We are told that there is no alternative to the way the economy works, yet the current approach is exceeding the earth’s natural limits, destroying its biodiversity and is fuelling global warming.
It feels daunting but what can we do about it? Part of the solution is to start “Going Local”.
Many thanks to the Contact Magazine
A big thank you to Pete and Melvyn, ‘Contact’ editors, for accepting our articles, to
all of the ‘Contact’ team, past and present, for production and distribution and to all contributors and advertisers. ‘Contact’ has been a great help to the cohesion of village life for 50 years or so, and will be much missed!
I have enjoyed writing for Contact and I am looking forward to continue to share my thoughts through
the SinCH blog.
Going Local
At our October Coffee Morning local resident Stephen Moore introduced people to the concept of the ‘20-Minute Neighbourhood’. The idea is that a community needs as many local services, jobs and social opportunities as possible and it should be designed to be as accessible to residents as possible within a short distance. This means:
■ diverse and affordable homes;
■ well connected paths, streets and spaces;
■ schools at the heart of communities;
■ good green spaces in the right places;
■ local food production;
■ keeping jobs and money local – more on this in a future article;
■ community health and well-being facilities; and
■ being a place for all ages.
This approach would foster well-being and better health, a sense of place and community thus reducing loneliness and enhancing the vitality of the existing great community groups, facilities and local businesses. It would also reduce travel costs and time, reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.
We already have a lot of great facilities and small businesses, but we also need to make sure that these are used and continue to flourish. We need to ensure that everyone knows what’s on their doorstep.
We already have a local Green Directory, but it is in urgent need of a makeover and updating. Please get in touch if you can help with information and/or skills to make it more welcoming. Perhaps you know someone who has graphic design skills?
Stephen’s talk caught our imagination to the extent that a‘ Going Local’ group is coming together to explore the possibilities and formulate ideas.
Interested in contributing to this new group or have some ideas to put in the mix? Please do let us know at info@sinch.earth.
If you want to dig deeper you might want to check our previous blog post on localisation and the full paper about “20 Minute Neighbourhoods” here.
We’ll keep everyone posted on Going Local through the news and blog pages of the SinCH website and our regular emails.
Kind Regards Rob
- If you’d like to help us plan and organise events, support our work in other ways or to get involved in our work please contact us at info@sinch.earth or use our contact form.
- Keep an eye out for our email updates and on Facebook.
