Towards a Low Carbon Kirklees – 28th November 2015

Towards a Low Carbon Kirklees
An exciting day conference

Saturday 28th November 2015
10.30am to 4.30 pm
At Quayside at the University of Huddersfield

Towards a Low Carbon Kirklees will concentrate on how the issues of climate change affect us locally. We’ll be looking to you for ideas and solutions about collective actions that will contribute to a successful transition to a low carbon economy – in our communities and through our council and university.

Whilst there are already a number of fantastic initiatives in Kirklees, there is so much more that can be done. Now that Kirklees Council has committed to divesting of fossil fuel investment, how are we progressing in reducing our carbon dependency in other areas?

Book tickets for Towards a Low Carbon Kirklees 

Speakers

• Elizabeth Cox leads the New Economy in Practice team at the New Economics Foundation (NEF). Her work includes supporting Local Authorities to develop economic strategies and supporting community groups to deliver projects which impact on their local economies.NEF is an independent think tank that specialises in innovative economic thinking.

  More about Elizabeth Cox

   

• Sir John Harman has been chair of The Institute for European Environmental Policy’s Board of Trustees since September 2010 and attended the United Nations Earth Summit in 2012. John was chairman of the Environment Agency from 2000 until 2008. His tenure as chairman saw fundamental reshaping of both Flood Risk and Environmental Protection policy. Prior to this he was leader of Kirklees Council for 13 years.

Other Speakers and workshop leaders

• Cllr David Sheard (Leader, Kirklees Council)
• Richard Hollinson (Policy Group Leader, Planning at Kirklees Council)
• Chris Herring (Director, Green Building Store and leading expert on Passivhaus)
• Prof Paul Salveson (local transport expert)
• Cllr Andrew Cooper (local councillor, Green Party spokesperson on energy)

Workshops

Afternoon workshops will include Energy, Planning, Housing, Economy, Food, Transport and the University. The morning session will feature a breakout session where you can help set the agenda for these workshops on up to three issues.

The day will bring together key action points for our communities, Kirklees Council and the University in a Manifesto for Change.

Tickets

The conference is organised by Kirklees Environment Partnership and Students for Sustainability at the University of Huddersfield.

FULL TICKET – with lunch £11.50, without lunch £6.50
STUDENTS – with lunch £6.50, without lunch free
CONCESSIONS – with lunch £10, without lunch £5.00

Book tickets for Towards a Low Carbon Kirklees 

Planet Festival – Saturday 5th September 2015

Planet Festival
Saturday 5th September 2015
From 1pm to 4pm
In Greenhead Park, Huddersfield

Come and support the Planet Festival in Greenhead Park. Huddersfield Friends of the Earth have organised a fun-packed afternoon with lots to see, hear, learn and enjoy. There will be over 20 stalls, including Growing Newsome, plus music, short films, dance, children’s activities and a speakers corner. Have a look at the Planet Festival Programme (PDF) for more details.

Visit our Growing Newsome stall:

• Find out how to get involved with community food growing in Newsome
• Pick up tips on eco-friendly food growing
• Choose from our freshly made seasonal preserves – all home grown and home made, with fruit and vegetables donated by our volunteers and friends
• Hear about our volunteering opportunities

You’ll find us in the field below the model railway from 1pm to 4pm.

Also look out for opportunities to support climate campaigns through petitions and local activism.

Check out the Planet Festival Programme (PDF) for details of where to find all the activities on the day.

 

Here’s why Huddersfield Friends of the Earth have organised this fantastic festival:

Now more than ever we need to stand up for the climate. For nearly 30 years we have been told we have to decrease carbon emissions to limit global temperature increases to under 20C. This has not happened and we are now on track to global temperature increases of 40C + by the end of the century, causing more and more extreme weather events such as flooding, storms, sea level rise, droughts, food shortages.

Find out more on the Huddersfield Friends of the Earth blog

 

Clean British Energy / Green is Working lobby

Saturday 24th November 2012
Huddersfield Town Hall, Ramsden Street

An action from the Kirklees Campaign Against Climate Change to say that the government’s Energy Bill must build the green economy.

Did you know?

• Last year 1/3 of UK economic growth came from green businesses.
• The renewable electricity industry already employs 110, 000 people with the potential to employ tens of thousands more people.
• Developing the green economy would reduce the UK’s balance of payments by reducing our imports of fossil fuels.
• Green energy would help regional economies grow across the UK.

The Kirklees Campaign Against Climate Change are calling on the government to:

Decarbonise Electricity by 2030 and
Keep Aviation and Shipping in the Climate Act

11.45 am Photo stunt (Please wear something green)

12 noon to 12.30pm Lobby of Jason McCartney, MP for the Colne Valley. Please note: This meeting is by prior arrangement so if you would like to attend please email kirkleesccc@hotmail.co.uk by Wednesday 21st November 2012.

For more information see:

Green is Working – Stop Climate Chaos

Clean British Energy – Kirklees Campaign Against Climate Change

Green is Working poster (pdf)

Free climate course in Berry Brow – starts 10th October

Interested in climate issues and energy saving? Groundwork are running free courses in household energy.

Gain new skills and enhance your CV and employment prospects!

This course is for unemployed adults (18+) living in Kirklees, who do not have a similar or higher qualification.

The course starts on Wednesday 10th October 2012 and runs every Wednesday and Friday morning from 9.30am to 12.30pm, until Friday 2nd November at:

Newsome South Methodist Church, Birch Road, Berry Brow, Huddersfield, HD4 7LP

You will work towards the City and Guilds Level 1 Award Introduction to Household Energy Efficiency which covers:

• Fuel consumption in the home
• Renewable electricity
• Renewable heat
• Heat loss and insulation
• Space and water heating

Free lunch included.

Interested?

Contact Leah Black to find out more or to book a place:

Tel. 0113 238 0601 / 07730 765555
email: leah.black@groundwork.org.uk

www.groundwork.org.uk/leeds

Groundwork can also run this course free for local groups. Please contact Leah if your group are interested.

Climate Change Course – Newsome (pdf)

Berry Brow Eco Fair – Saturday 6th October 2012

Eco Fair
Saturday 6th October 2012
10am to 4pm

Newsome South Methodist Church
Birch Road, Berry Brow HD4 7LP

Come and find out lots of ways of reducing your carbon footprint and reducing your energy costs.

Lots of information, advice and activities – and a chance to celebrate all of the great environmental work that’s going on in the Newsome ward.

A useful day for residents, and for anyone who is involved in running a community building.

 

Stalls and activities include:

• Growing Newsome
• Stirley Farm (Yorkshire Wildlife Trust)
• Free-Cycle
• L.E.D. Lighting
• One Good Turn
• Friends of the Earth
• Green Deal
• Community Cards
• Fair Trade
• CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England)
• Penistone Line Partnership
• Wormery demo

There will be food available and you can have a look at how renewable energy is being used in this community building.

You might also like to put up a poster for this event:

Eco Fair poster (pdf)

The Arctic Vigil – 28th September 2012

 

Photo: Greenpeace

“What we are seeing, here and now, is the transformation of the atmospheric physics of this planet. Three weeks before the likely minimum, the melting of Arctic sea ice has already broken the record set in 2007. The daily rate of loss is now 50% higher than it was that year.

The daily sense of loss – of the world we loved and knew – cannot be quantified so easily” [George Monbiot August 27th]

Bear witness

The Arctic Vigil

St George’s Square Huddersfield

Friday 28th September 6.20pm to 7.30 pm.

Wear white (or something white).Bring your own jar for tea light.

Readings, learning, public engagement, silence.

“What is happening is that the Arctic is warming up 3-4 times as fast as the rest of the world. The sea ice grows less thick in winter, and melts more in summer, such that the entire ice cover is now on the point of collapse. The extra open water already created by the retreating ice allows bigger waves to be generated by storms, which are sweeping away the surviving ice. It is truly the case that it will be all gone by 2015. The consequences are enormous – a huge boost to global warming from two sources, the reduction in global albedo caused by the replacement of ice by open water, and an acceleration of methane release into the atmosphere as the warm open water causes seabed permafrost to melt.”
[Professor Peter Wadhams,
Head of the Polar Oceans Physics Group at Cambridge University]

The Arctic ice cap is disappearing before our eyes: this is the first large scale unmistakable impact of climate change, clearly visible from space. The arctic sea-ice broke an all time record for lowest ever extent on Friday 24^th August (after breaking several other records according to other methodologies of measurement by other scientific institutions etc…). This was a bombshell because it was nearly a month before you would expect the ice to reach its seasonal minimum – it is still decreasing now and we can expect it to continue decreasing until around mid September.

Bear witness

Organised by:
Kirklees Campaign against Climate Change
c/o 36 Long Lane, Honley, West Yorkshire , HD9 6EA

 

Interested in climate issues and energy? Free course…

Interested in climate issues and energy saving? Groundwork are running free courses in household energy.

Gain new skills and enhance your CV and employment prospects!

This course is for unemployed adults (18+) living in Kirklees, who do not have a similar or higher qualification. The course takes 8 to 12 weeks to complete, so you can study at your own pace.

You can start ANY TUESDAY between now and Tuesday 18th September 2012. The course is at Voluntary Action Kirklees, Lord Street, Huddersfield from 1pm to 4.30pm each Tuesday.

You will work towards the City and Guilds Level 1 Award Introduction to Household Energy Efficiency which covers:

• Fuel consumption in the home
• Renewable electricity
• Renewable heat
• Heat loss and insulation
• Space and water heating

Interested?

Contact Leah Black to find out more or to book a place:

Tel. 0113 238 0601 / 07730 765555
email: leah.black@groundwork.org.uk

www.groundwork.org.uk/leeds

Groundwork can also run this course free for local groups, on either Wednesdays or Fridays at a place of your choice. Please contact Leah if your group are interested.

Climate course leaflet (pdf)

The Rio Connection

This summer, 20 years on from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, government representatives will meet at a ‘Rio+20’ summit to discuss sustainable development.

Join the Rio Connection this summer to make sure our Government doesn’t go backwards on climate change. Here’s a great introductory video…

Local networks will be holding events that connect global and national sustainability issues with people in their community, inspire new people to talk about sustainability, and encourage our politicians to sign up to a sustainable future by supporting the ‘Rio Declaration’:

“The UK should lead the world in the transition to a fair and green economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting biodiversity and creating jobs and opportunities to reduce poverty and inequality here and overseas. The Rio+20 summit is an important milestone for this ambition, and the UK should engage constructively, with a view to uniting governments across the world behind a vision for a global green and fair economy which benefits all people.

We must lead by example at home by delivering on the commitments in our groundbreaking Climate Change Act whilst showing international leadership to increase the EU’s 2020 climate targets. At the same time we must help the world’s poorest communities adapt to the effects of climate change, invest in getting clean energy to all people, and protect rainforests.”

In Kirklees activities will be focused on a participatory arts project called the Rio +20 Timeline. The timeline will include events in the world, in Kirklees and in the planet over the past twenty years. Members of the public will be encouraged to include events in their own lives in order to make connections between events in our lives, our communities, our nation and our planet. There will also be an eco-themed poetry event in Marsden as part of the ‘Write Out Loud’ programme and an audio event listening to a lecture on ‘Eradicating Ecocide’ by the barrister and campaigner, Polly Higgins.

• Saturday 16th June from 11am to 1pm – Rio +20 Timeline at the Green Fair, Methodist Church, Slaithwaite (including meeting with Jason McCartney MP).
• Saturday 16th June from 2pm to 4pm – Rio +20 Timeline at the Oxfam Bookshop, Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth.
• Wednesday 20th June from 7.30pm – ‘Planet Rio’ poetry event at Write Out Loud, Marsden Library.
• Thursday 21st June from 6.15pm – Rio +20 Timeline and audio event : Polly Higgings lecture on ‘Eradicating Ecocide’, Coffeevolution, Huddersfield.

The Rio Connection poster (pdf)

from:
Kirklees Campaign against Climate Change

 

Think and Drink

A series of informal events organised by the Kirklees Campaign Against Climate Change

Come and join us to find out about climate change issues and socialise with others. All welcome.

Coffeevolution (Basement)
Church Street
Huddersfield
From 6.15-pm to 7.45 pm

Thursday 3rd May
‘Permaculture your life: How Edibles are trying to put permaculture principles into practice through a local food growing project.’ Steve Smith, Edibles

Thursday 31st May
‘The One Million Climate Jobs Report and Campaign’
Martin Empson, Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group.

Thursday 5th July
Oxfam’s ‘Grow Campaign’
Jaynee Moon, Leeds Oxfam group.

Thursday 13th September
Contraction and Convergence: A model for a fair, international deal on cutting CO2.
Tim Padmore, Kirklees Campaign Against Climate Change

Thursday 4th October
Growing Newsome
Diane Sims, Growing Newsome project.
New venue: Cafe Society, 15 Byram Street, Huddersfield  HD1 1DR

Thursday 1st November
Cars: Reducing dependency through car clubs, de-motorization and the move to low carbon vehicles.
Chas Ball, Chief Executive of Carplus.

Thursday 6th December
Think and Drink Xmas Social
Venue to be confirmed.

Think and Drink April 2012 (pdf)

For more information contact kirkleesccc@hotmail.co.uk

In Transition 2.0 film screening – 2nd February 2012

Thursday 2nd February at 7.30pm
The Watershed, Bridge Street, Slaithwaite (on the road behind Monsoon)

Our friends at MASTT (Marsden and Slaithwaite Transition Towns) are excited to announce their premier screening of the new film ‘In Transition 2.0’ – the 2nd Transition Town film. This film features Slaithwaite’s very own The Handmade Bakery and Green Valley Grocer as two of the success stories that have grown from the Transition Town movement, created in 2007 by Rob Hopkins.

This is a free film screening with light refreshments. It will be followed by a live link-up with Rob Hopkins who will be in Totnes answering people’s questions on the film. MASTT will also be recording your responses to the film, which will be used to promote the film when it is released to the public.

Please show your support and join MASTT on 2nd February. Here’s a sneak preview of the film…