What do we do next?

Here in England (where I currently live) lots of people have been looking at this problem. What it boils down to is "how do we build a viable, and enjoyable economic model, community and way of life that is low emissions based". Please do not assume that this means commune living amongst bearded hippies and hugging trees.

It means viable local businesses, ways of transport, and ways of living that provide local jobs and meanwhile do so with massively reduced consumption of oil/gas/coal. Along the way reducing the amount of many spent on those. In England this is called "Transition Communities".

I recommend a book called The Transition Handbook as detailed reading on this. This book lays out practical steps to achieving community buy-in and a way forward.

Interestingly the author actually credits an Australian by the name of Bill Mollison as a principal inspiration for his work. Bill Mollison defined "permaculture" meaning a system that is self contained and thus permanently sustainable. Applying this concept beyond agriculture and you have the basis for "transition communities".

Transition culture is an attempt to move practically ahead, without waiting for federal government to solve all the problems. It is simply about taking responsibility for the future of our local communities, in consideration of the realities of what the next decade or two hold for us. "A decade or two" seems a long time, but personally I am mindful of the fact that ten years has gone in the blink of an eye since I left Australia in that amount of time again my daughter will be celebrating her 21st. For a rural community like the Kulnura/Bucketty/Wollombi area, all this has a lot of implications.

Fuel cost and availability effects commuters, weekenders, tourism, farming, transport of goods, farming, electricity costs and so on. Climate changes increase the bush fire risk, water supplies, as well as the mix of viable farming choices.

To give one example that relates back to something Paul Budde has been very actively involved in; one alternative to commuting is telecommuting, which requires cost effective availability of broadband internet.

Basically, the view that has emerged is that we collectively need to change the way
our economies operate. This begins at the local community scale. Communities are starting now by looking at how that change applies to them, and where planning is taking place that sets the tone for the coming decade or two, the realities of a low emissions lifestyle is being considered.