live. Immediate plans for Cambridge include setting up a website to promote all local sustainable food activities, launching a sustainable food charter and establishing a local Food Hub as a base for a range of organisations. Nearly 40 local organisations are already on board with this initiative, including public and private caterers, suppliers and growers, as well as Cambridge City Council and several community food groups. This session will be of interest to anyone who cares about our access to healthy, sustainable food. As usual in Green-enterprise events, the evening will be participative and will include plenty of time for discussion with the speaker and other participants. Cost £5. More details here.

Wishing you a great start to the year,

Hannah

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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