Building Biodiversity Gardens at ARU.

This year Transition Cambridge Nature Group are supporting a biodiversity gardens project at Anglia Ruskin University.  The university has seen an opportunity to provide homes for wildlife in their largely unused student accommodation gardens and the Nature Group are supporting the development of these gardens by providing a human labour force.

Saturday 29th November a group of us gathered at Collier Road, to transform 8 turfed and patio covered gardens in to biodiverse havens for flowers, insects, birds and hedgehogs.

We started by digging up the turf, to create bare ground that could then be sprinkled with wildflower seed. Seeds courtesy of the Grow Wild project.

 

 Then we rolled and piled the turf to create dry banks, which will provide the very important bare and dry soil that many insects need for burrowing and breeding.

Then we piled up some logs in the corner of each garden, to create the increasingly loved log pile which provides a home for all sorts of detritus eating invertebrates, like woodlice, and also an opportunity for fungi to thrive.

Finally Geoff, Housing Management Officer at ARU, who is running the project, dug some hedgehog tunnels under the fence between the gardens, to give hedgehogs the opportunity to move easily between gardens. Yey for Hedgehogs, and YEY for Geoff.

Nine of us, managed to biodiversify eight gardens in about 3 hours.  Brilliant work.  And such a simple couple of transformations to make, any of us could do this in our own garden to make a little corner for wildlife.

There will be more gardens to dig in the spring and in the new year we plan to have some workshops to show people how to build wildlife houses.  If you would like to get involved or keep up to date about any events on this theme, then send me your email address and I will add you to our 'Biodiversity Garden' mailing list.

Hope to see you at the garden days.

jadelaurencawthray [at] hotmail.com

Wildlife Wanderings - Bramblefields LNR 22/11/14

Despite the threat of rain our monthly wander was a wonderful success, with 12 of us gathering at Bramblefields Local Nature Reserve, hoping to spot the arrival of redwings and fieldfares.  Both are types of thrush that make a winter migration from Scandanavia down to us here in the South East, in search of food to keep them going through the winter.

Whilst we saw a fair few blackbirds and wood pigeons and a couple of spritely squirrels, we didn't manage to see any of the migratory thrushes.  But we did have a fungal extravaganza.

Photo Credit: Oscar Gillespie

Whilst at first we only came across a typical brown jobby, of a mushroom, that we didnt manage to illuminate with a name using the field guide.

Photo Credit: Oscar Gillespie

Then one of our party managed to get her eye in and suddenly we found alsorts of fantastic mushrooms and slimemoulds.  Another couple of the troupe helped us to attach some names to the specimens. We found Sulphur tuft and these amazing Candlesnuff fungus (below) coming up out of the ground and out of rotting twigs.

Candlesnuff fungus - Photo Credit: Graihagh Jackson

We found some growing on the climbing frames, which we observed with gruesome curiosity through a hand lens and then we found, to my GREAT excitement, a pair of earthstar fungus.  Something I had regularly recognised in field guides but never seen in the flesh.

Earthstar (possible collared) - Photo Credit: Graihagh Jackson

But there were more grotesque sights to be found as we stumbled upon, what we could only describe as Giant's snot (not a name that centuries of naturalists had put in the field guide).  This gelatinous goo was some kind of slime mould or fungal body, but we are not quite sure what.  If you know what it is, please do get in touch.

[Giant's snot] - Photo Credit: Graihagh Jackson

And for the grand finale, a treacherous end succumb this bird, when a Sparrowhawk captured it, brought it to the ground and plucked off its feathers.  A ring of feathers like this (below) is a distinguishable sign of a Sparrowhawk kill.  We discussed whether this was wood pigeon, a more common prey for the Sparrowhawk, or some kind of partridge or pheasant, due to some of the feathers being more like that of a fowl bird.

Sparrowhawk feeding evidence - Photo Credit: Graihagh Jackson.

All in all a rather gory, yet fascinating, ramble through Bramblefields nature reserve.

Jade


Wildlife wanderings is a friendly and informal gathering of local people who would like to get to know their green spaces better. We meet once a month at a local nature reserve, park or urban wildlife site and share our knowledge as we investigate signs of wildlife and the changing seasons.  All are welcome.  Simply keep an eye on the Transition events page and the newsletter for up and coming events.

Big Thank You to Oscar Gillespie and Graihagh Jackson ( www.graihaghjackson.com) for the photos.

A transition interview with: Patrick O'Donohoe

The media blog is planning to publish an interview with a local Transitioner every fortnight, to help draw attention to the rich diversity of groups and events, via the incredible people that make them happen. The project starts today with Patrick O'Donohoe from the energy group.

1. Who are you, and what group are you representing?

My name is Patrick O'Donohoe, and I have been part of the TC energy group for several years. I am a software engineer, working for a company in the LED lighting industry - something I think is a major stepping stone to a lower energy future.

2. What have you enjoyed, and what have you learned, during the last year, as part of working with this group?
I think enjoyment and learning are closely related; it's been great to expand my knowledge by interacting with like minded people. We have a lot of practical expertise within the group, which was very useful when it came to reducing my own carbon footprint, especially by making my own house more economical.

I am also grateful for the opportunity to help inform the wider population at our various public events; sometimes it can be frustrating in the face of general apathy, but there are also many people who want to use less energy and just lack the knowledge.  It's very gratifying to be able to give those people information that will help achieve their aims.

3. What are you looking forward to for the next year?
Unfortunately I will miss our Low Energy Lighting forum in November, but we are planning to continue the series of events through the next year. Topics are not finalised yet, but are likely to include heating controls, and financing for eco-retrofit on houses.

4. What question should I have asked you?
I think you should have asked why I became interested in the Transition movement. There are many well intentioned people who vaguely talk about saving the environment, but don't have much clue where to begin; for instance I have seen people thoughtlessly open a window rather than turn the heating down, or boil a kettle full of water then throw most of it away. This is not a question of stupidity, just one of habit; we need to break these bad habits by raising awareness of what "energy" actually means, and Transition is largely about getting this message across. Over the last few decades society has absorbed various good ideas like safe driving and anti-racism, to the extent that they are no longer really "ideas" - we don't ponder these things, we just get on and live them. Surely, we can give the same profile to an idea like energy economy.

Young people and climate change - report by COIN

I've seen some research today by COIN, a small NGO in Oxford, looking at young people's attitudes to climate change. This seems worth sharing, and may be an interesting discussion point. Is it consistent with your own experience?

Today COIN releases ‘Young Voices’, a major new report looking at young people’s attitudes to climate change. Supported by the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics, it is the first study to ask young people themselves how to engage their peers more effectively, and to propose and test new climate change narratives specifically designed to engage 18-25 year olds. Commenting on the study, Dr Adam Corner, COIN’s Research Director, said: “Our research suggests that many young people care deeply and passionately about climate change. However, there has been a collective failure to talk to young people about climate change in a way that inspires them. Too many assumptions have been made by communicators, which haven’t been tested. Working directly with young people we have been able to trial a series of narratives about climate change, providing valuable insights for anyone interested in improving communication about climate change with this group.”

The findings revealed that many current climate engagement strategies may be failing to reach young people. Some of the key findings and recommendations from the report include: For young people, climate change is fundamentally about the ‘here and now’ – describing the effect it will have on future generations, as campaigners and scientists often do, undermines the urgency of the problem. Young people want to hear how climate change relates to (and will affect) those aspects of their everyday lives that they are passionate about - but communicators must take care not to ‘trivialise’ the issue by failing to link the ‘personal’ to the ‘political’. Fighting organised scepticism is mostly seen as a waste of energy by young people – scepticism is relatively uncommon among the young and talking ‘solutions not science’ is a much better approach. Young people often find it hard to talk about climate change with their peers - there was a fear that talking about climate change would set them apart as ‘preachy’ or ‘un-cool’.

There is widespread doubt that there is a ‘concerned majority’ among the general public who support action on climate change - communicating a ‘social consensus’ on climate action may be just as important as the scientific consensus. Young people have very little faith in mainstream politicians – so it makes more sense to ask young people to challenge (not support) politicians on climate policies. Campaign messages should clearly set out what needs to be done – who, when, where and what young people can do to make a difference – and which policy prescriptions support this. Climate jargon is unfamiliar and off-putting – phrases like ‘managing climate risks’, ‘decarbonisation’ and ‘2 degrees’ are seen as hollow and vague. People want to hear about specific policies and how these relate to protecting the things people love and are passionate about. ‘Young Voices’ uses COIN’s unique ‘Narrative Workshops’ method, which explores study participants' values, aspirations and views on climate change before formulating different ‘narratives’ for testing (short pieces of written text that use different language to describe climate change and climate policies). This allows careful attention to be paid to the words and phrases that people respond positively to, and provides a vehicle for building on the core values that underpin public engagement with climate change.

COIN, The Old Music Hall, 106 - 108 Cowley Road,
Oxford, OX4 1JE
United Kingdom

Wildlife Wanderings in Clare Wood on 25th October 2014

By Jade Cawthray (posted by Anna on Jade's behalf)

Wildlife wanderings is a simple project to encourage Cambridge residents to get to know their green spaces that little bit better.  Once a month we meet at a different nature reserve, wildlife site or green space and take a wander together to see what plants and animals are living there.

We were granted the most beautiful autumn day on Saturday, and 14 of us gathered together, along with two children, to walk along Hobson’s Conduit and into Clare Wood. These, along with Bentley Road Paddocks and Empty Common allotments and community garden, make up a wildlife corridor to connect the south Cambridgeshire countryside with the urban ecosystem of the city.  This corridor is being carefully managed and monitored by the council the local wildlife trust and a couple of local businesses to improve it for our wild city neighbours. 

Whilst management of the area hopes to encourage water voles to set up residence and improve the hunting habitat for bats which are known to roost in the area, there are already tawny owls, kingfishers, common toads and grass snakes around the site.

With this being an autumn wandering we were keeping our eye out for fungi, and managed to find a few.  

We decided this was turkey tail Trametes versicolor a common woodland fungi found on rotting stumps and fallen trunks.

We also discovered that it is relatively tricky to match a fungi in the field with fungi in a guide, but we had a good try.

We found this clustered in a group around a decaying tree stump, and we believe it to be the glistening inkcap, Coprinus micaceus, which is described as having egg shaped caps that appear to be pleated, the under side of the gills turning inky black with age and the brittle stem pale in contrast to the cap.

Maybe one of the most surprising things we found in the field connecting our walk to Long Road, was three, yes three, four-leaved clovers.  I couldn’t quite believe it, I had never seen one, never mind three all sat together, and they were big leaves as well.

Here’s the evidence, three four-leaved clovers.  You have to see it to believe it.

As we got closer to Long Road, we divided, with some of our party venturing beyond Long Road with the thought of a good pint over in Grantchester on their minds, whilst the rest of us turned back towards the city, and enjoyed late afternoon sunlight, yellowy orange, beaming through the trees.

A wonderful walk, with wonderful company and some fab fungi.

If you fancy coming along to one of our Wildlife Wanderings our next venture will be at 2.30pm on Saturday 22^nd November – location to be confirmed (it will be announced on the Transition Cambridge web-site).

Annual General Meeting tonight!

The Transition AGM is tonight, starting at 7.30 at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, CB5 8BA. This is the biggest meeting of the year for the movement, we'll hear from each of the Transition groups about what they've been up to in the previous year. Our own media group will be reporting about the skillshares that Toni has supported, and this blog here.

It would be really great to know who is reading this, and what you'd like to hear more about. We're hoping to start doing some short interviews to get more regular and interesting content, but are there any topics or local issues that you would really enjoy seeing some research and thinking about?

Hope to see some of you at the AGM.
Best wishes,
Oscar

Restart party is a success!

Cambridge's first Restart Party took place at the Cambridge Computer Museum on the 30th September

The Restart Project is a social enterprise that helps people learn to repair their own electronics in community events called Restart Parties and in workplaces.

Would anyone turn up? Would we have enough repairers? Would people be grumpy if they had to wait for their phone/laptop/other electric device to be examined? Would people even find their way there OK? What if . . . You get the idea, I'm one of life's worriers, and if you are too, you'll recognise the mixed feeling of anticipation and anxiety that I experienced as I walked into the Cambridge Computer Museum to set up the welcome area for Cambridge's first Restart Party.

Of course, my worries were needless. Most of the repairers/restarters were all set up before I got there, 23 people turned up with faulty items and hardly had to wait at all to get their items examined, Janet Gunter (Restart Project Founder) came up from London to join in, Stuart Leithes from Anglia TV arrived to film the event and Jason Fitzpatrick from the museum got stuck in with some of the repairs. In short, the first Cambridge Restart Party was a great success.





There are some amazingly talented people in our community with specialised tools, knowledge and skills who are keen to share all these with those of us whose skills lie in other areas. Watching them made me think of an operating theatre, with phones, laptops, loudspeakers prone on a table, their internal organs exposed to the surgical probings of precision tools, eager interns watching, listening, learning and then having a go themselves.

My lasting impression of the evening won't be that X faults were diagnosed, Y items were repaired and Z advice was given. What I'll remember is the atmosphere in the museum . . . busy, co-operative, friendly and fun. People arrived not really knowing what to expect, but left happy and gave us great feedback.

The most asked question was "When's the next one?" We're not sure yet, but keep an eye on the (wonderful all new) Transition Cambridge website for details, or check out the Cambridge Repairers, Menders and Fixers Meetup group.

(Posted by Oscar on behalf of Kate Boursnell)