Inspiring Change: 18 - 20 Nov, CTICC

Running concurrently with the Green Expo this weekend (18th - 20th Nov), the Cape Town Climate Change Coalition is hosting a gathering called Inspiring Change.

Held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 18 – 20 November 2011, this series of talks and demonstrations aims to stimulate fresh thinking and to share ideas about our city.

The gathering includes several cool aspects including the Siemens electric mobility roadshow, Pecha Kucha sessions, inspiring panellists deliberating on Cape Town's role in climate change solutions, site visits and a Carotmob.

The travelling exhibition by Siemens has already been in many parts of the world and makes its

GASLAND screening tonight

Cafe Ganesh and Exploding Cinema will be kicking off a new season of documentary films this Wednesday with a special don't frack with our Karoo screening of the award-winning documovie, Gasland. The Screening is on Wednesday, 16 November at 8:30pm and entrance is free!

With the entire Karoo being faced with fracking leases (yes, the proposed area is almost 15% of South Africa's entire land-mass!), this documovie is now particularaly relevant to all South Africans!

Read some more...

"GASLAND - (2010) Directed by Josh Fox.
Winner of Special Jury Prize - Best US Documentary Feature - Sundance 2010.
Screening at Cannes 2010.

Ecocar

With petrol prices on the rise (again), here are 10 easy ways to save big on petrol bills (and help save the environment of course!)

The best way to save fuel is not to use it at all

It might be old news and becoming a bit repetitive, but yes, really think about when you use your car and why. Could you walk or cycle to where you need to be? Why not take a train or bus? (The Gautrain is fantastic and Cape Town’s MyCiti bus system is reliable and affordable).

Slow down Schumacher!

Speeding is probably the most common way the majority of us use excessive amounts of fuel. In many

pic:: Kian EriksenProtest at 18th AFRICA OIL WEEK, Waterfront, Cape Town.
At access roads to the Waterfront:
corner of Portswood & Beach
Time: 7:30-10:00am on Thursday 3 November

A group of concerned Capetonians, in partnership with the NPO Climate Justice Campaign, have called for a protest at the 18th Africa Oil Week taking place at the Waterfront from 31 October to 4 November.

At the Africa Oil Week, various heads of state, multinational oil and gas companies and other interested parties will discuss such topics as 'The Scramble for Africa' and 'Africa's Oil and Gas Future', including shale gas developments.

Timeless Karoo: not for long... unless we address our addiction

Join Jonathan Deal, Chairman of TKAG, for a talk on fracking at UCT this evening. Details below.

Sometimes the truth, while undeniable once grasped, is remarkably evasive to those who supposedly seek it. Or perhaps there is none so blind as those who do not wish to see?

This is the case in the highly polarized “fracking” debate, which has raged in South Africa this year. The true culprits responsible for bringing on this potential travesty of intergenerational justice have so far evaded mention altogether.

Bikes from one of BEN's BIC's (bicycle empowerment centres)

Bike to work this Transport Month and be part of the solution.

With most of the worlds population now living in cities, it is no news to say that traffic congestion has become a huge urban problem, as is the pollution and accidents caused by motor vehicles. With the added fear of climate change and peak oil, there has arisen an urgent need for a social shift towards more sustainable mobility use.

The City of Cape Town recognises October as "Transport Month" and last week hosted a couple of events focussing on Public Transport Interchanges (PTI).

A PTI is a facility where commuters can

“Have you seen a firefly lately?” asked City of Johannesburg’s MMC for Infrastructure and the Environment, Clr Roslynn Greef, as one of her opening statements for the environmental themed week of the City of Johannesburg’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 planning and consultation leg. It was an interesting way to introduce the week and draw attention to issues of environmental quality. Fireflies, as beautiful and magical as they are, are also an indicator of air quality.

Through a series of themed weeks the Joburg City Council is re-examining its policies and getting feedback from citizens and key stakeholders, on all matters from resource sustainability to the environment, to what makes a city liveable. This week (19th-23rd) is environment week, and the following is economic week – we encourage all Joburg Sprouts to make their voices heard. Be a part of the process by exploring the sites, attending the events that you have interest in, and adding

Government recently granted mining rights to an Australian company to mine next to Mapungubwe, a World Heritage Site. Support the coalition group (including EWT, Birdlife Africa, WWF, Peace Parks foundation) opposing the mine at www.savemapungubwe.org.za or

Vele Neluvhalani thinks mining near Mapungubwe will be “an offence to our ancestors” and believes that on a fundamental level, people have always been connected to the earth, visible by the traces they leave behind, like the ancient rock art on the sandstone outcrops in Mapungubwe.

Neluvhalani feels a deep connection to this ancient place, because his ancestors lived there thousands of years before him. He is bound to the area not only by

Masibambane Place Mat

Grahamstown National Arts Festival is a time for late nights, soaking up all the Glühwein and all that’s cultural, and being generally frivolous and indulgent. For some, however, this is also a time of reflection. The artists’ imaginings of the world are reflected back to us and we catch a glimpse of what is, and what can be. For many artists Festival is a time for celebration of the arts, but also a time for introspection, for a re-evaluation of their art and its space in society. They are given a platform to display and delight, and through this help the audiences and themselves contemplate the place of art, to contemplate the flux of its dynamic form.

For Bronwen Salton, a Fine Art Masters student at Rhodes University, Festival offered up just such a place. It was a platform for her to explore a novel medium: plastic crochet. It was a space to negotiate how the techniques she employs can be transferred to the Grahamstown community. It was a time in which she could re-examine (and in so doing help us to re-examine) the notions of what ‘fine-art’ is, to whom it is applicable, and how it can recognize and respond to the problems the world faces.

Curtain of Crocheted Coral

Slip into a small room in the corner of the Rhodes ELRC to find a momentary escape from the chatter and buzz of national arts fest, and explore the coral reef and ‘marine life’ you find yourself surrounded by. This exhibition, Reflection Synthetic, a collaboration between Simon Max Bannister and Woodstock Art Reef Project (WARP) explores the beauty of coral reefs, and craftily demonstrates the threats that reefs face.