Job Alert: Cafe Manager and Volunteer Development Co-ordinator South #Manchester

Posted on January 7, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly
‘Home’ is a registered charity and community space, with a lovely little café at the heart of it. We’re located in the centre of Didsbury village in South Manchester, in the entrance space of Emmanuel Church. Our café is open four days a week and serves a full menu of fresh, home-made food and barista coffees and specialty teas.
One of our charitable objectives is to provide volunteering opportunities, and we currently have nearly 40 volunteers involved in Home in some way.
Home opened in April 2015 and we’re now looking to increase our capacity
to deliver our vision and hopes for Home by recruiting a highly competent
new member of our core team. We are seeking to appoint a Café Manager
and Volunteer Development Coordinator -someone who will be able to run
the café to a consistently high standard, who will create and develop a volunteer programme for Home, and be proactive and creative in making
Home a great place for volunteers to work and customers to visit.
How to apply:
Please read the attached role description and person
specification, and if you think you could be the person for the job we want to hear from you! Please email a copy of your CV and a covering letter
explaining why you think you could be right for this role to
jobs@homecommunitycafe.org.
Closing Date for applications: Friday 22nd January, 5pm.
You will be notified via email on Monday 25nd whether you have been selected for interview.
Interviews: Monday 1st February, with the hope that the appointed person will begin the new role soon after.
CAFE MANAGER AND VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR:
JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION
Main Purpose of Job
We are looking for a confident, experienced and reliable individual who will manage the cafe operations of Home, and also take a key role
as Volunteer Development Coordinator.
The person appointed will work alongside the CEO and Director, Hannah Heasley, to further deliver the vision of Home. They should be able to lead and to serve in the cafe, reliably taking on every aspect of operations and planning when they are on duty, and creating an atmosphere that is welcoming, relaxed and friendly.
They will also develop our volunteering programme at Home, taking full
responsibility for every aspect of this key part of the vision.
Key Responsibilities
Cafe Manager:
To manage 4 shifts p/w in the café. To run the café to a high standard
– ensuring customer satisfaction and volunteer well-being and standards .
To monitor stock (in conjunction with the director)through the week and take responsibility for stock-taking and some ordering.
To run the team in service – Managing volunteers, delegating tasks, ensuring adequate staffing levels in all areas of preparation, service and cleaning
Rota:
To take on the task of weekly rota-ing of volunteers. To find and use a rota software package that works well for Home’s needs, and to disseminate the rota weekly. To plan rota so that volunteers
with additional needs can be supported on shifts.
Volunteer Recruitment:
Recruiting individual volunteers, and also through liaising with other
agencies, e.g. Mustard Tree, Red Cross, The Message, student organisations.
Volunteer Training:
To develop a training package and deliver this to volunteers. Aim of package to ensure consistency, safety and quality in Home –barista training, food training, service/front of house,
de-escalation, basic first aid etc.
Volunteer Development:
To develop a pathway for volunteer development. To explore certification and accreditation (this may require seeking funding from external sources).
Support:
To offer pastoral support and care to volunteers as required. To practically support volunteers with additional needs as they work in Home –this will involve being in Home/on shift when volunteers who need extra support are on the rota. To make appropriate contacts with other agencies working with vulnerable volunteers –mental health teams, community care, housing associations etc.
Being creative and pro-active in making Home a good place to volunteer.
Personal Development:
To be willing and enthusiastic to undergo relevant training and personal
development to support the delivery of Home’s objectives, and for personal growth.
To work with the director and the food coordinator in building a ‘core’ Home staff team.
Any other tasks associated with the running of the café, as delegated by the director.
Line-management from the director and annual performance reviews.
Person Specification
1.A welcoming, warm community minded person who shares the values of Home Café.
2.Experience of working in a cafe environment.
3. Experience of managing people

4.Experience in a volunteering environment.

5.Understanding of some of the challenge of managing a diverse group of volunteers.
6.A desire and the ability to release control, to delegate and resource teams of people. Someone who will delight in other people’s success
7.Openness to change
8.A flexible and mature person with an ability to connect appropriately across a diverse spectrum of individuals, team members and groups.
9.Well-organised with the ability to plan ahead, focus on the important and meet deadlines.
10.
Clear and engaging communicator both in groups and on a one-to-one basis with excellent
listening skills.
11. Awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and the humility to learn from colleagues
12. IT competence essential.
13. Sense of humour and capacity to rejoice in and enjoy life, whilst managing work and other commitment
Notes:
a) Neither the Job Description or the Person Specification form part of the Contract of Employment.
Contract
Four days a week
•Each day there are two shifts (9:00-14:15 &14:00-19:15). The cafe manager/volunteer development worker will work four of these shifts.
• Salary £20,000 pro rata (actual £16,000)
• Permanent post subject to a satisfactory three-month probation period.
• 5 weeks (20 days) annual leave, some of which to be taken when the cafe closes over holiday periods
Posted in Job Alert, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Upcoming event:‘Complex Infrastructure Systems’ Thurs 21st Jan #Manchester

Posted on January 7, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Free event, no booking required. Tyndall seminars almost always v. interesting!!

Tyndall Manchester would like to invite you to attend the next talk in our seminar series ‘Complex Infrastructure Systems: science and practice’ by Professor Liz Varga, on Thursday 21st January (room C1, George Begg Building, Sackville Street) at 4.00pm.

Complex Infrastructure Systems: Science and Practice

Professor Liz Varga, Cranfield University (biography attached)

Infrastructure systems embrace not only the disciplinary fields of energy, water and waste, transport, and telecommunications, but also the inter-connections between these systems, and the systems which they depend on and which depend on them, including the environment and the climate.  The whole is a complex ecosystem of innovation, co-evolution and opportunity but the darker side involves issues of definition and pluralism, measures and beneficiaries, interdependency and resilience, and methods for science and practice.  This seminar takes a broad overview of complex infrastructure systems, and elaborates on the perspective using a number of research project examples.

The seminar will take place in room C1, in the George Begg Building on Sackville Street– number 17 on the map here-  http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/maps/interactive-map/?id=14

Posted in academia, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Good Article on Local Government Adaptation #LootingTIvoryTower

Posted on January 6, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

LootingIvoryTowers.jpgPaper(s) under discussion

Porter, J.,Demeritt, D. and Dessai, S. 2015. The right stuff? informing adaptation to climate change in British Local Government. Global Environmental Change, Vol. 35, pp. 411-422.

What’s the issue? (and why should we care)
Are British local authorities pulling their fingers out and taking long-term adaptation action? If not, why not?

What do they have to say?
In 2003 many local authorities didn’t know about the robust work on climate impacts that had been done, but were relying on newspaper articles (Gaia help us all). Ten years later most everyone has the ‘right’ information, but austerity and the Conservatives’ bonfire of the National Indicators (e.g. 188) means that there is still hardly anything happening. Everyone points the finger at someone else. Reframing climate adaptation as “weather resilience” might help get local councillors interested.

How convincing is their methodology?
It’s good! They did a web-based survey that had a reasonable (25%) response rate, and then followed it up with 20 semi-structured interviews. Used Nvivo for coding those interviews, did some statistical tests. Compared some 2003 work on barriers with what they’ve discovered.

What would a critic say?
Mmm. This article actually does what it sets out to do. There’s lots of “whataboutery” that you could do – on neoliberalism, on bureaucratic inertia, on cross-country comparisons, but this is an article, not a book, and the references point you in the direction of lots of useful material.

What else could they have said
There’s two papers I’ve recently read that would have been interesting to see these authors include
One is on where this wretched term ‘resilience’ comes from – looking at Buzz Holling/Fred von Hayek
Genealogies of resilience: From systems ecology to the political economy of crisis adaptation. Security Dialogue April 2011 42: 143-160,
Another on blame-shifting in local authorities (But only came out in October, so, absent a time machine, Porter et al. can hardly be blamed!)
Symbolic Meta-Policy: (Not) Tackling Climate Change in the Transport Sector
Political Studies Volume 63, Issue 4, pages 830–851, October 2015.

It’s interesting (but not wrong!) that the authors did not consider civil society/social movement pressure as a factor.  The British state is so centralised, and NGOs so obsessed with Westminster and marching in London, that local authorities come under very very little pressure from civ soc.  Oh well.

What else do these people refer to that looks interesting?
Hjerpe, M., Storbjörk, S., Alberth, J., 2014. There is nothing political in it: triggers of local political leaders’ engagement in climate adaptation. Local Environ. 1–19.
Meyer, M., 2010. The rise of the knowledge broker. Sci. Commun. 32, 118–127.
Meyer, R., 2011. The public values failures of climate science in the US. Minerva 49, 47–70.
Mukheibir, P., Kuruppu, N., Gero, A., Herriman, J., 2013. Overcoming cross-scale challenges to climate change adaptation in local government: a focus on Australia. Clim. Change 121, 271–283.
Preston, B., Mustelin, J., Maloney, M., 2015. Climate adaptation heuristics and the science/policy divide. Mitig. Adapt. Strategies Global Change 20, 467–497.

What are the implications for (Manchester-based) activism?
“Whereas a decade ago local authority staff were unable to find scientific
information that they could understand and use, we find that these technical-cognitive barriers to adaptation are no longer a major problem for local authority respondents”
Yes, it’s merely the technical-competence barriers that we need to worry about in Manchester. And the utter lack of political will.

Usefulness for my PhD
Well, not on topic, but this qualitative research article looks good-

Baxter, J., Eyles, J., 1997. Evaluating qualitative research in social geography: establishing ‘rigour’ in interview analysis. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 22, 505–525.

The TLDR
Their argument in a tweet: Local authorities did nothing on climate because no good info. Now because no money, no pressure.
Should activists pay attention? Yes. Neoliberalised Local Authorities like Manchester are saying “let the devil take the hindmost”. That’s not good public policy.
Should activist try to read the source material, or is this summation probably All A Busy Activist Needs To Know?
Use the Source, Luke.
Summary suffices.

 

This post is the first of twelve promised “Looting the Ivory Tower” blog posts that I will write this calendar year, where I try to summarise academic findings for a ‘normal’ audience.  You can help by;
a) letting me know how I did
b) suggesting topics or specific articles that I could tackle

Posted in academia, Adaptation, Looting TIvory Tower | 2 Comments

Upcoming #climate meetings in January, #Manchester

Posted on January 5, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

No idea which of these meetings will treat people like ego-fodder, (meaning organisers structure the meeting around helping everyone find out what skills, knowledge, connection and experience attendees have and what s/k/c/e they want).  Perhaps all of them.  Caveat attendor…

Sunday 10 Jan “We need to talk about flooding and climate change” 5.30pm to 7.30pm The Brow House, 1 Mabfield Road, Fallowfield, M14 6LP. Facebook
“Unprecedented floods & storms are devastating lives across our region. Current measures & policies are not protecting us or accepting the reality of climate change.
In contrast, the neighbourly response has been incredible. The aim of the meeting is to channel that energy of compassion and cooperation into positive actions & effective campaigns”

Mon 11 Jan: Reclaim the Power Post-Paris and Welcome to 2016, Green Fish. 7pm Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LE
A chance to get together, debrief about Paris, and plan for 2016, starting with the day of action at Upton Community Protection Camp on 16th January.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/447946655404097/

Wed 13 Jan: ‘Chasing Ice’ film screening, Didsbury
Didsbury Film Club starts 2016 with a screening of ‘Chasing Ice’. Acclaimed photographer James Balog was once a sceptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet.  This film has won many awards. and good reviews:
“A magical, yet horrifying film which both astounds and enlightens in equal measure.”
“If any film can convert the climate-change sceptics, Chasing Ice would be it: here, seeing really is believing.”
“Visually spectacular montages of ice floes receding that will make you gasp and move you to tears.”
We will have Dr Trauf from the Tyndall Centre to give a talk and answer questions raised by the film.  Book the date now, and share it with friends.  Just £5 on the door gives you an excellent film, an expert’s talk and wine and nibbles as well.
When: 7.30pm, Wednesday 13th January
Where: St James and Emmanuel Parish Centre, Barlow Moor Rd, Didsbury (next to Didsbury Library and behind Church)

Sat 23 Jan: Devolution & Climate Change, Methodist Central Hall
Following on from the historic, but still inadequate, global climate agreement in Paris last month, this event will explore what the agreement means for local action on climate change, and discuss what role devolution has to play in delivering carbon emission reductions in Greater Manchester.
Join us to hear from expert speakers, meet up with local residents and campaigners, and have your say on what Devo Manc needs to include (or exclude) to deliver a cleaner, greener future for Greater Manchester.
The event is free and open to all, although we do ask that you book in advance using the Eventbrite link below.
Note: This event will be preceded by the Manchester Friends of the Earth AGM – see above for more details.
When: 11am – 4pm, Saturday 23rd January
Where: Methodist Central Hall, Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JQ
More info & booking: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/19849618744

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Get paid to study?! PhD studentships in #Manchester

Posted on January 4, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Please share (email, twitter, facebook, word of mouth – #oldschool) with anyone who is looking to do a PhD in Manchester.

The Sustainable Consumption Institute will be offering up to 4 fully-funded PhD studentships to outstanding candidates wishing to commence their doctoral studies in September 2016.

The Sustainable Consumption Institute aims to bring insight and clarity to a key part of the sustainability challenge: the role of consumption. It takes original insights from across the Social Sciences and subjects them to critical empirical scrutiny in order to advance fundamental understandings about processes of consumption and innovation, and to consider their implications for transitions towards more sustainable societies.

The studentships will need to be closely aligned with the research agenda and ongoing activities of the SCI, and so applicants are advised to consult our website and research pages (http://www.sci.manchester.ac.uk/research) for details of existing projects.

Successful candidates will be funded by the SCI, supervised by at least one member of SCI research staff (Boons, Browne, Evans, Geels, MacGregor, McMeekin, Mylan, Southerton, Yates), and located within a host School. The exact location of the studentship will depend on the applicant’s project, their interests, and their supervisor. We anticipate that most candidates will be based in the School of Social Sciences (SoSS), Manchester Business School (MBS) or the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED).

Candidates are invited to write a research proposal for a PhD project that complements and/or extends current SCI research projects. Proposals should be c.1500 words long and include a title, the background to the project, the research design and methodology, and a bibliography.  We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates whose projects address the following topics:

  • Comprehensive analysis of system innovations in food, energy, or transport
  • Comparative research on socio-cultural change, the temporal organization of daily life, and trajectories of consumption
  • Environmental movements and/or consumer activism
  • The dynamics of societal problems  and responses by large incumbent industries
  • The food-energy-water nexus and its relationship to different system boundaries (e.g. households, cities)
  • Alternative modes of food provision and delivery (in particular, eating outside the home)
  • Histories and dynamics of everyday life, city transitions, and sustainability in China (with potential to collaborate with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences or University of Shanghai)
  • The diffusion and appropriation of sustainable innovations (in particular related to meat eating)
  • Comparative political economies of sustainable transition pathways
  • Sustainability and social difference/inequalities (gender, class, race, age, abilities, intersectionality, etcetera)
  • The cultural politics of sustainable food (contested meanings of food quality, rival problem framings, the distribution of responsibilities, etcetera)

Please note that this list is indicative and not exhaustive. Candidates must get in touch with potential supervisors to discuss their ideas in advance of making an application. Informal enquiries should be addressed to Dr David Evans (david.evans@manchester.ac.uk)

Studentship details – The studentships comprise an annual stipend of £14,210, payment of fees up to the level charged for UK/EU students (TBC but currently £4,052) and £1,000 for fieldwork and conference expenses. It might be possible to cover the fees for non-UK/EU candidates, but this will only happen in exceptional circumstances. The studentship will be for direct entry onto the three year (+3) PhD programme.  The programme will commence in September 2016. Continuation of the award is subject to satisfactory performance.

Entry Requirements – Applicants must hold a Bachelors degree equivalent to a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours UK degree. They must also have (or expect to gain) a UK Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) at Merit level (with a coursework/examination average of 60% or more AND a dissertation mark of 60% or more, with no mark below 50%) or above in a relevant social science discipline. Preference will be given to candidates whose Masters degree involves a significant element of social science research methods training, and those who performed at distinction level (70% or higher) or equivalent.

How to apply – Applicants should email david.evans@manchester.ac.uk a full CV together with a covering letter and research proposal. Please note that applying for the SCI PhD studentship is separate process to applying for entry to a PhD programme.  Successful candidates will therefore also be required to fulfill the normal admissions procedures for the school in which they will be based.

Deadline – The deadline for applications is 22nd January, 2016.

 

[And yes, MCFly editor Marc Hudson is doing a PhD with the SCI. But no, he isn’t getting paid to put this post up.]

Posted in academia, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Free online course abt #climate change science ‘n’ solutions

Posted on January 1, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

via the University of Exeter.

exetercourse.png

 

H/t Tracy.

Posted in academia, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Kindling Trust – what they did, what they plan, how to get involved

Posted on December 31, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Kindling Trust is first out of the blocks with answers to the 11 questions that Manchester Climate Monthly has sent to a bunch of environmental groups (It’s also open to individuals…).

 

1. What is the purpose of your group? (three or four sentences)

We work with communities, farmers, practitioners, activists, and policy makers to create a more just and ecologically sustainable society.

We do this in a number of ways including projects like the Land Army that supports volunteers to work on local organic farms, FarmStart: a fledgling programme of support to support new people into farming and Veg Box People: a new veg box scheme.

2. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved have?

When people join the land army or wish to become a volunteer with our other projects or help out in the office we offer a staged process to enable the individual to get to know us whilst we both see if we are a good match!

After people have been with us for a specific amount of time we sit down with them and carry out a structured interview based around a questionnaire about their skills, knowledge aspirations and training needs.

3. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved want to develop?

Part of our volunteer programme we ask each volunteer, who has been with us for a few weeks, to complete a questionnaire with us, to ensure we match our needs with a volunteers aspirations. If anyone would like this form please do get in touch.

4. If people get involved in your group, what sorts of things will they end up doing? (stuffing envelopes, selling newspapers, knocking on doors, getting arrested etc etc)

People can get involved in a range of activities and roles. We have a place for people of all abilities and ambitions. From helping out on the farms to helping write for our website sites. From researching progressive farming techniques to helping sell veg at our market stall. We have indoor and outdoor tasks, practical and office based activities.

Successes and “opportunities for improvement”* in 2015.

5. What have been your group’s main Manchester-based successes in the past year? (i.e. nothing that took place outside the ring road counts)

Over the last year we have had one of our most successful periods: we have grown and strengthened as a group and are about to enter 2016, excited about the opportunities which have been presented to us.

The main successes for 2015 were:

FarmStart Woodbank – we with our partners, including Stockport Council and Glebelands City Growers have taken on the old nursery at Woodbank Park in Stockport as Greater Manchester’s newest commercial food growing centre. The site has huge potential to greatly increase urban food production and provide fantatsic trainign and learning facilities. (http://kindling.org.uk/FarmStart)

Feeding Stockport continues to explore opportunities to turn Stockport into a Sustainable Food City with us working hard to establish a Food Enterprise Centre, supply organic food to Stepping Hill Hospital and local schools (feedingstockport.org.uk)

A Right to Good Food: In November with Church Action on Poverty we helped engage a range of groups from across the Northwest of England in a new Food and Poverty campaign. Eighty people attended and in February we will holding the next event to plan the campaign’s next steps. (feedingManchester.org.uk)

A big personal achievement for the team – because we have been trying for so long to engage schools in our work- was the recruitment of Stockport’s Preistnall School to purchase local organic veg from our farmers with the help of the school’s pupils and staff. (kindling.org.uk/Priestnall_launch)

Finally our launch of Veg Box People at the University of Manchester has gone well with us providing ~60 customers a week with local organic veg and we have big plans to offer the service across other parts of the campus. (vegboxpeople.org.uk)

6. What were the things you hoped to achieve but didn’t.

Every year, when we look back on the things we’d have hoped to achieve is the ambition of engaging the public sector more in the purchase of local organic food. But we are an impatient bunch!

The other thing we’d hoped to do was to update the Greater Manchester Sustainable Food Strategy. We had promised to update it in the summer after it was written in 2014 with the help of 100 individuals and groups. However, because of lack of time and a noticeable lack of interest from our politicians we have decided to update in in the summer of 2016. You can find Greater Manchester’s Sustainable Food Strategy at: http://feedingmanchester.org.uk/GMSusFoodStrategy

The coming year

7. What do you hope to achieve in 2016? What are your success metrics for December 31st 2016.

We don’t have metrics as such, we aren’t really funded to engage this many volunteers or create this many jobs for example. We are very lucky in this respect – we can experiment, take risks, and inevitably get things wrong

But our strategy does state what a successful year would look like to us. We would hope by the end of 2016, we will have our largest land army yet, greatly improved our FarmStart programme and be ready to launch our community shares campaign to help us by a large farm for Greater Manchester.

We look forward to you asking us about our year in December 😉

8. What (up to 3) things would you like do see done in Manchester to make the city less crap on climate action

a) by the City Council

We stopped working with Manchester City Council many years ago. We realised that we could achieve a lot more and have happier staff if we worked with different local authorities and large public institutions. Working with bodies who have the political will to address climate change is crucial and this is the one thing MCC needs to do: have the political will.

b) by the “climate movement”

Work together, build on each others strengths, plan and stick to the plan(s).

9. What is the stupidest thing the “climate movement” could do this year?

Carry on as normal. We can’t afford to have the same people doing the same things, because its clearly not working. We need to have the courage to think afresh about our own roles, question our motivations and encourage new and different people to try different approaches.

10. How can people get involved?

If you’d like to get physically involved in our work ring us on 0161 226 2242 or email Corrina: corrina@kindling.org.uk

But you can also help from afar: like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, instagram or LinkedIn, just search for ‘Kindling Trust’.

11. Anything else you’d like to say.

Thanks for asking and we’d love to tell you more about our 2016 plans.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How I would organise a “we need to talk about flooding and climate change”

Posted on December 30, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

The Problem.

Those people (1) who actively think about climate change are a pretty small and scared bunch.

When people feel outnumbered and ignored, they have certain emotional needs. Normally those needs are not met. Then someone calls a meeting… And it’s like ants to honey, moths to a flame….

That is, as has happened so often –  the danger in calling a meeting is in a whole bunch of people who don’t know each other come together, feeling good for having denounced the Tories/Manchester City Council/the species and then going home and waiting for another opportunity to do the same…

There is no consequence for taking up time and energy of virtual strangers, and the facilitators tend not to intervene to shut people up, because it would be an ‘infringement’ of ‘people’s need to express themselves’. But by confusing emotional processing with political planning, nobody ends up happy. Those who want to express themselves inevitably feel cut short, and those who came in the hope of doing something concrete go away irritated that they were basically used as a captive audience for other people’s angst.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. We can design meetings that get beyond this, and if we follow through on the design, and facilitate with firmness and compassion, something better can emerge.

(Fwiw, my proposed) Solution

Before the meeting

Explain very clearly – via a short blog post, and even a video if resources exist – what the meeting IS for and what it is NOT for.

I would have something like

“This meeting is for people who want to meet other people who are deeply worried about climate change and offended or angered by the lack of a decent response by both local and national government. It’s for people who are busy with their lives but who also want to take sustained action (over months and years) – perhaps only 15 minutes a week, but as part of a group that does more than just goes on marches or sign petitions.

The meeting will be about two things. First, our emotions and how we cope (or don’t). Emotions matter – we are not robots, despite what our society tells us to be. But emotions are not enough.

That’s why most of the meeting is going to be about what skills and knowledge and connections each of us has, and each of us wants to have. The meeting will be about connecting people who have skills with those who want them. The meeting will be about finding out what knowledge people feel they need to be effective in their actions for a saner world. The meeting in and of itself will change nothing.

This meeting is NOT for people who just grandstand and preen, who want to sell their newspapers or ideology, or demand that everyone join their political party or go to their protest.”

The post/video should also explain to people who cannot be there how they can be involved, get their involvement.

“If you can’t come to the meeting – because of childcare or work or other commitments, you can still be involved! Please check out our list of things you could do – divided into jobs that are simple, jobs that are complicated, jobs that are quick (15 minutes or less) and jobs that take a bit longer. ALSO, send us an email telling us what skills you have, what questions you have about climate change and its impacts.”

We’d love to have your statement on the wall of the meeting room, to show people who come that many others who wanted to could not be there, but we will only do this with your permission.

During the meeting

As people arrive, give everyone a name badge, and a label so they can write what suburb/part of Greater Manchester they are from, so they are more likely to start talking to people who might live close to them.

Give everyone the blurb about what the meeting is for, in case they’ve not seen it online.

Have flip-charts up on the wall with a few key questions and marker pens for people to start writing. Questions might include

  • What practical things can we do in the short term (next 3 to 6 months) to make sure that we and our friends, family and neighbours are better prepared for things like floods, power failures, etc.

  • What can we do force politicians to keep the fine promises they have already made? (please do not say “marches” and “petitions” – these will happen anyway, because there are groups that are simply addicted to them)

  • What can we do DIFFERENTLY as environmental groups to stop a wave of concern turning into puddles of apathy and burnout?

  • What do we need to differently so that people who are busy/don’t like meetings still feel part of a ‘movement’ that does things that work to increase connectedness, that increase our ability to look after each other and force politicians to make and then keep promises?

  • What don’t you know about climate change that you need to know?

  • What skills would you like to learn in 2016 to make you a more effective person to make changes in Manchester?

Encourage people to get together with someone else (either someone they know or someone they don’t, it doesn’t matter) and write answers.

Have statements of people who can’t be at the meeting on the wall too.

Call the meeting to start with applause or something similarly upbeat. Ask people to leave spaces near the door for inevitable late-comers.

A very brief thank you to everyone for coming.

Ask everyone to introduce themselves to someone they don’t know, and chat for a couple of minutes about why they’ve come, what they do etc.

First part of the meeting is about people’s feelings and the coping strategies that they work for them.

Ask people to BRIEFLY articulate their feelings, and also what they do in response.

[The key in this bit is to collect a lot of ideas about coping strategies. If it gets bogged down in people venting, then lots of people will mentally leave, and do so physically as soon as they decently can.]

Because you’ll have been talking about dark feelings for a bit, the mood may lower. You need a way/multiple ways of getting people energised. That might be reading out messages from people couldn’t come, or giving news of cool stuff that was happening elsewhere.

Personally I’d run “novice lines” based around the flipchart answers to the question “ skills would you like to learn in 2016 to make you a more effective person to make changes in Manchester”.

What’s novice lines? Well, briefly, have everyone stand against the wall. Then say “If you are good at skill x, step forward 1 metre. If you are really good, step forward 2m. If you are a ninja at the skill, step forward 3m. Then everyone quickly see who has some of the key skills. In the break they can share email addresses etc with those who want to know. You can also ask those people to perhaps do workshops at a future date.

At the half way point I’d have a ten minute break. Give people an opportunity to de-compress, catch up with old friends, make new ones. And leave if they want to.

In the second half (again, brought together with applause), I would focus more on what is currently happening that is good and just needs more participants involved (personally, I think there is very little, but I’ll admit to being out of touch) and then also on what we “should” be doing in Manchester. Perhaps a quick brainstorm about ideas [inevitably people will say ‘a march!’ or ‘a meeting in a church with loads of speakers’. We have tried these ideas. We know that, unless they are done quite differently, they suck in time, energy, commitment, and then the ‘afterwards’ does not happen adequately, leading to cynicism].

Perhaps focus on generating loads of things that individuals or small groups (of three or four people) could do to

a) build the capacity of individuals and small groups to make a difference in their street, in their place of work or worship

b) build the capacity of individuals and small groups to force decision-makers to make better decisions [good luck with this. I think it’s impossible; our lords and masters are, with rare exceptions, clueless muppets who have prospered in hierarchical institutions primarily because of their ability to compartmentalise, believe whatever lie they need to in order to shaft others sincerely, and generally play office-politics.]

The purpose of this section would be to build a list of “tasks”, that could later be divided into simple/complex/quick/long/recurring that can be put up on a website, but ALSO that people who are at the meeting can start doing as individuals but also ideally in pairs/threes/fours, with other people at the meeting, or others again.

Promise to hold the meeting again in three months time to see how people are getting on.

Finish with something uplifting, natch.

Have anonymous feedback forms for people to say what they thought, make suggestions for improvements to future meetings.

After the meeting

Get that list of jobs – divided into “simple and quick” “simple and long”, “complex and quick” “complex and long” circulated, where “simple” means no special skills needed” and “quick” means no longer than 15 minutes – posted asap.

Send out an email to everyone who came/wanted to but couldn’t, thanking them for their input, and including a link to the list of jobs.

Footnotes

(1) i.e. not those who don’t know about it, don’t care, or who have given up on knowing and caring and are instead intent on just getting through the day(s) without melting into a puddle of melancholy.

Posted in Unsolicited advice | 7 Comments

Being involved in MCFly withOUT meetings

Posted on December 29, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

MCFly doesn’t “do” meetings – either holding or attending.  So how are people supposed to get involved?  Well, here are some jobs below, divided into four categories.  IF there were a groundswell of people who wanted to take on some of the complex and long tasks, as a group, I’d happily organise a meeting for those folks.  email is mcmonthly@gmail.com

Simple and Quick (e..g up to 15 mins)

Quick-simple.jpg

Simple and Long

slow-simple.jpg

Complex and Quick

Quick-complex.jpg

Complex and Long

slow-complex.jpg

Apocalypso posts

(urban ‘resilience’ and how to build it)

Proof read posts before they go up

Respond to posts with further thoughts/ questions

Come up with topics for future blog posts

Write blog posts about (urban) resilience. Investigate current ‘plans’ and preparedness in Greater Manchester.

Scrutiny Committees posts

(Manchester City Council’s ongoing epic failure on climate change)

Repost/ retweet/ share on facebook

Ask councillors to raise the questions

Read a report and come up with questions

Fire off emails to relevant councillors etc about the (lack of effective) scrutiny of climate change

As part of a (theoretical team) get involved in detailed critique of council non-action, laying out what could actually be done. NB This is futile – the Council isn’t listening, can’t listen, won’t listen. Much better to be dancing and drinking and screwing and generally carpe-ing the remaining diems.

Looting T’Ivory Tower

(Is there anything to be learnt from academia, if it’s translated?)

Proofread posts before they go up

Respond to post with questions about the topic. Do a google scholar search for other (recent) articles.

Suggest topics and hunt for academic articles that could be “translated”

Write some posts of your own!

Interview some academics about their work (they’ll be amazed and flattered that a Member of Public is paying attention!)

Other stuff

Send details of upcoming events

Write to councillors about the Council’s uselessness, report the replies.

Send in relevant articles about urban resilience, the hollowing out of democracy, the inability of states to respond to the escalating super-wickedness of climate. That sort of thing.

Write book reviews, accounts of meetings, send Freedom of Information Act requests to council, report answers.
Posted in volunteer opportunity | Leave a comment

New Year’s (ir)resolutions from #Manchester #Climate Monthly

Posted on December 28, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

It’s that time of year again.  I’ve sent the questionnaire below to all the usual suspects – Green Party, Friends of the Earth, Climate Survivors, Carbon Coop, Kindling, Global Justice Now, Fossil Free Greater Manchester, Steady State Manchester. We’re not sending it to groups who no longer exist (Action for Sustainable Living) or to ones that almost certainly won’t exist in a year’s time (Manchester A Cretin Future).

If/when I get answers I will post on MCFly, without any editorialising or editing (except in cases of excessive length or libel).  I’ll get the ball rolling (btw, if you’re an individual and you want to answer, just email me your answers and if they’re entertaining, I’ll post!)  mcmonthly@gmail.com.  There’s a cut-and-pasteable list of the questions at bottom of post.

1. What is the purpose of your group? (three or four sentences)

MCFly  was, back in 2008-10 and 2012-15, about celebrating Manchester’s climate/green activism and holding the Council to account for its failure to act/keep its promises.  Both redundant now, so it serves as an intermittent noticeboard for upcoming events, opportunities to rant, share depressing news ‘n’ views.

2. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved have?

I find out what people are interested in doing. If they have the skills they need but want to get better, I figure out ways to improve them. If they don’t have the skills, I either teach ’em or find someone who can.

3. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved want to develop?

See above.  I ask them what skills they’d like to learn/improve, and then point them in the direction of someone working on that, or have them work with me, if I have those skills.  At a group level, there’s always ‘novice lines’.

4. If people get involved in your group, what sorts of things will they end up doing? (stuffing envelopes, selling newspapers, knocking on doors, getting arrested etc etc)

Nothing so exciting as that (wow, marching!!).  Manchester Climate Monthly is in the information business; so the role would be reviewing books and articles, attending meetings (of council or activists)  and writing about them (I no longer have the ability to do that).  Perhaps a little light film-making too.  Tweeting.  That sort of thing.

Successes and “opportunities for improvement”* in 2015.

5. What have been your group’s main Manchester-based successes in the past year? (i.e. nothing that took place outside the ring road counts)

  • I stopped going (mostly) to soul-destroying meetings, either of activists or the Council.   I stopped colluding in the bullshit, basically.
  • I submitted a bunch of Freedom of Information Act requests (and taught others the same).
  • I got a bunch of letters published in the Manchester Evening News that were all mokita.
  • I wrote some relatively informative and informed blog posts.

6. What were the things you hoped to achieve but didn’t.

“Building a movement.”  But no, we live in hope….  Just kidding.

Um, getting the Council to keep some of its promises.  By March it was clear that this could not happen, thanks to a toxic brew of councillor and officer stupidity, cowardice and ambition, so I quit that.

The coming year

7. What do you hope to achieve in 2016? What are your success metrics for December 31st 2016.

MCFly is going to change again.

  • It’s going to focus a bit more on the “movement-building for coping with the coming horrors”, given that mitigation is impossible/irrelevant.  I will write at least 12 blog posts about the creation of ‘resilience’ and disaster-preparedness.
  • I will also revive the habit of publishing a blog posts that lists the agendas of the Council’s 6 “scrutiny” committees.  Climate rarely gets a mention, which is telling in itself.  (There will be nine such blog posts).
  • Final commitment – when I read an academic article that would be of interest/use to the mythical engaged citizen in Manchester, I will blog it either on MCFly or at marchudson.net, with the hashtag #lootingtivorytower.  I.e. I will translate from academese to English.  I will write at least 12 such ‘translations.’
  • I may make some films, but no promises.

8. What (up to 3) things would you like do see done in Manchester to make the city less crap on climate action

a) by the City Council

  • Keep the promises it made in 2009.
  • Keep the promises that it made in 2014.
  • Establish an Environmental Scrutiny Committee on an equal footing to the other six..

None of this will happen

b) by the “climate movement”

  • learn to hold meetings and events  that aren’t sage-on-the-stage ego-fodderfication and emotathonic garbage that fails to engage with the people who’ve come along to see if there’s a role for them..
  • start talking honestly about the implications of a four degree world
  • start identifying skills and knowledge that it has, gaps, and systematically improve skills, knowledge, connectedness.

None of this will happen.

9. What is the stupidest thing the “climate movement” could do this year?

  • Believe a word that the Council says (or collude in the lies with silence, which amounts to the same thing). A concrete example – publicising this ‘refresh’ of the Climate Change Action Plan without explaining how monumental the failure has been so far.
  • Keep doing what it has been doing (see above)

10. How can people get involved?

Email me at mcmonthly@gmail.com with an intro that explains

  • a) who you are
  • b) what you want to do
  • c) what skills and knowledge you have and what skills and knowledge you’d like to develop.
  • I’ll be in touch.

11. Anything else you’d like to say.

Carpe the diems.  Seriously. Carpe them. Now.

Footnote

  • Apparently you’re not supposed to say “failure” these days. It discourages the delicate little petals who’d like a better world, but are easily put off.

 

 

That cut and pasteable list of t’questions.

1. What is the purpose of your group? (three or four sentences)

2. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved have?

3. How do you find out what skills and knowledge the people who get involved want to develop?

4. If people get involved in your group, what sorts of things will they end up doing? (stuffing envelopes, selling newspapers, knocking on doors, getting arrested etc etc)

Successes and “opportunities for improvement”* in 2015.

5. What have been your group’s main Manchester-based successes in the past year? (i.e. nothing that took place outside the ring road counts)

6. What were the things you hoped to achieve but didn’t.

The coming year

7. What do you hope to achieve in 2016? What are your success metrics for December 31st 2016.

8. What (up to 3) things would you like do see done in Manchester to make the city less crap on climate action

a) by the City Council

b) by the “climate movement”

9. What is the stupidest thing the “climate movement” could do this year?

10. How can people get involved?

11. Anything else you’d like to say.

Apparently you’re not supposed to say “failure” these days. It discourages the delicate little petals who’d like a better world, but are easily put off.

Posted in academia, narcissism, volunteer opportunity | Leave a comment