Ahead of this Thursday morning’s Finance Scrutiny Committee meeting at which the quality of Manchester City Council’s “consultations” will be discussed,
we offer you this incredibly slick and professional video for your viewing pleasure and edification…
Marc Hudson
Hi all,
wanna flex your creative muscles, and maybe win £200? Here’s the details of our short story contest all sorted. Two thousand words (in English) on the subject “Manchester (UK) in a warmer world.”
Marc Hudson
Tuesday 18th, 6pm Urban Forum on “Social Justice” at the Anthony Burgess Foundation, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, M1 5BY (followed by drinks / food reception)
Manchester like many cities at present suffers from growing divides, poverty and inequality. The Council has cut jobs and reduced services, while the centre of the city and surrounding retail high streets are blighted with a growing number of empty store fronts. With house prices stagnant or falling and unemployment levels across Greater Manchester continuing to rise, it is unclear how housing or labour markets can improve the living conditions of the local area. Some analysts point to possibilities for job growth from the creative industries and financial services sectors, but these opportunities remain as yet unrealised. In this research forum we bring together a number of stakeholders to explore where manchester is now, the challenges it faces and what it needs to do to become more at ease with itself and more socially just.
Panel:
Neil McInroy, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES); Allison Foreman, Project Development Coordinator, Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service; John Holden, Deputy Director of Research, New Economy Manchester; Clive Memmott, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Chair: Adam Leaver (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester)
Book (free) tickets: http://www.towardsajustcity.eventbrite.com/
Tuesday 18th, 6.30pm – Showing of “Food Inc”
Doors open at 6.30pm, the film starts at 7pm and lasts 94min. Post-film discussion to end at 9.30pm. £3 waged, £2 unwaged/student — fundraiser event for FoodCycle Manchester. New Business School G.36 – Lecture Theatre 3 (All Saints Campus). (Full details: http://www.manchesterfilm.coop/find-us/new-business-school-manchester-metropolitan-university/)
Tues 18 June 6-9pm Suss Out Sustainable Linking into global food waste issues, Jules Bagnoli, renowned low carbon Michelin-starred chef, will run a truly sustainable workshop at our Chorlton Cookery School for people wanting to learn more about sustainable food and those aiming to influence chefs & catering policy – Chorlton High . 12 places only. To book see website. We hope this will be the first of many such workshops.
Weds 19 June Preserving the planet, protecting the poor and promoting prosperity – a role for Millennium Consumption Goals – Manchester Public lecture with Professor Mohan Munasinghe. Details here.
Thurs 20th, 10am Finance Scrutiny Committee of Manchester City Council to discuss “consultations”… All welcome. Committee Room 11, Manchester Town Hall. See here for more details
Thurs 20th, 6.30 to 8.30pm Green Party Manifesto writing (this one on climate change and environment) at Friends Meeting House. More details here
So, we got hold of this below, an email sent to various worthies by Manchester City Council. We’ve high-lighted the relevant bit. Polish your CVs folks, those long-promised (and then disavowed/denied) elections may only be weeks (or months, or years) away…
“As you may be aware the MACF Steering Group is currently supported by Groundwork who provide secretarial and project support. This support is procured and funded on behalf of the Steering Group by the City Council, for the period 1st July to 30th June.
The current contract comes to an end on 30th June 2013 and we will shortly be issuing an invitation to tender for the period 1st July 2013 to 30th June 2014. The ITT will be issued to the Green Leaders only so this email is to a) let you know that the formal invitation will be sent to you next week, b) if you are interested you will need to register on the CHEST (instructions to follow), and c) to let you know that a briefing session will be arranged before the tender deadline, date TBC.
The roles and responsibilities for the position will include:
EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING DETAILS CONFIRMED
WEDNESDAY 19TH JUNE 2013
TRAFFORD TOWN HALL, TALBOT ROAD, STRETFORD, M32 0TH
PUBLIC SESSION: 6PM – 7PM
FULL COUNCIL MEETING: 7PM – 8PM
Members of the Public will be allowed to speak during the Public Session, from 6pm – 7pm; however you must register to speak prior to the meeting. You must email democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk by Tuesday 18th June at 5pm in order to register your interest to speak.
The Full Council Meeting will be to discuss the Motion of which the Trafford Labour Group put forward which is as follows:
MOTION PUT FORWARD BY TRAFFORD LABOUR
The Council condemns the decision made by the Conservative Government Secretary of State in overruling this Council’s unanimous decision to refuse planning permission for the development of a Biomass Incineration Plant in Davyhulme.
This Conservative Government decision flies in the face of the Thousands of local people who have campaigned against and opposed this Incineration plant. The decision runs contrary to the definition of “Localism” and believes any notion of local democracy and the strong wishes of our community.
In light of the above Trafford Council agrees to appeal the decision of the Secretary of State through the Court.
Map Showing the Proximity of School in Relation to BREP
|
Like our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BCAGtrafford
Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BCAGtrafford/
Follow us on Twitter: @BCAGtrafford
Join the Twitter Conversation: #StopBREP
Visit our Website: www.BreatheCleanAirGroup.co.uk
Many people have opinions about the quality of Manchester City Council’s “consultations.” Some of those opinions are printable.
Next Thursday, 20th June, those people will be able to come and see how a group of 12 Manchester City Councillors do – or don’t – understand those opinions – the frustrations, suspicions and, most importantly, the ways it could all be done better.
The Finance Scrutiny Committee (see spotters guide to the right) is meeting at 10am at Manchester Town Hall for one of its scheduled meetings.
On the agenda is a 15 page report (which MCFly will be providing a bluffers’ guide to) which “responds to the Committee’s request for an update on the different models of consultation used by the Council, how they work and what the Council does with the responses to the consultations.”
The meeting is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. You do NOT have to book, or ask for permission.
There is a pre-meeting for people who want to learn more, meet other concerned citizens, at the Waterhouse Pub (opposite the Town Hall, on Princess St. It’s a Wetherspoons – they do good coffee, cheap food (though the veggie sausages aren’t much cop anymore).
21 June 2013 — 28 July 2013Co-curated with MadLab, Spaceship Unbound uses Margaret Atwood’s seminal post apocalyptic novel The Year of the Flood as a starting point exploring the issues of survival in a world turned back to year zero. The project includes contributions from the artists and collectives, Anne-Marie Culhane, Dark Mountain, GameJam Collective (GameJam, The Larks, Manchester SpecFic) Hackspace Manchester, Ellie Harrison, Rowena Hughes, Aliyah Hussain, Sam Meech and Volkov Commanders (Aliyah Hussain, Mariel Osborn and Anna Beam). Their works explore survivalist culture and creation mythology, through story telling, writing, gaming, performance and sculpture.
The project preview will host a performance drawing by Volkov Commanders (Aliyah Hussain, Mariel Osborn and Anna Beam) illustrating their journey to planet earth. Their work explores notions of space and time travel through ritual, ceremony, séance and offerings often creating Bauhaus inspired costume. Rowena Hughes screen-prints and installations explore the infinite possibilities of chance within sets of predefined parameters. Her geometric shapes are based on the Penrose tiling system explored by Roger Penrose in the 1970s, used to highlight the proportions of architectural imagery and the natural world.
Dark Mountain is a network of writers, artists and thinkers from all over the world engaging with the notions of ecocide in an age of global disruption and responding to the sense of disillusionment that they felt with what ‘environmentalism’ has become. Anne-Marie Culhane’s Corn Dollies was performed outside the House of Parliament to coincide with a mass lobby of parliament around an early day motion on the coexistence of Genetically Modified and conventionally grown crops. The art of weaving corn and grain stalks takes place across the world and the associated objects associated with land fertility, continuation of seasonal cycles and the spirit of the land.
Ellie Harrison Austerity and Anarchy is a homage to Anthony McCall’s Line Describing a Cone from 1973 that visualises and explores the correlation between cuts in public spending and instances of social unrest (specifically rioting) in the post-war period. Hackspace Manchester is a community run art, science and technology club that will show a series of sun jars and Lazarus pointers made by visitors to the gallery and Cyclevision, a bicycle generator to show a film by Sam Meech. Visitors to the gallery will be encouraged to self generate power in order to watch the film. GameJam is a group of game designers, developers, students and hobbyists who make playable games from scratch. Their members plus The Larks and Manchester SpecFic will be running an all day GameJam during the exhibition.
Meech’s film Noah’s Ark is a poetic re-telling of the biblical tale, made entirely using footage from the North West Film Archive, with a score by Carl Brown (Wave Machines) and a layered spoken narrative from poet Nathan Jones (Mercy). Exploring the idea of preservation amidst an oncoming flood, the film uses the footage to explore the difficulties in maintaining personal memories and cultural heritage within a shifting digital landscape.
Preview: Thursday 20 June, 6-8pm – All welcome
#SpaceshipUnbound
–
Events
Solar Jar Making, Sat 22 June, 2-5pm The greatest source of renewable energy we have around us is 149,6000,000 km away. Come along to this workshop to create sun jars and learn about harnessing this energy. (£5 per person/booking essential)
Lazarus Pointer Lazer pointer workshop, Sat 29 June, 2-5pm This simple soldering workshop makes the most out of your dead batteries. Create a small light animated from discarded batteries. Bring along all the ones you have cluttering your drawers. (£5 per person/booking essential)
GameJam, Sat 6 Jul, 10am-5pm Join experts from the Manchester GameJam, The Larks and the Manchester Speculative Fiction for a day of game making inspired by the Spaceship Unbound exhibition. Videogames, board games or anything else goes, the only rule is: you have to show your game off at the end! (£5 per person/booking essential)
Game PlayGame Playing Afternoon, 20 Jul, 2pm – 5pm Come along to Castlefield Gallery for an afternoon of playing games created at the GameJam two weeks before. (Free/booking essential)
–
Spaceship Unbound is the gallery’s annual Self-Made exhibition that explores the definition of contemporary art, looking at notions of ‘nascent practices’ and alternative frameworks of referencing and contextualising it within a wider dialogue around visual culture.
MadLab Based in a former weaver’s cottage in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Manchester Digital Laboratory (MadLab) is a community space for people who want to do and make interesting stuff – a place for geeks, artists, designers, illustrators, hackers, tinkerers, innovators and idle dreamers; an autonomous R&D laboratory and a release valve for Manchester’s creative communities. Founded in 2009, MadLab’s not-for-profit aims are to provide opportunities for informal peer-to-peer learning by offering free workshop space for over 60 community-led arts, science and technology clubs. We collaborate with cultural, civic and academic partners to deliver innovative and community facing workshops and events. Past partners include NESTA, Wellcome Trust, NASA Edge, FutureEverything, Manchester and Salford City Council, Manchester Metropolitan University and Lancaster University.
–
The preview of Spaceship Unbound is kindly supported by Barefoot Wine.
– See more at: http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/event/spaceship-unbound/#sthash.TaDxeeU3.dpuf
So, if you’re interested in how Manchester could feed itself (and if you’re not, you should be…), then THIS is something you should get along to. And if you book before Sunday 16th June, it’s a tenner…
FeedingManchester #13:
Creating a Sustainable Food City
13th July, 2013
The third sector, co-operatives and independent businesses, food activists and social entrepreneurs are leading the way to create a truly sustainable food system for our city and region. By utilising the vast wealth and range of experience and expertise of these pioneers, FeedingManchester #13 will be looking at how we can create a Sustainable Food City.
This day-long event of discussions, workshops and presentations will culminate in a practical report, offering guidance and inspiration, as well as a practical plan of action for Greater Manchester’s Sustainable Food Sector.
Introduction.
In the summer of 2010 we collectively developed a response to Manchester’s climate change strategy called ‘Visioning Manchester’s Sustainable Food Sector in 2020’. Twenty inspiring food advocates: from businesses like Unicorn Grocery to Glebelands City Growers to charitable organisations like Hulme Community Garden Centre came together to vision a healthy, fair & sustainable food system for our city.
Three years on, we want to look both at the progress being made, but also to create a meaningful and detailed action plan for the whole of Greater Manchester.
Pioneers.
Greater Manchester leads the country on progressive food practices in many ways – in Bolton urban food growing is addressing food poverty head on, while Incredible Edible Prestwich are taking on an increasing amount of land and Greater Manchester has established the UK’s first FarmStart initiative.
The University of Manchester is leading the way on sustainable food procurement and Unicorn Grocery has developed into a multi-award winning wholefood shop that turns over £5 million a year. Also, Manchester Abundance has won The Observer’s Ethical Award 2010 for Grassroots Project and in 2012 two Manchester organisations (Manchester Veg People & The Kindling Trust) were shortlisted for the Radio 4’s Food & Farming Awards.
Additionally, new projects like Real Food Wythenshawe, Salford’s Biospheric Foundation and the Feeding the 5000 event taking place this June are sure to raise the profile of urban food over the coming years.
Challenges.
Despite all the great work being done, there are too many other areas where Greater Manchester lags well behind comparable cities like Liverpool or Middlesborough.
Our sector faces huge challenges, and not just from the unpredictable weather, political apathy, funding cuts and increasing demands on our services which place the sector under great strain.
Supermarkets remain a cornerstone of development plans across Greater Manchester, our regional fruit & veg wholesale market’s redevelopment is on hold, more agricultural land is to be lost to HS2 and Airport expansion and food banks continue to struggle to meet the demand for free food.
Across Greater Manchester itself there exists great disparity. In Oldham, the school’s entire catering team have Food for Life Silver award covering 97 primary and special schools, in Manchester there is just one primary school enrolled in this scheme. In Salford and Bury, Incredible Edible community groups are thriving, while access to land in Manchester is being temporarily addressed through “Meanwhile: sites. In South Manchester, the independant food and retail sector is thriving, while in other parts of the city high streets are struggling, and lacking variety and independent producers.
Opportunity.
The recently created Sustainable Food Cities initiative offers a huge opportunity for us to come together under the five themes of:
For more information about Sustainable Food Cities please click here.
This comes through from Friends of the Earth…
The Get-together for environmental activism
12-14 July, Hartington, Derbyshire
BASECAMP is one of three events we’re running this year in place of our Annual Conference.
This won’t be a top-down ‘Conference’. BASECAMP is being developed and run as collaboratively as possible with an activist working group, local groups and the network more widely.
This is an event primarily for the Friends of the Earth network of local groups. We also very much welcome people who aren’t Friends of the Earth members but are active on environmental issues.
Join us at Basecamp to
• Skill up – share expertise, build and learn skills.
• Meet up – with a broad spectrum of people with a common goal.
• Have your say – in how we can campaign together to achieve our ambitions.
• Rejuvenate – in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain.
There’ll be a range of creative, festival-inspired and thought-provoking activities throughout the weekend (suggestions and offers very welcome). And you can’t fail to be inspired by our prize ceremony for local campaigning – the Earthmovers Awards.
Guest speakers confirmed so far include George Monbiot (Columnist and author) and Elías Díaz Peña (Friends of the Earth Paraguay) with more on the way.
About the venue
The event will take place in Hartington – a village in the countryside between Buxton and Chesterfield, a short walk from world famous Dovedale. We hope to be inspired by this spectacular setting, so the weekend will have an outdoor feel. A lot of the sessions will be in the marquee and yurts, or rooms in the Youth Hostel with views of the nearby hills. We will be running shuttle buses from Buxton train station in time for the beginning and the end of the event. (We are looking into a shuttle from Chesterfield too).
We have booked every bed in the area for the event, so there will be a range of accommodation for you to choose from – including riverside camping, dorm beds at the YHA, nearby B&Bs and a hotel.
Prices (all tickets are subsidised)
£30: Weekend ticket with food and camping
£60: Weekend ticket with food and dorm room
£105: Weekend ticket with B & B
A limited number of free tickets are also available for local group members who would not be able to participate otherwise.
And if you have any questions or suggestions please do get in touch.
from the website “GorkanaJobs” (hat-tip to Louise)
Closes 06 July 2013
Location London
Job Industry Journalist
Discipline Trade Publication
Function Reporting
Contract Type Permanent
Hours Full Time
Salary £24k
RTCC (Responding to Climate Change) is looking for a creative, enthusiastic and focused English-language journalist to join its team in London reporting on the latest developments in the climate change sector.
The successful applicant must have excellent writing skills, one to two years’ experience in a newsroom environment and a demonstrable understanding of how climate and energy issues interact.
Working in a team of 3, the role involves breaking news, writing concise and lively stories, building relationships with key contacts and producing quality video and audio content.
We are looking for someone who will be equally at ease covering general climate change news stories, producing analysis and writing features.
Ideal candidates will have experience of using social media to research and promote content.
Requirements:
RTCC:
Launched in November 2011, RTCC (Responding to Climate Change) covers the latest international developments in climate change policy and low-carbon technology. RTCC runs the Climate Change TV channel at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings and is a member of the Guardian Environment Network.
To apply:
Send a covering letter, CV, three examples of your work and five story ideas for July to Sara Goerg via email: sg@rtcc.org. Please note only candidates required for interview will be contacted.
 | Dave Bishop on COP27 and the fantasies of sal… |
 | manchesterclimatemon… on The messages we send – o… |
 | Anon on The messages we send – o… |
 | Stephen PENNELLS on Climate emergency? What climat… |
 | marchudson on Twelve years ago in Punxatawne… |
manchester climate monthly 