I have been having some very interesting conversations this week with groups and organisations that want to support our October conference. This event is a team effort, a small group of us are meeting and talking to try and plan this year’s event. We want to know what kind of event you want it to be. Please use the blog or the email contact to talk to us and be involved in making this event the biggest and most creative event for low carbon communities so far! I’m delighted that some very high profile people have agreed to support us and even more excited that I’m going to get the chance to meet up with community groups such as Going Carbon Neutral Stirling who will be back this year to tell us how things have moved on since we last met in Chester.
Paul Kingsnorth (not known as a climate change commentator, but the author of the insightful and fascinating Real England), will be joining us as well as Penney Poyzer (in addition to presenting the humorous and informative No Waste Like Home BBC series, Penney and her partner Gil have transformed their Nottingham home with a host of stylish eco features).
So, if you want to meet real people taking real action and supporting local projects then this year’s event is for you. Come and be part of it.
May 15th, 2008
As someone who spends a great deal of time linking low carbon communities and encouraging them to share skills and resources the Community Carbon Network has been an invaluable source of help and inspiration to me . That’s why I nominated them for the New Statesman New Media Awards. The Community Carbon Network is informative, innovative and above all user friendly. Why not take a look at the nominations and add your voice. Many community groups are not familiar with social media tools and so avoid adopting strategies which could help us all to do more and foster a sense of community even when we are geographically far apart. Of course, we’ll always need some face to face meetings such as the Low Carbon Communities Conference later this year, but how much more we could get from these meetings if we had already been communicating online?
May 13th, 2008
This year I thought I’d try something new and manage bookings for the Low Carbon Communities Conference online. It seemed like a good idea, but I know several of you have experienced difficulties. So, if you have booked online and not had your booking confirmed by me, then please get in touch - or if you tried to book but couldn’t - email me and I’ll send you a booking form as an attachment.
Thanks everyone for your patience 
We’ve got a great line up of speakers this year and Llangollen is a great place to bring the family for the weekend. Check out the conference website for more local information.
May 9th, 2008
We’re having teething troubles with our online booking system. If you have tried to book, but can’t then try this link instead
You might also like to read this paper on Parish Councils and their response to Climate Change which was sent to me this morning.
May 2nd, 2008
The date for this year’s Low Carbon Communities conference has now been announced and I’m really excited, because this year Low Carbon Communities can send a delegate for free.
Due to funding from Artists Project Earth, we are able to cover the administrative costs for this year’s event and fund a venue. You can read all about this year’s event on the conference website, we’ll be adding more news and details of the fantastic range of speakers and workshops as we get closer to the big day. But I can promise you it’s going to be well worth making the trip to hear some inspiring stories from low carbon communities across the UK
So, when is it? Saturday 4th October at the International Pavillion, Llangollen. You can email me for details if you can’t find the answers to your questions on the website, and we are taking advance registrations online here.
We’re planning a great evening’s entertainment too for those of you who are traveling a long way and need to stay over. Full details of local accommodation options will be posted on the website soon.
Can’t wait to meet up with friends from last year’s event in Chester and meet new groups too. Leave a comment and let us know what you thought of last year’s event and what you want to see this year.
Oh - and if you have a problem completing the online booking form, please let us know so we can fix any glitches.
April 28th, 2008
After visiting Stretton Climate Care’s event last Saturday, I will answer yes. A packed hall listened to Artists Project Earth advisor Mark Lynas give a presentation based on his book Six Degrees - Our Future on a Hotter Planet.
Mark explained how he still has faith in the power of communities to make a difference, not just at the local level, but on a national and international scale too. As individuals in communities like Mark’s own village of Wolvercote in Oxford join together, our voice become stronger and our message clearer. Thanks to funding from Artists Project Earth, we’ll be hosting a national grass roots event for low carbon communities later this year. Because, while governments and big business may talk about the need to adapt to a changing climate and address the economic and business practices which rely on cheap energy, we are running out of time to make significant decisions. Only if we can send a clear message to decision makers about the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to make significant investment in renewable energy can we hope to address the threats future generations will face.
Sharing a glass of local wine, residents of Church Stretton shared their hopes for a low carbon future, a charming man spoke to me about his electric vehicle business and one lady told me how she has been putting together a website of information and advice for reducing our impact on the environment. It was also nice to catch up with Dave Green from Light Foot Enterprises in Bishops Castle and congratulate him on reaching the NESTA Big Green Challenge shortlist.
Stretton Climate Care came to last year’s conference for low carbon communities and I hope they’ll attend again this year, you can read about some of the services they offer to the community on their website
April 23rd, 2008
News of the latest round of funding projects from Artists Project Earth includes the Low Carbon Communities Network
On Saturday, I met Jo Hamilton from Oxford who also runs a low carbon project funded by APE. We hope that all our community projects will benefit from supporting each other.
We were also lucky enough to see a preview screening of The Age of Stupid, which you can read about here
It made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time, starring Pete Postlethwaite it looks back to present times from the future. Check it out
April 16th, 2008
It’s been an exhausting 3 days at Transition Towns Conference in Cirencester. I met lots of old friends and made new ones from Europe and further afield. I’ll be posting news, interviews and reports from workshops over the next few days, but for now check out Rob Hopkins blog for a taste of what Transition is all about.
April 14th, 2008
Just got back from busy but exciting day at Collaborate 2008. Nice to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.
As you can see, the low carbon diary has moved, now you can access all the latest from the community carbon network and catch up with my latest news.
I’m o ff to Transition Towns Conference so won’t be around for a few days. Will come back with loads of new ideas and a head buzzing with thoughts about our low carbon future. Once I’ve got it all clear in my head I’ll write about it here.
April 10th, 2008
After months of discussion and revamping the Chester Chronicle has relaunched it’s website - this time with a low carbon blog - the first of it’s kind here in Cheshire http://blogs.chesterchronicle.co.uk/low-carbon/
The first couple of entries have been written by me, but other groups in the area have been hard at work writing their entries, which will appear there soon.
Sam Adams at the Rural Community Carbon Network has already written about it on her blog.
Hard at work now preparing Monday’s Action Planning Workshop - 36 participants booked in so it should be a great day
April 3rd, 2008
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