FILM: Just Do It! at Cinema City - 16 August

Just Do It - a tale of modern-day outlaws - a film by Emily James is showing this Tuesday at Cinema City at 8.30pm. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Lauren Simpson and exec producer Christo Hird.

“Smart, funny, adrenalised portrait of 21st-century activism” Danny Leigh, The Guardian

Just Do It lifts the lid on climate activism and the daring troublemakers who have crossed the line to become modern day outlaws. Emily James spent over a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid to document their clandestine activities. With unprecedented access, Just Do It introduces you to a powerful cast of mischievous and inspiring characters who put their bodies in the way; they blockade factories, attack coal power stations and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks despite the very real threat of arrest.

Their adventures will entertain, illuminate and inspire.

Further info: In May This Low Carbon Life published an in-depth report about the relationship between activism and Transition, inspired by this grassroots documentary.

Watch the trailer here
Invite your friends to the facebook event here.
Tickets are available here.

Get in for free! If 5 of your friends book their tickets in advance, we'll give you a free ticket. All you need to do is send the names and email addresses of your friends who've booked to our Outreach Coordinator Molly at screenings@justdoitfilm.com

Just Do It is on tour around the UK with screenings from Aberystwyth to Aberdeen, still to go we have Bristol, Birmingham, Aberystwyth, Brighton, Southampton, Exeter, Bath, Lancaster & Torrington.

Welcome to Our August 2011 News!

Read all about what's happening in the city from our Transition Norwich news crew: the launch of Kitchen Conversations, Norwich FarmShare's summer harvest (and request for willing weeders), Transition Outreach's request for the Harlequin Fayre, Magdalen Street Celebration preparations for the Big Day, updates on our blog and more . . . .

SUN AND HOLIDAY READS: out this month Richard Heinberg's The End of Growth; Sunrise Festival; Sunflower from Deep Nature week on the blog; Rob Hopkin's at the Transition Conference with David Fleming's long-awaited Lean Logic.

Magdalen Street Celebration - 2 August

This October will see the 2nd annual Magdalen Street Celebration – a chance for visitors, residents, traders and the vast array of local talent to come together in recognition of this unique corner of Norwich.

Our celebration explores Magdalen Street’s rich past, it’s diverse and highly creative present and gently nudges the area into a sustainable future. If you love Magdalen Street as much as we do, whether you live nearby or further afield, work in or just enjoy visiting the area, if you have a tale or talent to share, we need your help in making this year’s celebration the wonderful event it deserves to be.

Creators of all kinds welcome: painters, sculptors, photographers, craftspeople, film makers, designers, performers, musicians, dancers, tailors, bakers, candlestick makers and more! Get in touch (details below) and join us every first Tuesday of the month at Aladdin’s Café on Magdalen Street, to help plan this vibrant community event. Rachel Lalchan

Next meeting: Tuesday 2nd August, 7pm Further Info: Stefi Barna - 07964 494836 or Karen - artoftheordinary@googlemail.com. Web: magdalenstreet.blogspot.com or join our Facebook page

Grapes Hill Community Garden - Grand Opening Day - 7 August

Since the Grapes Hill Community Garden opened its gates to the public on 2nd July it has proved a hit with people and wildlife alike.

We had a great evening in the garden on Sunday 10th July, after St. Benedict's Street Fair. On other days people come in to enjoy the garden's peace and tranquility. People appreciate the garden's wealth of vegetables, herbs and ornamentals, with the wildflower meadow being a particular favourite.

The garden is attracting birds and insects too. A pair of blackbirds nested in a courtyard backing onto our garden and the parents foraged for food here. Bumblebees, butterflies, moths, ladybirds and hoverflies are moving into the garden and we're keeping a note of what we see.

On Sunday 7th August we have our Grand Opening Day. This starts at 11am when Will Giles from Norwich's Exotic Garden officially opens the garden. There will be food, drink, music, ice cream, face painting, competitions, plant sales and information about the garden, until 3pm.
There will also be a one-off chance at this event to join the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group for half price until the end of 2012 for £5 (waged) or £1.50 (unwaged).

Admission to the garden is free - please come along and see Norwich's newest green space. Jeremy Bartlett.

Above: Drinks and food in the garden - 10th July 2011. Photo copyright Grapes Hill Community Garden Group. Visit our website or our Facebook page for more information.

Becoming the Media - This Low Carbon Life – 27 August

It’s been full on this summer as the blog crew have tackled the hot topics of Deep Nature, Health in Transition, Gatherings, the Transition Conference and High Summer (well perhaps not so hot) as well as our monthly Transition Themes group reports.

In May we were delighted and dismayed when one of our top bloggers, Kerry left Norwich for a great Transition job in Glasgow. At the same time we welcomed aboard Simeon Jackson, mover and shaker behind TN’s new style Economics and Livelihoods and Outreach initiatives.

We also started an occassional cross-posting from local and Transition blogs: Adrienne Cambell from TTLewes on Swarmcatchers, Mark Crutchley of the OneWorldColumn on the state of the oceans, Rachel Lalchan of Ecomonkey on giving up supermarkets, Olivia Heal of La Bonne Bouffe on Lacto-Fermentation. Chrissie Godrey from TT Taunton and one of the Conference storytellers, related the End of the Tail.

Meanwhile our regular reporters have carried on contributing daily on all subjects under the sun bringing attention and giving value to all aspects of our downshfiting culture that’s rarely covered by mainstream media. Becoming the Media is one of the Ingredients in Rob Hopkin’s soon-to-be published, The Transition Companion. It’s been the key driver behind This Low Carbon Life and has provided the inspiration (and format) for the upcoming national Social Reporting pilot. We’re launching this Transition community blog on the Network site in September. Watch that space! Charlotte Du Cann

Making a bee-line to the community garden from The Spirit of the Beehive. Photo by Muhammad Amin. Sunflowers by Mark Watson.

STOP PRESS! Due to various factors, the date of the TN Blogger's Summer Meeting has changed. It will now be at The Greenhouse, Bethel Street on Saturday, 27 August at 11am. All present and future bloggers welcome!

Introducing Kitchen Conversations - Low Carbon Cookbook - 24 August

Last month we gathered at Christine’s and welcomed Sophie and Nick to our low-carbon table. We ate, as usual, a delicious supper of shared dishes (from rainbow summer slaws to foraged cherry plum pie) and afterwards discussed the Burning Issues embedded in the present industrialised food system. We looked at the scarcity of water, the destructiveness of supermarkets, peak phosphates, and how we can change the menu, both practically and philosophically, in our daily lives and neighbourhoods.

We also decided to open out these monthly discussions and invite everyone to take part in a conversation over supper on all aspects of food and carbon reduction.

Our first Kitchen Conversation will be on Eating Local for Real on Wednesday 24 August at 6.30pm at Jo Balfe's new cafe The Nectar at 16 Onley Street, just off the Unthank Road. Jo is a member of the TN Permaculture group and gives regular workshops on cooking and eating local and raw food. We'll bring our own local low carbon dishes to share and Jo will be offering drinks and pedal-powered desserts.

We'll be holding our second Low Carbon Kitchen Conversation at Norwich FoodCycle Cafe in September. These free community meals are cooked up each week at the Friends Meeting House kitchens from food that would otherwise be thrown away, donated by local shops, restaurants and market stalls (including surplus veg from Norwich FarmShare).

Everyone is welcome at both events. Details and times will be added soon to the calendar. Watch this space! Charlotte Du Cann

Bicycle blender outside The Nectar; Low Carbon Cookbook Crew; blight-free organic potatoes at The Spuds Don't Work anti-GM rally outside the Forum

Kitchen Conversation 1: Eating Local for Real at The Nectar Cafe, 16 Onley Street. KC 2: Food and Waste will be at FoodCycle, Friends Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane in September. For more details contact Charlotte Du Cann rootshootsandseeds@hotmail.co.uk

Norwich FarmShare Workday - 20 August

As we head into August we are celebrating our first full month of delivering our fresh locally grown veg to our members. The veg we've supplied during our first month has been delicious and we've had a fantastic range. It's amazing to look back on how the site looked only a few months ago and reflect on how far we've come.

It's been really nice to start to get to know each other as we meet up to collect our veg. Lots of people stop for a cuppa and a chat- we often end up swapping recipes and tips on cooking the vegetables. I learnt that broad beans are much nicer if you take the skin off as well as podding them! I've never liked broad beans before, but I've really enjoyed them this summer, especially in the falafel that Tierney gave me the recipe for.

We've been grateful for lots of volunteer help over the month, some people come every week, others as and when they find the time. There are lots of jobs we need help with: harvesting every Thursday takes several pairs of hands to make sure all the veg is ready to take to our distribution point; but the job that's really getting away from us at the moment is weeding. Some of the weeds are taller than the crops! If you've got time on your hands and you fancy some healthy exercise in the fresh air, we'd love to see you on the farm.

We have work days every Thursday from 9.30 for harvesting. As for weeding, to make it as easy as possible you're welcome to visit the farm any time you'd like: then all you need to do is look for our 'weed me' sign and get stuck in. Our next Saturday workday will be on 20 August, 11am to 3pm.

Weekly updates, veg recipes and details of how to get to the farm are on our website

Looking forward to seeing you there! Elena Judd

Permaculture Norfolk - July /August

Wakelyns Agroforestry visitIn July, 15 of us visited one of the Organic Research Centre sites, the fantastic Wakelyns Agroforestry in Suffolk. We were lucky enough to have an extensive tour of the farm by the owner/researcher Martin Wolfe.

Wakelyns are trialling growing crops cereals, potatoes and fertility building cover crops in rotation in alleys with a row of coppice or hardwood trees each side. They are then observing the yields and benefits of doing so compared to monocultures.

Diversity and increasing the opportunity for interactions between organisms are key.

By growing mixed varieties of wheat in trial areas they are able to compare the yield to an area of ‘standards’-low genetic diversity. They are also observing how they fair over generations and which varieties are naturally selected over others to the local conditions.

The farm is a closed loop system apart from the diesel for the machinery and some seeds! A very interesting afternoon. Thanks to Martin and Wakelyns for their hospitality and time. Keep up the good work. Tierney Woods

Wakelyn's Agroforestry www.wakelyns.co.uk. See googlegroup and TN calendar for workday/trip details as they arise. New faces welcome! To join the googlegroup discussion group or for more info: Tierney (tierneywoods@yahoo.co.uk)

RELATED EVENT: Harlequin Fayre - 12/14 August

STOP PRESS! TN's Mark Watson will be giving a Bee and Flower walk at the Fayre on Saturday 13th August at 12 noon. Meet at the Transition tent in the Sustainable Futures area.

If you want to be part of those representing Transition Norwich at Harlequin Fayre this year, please get in touch! They have offered us a stall at the event which is on the 12 to 14 August this year and it would be great to be able to run some TN workshops for them there! As a community group in their "sustainable futures" area, we need to make sure that we really show what we are about!

Harlequin Fayre is a local festival with a green ethos that follows on the tradition of colourful events such as the Albion Fayres. It will never be a large "music festival" and is intentionally kept as a small, magical event. It's generally a great place to find people sympathetic to the ideas of Transition, and who may already be doing Transition, in their own way.

If you have any resources that you would like to have distributed there, or can donate banners, decorations, books or have ideas for workshops, please get in contact with Simeon: simeon@simeonjackson.co.uk