Event Summary: One Planet Living for Oxfordshire
In April 2019 Low Carbon East Oxford held a meeting - the first in a while - and heard from Nicole Lazarus of Bioregional about their One Planet Living project.This is the theme of this year’s Oxford Green Week 8-15 June. The inspirational framework helps us think of how we can all live well and happily without over-exploiting the planet.
Nicole helped us to examine the 10 themes that make up the framework, and somehow we came up with thoughts about all ten of them!
Some examples: ‘improving water permeability to build groundwater reserves’; ‘food education – where it comes from’; ‘bring back rural bus routes to cut private car commuting, using the cleanest fleet available’; repairing, sharing and re-use, expressed in many ways; seeing active travel as a health initiative, increasing exercise and reducing isolation; ‘abandon local growth plan – create steady state economic plan instead’; ‘protecting and retaining open spaces and parks’; and much support for other organisations, such as SESI Refill, Cyclox cycling campaign, the Library of Things and the local Wildlife Trust.
Three key themes emerged
- Sharing: to break down isolation, to use resources wisely, reduce consumption and to get information;
- Engaging actively in nature; and
- Lobbying and campaigning: about a range of changes, from saving hedges and challenging supermarkets, to setting up massive water tanks in new buildings.
There was also a clear sense of increased urgency and no single way forward, for any of us or for LCEO. It was heartening to spend time with people who clearly know a great deal and are thinking clearly about what needs to happen, even as we find ourselves at an uneasy stage in the process of change.
