Sustainable & Resilient Communities

DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE

In working to minimise the multifaceted problems facing the world as we move ahead in the 21st Century- such as climate change, pollution, Peak Oil... and in fact Peak Everything- there is a lot that can be done at community level. This article is aimed at opening up ideas and discussions and stimulating questions that hopefully will lead to a better understanding of what the options are and and to help you discover the areas in which you would like to get involved. 

Community is going to play an enormous role in future resilience and the sooner we begin to re-establish a deeper connection to our community, and work together with our neighbours, the better off we will be.

So... what kinds of communities are we seeing evolve, what issues are they tackling and how can we all play a part in creating our future?

TRANSITION TOWNS

The Transition Town movement, which began as a concept developed by Rob Hopkins and his students in Kinsale Ireland and then further expanded and put into action in Rob Hopkin's current hometown of Totnes UK, is now underway in many countries of the world, with many more communities in the early stages of involvement.

Transition towns work to a plan to take their community from high impact, high fossil fuel dependency to ways of operating which have less impact and are not so dependant on high usage of fossil fuels.

Is your town/area/suburb a "Transition Town"? If so, find out ways that you can get involved.

If not, who might you talk to within your community about the possibility of it becoming a Transition Town? How might you be able to drum up community enthusiasm and participation for becoming a Transition Town? What might the transition and energy descent plan look like for your area? What considerations are important for your community?

ECO VILLAGES AND INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES

These are purpose built, or established, communities which implement environmentally friendly practices, materials and lifestyles as a major focus of the whole community. The members work closely as a team to make the community work. Intentional communities may also have a specific focus which the members share, such as maybe creative pursuits, natural therapies or maybe spiritual beliefs.


LOCALISATION

Localisation is a big part of the Transition Town plan, and important for any community. It is not practical to continue relying on things to be brought in from great distances, not sensible for people to live far away from their jobs, shops, services and family. It makes much more sense for things to be concentrated within your local community, preferably within walking or biking distance.

What products and services do you utilise in your local community? What could you access locally that you usually source from further afield? What do you have to leave your community to obtain?

An interesting exercise is to trace the path of your food- and other items if you wish- from where it is produced to your home. Where does it originate? How does it travel to your location... and how far is this? What other resources might be used it getting it from "there to here"... such as maybe refrigeration?

Can you find ways to change your eating and other consumption habits, to use food etc which can be sourced closer to your home?

Can you find local farmers or growers whom you could buy from direct? What about neighbours with backyard chickens or veggie gardens- do they have excess for sale, or maybe a swap?

Approach your local supermarket or other shop about getting in more locally grown and produced food.

What about setting up a barter or other exchange system for your local community? They might be especially useful for skill-sharing projects.

IMPORTANT COMMUNITY CONSIDERATIONS

Every community has certain requirements- some are much the same from community to community, while some are more specific to an individual community.

What kind of needs does your community have and how could they be provided more locally, and using "greener" means? How can your community become prepared for these changing times?

Some of the things you might consider are:

Health and wellness care specific to your communities needs? Elder care? Food- what could be made or grown locally? Community Gardens? CSA's, swaps and markets? Encourage households to grow food? Council land that could be utilised for food growing? Fruiting street trees? Preserving and storing food? Localised employment possibilities to save on commute time? Making use of local people for things such as garden maintenance, cleaning, childcare etc. Transport- does your community need to campaign for better public transport? A community bus? Car pools and car shares? Transport for elderly members? Water- How about rain harvesting? Households encouraged to have rain water tanks? Water saving plans for public parks and sporting facilities etc. Waste- can better use be made of storm water or grey water? Can a lower impact sewage treatment/disposal system be implemented? Energy- generation of solar and wind power on public buildings? Households encourages to have solar panels? Housing- "green" requirements for new houses? Retrofitting encouragement for existing homes? Use of vegetation to help control climate? Workshops and classes held on all kinds of relevant topics, such as permaculture, organic gardening, retrofitting houses, reskilling etc. Emergency preparedness- emergency plans for potential disasters for your area? Advice on emergency supplies for households in case of extended power outage or interruption to food supply? Plans for community security and safety in the event of a disaster or other occurrence?

Do some research into what skills and knowledge your local community members possess. There may be untapped, or under-utilised talents right at your doorstep!

What is missing?? Can you recruit people to your area to fill those gaps?


COMMUNITY BASED PROJECTS

Great savings in all kinds of ways can be made when communities work together on joint projects, or share resources. This is also a wonderful tool in building community spirit.

Here are some community projects which have been successful in many areas- maybe you will be able to implement some of them in your community:

Tool Libraries- a collection of tools and equipment, usually both donated and bought from borrowing or membership fees, available for loan or hire to members. This could also be done on an unofficial basis, by neighbours sharing what they have, rather than everyone owning a lawnmower, for instance. Neighbours may also decide to go in together on a group owned item. Of course, some general rules need to be agreed to between the parties, to make things as conflict free as possible. Toy Libraries- similar principle to above. Allows parents to borrow new toys for their children to enjoy, especially as children outgrow certain interests, or would just like a change. Many book libraries also have toy libraries. Community Garden- Either run on a plot per household basis, or everyone works in together on whole garden and divides up the harvest. Once again, clear guidelines are needed. Community produce swaps and markets. Trash and treasure type swaps/markets. Local currency- a currency which is only usable locally, at the places which have agreed to honour it. This has worked successfully in several locations, but is certainly something which needs proper research before implementation. The LETS scheme is a variation on this kind of system.

RE-SKILLING

To thrive in coming times, communities are going to require a resurgence of older skills, which are now much rarer and, in some cases, almost lost. Many things which we now rely on machines to do will need to be done, once again, by hand or by machines which don't require fossil fuels.

Skills which may be worth learning, brushing up on or locating people who know them:

Sewing and knitting Gardening- organically, or permaculture, especially with regard to food plants Preserving and storing food Home cooking from scratch Medicinal herbs and bush foods/medicinal plants General first aid Woodworking, basket weaving Using hand tools Repairs, knife sharpening, wood chopping Building and retrofitting Blacksmithing

Choose one, or more, and start learning!


HONOURING ELDERS AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

One of the great resources we should be turning to, and honoring, are our elderly people who have lived through times using the skills and principles we are needing to re-learn. Before it's too late, take the time to talk with older relatives and friends, or see if you can visit an aged facility, and really listen to what these people can tell you about thrift and making do and using less and ways to do things that don't require fancy machines or plastic galore. They won't be around forever, and when they go, their skills, knowledge and wisdom may go with them... unless we keep it alive.

Our indigenous people, especially the older people, also have so much to offer in understanding our relationship with the land and how we can better work in harmony with it. They also have knowledge of bush foods and medicinal plants, which are ideally suited to our specific climates, and may be useful in times of need.


COMMUNITY SPIRIT AND ENGAGEMENT

As much as possible, try to engage as many members of the community as possible in discussions and decisions about how your community might proceed, and allow people, where possible, to get to work on those areas for which they have enthusiasm. When people feel "ownership" of ideas... feel that they have a say and can act on their own ideas... things that they feel strongly about and have a passion for, they quickly build momentum and can achieve great things!

Community building events such as pot luck dinners, BBQ's, community produced entertainment, working bees, workshops etc help people to feel more a part of their community and more willing to take part in things more enthusiastically.

It is important to create connection, to re-create the village mind, and celebrate all that each person has to offer. All the skills, ingenuity and creativity that come together to make something truly wonderful happen. Together, we can achieve much more than the sum total of our individuals, we can become resilient and meet the future and what may come with a joy and positivity... knowing that we are not alone.

Sustainable Food for the Future

Food that helps everyone & everything!

One of the most important issues facing the world is creating sustainable food systems for the changing future. We will no longer be able to rely heavily on fossil fuel abundance to grow, transport and store our food, in the way we have been used to.

That doesn't mean we need to starve however. It means we need to get moving on putting in place other options and implement the changes necessary.


GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD

Never underestimate the power of what you can achieve as an individual. Growing at least some of your own food gives you and your family security and resilience, in times of food supply interruption and provides you with healthy, fresh produce. And if everyone grew food, and swapped excesses with friends and neighbours, the whole community would become more self sufficient.

Get started now, while the need is less urgent, so that if the time arises that you need that food, you have ironed out the bugs and can grow successfully.

Growing food is also a wonderful activity for children to be a part of. It provides exercise, sunshine, a bond with the earth, an understanding of cycles and seasons and uplifts your mood. It also makes some special family times and memories... not to mention the delight a child will experience eating the first ripe tomato of the season, or snapping open fresh peas, straight from the plant!


HOME PRODUCE AND COOKING

Learning, and teaching your children, how to cook wholesome, home made meals from scratch, using wholefoods and produce straight from your garden, is a great skill that will set a healthy pattern for their lives. Experiment... cook over a fire, use a wood oven, try a solar oven. Who knows when these skills may be needed.

If you eat butter and cheeses, Why not learn to make your own? What about your own bread... and don't cheat and use the bread machine. Make your own stocks, your own croutons, your own yummy cookies. See how many things that you usually buy pre-made that you can make yourselves.


STORING AND PRESERVING FOODS

Learning how to properly store different foods- from dry goods to fruits and vegetables- will save a lot of wastage and you will be able to make use of a lot more of your abundant crops or bulk purchases for a longer time period. Keeping out pests is an important aspect, as is correct temperature and humidity. Setting up a good pantry or root cellar record list is a great idea, as well as a rotational schedule to make sure you use the oldest items before the newly added ones.

If you have an excess of harvest, why not try learning how to preserve it for later use? The more ways of preservation you can put into practise, the greater variety of preserved food you will be able to produce.

Try some of these:

• Freezing- a common way of preserving, but works better when you actually know what you are doing and follow some simple principles.
• Drying- you can buy special food dryers, or make your own sun dryer.
• Smoking, salting, glacé.
• Making jam- used to be very common, but less so in the age of convenience.
• Bottling/preserving and pickling

HEALTHY DIETS FOR YOU... AND THE PLANET!

Animal products have the greatest environmental impact, in a host of ways, and therefore are not environmentally friendly at all. Many would say they are not good for your health either. Cutting down, or eliminating, meat and other animal products, is a great way of helping cut down greenhouse gases and the massive destruction to the environment brought about especially by factory farming, along with mass clearing land for grazing animals and growing livestock feed..

So, what are healthy diets? The closer you eat to how a food comes naturally (in most cases) the healthier that food should be. So, wholefoods, not processed. If it has an ingredient list... it's probably not very healthy (with certain exceptions of course.)

Vegan, or if you don't feel you can go that far, vegetarian. If you feel you can't give up meat, eggs or dairy make sure it is truly free range organic- not full of chemicals, toxins, hormones and antibiotics.

Eat lots of fresh, organic raw fruits and vegetables. Straight from the plant if you grow your own! You don't want to be eating something that has sat in storage for months, been artificially ripened with gas, or travelled hundreds or thousands of kilometres by the time it reaches you. How many vibrant nutrients do you think it still has after all that?


PROBLEMS WITH CURRENT FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Unfortunately, much of our current agriculture and food production is geared towards making as much money, for as little expenditure as possible- with seemingly little consideration for the "product" (animals or plants) or the humans that end up eating them.

Some problems are:

• Production of enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, and other pollutant, along the entire chain of production.
• Toxic chemicals, hormones, antibiotics etc ending up in both plant and animal foods.
• Deforestation and land degradation to grow/graze.
• Oceans being over fished, polluted, fish ingest mercury and other toxins.
• Huge amounts of fossil fuel used for transport of food over long distances.
• Huge monopolies taking over, and having ultimate control of, certain industries.
• Government subsidies for certain industries.
• Health impact studies sponsored by the industry the studies are testing.
• Processed foods being stripped of nutrients and dietary value.
• People becoming ill, obese and dying as a result of their poor diets.
• Workers rights ignored, and abuse rife, in certain industries.
• Immense suffering and hardship by the animals raised in factory farms.

COMMUNITY FOOD PRODUCTION

Within a community, much of its food can be produced locally, by individuals or small organic growers. Localisation is going to become increasingly important. Apart from individuals growing their own food, there are other options to obtain good healthy produce.

Community gardens are a wonderful way to get the community motivated, and is important for those who may not have their own land for gardening, such as those living in flats or retirement villages. They also provide social interaction, exercise and sunshine to those who take part.

Share gardens is another option, where people with garden space to spare partner with those willing to do a lot of the work. This is particularly relevant for older people who may have larger gardens, but find a lot of gardening too difficult. They may partner with younger people living in nearby apartments, who have no garden areas they can use.

CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) is another great idea, as is approaching local farmers yourself to see if you can buy produce direct... or even have the fun of pick-your-own!

Working together, at a local level, we can create food resilience in our community and ensure the availability of enough food and a healthy diet for all.

Neighbourhood Produce Exchange

A Sustainable Living Kid’s Activity

How many people in your area have an enthusiastic lemon tree which produces more than they can use… an abundant grape vine… or a whole garden full of lovingly grown fruits and veggies?  Often excess produce ends up going to waste, but that doesn’t need to be the case.  The sharing of this bounty can be a part of creating greater community in your area, as well as building local food security.

The best way to begin this project is to be growing at least something yourself, which you can offer to share with neighbours.  Maybe you already have some citrus or stone fruit trees in your garden, pots of herbs, or a big healthy rosemary bush.  Or get busy and plant some easy to grow veggies, like tomatoes, herbs or spinach. 

To begin with you could just visit nearby neighbours and offer them some of your produce.  Make it freely available, without expectation of getting anything in return.  If they have something to share, they will no doubt offer you some of it… and they may offer some to another neighbour, who does the same… and so on.

If you want to do this on a more organised scale, have a wander around your neighbourhood and note down any fruit trees or veggies being grown that you can see from the street.

Create a flyer proposing your produce swap idea and pop it in the letterboxes of those houses, or introduce yourselves to the householder and hand the flyer over personally.  You could also put flyers in other letterboxes also, as not all growing produce will be visible from the street.

You may like to hold a weekly, fortnightly or monthly swap day in your front garden or at a local park (check if permission from council is required) where everyone brings along their excess produce to share.

Or you could create a local listing of people with produce to share, which could either be printed and given out, or online somewhere, such as a blog or facebook page. (Be careful with how much information you give out online!)  Then neighbours get in touch and organise sharing between themselves.

Neighbours might also decide to preserve excess food, such as making jam, canning etc, and then share this with others.

You could also check if there’s already a produce exchange happening in your neighbourhood and decide to join forces with that.  Suggest your neighbours join up and all add your produce to local swap meets.


Parents please note: as with any activity involving your children interacting with other people, especially those you don’t really know, it is best if a trusted adult is present, for their safety.

Getting to Know Your Local Community

A Sustainable Living Kid’s Activity

Do you feel like you are part of a vibrant community, or just one of many separate families living in your area?  Do you know your neighbours and others who live and work in your neighbourhood?  Who lives next door?  Who lives across the road?  Who lives down the street?  What do you have in common with them and what could you share with each other to build a stronger connectedness and community spirit?

In most areas, gone are the days where everyone knew everyone… neighbourhood kids all played together in each others front yards and often got fed along with the family… neighbours helped each other out and shared tools and expertise.  Many families are now much more isolated and spend much of their time indoors, entertained by TV, computers and game consoles.

To build a strong, resilient community we need to try to recapture much of this lost shared living by actively finding ways to once again connect and support our neighbours.

The following are some good activities the whole family can take part in to start this process in your area.  In fact, due to safety issues, especially with younger children, they are definitely better done as a family or with at least one parent or trusted adult.

• Visit some of the small local shops in your area and introduce yourselves to the shopkeepers and staff.
• Go for nightly walks in your neighbourhood, especially at a time when people might be outside- getting home from work or school time, watering the garden etc- and say hi… introduce yourselves.  Also say hi to other walkers you meet on your way.
• Spend some time each day in your front garden and say hi to those who pass by.
• Go and introduce yourself to your nearby neighbours.  You could also take them something, such as excess produce or a jar of homemade jam.
• Welcome a new neighbour to the neighbourhood with a plate of homemade cookies or cake, jar of jam, or a bag of home grown veggies.
• Give seasonal cards or small gifts- such as a jar of homemade jam- to members of the community whom you appreciate, such as a friendly shopkeeper who always tells you when they have something special for sale, local neighbourhood watch people, a community bus driver, a meals on wheels volunteer.
• Spend some time with an elderly person in your neighbourhood... chat about your day... read together.
  
  
  
• Make the offer of collecting mail, watering the garden, or feeding a pet for neighbours if they go on holiday.
• Offer to help a neighbour with a project, such as building a pergola or pruning a hedge.
• Make an offer of tool sharing to a neighbour… they may have different tools they would be willing to share with your family.
• Suggest you and a next door neighbour take it in turns to mow each other’s front lawn or footpath.
• If you have a neighbour- especially an elderly or disabled one- who doesn’t seem to have time or energy to care for their garden, ask if they would be willing to let you plant and care for some veggies in their garden… of which they would get to use as much of the harvest as they wanted.  The rest could be offered to other neighbours or donated to a food bank.
• Offer to pick up supplies when you go shopping for an elderly, ill or disabled neighbour… or an overwhelmed new mum!
• Invite neighbours to be part of a bulk buying project, where you can all go in together to buy something in bulk and save money.  Find out what local suppliers might be happy to provide this service, then you’re not only saving money but supporting your local businesses as well.
• Organise a street party or BBQ at your place, where everyone brings something to share. 
• Organise a multi-cultural evening where neighbours bring a plate of food representing their nationality, or that of their ancestors.
• What about a movie night?  Can you locate a movie with a community or sustainability theme?
• How about organising for interesting community members to speak to local residents- either at your house or a community hall- about thing such as organic gardening, preserving food, various skills etc?
• Get together with other kids in the area and put on your own play or talent showcase.
• Get creative with other local kids making posters, flyers, any decorations or props for any of the relevant events above.   Find places willing to display the posters and deliver the flyers in your local area.

What other ideas can you come up with to help neighbours get to know neighbours and make your area a real community?

See some of our other Sustainable Living Kid’s Activities for some more great ideas!


Parents please note: as with any activity involving your children interacting with other people, especially those you don’t really know, it is best if a trusted adult is present, for their safety.

Keeping Your Community in the Loop

A Sustainable Living Kid’s Activity

To create a vibrant connected community it is important that people feel a part of what’s going on.  A big part of that is making sure that everyone has the opportunity to know what’s happening and share in the events and vibe of their particular community.

This creates great opportunity for young people to take an active part in getting this information out to the community.

Community Newsletter

Why not publish your own community newsletter?  If you can get sponsorship or support through your local council or business you could produce a printed version which is delivered to the residents of your neighbourhood.  Or you could create an online version, via a blog or Facebook page.  Or you could produce both versions to suit the preferences of community members… deliver to those who don’t have access to the internet and allow those who do to access it online.

The newsletter could contain all kinds of things that might be of interest locally such as:

•     Articles about important local issues and concerns
•     A welcome message for new people coming into the community, including new babies born, and goodbyes to those moving on to other areas
•     A calendar of community events such as fairs, fetes & festivals
•     Promotion of local theatre productions or guest speakers appearing
•     Workshops and classes
•     Community markets and swaps
•     Community Action section where local community groups, such as community gardens, swap meets, transition town groups etc can write up what they are doing and encourage others to join
•     Create your own awards for outstanding members of your community who deserve recognition for what they are doing in the community
•     Photos and roundups of local sporting events or other community events, by community members who attended them
•     Mention of new shops which are opening locally
•     Interviews with local politicians, shop keepers, sports teams etc
•     Neighbourhood Watch updates
•     Local `green’ events
•     Get people to review `green’ products and service
•     Free advertising space for local businesses
•     Promotions of worthy charities and fund raising events
•     Traffic disruptions and roadworks
•     A gallery of community photos
•     Competitions- can you get some prizes from local businesses?  How could you relate competitions to creating a greener future or stronger community?
•     Encourage others to submit things such as photographs, artwork, puzzles, stories, articles etc.
  

Community Website or Blog

This could contain the regularly updated newsletter material, but also have more permanent features that tell people about your community.

Some things you may like to include are:

•     Information about local politicians and council members in case people have issues they’d like to raise
•     A listing of local community groups, with details
•     Local sporting groups listing
•     List of regular local events
•     Details about local parks- toilets, playgrounds, BBQ’s , dogs allowed etc.
•     Write-up about each community initiative or project that is being undertaken
  
  
  

Connecting Through Social Media

These days, so many people are getting involved with the many forms of social media available so it makes sense to take advantage of these free social tools to help keep your community in touch.

•     Create a Facebook page.  Post about what’s coming up in the community and write about events that have been held.  Encourage people to send in photos commemorating the events.  Have lively discussions about community issues.
•     Make a Twitter account for quick `tweets’ related to your community.
•     YouTube is a great way of sharing short videos that people make of events held in the community… or to promote upcoming events.
•     Pinterest, Google+, Linked-In plus various others may also be useful for keeping your community in touch.

What other ideas can you come up with for creating a connected community?