As the World Indigenous Housing Conference fast approaches, I have been reflecting on what housing means in my own context.
For me and my family, home is our sanctuary. It’s a place of safety and a retreat from the world around us. It’s a place of rest and recharge. A space where we can craft and express our own culture and passions. At home, we host others and share food, tell stories and dream about the future.
At this year’s World Indigenous Housing Forum, we will be hosting three sessions of dialogue aimed at looking at the role that housing plays in the promotion of healthy and prosperous indigenous communities. We will be using a process called “The World Cafe” in which small group conversations produce diverse ideas, and in which we can put our collective intelligence to work.
But this is not simply a chat session. Quality housing is integral to quality community life in indigenous communities the world over, and governments around the world need to hear that message. In our first session we will explore the connection between indigenous housing and economic development. In the following two sessions we will connect what we learn to designing a policy statement for the United Nations which will represent a powerful set of statements coming forward from this unprecedented global gathering.
Your perspective and story matters in this conversation. We invite you to come and be a part of these conversations to lend your voice to a collective global statement on the importance of indigenous housing to indigenous communities
I am currently facilitating a series of conversations between a group of people who have joined the 3 Pillars Network Active Learning program. The core purpose of this program is to connect people from all over Australia who work in the field (if you can call it field?) of behaviour change for sustainability. The idea is to promote learning between practitioners, researchers and those in policy.
Last week I drew a map of the key things I remembered from the conversations. I love creating these maps after reading books and listening to TED talks. It helps to make links between ideas and create a story. Yesterday I shared my map with a participant who couldn’t make it to the session. I took her through the map, piece by piece, and wished I had recorded it.
Today, I did record it … it a first take and I have no idea why the video is compressed into half the screen?
Here’s the map …
And here’s the video – a 10 minute watch …
Last week I was part of a learning conversation with practitioners, policy makers and researchers, all interested in diving deep into the complexity of behaviour change. We started by helping each other out with current problems, challenges and questions about our work – this was highly practical stuff and focused mainly on principles and practices.
At the end of the conversation we created a map of the group’s current thinking about behaviour change in practice. I felt we were able to go beyond ‘talking’ and enter the realm if Dialogue … we were thinking together. Here’s the map I drew to summarise …
… the middle of nowhere!
After months of watching 2nd hand camper trailers come and go, today we stumbled upon this off-road camper. These things are basically a canvas tent mounted on a 6 x 4 trailer with a few bells & whistles, but they do go almost anywhere.
As parents, we want our kids to remember the adventures we shared … the remote places we witnessed … the people whose stories we got to know. We want their learning and education to be real and tangible, where they get to touch, smell and feel the things that fill text books and websites. We already know that our kids are at their happiest when camping … when occasionally they go to bed feeling grubby with the sand still between their toes. They never miss their iPod touch games, tv shows and they never say the words … “Daaad, Muuum, I’m bored!” (Maybe, instead, we hear them say from the back seat … “Daad, are we there yet?!”)
This one was well loved by it’s last owner and he added some nifty improvements such as a full solar-rechargable battery kit. You can camp off-the-grid for over a week. And with a kitchen set up like this, eat like a king along the way …
I know that many future blog posts will be written from our off-road camper home.
Around Aireys Inlet, the sight of me on my SUP (StandUp Paddle Board) cruising the river or riding waves in the surf, is a common occurrence. I am passionately addicted to SUP’ing. It’s a physical workout and a mindful retreat wrapped into 1 activity.
Today, the surf was terrible … so I was drawn to the river which was was calm and tranquil.
Today, like every other day on the SUP, I discovered something new about my paddle technique and my position on the board. Tiny changes in my feet and head position and my visual focus have dramatic impacts on the glide and speed of my board through the water.
Today, like every other day, I noticed my surroundings and soaked it up.
And today, unlike every other day, I realise how fortunate I am … how grateful I am to you, my friends and family.
I’m probably one of the last people in the bloggesphere to see this video – Caine’s Arcade.
But I wanted to share it here with you because it speaks volumes about all sorts things … the creative genius of our kids … the need to re discover PLAY in community and at work.
If only our schools could create the conditions for our kids to express their talents like this! Some do I’m sure … but I don’t see the system allowing much of it.
Enough said, just enjoy this 10 minute watch!
“Years ago a well known islander gave me the advice about living here that, if I’m in it for the long haul, I would need to develop a practice of witnessing. In the ten+ years I have lived here a lot has changed and I’m finally beginning to realize what that role of witness means.” Chris Corrigan
This is my home. I’m inspired every day by the estuary, by the beach and the cliffs … surrounded by the Southern Ocean and, to the north and west, by the Otway National Park. Our community is a series of villages stretching along this unique coastline – Aireys Inlet, Fairhaven, Moggs Creek and Eastern View.
I was inspired to write something here by Chris Corrigan’s post, Witnessing. Since my dad passed last December, I’ve become somewhat of a hermit to this place I call home. I’ve lived here for 12 years and I’m noticing things I’ve never seen before.
My focus on home (family and local community) has grown from a deepening sense that I belong here … that I contribute and co-own this place. I run a music festival here, steward the Parent Group at the local school and show-up to support the great work that others do. Like Chris’ home of Bowen Island, a lot has changed here in the past 10 years. In these past few months, with all my time at home, I’m getting a deeper sense of this place and the people who belong.
After a very slow start to 2012, next month my work starts in earnest. I’ll be busy and will have many days away from home. A much anticipated fortnight away in Canada follows in June, I’ll be working alongside Chris and living on Bowen Island … who better than to show me around!
Occasionally a cartoon comes along that says it all. This one sums up my year in the office to date …
The team at the Do Lectures pointed to this little quote and it’s worth remembering for our own health and sense of vitality.
I’ll add a little extension to this quote …
Doing things, or just doing something and starting somewhere, is the best response when the unexpected happens. When our best laid plans turn pear-shaped and we become wracked with uncertainty. When the fear of failure dominates our being – this is when letting go and doing things is the only way forward. Never know, it might even stop you from growing old and slowing down
John Hagel, author of The Power of Pull, offers a definition of serendipity: “Unexpected encounters that surprise and delight.”
Here’s a screen-shot of a newsletter from a conference I am playing a part in designing and facilitating. The headline is about the musical performance and appearance by Geoffrey Gurrumul – he’s one of my favourite singers. Given my total focus on running the Aireys Open Mic Music Festival over the past fortnight, it’s both a surprise and a delight that musical richness comes together with my passion for work.
I support people in conversation. I hold a space for groups and use process to bring out the very best in people. I believe that conversation and dialogue hold the key to innovation and creativity. My work is about creating the conditions for new futures to emerge.
I saw this story on the BBC News iPhone App and thought you should see it.
** Arm chips 'to extend net's reach' **Check out this video on YouTube:
I saw this story on the BBC News iPhone App and thought you should see it.
** Raspberry Pi goes on general sale **
| Do Lectures (@DoLectures) 2/5/12 10:05 PM What do you see? Beautiful video for the 2012 EG... Via @brainpicker: awe.sm/5ep3y |
It's clear that the consumption of energy has external effects that impact more than just the person who is paying for it. Geopolitical, health and economic issues come to the neighbors and nearby citizens of entities that are using a lot of power.
It was always straightforward to see who was burning a lot of wood or drove a huge car. It's easy to see when a company has a huge smokestake belching carbon. What happens when sensors make it easy to see how efficient a machine is, how much of a resource is being consumed and how much exhaust is being spewed? What happens when Google maps shows you the block or the building that consumes the most electricity, or makes it easy to compare across industries?
When we have the opportunity to rank consumption by industry or by neighborhood, will we? We already watch our neighbors litter or have loud parties or paint (or fail to paint) their house...
A significant byproduct of the connection revolution is that things that were private because they were difficult to measure will no longer be private. When devices can talk to each other, the information rarely remains private. It's not going to stop with energy, of course. Just about all our buying decisions are going to be shared, and that changes the marketers job.
In a world of horizontal marketing, where tribes are aware of what their members are up to, I think it's going to happen quicker than most people expect.
Much of the web is now "owned" by corporate interests and these, while they may provide most people with most of their experience of the web, will ultimately be eroded and replaced by the evolution of the web itself. I am reminded - yet again - of Bob Khan's point that the hacker mentality will always stay ahead of those attracted to corporate or institutional thinking. Whatever the mass may do most of the time there will always be edglings and to claim that Facebook or Google have killed off the open web is naive.
Think of the hackers you know - now think of corporate IT departments - see!
Check out this application on the App Store:
WildChordsOvelin Category: Music Updated: 19 Nov 2011 |
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No, not the football team ... the bird.
I've been watching this one and her family up in the Yarra Ranges (Yeering Gorge).
On the search for food, checking back in with family members and calling to neighbors. A very social scene.
G
Ingrid and I were married on this day 13 years ago. We have never been happier than now and part of that story is our shared love of Stand Up Paddle Boarding.
Whether its in the swell of the surf or the tranquility of the river, SUP'ing is the most connecting thing we do. When we talk and paddle, life's dilemmas fade away. The connection with nature clears the mind - the wind, sun, sea and aquatic life. The reconnection with your own body brings a balance that can only be felt, not describable with words.
We celebrated with a beautiful paddle along the length of our local estuary ... no better way to reflect and breathe.
In love, Geoff
Ingrid Brown
Tangent Consulting
M 0432 564 098
ingrid@tangentconsulting.com.au
www.tangentconsulting.com.au
Spinach is a great vegetable to grow. You can always scatter a few spinach leaves into sandwiches, pastas or curries. Here is a great recipe devoted to spinach and uses a great big bunch!
Pop oven on at 180 deg C. Coat a lasagne dish with a thin layer of melted butter.
In a large saucepan, using a dash of olive oil fry up garlic & onions until golden. Add spring onions and spinach and squeeze the juice from a lemon. Stir over medium heat until spinach has wilted and liquid has evaporated 5-8 minutes. Transfer spinach mix to a colander and drain off any excess fluid and leave it to cool.
Now make the cheese mixture. In a mixing bowl add egg, ricotta, feta, nutmeg and mustard and stir until combined. Now add spinach mix, parsley and mint.
Filo pasty time! Lay out the filo and line the lasagne tray with the first sheet of pastry. Using a pastry brush paint on a thin layer of melted butter on the pastry. Then lay the next sheet of pastry, another coat of butter and continue until you have five sheets on the base. Now spoon in the spinach & cheese mix and cover with another five sheets of pastry, remembering to brush on the butter with every new sheet.
Fold over the side edges to enclose the pie and then fold over the end edges. Coat with a final brush of butter and then put in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until golden. Serve with salad.
After watching the 7:30 report tonight, it reminded me why we should cook our food from scratch and eat raw ingredients. At times it is hard to avoid eating processed foods but this web link from CHOICE suggests the preservatives we should avoid. I know I will be reading the fine print when I next go shopping.
I have made batches of these cookies over the past few days. Given it is school holidays I have had a household of hungry, young boys!
Divine would be the word to describe this cake.
One of the most compelling differences between our home and the Fiji Islands is the food. Not only is their climate, soil profile and rainful more condusive to growing fruit and vegetables than in coastal Victoria, their food distribution system is far more lightweight and direct.
No doubt, massive issues and problems exist in Fiji (with food, poverty etc.), but their market in Latoka had Ingrid and I scratching our heads and saying, "How have we got it soooo wrong in the west?" ... "What are we doing our food back home?". We said this as we compared what we saw here in a Fijian city and along the roadsides in regional areas.
My Response to some feedback.
We had a question from a person who asked some valid questions like ... "Why were we so enthralled by the local Fiji's food markets and roadstalls?" ... "How is this any different to other developing countries?"
Well, there's a bit of depth to my response ... here goes:
Modern food production consumes more energy than it produces
In the West, our food system is broken and we need to change. For some time now, we have been consuming more energy in the production of food (eg. growing stuff on farms + food processing) than the energy it produces ie, in the food itself). In other words, for every calorie of food we produce, we actually use >1 calorie to produce it. That doesn't make sense and that doesn't even include the energy expenditure in moving our food around and freezing/storage.
In Fiji, it's not hard to notice that their agricultural methods are more primitive. They are far from perfect and many problems and issues exist that we don't have, BUT, the energy to produce their food is way less than in Australia. They eat seasonally and freeze little and much of their food is produced locally which again means less reliance on oil.
So what does all this mean?
We've known for a long time now that we need to invest in the greatest structural reform since industrialisation. This reform is all about decoupling economic growth and carbon emissions. In agriculture we need a revolution if we are going to feed our growing population over the coming decades. And we have to dramatically increase food production with less viable agricultural land and without cheap, abundant sources of oil.
The other big shift is the link between water and food. Did you know that (on average) for every calorie (of food we produce) we need 1 litre of water! We need to break this relationship as the world's fresh water supplies and aquifers dry up.
Back to Fiji
In countries like Fiji and Cuba, sanctions, poverty and political instability (and loads of other reasons) have shaped their agricultural processes and food distribution systems. They are more local and more direct. They use more manual labour and use far less oil-dependent machinery in agriculture. They eat food in season and they don't transport their food vast distances.
In countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, our wealth and access to cheap oil over the past 50 years has seen our agriculture become industrialised. Mega farms that require huge energy inputs have replaced smaller, more resilient producers. We have created a brittle system that will struggle to recover from a worldwide SHOCK, or a long series of small shocks.
Which country's food system would better absorb a BIG change like petrol jumping to $10 a litre? Fiji or Australia? From what we witnessed on our short trip, I'll be placing my money on Fiji.
posted by Geoff Brown
It has been a cold wet winter and lean pickings over the winter months. Winter greens and a magnificent harvest of carrots. Geoff has finally mastered the art of growing carrots! So time to put those carrots to good use.
Preheat oven 180 deg C. Brush square 20 cm cake pan with oil and line with baking paper.
Sift together all the flours(return bran to bowl), bicarb and baking soda, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, carrots, walnuts and sultanas and mix well.
In another smaller mixing bowl, beat eggs with oil untilpale in colour. Add to dry ingredients and fold until just combined.
Spoon mixture into tin and bake for about 35 minutes until skewer comes out clean. Stand for 10 minutes before taking out of tin. Cool.
Now for the icing:
Place cream cheese , icing sugar and orange rind in the food processor and give it a whizz until smooth.
Spread over cooled cake and decorate.
Thanks Jen for contributing this hearty soup recipe. Enjoy the story and the soup. HomeHarvesting is a site to share recipes, especially those that use lots of produce from the garden. Email your favourite harvesting recipes to ingrid@tangentconsulting.com.au.
> My Mum's Grandma's meat & veg soupThis is a silky smooth soup perfect for a winters night.
This is the perfect drink at the end of a long day of gardening ... (before you move onto the red wine for dinner!).
Here is a healthy version of one of my favourite cakes. Unfortunately I think it was a bit too healthy for the kids, only one of my three boys enjoyed it! More cake for us.
Cake
Topping
Preheat oven 180degC and line a 19cm round cake tin with baking paper.
Combine apples, dates, bicarb soda, and one cup of boiling water and leave to cool.
Blend mixed spice, oil, sugar, egg and vanilla in medium mixing bowl
Sift flour and return husks to flour. Combine sifted flour, oats and sunflower seeds. Fold flour mix and date mix together into egg mixture. Pour into tin and bake for 35 minutes. Combine topping mix and spread evenly over partially cooked cake.
Return to oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or until top is brown.
Allow to cool before turning out.
This recipe was created after tasting this sensational combination of flavours at my favourite local restaurant - Scorched, in Torquay. For this dish I had to use a bought cauliflower, as bush rat have devoured our broccoli and cauliflower seedings!
It is the end of a long weekend and time to make a quick treat to pop in the kids lunch boxes for the school week ahead. This recipe is super quick, and kind of healthy, using rolled oats, wholemeal flour and sultanas.
A cold winters night is perfect for a Hot Chocolate pudding Mmmm.Pudding
Winter has arrived and that sees the onset of damp, shadowy patches in the garden. The sun is lower and we see less of it. Overnight temperatures have plummeted and the days are crisp and fresh. Autumn leaves continue to fall from fruit trees and create a colorful carpet on the soil. The soil is now cold and that means winter crops are being sown.
Here is a tour of our shadowy garden to show what is being harvested and sown.
The Onion Tribe goes in!
Every year we produce a large crop of brown onions and garlic. They are simple to grow once you get a few basic sorted out. Here are the key tips:
In the photo gallery:
1 to 2 - lime applied to the soil a month before planting
3 - compost added to soil for garlics to increase nutrients
4 to 5 - garlic bulb pulled apart and planted with sprout end up!
6 to 9 - rows and rills created for onion seeds; to a depth of about a pen; and backfilled with a mix of course sand a garden soil to a dept of 5mm
Seeds sown for late winter planting
By late winter there will be more spaces for spring crops to go in. My tip is to start growing spring crops now in seed trays. I raise these behind a window in the home office over the winter. Some go straight from trays to garden beds in late winter ... others get potted out and remain behind the glass until they grow to a bigger size for planting in early to mid spring.
In these trays I have seeds of peas, silver beet, lettuce, spinach, beetroot, spring onions, cabbage, cauliflower and brocholli
Harvesting now!
The final tomatoes have been harvested, including the green ones. Chillies continue to amaze! We'll be digging up fresh carrots right through winter thanks to a planting of carrot seeds in early March. Our Japanese Seedless Madarine in pumping out the juiciest and tangiest fruit of it's short life!
For eating in Spring
And here are some other crops that went in a month ago and are happy to grow in colder soils.
1 Coriander is a must for every winter garden
2 Leeks are a delight with potatoes in soup in Spring
3 Garlic raises it's first leaves above the soil
4 Raspberry Canes tied up and mulched heavily
5 Stawberry runners planted and now growing
6 Broad Beans are prolific come spring (and fix nitrogen into the soil)
7 to 8 Lettuce and Spinach is consumed daily (once sping hits and soil warms these will bolt quickly to seed red inions will follow)