Community Stories
Let The Sequoia Live!
In July, Victoria’s mayor and council voted to cut down the giant sequoia that has been a focal point of Centennial Square for past decades, as part of a planned redesign of the space. Two other large trees will also be removed. These include a healthy sweetgum, and the beautiful Shirofugen Japanese flowering cherry…
Navigating Toward a Better Future Locally
Recently, I have been discussing the large-scale changes we need to make in the face of the eight critical shifts identified in the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report Navigating New Horizons. Those changes are a focus on intergenerational equity; a new social contract that reinforces shared values about how we relate not only to…
Blue Green Algae, So Worth The Watch!
So many of our southern Vancouver Island lakes are literally closed to people and pets because of cyanobacteria. And it impacts the wildlife who use the lakes. This video is horrifying, and explains sources.
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Join us! Save the Deer from Parks Canada Extermination
Please join us for a very important demonstration in Sidney! ParksCanada is embarking on a $6 million project to kill all the Fallow and native Black-tailed deer on Sidney Island by helicopter and using dogs. This is a cruel and unnecessary cull.
Joe Brewer, Cultural Evolution and Bioregional Regeneration
I first came across Joe Brewer’s work some years ago in an article he wrote critiquing the failure of universities to address in a comprehensive manner the complex ecological, social and cultural challenges we face. He began his 2017 article “Why Are Universities Failing Humanity?” with this statement…
Where the Olive Trees Grow
The Wisdom of Tree Symbology, a poem. Living on the plains of hope and dotted throughout the hills, The ancient olive tree is standing oh so still, Its roots have survived over all these years, Bearing fruit that when pressed cries salt free tears, A national tree shared by two feuding nations…
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally — and Bioregionally
I have spent the last couple of months exploring the global polycrisis and the set of responses — great turnarounds — proposed in the Earth For All report. But what, you might reasonably ask, does this all mean for us here in the Greater Victoria region? How can its concepts be translated into local action?
Learn to Grow Trees From Seed for Cheap!
Join professional arborist and commercial and non-profit tree grower, Ryan Senechal, and the Community Trees Matter Network for this fun, practical workshop! Learn where and when to gather seed or cuttings (now is a good time), propagation basics, container culture,...
The Economy Must Serve the People and Respect the Earth’s Limits
Earth For All is the title of a September 2022 report from the Transformational Economics Commission to the Club of Rome. It is also “an international initiative to accelerate the systems-change we need for an equitable future on a finite planet.”
If We Want Energy For All, We Need To Stop Wasting It
The fifth great turnaround proposed by the Earth For All (E4A) initiative of the Club of Rome is a complete restructuring of our energy system. But it’s more than that, since energy is so bound up in all we do. Energy has powered our civilization ever since we first learned to use fire to warm us, cook and scare off predators.
Zoning is the Magic Wand of Local Government
Last month, a Leger poll showed only six per cent of Canadians blame the country’s onerous housing costs on municipalities. As local government, we must remember we are the most powerful level of government for affordability and environmental sustainability because of...
Small Community Could Lead Way to Showcasing Real Climate Action
In 2019, a major step forward for climate leadership was taken by the Township of Esquimalt Council with potential far reaching outcomes for Canadians. A report was commissioned to explore the feasibility of thermally converting municipal solid waste( garbage) into...
We Need To Change The Way We Farm and Eat
The first three of the five “great turnarounds” in the Club of Rome’s “Earth for All” report address different aspects of inequality. But the final two, to which I now turn, are concerned with two of the most fundamental determinants of our health: food and — next week — energy.
Artist, Speaker, Community Engagement Specialist
Get the tools you need to use collaborative art to ignite change in your communities! This virtual Masterclass explores the transformative power of art and how it can create change in your school, community, city, and beyond!
Good News for Preserving the Marbled Murrelet and its Nesting Habitat, Old Growth
We are an organization of concerned community members and scientists who have recently filed an Action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia to save the Marbled Murrelet (MaMu) and its nesting habitat, Old Growth trees.
