Biofuels (Agrofuels)- The false solution

Recieved via LUU Green Action email list.

There will be an anti agrofuels (biofuels) demo on May 2nd at 3pm at a location in Leeds as part of the May Day of Action on technofixes and false capitalist solutions.

The simple message is 'food not fuel' and 'greenwash/false solutions' so be creative with banners and placards

We hope to have street theatre with a cardboard car being fed food! plenty of banners and publicity and some hilarious 'greenwashing' action.

You can find out more in person at the climate camp yorkshire neighbourhood meeting on the 30th, or be at WHSmith at leeds train station at 2pm on May 2nd where there will be someone to meet you.

Climate Camp- Yorkshire meeting

Please forward far and wide to groups you are in and lists that youare on that you think might be interested.

Hello All,

On 30th April there will be a meeting in Leeds for all those hoping to be at the Climate Camp in the summer who want to be involved in Yorkshire's very own corner of the camp: The Yorkshire Neighbourhood. We'll meet between 7.15 and 7.30 at the Common Place, but we'll be moving to a nearby pub, as No Borders have the building.

It's the area where folks from across Yorkshire camp together, in the middle of which is the Yorkshire Kitchen tent, where we all the cooking, eating and neighbourhood meetings go on.

Moreover, the neighbourhood needn't just be a bit of the camp, it can also be a process of engaging people within our region, coordinating our contacting of local groups and a chance for would-be and might-be campers to meet people before heading to Kingsnorth, and for us to organise mass-transport. If we want to see Yorkshire thoroughly represented in this
year's camp, nows the time to do something about it.

Yours,
Graham Martin
Neighbourhoods and Regions Working Group
Camp for Climate Action.

Amenities Competion- Allotments

Information recieved from Tom Maynard Hon. Secreteray of the Leeds and District Gardeners Federation.

Do you have an allotment plot or site that you would like to enter into Leeds and District Gardeners Federation (in association with Leeds City Council) Amenities Competion?

Application forms can be downloaded from: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/philip.gomersall/leeds-gardeners/competitions.html
or contact leedsdgf@hotmail.com or phone Tom Maynard on 0113 279 1034

Application forms should be returned by Monday 16th June to: Tom Maynard, 223 Green Hill Road, Bramley, Leeds, LS13 4AJ. Please remember all plots to be judged need to be numbered clearly. The Show Committee will meet to discuss the judging route and times, entrants will be informed.

Climate Change Bill Week of Action- please get involved.

Text taken from Stop Climate Chaos Leeds circular emails.

Saturday 5^th April, 11am

Climate Bill Week of Action Demonstration

This week, April 1-5, is a week of action on climate change. Campaigners across the country are taking action to publicise the importance of including international aviation emissions in the Climate Change Bill.

Friends of the Earth Leeds group will now be holding a lobby/photo stunt on Briggate in Leeds of Saturday 5th April - If you're free please pop along, the more people that turn up, the bigger the effect!

The details are as follows...

We'll be meeting outside the Leeds church institute (www.leedschurchinstitute.org/) in Leeds city centre at 11am on Saturday morning.

We'll sort ourselves out, take the photos, hopefully with the press in tow, and it will all be done by noon! Please bring banners/leaflets/action cards, etc.

For more information contact James McKay on 07968854696 or email j.mckay690@btinternet.com

FoE have the mask, and the planes, and I am more than happy to dress up in a dark suit and red tie to play Gordon, unless anyone else is very keen! I will also be bringing things to hand out to the public, if we have lots of people, and a digital camera, so we can take our own photos.

The more the merrier!

All the best,James

Tell Gordon and David to make the Climate Change Bill Count

With your help and support we won at getting the government to concede on annual milestones – one of our top 3 changes to the Climate Change Bill! So that’s one down and two to go – and there’s still time to see our two remaining changes made to the bill, which are…

- an increase in the emissions reductions target to at least 80% by 2050

- the inclusion of the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions.

Go to http://www.icount.org.uk/personal_actions/459.asp

(To check who your MP is go www.theyworkforyou.com and type in your postcode)

On a related theme:

Wednesday 9^th April – Climate Chaos Café

Leeds/Bradford Airport expansion (Leeds/Bradford Airport Campaign)

The Common Place, 23-25 Wharf Street, LS1 7ED. Climate Chaos Cafe is all about discussion, information, food, chat and action on climate change in friendly and informal surroundings. We open at 6.45pm, with then about an hour of talk/open discussion from 7pm with a cheap, delicious (vegan) meal.

For more about what is currently happening on local action on climate change see:
http://www.leedstidal.org/sccleeds/sccnewspage.php

Events on the Calendar.

The Leeds Voice calander has a massive range of events on strategic decision making, better governance structures, community empowerment, representing the sector at Local Strategic Partnerships and more. I can't keep up with it all and I just add the environment-specific stuff to my blog. Please remember to check the calander, add your events and read the Leeds Voice Bulletin. The events below give a general idea of the events that are relevant to the forum but are not environment-specific. see: http://freecal.brownbearsw.com/VoiceEvents or via http://www.leedsvoice.org.uk/

Thursday, March 6 2008
09:00 - 13:30

Networking Event

Archway, 95 Roundhay Road, Leeds LS8 5AQ

InformLeeds is organising this event which will introduce you to some useful tools that can be used with groups, when advising them about the following:

· Helping groups to think strategically
· Getting Ready for Paid Staff
· Recruiting a Worker
· Agreeing a Mission
· Agreeing Aims

The tools will be demonstrated by Dave Carr from SKiLD, a national learning project for development workers based in local infrastructure organisations across England.

By the end of the event, you will have learnt some practical and creative ways to work with groups and have the tools to help you.

We will also be looking at ways of working more effectively together and it will be a good opportunity to meet other people in Leeds that are doing the same kind of work as you.

To book a place, please contact Carlos Chavez at Leeds Community Foundation on 0113 2422426 or carlos@leedscommunityfoundation.org.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, March 10 2008
10:00 - 16:00

Sharing our practice - Empowerment!

St. Georges Centre

A practice exchange workshop and Action Learning Session on skills for effective representation in communities
Community Empowerment Workshop: in this workshop we will be looking at the skills and abilities needed to be an effective representative of the voluntary and community sectors on Local Strategic Partnerships and other strategic groups. To do this we will be sharing our own experience and make use of a set of skills developed through recent research. The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) has developed a set of competencies for effective representation and we'll be drawing on these to help us look at our own roles. The workshop will also focus on empowerment - how can we act as empowering representatives and leaders? How can we build skills and confidence in others as well as our selves? We'll use look at the idea of 'empowering leadership', again drawing on our own experience, as well as recent work on this carried out by NAVCA. see also Maximum 20 participants.

The Action Learning Session:
17 March, 10 to 1.30 including lunch - in Leeds (venue to be confirmed)

This informal half day session will be an opportunity for people to go into more depth to share their experiences. Using 'action learning' methods we will work in small groups to explore problems and challenges, again drawing on the NAVCA research on skills for effective representation as a broad framework. In comparison to the workshop, this session gives you more time to reflect on your own work in a supportive environment. Maximum 15 participants Both events are open to anyone from the voluntary and community sectors who are involved as representatives on LSPs, either the executive board or thematic partnerships, as well as anyone from the public sector who is interested or involved in supporting representatives.

Booking: Priority will be given to participants who can attend both sessions - complete the form attached or accessible at: www.regionalforum.org.uk/publications_resources/news/662.doc <www.regionalforum.org.uk/publications_resources/news/662.doc> We can pay travel expenses by public transport where necessary.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, March 11 2008
10:00 - 15:00

Improving Reach

Priory Street Centre, York

Empowering rural communities - a workshop for people who support rural community groups The Regional Empowerment Partnership is part of the National Empowerment Partnership which has been established by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The central aim of the national strategy is to improve the quality and functioning of relationships between citizens and government in order to increase the ability of people to influence to decisions which affect their lives. The main purpose of the National Partnership is to improve community empowerment and engagement by showing where they are taking place, how well they are working, what makes them work well and disseminating and applying those lessons widely. This should bring about, over a period of time, an improvement in the quality of community empowerment across England. The regional partnership will carry forward much of the practical work and the relationship with local authorities and their partners. The principal outcome being looked for is an increase in the number of people, especially people in disadvantaged areas, who participate in public issues, press for and contribute to the improvement of public services and help to shape the future of their locality. There is a particular concern about the level of involvement in decision making of people living rurally and about the opportunities available to them. It is important that the experiences of people working rurally are included in this exercise. The Yorkshire and Humber Community Development Network is a member of the regional consortium and is organising a forum for rural community development workers to look at gathering examples of good practice in empowerment and identifying gaps in strategy, provision and impact and looking at ways in which they might be filled. This workshop is free but there will be a £20 deposit, returnable on attendance - please see booking form for details. Please see <www.fcdl.org.uk/events> for a booking form, or contact Sue Leach, Admin Support Officer at the Federation: email admin@fcdl.org.uk> admin@fcdl.org.uk or tel. 0114 253 6770. If you would like to find out a bit more about the workshop, please contact Ann Hindley at ann@hindley.gn.apc.org>

What Planet Are You On? Linking Community Development and Environmental Justice- an Ideas and Action Swapshop

I am planning to go to the event below and would encourage everyone to send at least one representative from their group. Good networking opportunity and a chance to get some grassroots partnerships set up to help different groups work together on common issues.

Booking essential, via www.fcdl.org.uk

Further info from Dhara: equalitystreet@post.com or Federation for Community Learning, 0114 253 6770, info@fcdl.org.uk

What planet are you on?

Ideas and action Swap Shop

Linking Community Development & Environmental Justice
The Carriageworks, Millennium Square, Leeds - Please note this change of venue -
10.30am - 4.00pm, 2nd April 2008

Opening Comments from Capacity Global (www.capacity.org.uk)

Keynote Listener: Kathy Kudelnitzky, Director, Leeds Initiative

Why are the largest carbon footprints being paid for by people with the smallest footprints?

We need affordable housing, but not on floodplains?!

How does what’s happening to the planet connect with what’s happening in my community?

Bring your questions, find some practical answers.

Meet people working on social and environmental justice.

Take inspiration for future actions in your groups

Please see www.fcdl.org.uk for booking forms and further information, as well as details of our other events taking place this Spring, or contact us: 0114 253 6770 / info@fcdl.org.uk / equalitystreet@post.com

Free Every Action Counts event for Community Development Trainers, Workers and Activists

Wheelchair accessible venue

Help with childcare may be available - see booking form

List of environmental and voluntary sector events

Every Action Counts have produced this list, bookmark the page and the you can check regularly for events that might interest you. Hopefully I will be made aware of anything happening in Leeds and I will pass information on.

http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/en/fe/page.asp?n1=139&n2=167&n3=278

Yorkshire and Humber Assembly - Climate Change Scrutiny

If anyone from Leeds plans to go please let me know. I am attending a 'key stakeholdr' focus group on 3rd March so will be feeding in to the consultation. If you have a question or comment please contact me to raise it on your behalf.

Whose responsibility is it to tackle climate change in the region?

Are we making the right interventions at a regional level? And are they having an impact on hitting the regional target?

What else could/should we be doing?

What do you think are the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents to the region's economy?

The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly would like to hear your views about tackling Climate Change and the role that Yorkshire Forward and the Regional Economic Strategy can play. The Assembly's Scrutiny Board, supported by regional Sustainable Development expertise, will be reviewing the progress that has been made in achieving the regional greenhouse gas emission target of 20-25% between 1990 and 2016. They will look at the role that Yorkshire Forward plays and focus on the challenges and opportunities that Climate Change can offer the region. Your involvement is vital to the success of the scrutiny.

Over the next month the Assembly's Scrutiny Board will be speaking with key partners in the region and would like to hear your views. There are a number of ways to do this:
*Come to the public discussion and pose your questions to Yorkshire Forward on Tuesday 18 March 2008, The Courtyard, Boothferry Road, Goole 10.30- 3pm. Booking online at http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk

*Write to us or email us with your views and experiences to mailto:scrutiny@yhassembly.gov.uk by Thursday 20 March 2008.

*Log onto the Assembly website to access key documents and feed in your
views - http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk

What Jon is planning to ask:

Can we simultaneously aim for economic growth and greenhouse gas emission reductions?- what takes priority?

How are we going to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions increases?

How have the findings of Stern Review informed regional economic decision making? (I think Stern is overly optimistic- but embedding the findings would be better than business as usual)

Can we refocus on quality of life and sustainable development (sustainable livelihoods and 5 types of capital) as a measure of success/as a goal instead of economic growth?

I've got papers for the 'key stakeholders' meeting in Barnsley if anyone wants me to forward them please get in touch.

Transition Town Leeds.

Fowarded via Leeds Ecovillage yahoo group.

Hi everyone,

We are a group organising a public meeting to launch Transition Town Leeds - an umberella project for supporting, creating and networking between all sorts of local initiatives aimed at creating a sustainable future for Leeds.

The idea is to hold a full day public event - we hope to attract about 200 people - where people can learn about how they might be affected by the problems of climate change and peak oil, and then take part in open space discussions to explore how they can be part of creating local solutions, and develop ideas about how to take the transition town idea forward.

Our ideas for the day are quite ambitious, & to make it work really well it would be brilliant to have a team of helpers to provide food and clear up whilst the event is going on, and also to help rearrange chairs as we move into the different parts of the day. We will have the use of a kitchen at the venue, so we could either bring food in ready made and heat it up, or make it on site. We thought of serving soup made from locally-sourced produce as the main part of lunch. We will also need to serve drinks at various points, and it would be good to have a range of snacks on offer too.

The meeting will be from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 19th April, at Centenary House, which is at the top of Vicar Lane We will need people there at all times (not necessarily the same people!), and it woud also be great if a few people could help set up beforehand, or the night before, and stay to clear up afterwards.

If anyone is willing to help with this and can spare time on that day, or even help with food preparation beforehand, can they please give me their contact details; perhaps we can then set up a short meeting nearer the time to sort out the logistics of the day.

Thanks ever so, & sorry to anyone receiving multiple copies of this!

Ellen

Ellen Robottom contact: ellenrobottom@hotmail.com

For More on the Transition Town see: http://transition-city-leeds.wikispaces.com/

Low Carbon Cities Event- Jon attending

I'm going to this event as one of a handfull of Leeds representatives. If you have anything in particular you want me to talk about (e.g. a successful project/ campaign from Leeds) or find out about (e.g. what are poeple in other cities doing to develop CHP networks) then please get in touch jon.holland@leedsvoice.org.uk.

Low Carbon Cities Event: City Wide Opportunities
Core City Event: 5th March 2008, London
A cross-sectoral and community-wide approach to carbon reduction is essential if we are to make a success of the climate change indicators in the Local Government Performance Framework. The Low Carbon Cities Programme (LCCP), co-developed by the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust, is an innovative city-wide approach to carbon reduction. Three cities – Bristol, Leeds and Manchester – are developing plans with outputs which could be utilised by the other core cities and councils in general. The outputs include a city-wide carbon reduction ‘toolkit’; carbon emissions benchmarking software for the city; and other tools and events to enable and drive a true cross-sectoral approach to reducing carbon emissions across a city.

As part of the Programme, we are running two events for all 8 of the Core Cities, to enable sharing of experiences and cross-fertilisation of ideas. The first of these events is being held on Wednesday 5th March at the Holloway Road Resource Centre, Islington, London.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to this meeting. The event is aimed at a cross-section of stakeholders from the Core Cities – including the health sector, universities,
transport, housing, businesses and the voluntary/community sector, as well as the City Council itself. Participants should be owners / implementers of strategies within these organisations, and at a suitable level of seniority to influence the direction your organisation takes in contributing to a truly city-wide approach. CEOs and elected representatives will have an opportunity to attend our second ‘all city’ event, which will take place in mid-May.

The meeting is being held in the London Borough of Islington, and we will be hearing from members of their Climate Change Partnership on the progress they have been making in bringing a wide mix of stakeholders together to deliver real partnership action on climate change.

At the meeting you will be able to:
• Discuss the key learnings of the three cities participating in the Programme and
explore how they could impact on your city
• Get inspiration from colleagues in all of the Core Cities, and from further afield
• Work with colleagues to identify city-specific opportunities to work together to deliver
action on climate change
• Learn about technological opportunities and other support programmes that are
already available to cities, and how you can take advantage of them
Places are strictly limited, and so we are looking for a core team of about 7-8 stakeholders
from each city to attend.

Yorkshire CND meeting 22nd Feb

To view the flyer (or is it flier?) for the Yorkshire CND's meeting in Leeds discussing their opposition to US missile defence bases click here...

Leeds- Transform the City

This Sunday!

Transform the City!
An action planning event at the Common Place.
All welcome

www.thecommonplace.org.uk

6pm Sunday 17th February

Sick of skyscrapers, posh offices, yuppie flats and overpriced
entertainment in Leeds?

Do you really live it and love it?
Or do you want something else?

April 11th and 12th 2008 will be European days of action to transform
and reclaim our cities.

As part of this there are plans to hold a weekend festival of resistance
and creativity in heart of Leeds city centre.

All skills, ideas and interests are needed to transform the city. Let
your imagination run free and help us dream another city!

Transform-create-beautify-reclaim-recycle-improve-share

Film Showing: Everything's Cool....

'EVERYTHING'S COOL'
The incredible story of a handful of global warming messengers speaking out in a time of disinformation.
Tuesday 16th February at 6.30pm in Leeds University, Parkinson Building Room B.09 "EVERYTHING'S COOL is a toxic comedy about the most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action - Global Warming. While industry-funded naysayers sing their swan song of scientific doubt and deception, a group of self-appointed global warming messengers are on a life-or-death quest to help the public go from understanding the urgency of the problem to creating the political will necessary to push for a new energy economy."

Leeds Friends of the Earth New Members’ Event

Leeds Friends of the Earth New Members’ Event

Leeds Friends of the Earth is holding a new members’ event on Tuesday 4th March, 7:30pm, at the Victoria Hotel pub, Great George St, Leeds city centre (behind Leeds town hall).

Leeds Friends of the Earth is making its voice heard on local, national and international green issues. From fighting for action on climate change, to making Leeds a greener and better place to live, we work for what we feel passionately about, with people who feel the same way.

Come along for food and drink, the chance to find out who we are and what we get up to, and to see if you want to join in!

Any questions, call James on 07968 854696, or email us at leedsfoe@hotmail.co.uk

Leeds: Are we going in the right direction?

http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/groups/leedsdirection/

Leeds: Are we going in the right direction?
Place: Rupert Becket Lecture Theatre. Michael Sadler Building. University of Leeds
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. Thursday 28th February.
Drinks and nibbles
Free
EVERYONE WELCOME (no need to book)

Leeds has enjoyed major economic success in recent years, becoming the fastest growing city in England and number one financial centre after London. Its universities attract thousands of students and retail is booming. All this is reflected in the changing face of the city centre. But is the price of success now too high? The well loved Corn Exchange shops are all but gone; Kirkgate Market traders await an uncertain fate; skyscrapers and over-priced flats are set to dominate the skyline with little consultation while affordable council housing is demolished;

So we ask: Is Leeds going in the right direction? What does the general public think? Are there any alternatives?

This event will discuss the positive and negative things that are happening to Leeds as well as proposals for change. Leeds City Council has a major role to play but it is not alone – the public must have a big say in the future of the city.

Come to this Public Event where your views will be heard, debated and recorded in a public report.

Organised by academics at the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University
Chaired by Andrew Edwards from BBC Radio Leeds ‘Andrew and Georgey’s Breakfast Show’
For more information contact whorunsleeds@leeds.ac.uk

If anyone from the forum is able to attend please give me some feedback.

Climate Change and Conflict Transformation Lecture

Climate Change and Conflict Transformation
Senator George Mitchell Centre for Peace & Conflict Resolution Seminar Series

Wednesday 13 February, 6.30pm, Lecture Theatre E , Leeds Met Headingley Campus

Hugh Miall, Professor of International Relations, University of Kent.

Humanity faces a double crisis: the depletion of fossil fuels and climate change. Both of these will become severe over the next half century. Conflicts of interest between rich and poor, fuel producers and energy consumers are impeding a collective response. This lecture explores ways out, drawing on the tradition of thinking about conflict in peace and conflict research.

This is the second event in the Senator George Mitchell Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution lecture series. To register please contact:

Hannah Massarella
0113 812 5263
h.massarella@leedsmet.ac.uk
http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/international/age

Stop Climate Chaos Ice Rink Meltdown Party 2nd March

Sunday 2nd March
ICE RINK MELTDOWN PARTY
with Radio Aire & Stop Climate Chaos Leeds
12-4pm, Millenium Square, Leeds The last day of the ice rink will be marked by the Radio Aire Meltdown Party and draw attention to the issues surrounding climate change. Including: Ice Skating, Fancy Dress, Climate Change Speakers and Radio Aire Outside Broadcast Volunteers needed for - ideas and organisation, running a stall, publicity, photography, dressing up as a polar bear and climate change speakers. If you would like any more information or to volunteer please email: info@sccleeds.org or call 07723 352097 or 0113 3917917 (Wednesday)

Stop Climate Chaos- Activity at Millenium Square- 13th Feb

Wednesday 13th February
Stop Cliamte Chaos:Media Stunt at the ice rink, Millenium Square Volunteers needed for - photography, publicity, dressing up as a polar bear! designing and producing a placard, and manning a stall. If you would like any more information or to volunteer please email: info@sccleeds.org or call 07723 352097 or 0113 3917917 (Wednesday)

World Development Movement Climate Change Workshop 6th Feb

Wednesday 6th February
WDM Leeds Meeting - Climate Change Workshop
Victoria and Commercial Hotel, Leeds
WDM's climate campaigner, Tim Jones will run the workshop - Climate Change: Is Corporate Power Cooking the Planet? For more information contact Mary Keynes - mary@keynes.wanadoo.co.uk

Climate Change Club Night 2nd February

Friday 2nd February
GRASSROOTS - Climate Special, Burley Liberal Club, 9pm - 2am High Pressure Soundsystem playing heavy dub/reggea, recycled decor, FREE shop, DIY crafts, bar, find out whats going on in Leeds to change things (i.e. info area), teastall, Vital Visuals, fancy dress with RUBBISH theme - winner recieves selection of recycled crafts and a drink from the bar! £2 before 10.30 and £3 after, all fundraising will go to green action food co-op revamp and GreenPeace.