#Manchester #climate “Steering” “Group” “networking” “event” – video, inc Kate Chappell

Posted on March 11, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Last Wednesday the (please insert your own quote marks around all of the following capitalised words) Steering Group for the Climate Action Plan held a Networking Event called Work in Progress.  MCFly was there (having not, this time, been disinvited) and even filmed it (except we forgot to push the big red record button).  After the vid, there’s a one-question quiz.

Question: What happens if you send out an invite,  by email only (and not using the bcc field even), on a Friday afternoon, for an event two weeks hence to be held somewhere nobody has heard of and if they looked it up would look intimidating, with no other publicity?

Answer: Exactly what happened; 30ish people, all white, all looking pretty middle-class, mostly from the soft-green sector.  Gender evenly split, but otherwise, gaaaaaaaah!

And yes, this is me being charitable.  If this sort of madness happens in June (the 4th, Town Hall, you read it here first) or in September, then I will get angry. And you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry…

Posted in Democratic deficit, Manchester City Council, Steering Group | Leave a comment

#Manchester fails in #resilience funding bid; Low Carbon Hub papers up at last

Posted on March 10, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Last week we told you about a meeting that you can’t go to.  And for which the papers weren’t even up. They are now.

Haven’t read them all, but two three things amuse.  One is a failed funding bid, the other second that a group to do with “Low Carbon Skills” is already having to be re-established, a little over a year from the launch of the Low Carbon Hub. And then there are those uber-competent folks designing the LCH’s comms strategy… Bwahahahahaha.

fundingbidfailure

and

reestablishingskills

Oh, and the farcical farce that is the Low Carbon Hub’s “communications” farces on.  News is something that someone somewhere doesn’t want you to know. Everything else is advertising…
low carbon hub pr

Posted in AGMA, Democratic deficit, Low Carbon Hub | 2 Comments

#Manchester Central Library lights on in middle of day. #Climate ? #Energy Bills??

Posted on March 10, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

I am writing to my councillors (you can find out who yours are here) and to Councillor Rosa Battle (Exec Member for Culture and Leisure – cllr.r.battle@manchester.gov.uk) and Councillor Kate Chappell (Exec member for Environment – cllr.k.chappell@manchester.gov.uk ). I hope after you have watched this video that you do the same.  The library doesn’t open till March 22nd.  Were they filming the Frankenstein movie still?  Were they stacking shelves? On a Saturday?  And in any case, is the place so poorly served by windows that all the lights need to be on in the middle of the day?

 

Dear Councillors Battle and Chappell,

in the middle of the day (11am to 4pm) on Saturday 8th March the lights were on in the Central Library.  I would like to know why – when climate change matters, and the Council’s energy bills matter – this was the case.

Yours sincerely

Marc Hudson

 

Posted in Energy, Manchester City Council | 2 Comments

Dealing with#climate #denialists the “Temple of Doom” way…

Posted on March 9, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

And no, I don’t advocate this, or red buttons and exploding their heads either…

Posted in humour | Leave a comment

#Mancheter academic & “the #climate challenges that my morning toast poses”

Posted on March 9, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

A science journalist called Andy Extance has written a corking blog post called “The climate challenges that my morning toast poses.”  It’s hooked on work conducted by Dr Mirjam Roeder,  a research associate at the Tyndall Centre, and team mates.

It begins…

It may seem that nothing could be simpler than toast, but next time I see a slice pop up I’ll also see an emblem of the world’s future. That’s thanks to a UK study exploring the problems surrounding growing enough wheat for flour and other foods as the world warms and has ever more people in it. The issue is especially tangled, Mirjam Röder and her University of Manchester teammates show, as adapting farming for the future will likely increase greenhouse gas emissions, driving further warming. “Climate change and food security are two issues which can’t be decoupled,” Mirjam told me. “The same applies for mitigation and adaptation.”

Mirjam is part of the “Climate change mitigation and adaptation in the UK food system” project, led by Alice Bows-Larkin and backed by Manchester’s Sustainable Consumption Institute. One concern the project reflects is that without adaptation farming will probably be the industry worst hit by climate change, with worldwide productivity falling as temperatures rise. Meanwhile, farming also releases about one-tenth of the greenhouse gases we humans emit overall. “These are largely emissions other than CO2, such as nitrous oxide and methane, mainly occurring from natural processes,” Mirjam said. “They are much harder to reduce and control. Then of course global society is challenged by increasing global food demand. So we face a triad of challenges in the food system: we need to reduce emissions, while food demand is increasing and the sector is impacted by climate change.”

You can (and should!) read the rest here.

Posted in academia, University of Manchester | Leave a comment

#Manchester International Women’s Day 2014 Environment winner – Didsbury Dinners interview #IWD

Posted on March 8, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

So, first thing is to say congratulations to the much-deserved winner of the IWD “Women protecting our Environment” award.  Second thing to say is that although they won as “Didsbury Dinners”, they’ve recently changed name to the broader ‘Eat Green (UK)’.  MCFly interviews Amanda Woodvine, founder (and winner last year!)

Proud winners of the 2014 "Women protecting our Environment" Award

Proud winners of the 2014 “Women protecting our Environment” Award

“We were absolutely thrilled to scoop this year’s Manchester International Women’s Day ‘Women Protecting Our Environment’ Award. We’ve piloted a range of projects to help people save money and eat green in South Manchester, from a low-carbon community cookbook through to landshares, community gardens and orchards. Our community cooking project has gone from strength to strength, and our team taught people how to make a whopping 155 different eco-friendly dishes last year alone.

“We have more exciting plans this year, including expanding our food bank. It runs from Westcroft Community Centre in Burnage on Friday mornings, with generous ongoing donations of local, seasonal fruit and veg from The Local Veg Box. We’ve had the green light to create a 90-square metre Bee World in Fog Lane Park this May, and are all set to pilot a new garden tool library, containing a range of hand tools for free loan. Watch this space, and drop us a line to donate or volunteer!

“And it’s not too late to sign up for one of our free 6-week ‘learn to cook’ courses. The next course will run on Mondays starting 28 April, 4-6pm at Westcroft Community Centre. Priority places go to people on low incomes, with below average cookery skills. Simply email us [info@eatgreen.co.uk] for further details and an application form.

“You may have heard that we’ve had a name change from ‘Didsbury Dinners’ to ‘Eat Green (UK)’ to more accurately reflect our work – we’re in the early stages of setting up new pilots in Birmingham and Bristol. Our Didsbury Dinners website is sadly no more, but do follow us on Twitter [@EatGreenUK] for updates about our work.”

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Posted in Campaign Update, Food | Leave a comment

Free e-Course: Everything You Need to Know About Climate Change in a Nutshell

Posted on March 8, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

This free self-paced e-learning course covers 6 modules including climate science, policy, adaptation, mitigation, finance and planning. It provides 10-12 hours of interactive learning and uses a mix of different approaches including visuals, explanatory text, videos, and quiz questions.  Learners receive a certificate once they have completed and successfully passed all 6 modules. It also comes with downloadable PPT based versions if you want to use it as an instructional tool. The course has been developed and peer-reviewed through UN CC:Learn, a One UN partnership involving 33 organizations.

To make a start just click on the link below and register. Please note the course works best with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

http://unccelearn.org

About UN CC:Learn

UN CC:Learn is a partnership of 33 multilateral organizations which supports Member States in designing and implementing results-oriented and sustainable learning to address climate change. The Secretariat for UN CC:Learn is provided by UNITAR. An important aspect of UN CC:Learn is to support countries develop a National Strategy to Strengthen Human Resources and Skills to Advance Green, Low Emission and Climate Resilient Development through a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder process. During the course of 2012-2013, Benin, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Malawi, and Uganda have participated as UN CC:Learn pilot countries. Core funding for the 2011-2013 implementation phase of UN CC:Learn has been provided by the Swiss Government.

Posted in education | Leave a comment

Greater #Manchester Low Carbon Hub. Meets behind closed doors. Papers not up.

Posted on March 7, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Ah, the larfs just keep coming.

There used to be this thing called the “Environment Commission”.  A bunch of Greater Manchester Local Authority types, with token private sector and academic representation, it met often and achieved nowt.  But it met in public, and every so often my former editor buddy (Arwa Aburawa) and/or I would gird our loins and prop open our eyelids with toothpicks and attend.

The “Environment Commission” is (really) dead. Long live the… Low Carbon Hub.

Which meets behind closed doors. No poisonous little oiks allowed.

But it still – with a straight face –  intermittently bleats about public engagement.

While barely ever publishing its papers on time (and often only once vigorously prompted by MCFly.)

The latest episode in the farce? At 6.53 this morning (Friday 7th) I sent an email to them.

is the March meeting of the Low Carbon Hub going ahead? There is no indication of on the AGMA calendar that it is.  If it is, when will the papers be available?  If it isn’t, what is the reason for the cancellation, and when is it rescheduled for?
Thank you
Marc Hudson

And voila within three hours, the following…

The next meeting of the GM Low Carbon Hub Board will take place on Friday 14 March 2014 at 2.00pm, Room 312, Town Hall, Manchester. Papers for this meeting will be on the website later today.
I’ve asked colleagues to ensure future Board dates are added to the AGMA website today.

lowcarbonhubBut, um, Ambridge is in turmoil as I type this (i.e. it’s gone 7pm).  Still. No. Papers (though the “event” has been added to the calendar).  Unless they’re working late (perhaps in Manchester Town Hall, where the lights are doubtless blazing?), then it will be Monday (at least) before the papers go up.

Ah, democracy in Manchester. Donchajustloveit.

UPDATE: Indeed, this –  “Apologies, the papers were only distributed at 5pm so I’m sure they will be up on the website on Monday.”

Posted in AGMA, Democratic deficit, Low Carbon Hub | Leave a comment

#Climate and.. tambourines? Pop songs and the apocalypse…

Posted on March 7, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Actually, there probably is something to be written about pop songs and the pending ecological debacle. But for now, this –

Hat-tip to “Small Epiphanies.”

Reminds me of the “water-wasting” bacchanal close to the end of the 50s Brit disaster flick “The Day the Earth Caught Fire”

Posted in Fun, humour | Leave a comment

#Manchester citizens answer 3 questions – 009 Jacqui Carroll #3qthurs

Posted on March 6, 2014 by manchesterclimatemonthly

This week, Jacqui Carroll of Reelmcr is the person answering the usual three (well, four) questions. For her, sustainability is about skills for young people.

1. “Who are you?”  (Name, where you live, and – if you want to say – what you “do”)
2. “What does Manchester need to become more sustainable?”
3. “What knowledge and skills do you want to acquire in 2014?”

Why this? Because we need to celebrate what is happening, imagine what could happen and also connect people who have skills with people who want them.  #movementbuilding.

So, watch out. If I see you before you see me, and I’ve got my video camera handy (I will), you might be in the frame…

* And an optional 4. –  “Anything else you’d like to say?”

Posted in 3 question Thursday | Leave a comment