Shaping the future with Transition Sherbrooke

Want to shape the future?  Are you ready to 'be the change you want to see in the world'? Are you ready to join with the groundswell of global citizens waking up to the challenge and opportunity of our time to shape the future?

Dale Hess Calendar from 2012-02-17

Go here to read more about Muckaty, NT

Friday 17 February – Sunday 19 February: 'Manuwangku – Under the Nuclear Cloud' photo exhibition. This is a major initiative in support of Muckaty Traditional Owners fighting to prevent their land being used for a nuclear waste dump. The exhibition is a great medium to engage with a range of people and highlight this serious issue. 

Federation Square, Melbourne, Sustainable Living Festival. 

Saturday 18 February, 7 pm to 9.30 pm: Screening of the documentary film: Home. Transition Town Maroondah, supported by Maroondah City Council are holding a movie night as part of the Sustainable Living Festival’s Transitions Film Festival program – where the showing of the documentary HOME will be a synchronised event across the state. The movie will be followed by an audience discussion. Come and be inspired by Yann Arthus Bertrand’s beautiful footage of the earth in his movie HOME. Ponder the way we live and a sustainable future; Talk about your thoughts for sustainability action; Hear about how you can be involved with sustainability action in your community. All this will begin with a beautiful live musical performance by special guests, The Tracey Roberts Duo. 

Venue: Ray Symons Centre at Eastwood Primary School & Deaf Facility. Enter via Bondi St, Ringwood East. 

Cost: Entry by voluntary gold coin donation to go towards sustainability initiatives at Eastwood Primary School & Deaf Facility. 

Travel: Bicycle - parking available on site; Train – Lilydale line to Ringwood East station then a short walk, see Melway ref 50 C9; Car – Mainly on-street parking. Invite a friend or neighbour and car pool or walk. 

Disability access via Bondi St and Alexandra Rd. 

RSVP: By 15 February to nelly.belperio@maroondah.vic.gov.au or call 9298 4261

Sunday 26 February, 3.00 pm for 3.30—5.30 pm: Sunday Circle Refugee Conversations. Sr Brigid Arthur csb will guide recent asylum seekers as they share their stories with us. David Manne will discuss the legal position of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. David acted for the asylum seekers in the recent challenge to the Malaysia Solution in the High Court. Questions and discussion will follow. Light refreshments will be served. Limited Tickets available to this free event, so book early to avoid disappointment. 

Venue: Treacy Centre, 126 The Avenue, Parkville. 

RSVP: 21 February. www.trybooking.com/BBUD Tel: 9813 4023

Monday 27 February, 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm: Human Rights in South Mount Hebron. Presentations, video footage and discussion with visiting Israeli activist Inbal Sinai to explain the effects of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, house demolitions and settler violence on these communities, as well as information on the current community projects making a positive difference; a delicious buffet of Palestinian food including mana’eesh, falafel, kefta, salads, and dessert; poetry and music. 

Venue: Le Petit Français Crêperie et Café, 307 Toorak Road, SouthYarra. Only a 5 minute walk from South Yarra Station (Cranbourne/Pakenham/ Frankston/Dandenong lines), on tram routes no. 8 and no. 78. 

Cost: Adults: $45 per head; Student concession: $35 per head. 

RSVP essential. Contact francescabrown68@gmail.com or 0430 503 086.

Only 40 places available so reserve your place early.

Sunday 11 March: Japan Nuclear Disaster First Anniversary. Events are being planned to mark the anniversary of the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, where people’s lives and health continues to be affected. Details to be posted at www.11march.com

Clothes Swap - 19 November - Ferntree Gully

For more details of this upcoming clothes swap

please go here 

Transition Towns - Dandenong Ranges: Training

Click to enlarge

Peak Oil...then Peak Water...now Peak People?

From the kayak

Someone chastised me the other day for not talking about peak water. It was at a time that I was discussing transition towns and how peak oil relates to what they are all about.

Peak oil means the peak of the world’s output, after which production begins to decline. That time is about now. Is this similar to water? To start with, water does not decline. It just goes round and round as it has done for millennia. Some gets locked away for long periods in underground reservoirs but in the main there is about the same amount available as there has always been.

Of course there are a lot more humans on the planet than there were, and they all need water. We are also a lot more efficient at extracting it from rivers, from under the ground, and even from the sea. The question is whether we have enough to go around?

It seems to me that the answer is no – not with our current landuse practices. Queensland is enjoying plenty of water. Farmers are happy so shouldn’t we all rejoice? There is just one problem; this water should have made its way to the end of the Murray River. I struggle with calling it the mouth of the river as the Murray ends with a dam wall, and what is called the Murray Mouth is actually where a dying Coorong connects with the Southern Ocean.

While we have floods at the top end of the catchment we have a river drying out from the bottom up. Perhaps some of this is due to climate change but this is just one factor. On average the Darling River used to contribute 16% of the Murray River flow. The Darling and the upper Murray are governed by entirely different weather mechanisms. The Darling is dependent on the massive El Nino/La Nina cycles. The Murray is dependent on the frontal systems moving across from the west. So, when the Darling has a wet year and the upper Murray has a dry year it would be logical to expect that the contribution of the Darling would be higher. But none of the Queensland floods reached the Murray – none. Zip!

Now before you go blaming the farmers for taking the water, just remember that they did not extract one drop just for the fun of it. They are all efficient water users. The problem is that they need to survive. The towns dependent on them need to survive. We depend on them to provide food for us, exports so that our economy can survive. So we are all to blame.

But we were talking about peak water. Any mine has a limited life. Unfortunately we have been mining water for many decades and failed to realise it. The stuff under the ground can only be used until it runs out or it is replaced somehow. The basalt aquifer under the Lockyer Valley to the west of Brisbane enabled the valley to be the food bowl for the city. Now the aquifer is in serious decline. Its peak was decades ago. As we mined more and more water we reached a point where the amount of water that we could take started to decline. Certainly in the Lockyer Valley peak water was a long time ago.

Such a scenario is played out in many areas in Australia. We extracted water like there was no tomorrow. Take it, use it, create wealth and pat ourselves on the back because of our cleverness and superiority. But like all parties, it had to end sometime and maybe the hangover isn’t worth it. We now have salt problems, what we have planted needs more water than is available, farmers suicide and the towns that are dependent on these farms hang on tenuously. Environmentally we have destroyed much of what we love. In the worst places the acid is now stronger than the stuff in your car battery. That land is dead and it will take a very long time to recover. Certainly our grandchildren still to be born will not see it repaired.

Peak water? Let’s just hope we have reached peak greed.

Steve Posselt
www.kayak4earth.com