Spotlight on film nights, local food, children, river water quality, and action in the face of climate change; Events & plans for Great Big Green Week; Hear about Shaftesbury Larder at our next meeting; Regenerative fashion weekend; Abundance of spring news |
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Reflecting on last month's events ... Mmmm, what a successful start Inspired by a regular Bridport event, Sustainable Dorset hosted a film night at The Grosvenor Arms on 24th April. Monday meal, movie & mingling. The vegetarian food provided was great. The film was Planet Local: a quiet revolution, produced by Local Futures - an international non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening communities and local economies worldwide. It featured local food initiatives, repair cafes and influential talking heads from Russell Brand to Vandana Shiva and Rob Hopkins. The film provoked not just conversation but also a proposal for a new local food register for Shaftesbury - see below. The Mmmm format is likely to be repeated. ... Invitation: Would you like to join in with others to produce a leaflet (/ online register) that gives people information on where to buy locally produced food? A small group will meet and make plans on Monday 5th June at 7pm. The idea is to keep it simple! For more details please email Rachel at planetshaftesbury@gmail.com There are children who would like to play an active part in Planet Shaftesbury. Thanks to Elinor who raised this at our April meeting. We could host special meetings that are at a more convenient time. We could support those who are active in their schools through eco-committees etc. We can make sure to include children if we undertake practical activities - like making banners or posters. We didn't make specific proposals; it's work-in-progress, please consider how you might join in. River water quality ... and sewage. John Rutter now lives in London but he left a part of himself in our local landscape and wrote "... The water companies need to be held to account and they actually encourage water testing by volunteers. The Shaftesbury sewage works is on the road to Gears Mill off Gasgoines Lane. I have been down to see the sewage works once. It was deserted so probably is monitored and controlled remotely from HQ. It must discharge "clean" water into the River Sturkle. Downstream from there the stream passes under the Twyford road behind HMP Guys Marsh. After the bridge there is easy access to the stream without trespassing on private land. ... a team could be set up to regularly monitor the water quality which effects everything downstream ..." ... Invitation: if you'd like to see the map and photo that accompanied John's message, or to be put in touch with other local water quality monitors and find out more about this task and training available, please email Rachel (c/o Planet Shaftesbury as above). |
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The Big One was a massive protest (April 21-24): a peaceful coming together of tens of thousands of people seeking effective government action in the face of climate risks. Four days of Westminster pickets, marches and rallies. It attracted hardly any news coverage and no government response - in marked contrast to acts of civil disobedience. Extinction Rebellion coordinated the event and gained support from many other organisations who are now considering 'What Next?'. Those who joined in from Shaftesbury are similarly challenged and some found the Climate Psychology Handbook helpful (link below). ... Invitation: if you'd like to contribute to a month-end blog post relating to The Big One for our website, please email your piece of writing to planetshaftesburycontent@gmail.com by 26th of this month. Dorset Council's Planning for Climate Change Consultation follows on from their announcement in February of an updated "Natural Environment, Climate and Ecology Strategy (NECES)". The consultation period closes on June 8th. An email from the Dorset Deserves Better (DDB) Alliance appears on our Forum and includes links to relevant documents. Those who want to engage with the consultation may also find the 'Climate Action for Councils' materials offered by Friends of the Earth to be useful. (links below) ... Invitation: to connect with others to discuss the council's draft strategy, in person or online, prior to the deadline, please make comments or suggestions on the DDB Forum post. |
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Great Big Green Week (GBGW, 10-18th June) The Shaftesbury area will see 35+ local events during GBGW and, coupled with supportive signage around the town, this national celebration of community action to protect climate and nature won't go unnoticed. Chris Harwood (email Chris@GreatBigGreenWeekShaftesbury.org) has updated the website (link below) so that it now shows a schedule of events. There are even more to be added but the programme already includes: Opening by Simon Hoare MP at 2pm in the Town Hall on Saturday 10th Exhibitions that will run throughout the week: Nurturing Nature and Climate in the community space at Donhead St Andrew Church; and a People's Exhibition upstairs at the Town Hall (there is space available for additional reflective contributions linked to climate change and nature, to offer an exhibit please email Chris). Online competitions: with entries for nature photography & poetry to be collected during the week Guided walks: Herbal medicine with Julie Wood at the Abbey (10th & 13th); Shaftesbury Tree Walk with Robin Walter (11th); Fontmell & Melbury Downs with a 'Nurturing Nature' guide from Chase & Chalke and a minibus link from the town (15th) Special activities with supporting organisations: St Peter's goes green at breakfast church on 10th; book & information display at the Library (all week); accompany the Hilltop Litter Pickers (15th); 'Earth: Goldilocks Planet' an exhibition by Cranborne Chase astronomy club at the Rising Sun, Donhead St Mary; GBGW marquee at Motcombe Fete (10th), Drop-ins during work sessions at Shaftesbury Homegrown (Sunday, Wednesday, Friday) Other Events: Children's activities at the Library (10th), Storyteller at Goldhill Museum (11th), Drawing workshop with artist Lynda Appleby (12th), Green market stalls (15th), Making bat boxes (17th) and hedgehog boxes (18th), and much more including ... On June 15th, 7.30pm at Shaftesbury Town Hall, Planet Shaftesbury hosts Gary Mantle, CEO of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, (who was instrumental in helping to launch Planet Shaftesbury 4+ years' ago!) and Lucy Young, advisor to WWF-UK. Their presentations explore different aspects of the Climate, Nature, Community theme and Lucy will introduce the People's Plan for Nature (link below). In extending participation in GBGW, Chris has aimed to normalise activity to protect climate and nature. During and after the week, we need information on such activities to be readily accessible to all who want to join in. Bring promotional ideas to the next meeting! |
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Planet Shaftesbury May Meeting, Thursday 18th, 7.30pm Shaftesbury Larder: we'll have a short illustrated presentation by Jamie Paul, Office Manager at Shaftesbury CE Primary School, who will explain the principles behind the Larder and how it operates in Shaftesbury. Great Big Green Week - we'll make plans for boosting awareness, producing targeted advertising and aiming to increase engagement with continuing activities. Afterwards there'll be time for catching up with news of other initiatives. Open to all. |
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Defashion Dorset, at Hawker's Farm, Friday 26th & Saturday 27th May The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global emissions - and British shoppers buy more clothes than any others in Europe. Defashion is about the transition to fashion systems that are regenerative, local, fair and sufficient. Jenny Morisetti (founder of Hawker's recreatives, based in Stour Provost) has put together a full programme for this 2-day event that promotes a local clothing culture. Panel discussion free. Day tickets to include workshops and demonstrations are £5, 2-day tickets £7, evening film and fun £12. Some highlights: Panel Discussion, chaired by Jenny, 2-3pm Friday: with Sara Arnold, Environmental activist and co-founder of Fashion Act Now; Rachel Worth, Professor of History of Dress and Fashion at the Arts University Bournemouth; Elizabeth Keach, a consultant committed to nature-based solutions and advocate for regenerative fashion. Workshops: Visible mending; Learn to weave, Stitched motifs Demonstrations: Natural dyeing; Furoshiki (traditional Japanese wrappings) Use link below for full programme & to book. |
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Inspiration in the wild! Blossom Time Wander: this Sunday 14th May, meet Joe Hashman in Donkey Field Community Orchard,Church Hill, Enmore Green at 11am. Savour the beautiful apple blossom, linger to discuss blossom and fruit and orchard wild life. Take a flask of tea or coffee. Return via Castle Hill, Breach Lane, St James Wild Woodbury: is a re-wilding project near Bere Regis on land acquired by Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) in 2021. A video (19mins) just released by DWT demonstrates nature's remarkable capacity to regenerate if we just give it chance. A real treat - link below. |
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Spring news in brief 8.9ha is a new website, focussed on practical, investable and inclusive land use change. ffinlo Costain writes that land use is key to addressing the climate and nature emergencies, but we need to mobilise farmers, foresters and investors to make change happen. Website is at 8point9.com The Future Series at Shaftesbury School: a combination of factors, sats exams, clash with room bookings, backlog of teacher strikes and more has led to changes to the schedule. Three different topics will now be dealt with on dates in July (after the exam season). Future of music (rescheduled due to snow / ofsted day) - Tues 4th July all day Future of food (afternoon only) and the Future of fashion will be later that month. Planet Shaftesbury has tended to provide a couple of volunteers to offer practical support to these sessions, watch out for opportunities to get involved nearer the time. Allotments: Shaftesbury Town Council hosted an April meeting of representatives from the allotments that they administer. It was agreed that some policies will be updated, including: to allow beekeeping (max 2 hives and following National Guidelines) adjacent to allotment sites where suitable land is available (currently only A30 allotments); to start recording use of chemicals and to encourage transition to alternatives; to remove the requirement to regularly dig; It was agreed that an allotment meeting (to include the community farm) will take place in September (harvest time), and that allotment sites will participate in the Open Greener Homes Event at the end of September. Zero Carbon Dorset have just completed the first annual progress report since the publication of Dorset 2030, a report setting out the work needed to achieve a zero-carbon county by 2030, along with many examples of potential solutions. Their latest work suggests that action in Dorset is not keeping pace with the worsening impacts of climate change and the destruction of the natural environment. However, they were able to point to a number of inspirational stories - a key one being Wild Woodbury, highlighted above. |
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