The CA-WN Exchange (Page 2)

Report of 12 September public meeting

meeting reports

Report of 12 September public meeting

Our guest speaker for September was Tim O’Callaghan. Tim is a consultant at Electric Places, a not-for-profit company set up in North Northamptonshire to help public and private sector organisations in the area transition to Net Zero. They have been involved with projects to build EV charging hubs and

Carbon Literacy training September 2024

individual impact

Carbon Literacy training September 2024

As we have mentioned over the summer, CA-WN is pleased to offer Carbon Literacy training to all members. After completing the equivalent of one day's worth of training and committing to carbon-reducing actions, you will be deemed Carbon Literate and possess a certificate to prove it. Further details

We need to talk about climate - popcawn September 2024

individual impact

We need to talk about climate - popcawn September 2024

Do you feel that people generally don’t talk about climate change? Considering how it will, and already does, affect all our lives, it doesn’t get the airtime it deserves. Why could that be? I think there’s several reasons – it’s big and scary, it’s going to

Council Watch September 2024

Council Watch September 2024

Climate Change Strategy Consultation It won’t surprise anyone that CA-WN is pleased to see West Northamptonshire Council consulting on a Climate Change Strategy. Obviously we’d have liked to see it sooner but nevertheless it is very welcome. This consultation is intended to influence development of the strategy – there

My View - Andrew Stevens

My View - Andrew Stevens

I first started reading about climate change perhaps 25 years ago1. At the time I was interested in environmental issues in general as well as politics, specifically inequality and how I thought politicians don't take a lot of notice of evidence on what works to improve the health,

Meet the Steering Group - Rupert Knowles

Meet the Steering Group - Rupert Knowles

As a child, I remember trotting round our orchard with my father and a large black umbrella. We gave the branches a sharp tap and caught the bugs that fell. We were looking for black-kneed capsids, a predator of red spider mites. Today people are still talking about introducing IPM

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

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

The Countryside Kitchen meets...

The Countryside Kitchen meets...

One of the joys of podcasts is that they really are egalitarian – lots of podcasters are big names backed by well-established production companies, but just as many aren’t, and it is great to be able to recommend a podcast made locally. Milly Fyfe is a businesswoman and food blogger,

Syan Farm visit

Syan Farm visit

What is a Vertical Farm? As the vertical farmers at Syan Farm themselves say: "With space and time running out for open field farming, we’re looking up. We grow beautifully nutritious crops on multiple levels – vertical farming. It saves on space, reduces carbon and gives us total control

Carbon Literacy Training: a personal response

individual impact Featured

Carbon Literacy Training: a personal response

Clare Robertson-Marriott shares her reflections after completing a Carbon Literacy course with CA-WN. Concern for all nature and the planet brought me to climate and nature action. Over the last few years, I have organised various public engagement events to introduce the climate and nature crises. Taking part in the

Think Global. Act Local.

Think Global. Act Local.

by Danny Moody, Chief Executive of the Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (Northants CALC), a membership organisation representing all the parish and town councils and parish meetings in Northamptonshire. Climate change is a pressing global issue that requires action at all levels, from international agreements to local initiatives. One

individual impact

popcawn July 2024: Do you speak Carbon?

So, you’re worried about climate change: you know it’s going to affect our future, especially for our children and grandchildren, but you’re not sure how their future could look. You know that we need to reduce our carbon emissions and get to ‘Net Zero’, but you’re

Council Watch July 2024

Council Watch July 2024

Items on the agenda1 for West Northamptonshire Council's July meeting pack included WNC’s Annual Report on how they are performing against their own targets. The ‘Green and Clean’ banner, like all elements of the WNC Corporate Plan, has a set of performance measures. The target shown for

IKEA - can Big be a Force for Good?

IKEA - can Big be a Force for Good?

IKEA is a big beast. Statistics taken from its latest company report show it has 467 stores in 62 markets across the world. It employs 219,000 people. 860 million people visited those 467 stores (many of whom will have travelled in their cars). There are 9,500 products in

CA-WN 18 July Meeting Report

meeting reports

CA-WN 18 July Meeting Report

Our guest speaker for July was Dr Declan Ryan, Associate Professor in Physical Activity & Health at the University of Northampton, who gave a presentation about Northampton's Active Quarter. The meeting was recorded and is available on the CA-WN YouTube channel1 and Declan’s presentation slides are available

Banging the Drum for Combined Authorities

Banging the Drum for Combined Authorities

Our Transport correspondent asks whether the interests of public transport could be better served by more centralisation. No matter your political persuasion, it is undeniable that the Labour Party is now in power, having secured a substantial majority in the election on Thursday 4 July 2024. It is also undeniable

Britain's Housing Crisis

Britain's Housing Crisis

Broken Homes: Britain's Housing Crisis: Faults, Factoids and Fixes by Peter Bill and Jackie Sadek Today’s housing crisis featured in an earlier Bookshelf. I make no apology for another housing-related reading recommendation, this time 200 or so pages of useful historic context, anecdotes and picture-painting stories. Many

Meet the Steering Group - Orianne Neyroud

Meet the Steering Group - Orianne Neyroud

Orianne was one of the founder members of CA-WN in 2019, and has just finished her A Levels. What is your motivation for being involved with the environmental movement and with CA-WN in particular? I first got involved with CA-WN because I was fed up with not doing anything and

CA-WN Monthly Public Meeting 18 July

CA-WN Monthly Public Meeting 18 July

Thursday 18 July 7:45pm - 9:00pm (online) Meeting open to all - newcomers welcome. Our guest speaker this month is Dr Declan Ryan, Associate Professor in Physical Activity & Health at the University of Northampton, who will talk to us about active travel and especially about Northampton'

Summer Salads and Sauces

Summer Salads and Sauces

As a child, I thought “salad” was lettuce, cucumber and tomato. You could have different sorts of lettuce – cos, or butterhead, or Webbs wonder. I think the last was really a type of iceberg lettuce, but my dad grew it in the garden, so it was nothing like today’s

Outrage and Optimism revisited and The Way Out Is In

Outrage and Optimism revisited and The Way Out Is In

The podcast series Outrage and Optimism has already been placed on the shelf in May last year but perhaps it needs the dust blowing off and re-engaging with it. That’s certainly what I have done. Well, to tell the truth, I have not visited it very often until now

Food (In)Security Index

Food (In)Security Index

A little bit of a rant but mainly questions, questions, questions. Prompted by an article in Private Eye1 about food security, I took a bit of a delve into the Government’s pages on the new Food Security Index (FSI)2. One of the things to note is that the

Great UK WaterBlitz

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

CA-WN 20 June 2024 meeting report

meeting reports

CA-WN 20 June 2024 meeting report

🗳️On Thursday evening at the Northampton Guildhall our friends at the Umbrella Fair 1000 Voices campaign have organised a hustings to allow local residents to question election candidates, which CA-WN is co-sponsoring. More information here https://www.umbrellafair.org/1000voices or on our What's On listing. This is

Meet the Steering Group - Ella Sage

Meet the Steering Group - Ella Sage

Ella is the newest member of CA-WN's steering group and also our Outreach Officer. This is the first in a series of pieces from CA-WN's Steering Group members. What is your motivation for being involved with the environmental movement and with CA-WN in particular? I became