UrbanWorkbench will be represented at the upcoming Training 4 Transition event in Abbotsford, BC by my wife Robyn Thomas. This course is a useful first step in getting started on the concept of a Transition Town and is being held over two days, March 20th and 21st, 2009, (in Abbotsford, BC). From the Transition United States website:

Transition United States - Upcoming Events

Training for Transition (T4T) - Overview

The course is designed to give a detailed introduction to the most important skills necessary to successfully set up, develop, and run a Transition project in your locality. It is designed for people who are already in a group working to achieve this, or are thinking of creating such a group.

At the end of the course participants will:

• have a clear understanding of the context for transition towns, the current global situation and the transformational possibilities that arise from climate change and peak oil and gas
• know what the Transition Towns model is – Including an in depth look at the key 12 steps from inspiration, setting up the initiating group, all the way to having active and effective working groups
• have experienced a joint visioning process
• understand how to organise effective meetings such as public talks, open space days and small theme working groups
• understand the purpose and principles of an Energy Descent Plan
• have the outline of an effective and inspiring talk on Transition Towns
• have formed useful contacts with other Transition initiatives, and met some of those involved in the Totnes project and Transition Network
• have a plan of action for themselves and their locality

This training will follow the transition model in paying attention to both the outer work and the inner work necessary for a successful transition process. This will be a participatory process, with delegates invited to share their own experience and learn from the many different transition initiatives represented at each course. We also have a more in depth explanation of the training content for this course.

I understand that this course is currently full, however if you are interested in attending, contact Stacey Corriveau - sta…@centreforsocialenterprise.com, efforts are apparently being made to find a larger venue.

Let me know if you are signed up for this training event, or have been to one previously. See my previous post about Transition Castlegar.

This post was written by Mike Thomas for UrbanWorkbench.com © 2008.

Transition Training in Abbotsford

Technorati Tags: Abbotsford, Activism, Castlegar, climate change, Energy, environment, peak oil, Transition Town

The City of Castlegar has shown its support for Earth Hour this week in their Regular Council Meeting- Earth Hour 2009 is dubbed the election between the Earth and Global Warming. It all began in Sydney Australia in 2007 and has spread to become a global initiative to raise awareness of climate change and issues with energy. Sign up to turn your lights off for an hour to show your support for the earth at 8:30PM Saturday 28 March 2009 by clicking on the image below.

I’m more of an advocate of promoting the larger measures that need to be taken - however, it is important that the serious messages of climate change and peak energy are expressed to the citizens of every village, town and city across the globe in the simplest terms possible.  Although the simple act of turning off the lights for an hour isn’t going to save the climate - the inspiration for change that events such as this can have in children, youth and thought leaders in the community is extremely powerful. Our house will definitely be darkened for the hour or more.

Here are some ideas for how to spend the hour:

Here are some ideas for how to spend the hour:

1. Attend local Earth Hour events - or organize one. Add your event, or get details on events near you at Events.EarthHourCanada.org. 2. Go outside and look at the stars. 3. Find a great viewing spot to see your town or city go dark at 8:30 p.m. 4. Take pictures and post them to the Earth Hour Facebook page. 5. Go for a lantern walk through a park. 6. Patronize local restaurants and businesses taking part in Earth Hour. 7. Gather your family or friends for a candle-lit dinner. 8. Meet your neighbours at a street or block party. 9. Have an acoustic music jam. 10. Talk to your children about how much electricity your family uses. Brainstorm ways to reduce it. 11. Tell ghost stories. 12. Listen to the birds, bats or other wildlife. 13. Play flashlight tag. 14. Turn your thermostat down by 1 degree. And leave it there. 15. Play Pictionary with glow-in-the-dark markers. 16. Change all your light bulbs to energy-efficient versions. 17. Have a night game of shinny with a glow-in-the-dark puck or ball (wear reflective vests). 18. Take a walk in the moonlight. 19. Have a candlelit bath. 20. Put a glow stick on your dog’s collar or leash and go for a walk. 21. Toast marshmallows over a tea light candle. 22. Get out your Ouija board. 23. Have a wine or scotch tasting in the dark. 24. Get out the sleeping bags and camp out.on the living room floor. 25. Make a list of ways you could reduce your energy consumption every hour of every day.

Source: WWF - 25 ways to mark Earth Hour 2009

What are your thoughts about initiatives like this? Can it make a difference? Are you going to participate?

This post was written by Mike Thomas for UrbanWorkbench.com © 2008.

Earth Hour

Technorati Tags: Australia, Castlegar, climate change, Earth, Earth Hour, environment, Facebook, global warming, Sydney

Part of the Transitions Network program is a series of courses called “Skilling Up for Powering Down”. One of the challenges is convincing people that there is value in preparing for a power-down scenario. If you read the news or watch TV - you’d’ be forgiven for assuming that the world is already well on track to replacing petroleum products with wind power and hybrid vehicles. As my dad, who was in advertising, always said, don’t believe everything you read - or see on TV.

The Techno-Miracle Fallacy

We lived in Newcastle, Australia for about 4 years before moving to the Kootenays, BC. Newcastle is just north of Sydney and the main port for coal extracted from the hunter valley region. Surrounded by mountains of coal waiting to be shipped off to faraway lands stood a lone wind turbine, right by this hype-industrial harbour, built on the profits of fossil fuel extraction. This wind turbine was something of a novelty in a land of coal-fired power plants, it’s turbines eliciting a hypnotic response from drivers distracted by the large white structure towering  beside dirty coal tankers and miles of coal handling facilities. This is the irony, a region reliant on the sale of coal to overseas markets and using coal to generate most of it’s electricity had one of the first wind turbines in Australia - with no more development in wind in the following years.

Compared to coal, the level of investment in alternative sources of energy like wind, tidal or wave power is negligible, and for any increase in investment - it requires a shift of money from something else - if you haven’;t noticed, there’s just not a whole lot of money floating around looking for something to do! Technology will be part of the solution, but it is prudent to remember that for thousands of years before the last century, there were no major industrial activities, or a financial sector, or even an industry built around the extraction of materials to create electricity. For most of history, the main efforts of humanity have been on a local scale and have involved the local production of tools, food and goods for personal and community uses as well as for trade with the “outside” world.

Reduced dependence on fossil fuels is a key component of combating climate change as well, (for those who don’t get the whole Peak Oil thing).  The challenge is whether or not you believe that technology can really “save” us in time - either before the oil and gas runs out, or before climate change can’t be stopped and we face a much warmer future, with all that that entails.

Powering Down

The Transition Handbook offers many suggestions for how communities may make the transition to a lower energy future. If you haven’t read it, I strongly recommend it - and while you are purchasing it, get a couple of copies for your local elected leaders.

If you’d like to support UrbanWorkbench and the work we do here - use these link to purchase the book from amazon.com or ca:

• In the US
• In Canada

Acknowledging that changes to how we live and operate as a society are the first steps in understanding what is required to make that change. Last week  I had a discussion where the group came to the realization that animals may be required again, to perform heavier tasks in transportation or agriculture, and we would need to re-learn the skills of animal care, feeding and breeding. Also, the equipment required for animals, such as bridles and saddles, despite modern materials is still best constructed from metal and leather - again suitable local industries that require a skilling up for sufficient capacity to be sustainable.

Powering down is recognized by groups the world over as a safe means of transitioning away from a fossil-fuel based society.  Interestingly, people assume that their level of life satisfaction or health will deteriorate as a result of less energy. I’ve heard it said that people think they will be happier with more goods and income, but, so the theory goes, often when these goods are available, quality  of life actually decreases as our time gets wrapped up in paying for the goods through more work, our relationships diminish and society crumbles as individualism flourishes.

Powering Down would require intense community cooperation - this is the scariest part for many people - they don’t know their neighbours… relationships can be tough. If it comes to a survival scenario - i.e. a “Long Emergency”, will we operate as an efficient community? Or will we attempt to survive on our own in the woods, (or the suburbs, as the case may be)?

This post was written by Mike Thomas for UrbanWorkbench.com © 2008.

Powering Down

Technorati Tags: Australia, Business, climate change, Energy, Fossil fuel power plant, Renewable, Sustainability, Wind, Wind power, Wind turbine

We are looking for residents of Castlegar who are interested in making the city a long-term sustainable community to live in. The challenges of Climate Change, Peak Oil and the economy stand in the face of our car-dependent heavily industrialized economy. We believe that the community is the level at which these challenges can be best met and that relying on other levels of government to provide all the answers will not serve our community well into the future.

If you are interested in being part of a committee to initiate the transition of Castlegar from oil-dependence to community-resilience please drop me an email.

For more information about the concept of a transition town, see this site.

This post was written by Mike Thomas for UrbanWorkbench.com © 2008.

Transitions Castlegar

Why be a sustainable community?

• Involved connected creative community

Necessity – statutory requirements of land planning

• Building within the environmental carrying capacity
• Population growth 1988 - 4,000 people 2015 30,000 people. (16% growth)

Country residential fragments and expands infrastructure of all types

Dwellers on the threshold

A choice to be made -

• Planned destiny
• By intent
• A vision for 2030

Good Governance is critical

Resident Commitment

• 89% of community is somewhat in support
• 90% of residents are somewhat aware of the sustainability activcities of the community

Corporate Commitment

• It’s a project of not a department of the municipality

Can it be done?

Strategic Growth

• Clear targets negotiated well in advance
• 15-20 year build out
• A plan
• Land ownership of environmentally sensitive areas
• Density
• Water use (currently 333, target of 318 litres per capita per day).
• Increased non-residential service base.

Water

• Living within our means
• compared with high river at 778 litres per capital per day.
• Sheep river ecological and water alocation issues
• 30% reduction per capita since the 90’s
• 100% metering
• incentives and initiatives
• self funded water system
  • moving toward 90% Consumption Based / 10% Fixed Rate Structure (currently 80/20 split)
  • Increasing Block Rate Structure for seasonal consumptive patterns
• Water Conservation Regulations
  • Odd numbered addresses Thurs and Sunday etc
• Development Density Bonus Water Conservation
• Also relates to GHG reductions.

Wastewater

• system generates grade A compost sewerage sludge (mixed with sawdust) 100% pathogen kill, average 16 days then 6-8 months offsite.
• Bio reactor processes 2.45 million litres per day
• EPCOR design build operate contract
• returns high quality treated effluent amounts of 70-80% of the Town’s daily water withdrawl.
• Massive improvements in effluent quality

Energy

• Municipal buildings – ecoefficiency
• 30% Total reduction in energy (up to 805 in some buildings)
• 20% reduction in GHG
• Solar energy for aquatic centre
• UV Pool Cleaning System – lower energy and reduced CO2

Drake Landing

• Seasonal Solar Project
• 90% solar fraction
• 1^st subdivision to be entirely R2000
• Reduction of 5 tonnes of GHG per year (average home 6-7 tonnes)
• Solar collectors on rear detached solar heating loops
  • underground thermal storage (boreholes energy thermal system)
  • district energy system
  • 50-60% of a families hot water needs are met by the solar system
• Homes are all Built Green Certified

Waste

• Zero waste target goal by 2015
• Tonnage per capita dropped in the 90’s, then crept up since then
• Discontinue collection of yard waste
• 40% of waste being diverted from landfill due to community recycling efforts

Land

• turf management
• forest management
• pesticide use
• xeriscaping
• sustainable neighbourhood design
• Downtown revitalization
  • Prohibit strip malls
  • discourage unnecessary signage
• Commercial assessment ration has risen
• Labour Force commuting outside of the community has reduced from ~60% to ~40%
• Preserving the small town atmosphere
• Preserving the “Past”
• Parkway connections
  • Interface of parks and gathering locations

Choices around finite growth model concerning the population pressures around the Calgary Region.

This post was written by Mike Thomas for UrbanWorkbench.com © 2008.

BSC2009 - The Sustainability of Okotoks

Technorati Tags: BSC2009, Business, Energy, environment, Okotoks, Renewable, Solar, Solar energy, Solar heating, water conservation