Westden/TaVi merger goes ahead…

Westden is merging with the Tavistock & Villages (TaVi) Development Forum.

Incredibly Edible Chagford

Incredibly Edible Chagford.

Westden won’t be at the Big Lunch!!

I am disappointed to say that I will not be at the Big Lunch this Sunday. That doesn’t mean it can’t go ahead and so if you are intending on coming, please knock on your neighbours’ doors and rallying them up. I will be looking to do one later in the summer. Let me know any weekends that suit you…

Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization

Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that’s only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).

Big Lunch 2011, save the date: Sunday 5 June

Save the date for this year’s Big Lunch: Sunday 5 June. Westden’s event will likely see a return to the Bannawell Street Park….more info to follow nearer the time.

Buckland Food Growers press release

Buckland Food Growers Ltd (B.F.G.), based at the National Trust’s Buckland Abbey, near Yelverton, have been working hard to set the roots of their project since beginning work on it last spring. Now with just under a hectare of land which has been on lease from the National Trust since January, the growing and rearing of produce is underway in earnest.

GrowTavi will visit the BFG at Buckland Abbey

The next GrowTavi will be on Tuesday 5th April 2011 at 2pm. The venue will be Buckland Abbey. Guestspeakers will include organic specialist Tom Petherick. There will also be a chance to tour the new work that the Buckland Food Group are doing with the National Trust….veg, pigs, fruit….(cider, we hope!!)

Zeitnews

http://www.zeitnews.org/

The Impossible Hamster Club

http://www.impossiblehamster.org/

Friends of the Earth South West Regional Gathering

Come along to a Friends of the Earth South West Regional Gathering. Learn or brush up on campaigning skills, find out how you can take action locally, nationally and internationally on a range of issues such as climate change, waste & resource use and the local to international food supply chain.

Composting ‘guru’ at GrowTavi open forum

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011!

Westden, The Tavistock & Villages (TaVi) Development Forum and the Transition Tavistock Food Group are pleased to announce the fourth GrowTavi Open Forum event. Tuesday 11th January 2011, between 2-4pm at The Wharf Arts Centre, Tavistock.

Vandana Shiva wins 2010 Sydney Peace Prize

Environmentalist, author and physicist Dr Vandana Shiva has been awarded the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize for courageous leadership of movements for social justice including “the empowerment of women in developing countries, her advocacy for the rights of small farming communities, and for her scientific analysis of environmental sustainability.

Stock up your drinks for Christmas!

A Christmas grand bottle auction in aid of the Friends of the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival in association with the Friends of the Wharf will be held at the Wharf, Tavistock Monday 13th December 2010.

Vote to get better broadband access

The Race to get improvement has finished for Two Lucky Telephone Exchanges. There are 3 Telephone Exchanges left for selection. To get considered there must be at least 1000 Votes. The race is to get these 1000 Votes as soon as possible. For more information and to vote see: http://www.tavistock-devon.org.uk/

The Power Down Show

Transition Tavistock event in support of 10:10. The Power Down Show and Making 10:10 happen with EcoTeams.

Transition Tavistock Sep 10 Newsletter

Transition Tavistock Sep 10 Newsletter

West Devon Borough Council’s EConnect Sep 2010

West Devon Borough Council’s EConnect Sep 2010

Save the planet – a message from another world

The first member of a remote Colombian tribe ever to set foot in Britain brings a stark ecological warning.Jacinto Zarabata sits in a suburban back garden in north London and unselfconsciously uses a stick to probe the inside of a gourd, which is shaped like a rather phallic mushroom with a bright yellow cap. The first member of the Kogi people of Colombia ever to visit Britain is wearing traditional rough cotton clothes and has a cloth bag slung over each shoulder as he chews toasted coca leaves.

A big thank you…

A big THANK YOU to all the students, teachers, governors, parents and community members who helped out on our project at Tavistock College this weekend. Photos and more details to follow shortly…

Volunteer days at Tavistock College: 25 & 26 September 2010

Thank you to all the volunteers who have offered to come along on Saturday 25th and/or Sunday 26th September to help our on our pilot project. We will be meeting at 10am on both days at the outdoor picnic area outside the canteen. We should be finished about 1pm both days. We will be doing activities like sanding, painting and weeding so please please wear old clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on and/or getting dirty. Light refreshments will be provided including tea, coffee, squash, water, biscuits etc. We will be undercover most of the day so don’t be put off on Sat or Sun morning if it is raining. If you have any queries, please contact Max on 01822 618 715 (forwards to mobile on Sat/Sun) or email contact@westden.org.uk. Thanks again for your offers of help and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday.