Powerdown Roundup November 24, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment, Food, Gardens, Peak Oil, Permaculture, Powerdown , trackbackIt has been a busy few weeks and I only now have a chance to catch up by reporting on a few events I have attended over the last few weeks.
On November 8th and 9th I presented an introduction to permaculture workshop at the Tipperary institute, for final-year students on the Sustainable Rural Development degree course.
After an overview of permaculture design principles and some edible landscaping techniques, students were asked to do a design exercise on a proposed permaculture garden outside the canteen.
Making use of some of their proposals I will write up a design for the garden which the Institute will implement early next year. This is an exciting development for the TI and the garden will be partly managed by students on a new degree course starting next September, Environmental and Natural Resource Managment, which will include a Permaculture component. This is a ground-breaking new course designed to provide relevant third-level training to address the coming environmental and resource challenges we will be facing as we continue down the slippery slope of energy descent.
November 10th saw me back in Cork and on the boat to Cape Clear Island for a conference organised by the inter-islands organic group, Garrai na nOilean..
While the main focus was on developing organic production amongst growers from the islands, I was asked to contribute a presentation on Peak Oil and Climate Change and how these issues may effect islands. Like everywhere else, islands will have to re-double their efforts to move from the status of global consumers to local producers as rising energy prices flow through to all other essential goods, especially food. While islands may be especially vulnerable in the sense that they have the extra boat journey to supply goods from outside, they are also well-placed to spear-head the transition process because of their insular nature: it would be a fascinating study for an island like Cape Clear to do an assessment of its energy resources and needs and create an energy descent plan for the whole island.
Earlier this week at Imperial Hotel in Cork I attended an event organised by Cork Environmental Forum called: Biodiversity and Local Food - Planning for People and Nature. This was a very well-attended event with about 80 people present. Chaired by Dr. Colin Sage from UCC, there were presentations by a panel made up of the Heritage officers from Cork City and County Councils and their researcher Dr Lesley Lewis, who outlined their work on Local Action Biodiversity Plans for Cork; and Permaculture student Virginia Stearns who spoke about the Kinsale Community Garden.
I was somewhat perplexed by the input from the Heritage officers, who struggled to make a connection between their important work in preserving wild biodiversity, and the issue of local food security and food biodiversity.
Historically, the environmental movement has always focussed on preserving wild biodiversity, and this is reflected in public policy, environmental education and legislation. These issues have always recieved the lion’s share of attention and funding, and to some extent this has been at the expense of protecting food biodiversity and local food security.
In a week when it has been reported in the mainstream media here that rising energy prices are putting bakers in Ireland out of business already, and the Irish Pig Industry is facing collapse also because of rising grain prices; not to mention the bio-fules industry which was this week called “a crime against humnanity” by UN rappateur on food Jean Ziegler, the forum could have been more focussed on the increasing urgency to protect food diversity and local security. It was also an opportunity missed to give some basic information about the role of oil in food, food miles and the loss of biodiversity caused globally and in Ireland by industrial agriculture. Obviously the efforts to protect wild biodiversity are crucial, but we need to join the dots and re-arrange priorities: saving the red squirrel might not seem quite so pressing if the shops start to run out of food.
Nevertheless, the workshop discussions were lively and productive and demonstrated a growing awareness of the importance of local food.
Wednesday evening took me to Tralee for a joint Community Powerdown presentation with Davie Philip from Cultivate to a public meeting organised by Seamus O’Hara of Tralee community partnership and Mícheál Ó Coileáin, Environmental awareness officer of Kerry County Council.
Over 80 people attended. I began by setting the context of Peak Energy, Peak Food and Climate Change, and showing the future of energy descent ahead of us. Davie followed with a presentation on the Cultivate Centre, the Village in Cloughjordan and the burgeoning Transition Network in the UK and Ireland. The breakout groups were invited to imagine a post-transition Tralee in 2021 and write proposed newspaper headlines for that date. Some of the ideas suggested included: “Oil Age Museum” opening in Trallee; “Cider Apples Harvested from Tralee town park”; and “Masters Degree graduates from Permaculture Course”. The discussions were lively and there was a real sense of a seed being planted for a transition Process to begin in Tralee, with further interest from communities in Kenmare and Dingle.
This event was the first in a series of Community Powerdown Events that Cultivate will be doing in conjunction with county councils around the country, and form an introduction to the Community Powerdown Toolkit which is currently being trialled in Dublin and Kinsale. This 10-week training programme is intended to give community activists some of the tools they will need in their community to face into energy descent, and help build a Transition network in Ireland.
Davie and I spent the next couple of days in Derryduff working on this programme and planning future workshops and events. Watch this space and the Culivate website for further details on this exciting project.
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