Fixed term contract until 31st March 2013 with annual extension to March 2015 depending on further funding. 15 hours per week (0.4 FTE). Salary £29,877 pro rata.

A full job description is available from the Soil Association web site.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the evening with lantern making, food and song including our friends in Bishopsteignton who sent over some food from their Earth Hour event for us to share. We would also like to thank Robin Brown and friends for providing the fabulous live music. See you all next year.

Mary

‘The energy minister, Charles Hendry, is to visit Iceland in May to discuss connecting the UK to its abundant geothermal energy. “We are in active discussions with the Icelandic government and they are very keen,” Hendry told the Guardian. To reach Iceland, which sits over a mid-ocean split in the earth’s crust, the cable would have to be 1,000 to 1,500km long and by far the longest in the world’.

See this Guardian story at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/11/iceland-volcano-green-power

For many of us who have previously been to the zoo (more than 5 years ago) it challenged our view of the role that zoos can play in sustainable living and the crucial relationship between plants and animals. Zoos, at least Paignton, could become TET’s most visited tourist attraction.

We were not expecting to be shown around the zoo or to see how the ethical motif of sustainability underpins so much of their work. As we know biodiversity, both in plants and animals, plays a leading role in our survival and here it is in action led by a passionate advocate in the field.

Following a slide show of the verticrop system illustrating how this intensive vertical growing system can produce huge crops, without soil, crops that have higher nutritional value and are protected from pests and diseases, we were led through to see the system. Besides providing constant food for the animals, the application of this model could have a use in providing fresh food in cities or any land challenged area.

In other situations it frees up land that can then be used for crucial habitats for diffent species. It also produces fresh food where it is needed thus cutting air-miles. We could appreciate why this work has received so many awards both nationally and internationally.

Finally, we were shown a small system using fish and their by-products to nurture vegetables. We are hoping to have a future event in Teignmouth on this topic. Watch this space!

Bring food and enjoy an evening of song, food and music by lantern light at TAAG, Northumberland Place, Teignmouth.

To ensure we have some beautiful lanterns for the night please also join us for a fun couple of hours of lantern making from 4pm on Friday 23rd March at TAAG. Materials provided.

Earth Hour
Earth Hour is is an annual global event when people across the world turn off lights for one hour between 8.30 – 9.30 pm to celebrate the planet together and raise awareness of climate change. More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. See http://www.earthhour.org/.

See what Teign Estuary Transition got up to for Earth Hour last year at:
http://teigntransition.org.uk/2011/03/27/saturday-26th-march-social-event-celebrated-earth-hour/

We also have a flier here for downloading if you would like to print out copies to put in your window or pass on to others

Peter North-Low Carbon Liverpool/University of Liverpool

Pete North gained his BA in History and Politics in 1984. After a few years
working for the Departments of Employment, Trade and Industry, and
Environment, he gained his MA in Peace Studies from the University of
Bradford (1993) and his PhD from the School for Advanced Urban Studies at
the University of Bristol (1997). He was a post-doctoral Research Associate
on a project on Local Business Representation in Local Economic Development
at the University of Sheffield (1996-7). Between 1997 and 2002 he was Senior
Research Fellow at the Local Economy Policy Unit at South Bank University.
He joined the University of Liverpool in 2002. His research focus is on
alternatives to neoliberal globalisation, from a political economy
perspective. Peter is currently working on a one year Economic and Social
Research Council-funded project “Building the Low Carbon Economy on
Merseyside.”    The project is a ‘knowledge exchange’ involving the
University, Liverpool Vision, Liverpool Chamber, and Groundwork Merseyside.
The project aims to understand the practical opportunities and constraints
in building a low carbon economy on Merseyside, moving from an emphasis
primarily on economic growth for what has been seen as an economically
lagging city. He is a founding member of Low Carbon Liverpool-the local
Transition Initiative.

Poldhu Room, Kay Building, University of Exeter
6.30pm Wednesday 7th of March

Saturday 11th February 10am-2pm
Methodist Hall,
Le Molay Littry Way, Bovey Tracey
Free Entry – Seeds only 50p!

Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a complete beginner, come and stock up on really good vegetable seeds at 50p a pack!

Bring your saved seeds, to swap.

There will be expert advice, home-made refreshments, tombola and a junior-gardener area, where under 16s can pot up and take home free seeds!

Good wheelchair access.

Ring Gail on 01626 832478 for more information

Or e-mailgailbanham@talktalk.net

Copies of the Plan are being made available for comment on Saturday, January 28th at the Teignmouth Heritage Centre, French Street, between 10am and 4pm. Also on Tuesday January 24th at The Strand Church, Dawlish, 2 – 8pm and Saturday, February 11th, Mary Hall Suite, Kingsteignton Community Hall, 10am – 4pm.

Printed copies of the draft Core Strategy are available from the reception at TDC offices, Forde House, at a cost of £5 and the plan can also be viewed online at: www.teignbridge.gov.uk/planteignbridge

All of a sudden, bankers have no money and we the taxpayers have to rescue them! Bailouts, stimulus packages, debt piled upon debt…Where will it all end?

Money As Debt II – Promises Unleashed explores the baffling, fraudulent and destructive mechanisms of the money system that holds us hostage to ever-growing debt… and how we might evolve beyond it into a new era.

Following on from Teign Estuary Transition’s successful screening of Money as Debt I last year, this event will provide an opportunity to consider the importance of a thriving local economy. We will view Money As Debt II and excerpts of Money as Debt III: Evolution Beyond Money followed by discussion and development of an action plan for a sustainable local economy that is not based on a traditional model. Suggestions made last year included the use of Credit Unions, LETS schemes and developing our own local currency.

Please join us at TAAG’s Arts & Community Centre, Northumberland Place, Teignmouth on Tuesday 24th January 7.30pm.

Free entry; donations welcome. Refreshments available at a small charge.

Please download the poster here if you are able to display a copy:

Africa is on the frontline of climate change and the effects of climate change can be felt across the continent. The Weather Gods, a new hard hitting documentary, tells the story of the people in the front line of climate change: rural communities in Mali and Kenya and South Africa.