Come any time (9am - 7pm) and participate in the variety of events ...

Apart from stalls and food in the main hall of the Community Centre, there will be parallel events happening all day, some in the meeting room of the Centre, most in the nearby Primary School. You are welcome to participate in as many events as you like (subject to maximum numbers). There will be a central information and registration desk in the Community Centre, where you can get help with finding out what’s on and where to go, and with enrolling in the events of your choice. This is a family-friendly event, with a creche during the morning, and craft activities in the afternoon.

We have organised everything that will be happening throughout the day into six strands of events:

• Transition, Energy Descent, Low-Carbon Future
• Sustainable Consciousness & Psychology
• Sustainable Food Production & Distribution
• Sustainable Energy, Technology, Housing
• Local Sustainability Projects
• Young People’s Sustainability

All events are free - donations are requested and welcome

All events* are free and open to everybody, but we do rely on your donations to break even and to give surplus to the local sustainability project Low Carbon West Oxford (we are hoping to generate at least £2000 from workshop donations - see here for more details).

Taking into account that most presenters are high-calibre professionals who make their living from their field of expertise, we appreciate their generosity in contributing to this day, mostly for free.
* Bicycle Maintenance Workshops are not free - details uploaded soon

Book your place(s) in advance - online

As we expect a lot of interest in some of the events, we have put in place online registration. You can book your participation via this website, and to make sure that there will be places available for the events of your choice, we suggest you book early. There is a good chance with most of the events that you can just turn up on the day, but we suggest to give priority to participants who have registered their interest.

Timetable for the day

Download the whole programme as a Word document

Strand 1: Transition, Energy Descent, Low-Carbon Future

In this category of events we have some well-known experts on climate change and what to do about it. They will address the big problems and the big ideas. Inevitably, with a challenge as global and as complex as climate change, everything hangs together: ecology, economy, social issues, beliefs, values and attitudes - everything. It would be naive to think that there is one simple solution or ‘silver bullet’ that will solve it all. So what we need is inter-disciplinary thinking and an understanding of complex systems. We also need to address our fundamental assumptions about energy, life, the universe. Our presenters will do that in an accessible, engaging, participative way. They will happily tell you how ‘bad’ it all really is and how we are probably doomed as a species, and how human creativity, cooperation and ingenuity has saved our bacon before and may do it again. And they will open up discussion as to what we therefore can, need and may want to do. They may also share their knowledge and opinion on which strategies are a waste of time, and which need to be prioritised. You have here some people who have been researching these questions for years - do make good use of them !

Strand 2: Sustainable Consciousness & Psychology

You will find that this strand has an unusually high profile for a sustainability event. We have a variety of presentations and workshops that focus on how our attitudes, beliefs and feelings are linked to our behaviour and way of being in the world. It may be true on a global level as it is for us as individuals, that although we want to change our habits, we find ourselves unable to. How can we deal with engrained patterns of experience and behaviour? Some people suggest that our reliance on fossil fuels can be compared to an addiction, and how do you change an addiction? So this day will be a rare opportunity to sample a new kind of psychology - as if people and the planet mattered. You have the opportunity to hear and engage with with some of the most experienced and visionary psychological experts out there.

Strand 3: Sustainable Food Production & Distribution

One big contributor to CO2 emissions is the way we produce, distribute and consume food. In terms of energy input and what we get for it, our food system is shockingly inefficient and highly dependent on fossil fuels (studies estimate that it takes on average about 10 calories energy input to produce, transport and prepare one calorie of food). For detailed information, see our background materials or this blog post. In this strand we have presentations by some exquisitely knowledgeable experts, who will inspire you with their first-hand experience and make this theme come alive.

Strand 4: Sustainable Energy, Technology, Housing

We could easily dedicate a whole day just to this strand, but we have selected some presentations that are inspiring and immediately relevant to our everyday lives. We have some local experts from Brookes University give input on housing as well as a visionary and paradigm-shifting presentation on cradle-to-cradle production. We will also have stalls and input on renewable energies and how to become more energy-conscious and energy-efficient in our everyday lives.

Strand 5: Local Sustainability Projects

In this strand you can access the variety of initiatives and projects throughout Oxfordshire who are tackling climate change on our doorstep, and you will find many possibilities to become involved and to be supported in your own efforts to reduce your carbon footprint. Our local community is fortunate in that we have a vibrant local initiative - Low Carbon West Oxford - and local people have another opportunity to become involved with the many day-to-day activities LCWO are organising, whereas people from Oxfordshire and beyond can take inspiration from this.

Strand 6: Young People’s Sustainability

Throughout the day there will be activities for all age ranges of young people, including story telling, bicycle maintenance and creative workshops. Children and teenagers can often show a natural concern and motivation for nature and the environment, and we want to provide opportunities for that to manifest.