Looking inland from Drumderfit Hill - Julian Paren
Transition Black Isle is about helping Black Isle communities thrive in the face of Climate Change. We run community markets, we support local food and drink producers, we help people grow more food, we encourage non-car travel, support energy saving and promote reduction of single use plastics - and much more. If we in the Black Isle work together to manage more of our own resources, we can thrive despite whatever climate change and the end of fossil fuels throws our way.
All of us will be affected, all of us can do something for our lives and our children's lives. How can we help each other?
Welcome to a world in Transition
Community
LOCAL people are coming together, taking positive, practical steps to tackle the biggest challenges we face and create a resilient Black Isle. Strong, vibrant communities will find themselves much better equipped to move forward in the face of over-dependence on fossil fuels and the potentially disastrous climate change which is likely to result.
Fossil Fuels and Climate Change
Our way of life is largely powered by fossil fuels like oil and coal. Practically all aspects of the lifestyle we take for granted depend on oil. Food, heating, transport, agriculture, hospitals, medicines; modern western society revolves around the assumption that we have - and will continue to have - plentiful supplies of cheap fossil fuels. But the energy cost of extracting them is increasing and carbon dioxide emissions from burning them are a major cause of global warming and source of pollution. We must leave the fossil fuels in the ground, develop alternative energy sources and reduce total energy consumption.
Climate change is happening. The October 2018 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned there is only 12 years to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5C and avoid catastrophic environmental breakdown. Sir David Attenborough told the December 2018 UN Climate Change conference in Poland: “Right now we are facing a manmade disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Challenge and Opportunity
Looking these issues squarely in the face it becomes clear we must adapt and change the way we live, which means being prepared to adopt a more frugal lifestyle than we have become accustomed to. Getting people involved in making our communities resilient and helping to push the change to a low carbon society is what Transition Black Isle is all about.
The good news is it's not all about doom and gloom. Living more locally is more fulfilling, more rewarding and ultimately a lot more fun than rushing in pursuit of an unsustainable lifestyle with barely time to think, let alone get to know our neighbours. It can and should be "more a party than a protest".
Find out more about TBI and get involved!
Highland Good Food Conversation
Tickets now on sale
HGFC have announced the dates of the online conference sessions - on five Monday afternoons in January and February 2021 - and tickets are now on sale.
The session dates are 11, 18 and 25 January, and 1 and 8 February, all from 1.00 to 5.00.
Highland Good Food Conversation - tickets now on sale
HGFC have announced the dates of the online conference sessions - on five Monday afternoons in January and February 2021 - and tickets are now on sale.
The session dates are 11, 18 and 25 January, and 1 and 8 February, all from 1.00 to 5.00.
Tickets are at three different prices, according to an attendee's income or employment status and whether an organisation or business is paying, and allow access to all five sessions.
£50.00 earning over 25k, or organisation paying
£25.00 self-funding, and earning less than £25k.
£10.00 full-time student or unemployed
More information and ticket sales
Highland Good Food Conversation launched August 2020
How do we get more local, sustainable food on local dinner plates?
This is the question the Highland Good Food Conversation plans to explore, and then inspire the necessary action. You are invited to join the conversation and be part of the movement.
Over the last few months we have all witnessed how precarious our food system is, and how during this crisis, it was our local food producers and retailers who passionately rose to the challenge of getting food to us all.
Because of this, there is now a lot of momentum and energy in the local food sector, and many are keen to see a food system that is better for the planet, better for people and better for producers. To build on this enthusiasm and awareness The Pebble Trust and Transition Black Isle have jointly funded the Highland Good Food Conversation. This initiative aims to bring people together from across the Highlands who are interested in sustainable local food; to develop a vision for the Highlands and identify key actions to take forward. The main purpose of the Conversation is to inspire people and facilitate real action to change our food system for the better.
Read more about the Conversation
website https://highlandgoodfood.scot/
email hello@highlandgoodfood.scot
It's time for Autumn colours in the garden - how about sending some more pictures? There are full instructions on the page.
How should I send my pictures?
Attach them to an email to gardens@transitionblackisle.org . This will be forwarded to Peter Moffatt, the website editor, who will set up the pictures on the Black Isle Gardens page. He is the only person who will see your email address, and it will not be revealed to anyone else, unless you want people to be able to contact you, in which case it could appear on the page with your pictures, beside your name (see below) and location.
How many pictures, what size and shape?
We suggest between two and six pictures per garden. Even numbers will make for a neater page, as they will be displayed as side by side pairs on large screens, and in a single column on phones. A 'normal' size and aspect ratio is best, rather than images which are square or elongated in either direction. Upright or 'portrait' images are ok, but will display better in pairs. Number your pictures if you wish them to be diplayed in a particular sequence, and you can add descriptions or comments which will appear as captions to the images. Again, captioned images will display better in pairs.
What other information should I send?
We would prefer all the pictures we display to be attributed rather than anonymous, but will not make this an absolute requirement. We will ask that names accompany all contributions, so please give your name(s) in addition to your email address, and your general location. Say if you do not want your name to be shown with your pictures, and if you would like your email address to be shown.
How will the web page be organised?
The page will be Home / Black Isle Gardens , and each entry will consist of the name and location of the contributor followed by their set of pictures. Successive contributions will be added at the top of the page, so the most recent will be at the top and the oldest at the bottom.
Can I send more pictures later?
Of course. Your garden will change as we move into summer, and we don't yet know how long it will be before we will be able to go round peeking at other people's gardens in person. So please get your cameras out and start sending in those pictures.
PM
TBI has produced a comprehensive Growing Guide (still available) for the north of Scotland, run several series of 'Grow North' workshops on a range of growing topics, and bought an apple press, which is very popular for juice making in the autumn.
We provide information about the serious threat posed by climate change and the need to drastically reduce carbon emissions caused by our burning of fossil fuels. We report on governments' climate change plans, on activists' climate protests and on 'Green New Deal' proposals for a more sustainable world.
The Black Isle Larder website replaces an earlier 'Your Local Larder' booklet which had become out of date. It provides up to date information both to local people and visitors about Black Isle producers and suppliers offering food and drink largely sourced here.
TBI's Million Miles project reduced car use significantly, and we continue to encourage public transport and cycling, with an associated bike hire business and publication of an Active Travel map and guides to Black Isle cycle routes.
With pollution from single-use plastics a top cause of environmental concern, a group has been set up within TBI to exchange ideas and information on the issue and ultimately to change the attitudes and actions of people and businesses on the Black Isle.
In March each year TBI's most popular event offers gardeners the opportunity to select their seed potatoes from around 70 different varieties at a fixed price per tuber. Add onion setts, all day refreshments, variety and growing information and advice and a seed swap stall, and it's no wonder it draws the crowds.
How to save British farming (and the countryside)
James Rebanks, Lake District farmer and author of 'The Shepherd's Life' and a new book 'English Pastoral', writes about how to combine productive and "regenerative" farming with landscape and species biodiversity.
From the Unherd website
"As a farmer I've come to accept that our impact on nature is often destructive, but saving the landscape won't be cheap.
"The RSPB’s State of Nature report paints a gloomy picture of disappearing wildlife in our overwhelmingly farmed landscapes. Beloved species like curlews, yellowhammers, or hedgehogs, common as recently as my childhood, are disappearing or declining. The scientific consensus is that the rapid and ongoing intensification of agriculture has made our landscapes more monocultural, and sterile, with less habitats and less food for the things that once shared it with us.
"We could have a lively debate about who’s fault the intensification of farming was — and I might argue it was driven by the demand for cheap food, the overweening power of a handful of food industry corporations, poor public policy, disruptive chemical and engineering technologies that emerged in the post war period, and which are still intensifying field work, and lastly the societal belief that farming’s job was solely to produce ever cheaper food — but I’m less interested in haggling over blame, and much more interested in what I can practically do about this mess on our land."
https://unherd.com/2020/09/how-to-save-british-farming-and-the-countryside/
Food and Growing
Climate change
Black Isle Larder
Travel and Tourism
Plastics and waste
Potato Day
