Jane Wood

bookshelf

Climate Psychology book recommendations

During 2024 we have had two very illuminating talks on Climate Psychology from Dr Emmie Williamson, retired clinical psychologist. (Links to meeting notes and recordings below.) In her latest talk Emmie recommended some further reading on this important topic, which we were keen to add to our Bookshelf. Don'

podcastshelf

Generation One: The Climate Podcast

This podcast is hosted by leading climate experts from University College London and has covered a range of topics from electric batteries to trees and climate finance. It has an engaging mix of scientific expertise and enthusiasm. The two latest episodes cover biodiversity, with a report on the release of

meeting reports

Report of 17 October CA-WN AGM and Monthly Meeting

October’s meeting started with the CA-WN Annual General Meeting, including election of officers. This was followed by a presentation from Marga Witteman, one of the co-founders of the More Trees Now movement in the Netherlands. Working with a range of organisations, individuals and community groups, this initiative has enabled

podcastshelf

The Great Simplification

Each episode of The Great Simplification consists of an interview by the host Nate Hagens with someone able to provide insight into an aspect of the climate and biodiversity crises (or 'polycrisis'). Most episodes come in at over an hour which allows time to explore the subject matter.

bookshelf

English Pastoral: An Inheritance by James Rebanks

Having just seen Six Inches of Soil, a documentary film about regenerative farming1 (which I highly recommend), this book seemed an appropriate one to add to our Bookshelf this month. It is a wonderful book, beautifully written and telling a story that carries a great deal of power coming from

bookshelf

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth by James Lovelock

This book was first published in 1979. Even my second-hand 1991 reprint is over 30 years old! The ideas it set out were revolutionary at the time and are still fresh and enlightening today, at least to this reader. The hypothesis at the core of the book is that the

water

Great UK WaterBlitz

We’ve all heard about the poor condition of our rivers and streams due to issues with sewage and agricultural pollution. Environment Agency figures on storm overflow spills in 2023 show that spills were up by up 54% compared to 20221. Swimmers and surfers are protesting that rivers and seas

podcastshelf

Café Hope interview with Paul Powlesland

In the week when the determined campaigners of the Wellingborough Walks Action Group (WWAG) take their case to a judicial review in the High Court, it seems appropriate to feature as our selected podcast an interview with Paul Powlesland. Paul's name may be familiar to you as the

podcastshelf

Now Here

This is a bit of a departure from our usual fare, in that this podcast doesn’t have a climate or environmental theme, although some episodes do – one about citizen scientists testing water quality on the River Wye, for example. It’s described as “Stories of people coming together to

podcastshelf

The Climate Question

The Climate Question is a weekly podcast from the BBC World Service which (spoiler alert) looks at a different climate-related question in each sub-30 minute episode. It generally provides a good overview of each topic, with expert input articulated for the person on the street. As it is a World

nature

Tree Harvest gathered in

What a great morning at Martin Moore Wood harvesting trees! Over 30 people turned up, young and old – some to literally get stuck in and dig up some young trees, others from local Litter Wombles groups filled bags with old plastic tree guards. As well as the Wombles, and CA-WN

meeting reports

CA-WN goes to the Museum

A big thank you to everyone at the CA-WN social event at Northampton Museum on Saturday 20 January. There were around 25 people there, ranging in age from 11 to 80+. Thanks also to the really helpful members of staff on the Museum front desk and in the café. Some

bookshelf

Reflections by Mark Avery

I’ve been a subscriber to Mark Avery’s interesting and enjoyable monthly Newsblast since he was the (free of charge) keynote speaker at a conference CA-WN co-organised with Northamptonshire ACRE. So I was keen to read this, his new book about wildlife and wildlife conservation. Reflections is a concise

podcastshelf

Fed with Chris van Tulleken

This is a podcast series from BBC Sounds which explores the story of chicken, its progression from scrawny jungle fowl to the most widely consumed animal protein on the planet, and what that says about us. It is almost an urban myth that modern humans think food comes from supermarkets,

meeting reports

CA-WN Meeting notes Nov 2023

We were very lucky to have as our guest speaker this month Jen Gale, author and podcaster. We have recommended both her books and podcast on CA-WN Exchange in the past. Jen’s podcast and website go under the name Sustainable-ish1 and the title of her talk was “How individuals

bookshelf

Our Place by Mark Cocker

This book is a good one to read alongside the 2023 State of Nature Report (or at least the summary, it’s a long report…). Mark Cocker readably and concisely gives us a history of the British conservation movement, whilst also sharing his own efforts to restore a piece of

local matters

Climate Fresk - Playing with Climate Change

Effective communication about climate change to ‘the general public’, i.e. those outside the green environmental tent, is a familiar and knotty problem. Climate Fresk tries to address this through the medium of a ‘collaborative game’. Within the CA-WN ranks we have a trained Climate Fresk facilitator, Maria Lee. Maria

council

CA-WN response to Interim Bus Policy consultation

It is extremely easy to respond to West Northamptonshire Council's current Interim Bus Policy consultation. Apart from the usual questions about you there are only three multiple choice questions and a free text comment box to complete. The consultation closes on 12 November. We at CA-WN have responded

podcastshelf

More or Less: Net Zero and HS2

I've been listening to More or Less on Radio 4 for a long time and have learned a great deal from it about how to understand and interrogate statistics and data in the media. Each episode always covers several topics and two of those featured in the 27

local matters

Syresham Climate Fair

CA-WN out and about

recipes

Foolproof Fruity Flapjacks

This is adapted from a recipe I found online several years ago, having repeatedly tried and failed to make really good flapjacks. Buying most of the ingredients from a refill shop makes them almost packaging-free and if you're trying to cut down on ultra-processed food they are good

bookshelf

Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency by Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan's interest in air pollution started on being diagnosed with asthma in his forties, when he was told by doctors that the cause was inhaling polluted air as he ran around London training for the London marathon. This is a fairly short and readable book which I

meeting reports

CA-WN Monthly Meeting Notes 15 June 2023

Our guest speaker on the Politics of Climate Change was Dr Caroline Kuzemko, Reader in International Political Economy at Warwick University, and author of numerous books, articles and academic papers. She is also Co-Lead of Warwick's Energy GRP and a member of Warwick's Environment & Social

nature

GBGW 2023: Why Measuring Matters and How You Can Help

We now know that wildlife and biodiversity in the UK is in a great deal of trouble – Clare Slater wrote about this in a recent editorial for CA-WN Exchange, and the BBC Wild Isles series spelled out the scale of the problem in beautifully filmed colour. A point made in

food & farming

GBGW 2023: The Great Food Challenge

Great Big Green Week 2023: Food & Farming