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NewsBurst number 2, December 2008

Dear Nick Wilding

'Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.... Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!'
(from W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951, often attributed to Goethe).

We wish you a bold, genius, powerful and magic New Year! In the meantime, why not give friends a
taste of FierySpirits by forwarding on this e-newsletter?

A Warm Welcome to New Members

Amongst many others, a warm welcome to Hazel Stutely ('I worked with residents to turn around a sink
estate with dramatic and sustained outcomes'), Nic Millington ('media
offers the 'little person' a fantastic opportunity to play on the big field'), Deri
Jones ('we do everything from suicide prevention to laser scanning') and
Richard Scott ('reversing the tide' - thanks for your wildflower seed
collecting photo (right)!).

A Bouquet of Blogs
The blog is where you fire off a comment, link, report or anecdote ...
and read comments sent in the same spirit.

Paul at CAT: Poznan talks 'lack urgency ... new push from the top' is urgently
needed'
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 needed'
Paul's post describes his trip to the climate talks in Poznan, saying "What really surprised me was
that even in Poznan, many participants still hadn’t really grasped our global climate predicament.
Even senior experts, scientists NGO’s and political leaders failed to appreciate that the most recent
evidence on climate change reveals a situation more urgent than
had been expected, even by those who have been following it
closely for decades." There is a now a new video on FierySpirits
which brilliantly illustrates why we all need to 'get' this 'tipping
point' science.

Paul from Devon Heartlands: Carnegie Key Influencers Seminar

The Seminar was organised by Carnegie to highlight a range of approaches for effective Community
led Planning and Engagement from both the local community and local authority perspectives."Paul
pointed out that engagement through a local Forum could be “low cost, but not no cost” a point that
was well received by panel members who recognised that far greater continuity of resources was
essential if the benefits of Community led Planning were to be fully realised."

Lisa at Eden: BBC survey results on Community life in Britain... and what we're
doing about it
Every region in the UK, broadly defined by a BBC local radio areas, has seen its communities
become less rooted. This is not news, of course, to many Fiery Spirits - especially to those who are
actively doing something about it!

A Gaggle of Groups
Any member can host a 'group' on FierySpirits. These groups can evolve to enable strong
exchanges of practical know-how. Thanks to our pioneer 'practice group' hosts for braving
the new technology and giving it a shot...

Food: a salvo from Mike and Pete in Fife: recapitalising the UK food system
"Local and national government could start by acknowledging that a laissez-faire food system is no
safer in the long run than a laissez-faire financial system... the levers include land use and town
planning policy (including a tax on every inch of soil covered with concrete), public procurement, the
place of food in the school curriculum, universal food vouchers for fresh and unprocessed food,
management of food waste, sales taxes, choice editing, agricultural emissions trading, linking farm
subsidies to public good accounting, research and development for sustainable food." See also the
recent Sunday Herald article - a good example of using national media....

Welsh Wizards: Shan initiates a conversation about building a community of

practice in Wales
Shan has been a trail-blazer on the FierySpirits site. An early post was in Welsh only - and when I
put it through the only on-line Welsh-English translation service I could find
(http://www.tranexp.com:2000/Translate/result.shtml) the results were pure poetry ('forbear with
content Welsh') ...

International Connections: Tara and Debi encourage global exchanges

One early contributor, Serge Marti, who does participatory film-making with indigenous people in
Indonesia (and elsewhere), has said: "When we localise, we shouldn't cut ourselves off, there are so
many learnings that are important in the connection to other cultures. Localisation may not mean
that we stop moving about - humans have been transhuman and nomadic for millennia, walking,
sailing, trading, exchanging knowledge, objects, beliefs and language over vast distances. And
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 sailing, trading, exchanging knowledge, objects, beliefs and language over vast distances. And
finally, could the transition movement also have a strong international solidarity component -
becoming an actor for environmental justice?"

A Feast at the Forum

Unlike the Blog, posting to the forum means you want to start an in-depth exploration of a
topic which doesn't fit into an existing practice group's focus.

Forum: Juliet from Eden asks Why?Why?Why? don't Community Land Trusts not
get government support?
"Heidi and I had a sparky meeting today with the lovely Alan Fox our local expert on Community
Land Trusts.... The Community Land Trust Fund has no government support - Why? Why? Why?". A
ripple went around the Carnegie Office as we read this ... perhaps we can find some opportunities to
put this right .... what do you think?

Forum: James from Uni. Gloucestershire asks why do people volunteer to

initiate/assist community-led projects?
"I scratched the surface of this and concluded that "self interest is the most powerful motive for
individual development of rural community projects"; THAT SELF INTEREST was not viewed
negatively, but rather as an honest recognition of 'where people are coming from'. The conversation
is still live....

Forum: Meic from Wales showcases a successful Welsh drama approach for
primary school children - and seeks ideas for further support
"Other schools, not all from rural villages, have also asked for a similar service to be provided. Early
evaluation records show that the activity is indeed already changing the dynamics of cultural
interaction and play... Could any colleagues suggest, or offer any leads towards sources of funding
that might be worth approaching?"

An Excellence of Events

... into a Fiery Future

2009 is going to be a busy year. FierySpirits will continue to grow as groups become established and each
find their practice focus. There will be lots of events on-line and face-face, new collaborations, and the
launch of a ‘catalyst’ fund inviting bids from diverse CoP members to co-host events on emerging ‘hot
themes’.

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