Dear Members,

Thanks so much to those of you who braved a chilly Dunedin evening to come to our AGM. We always enjoy your participation, ideas and feedback. As we discussed on the night, we are charging ahead with a number of projects this year, including:
· collaboration with the DCC on a Sustainability Summit/Futures Forum of representatives from local government, educational institutions, business and the community to identify the knowledge and experience held by each organisation on the effects of climate change and peak oil, and feed the results into the DCC 10-year plan;
· another Election Forum before the general election in November;
· continuing to work with youth though Janet Young’s work, and members’ involvement with 350.org;
· another Big Green Challenge;
· a membership drive; and,
· a campaign against the proposed lignite mining in Southland. Jocelyn has written to the Australian organisation, Get Up, to suggest they mount one of their campaigns against this.

Read on!

1. Upcoming SDC Events and Projects

i) TONIGHT - Tuesday August 2nd 8.30pm - Gasland Movie Screening

ii) THIS Sunday August 7 from 10am-whenever we finish - Sustainable Houses Tiki Tour

iii) Coming up - Dunedin Permaculture Course

2. Upcoming Sustainability Events and Courses

i) THIS Friday August 5, 1pm – 3pm –Energy Studies Programme Energy Policy in New Zealand

ii) Friday August 19, 2 – 4pm - Energy Studies Programme The Bioenergy Strategy – 25% of NZ Consumer Energy from Bioenergy by 2040

iii) August 20 – 27 - Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week

iv) Sunday, September 4, 11am – 2pm - MARKET ON THE MOVE!

v) September 24 - Start an Event for Moving Planet

vi) Sunday, September 25 - The Great Living Legends Muck-In - Otago/North Otago

3. Food for Thought

- From Coal Action Network Aotearoa

- Pure Advantage Campaign – Green Growth?

- Nothing changes the planet as much as the way we eat - http://planeat.tv/

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1. Upcoming SDC Events and Projects

SDC is driven by member ideas and volunteer man-power, so if you have an idea for an event or project you’d like SDC to run, or you’d like to run under the SDC umbrella, please let us know - secretary@sustainabledunedincity.org.nz. This section also signposts who to contact if you’re keen to help out with a particular event/project.

i) TONIGHT - Tuesday August 2nd 8.30pm - Gasland Movie Screening

SDC’r Janet Young has a series of events coming up. First up she’ll be screening this amazing movie at the Clubs & Socs Building in the Evison Lounge. Free entry.

http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

ii) THIS Sunday, August 7 from 10am - whenever we finish - Sustainable Houses Tiki Tour

Join us for a tiki tour up north to visit some people who are really doing it! Jennie Upton and Murry Grimwood live entirely off the grid. Tania Mclean and her partner grow most of their own food. Come see how they live, plus others!

iii) Dunedin Permaculture Course

Janet is also currently exploring the possibility of running a two day permaculture course in Dunedin in mid-August. If you would be interested in attending the course, or if you and anyone you know might be interested in organizing or teaching, please contact her.

Janet Young
yjanny@gmail.com
027 753 4082

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2. Upcoming Sustainability Events and Courses

We’d love to advertise your sustainability-related event or course - please send contributions in to dk.sk@xtra.co.nz.

i) THIS Friday August 5, 1pm – 3pm – Energy Studies Programme “Energy Policy in New Zealand” Honourable Hekia Parata, Associate Minister of Energy and Resources, New Zealand, Quad 4, Geology Building, Leith Walk

ii) Friday August 19, 2 – 4pm - Energy Studies Programme The Bioenergy Strategy – 25% of NZ Consumer Energy from Bioenergy by 2040, Brian Cox, Executive Officer, Bioenergy Association of New Zealand, Room 314, Science III Building, 730 Cumberland Street

iii) August 20 – 27 - Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week

Keep Dunedin Beautiful and the DCC are offering residents the opportunity to beautify our city.

Between August 20 and August 27 we ask the public to take some time to clean up an area of your choice. It might be a park, the area between your fence and the street, a beach, a favourite walkway – anywhere at all. The amount of time you spend is entirely up to you as every little bit counts

Registered people/groups will receive gloves and specially marked bags which can be put out with your regular kerbside rubbish collection between August 22 and September 2nd. Remember to put recyclables in your own yellow wheelie bin or glass in your blue bin. This will save unnecessary waste going to landfill.

Register by:

-ringing Keep Dunedin Beautiful on 474 3401 or

-emailing Keep Dunedin Beautiful on dethomso@dcc.govt.nz

Information required:

- Name (if group - number of participants would be helpful)

- number of bags/gloves required

- address (so contractors know where to pick up bags)

- area you will clean up

- day of your kerbside rubbish collection

iv) Sunday, September 4, 11am – 2pm - MARKET ON THE MOVE!

Coast Road Market (formerly at Seacliff) is reopening this spring in the grounds of Warrington School with its first market on Sunday the 4th of September!

The market will continue on the first Sunday of every month from 11am – 2pm with its unique blend of food, coffee, art, craft, prints, pakoras, plants, produce, preserves and more!

All welcome.

Free stalls continue to be available and children’s stalls are particularly welcome.

For dates and details ph 027 7811799 or visit www.market.betterthannormal.co.nz

Liz Abbott and Rudie Verhoef

v) September 24 - Start an Event for Moving Planet

Moving Planet is a worldwide rally to call for solutions to the climate crisis — a single day to move away from fossil fuels. Come on your bike, on skates, on a board, or on foot. Come with your neighbours and your friends, your family and your co-workers. Come be part of something huge. It’s time to get moving on the climate crisis. Here’s what Moving Planet is calling for: Science-based policies to get us back to 350ppm - making sure that climate politics is in line with climate science; A rapid, just transition to zero carbon emissions – encouraging programmes that aim for 100% renewable energy, zero carbon emissions, leaving fossil fuels in the ground; Mobilising funding for a fair transition to a 350ppm world - to support policies and programs that ensure financing for a fair transition, such as adaptation funding appropriate to the risks and damage already happening from climate impacts, funding for access to clean, renewable energy to lift people out of poverty; Lifting the rights of people over the rights of polluters. See much more on the website.

Start an event! Invite your friends, your family, your neighbours. Wellington has the only registered NZ event so far, Dunedin is getting one together! http://www.moving-planet.org/events/nz/wellington/218

http://www.moving-planet.org/

vi) Sunday, September 25 - The Great Living Legends Muck-In - Otago/North Otago

Living Legends would like to invite you to take part in a unique conservation project happening on Sunday 25 September this year.

Living Legends is a community conservation project that is coordinating 17 native tree-planting projects throughout New Zealand during Rugby World Cup 2011.

Each muck-in is being run in conjunction with a provincial rugby union and is dedicated to a regional ‘Rugby Legend’ who has been selected by the union. These Rugby Legends are people who have made a significant contribution to rugby in New Zealand. Kees Meeuws has been chosen as the Living Legend for Otago and North Otago regions.

All the plantings take place on public conservation land and will encourage New Zealanders and overseas visitors to participate in the events. As well as being part of this unique event, you may even get to meet a Rugby Legend!

We’d love to hear from you …

We are looking for volunteers to muck-in with the planting of 5,000 native trees at this site as part of the Living Legends programme of work – come and join us.

If you are interested in taking part in this unique event please register at www.livinglegends.co.nz/regions-events/otagonorth-otago/. Once you’ve registered, more details will be sent to you nearer to the event date.

The Living Legends team is very keen to give the event a fun, family-orientated, festival-type atmosphere. Would your organisation be interested in using the opportunity to raise funds - providing a sausage sizzle, hot soup, teas and coffees, cake-bake stand, face-painting or other childrens’ activities? If you are then please send an email to contact@livinglegends.co.nz letting us know what you would be happy to add to the mix. We’d obviously like everyone to come along and take part in the planting too!

The planting event is free. It’s a unique opportunity for everyone to make a positive difference to the landscape of your community, as well as a learning opportunity. The team from the Department of Conservation will be educating us all on the plants and why the site was selected for regeneration.

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3. Food for Thought

Do you know of an amazing podcast everyone should listen to? An article or a blog or a site that would be of interest to all SDC members? Send me a short explanation and the link (dk.sk@xtra.co.nz), and we’ll add it in here. Links preferable to attachments, because they tend to fill up everyone’s inboxes.

- From Coal Action Network Aotearoa

We now have a resources page on our blog, which brings together lots of information and pictorial resources you can use in campaigning and to educate your friends. If you do nothing else, check out the photos of overseas lignite mines halfway down the page. This is what we’re trying to stop. This is what Solid Energy wants to unleash on Southland.

http://coalactionnetworkaotearoa.wordpress.com/downloads/

- Pure Advantage Campaign – Green Growth?

A successful business needs a competitive advantage. A successful country is no different.

New Zealand’s economic and environmental performance is sliding, and with it our single greatest opportunity to lead the world.

It’s ours for the taking if we can improve our green credentials, foster our high value exports and build industries that will thrive in a rapidly changing global economy.

We need to build a sustainable competitive advantage. Our Pure Advantage.

Join a group of business leaders determined to deliver world-leading improvements to our economy, our environmental performance and the living standards of all New Zealanders.

http://www.pureadvantage.org/

- Nothing changes the planet as much as the way we eat - http://planeat.tv/

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Tēnā koutou katoa,

Suze Keith (SDC’s newsletter compiler)

dk.sk@xtra.co.nz

Janet Brady (SDC’s secretary)

secretary@sustainabledunedincity.org.nz

Sustainable Dunedin City Inc.