January 2008
Happy New Year! You know the score by now. Every month you sit in wait for our newsletter and cheer when you hear the thud of its arrival in your inbox. We try not to disappoint. Get your post-festive minds round this…
Turn On Turn Off
Cultural Guerrillas Bad Behaviour in Bali
The Sunny side of Money
You may think that money and ethics don’t sit easily together, you’re probably right in a lot of instances. Love it or hate it, it appartently makes the world go around, so how you spend it and where you invest it is pretty important. The latest chapter of the Otesha UK Book is all about money and is online now. This chapter is essential reading for anyone who has money, wants money, earns money or spends money. Have a look here.
We want to hear your thoughts on money. That’s a lie, we want to see your thoughts, email them to barbora@otesha.org.uk to be added to the Otesha Hall of Fame. We’ll post all your submissions on our website. Every month we’ll randomly select one lucky writer to receive an Otesha Trouble Kit, which will equip you with seed bombs and other most exciting environmental paraphenalia.
Cycle tour galore!
We’re already receiving applications for the 2008 Otesha Cycle Tours. This summer two mobile communities will set off on their bikes for six weeks of bonding and bicycling. Each tour will be made up of 22 amazing 18-25 year olds and their beloved bikes. As well as learning to live together and love one another, the tours will visit festivals, schools, colleges, community centres (anywhere that’ll have us really) to perform a hilarious skit, deliver workshops, share stories and challenge the people they meet along the way to live more sustainably.
Cycle tours are what we’re really about at Otesha, Otesha Canada set off on their first cycle tour in 2003. It took 33 people 164 days to cross Canada by bicycle, along the way they delivered over 250 presentations to more than 12,000 young people.
If you're 16-25, you've got a bike or the means to get your mitts on one and you want to join one of our cycle tours, get an applying!
Dispatches from Bali
There were tears and tantrums but they got there in the end. Well, they agreed on another round of negotiations.
Our Liz was at the UN Climate Change Negotiations in Bali putting pressure on the delegates. As a Canadian, Liz was really upset that the Canadian government (along with the USA and Japan) were blocking negotiations, she learned that her “government would rather quibble over who goes first than take real and honest action.” You can read more of what she and the rest of the Canadian Youth Delegates had to say about it here.
The Canadian Youth Delegation put out an urgent call to Canadians to put pressure on their government to act - and it worked! After over 110,000 Canadians petitioned their government to stop blocking the negotiations and Canada found its objections were supported only by Russia, Canada accepted a target for develped nations to reduce their carbon emissions by 25-40% by 2020.
The result of these two weeks of negotiations is the Bali road map which the UN climate chief Yvo de Boer called “ambitious, transparent, and flexible." Whilst clear targets are still yet to be agreed 187 countries have committed to take part in the next stage of negotiations. Photo credit: Robert van Warden www.vanwaardenphoto.com
And finally
This month at Otesha, we have mostly been learning skills for a post-oil planet such as making jam, baking bread and surviving in the wilderness.
As usual we want to know what you feel, think, how you stink. Be our eyes and ears on the ground, send in stories, links, good things, bad things, anything to jo@otesha.org.uk.
Whatever 2007 was like for you, we hope 2008 is better.
Jo, Barbora & Liz
The Otesha Project UK
www.otesha.org.uk