Westden/TaVi merger goes ahead…

After a year of consultation and planning, the members of Westden have voted in favour for a merger with the Tavistock & Villages (TaVi) Development Forum. This is an exciting move forward and will go a long way to securing the future sustainability of Westden.

The new organisation will be called TaVi Network which brings together the “TaVi” from Tavistock & Villages (TaVi) Development Forum and the “Network” from West Devon Environmental Network (Westden).

The new aims and values are:

• To support and promote sustainable economic, environmental and social development in the Tavistock & Villages (TaVi) Community.
• To work in an atmosphere of partnership, co-operation and consultation with individuals and the public, private, third and voluntary sector organisations with similar aims and objectives.
• To be inclusive, independent and community-led.

Move information will follow about this important news. One of the key changes is that the address if moving to:

c/o Tavistock Taskforce, Pixon Lane Trading Estate, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8DH.

The telephone number is changing to. Watch this space.

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…

Max

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).

To watch the TED short click here.

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

Community project grows roots at the Abbey

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!!)

For more information and to get on the mailing list contact Max at contact@westden.org.uk or 01822 618 715.

Zeitnews

The Impossible Hamster Club

http://www.impossiblehamster.org/

New how to guides for community renewables, food, AD, re-use, transport, hydro, wind

Local United – Diffusing practical initiatives in response to climate change and peak oil

Local United brings together and supports community activists who are setting up social enterprises to address the challenges of peak oil and climate change. It aims to speed up the rate at which good ideas are adopted by community groups motivated to build low-carbon economies.

NESTA initially provided funding for the development and dissemination of the attached diffusion packs which have been written and reviewed by people with first-hand knowledge of the community and climate action sectors they work in. Often the authors will have been involved in the conception of the project idea and in many cases they would now be regarded as experts in their fields.

If you are downloading these packs because you are (or aim to be) a social enterprise who wishes to use, adapt or develop these diffusion packs then please send your contact name and e.mail to communities@nef.org.uk with LOCAL UNITED in the title of the e.mail. At Local United we are aiming to develop a mutually-supporting group of social enterprises; initially providing an “incubator space” for social enterprises and co-ordinating our search for finance for successful social enterprise models:

1. Energy Farms – Anaerobic Digestion (2.7Mb)
2. Community-led Food Initiatives (6.0Mb)
3. Energy Performance Energy Services Company (1.6 Mb)
4. Community-led Hydro Initiatives (3.5Mb)
5. Sustainable Community loan Fund (2.7Mb)
6. Community-led Wind power (0.9Mb)
7. Community-led Reuse of Resources (1.4Mb)
8. Community-led Transport Initiatives (5.1Mb)

Please note: some of these files are quite large and may take time to open depending on connection speed.

Of course, any information provided is only as up to date as the day it goes to print. Many of the specific examples have worked so well because of the people involved, the skills they possess or the resources that were available to them. Thus these examples will predominantly serve as an inspirational call to arms. However, many of the packs contain useful ‘how to’ guides, copies of legal templates or list of regulations, all of which may be useful to community groups wishing to set out on their own project. All of the packs contain notes or links on where to find more help.

More information email:  communities@nef.org.uk

Useful links:  NESTA

Source: http://www.nef.org.uk/communities/local-united.html

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.

The events are free, open to all, and a great chance for you to meet staff, local activists and campaigners.
Find out how you can get involved and make a positive impact

Saturday 15 January – Plymouth, Babbage Building, University of Plymouth.
Saturday 12 February – Salisbury, St Francis Church Hall

Information including event programmes, directions and how to register can be found at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/events/southwest.html

For further information, please email
amanda.edmondson@foe.co.uk

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.

To kick start 2011, we are delighted to welcome two guest speakers:

• Terri Easton from the Waste and Recycling Department at West Devon Borough Council – Terri will be updating the meeting on how the local borough council views food waste along with some quantitative data;
• Nicky Scott from the Devon Community Composting Network (DCCN) – Nicky is well regarded as the ‘composting guru’ and will be with us to give an informative talk and answer session on all matters compostable.

There will also be updates on:

• the new GrowTavi GardenShare scheme
• Transition Tavistock
• Westden’s Community Landscape Network (CLaN)
• up and coming events
• and more…

We will also have time for an open space discussion for community members to raise topics and issues. As always, local representatives from Tavistock Town Council, West Devon Borough Council and Devon County Council have been invited along with members from the local Private, Third and Voluntary Sectors.
 
If there is time, we will include a short film at the end.
 
If you have any questions for Terri or Nicky or matters that you would like to raise in advance please email me on contact@westden.org.uk

Click here for the AGENDA.

Vandana Shiva wins 2010 Sydney Peace Prize

I was lucky enough to spend a week with this inspiring lady in Dehra Dun in India for one of her courses on Globalisation and Gandhian philosophy which she holds each year with Satish Kumar from the Schumacher College. This award is well deserved.

Positive News Article: 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.”

Click here to see the full article on Positive News

Stock up your drinks for Christmas!

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

A Transition Tavistock event in support of 10:10

THE POWER DOWN SHOW – A film about the powering up of community, creativity and culture.

followed by Making 10:10 happen with ECO TEAMS – Developing a community initiative to support change.

 The United Reformed Church Hall, Russell Street, Tavistock on Sunday 10th October 2010, doors open 2.30

Refreshments available – Entry by donation-every penny counts.

Transition Tavistock Sep 10 Newsletter

CLICK HERE FOR THE September bulletin

West Devon Borough Council’s EConnect Sep 2010

WD_EConnect_September2010

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

Patrick Barkham, guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 September 2010 20.30 BST

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…