Watford Screening

It’s been a hectic few weeks leading up to the cinema release of the new British Climate Change Documentary Age of Stupid. Starting with the Premiere on 15th March, where low carbon community volunteers spoke on over 40 locations to share their stories about how grass roots communities are working to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels. With the film now on general release across the UK, local groups have planned a variety of events and activities to tie in with local screenings.

Of course, there is hardly time to sit back and relax – with the Low Carbon Communities Network through to the next round of Defra’s Greener Living Fund – we’re all busy putting together our Smart Living proposal to prove that the peole we know and trust can help us reduce our doemstic energy demand while living rewarding, stylish lives. Reducing our consumption of the earth’s finite resources is not just about saving money, it’s about taking back control of our own energy demand, using what we need more efficiently and event exploring ways to generate our own power in our homes and communities.

The most exciting thing that has been happening to me is my involvement with Franny and Clare over at Spanner Films. Franny is the film maker responsible for Age of Stupid, which will be hitting cinemas early next year. I’m convinced this is going to be the must see film of 2009. Not because it’s about climate change or because it stars the wonderful Pete Postlethwaite, but simply because is a great piece of film making, with stunning visuals and a great cast of real people who tell their stories with enormous  passion.

After an NGO screening (watch the clip - but blink and you’ll miss me!) recently  I spoke to Franny about how communities in the UK could support the film and how we could use it to convey the message that climate change is a global threat and that we must all respond in personal and political ways to ensure that we get the kind of robust climate policies we need at Copenhagen in December 2009. It seems other communities feel the same judging by this comment left on the LCCN site.

So, in addition to my work as a freelance trainer, helping to establish the Low Carbon Communities Network, being a Mum, housewife, chief dog walker and pony carer I’ll be blogging regularly about progress as the Age of Stupid gets closer to launching. You can watch the trailer here and find out more about how the film was made and funded on the website.

Next week I’m speaking at the catchily titled “The Economic Impacts of Climate Change Legislation for Cheshire and Warrington Stakeholder Workshop”, running a session  with Paul Henderson from Ruralnet|UK at the CAfE conference in Oxford and spending three nights back stage helping with the village play here in Ashton Hayes – oh and somewhere in between all that I’ll be submitting a funding proposal and putting together an abstract on communicating behaviour change at the grass roots after my two days at the UKERC Meeting Place last month!

Sunnyside Film Festival