News from Transition Stroud!
Dear readers,
We have a large newsletter for you this month with all kinds of news and activities. There are articles from outside of the Transition movement which seemed likely to be of interest. Our own Transition groups are getting going again, finding innovative ways to stay safe while continuing to work on sustainability projects.
I’ve been made aware of this short-run government consultation on the Highways Code. This is an opportunity to express the changing needs of road users and to win more support for electrification and more sustainable means of travel. The consultation is open until 27 October 2020. Get involved here.
We have News from Transition Stroud!
We have articles
There are events
And news from some Fellow Travellers
Here’s some inspiration from the wider Transition Network about how people are adapting https://youtu.be/BK5PzA7fE1g
If you’re doing something you think might encourage or cheer other people, email Bryn for the newsletter – brynnethnimue@gmail.com or contact us by social media (see below). We’ll do what we can to support fellow travellers locally, tag us on Twitter for re-tweets and pop things on the facebook wall for sharing.
You can also follow our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TransitionStroud/
And connect with Transition Stroud on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TTStroud
If you want to encourage anyone to sign up for this newsletter, please send them to the website – https://www.transitionstroud.org/
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Transition Stroud AGM
Each year the Transition Stroud AGM is a time to get together over lunch, celebrate what has been done over the previous 12 months, and look to our plans for the future. The period of lockdown has changed the way the Council and many Action Groups have been working, but many of us have still been meeting (mostly on Zoom). We've been tending to raised beds, campaigning on transport, making masks, creating video, repairing essential items and taking care of each other in local street groups.
This year we are unable to hold our normal AGM meeting and instead are holding an online meeting only. The meeting will be focussed on our formal requirements as a limited company. We will be presenting accounts and Director reports and also putting resolutions to our Guarantor Members. We do not unfortunately have an opportunity to share lunch or listen to a guest speaker this year!
The meeting will be by Zoom call, on Monday November the 2nd at 7:30-8:30. If you wish to attend, please email Nick Turner, TS co-ordinator, at admin@transitionstroud.org. He will send you access details nearer the date.
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Update from Edible Stroud at Stroud Station
On a warm and surprisingly not wet Wednesday at the end of September Edible Stroud volunteers quickly got our 3 raised beds at the station into tip top condition after months of neglect due to Lockdown and lack of fencing. Yes! Network Rail have finally created the long awaited fence at the end of platform 1 allowing us to work there without one of their reps being present. Hurrah for that!
Many thanks to all those who donated plants which enabled us to quickly replace the dead and unwanted plants with new specimens including white currants, pulmonaria, sage, oregano, Japanese anenome and crocosmia.
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Watch out for consultation on district-wide climate action!
Stroud District Council is about to start consultation on its draft strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
We understand that the strategy will be broad in scope, embracing COVID recovery and future resilience, in addition to climate and the ecological emergencies. Its primary purpose will be to provide a vision and rationale that frames delivery of actions, and a starting point for conversations with key stakeholders about working together.
An initial plan will be Included with the strategy setting out commitments to action across major themes, including for the built environment, energy, mobility, the economy and natural environment. The commitments will include: ‘exemplars’ where the Council will lead the way across its functions and services; ‘enablers’ where the Council will work with partners and in collaboration with others; and ‘encouragers’ where the Council will seek to influence and create the conditions for action.
Consultation on the draft is intended to start in early October, with various opportunities for involvement, including: providing web-based responses to key questions; participation in online discussion events; and traditional written responses.
Watch out for further details and do get involved!
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Could you use the new Green Homes Grant (GHG) to retrofit your home?
Transition Stroud has long promoted the importance of domestic retrofit as a key way of achieving carbon savings, but there have been various hurdles, not least the upfront costs and underdeveloped supply chain. The Government is now pressing forward with a new scheme to enable homeowners and landlords to apply for a voucher towards the costs.
There are two types of voucher. The first covers up to two thirds of the cost of measures, to a maximum voucher value of £5,000. The second is for homeowners with householders that receive a qualifying benefit – these vouchers will cover 100% of the cost of measures to a maximum value of £10,000.
Vouchers must be used to install at least one ‘primary’ measure. The voucher can then be used to help cover the cost of secondary measures. Primary measures include insulation (solid wall, cavity wall, under-floor, loft, flat roof, room in roof and ‘park home’ insulation), and low carbon heat (where the home is suitably insulated, including heat pumps, solar thermal and biomass pellet boilers). Secondary measures include: windows and doors (draft proofing, double/triple glazing and replacement doors); and heating controls and insulation (eg hot water tank thermostats and insulation).
Applicants can apply for a voucher from the end of September 2020. The Simple Energy Advice (SEA) website provides a tool to enable people to: check if they are eligible for a voucher; check what improvements may be suitable for their home; choose which improvements they would like and see an estimate of how much they may cost; and find accredited tradespeople to get quotes to carry out the work. In addition to using this online tool, homeowners would be well advised to commission a retrofit survey to provide a specification for obtaining quotes.
Local charity and not-for-profit company, Severn Wye Energy Agency (SWEA), have a page on their website on the GHG Scheme. SWEA are working towards being able to offer initial pre-application surveys for the GHG scheme (for the ‘able to pay’), and will provide a dedicated advice line on the Scheme from the first of October.
Local retrofit specialist and TS supporter, Dave Judd, is happy for TS supporters to contact him about initial
domestic retrofit surveys (daveyjudd@gmail.com).
Here in Transition Stroud we hope that the scheme will work effectively and provide a starting point for building widespread domestic retrofit programmes. We’re also interested in feedback about experience of the scheme, including any difficulties, for example, in obtaining quotes from accredited contractors (e-mail fbarker@gn.apc.org).
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The right tree in the right place for the right reason!
Gloucestershire has a new tree strategy, developed by the Nature Recovery working group of Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership (LNP).
The strategy includes a vision of 20% tree cover across the county by 2030, and key principles based around the ‘right tree in the right place for the right reason’. It seeks to ensure that multiple benefits are captured from tree planting schemes, including carbon sequestration, adaptation to climate change, health and well-being, and habitat resilience.
The vision is ambitious - requiring 35 million new trees across the county! It includes some big projects for partners to get behind, and seeks to guide an approach to management and prioritisation. It focuses on native, locally-grown trees, as well as those adaptive to climate change. The LNP’s next task is to build an Action Plan to deliver the vision.
Locally Stroud Valleys Project will be planting trees with lots of community groups and landowners in the Stroud area. If interested in getting involved in planting, or if you have land suitable for planting trees, please contact Tamsin Bent, SVP’s new Tree Planting Officer (tamsin@stroudvalleysproject.org).
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Find your local Climate Action Group
Have you joined your local climate action group?
Around half of the parishes across the district are covered by a local climate action group of one sort or another. Some groups are just starting out, whilst others are well established. Some are Working Groups established by the Parish or Town Council while others are community-led initiatives. Some cover a single parish, while others cover a group of parishes.
Local group activities in include:
- promoting behaviour change – so local people reduce their carbon footprints
- developing low carbon community projects - on energy, food, transport, or tree planting – so local people get involved and work together
- networking across community, public and business sectors – so a range of local groups and organisations get involved
To see whether your local community has a group, check out this online map. Click on the blue dots for contact details.
If you’re local community does not have a group, and you’d like to help set one up, please let us know (fbarker@gn.apc.org).
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Stonehouse Active Travel
When we all took action to save lives by going out less in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a significant decrease in the number of vehicles on our roads as well as a reduction in pollution and noise, and many of us felt able to walk and cycle more. With the current social distancing guidelines - which are likely to be in place for many months to come - Stonehouse Town Council wants to ensure the continued safety and comfort of residents on the local streets. We believe we can Build Back Better from this crisis. More people walking and cycling will ease congestion and pollution which will benefit us all.
The council has just launched its online Active Travel consultation to help inform us about how we might cut congestion and pollution in Stonehouse by making it safer to walk and cycle around our town. Please visit the website and identify locations that they think could be improved to make it easier to walk or cycle locally.
https://stonehouseactivetravel.commonplace.is
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The CEE Bill
by Sarah Lunnon
CEE Bill Alliance
The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is the result of activists, academics and seasoned environmental campaigners working together as the CEE Bill Alliance. The CEE Bill was tabled by Caroline Lucas MP on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 and has much to our delight been described as ‘brilliant’ by Rob Hopkins (founder of the Transition Town Network). Writing on his blog he noted
“The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is so powerful because its magic lies away from its pages. It’s magic lies in its invitation for a whole society to begin, finally, to step up to being boldly imaginative within a new narrative”.
The Bill does not deal with policy issues, rather it outlines the limits which all the UK’s activity must take place. A carbon budget in line with remaining at or below 1.5C (IPCC 2018) that is not inflated with nonexistent carbon capture technologies and includes consumption emissions, coupled with a duty for the restoration and repair of our natural world based on the impact of national and international supply lines. You can see why Rob Hopkins recognised the need for
“a revolution of the imagination across the country, one that could go on to inspire something similar across the world”.
Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavillion, Green Party) said in a statement to the Independent (date 08/2020
“I welcome this campaign for a new Bill on the climate and ecological emergency. I will look at it in detail before Parliament resumes. The Climate Change Act was ground-breaking when it became law over 10 years ago, but it’s nowhere near ambitious enough for the scale of the crisis we face today.”
A time of consequence
The Bill is based on the understanding that we have reached a time of consequence, it has been drafted in line with the carbon budget outlined by the accepted science (the UN IPCC 2018 Special report on 1.5C) and accepts we must halt all of the harm the UK is responsible for (the entire carbon and ecological footprint of our supply lines and lifestyles).
The Bill recognises we have a debt to those alive to today in different parts of the world already losing all they cherish, to those yet to be born who have been burdened with the impacts of climate and ecological devastation. It is this refusal to provide any hiding places, the outlining of the extreme limitations that now exist for us to act within that enables imagination to flourish. Once we free ourselves from the emotional work of denial, of lying to ourselves we can finally start to imagine the solutions like the creative ingenious creatures we are.
A Citizen’s Assembly
The issue of how and who determines policy is covered in the Bill’s final, and possibly for our elected MPs most controversial section - a Citizen’s Assembly. We have waited for over 30 years for governments of various flavours, across the globe to take action on the Planetary Crisis. Non have covered themselves in glory, acting instead like penguins on the rapidly disappearing ice shelves, refusing to be the first into the water. Or pointing out that the emissions or impact of their country is minimal when compared to global totals - as if waking up in a sinking lifeboat we refuse to bail out the water until the other occupants have started.
Let’s be clear there are other kinds of democracy to our Parliament’s oppositional first past the post representational model, and deliberative democracy is another, one which has a track record of solving contested policy issues that representational democracies were unable to (Irish reproductive issue/ French Citizens Assembly of Climate).
The use of deliberative Assembly’s of Citizens that represent the country in terms of race, age, sex, class, education means that the proposals are discussed by those who are often missing from the national dialogue, and that the recommendation are accepted as legitimate without opposition in a way that radical policy from government is not. This is not top down policy making by those in power, it is inclusive deliberative decision making, freed from lobby and special interest groups.
John Harris writing in the Guardian about the potential for the CEE Bill noted on Citizen’s Assemblies
“The idea is yet another manifestation of one of the few sources of promise to be found among the polarisation and chaos of 21st-century politics: the gloriously simple notion of bringing together groups of people representative of the population at large to try to plot a way through difficult issues, and thereby begin to reduce our susceptibility to division and rancour. In times as troubled as ours, that may sound almost absurd. The strange thing is, it actually appears to work.
A Route Map
Those of us who support the Bill don’t know that it will work, we don’t know that the proposed carbon budget is the correct one, we don’t know that other countries will follow if the UK acts, we don’t know that a Citizen’s Assembly will provide the policy recommendation that we think are needed, that they will be radical enough. We do know that we have reached the point of staring ecological catastrophe in the face, that our governments have repeatedly failed to do what is needed, that we need to route to change, the CEE Bill is the best route we have seen so far.
Join the national campaign at www.CEEBill.uk or join us locally every Friday 12-2pm, 3 King St, Stroud where we will meet, with thermos, table and chairs and invite our Stroud MP to come and have a seat with us to discuss her supporting the Bill
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Music for climate change awareness
Q&A with Sarah Nicolls
12 Years is a powerful new musical story, named after climate warnings from the IPCC, and tours with 12 online streams from 8 – 25 October 2020. The innovative composition is inspired by activist Greta Thunberg, wild fires, melting ice and how differently people are responding to the increasingly regular news. Sarah Nicolls combines music played on her vertical Inside-Out piano with recorded speech, tracing the emotional journey of two sisters, exploring their perceptions of global warming through fact and fiction. https://www.sounduk.net/events/12-Years-Sarah-Nicolls-12-Streams/
Tell us about the inspiration behind 12 Years. 12 Years was written in 2018 following the IPCC special report about the impact of 1.5°c global warming on the planet. Climate scientists projected that annual emissions needed to be halved by 2030 stay within this level. In the same year Greta Thunberg initiated her school strike in Sweden and subsequently publicised her call to action as a TED talk.
What effect did scientific warnings about global warming have on you? Giving the human race 12 years to halve emissions seemed like a pretty stark deadline to me, especially as my son would turn 18 in 2030, and I felt compelled to bring this information into my work. I felt an urgent response to the IPCC report and as a pianist this resulted in writing a new recital. I wanted to put the piano and the environment together to see what would happen.
Can you explain the narrative of 12 Years? This show is a journey for both the audience and my fictional characters. It begins with the deadline – what does 12 (now 10) years feel like? I weave news headlines and interviews about environmental changes into a story about Lara, an Extinction Rebellion activist and her much less political sister Fran. We listen into their phone conversations and their different responses to climate change. As the story unfolds, we go on the journey with Fran as her perceptions towards global warming begin to alter. I wanted to discuss environmental themes (both climate-related and ecological) in a recital without being preachy.
How is 12 Years structured? There are 12 tracks in the piece, which reflect the idea of a countdown to 2030. Each track has a different theme, and these include the Camp Fire, which blazed across California in 2018, destroying the town of Paradise. We hear the voices of survivors from this fire as they escape, which killed 85 people. One track focuses on the sound of a melting glacier and the penultimate track features Greta Thunberg. I was interested in how her voice and the urgency of her speech has changed since her first TED talk, with speeches at the 2 DAVOS World Economic Forum and the UN. Finally, we’re urged to consider how we feel, striving for hope and action. My intention is to bring the climate and ecological emergency into an emotional space.
Describe your Inside-Out piano. It is like a grand piano tipped up, so the strings are vertical. I play the strings, strum and pluck them like a guitar or harp. I also hit the strings percussively, using a glass ball to make amazing sliding sounds or a rubber ball to get the sound of a whale underwater. I’m always thinking in pictures and 12 Years is a multisensory experience: I considered how to make sounds so that you would feel like you’re near a wildfire or a glacier. Fortunately, the piano is so expressive and resonant that it can do all of these things!
There are some amazing people joining you for post-show Zoom chats. Tell us more about them. I am so thrilled with the guest speakers and their input is extremely valuable. Following an hour of listening and thinking, my audiences will be able to have an open conversation with the experts. Speakers include Prof. Richard Betts MBE, leader of Climate Impacts at the MET Office, Prof Richard Pancost, Director of the Cabot Institute, Craig Hutton, Professor of Sustainability Science, University of Southampton, Dr Liz Bagshaw, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University and Dr Sarah Mander from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. ‘Sounds of hope’ emerge towards the end of the performance.
How hopeful are you that the global climate crisis can be averted? I feel that it is my job as a parent of two children to be hopeful and I believe in our capacity to be empathetic and caring. If people understand what scientists are telling us, and what our options are, along with what trajectories look like, then we can change our impact on the earth. I believe that what is good for the planet is good for us: walking or cycling more, sharing more, being community-minded, thinking local in terms of food production. I do think a fairer society is possible and necessary.
Tell us about your Future Piano. This is an amazing lightweight piano that will be built this year. It will be the same shape as the ‘Inside-Out Piano’ but an entirely new piano constructed from lightweight composite materials with the help of extraordinary engineering. It will still be able to be played as a normal piano and give the sound of a grand piano, but in the space of an upright piano. What is revolutionary about Future Piano is that it will weigh less than 100kg and it will be possible to split it in half and easily reassemble it. I will be able to carry it upstairs with a friend!
What affect will Future Piano have for you personally? It will make touring so much easier but also means the amount of venues where live piano can be played suddenly opens up. It also means people can choose to move a piano to different rooms in their home. My fantasy is that I will be able to put it in the guard’s van of a train someday: so touring has a much lower carbon footprint. I see my role as trying to make the piano less cumbersome and less historic. To keep this amazing instrument alive and acoustic – with strings – is my dream.
12 Years launches on Thursday 8th October - St George’s Bristol is promoting the first night of the tour, hosting the post-show discussion with Professor Richard Pancost and Dr Alix Dietzel from Bristol's Cabot Institute for the Environment. Please support your local arts venue if you can, or choose from the other 11 dates. Also see sarahnicolls.com/the-musical-activist and building a lightweight Standing Grand piano - futurepiano.co.uk
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The Gigatonne Challenge
Rebuilding the economy. Reducing emissions. Reimagining our world.
The Complexity University https://complexity.university/ is a community focused on learning how to tackle the world’s most complex social, environmental and political challenges. They are offering a two week on line leadership programme:
How can we work together to reduce global emissions by one billion tonnes a year? How do you rate your leadership skills when it comes to tackling complex challenges? How would you like to “build muscle” for complexity leadership while simultaneously taking direct action to start bringing global emissions back down to where we need them to be? Averting dangerous climate change is imperative. While we know “what” should be done, there seems to be little clarity as to “how” to do it.
Join us for a two-week online leadership programme, where you will learn how to tackle complex challenges within the lens of climate change. You will be given the task of reducing one tonne of CO2e, while crucially delivering benefits for the poorest and most directly impacted by climate change. You will learn by doing what it takes to deliver equitable, effective solutions to our greatest challenges. To rebuild the economy, reduce emissions and reimagine our world.
What’s the commitment?
The minimum commitment for this course is 90 mins per day Monday-Friday for 2 weeks. In terms of economy, we operate in gift culture and intend no financial barriers to participation. You will choose what level of fees you can pay for this course and we are open to conversations about economy.
We will run three courses in 2020 - October 19-30, November 9-20, December 7-18. The timings for group sessions vary each month to make them more accessible to different time zones globally. Please see our website for exact details of session timings under “schedule”.
What’s in it for me?
You will benefit from an intensive two-week action learning experience in how to move from ideas to action, by directly tackling perhaps the greatest and most urgent complex challenge of our times. You will meet and work with other committed and courageous individuals from your city, and learn how to be effective together, fast.
In the future - by which we mean within the next two years - the intention is for teams who are committed and effective to be funded to do the work of tackling the climate crisis. Embedded within our strategy is equity and jobs creation, but we are not there yet and to get there we need people to show willing, get stuck in, get trained and prove the concept.
Find out more and sign up:
https://complexity.university/the-gigatonne-challenge
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Textiles Group Meeting
The Textiles Group next get together will be on Monday 5th October from 10-12 and from 12.30-2.30. Please let Clare know if you want to attend and which session you would prefer.
Bring your own chair and refreshments.
Outside, with a gazebo up in case of rain.
In order to keep social distancing and comply with Covid rules you now need to book in for a place to keep the numbers down.
There will be two slots. 10am -12 noon and 12.30-2.30pm First come first served. If there is a great demand we can do an additional day. So let Clare know if you want to come along. clare@solarious.co.uk
Transport Group Meeting
The Transport Group’s next meeting will be on Zoom
If you’d like to get involved, email Susie via TS - transport@transitionstroud.org
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Stroud Town Council are looking for a Nature Recovery and Climate Action Officer to help them meet their carbon neutral target. The role will also support the Stroud Town Climate Action Network. https://tinyurl.com/y34srn5e Closing date 9 October
Online writing workshops
Including a taster session free as part of Stroud Book Festival, and workshops looking at diversity in rural spaces, and mapping rural worlds. https://www.dialect.org.uk/autumn-workshops
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We are grateful to those individuals and organisations that fund Transition Stroud including the Community Investment Grant from Stroud District Council
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