From the Green Capital Momentum Group:

The aim of the fund

Bristol’s communities have some great ideas about how they could improve the city and make us a low carbon city with a high quality of life. This fund aims to help communities to do more by providing funding, advice and support.

Who can apply?

The grants are available for charities, voluntary and community based groups, and non-profit companies, based in, and working with communities in Bristol. They must be able to demonstrate clear community led management.

When should you apply?

The closing date for applications will be July 30th 2010 and by January 31st 2011.

We shall publish the detailed arrangements for the applications shortly.

Who will make the decision on applications?

Applications will be decided by a panel made up of representatives from the City Council and Momentum Group.

A full list of names will be published but applicants will not be allowed to lobby them to support their applications.

What activities will be eligible?

Activities which contribute to the aim of being a low carbon city with a high quality of life will be eligible. Projects will need to contribute directly to the aims of Green Capital Vision and to lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, projects will need to be viable, community led, fair, reach new audiences and not duplicate an existing activity.

How much money can you apply for?

You can apply for any amount of money from £1,000 to £10,000.

How do you find out more?

If you would like us to send you more details about the fund please by email us at green.capital@bristol.gov.uk

or

If you would like to discuss it contact Mark Leach, Bristol City Council 0117 922 4379

Check back for updated information here.

St Werburghs Community Centre

Description: An interactive one day course about how a community can set up an Energy Service Company (ESCo) as a means of taking control of the basic energy services that would enable us to live more sustainably following permaculture principles. It will provide participants with a basic understanding of what a community run ESCo is, how it might work and what the steps are in establishing one in their community.

Course content:

• Energy services as part of our life support system
• Examples of community run ESCos and what they are achieving
• Keeping the community in the driving seat – governance and legal models
• Working in partnership with local authorities and the private sector
• Financing an ESCo
• Where to find support and advice
• Action planning

Organisation / local government / corporate £100
Individual / Small organisation / community group £65
Low income Individual £40

For more information go to http://www.shiftbristol.org.uk/

Things are looking good for Bristol Green Doors to get 50 open homes and to be a dynamic people-focussed response to the challenges of climate change and peak oil. The project has grown out of, and been stimulated by Transition activity, and now represents a great opportunity to demonstrate something increasingly valued by local and central government – the power of community. Thanks to all of you who are already inputting into the project. It is great, keep it up!!

Around 50% of people who visit an open Ecohomes event go on and make changes to their own home or lifestyle. What we are going to do is therefore a very effective way of getting people of all sorts to lower the CO2 emissions from their homes.

The last two weekends we have had very successful days getting feedback, attracting homes and raising awareness at the Festival of Nature and other opportunities. From this clusters of homes in “new” areas like Clifton and Totterdown have evolved which is very exciting. The feedback shows the public get the idea of it being a green homes oriented mix of Doors Open Day and an Art Trail.

Our plans have slightly changed in two key areas. Firstly the development of the Bristol Green Doors programme. This will now run over 2 months to include courses and industry events at CREATE, workshops at hubs, talks and films at the Architecture centre, Coexist and KWMC and local events in WOT, Mont and Easton and to end with the ESTs Energy saving Week 25-31st October.

The involvement of libraries has slightly changed (for the better!) too. CSE/EST have agreed to deliver home energy saving workshops in libraries all over Bristol alongside a Bristol Green Doors touring display. The Centre for Sustainable Energy will also support with linking to the fuel poverty agenda – via work being undertaken by their own Warming Bristol Communities project so directly promoting the event to the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.

Bristol Green Doors has been invited to be part of the Energy Saving Trust’s pilot national exemplar homes scheme. It is an official Green Capital Momentum Group project and is becoming a Community Interest Company.

Last week saw the first of two pieces in Venue (the next time I’ll iron my shirt), us starting the EPC work on recruited homes (thanks Hamish and Paul), the recruitment of a home in Westbury on Trym through a misaddressed email and major interest coming from the Federation of Master Builders and various other sponsors.
Full details of the programme, homes recruitment, volunteers, etc are on our website (www.bristolgreendoors.org) but to emphasise we are aiming for 50 homes in 10 neighbourhoods and June is our recruitment month.

Get in touch if you want to put your own home on, or support the project somehow.

Dan Weisselberg – dan@bristolgreendoors.org

A Create event in support of the 10:10 campaign www.1010uk.org

Get energised for summer at Create’s solar- and pedal-powered celebration of low carbon living.

• Free children’s activities plus hands-on demos, workshops and energy saving advice from the experts.
• Meet a Bristol City football player
• Have fun in the sun with live music and locally sourced food and drink.
• Free entry; steam train running from ss Great Britain (£3 return).
• See a full list of the day’s activities

Dear All,

This is to invite you to Zero Carbon Bristol on June 29th at The Watershed on the Bristol waterfront. This is a one-day conference, from 9:30 to 4:30, to explore the idea that Bristol can work with its bioregion — its ‘Green Halo’ — to become a Zero Carbon Green Capital. The event has been organised jointly with the Royal Agricultural College and their South West Rural Update network, and with Bristol City Council’s Green Capital Initiative, supported by BETS (Bristol Environmental Technologies and Services — soon to be renamed Low Carbon South West) and ASP — the Association of Sustainability Practitioners

We have a great programme — speakers include Herbie Girardet from the World Future Council, Peter Harper from CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology, and Kosha Joubert from GEN, the Global Ecovillage Network. And quite a few more — see below — plus there’s a World Cafe in the afternoon, with plenty of opportunity for dialogue and networking. And we’ll wrap up with a session on Outcomes, with quite a few already in the works…

You can download the Zero Carbon Bristol programme and booking form – and completed booking forms can be emailed to Bev Allen at the Royal Agricultural College.

What is Zero Carbon?
Zero Carbon is the idea that a community can be carbon neutral. There are many proposed solutions to global warming — carbon offsetting, CCS, contraction & convergence, as well as personal carbon trading. Zero Carbon is simple and radical — every community takes care of itself. It doesn’t require anyone else to agree — it’s the simplest to do and hardest to fudge, or to turn into a global scam Cap and Trade. All we have to do is figure out how to do it, then do it, then help others do it — and that’s the challenge!

What does Zero Carbon involve?
Carbon is the basis of life, so zero emissions means either a dead planet (worst case scenario!) or zero net emissions – balancing reduced missions, making energy without emissions, and sequestering carbon to balance the remaining emissions. Is this possible? CAT will publish their report Zero Carbon Britain a week before this event, and the World Future Council have published a report 100% Renewable Energy – and Beyond – for Cities. And the Farm of the Future can even sequester carbon.

What is Zero Carbon Bristol?
It’s an event to explore the possibility of Bristol as a leading Green Capital becoming a Zero Carbon City. It builds on Bristol’s Peak Oil Report, and the ambitious goals announced by Bristol City Council to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 — and aspirations to produce the City’s energy renewably and to increase tree cover in the region. This is to take things a step further — to see if Zero Carbon is possible, desirable, and if so what do we need to do? It’s a chance to learn, to discuss, perchance to plan.

Speakers and Programme
Download the programme or see it on the Zero Carbon Bristol website. Alastair Sawday and David Bishop will chair and introduce. Herbie Girardet and Peter Harper will explain the essentials of renewable energy and zero carbon. Richard Baines from the Royal Agricultural College and Ade Morley will talk about low carbon farming and agroforestry. Kosha Joubert from GEN will talk about the skills for living in low carbon communities — with Joy Carey talking about Bristol’s local food plan. I’ll say why Zero Carbon is important for Bristol, Steve Marriott will talk about BCC’s emission planning, and Dan Weisselberg will explain things YOU can do.

Vala Ragnarsdottir, who helped created Bristol’s Sustainability Vision will talk about creating a shared vision, and lead a World Cafe in the afternoon with Kosha. Most of the speakers will host a table, so you can spend more time with them. We’ll round off with a panel looking at outcomes that might help carry this initiative — and yours — forward. This will include Ashridge Management College on Leadership, Kirsten Rath from UKTI and John Bradford from Science City Bristol on opportunities for the Green Economy.

Who should come to Zero Carbon Bristol?
Even if you’re not an activist this can be for you! This is for anyone who thinks half measures won’t be enough, who thinks we should be raising the bar at the right height as we figure out how to jump it. It’s for anyone who favours clear thinking, intelligent planning and direct action, and who wants to lead by example. It’s for anyone who wants to see a consensus strong enough to create a tipping point. Whether you’re in business or an NGO, academia, government or you’re an independent, please come along…

Location and Cost
The event is at The Watershed, (map) on Bristol’s waterfront from 9:30 to 4:30 on June 29th, and the price is £100, which covers refreshments and lunch. Paying the full list price of £100 helps subsidise the event — thank you!…

Discount for SWRU, BETS, GCI, ASP, Coexist members
For our sponsor networks – the RAC’s South West Rural Update, BETS (Bristol Environmental Technologies and Services), Bristol’s Green Capital Initiative, and ASP (Association of Sustainability Practitioners), and the Coexist community, our break-even cost is £65. On the booking form, beside subsidy code, write which group you’re a member of.

Special Offer for You
If you’re not a member of one of these networks you can still write ‘Friend of ______’ for subsidy code and put my name, and then you can book for £65 as well. Sooner is better.

Please Tell Your Friends and Networks
We hope you can come. And if you know others who would be interested in this event, please forward this or invite them in whatever way seems appropriate to you. Tell them to put your name on the booking form as the subsidy code and they can get the special price too – and we’ll know who to thank!

Travel and Accommodation
The Watershed is about a mile from Bristol Templemeads Station. Use a taxi or walk via Queens Square. By car, there are two car parks on nearby Millennium Square. If you need to stay overnight, Bristol Youth Hostel is just across the footbridge, and the IBIS Bristol Centre hotel is just a couple of hundred yards away, and cheap and cheerful.

If you have any questions please get in touch with me or Bev Allen. I hope to see you at Zero Carbon Bristol…

With best wishes,

David
David Saunders • david@dns.org.uk • egregoria.org
Egregoria Community Interest Company • building sustainable communities and Breakthrough Energy Technologies • community renewable energy 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QY • +44 117 942 0100 +44 7790 779470

Venue: Lloyds TSB Amphitheatre on the 31st July and 1st August 2010

The Bristol Village Fayre aims to celebrate and showcase the best that Bristol has to offer in terms of local food, entertainment, skills & crafts, community projects and City Council initiatives. Whilst providing a fun and interactive atmosphere, the underlying aim is to spark people’s interest in sustainability, climate change and other environmental issues and give them ideas for reducing their carbon footprint that they can take back home. This side of the event intends to be quite subtle and accessible to people from all walks of life. As part of a range of approaches to engage with the general public, we want to deliver a dynamic program of experiential and experimental workshops for the public to get stuck in to as well as many interactive activities to inspire and connect with people on key issues around sustainable lifestyles, energy, transport and food production.

There will be 5 areas:
- The West Country Market and Bar
- The Cookery School
- The Garden
- The Bicycle Funfair
- The Renewable Energy Stage
- The Home Zone

The Festival itself has an estimated footfall of 250,000 over the course of the weekend and it tends not to be the usual suspects so you’ll be reaching a large, hard-to-reach audience.

We’re asking participants to contribute interesting and interactive activities. There will be some remuneration for materials costs.

If interested, please respond to Rowan Matthieson at rowan.matthiessen@googlemail.com

May

An Introduction to Permaculture with Sarah Pugh.

Tuesday 11th May – 1st June (Four Tuesday Evenings).

St Werburghs Community Centre 6.30pm – 9.30pm

Four Tuesday evenings exploring the principles and practice of Permaculture, a holistic and commonsense approach to sustainable living. Learn to work with rather than against nature to create abundant, reslient systems in our gardens, farms, homes and communities. Talks, workshops, slideshows and observational wild walk.
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £100
Individual / Small organisation / community group £65
Low income Individual £40

Principles of Ecological Living and Traditional Systems with Mike Feingold.

Thursday 13th May.

St Werburghs Community Centre 7.00pm – 9.o0pm

An evening with Mike Feingold, Permaculture tutor and international practitioner. An exploration of sustainability as practiced in traditional communities around the world. An inspirational and informative slideshow based on a lifetimes work on community led regeneration and self-suffiency. Full of valuable insights into creating healthy and vibrant local systems from the grass-roots up.
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £10
Individual / Small organisation / community group £5
Low income Individual £3

The Living Landscape with Patrick Whitefield.

Thursday 20th May.

St Werburghs Community Centre 7.00pm – 9.00pm

An evening talk and slideshow with author, permaculture teacher and designer Patrick Whitefield. A lifetime of learning about how to read the health and history of the landscape with examples from all over the UK. Patrick specialises in an intricate knowledge of the UK and offers practical solutions of how to manage and repair our soils, hedgerows, agricultural and wild spaces. A unique opportunity to see slides of the making of his new book ‘The Living Landscape’.
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £10
Individual / Small organisation / community group £5
Low income Individual £3

June

Weaving the Magic with Nick Osborne.

Wednesday 16th June.

Easton Community Centre 10.00am – 4.00pm

A one day course designed to help people in transition-groups work more effectively, enjoyably & sustainably together.

Why is it needed? Many social action groups fail or are ineffective because we don’t pay enough attention to quality of our relationships with each other, our group process, conflict management or how we run our meetings.

What the course covers: Effective meetings, conflict management, looking after ourselves & each other, roles & tasks, group purpose, collaborative communication and power, decision-making & leadership.

Benefits of doing the course;

* Understand the diverse features which create & sustain healthy groups
* Identify issues your group is currently facing
* Plan for how to address difficult issues

Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £150
Individual / Small organisation / community group £75
Low income Individual £50

The Work That Reconnects with Jenni Horsfall.

Wednesday 23rd June.

Venue TBC 10.00am – 5.00pm

The Work That Reconnects is a pioneering form of group work that began in the 1970s. It demonstrates our interconnectedness in the web of life and our authority to take action on its behalf. It has helped many thousands around the globe find insight, solidarity, and courage to act, despite rapidly worsening conditions. Based on systems theory, spiritual teachings, and deep ecology,
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £100
Individual / Small organisation / community group £65
Low income Individual £40

July

How to initiate an alternative local economy with Josh Ryan-Collins.

Monday 5th July.

WildGoose Space 10.00am – 4.00pm

A one days workshop on understanding and building resilience into your local economy.

Course content:

* Public sector procurement activity
* Support for small businesses (e.g. local currencies/loyalty cards)
* Support for local financial infrastructure (e.g. working with credit unions/new investment vehicles)
* B2C currencies and how to introduce them (e.g. Brixton/Totnes pound)
* Social currencies (e.g. Timebanking) to support the economically excluded
* B2B schemes (e.g. commercial barter schemes)
* Digital currency models

Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £150
Individual / Small organisation / community group £80
Low income Individual £60

How to set up an ESCo (Community ‘Energy Supply Company’) with Trevor Houghton.

Tuesday 6th July.

St Werburghs Community Centre 10.00am – 4.00pm

Description: An interactive one day course about how a community can set up an Energy Service Company (ESCo) as a means of taking control of the basic energy services that would enable us to live more sustainably following permaculture principles. It will provide participants with a basic understanding of what a community run ESCo is, how it might work and what the steps are in establishing one in their community.

Course content:

* Energy services as part of our life support system
* Examples of community run ESCos and what they are achieving
* Keeping the community in the driving seat – governance and legal models
* Working in partnership with local authorities and the private sector
* Financing an ESCo
* Where to find support and advice
* Action planning

Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £100
Individual / Small organisation / community group £65
Low income Individual £40

Building Organisational Resilience with Nick Osborne.

Wednesday 14th July.

Create Centre 10.00am – 4.00pm

Resilience means different things in different contexts; what is common is the notion of bouncing back from disruptions and in some cases adapting to change, and in some cases both at the same time. With today’s world being characterised by increasingly fast-paced change, unpredictability, complexity and the challenges of adapting to resource constraints, interest is growing in what we can do to make our organisations and institutions more resilient.

This one-day course is an introduction and approach to organisational resilience which suggests that ‘business as usual’ is looking like an increasingly unlikely prospect in an unstable and unpredictable future. This course explores how thinking about complex organisational and social issues in simple, linear ways often leads people to try and solve problems with quick fixes rather than resilient, adaptable solutions. Einstein said ‘The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them’. This course provides an approach based on understanding organisations as complex systems which need to be understood and worked with as such.

The course covers:

* the context and need for organisational resilience
* an evolutionary understanding of different approaches to social and organisational problems
* understanding 4 aspects of organisational life which can be worked on to help make the organisation more resilient:
* inner personal resilience of leaders, managers and staff
* what types of behaviour by leaders, managers and staff can help an organisation become more resilient
* developing organisational culture for resilient organisations
* organisational structures, processes, policies & infrastructure for resilient organisations

Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £150
Individual / Small organisation / community group £75
Low income Individual £50

Permaculture Allotment Gardening Techniques with Mike Feingold.

Saturday 17th July.

Starting at Royate Hill Community Orchard (on Royate Hill Allotments) & finishing at Kebele Social Centre 1.00pm – 7.00pm

The day will start with a shared lunch, followed by a practical workshop at Royate Hill allotment, finished by a slideshow on permaculture horticultural techniques. A tour of Mike’s permaculture allotment – a work in progress for over 20 years. Low impact and sustainable practice at its most radical and experimental.
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £50
Individual / Small organisation / community group £35
Low income Individual £20

To be confirmed:

A weekend of Transition Training.

How to run an open space event.

Up and coming future events!

22nd and 23rd September.

Holding the Vision – With Starhawk.

An inspired exploration of working creatively in groups by internationally renowned author and facilitator.
Category (Click here for more info on this) Price
Organisation / local government / corporate £200
Individual / Small organisation / community group £80
Low income Individual £50

Go to the Shift Bristol website for more information.

Bookings

To book a place click here

9 am to 1 pm in the medical centre car park, Westbury-on-Trym

This month at the market we have an advice stand from the Energy Savings Trust – find out how you could save both energy and money. SusWot will also be there with information on the new government schemes that allow you to produce and/or invest in renewable energy.

More info at www.suswot.org.uk

People, Learning, Energy and Homes
The UK has a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. As 27% of our current CO2 emissions come from our homes, lowering domestic fossil fuel based energy consumption is critical. Bristol Green Doors will show how homes and lifestyle can be made fit for the future and help people to make the changes necessary by learning directly from others.

www.bristolgreendoors.org

Bristol Green Doors is an open homes weekend where people can see and discuss the ways home owners or tenants have reduced their homes energy efficiency through no-cost to high-cost retrofitting, installation of renewables and behaviour change. The weekend will be permanently supported by a unique online directory offering mapping and networking throughout the year so enabling the continuation of the learning process.

Considerable work is going on to prepare the launch of this event which is attracting some very major interest. In the meantime we are aware that some of you are wondering how homes will be recruited. We have a whole range of routes which we will pursue to attract homes. They include:

• Via architects contactable through specialist newsletters e.g. Green Register, RIBA and AECB membership, Architecture Centre Newsletter
• Via Renewable Installation Co’s who will contact clients on our behalf. Solar Sense in Long Ashton have 80+ homes they have said they will contact
• Through the Refit West scheme. Their selected homes and others whose details they hold
• Through local press, leaflets at community and BCC events e.g. Natural History Festival etc
• And of course through Transition Neighbourhood and other community groups

We are also preparing a support package for all homes based on best practice and feedback from previous events, many of which have been run by Transition groups or by people that we know. As many neighbourhood groups know, there is a strong community element to the project as homes will be clustered on a neighbourhood basis with a public hub (library, community centre) as a central information point. Supporting activity such as energy advice from EST and workshops can be given from these hubs.

Please keep September 11 -12th free for what could be a great event for Transition Bristol and look on our website www.bristolgreendoors.org for details of the launch evening later in May (final details being confirmed as this goes out) where the project will be presented and you can think how you would like to be involved. Alternatively contact us directly info@bristolgreendoors.org to be kept informed.

On Monday 22nd March, 25 people from various Transition Bristol neighbourhood groups (including 5 from Montpelier) attended a Home Energy Auditing Training run by the Energy Savings Trust’s Green Communities team at the CREATE centre. The aim of the training was to develop teams of known, friendly and approachable people who can support and advise people on domestic energy efficiency within their neighbourhoods.

27% of the UK’s CO2 emissions are from our homes. This needs to be reduced significantly.

We had an excellent day and our enthusiasm and passion was commented on by our trainer Bev. Comments from some of the delegates include: “Thanks for the great event on monday”, ” I really enjoyed the part of the course I attended on Monday-thanks for organising it”, Monday was an excellent day, Thank you”.

The training course content was put together by people from Transition Montpelier’s energy group (TMEG) and the Easton Energy Group and is strongly informed by the success of the Household Energy Service in Shropshire who have just been awarded a significant grant to furthur the excellent work they are doing with communities in their county. We are hopeful that this training, combined with some significant other work going on in Bristol, can hasten the way forward to our city becoming more energy efficient, secure and sustainable.

Futher information:

Cavity Walls

Programming Central Heating

The follow up document from the training here features links to many other useful sites.