An inspiring and visionary event is due to take place on Saturday, October 17th in West Oxford, asking (and going some way towards answering) the question: what could a sustainable future look like ?
A wide variety of expert speakers as well as local people engaged in sustainable initiatives will provide information, inspiration and practical advice. In an unprecedented attempt to bring together the best ideas and most promising strategies, you will have a wide selection of opportunities to get involved, learn from others, expand your horizons and maybe take some concrete actions.
Talks, exhibitions, presentations as well as participatory events are all designed to help us find the steps towards building a local community that can not only survive into the 22nd century, but thrive.
These days, we are all more aware than ever that our oil reserves will not last indefinitely and that our CO2 emissions are contributing to climate change. We KNOW these things, but nobody knows how to actually shrink the gap between our habitual life style and the officially agreed reduction targets. This is true across the planet, and it is also true on our doorstep – in our local community and region.
Thinking globally and acting locally has long been a principle of ecological thinking and we will do so by organising four major strands of topics.
Two central topics will be concerned with sustainable food production and sustainable energy, technology and housing, and we are bringing together some exquisitely knowledgable experts to provide up-to-date information on these themes.
But – unusually – we will also consider the topic of ‘sustainable consciousness’. What does that mean ? Some of our speakers will address questions of beliefs, of psychology, relationships and social organisation. What ways of thinking and feeling and interacting are wholesome, sustainable and conducive to a thriving community ? How do we deal with social and psychological issues ? How do we deal with what some people have described as our addiction to oil ?
Our fourth strand includes representatives from local initiatives, providing information about car clubs, allotments, composting, transport and many others.
All events will be free, but we will invite donations to finance the event (all surplus, if any, will go towards sustainable projects).
The programme for the day is still being finalised, but we have a draft leaflet that contains all the speakers and their topics confirmed so far. Please email Michael at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for a copy.
This project has been growing quietly for some months, but we will need more people to get involved and help out, both in preparation and on the day itself. You can help with publicising the event (lots of help needed there), work on getting sponsorship and funding, help organise the practicalities of the day and be a volunteer steward on Oct. 17th.
For further information, contact Michael Soth at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or Tel.:01865 725 205