Transition Boroondara

Relaunch is due!

2011-10-27T23:32:00.000+11:00

We are in the process of relaunching the group as 'Transition Boroondara' and preliminary discussions are taking place regarding how we proceed to rekindle group activities.

Please contact tony@transitionboroondara.org if you'd like to take part in the relaunch.

Best regards, Tony.

Latest Initiatives...

2010-04-04T10:51:00.003+10:00

Latest initiatives from Transition Town Boroondara include:
- Surrey Hills Transition Town Seminar - April 17
- Carrotmob, Hawthorn - April 17
- Kew Food Co-op

Scroll down for further information on the above...

Transition Town Seminar

2010-04-04T08:27:00.006+10:00

Make Surrey Hills a Transition Town...
Saturday 17 April 2010, 5-9pm
5.00pm - Registration
5:30pm - Introductory talk & film
6:30pm - Supper (please bring a plate to share)
7:30pm - Group discussions & workshops

Surrey Hills residents are invited to gather on Saturday 17 April from 5 pm at the Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre to find out how forming a Transition Town in Surrey Hills could help them create a friendlier and more sustainable community.

Razia Ross, who started Transition Town Boroondara just over a year ago will talk about how you can achieve sustainability in your community and your home.

Transition Towns started in the UK about five years ago to help communities to learn practical grassroots ways of transforming their lives in the advent of climate change and peak oil. The future doesn’t need to be gloomy and dangerous if we all get together and act now to change our habits and mindsets. Razia says that communities who work together can make a difference by growing their own food, starting community-supported agriculture to provide them with locally-grown food, by encouraging the local council to provide more extensive community gardens and urban orchards, by changing from cars to bicycles and public transport, by food swaps, recycling and by being creative and positive in relation to the future and much, much more.

Parts of the film ‘In Transition’ will be shown to give you some creative ideas, as well as to stimulate your own thoughts. Everyone has ideas of what they would like the future to be like. Take this opportunity to share your ideas with a like-minded group of people.

Please RSVP

SHNC on 9890 2467

A FREE event sponsored by Surrey Hills Neighbourhood House (SHNC)

Melbourne's FIRST Carrotmob Event - Hawthorn

2010-04-04T07:52:00.001+10:00

Where? Local convenience store, 52 Church St, Hawthorn
When? Saturday April 17th, 10.30 - 1pm (rock up at anytime)

A local convenience store in Hawthorn has pledged 100% of their carrotmob profits to go
towards making positive and sustainable changes to their business!!! For more info see the Carrotmob Melbourne Website

WHAT IS CARROTMOB? It's about using carrot not stick to encourage businesses to make environmentally sustainable and socially responsible changes to their practices.

WHAT’S THE CARROT? The consumer Dollar! By organising how we each consume we can use our collective consumer power to influence business.

WHO’S THE MOB? You and many others! An identified business that shows a commitment to making changes will be “mobbed”. The business pledges a percentage of the profit they make from the "mobbing" to implement changes in their business. Everyone wins!

WANT TO JOIN THE MOB?...send us an email to join the mailing list or just rock up on the day: carrotmobmelbourne@gmail.com

Boroondara's First Food Co-operative

2010-04-04T07:51:00.004+10:00

Would you like to eat fresh and chemical-free food?

Would you like to disentangle yourself from big food miles?

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to ask the farmer to grow what you want? - the way you want?

Perhaps you would like to know the person who grows your food?

How about joining the Kew/Kew East FOOD CO-OP...?

Be provided with clean organic/biodynamic fruit and vegetables
Join a community of like-minded, concerned citizens spending their dollar ethically and sustainably
Support a local farmer directly by avoiding the middleman whilst lowering food miles at the same time

Who to contact...

Michelle: yang.michelle.ei@gmail.com

Submit an expression of interest..

Visit the farmgateway website

Kew / Kew East Food Co-op - a Transition Town Boroondara initiative.

Summer Berry Harvest Day

2010-01-28T09:47:00.002+11:00

Due to interest shown by many members in sustainable food, the steering committee has been working to develop connections with growers. As such we are very excited to announce our January event which will be a visit to a biodynamic berry farm approximately 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne where one of our Steering Group members, has WWOOFed in the past. (WWOOFing stands for "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" and is a form of farmstay involving work in exchange for food and accomodation)

DETAILS
When: Sunday 31st January1 0am - 3:30pm
Where: Trewhella BioDynamic Berry Farm, Cantillons Rd, Musk, Victoria
Cost: Amount of berries picked at $15 / kg

PROGRAM
10:00am - Farm tour
The farm is owned and operated by Liz Burns, a passionate farmer who has been involved in community development, environmental sustainability and health for many years. As well as berries, the farm also produces bush foods, medicinal herbs, eggs and honey with a small herd of Dexter cattle. For more information see the website <http://www.trewhellafarm.com.au/>

10:30am - Berry picking
Currently in season are blueberries, silvanberries, marionberries and boysenberries with blackberries starting to ripen. At other times of the year there are also raspberries, currants and gooseberries.

1pm - BBQ lunch
Please bring a plate to share to supplement some biodynamic beef raised by Liz at the farm!

2:00pm - Future directions - Community Supported Berries?
This event was developed as an introduction to the idea of growing an ongoing relationship with the farm and to create a TTB buyers group. The berries are grown in rows so the buyers group would be able to adopt a number of rows at the farm, which would be paid for at the start of the season for the farmer to manage . Then each summer a harvest day will be held to visit the farm and pick the berries in our rows. This will make it similar to a Community Supported Agriculture arrangement or vegie box scheme, where members pay a mixed vegetable farmer at the start of season and then receive a share of the harvest each week to provide their weekly vegetables. If there is sufficient interest amongst the group, it is likely that we will also do this in the near future.
CONTACT & RSVP
Please remember to RSVP by letting Michelle know by Friday 29th January 2010 indicating any dietary restrictions you might have.
Email: yang.michelle.ei@gmail.com <mailto:yang.michelle.ei@gmail.com>
Mobile: 0422 176 786

A sustainability vision that you can be a part of...

2010-01-24T21:27:00.003+11:00

The Transition Decade vision:
A 10 year social and structural transition that enables the restoration of a safe climate.

You're invited to come along to the launch of the Transition Decade on 14th Feb 2010. The more people that are there the better!!!

Transition Towns will also have a presence at this event.

www.t10.net.au

Transition Town Boroondara Christmas picnic

2009-12-10T16:20:00.003+11:00

YOU'RE INVITED........

Date & Time: Sunday 13th December from 5 pm to 8 pm
Place: Stradbroke Park, Melways Ref: 45 K4
Bring: Plate, cutlery, food, drink, friends & family

Click on the image for more info.

What is Carrotmob?

2009-12-10T16:16:00.005+11:00

Let’s Talk About Carrot Mob!

After a fantastic turn out to the Transition Town Boroodara film night a couple of weeks ago, with many excited new members joining the group, we thought we’d keep the ball rolling by inviting discussion about CarrotMob. A group of us are really excited about the concept and are inviting you to be involved to plan for our first CarrotMob event!

When Can We Talk?

We know it is coming up to Christmas, so it is busy times for everyone. However, we are holding a Transition Town Boroodara Christmas Picnic this Sunday 13th December (see the blog post for more info). It would be a great opportunity to not only relax and enjoy a nice afternoon, but also to get some casual discussion going around CarrotMob.

What is CarrotMob you ask?

Check out a short video about CarrotMob.
CarrotMob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment to improve the world. It’s the opposite of a boycott.

You might be thinking – but isn’t consumerism part of the whole problem when it comes to our sustainability issues? Yes, but we now have an idea to make consumer power part of the solution. Let’s use our buying power to influence more environmentally friendly business practice and drive the change we would like to see in Melbourne!

Can’t come to the Picnic but still keen?

Shoot us an email! We want to hold some meetings about CarrotMob in the new year and we’ll let you know. Email: Helen Barclay or Ying Hu

First film night a success

2009-12-10T16:00:00.006+11:00

We held our first public event on Tuesday Nov 24th. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but by all accounts the night was a success!

Hawthorn Bowling Club provided a quaint and cosy setting for the excellent turnout of 35 or so people. It was quite a diverse group, particularly in terms of age, which was great to see!

Along with giving an introduction to the Transition Town concept, we showed two videos - The Story of Stuff & Greening the Desert. The Story of Stuff outlined the issues of consumerism and how our finite planet resources cannot support this infinite consumer demand. You can view the Story of Stuff online here.

Discussions got going and it was highlighted that the challenge of consumerism is a challenge of attitudes, values and behaviour. No easy nut to crack. However, we did get talking about CarrotMob - a way of making consumer buying part of the solution for a sustainable future.

What is CarrotMob you ask? Check out the website to learn more . Basically, CarrotMob is a movement that harnesses consumer buying power to influence businesses to make green choices. We want to get a CarrotMob up and running in Melbourne and we want to hear from you if you’re keen too! See our blog post about Carrot Mob.

Next on the movie agenda was Greening the Desert, an enlightening film about how it is possible to successfully garden in salty deserts – no chemicals or extra water required! This promoted quite a lot of discussion, questions and idea swapping about a whole range of areas:

What is a Swale – can you implement one in your backyard?

Hard Rubbish in Melbourne. One passionate guest spoke of her frustration with the waste of Hard Rubbish collection. Apparently it is actually illegal to scout around and pick out hard rubbish items off the street (except for in Boroondara). That seems crazy!

Green wash from companies – need to watch for it!

Sharehood – a system for sharing stuff in your local area – sounds great!

Gifts – let’s make preloved gifts or recycled gifts cool!

So, the night came to a close with some tea, coffee and tasty treats. There were even some home grown lemons to take on the way out thanks to a good thinking couple.

The Christmas Picnic is our next get together – just something relaxed. However we do hope to have a bit of a chat about CarrotMob and see what we might be able to do next.

More film nights will be happening next year, and we also hope to start getting some little groups happening including a Food-Co op and CarrotMob – if you have any other ideas and want to get involved let us know!

TTB Film Night & Discussion

2009-11-02T10:10:00.003+11:00

Please note in your diaries our upcoming film night to be held at 7.30-9.30pm on Tue 24 November at the Hawthorn Bowling Club, 1 Wood Street, Hawthorn, Vic, 3122. Melway 2H, K6.

Questions? Please contact Razia at razia@transitiontownboroondara.org

Map

TT Introductory Workshop

2009-11-02T10:05:00.002+11:00

Join a group of people interested in making communities more
sustainable and resilient, in order to deal with the depletion of oil
resources and the ever-growing signs of the effect of climate change.
Learn what needs to be done and develop skills and attitudes to make
your life more sustainable in a changing world.

This introductory workshop aims to inform participants of the
Transition Town philosophy and its practical applications. We will
give you some history of the Transition movement, information about
the psychology of change in a changing world and the importance of
visioning for the future through role-plays, exercises and other
interactive methods.

Through working together on the different aspects of transition we can
begin to change our reliance on oil and find more sustainable ways to
live whilst having concern for our environment. We can still avoid the
worst effects of climate change but only if we are prepared to engage
as a community with the difficulties we need to overcome by acting
locally while thinking globally.

Date: Saturday 7th November 2009 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Venue: Augustine Centre, 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn (short
walk from Glenferry or Auburn stations)
Facilitators: Razia Ross (Convenor, TT Boroondara) & Pat Long

Bookings:
Borderlands Cooperative
Phone 03 9819 3239
Email: borders@borderlands.org.au

Exclusive Warning: Oil supplies are running out fast

2009-08-05T09:58:00.001+10:00

Catastrophic shortfalls threaten economic recovery, says world's top energy economist.

The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.

By Steve Connor

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/warning-oil-supplies-are-running-out-fast-1766585.html

Survival Isn't Cost Effective

2009-06-22T09:27:00.002+10:00

A superb post on economics and our futures - with some very relevent links into Transition Initiatives.

"There’s an all too real sense in which, if modern industrial civilization perishes, it will be because the steps necessary for its survival weren’t cost-effective enough."

Refer also to the comments:

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2009/06/survival-isnt-cost-effective.html

5 Ways to Wellbeing

2009-06-18T12:01:00.003+10:00

A 2008 report from the New Economic Foundation, commissioned by UK government indicates that the 5 ways discovered are:

Connect
Be active
Take notice
Keep learning
Give

Full details here.

Local Clusters of Self-Reliance: The Key to Rural Prosperity

2009-06-17T17:23:00.002+10:00

Interesting story from the "Small Mart in the USA, on relocalisation.

And a conference in Brisbane on Building Community Centred Economies.

Exciting events featuring convenor, Razia Ross

2009-05-21T20:03:00.002+10:00

Please refer to our Events section for more details . . .

Death Knell Sounds For Europe's Beekeepers

2009-04-28T11:48:00.005+10:00

Interesting story on the decimation of the bee population in Europe. This has potentially dire consequences for famers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops, not to mention the beekeepers and honey eaters. Modern farming techniques are suspected to be the primary cause.

http://planetark.org/wen/52633

Cross your fingers and carry on

2009-04-15T17:12:00.003+10:00

Classic Monbiot. Contrasting the UK government's (lack of) preparations for peak oil with its investment of $millions for a response to the highly unlikely change of an outbreak of smallpox.

"As the report by Robert L Hirsch, commissioned by the US Department of Energy, shows, the consequences of peak oil taking governments by surprise are at least as devastating as a smallpox epidemic. “Without timely mitigation, the economic, social and political costs will be unprecedented.” Hirsch estimated that to avoid global economic collapse, we would need to begin “a mitigation crash program 20 years before peaking.” If he’s right and the IEA’s right, we’re already 10 years too late."

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/04/14/cross-your-fingers-and-carry-on

The Founding Group of TTB

2009-03-28T14:00:00.005+11:00

We just thought we'd post a picture of ourselves taken at our latest meeting of the steering group.

We are all about community building and what better way than to relate to one another as people, rather than as 'an organisation'. So here's our community face to put to the name of Transition Town Borooondara!

We welcome you to join us, please contact us if you are interested in doing so.

South Gippsland Futures

2009-03-25T14:22:00.007+11:00

I just listed to a great radio (RN 360, Nick Franklin) documentary on Lloyd Morcom and South Gippsland Futures. Lloyd's into preparing his local community (Foster) for the end of cheap, abundant oil. Sounded exactly like the the aims of a Transition Initaitive.

Lloyd has a blog here with a lot of information on peak oil.

Some great characters in there, I highly recommend a listen to the podcast (while it is still available), or visit the website (which also has some good links at the bottom of the page).

"In a world confronted with climate change, financial crisis and peak oil, this is the story of a highly individual response to the challenges ahead. Lloyd Morcom, a former oil man and ex hippy, has not only made radical changes in his own life, he's also encouraging friends and neighbours in his small, rural home town to reconsider their lifestyles.
However, when he calls a public meeting to outline his fears for the future he knows deep down that his message won't make him universally popular. Wary of what he calls 'doomer porn', Lloyd believes small communities should adapt housing, transport and food production to survive the coming storm."

People Power

2009-03-21T17:41:00.002+11:00

People Power a talkback program on Radio National's Life Matters, in which one of our group (Cara Sandy) managed to get a call into to make a comment. Last phone call at the end of the program.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2009/2520578.htm

Synopsis
Is people power alive and well in the 21st century?Whether you're boycotting brands or signing petitions, is the art of demonstrating becoming more passive? In the twenty first century people are exploring new ways to speak out through online advocacy groups like Get Up or clicking on a Facebook cause. Is this online activism as effective as taking to the streets?

Upcoming presentations, talks and workshops

2009-03-11T22:34:00.007+11:00

At this stage, Transition Town Boroondara is spreading the word about our presence and the basics of what Transitioning is about.

We want to encourage the uptake of the Transitioning approach elsewhere in Victoria and invite interested parties to join in or partner with us in Boroondara.

This is a list of the upcoming talks - we look forward to seeing you on our journey. Our presenter at this time is Razia Ross, convenor of the steering group.

1. New International Bookshop,
now underground at Trades Hall, cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton
Entry: a small donation to cover drinks and nibbles, and help our favourite co-operatively run bookshop.

Join us for a drink and nibbles.
5.30 Friday 22nd May

TRANSITION TOWNS
Razia Ross will be joining us to lead discussion on Transition Town - an exciting new initiative, now spreading around the world.
Razia will talk about the philosophy behind it : - creating localized sustainability, developing resources and skills, re-skilling, moving from corporations and the big end of town to self-reliance and resilience.

More on the topic
Transition towns started in Kinsale, Ireland and Totnes, Devon about 5/6 years ago and the concept has grown enormously since then. It is a community development model that helps people and communities to develop skills and resilience so they can transit from peak oil and climate warming into a different powered down and more sustainable world.
For more information on the Transition Town in Boroondara, see www.transitiontownboroondara.org

2. Next Boroondara Greens Forum
– new venue Home Dining Room (upstairs),
Wednesday, 17 June, 6.30pm for drinks,

7.00pm for speaker Razia Ross, the convenor of Transition Town Boroondara, will speak about the Transition Town concept and world-wide community initiatives aimed at preparing for global warming and peak oil.

Razia has a background as a psychotherapist and Alexander teacher and is actively involved in the climate change action movement. For more information see www.transitiontownboroondara.org

The Home Dining Room Café, at 601 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, serves tapas as well as full meals so come early for a snack and a drink or stay on for dinner. Invite your friends or family. It’s located west of the corner of Auburn and Burwood Roads.

3. Kew Neighbourhood Learning Centre
2-12 Derby Street. Kew Wednesday 27th May at 10:30 am
Razia Ross will talk about Transition Towns and the Transition project in Boroondara. Find out how you and the Boroondara community can meet the challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

Interview with Rob Hopkins

2009-03-08T11:54:00.003+11:00

Rob 'founded' the Transition movement. Here he talks at length about the concept and how it's put into practice.

Please go to this website to download the Flash plugin if you cannot see the above video.

Library

2009-03-08T08:49:00.008+11:00

The 'Library' is a list of reading materials relevent to Transitioning.

Introduction to Transition:

The Transition Handbook - Creating local sustainable communities beyond oil dependency* - Rob Hopkins - the 'must-read' on Transitioning. This is the newly released (2009) Australian and New Zealand edition which is the same as the UK version, but with some added information on what's happening in these two countries. Watch a video by the author, Rob Hopkins, which explains some of the basics.

Transition Initiatives Primer - a PDF document frequently updated by the Transition Network

Kinsale Energy Descent Plan - a PDF document of the orginal EDP (as an example) and integral part of a Transition initiative.

Our eMail List

2009-03-07T20:44:00.005+11:00

We have an email list/discussion group for anyone interested in our Transition Town.

As a subscriber, will receive occasional updates about progress and meetings etc. This will be an open list to which any subscriber can also post questions or comments.

To join the list:

send an email to ttbnews-subscribe@googlegroups.com No need to write anything in the title or the email body, just leave them blank.
Google will send an email to you to ask for your confirmation, you simply reply to that email.
That's it, you are subscribed and can now send emails to the group at ttbnews@transitiontownboroondara.org or wait to hear from us.

Send questions to 'tony at transitiontownboroondara.org' (replace the ' at ' with an @)

Contact or Join Us

2009-03-07T19:46:00.004+11:00

If you wish to contact us or join our group, please send an email to:

'razia [at] transitiontownboroondara.org' or
'raziar [at] spin.net.au' if the above address is temporaily unavailable
(you must replace the [at] with an @)

Transition Town Boroondara

2009-03-07T18:22:00.003+11:00

Transition Town Boroondara was initiated by Razia Ross today, 7 March 2009 in Kew, Melbourne, Australia.

The founding members met and agreed to form a steering group. First action - go and read "The Transition Handbook" before our next meeting.

The newly released Australian version of the book is currently available here:

Tim's Bookshop Kew
121 High Street, Kew, Victoria
Tel. 03 9853-5634
Fax. 03 9853-5434
kew@timsbookshop.com.au