A change of name!? - Let's hear from our creative friends

At the recent solstice afternoon tea we took the opportunity to indulge in a bit of navel gazing.

Over our history (i.e. since 2008), WHEN has run a number of important and valued projects in the community. We are very proud of what we have achieved (just check out the history in this blog to see what we've been up to).  We've been active around Gardens & Food, Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Transport,  etc, and the ideas keep coming...   Of course there is much to be done if we want to succeed in building and maintaining a liveable, vibrant and optimistic community in West Hobart in the face of the environmental, energy, societal and financial challenges that are coming our way.

We agreed that we have a problem with our current name. (Indeed, some people have been saying this for a long time).  Our current name came out of an early workshop and was adopted largely because of its catchy acronym.  But as George Monbiot said recently, " “environment” is a cold and distancing word, which creates no pictures".    

We want to reflect through our name the positive vision that our supporters have at heart when they think about the future community they want their children to live in.   We want our name to contain the seeds to inspire our neighbours to bring their enthusiasm to the group and to take it forward with new ideas and projects.   So - we started brainstorming some key words and  ideas, such as :

Community,   Future,   Liveable Community,  Resilience...

Living West Hobart

Living Well in West Hobart

Growing West Hobart

Transition West Hobart (implies a commitment to joining the international Transition Towns movement)

Sustainable Living in West Hobart

Building a resilient West Hobart

Westies for the Future

West Hobart in Transition

in fact any of these could be followed by a tagline 

(such as ...a new leaf / local solutions to global problems / building a strongly connected community / growing the things we love / building a resilient community / .....)

Another idea being discussed is joining together with likeminded groups in the foothills of Mt Wellington to create a stronger group.  So the name may move beyond the confines of West Hobart... 

There are lots of creative people out there, can you take a few minutes to think about a better name for our group?  Or let us know if you like one of the ideas suggested above.   We're looking forward to hearing from you!!!  Leave a comment below, or drop a line to whenvnet@gmail.com.  Thanks!!!!

Steering Group meeting 22 Nov 2011

Today we discussed future directions for WHEN, in the context of the imminent 'Changing Gears' weekend at Nubeena, and the current environment of economic scarcity, which is making increasing numbers of people concerned about their and their family's futures.  Is the timing right for raising the issues of food security and Peak Oil, and for promoting positive responses such as Re-Localisation? 

We discussed possibilities for West Hobart around local food production, including creating a community garden, and promoting Community Supported Agriculture.  We discussed engaging with the retired community through assisting with energy audits and growing food.  A more visible and fairly central meeting place would be great, a sort of community centre to provide a base for projects and meetings.

The group agreed to go ahead with adopting a more formal structure for the group, so that there is a more visible public organisation representing the broader interests of the West Hobart community.

We will hold a public meeting in early March 2012 with the theme of Localisation, at which we will launch the new Walking West Hobart map and present a positive approach to developing solutions to issues which may be worrying people. 

Come to our next meeting 28 March 2010

Our next meeting will be on Sunday 28th March, 3 pm, in the Lansdowne Crescent School hall, when we will be screening two films: "In Transition" and "The Story of Stuff". Come and find out more about how communities around the world are responding to climate change, and how you could become involved. After the films we will have a cuppa and some discussion on next steps for our group. See you there!!

Structure of WHEN, 2008

In a general discussion on how our group might be structured the following points were raised. Most people preferred that the group remain unincorporated and simply be an informal network. It was suggested that we need formal statement of our purpose indicating what we intend to do (and not do). To cover the costs of hiring the venue, it was agreed that we should request a $2 donation from those attending. Bill Harvey from the Hobart City Council mentioned that the Council has a meeting space available for community group use (but this can only be used after working hours on weekdays).

Name of the group:

As the group has not had an official name, a number of possible names were discussed and voted upon. And, the winner was - West Hobart Environment Network (WHEN).

Group communications:

The Yahoo discussion group was a problem for some of those attending and they asked if it was possible to have direct link from the webpage to Yahoo. Paul Turvey will investigate this. Not many people expressed interest in the discussion group. There was also a request for the inclusion of subgroup reports and meeting notices on the webpage. Bill Harvey mentioned that the Council can be asked to put up community notice boards.

Other matters:

The damage caused by plastic bags was raised and discussed. This is an issue that the group may wish to look at further in the future. Simon Clarkson gave us an overview of the plans for the Mellifont Orchard. Tasmanian heritage apples (and possibly pears) will be planted on terraces.

Beat Winter Chills & Bills, 2008

We had a great turnout again and it was a full house. There were many new faces as well as many from previous meetings.

Presentations were given by our expert panel – Peter Boyer (Al Gore Project),
Chris Harries (Waterworks Rd Community Project), Helen Pryor (Sustainable Living Tasmania) and Katrina Graham (Hobart City Council). The meeting was facilitated by Anne Bliss.

WHEN Meeting 22 June 2008

Chris Harries started things off by giving us a really helpful talk, He spoke about the Waterworks Road Community Group, solar hot water heating, and answered questions from the group. If you weren't able to make it to yesterday's meeting, you might like to take a look at Waterworks Road website at http://waterworksvalley.com/.

Margaret then brought us up-to-date with what is happening locally, including the planned Hobart City Council sustainability workshops, which are expected to start within the next few weeks.

We then discussed how we might move forward as a group. It was decided to continue to meet on a regular basis while initially focusing upon the three primary areas of interest that we identified during our first meeting -- making our homes sustainable, gardens and food, and sustainable transport.

A subgroup was formed to act upon each of these issues. These individual subgroups will meet to explore ideas, establish priorities and devise plans of action.

If you were unable to attend yesterday and would like to participate in one of the subgroups, please contact the group convener for information on when they are meeting.

• Making our Homes Sustainable
  John Carpenter, convener (6231 6349)
• Gardens and Food
  Annie March, convener (6231 0378)
• Sustainable Transport
  Margaret Steadman, convener (6231 4751)

A fourth subgroup was considered, one which would look at developing the sense of community within parts of West Hobart, but it was decided to leave this for the moment. It is expected that new subgroups will form over time as new issues arise.

The importance of expanding the size of the our group was considered and a number of suggestions were made, including;

• everyone bringing along someone new
• a notice in the Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter and on their planned website
• a media event
• the promotion of the group at the Hobart City Council sustainability workshops.

Inaugural WHEN meeting - Sunday 25 May 2008

It was great having so many people turn up who were concerned about the issues of community and climate change and who were also eager to start taking action on them.

In our discussion on Sunday, we identified a number of areas for possible group action. They are listed below. The numbers in brackets indicate how many green dots each item received as a measure of its popularity with the group.

There were three main areas of interest:
. making our homes more sustainable
. gardens and food
. improving local transport
Additionally, there were a number of suggestions associated with other community-related issues.

Making our homes more sustainable (28)
. rainwater tanks (10)
. solar hot water (7)
. photovoltaic panels (4)
. retrofitting (4)
. grey water recycling (3)
. composting toilets
. a demonstration house to show the potential for sustainable living

Gardens and food (16)
. community gardens (5)
. a register of garden tools (3)
. community composting(2)
. "retrofitting" gardens with native plants (2)
. bulk buying of garden supplies (1)
. information on growing your own food (1)
. information on keeping chickens (1)
. street trees (1)
. beekeeping
. distributing surplus food
. information on "permablitzing"
. utilization of Council green space for gardens

Improving local transport (14)
. better local transport (5)
. transport that is more sustainable (3)
. bike racks on buses (3)
. development of a light rail system (2)
. street calming (1)
. car sharing

Other issues raised (8)
. sharing knowledge and skill-sharing workshops (3)
. establishing a local walking club (2)
. acting to create change by influencing others in the community (1)
. building community resilience in the face of changing conditions (1)
. information on Transition Towns (1)
. creating safety in the community
. banning toxic substances in West Hobart
. sharing general resources - tools, equipment, etc.
. organisation of the Group and a venue for meetings

WHEN Subgroups, 2008

WHEN presently has three active subgroups. New members are most welcome and if you would like to participate in any of them, please contact the convener for meeting dates and times. The formation of other relevant subgroups is encouraged.

Gardens and Food
Annie March, convenor (6231 0378)
We are a very active group, which has been running regular produce exchanges, garden sharing, working bees, and information sessions, including a recent workshop on gardening with native plants. At the moment, we have several workshops and information sharing activities in the planning stages.

Sustainable Homes
John Carpenter, convenor (6231 6349)
After running two very successful workshops, one on solar hot water and the other on insulation and residential heating options, the group is now considering a number of ideas for future activities related to making our homes more sustainable.

Sustainable Transport
Margaret Steadman, convenor (6231 4751)
The group has prepared comments on the Hobart City Council's Draft Sustainable Transport Strategy and made a submission to the Premier's Fuel Summit. We are now looking at alternative actions for transport in the West Hobart area as well as the development of a walking and biking map.

About us

We are a group of West Hobart residents who are concerned about the impact that climate change is having upon the planet. As individuals, we each had felt the need to take action. WHEN was formed partly as a means to motivate and support one another, and partly to serve as a vehicle for action. Global warming is an issue that we can no longer afford to ignore. To do so will be at the expense of our children’s futures.

WHEN’s main focus is on making our individual lives more sustainable so that our lifestyles will have a lighter impact upon the planet. Allied with this is our desire to strengthen and enliven our local community.

We meet occasionally as a whole group. The WHEN sub-groups meet regularly and organise community workshops and activities. The current sub-groups are Sustainable Housing, Gardening and Food, and Sustainable Transport.

If you also would like to act on climate change, then please join us. We look forward to meeting you and to working together with you in order to develop a more positive and secure future for our community and for the world.