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Materialism: so you think you’re not hooked?
‘Understanding ourselves, we come to understand all things, but if we seek to understand all things without knowing the nature of our own awareness, great will be our calamity.’ David Frawley
Do you understand the term ‘exponential function’ and how dangerous it is? We think everyone should
The exponential function is a very surprising (and potentially dangerous) thing. An exponential growth curve looks like this:
Community vetoes for wind farms, but not for fracking? What’s that about?
On the one hand the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Amber Rudd, appears committed to stopping the spread of onshore wind farms; this despite the fact that they are already the most important and cost effective source of renewable energy in the UK, and enjoy the support of two thirds of the population; and …
Invitation to join us at Breaking the Frame gathering in Derbyshire in July
NB: Dave from Lowimpact.org will be giving a talk about the Ujamaa2 idea on the Saturday afternoon, and the whole event will bring together people from various parts of the ‘alternative technology’ field
Is there a correlation between opinions on ecology and opinions on ethnicity?
The reason you’re on this website, I guess, is that you believe that there’s something wrong in terms of ecology, or nature. You may not know the details, but you have a strong feeling (or even quite a precise understanding) that we’re not living in harmony with nature, and that’s going to cause us more …
How Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa idea could form the basis of a new global political system
In 1991, I spent a couple of months in two Ujamaa villages in Tanzania. The Ujamaa system was introduced by Julius Nyerere in the early 1960s, and the World Bank effectively killed it as a system in the late 80s, although a few independent Ujamaa villages survived into the 90s. I’m going to briefly describe …
Is hanging out in nature therapeutic?
As the founder of Nature Therapy CIC I am often asked ‘exactly what is nature therapy?’ Having studied the subject for a Doctorate and travelled extensively across the UK, Europe and the USA to research how nature is used to improve human wellbeing, I am sometimes at a loss to give a short answer.
Incredible ‘Frackogram 2015’ shows the many links of vested interest within the fracking industry and government
In July 2013 I produced a very rudimentary ‘map’of the connections related to un/conventional fossil fuels at the heart of Government. Finally, after two years of research, I have now produced the final detailed version – the Frackogram 2015
What I’ve learnt from talking with City bankers
Recently I’ve had more contact with bankers than I usually do – proper, Square Mile, City bankers. From the things I’ve written on this blog, you’d think we wouldn’t get on. But we did, and we had some really interesting conversations. I want to paraphrase those conversations for you as best I can, and talk …
Tribute to my friend Martin, who died yesterday
My friend Martin died yesterday. I drink at his bar – the Little Bar – and dance. I danced with my partner there many times. He put music on, people danced – and sat and talked. Everyone talked to each other. He sold beer made in a brewery on an industrial estate up the road
Are schools just for preparing kids for a corporate world, and should home education be the norm in a future, non-corporate society?
There was a time when it was much easier for me to stumble into an argument over the choice to home educate than almost any other subject. People who would hesitate to call me a fool for being an anarchist or a vegetarian would wade in with all kinds of
Braziers Park community wants to set up a university completely independent from the corporate sector, and you can get involved
‘When a university becomes a business the whole of student life is transformed. When a university is more concerned with its image, its marketability and the ‘added value’ of its degrees, the student is no longer a student – they become a commodity and education becomes a service.’
Bring back scrumping! Here’s how…
Local Fruit Futures manager Anne-Marie Bur plays a key role in turning schools across Sussex into grounds for the next generation of scrumpers. “It’s really heartening seeing kids picking fruit and eating it fresh.”
Are we forgetting what pristine nature looks like?
Singing about the environment, Joni Mitchell reminded us “that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”; maybe the truth is that very quickly after things are gone they are forgotten, not only lost, but unmissed
Ecological Land Co-op publishes its first annual report; feedback welcome
NB: the Ecological Land Co-op set a precedent in England (following the success of Lammas Ecovillage in Wales) by gaining planning permission for homes on smallholdings outside the development zone (in Devon), by agreeing to abide by strict ecological criteria
The elephant in the room that will be present at all pre-election debates
Last night I attended an event organised by our local Transition group, Transition Town Tooting, where local people were able to meet and chat to parliamentary candidates for the upcoming general election.
Mark Lynas thinks that corporate capitalism can solve climate change – that’s like burning your house down to keep warm
Oh do beware someone who comes before you and claims to be the voice of reason. Mark Lynas does exactly that in this morning’s Guardian and it doesn’t wash. His argument is barely an argument at all, more like a sort of faux man-in-the-street flimflam. Beware.
Interested in rural cohousing? Introducing the Agroecological Land Initiative
The Agroecological Land Initiative is an new organisation founded to advocate and implement agroecological methods in the UK to help secure food sovereignty, energy independence, and environmental regeneration in a way that is financially viable and socially just.
One Planet Development opportunity next to Lammas eco-village in Wales
Here’s an opportunity to you potential smallholders / rat-race escapees: A thirty acre field next to the Lammas ecovillage has come up for sale.
You can help a low-impact, off-grid community obtain permanent planning permission
This is an opportunity to represent and to support our friends at the Steward Community Woodland in their application for permanent planning permission. After 15 years of successful experimentation in sustainable living, they are now applying for permanent planning permission