Every month Plentziako Herri Lurrak invites someone to give a talk on some theme connected with sustainability and this week the guest speaker was our member David Henderson who gave a talk. First he explained how Butroi Bizirik Trantsizioan came to be and what work it is carrying out in various fields. Although BBT is a Transition group there is very little contact nowadays with the Transition movement but these ideas continue to be an inspiration for the group. Unfortunately we have not succeeded in maintaining the early enthusiasm that has led to the wonderful blossoming of projects in places like Totnes, Frome or Liege to name but a few. However, not all is gloom and a lot of work has been done by a very active coordination group together with the help of BBT members and sympathisers. One only has to look at the labyrinth of groups within BBT to realize just how much is being done. This web-page is also a testimony to all our good work.
After explaining the fact that Transition is based on the realization that we can no longer depend on fossile fuels and must re-think how we live, David went on to explain how this can provide us with the opportunity to build up a new resilience which, combined with a good dose of imagination, can help to build up cohesion in communities. As one of the founders of the movement, Rob Hopkins, says, the oil peak or the fact that we must leave fossile fuels in the ground to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, adversely provides us with an opportunity to be more imaginative and creative as we look for solutions based on local projects and develop food and energy sovereignty.
The second part of the talk was dedicated to explaining some of the different European Citizen Science projects which show how ordinary people can carry out different types of nature surveying and how this work can help scientists confirm suspicions that they might have about species decline. One such initiative is the Buzz Club which counts with the enthusiastic support of Dave Goulson, university lecturer, writer and apologist for the need to protect our insects. Finally, David finished the talk by talking about some of the Citizen Initiatives BBT has been involved in, including the butterfly oasis in Plentzia which unfortunately the present municipal government group has decided not to support.
A big thanks to the organizers and everyone who came. The next talk will be given by Arturo Elosegi, a well-known authority on the problems caused by eucalyptus trees and of course he talk is not just open to people from Plentzia but to people from the surrounding area.
Here is the link to the slideshow used by David to give the talk.
