Dorset Agenda 21

15/12/2015

Excellent succinct commentary on the as a strategy for addressing social and economic challenges in the latest newsletter http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/news/2015-12-15/tt-bridport-releases-its-december-update

Transition Town Bridport has released its December newsletter featuring news on Eco Homes 2, the Square meal debate a new crowdfunding campaign and other stories.

13/11/2015

Open meeting for all those interested in Community Energy Development in Dorset - discussions will include the recent policy changes affecting the sector and in addition a chance to see and hear the story of the successful community funded PV installation at this educational charity. http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/events/2015-11-26/open-meeting-dorset-community-energy-group

The next meeting of the Dorset Community Energy Group has been arranged for Thursday 3rd December to be held at the Springhead Trust in Fontmell Magna starting at 2pm and finishing at 4pm. Refreshments will be available from 1.30pm.

03/11/2015

Moves are afoot to create something to this effect in Dorset however do we have the capacity or demand for it? STIR Magazine

On Monday 26th October, the Worshipful Mayor of Taunton Deane, Cllr Marcia Hill, formally opened the new Somerset Social Enterprise Hub at 10 East Reach in Taunton.
The building will be home to 'Taunton Saving Together', which will provide a service point for Taunton and West Somerset (Moorvale) Credit Union and Somerset Savings and Loans.
Somerset Co-operative Community Land Trust, Somerset Co-operative Services, and the Social Enterprise Network Somerset - SENS will all be based in the Hub, which will provide hot desk facilities and meeting rooms for social, co-operative, and community enterprises.

22/10/2015

Ever staggered out of the pub at 2am in Bridport and wanted something really nutritious, local and healthy? Now is the chance to put your money where your mouth is - http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/news/2015-10-22/local-food-takeaway-project-crowdfunding-deliver-fast-food-alternative-bridport

Locally grown food will soon be on Bridport’s takeaway menu and it needs the community’s support. The Local Food Takeaway Project, an initiative launched by Bridport-based Stir To Action, is crowdfunding support for an ethical and healthy fast food alternative.

02/10/2015

Great project supporting young people in Dorset to develop ideas and get their community engaged in saving water or energy, fixing clothes, travelling smarter, eating local food, and reducing waste.

http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/news/2015-10-02/calling-young-minds-big-ideas-challenge

As world leaders prepare for international climate talks in Paris, young people, teachers and youth leaders across the county are signing up for the BIG Ideas Challenge. BIG Ideas Challenge brings together the international challenge of climate change, with the real every day behaviours that make a…

29/09/2015

David Bollier recently published a 4-part strategy memorandum outlining 60+ examples of legal innovations in a new frame called “Law for the Commons”. David’s 4-part blog series is a little long but well worth the time to read as the implications are huge. If Buckminster Fuller were alive today, he might say that Law for the Commons is the new operating system that will make the current dysfunctional model obsolete.
Here’s a short list of the contents followed by relevant links:
Part I: Introduction
Part II: Legal Innovations in Beating the Bounds: Nine Promising Fields of Action
1. Indigenous Commons
2. Subsistence Commons in the Global South
3. Digital Commons
4. Stakeholder Trusts
5. Co-operative Law
6. Urban Commons
7. Localism
8. New Organizational Forms
9. Re-imagining State Policy to Empower Commons
Part III: The Strategic Value of Developing Law for the Commons
Part IV: Next Steps
Here are links to the blogposts, wiki, and videos from a recent conference in Germany (in English).
http://bollier.org/blog/reinventing-law-commons-part-i
http://bollier.org/…/legal-innovations-beating-bounds-part-…
http://bollier.org/…/legal-innovations-beating-bounds-cont-…
http://bollier.org/…/strategic-value-developing-law-commons…
http://bollier.org/…/who-may-use-kings-forest-meaning-magna…
http://wiki.commonstransition.org/wiki/Law_for_the_Commons
D. Bollier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toeBHw965f4
M. Bauwens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAKyTFB5-Z8
Discussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVoCNqIZzPE

One of the most devastating and recurring problems that virtually every commons faces is market enclosure – the privatization and marketization of shared resources by businesses, investors and speculators, often in collusion with government. What's really remarkable is that legislatures and courts s…

11/09/2015

Exciting new foundation setup to support community businesses http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/funding/power-change-charitable-trust

The Power to Change is an independent charitable Trust set up in 2015 to support, develop and grow community business across England.Over the next decade, we will use £150 million provided by the Big Lottery Fund to deliver grants and practical support to encourage new community businesses to start…

11/09/2015

West Power Distribution have reopened their Community Chest fund for community buildings. Buildings can apply for up to £1,000 towards energy saving measures. https://www.cse.org.uk/projects/view/1302

The WPD Community Chest ran for the first time in 2010-11 and was repeated in 2012 and 2014. Each time a pot of £50,000 was distributed among 60 or so groups that included a water sports centre, churches and even a lobster hatchery. Case study: Heating improvements at Greenway Centre and St Martin& #…

09/09/2015

More than three quarters of UK households would support renewable energy projects such as wind turbines and solar farms if the profits generated benefitted the local community, a poll has found. - edie news centre

24/08/2015

STIR Magazine have their penultamate workshop concerning community co-operatives in early September. The workshop will take place at the Chapel in the Garden in Bridport. http://www.sustainabledorset.org.uk/events/2015-09-05/community-co-ops-stir-action-workshop

Community ownership is on the rise, enabling communities to get control of assets and services that they depend on, or want to see work better for them.