Earth Hour: Breathing Life into our Community

 

Media Release 

16th March 2009



As part of World Earth Hour, a new environmental network is being launched in Newcastle. Transition Town Newcastle is part of a world-wide movement responding to the twin pressures of Global Warming and Peak Oil in an inclusive and integrated way.

A spokesperson for the group, William Vorobioff said, “We need to start planning for a community that is less reliant on oil. We can’t wait for governments to legislate the change. For our children and for our planet, we need to start breathing life into our own communities now. We need to build resilient, sustainable ways of living together.”

To celebrate Earth Hour, Transition Town Newcastle is being launched with a forum “Breathing Life into Communities”. The forum begins at 5 pm just before Earth Hour on Saturday 28 March 2009 at Hamilton Baptist Church, Lindsay Street, Hamilton. While the adults are being engaged in the community forum, children can take part in “Earth Ticklers”, a creative drama workshop about caring for our planet. The group will also launch the new Australian edition of The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of the Transition Initiative.

Agenda and  flyer for the workshop can be downloaded here

After the forum and workshop everyone will move across the road for a picnic in Gregson Park at 7pm followed by the Earth Ticklers performance, wandering minstrels, a lantern parade and observing Earth Hour at 8.30pm.

William Vorobioff said, “Through the forum we want to explore the many ways in which people living in Newcastle are helping create an environmentally sustainable community. We want to bring people together and explore what motivates them to take action and to think about how we can work together”.

“The Transition approach not only recognises the need to reduce our greenhouse emissions but also recognises the threat of pending resource depletion particularly through a reduction in oil production. Rather than focusing on the threat, however, we are focusing on creating a dynamic, resilient vision for the future. We believe that sharing a creative, inspiring vision can help bring about powerful change. We are looking forward to sharing people’s ideas and enthusiasm so that together we can breathe life into our community”.

The forum is being organised by Transition Town Newcastle and is sponsored by Osmosis Creative, Climate Action Newcastle, Hamilton Baptist Church and Newcastle City Council.

For interviews: William Vorobioff on 4967 3231 or 0414 408 956
  Geraldine O’Connor on 4926 1606 or 0417 292 414