Sustainable Community Action:Community Portal

• USA pledged to contribute $275m to a forest protection fund in 2010, 19 November ^[1] topic

• Coastal ‘carbon sinks’ - such as tidal salt marshes, seagrass meadows, kelp forests and mangroves – shrinking faster than Amazon forests, 17 November ^[2] topic

• Grid fails in Brazil. Massive power cuts in several Latin American counties highlight the dangers of relying on centralised power production, November 12 ^[3] topic

References

1. ↑ Greenpeace, 19 November 2009
2. ↑ Natural England, 17 November 2009
3. ↑ off-grid.net, November 12, 2009

• We only have months, not years, to save civilisation from climate change. International agreements take too long, we need a swift mobilisation not seen since the second world war, Lester Brown, 3 November ^[1] topic

• Bolivia: water shortages due to melting glaciers. The disappearance of glaciers in the Bolivian Andes Mountains is causing a concern because the future water shortages will affect the availability of suitable drinking water for a vulnerable migrant population. November 2 ^[2]

• Transition towns or Bright Green Cities? Article looking at "The Dark Side of Transition Thinking" and "What We Need Instead: Bright Green Citizens", Alex Steffen, 27 Oct ^[3]

References

1. ↑ guardian.co.uk, 3 November 2009
2. ↑ globalvoicesonline.org, November 2, 2009
3. ↑ www.worldchanging.com, 27 Oct 09

November 2009 28 Buy Nothing Day 30 November - December 11 COP-15, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Copenhagen, Denmark [1]

Open local carbon accounts - Request & campaign

Green picnics

• Forum:Government as a platform
• Forum:How to go beyond politics-as-usual
• Forum:Will Gordon Brown be remembered for fiddling with community involvement while the planet burns?

• Studies show that people at farmers’ markets have as many as 10 times more conversations, greetings, and other social interactions than people in supermarkets. Source: Worldwatch Institute / Local needs met locally

General tasks - Places, projects and networks - Ideas Bank - News - Diary - Resources - Images - Community / Collaboration

Contribute - wanted pages - Extensive development needed - Regular tasks - requested photos

"Eat when hungry, sleep when tired" Zen proverb - Inspiring Quotes 16

• Government to consult on proposals to make data from Ordnance Survey freely available so it can be used for digital innovation and to support democratic accountability, 17 November ^[2] topic

• Government announces consultation "Removing red tape in move towards a low-carbon future", 17 November ^[3] topic

• 98.3 per cent of England’s bathing waters met the EC’s minimum water quality standards in 2009, up from 96% in 2008, 17 November ^[4] topic

References

1. ↑ Press announcement
2. ↑ Communities and Local Government, 17 November 2009
3. ↑ Communities and Local Government, 17 November 2009
4. ↑ defra, 17 November 2009

• Fraud and error in the benefits system – where DWP are going wrong. Will Horwitz, November 16 ^[1] topic

• Greenhouse gas emissions created by Britons probably twice as bad as figures suggest, says the government's new chief energy scientist, September 30 ^[2] Reductions since 1990 "an illusion". topic

• Low Carbon Transition Plan a missed opportunity to involve all communities, as Local Agenda 21 offered, not just a few pilots, Philralph @sca21 17:56, 15 July 2009 (UTC) topic, topic

References

1. ↑ linksUK, November 16, 2009
2. ↑ news.bbc.co.uk, September 30, 2009

• endorse the Open Declaration on Public Services in the European Union here before November 19, 2009 Open collaborative effort by a group of citizens working to encourage European Governments to embrace transparent, participative and empowering public services.

• We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Encourage the Royal Mail to offer a free postcode database to non-profit and community websites. Submitted by Stuart Harrison – Deadline to sign up by: 06 January 2010 Sign the petition

• Say No To Phonebooks, Deadline to sign up by: 29 March 2010