The speed of
change….
Abundant
Earth Community update.
It’s been a while now since Angela and I returned from our
walking holiday in Spain, on the Camino de Santiago, and high time we got the
work of our community back on track. We have, as many of you know been heavily
involved in setting up and organising the new and somewhat revolutionary
LincolnShare project opening soon on Beaumont Fee, in Lincoln town center. We
have been working with volunteers on the needed work of transforming the Old
Big Wok into a community space with a difference. Abundant Earth Community will
be one of the main players in what we do there, alongside already established
groups such as Revival Lincolnshire (a community craft and wellbeing café),
General Practice (fine arts graduates from Lincoln Uni) the Therapists
Cooperative Consortium (health and wellbeing workshop practitioners) Cruise
(bereavement counselling services) and many more likeminded and charitable
groups, active in providing space and activities for the less than well off of
our society, and a place for people to get a much needed friendly welcome.
In the past few months regrettably we have not moved on very
far with our desires to find and provide space and activities for the A.E.C. in
the wider community of Lincolnshire, but surprisingly enough many more people
have been coming along to express a real desire and need to become involved.
Naming no names, but we have a website being competently built which should
come on-line very soon, watch this space….!!!!
Check out our feeds from Facebook and Twitter for constant
ideas about what we hope to implement as we move forward.
Many new and potentially active members are displaying the
same desire as the former members to get our movement of resilient activities
under way, which will ultimately provide alternatives to the current drought of
creative ways for development in housing opportunities. A few members have also been on
some training courses for the cob style of construction at Lammas, which can
and will be implemented into A.E.C. Another member is still keen to provide a
bender building and a forest management course that can share her particular
brand of expertise to our group and wider audience too. (Courses to be arranged for this autumn at a small cost/donation basis.) Another has been actively pursuing ways to
include us in further collaborative involvement with the Lincoln University.
And yet others have been sponsoring and supporting our message with connection
to local authority and planning directives.
There is little doubt that we are growing into a formidable alternative to current methods of design and construction in home building. What we are of course lacking is the place/space/permissions to get our programs up and running. We are working with the councils and local authorities rather than against them in efforts to collaborate in joint initiatives that can help everyone to grow in understanding of the situation and nature of resilience caused by lack of central funding and a severe lack of resources for the continuation of current building practices. And of course particular to our areas housing shortfall is the ever present reality of it not being feasible to build on certain large tracts of land adjacent to the city centre. This western growth corridor sits on a flood plane and is ultimately a flood risk to any development, despite its handy proximity to the city and especially the University of Lincoln.Whilst many things have been put in place to investigate these risks by the local authorities, the pressure is great to find solutions. However the decisions constantly come up against the wall of funding and central policy pressure, rather than common sense and practicality. What would potentially be better as a solution could be; not filling our city with more housing for people who will not find employment here, but to create other resourceful and longer term resilient options. Such as the re-purposing of existing homes, empty properties and even city centre apartments, and the building of smaller or shared living style accommodations, rather than big and lavish luxury unsustainable individual homes.
There is little doubt that we are growing into a formidable alternative to current methods of design and construction in home building. What we are of course lacking is the place/space/permissions to get our programs up and running. We are working with the councils and local authorities rather than against them in efforts to collaborate in joint initiatives that can help everyone to grow in understanding of the situation and nature of resilience caused by lack of central funding and a severe lack of resources for the continuation of current building practices. And of course particular to our areas housing shortfall is the ever present reality of it not being feasible to build on certain large tracts of land adjacent to the city centre. This western growth corridor sits on a flood plane and is ultimately a flood risk to any development, despite its handy proximity to the city and especially the University of Lincoln.Whilst many things have been put in place to investigate these risks by the local authorities, the pressure is great to find solutions. However the decisions constantly come up against the wall of funding and central policy pressure, rather than common sense and practicality. What would potentially be better as a solution could be; not filling our city with more housing for people who will not find employment here, but to create other resourceful and longer term resilient options. Such as the re-purposing of existing homes, empty properties and even city centre apartments, and the building of smaller or shared living style accommodations, rather than big and lavish luxury unsustainable individual homes.
We have also noticed that people’s dependency upon the food
supply chains and home expansion projects are not much short of resilient
suicide. Perhaps A.E.C. initiatives for collective and individual growing
spaces in our villages, towns and city would provide a better option. The food
would travel less distance and be available at a faster rate if supplied
locally. Local people would benefit directly, rather than huge conglomerates
that syphon monies to their ‘off-shore accounts’ and foreign wars. Industry
would have a less devastating effect on transport initiatives that are damaging
the environment and resources. And good old common sense would have a new
resurgence too….
Finding a path through the mire of world troubles and the
shortfall of resources is of paramount importance for us all. We the A.E.C. see
this more than most as an ever present danger and something that we should
prepare against. In doing this we are proposing a fully operational
organisation in the immediate future, which can stand up to be counted along
with current players of policy and strategy. We have been working with the
council and private land owners to establish effective links and projects to
combat housing shortages and provide design and building alternatives. If you
think that you are also of this mind and keen to give of your time and energy
towards fortifying positive change, please don’t hang about and get in touch
now.
The speed of change is down to us both individually and collectively, but be assured it has to change. Whether by choice or inevitability we have to adapt to the local and global causes of our past actions. Even if we were not aware of the impact of those choices, everyone now faces the same determining factors. Less resources, less air, more Co2 and an ever depleting land space to support our welfare and nutritional needs.
The speed of change is down to us both individually and collectively, but be assured it has to change. Whether by choice or inevitability we have to adapt to the local and global causes of our past actions. Even if we were not aware of the impact of those choices, everyone now faces the same determining factors. Less resources, less air, more Co2 and an ever depleting land space to support our welfare and nutritional needs.
So please take heart from the power of choice, we need not be
an abuser but a saviour of the planet and its valuable life giving abundance.
Take only what you need and nothing that you want. Be the
change that you wish to see in the world. Create the change that you wish to
see in your community. Join with Abundant Earth Community in making this
possible now.
Love and Peace in solidarity.
Peaceful Warrior.
O.B.O. A.E.C.
