On Saturday 29th October nearly 40 of us from across Norwich gathered together at St. Thomas’ Church Hall for a screening of The Urbal Fix, a film which explores ways to respond to climate change and peak oil and transform our cities into greener, pleasanter places to live.
Although the film uses Leeds as its example, the problems and solutions described were easy to relate to Norwich and were clearly presented by Tom Bliss, who wrote and produced the film.
Suggested solutions included the creation of community gardens and other public green spaces, green corridors to link these together, the use of buildings to generate renewable energy, local food production and distribution and smarter town planning and building.
Most, if not all, of this will be familiar to supporters of Transition Norwich, but the film brings together ideas in a very inspiring and easy to understand way and by the end we were feeling energised and keen to do more.
Many different initiatives are taking place in Norwich, both inside and outside the Transition Norwich umbrella, and one positive outcome of our meeting would be to find ways to link together these initiatives and make it easier for individuals and groups to share ideas, learn from each others’ experiences and find the best ways to make changes happen.
The evening was hosted by Rev. Philip Young, the vicar of St. Thomas’ Church as part of One World Week. As well as watching the film we had a series of discussions and shared a selection of delicious desserts.
Many of those of us who attended the meeting passed on our contact details to Philip Young, who will host a follow-up meeting in the near future.
If you weren’t able to make the meeting you can view the film here. If you would like to take part in further meetings, please contact Philip on Norwich 624390 or via the St. Thomas’ Church website’s contact form. Jeremy Bartlett
Photo: Bluebell Allotments (Jeremy Bartlett)
http://transitionfreepress.org/subscribe/