EDAP aims and thoughts on location…
I sat down with Asha today and we quickly wrote down what we thought might be a few basic aims of an EDAP. Probably needs a bit of work. I put them up here for your comment.
[ UPDATE 26 Sept: I've updated the aims a bit, incorporated some of Rye's feedback ]
So we also listed some criteria for what might constitute a good suburb, and what we can say we can offer the council. How's that look?
– adam
Our Aims
[ Note: the Melbourne Food Network is only planning on writing the food component of an EDAP whereas these aims are for the broader EDAP - so don't be overwhelmed too much by the scope! ]
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to develop an integrated planning framework which provides a prosperous pathway towards a more sustainable, lower energy future,
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to create a vision of the community which is visionary, inspiring as well as grounded, practical and achievable in tangible steps,
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to investigate the wants, needs, problems and aspirations of the community in question, through a mutual education and consultation process,
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to inspire communities and individual to develop autonomous responses,
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to foresee likely problems associated with energy descent and find positive, creative adaptations and mitigation options,
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to encourage local sustainable industries, and help them thrive under changing conditions
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to find ways of decreasing the transportation and/or transportation costs of both people and goods,
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to foster local food security initiatives,
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to provide preventative and holistic approaches to healthy living,
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to enable local community building, through networks, infrastructure and events,
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to facilitate rapid education and skill-sharing relevant to an era of energy descent,
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to help nurture a vibrant, healthy and unique local culture and economy,
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to take special interest in and learn from, and enable the social margins and most vulnerable parts of community,
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to find ways of increasing local abundance in ways which do not externalise environmental and social costs,
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to address other key issues specific to the community within an holistic framework,
Location: we are looking to develop the EDAP somewhere…
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reasonably convenient to the residences of MFN members,
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which may be home to a reasonably representative cross-section of Melbourne,
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with perceived potential support from the community,
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with a supportive local council which…
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has some understanding of, or openness to understanding, the issues at hand,
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is likely to take on board some or all of the recommendations,
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is able to take on some research and financial responsibilities,
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is able to provide relevant information and contacts.
The Melbourne Food Network can offer the council
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the energies and diverse skills of its members to develop such a plan
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insight into future prospects, challenges and opportunities within their region as informed by our research, and our knowledge of ecological, energetic and economic global trends.
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the opportunity to be the first suburb in the world to have developed a structured planning response to the challenges brought by the end of the age of cheap oil, which will…
- allow the suburb to prosper during the social and economic changes ahead,
- provide an example to other regions,
- become a leader and central hub for an emerging energy descent economy.
rye senjen said,
July 26, 2006 @ 8:42 am
Hello All,
thanks adam and asha for starting this…. my main comment is that social justice issues have been left out…
Yes, we need a sustainable and low energy future but it needs to also be just and equitable.
I am worried about a general vibe that for me is too focussed on business and business generation. Yes we need to earn some money, and yes it is good to encourage local rather than international business but more importantly people need to start being independent thinkers and live more freely and stop being sheep.
The general vibe then has to be in many waysmore about a political and policizing solutions, rather than lets save energy, built up a local community and be sustainable – this is simply not enough. Cheers RYE
adam said,
July 28, 2006 @ 1:29 am
Hi Rye,
Good point about including a social justice angle.
I think we need to develop a shared set of ethical principles, and something might included there.
Perhaps there are some reasons why the emphasis is off social justice in these aims, while it does deeply inform them.
Implicit social justice
Our primary challenge in an era of Energy Descent is to relocalise our lives. That’s probably going to be the core theme of an Energy Descent Action Plan. As Helena Norberg-Hodge says, from an ecological and social justice angle: “‘going local’ may be the single most effective thing we can do.”
She means that the ‘north’ strips the resources of the ‘south’, and the best thing we can do is simply stop it; take responsibility for our own production and wastes. That is the best way to help people, prepare for peak oil and address our ecological footprint in one. We have accumulated an ecological debt to the south. However, reversing the flow of resources implies dropping to a lower level of consumption than the south. That might be fair, but it’s unrealistic, however, slowing the flow is not.
Social justice is often thought of as the rich nations providing aid to the poor nations. Whereas in some senses the opposite is needed, as Holmgren has said:
Guilt vs. inspiration
So while I agree that social justice is a core value, I don’t think we should be trying to change people’s minds that way. We’ve had those reasons for a long time. They manifest as guilt, but guilt doesn’t work very well at changing people’s behavior significantly. We can do it instead by presenting a powerful, positive vision of how people’s lives might be better in a lower energy, relocalised community.
One of the curious things about peak oil is that we’re all in it together, so it has the potential to blur political differences and undermine many political assumptions across the board. It invites soul searching, and reconsideration of our lifestyle choices, our futures. I want the overt vibe of our approach to be relatively apolitical to make the most of this opportunity, to be able to approach just about any part of society in the spirit of mutual assistance and friendship, to see how that works out. I’m talking everyone from food-not-bombs to property developers, cultural community groups to cops(!)
I don’t believe that those from the political activist scene will form the core supporters, and I don’t believe it could succeed if they did. This has to connect with people much more broadly than that.
I want the wisdom if we’ve developed (I hope) as activists and in considering these broader issues to be incorporated into an energy descent framework; a world view which we can confidently articulate and share as a kind of common sense, while being open to people’s input, expecting it to be useful.
Re: emphasis on business
The plan is not about supporting current forms of global capitalism. It is about making productive local economies. Peak oil will lead to a significant drop in production of consumer goods and transport, which may lead to currency disfunction, even a new Great Depression. The global economy is already very unstable.
Economic crises are scary thoughts, but ones worth preparing for. Building viable local economies based on local businesses (and perhaps local currencies) are central to that. There will be loss of job security, and getting out of employment and starting small businesses may be a way for some to survive and be useful while learning new, more sustainable skills and trades. I’d like to see things like micro-wind and solar hot water technologies in garages and warehouses, permaculture design consultancies, cabinet making, masonry, local workshop style educational institutions, low energy health clinics, local food production and lots more local quality industry replacing cheap disposable goods.
The less monetised the economy the better I would say. Informal gift economy, permablitzes and other ‘barn-raising’ activites, family support, skillshares, potlatches are even better than business, but can only amount to a some of the economy in a semi-transient suburban population. So we have to work with business, create business, and perhaps use the organisational skills of successful business people to our own nefarious ends.
It would be good to hear your further thoughts. And before too long, unless someone kick starts it first, I’ll send through some suggested principles soon too to get that rolling.
Best wishes,
Adam