I began blogging in 2005 – this site was my second blog. Now it’s time to move on again. You won’t see new material on this site, as I’ve moved over to www.jamessamuel.co.nz. Come and join me there.
Centralise control or Relocalise
Wyatt Creech’s recommendations to government and Rodney Hide of replacing Environment Canterbury with a commission, is another move to centralise control, in the same vein as the Auckland Super City move, which has lost public support (70% of Aucklanders are ready to throw it out).
In my opinion, these moves are the flip side of the same coin, and are the two responses to an uncertain future.
One is based on a belief that in order to maintain something like the status quo and the continued raping of the country’s resources for profit by companies such as Open Country Cheese, greater central control is needed.
The other response say that status quo has got us to this place where we are fighting over resources. That a transition from globalisation to relocalisation is what is needed.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3351794/Environment-Canterbury-faces-the-axe
Posted in Conversation, Economics, Environment, Food, Water
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Let’s get real about money
A dear friend, speaking quietly and clearly about local economies and complimentary currencies, and how and why they work.
If you have watched the Money as Debt video, Helen Dew’s descriptions are refereshingly direct, grounded and practical. Helen has been active in this field and written many great articles, Here is the first in a series of articles addressing the ‘Cinderella’ of the sustainability debate: Money
Thank you Helen for you ongoing service to this and all the other amazing things you are involved in. You are really an inspiration. And thank you Diane Emerson for filming this and asking such great questions.
And if you found this useful, please leave a comment (and if you find it too hard to do so, please let me know)
Posted in Economics, Post Carbon World, Video
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Discoveries Down Under by Liana Forest
A brief lunchtime conversation late last year resulted in this lengthy article from Liana Forest, which was published here on that wonderfully inspirational Hope Dance magazine ….
For many years I’ve had the dream of returning to an island in the Hauraki Gulf out of the port of Auckland, New Zealand. My family and I spent many idyllic holidays on Waiheke Island in a cottage belonging to the Royal Forest and Bird Society. We left New Zealand in 1980, after eight years residing in the Waitakere watershed rain forest above Auckland. Although we returned to see friends, colleagues, and family, we never revisited the island. Now I was spending Christmas with my daughter and granddaughters in Ranui, a small town belonging to Waitakere City, soon to be swallowed up by the megalopolis that Auckland has become in the intervening years. As a student of change processes, societal, cultural, and personal, I was eager to see whether Waiheke was still the environmental paradise I remembered.
Posted in Community Engagement, Transition Towns
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Ooooby Flashmob
Pete and I called an Ooooby Flashmob on Thursday, at Rupa’s cafe in Freeman’s Bay. 21 people showed up and after a brief presentation on Ooooby by Pete, I ran a compressed “World Cafe” event that had people focus around one practical question. You can get a sense of the buzz from these two short videos. Continue reading
Posted in Event, Food, Video, ooooby
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Thanking you for your support
Thank you to all the people, who have made financial contributions in support of the growth of the Transition Towns work in Aotearoa.
Over the holiday period, I met a young man who has been quietly depositing a small and regular amount of money into an account which I have been drawing from. Without his and others contributions that have been coming in from many of you who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, I would almost certainly have been out in the job marketplace, looking for some “regular” paid employment. Instead I have been able to maintain a focus on the Transition work and together we have layed a solid foundation. I’m confident that the Transition Towns network will continue to be a shining light in what for many are challenging times of uncertainty and change.
Together we have created a body of knowledge and ideas, and engaged in much courageous discussion, on the Transition Towns website. We’ve linked many people and communities through our shared understanding and values, standing for a creative and proactively designed energy descent and ways of living that are “more connected, more enriching and which recognise the biological limits of our planet”.
Posted in Conversation, Transition Towns
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Transition Towns Aotearoa statistics
Of course we all make our own unique story out of what we see, one that suits and supports our world view, but what I like about numbers is that it is easier to see things, then discuss how we see them and more easily challenge each other’s perception. My friend Pete Russell helped me gain a respect for the numbers, so here’s what the last year looked like for the website of Transition Towns Aotearoa New Zealand - www.tt.org.nz.
Here is the story I read into these Google Analytic statistics.
Posted in Community Engagement, Transition Towns
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An opportunity to 'go beyond' what we know
I’m heading off to Prana Festival for a week, so you won’t get any updates from me for a while. I’m going to offer some talks and a workshop on the Transition Towns model and what I have seen as it’s unfolded in New Zealand over the last two years. I’ll leave you with this video and a few thoughts of my own.
The video is of Dmitry Orlov speaking for a hour unpacking and describing collapse of civilisation, from his perspective of having witnessed it in Russia and studied the trends and signs of it in the US. Continue reading
Posted in Conversation, Economics, Insight, Peak Oil, Post Carbon World, Video
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