Charles Massy gained a Bachelor of Science at Australian National University (ANU) in 1976 before going farming for 35 years and developing the prominent Merino sheep stud “Severn Park”. Concern at ongoing land degradation and humanity’s sustainability challenge led him to return to ANU in 2009 to undertake a PhD in Human Ecology. Charles was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his service as chair and director of a number of research organizations and statutory wool boards. He has also served on national and international review panels in sheep and wool research and development and genomics. Charles has authored several books on the Australian sheep industry, the most recent being the widely acclaimed Breaking the Sheep’s Back, which was short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Australian Literary Awards in Australian History in 2012.
Coronavirus: Have we Already Missed the Opportunity to Build a Better World?
By Martin Parker, The Conversation
If lesson one of coronavirus is that things can change, and lesson two is that they easily slip back again, then lesson three must be about the importance of presenting images of the future that motivate people to imagine change.
This Texas Town Is Growing Stronger By Thinking *Inside* the Box
By Rachel Quednau, Strong Towns blog
A half hour from El Paso, TX, lies a small, young town that is piloting a creative local food program to help keep residents fed and encourage entrepreneurship—all while focusing on native plants that grow quickly and cheaply.
Energy Basics: Electricity, Generation and Grid Management
By Chris Nelder, Energy Transition Show
If you have found yourself occasionally challenged to follow some of the more technical conversations we have here, or even if you just want to brush up on the fundamentals, this mini-series is for you! We hope these episodes will give you a bit more familiarity with the terms and concepts of energy, and help to fill in some of the knowledge that you were never offered in school.
Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience
By Marissa Mommaerts, Transition US
On June 23rd, 25 Transition leaders from across the country met virtually to share and explore strategies for bridging community resilience and social justice. Our conversation focused on strategies that align with Transition's approach of systemic--yet localized--solutions, and fall into two main categories: healing the damage of systemic racism and building equitable new systems.
Lockdown Reflections – A Bolton Story
By Alan Brown, Transition Network
One of our slogans which we diggers promote is ‘reclaim and extend the commons!’ Yet we have been as surprised as anybody else that this extension and reclamation of the commons should take this form of mass community mutual aid.
This is How we End Deforestation to Avert Pandemic, Climate and Societal Collapse
By Nafeez Ahmed, Insurge Intelligence
Deforestation is one of the most intractable and yet most potent drivers of environmental crisis. It is also among the four out of nine planetary boundaries that civilisation was already at high risk of crossing five years ago according to research published in the journal Science.
Coronavirus: Green Recovery ‘Could Prevent 0.3C’ of Warming by 2050
By Josh Gabbatiss, Carbon Brief
The world could avoid 0.3C of global warming by the middle of the century if governments invest in a strong “green recovery” from coronavirus, according to a new study.
If We Want Sustainable Food Systems, it’s All About the Money!
By Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust
Essentially, we have a dishonest food pricing system and if this was corrected, sustainable farming methods would more than hold their own economically.