Our events in 2009

This is an overview of events Transition Town Invercargill organised or was involved with in 2009. Thank you to all who helped with organising and funding these events. And thank you to all who attended.

 
21 November: Transition Town Invercargill had a stall at the Southland Rural Heritage day themed “The way we were in the 1950’”.
 
October - what a busy month for us! We organised the final event of the Winter-Spring series of events we started back in May; the focus of this series was on skills useful in a low-energy future. We held the Southland premiere of ‘In Transition’ and we organised a 350.org event. Phew!

19 October: The Southland premiere of ‘In Transition’

Some 60 people attended the premiere of the documentary at the Invercargill Museum and Art Gallery. This was followed by Q&A with a panel of well known Southlanders: Southland District Mayor Frana Cardno, Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks, Robin McNeill (renewable energy engineer and Southland Conservation Board member), Robyn and Robert Guyton (South Coast Environment Society). A lively discussion developed.

Most of the nibbles were donated by local businesses and the Invercargill Licensing Trust provided the drinks – thank you!

24 October: 350 Sandcastles for climate action

Almost 300 people turned out to our event to mark the International Day for Climate Action. We organised this event together with the Invercargill Environment Centre. We decided to raise awareness about climate change and the vulnerability of coastal communities such as ours, and our many Pacific Island neighbour nations. The 30km long, sandy Oreti Beach was the perfect venue for it. We built sandcastles along a (carefully chosen...) line in the sand and then watched the tide come in and wipe the sandcastles out while people were desperately trying to keep them standing. We also had some ‘climate refugees’ trying to keep their home (tent) dry; the message was pretty powerful. You can watch a 23 second video here. Southland personality Gerry Forde was the MC and Lloyd Esler was the judge. Various businesses donated spot prizes and the ‘Longest standing sandcastle’ prize – all sustainability-themed. Thank you to the 20 plus volunteers who helped on the day.

28 October: Are electric vehicles a transport solution beyond the age of oil
About 25 people attended this talk by Conan Sutherland. Conan gave an overview of electric and other possible transport options, their advantages and limitations for a future when cheap fossil fuels will no longer be available. He also talked about his experience of converting a car into an electric vehicle. In lieu of the finished electric car that still had some panel beating done at that stage, Conan brought all the key elements of it – electric motor, transmission, controller… - and his two electric bikes. Several people had a go on the bikes and we think some left pretty inspired to start tinkering themselves.

 
16 and 19 September: Introduction to Permaculture
Gus Lukkien explained the key principles of permaculture, an approach which works with nature to care for people, care for Earth and build community, in an evening public talk. The talk was followed by a visit to Gus and Rita’s beautiful and highly productive, established urban permaculture garden in Invercargill on the following Saturday. About 30 people attended the talk and 24 attended the field day.

15 August: Pruning and Care of Fruit Trees

Organised by TT Invercargill, 16 participants. The aim of this workshop with Robyn Guyton from the Open Orchard Project has been to encourage people to grown their own fruit trees as part of building community resilience. Workshop was focused on practical skills with a good selection of trees of various ages and quality of previous pruning/neglect. Three members of the steering group have now got perfectly pruned apple trees! Funding for the tutor was provided by ACE Aurora College.

22 July: Psychology of Change

Public talk by Judith Robinson and Rhiannon Suter, organised by TT Invercargill and attended by about 20 people. Judith and Rhiannon both looked at change on personal and societal level but from different view points: motivation for change and the process of change respectively. Inspiring and good food for thought.

10 & 17 June: "Living Well on a Shoestring" cooking class

Organised by Transition Town Invercargill. 14 participants cooked a delicious vegetarian dish from winter produce: cheap and nutitious, not to mention delicious. Hari-priya is an initiated devotee of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, she has been studying - and dishing up - the ancient art of vegetarian cuisine for the past 11 years. Hari was assisted by her husband Advaita-priya, and the event took place at the Te Pakiaka student centre. Due to popular demand the class was repeated on 17 June.

6 & 7 June: Introduction to Natural Building – workshop

This workshop with Graeme North, top NZ eco-building designer and architect, looked at the design and construction techniques behind Natural Building methods. The second day was practical and included a visit to the beautiful strawbale Lodge of Tikana in Browns, Southland. The workshop was organised by Steven Henry in association with Venture Southland, and funded by Trade & Enterprise NZ. The workshop was limited to 20 people. We hope to run further workshops.

5 June: Introduction to Natural Building - public talk by Graeme North

Organised by Transition Town Invercargill and funded by Aurora College Community Education Fund, this talk was attended by 75 people.

20 May: First Transition Town Invercargill Open Space workshop

The topic of this workshop was: “In a time of Peak Oil how can we apply Kiwi ingenuity to make the most of Southland’s natural advantages?” 20 participants discussed: What challenges will we face? On the other hand, what natural advantages do we have? What are practical opportunities and solutions for Invercargill and Southland in an age beyond cheap oil? Some notes from the open space meeting can be read here.

March and April 2009: Energy Transition Series
A series of two films, "A Crude Awakening" and "The Power of Community", followed by a discussion evening.