Adriana P rez Pesce 6/14/11 In the Sustainable Development Category
Artisanal water heaters and kitchens that use solar energy, water pumps that do not need electricity and the insulation of homes with recycled and natural materials will be some of the proposals that will be presented at Festisol, the first sustainability meeting organized by the Co n Ciudad en Transición n movement.
The head of Communication and also director of the magazine La Chispa, Phil Speirs, explained that lvaro Gonz lez, of the Energy and Bioconstruction Group, has launched the initiative to show all interested parties the possibility of accessing renewable energy in a simple way and thus avoid increasing the ecological footprint and the emission of CO2.
The appointment is on Saturday, June 18 from 10 and will be extended throughout the day in Muebles del Mundo, in Co n, M laga. The exhibition will feature a sample area of products, an alternative market with artisans, a teapot, a bar where juices and healthy meals will be served and a setting that will be the axis of artistic and musical performances. The central topics of debate will revolve around biodiesel, solar cookers, transgenic foods, the modality of home schooling, transition and local currencies.
Co n en Transici n begins to take its first steps in October 2009, when four friends decide to learn and read about the experience in Totnes, City in Transition, in the United Kingdom.
Currently, the group has more than a hundred people actively participating in work teams, such as the Mutual Support Network (RAM), which runs the local currency; Consumption, which organizes purchases from wholesalers; Energì a, which builds the products that will be exhibited at Festisol and makes bioconstruction projects; Communication, which prepares presentations and communicates the activities of the group; and Huerto, who works on the communal estate.
“Once, when we were in Malaga city, a person asked a member of the group about how we eat so well in the town and we have everything we need. 'We bought at Mercadona, ' my friend replied. Then he asked: how do they move in town? 'In the car, ' said my friend. This man thought that we made a decrease so strong that we took our cars, took donkeys and returned to a simple life, with nothing modern or resources of the normal world. The point is that we are in transition… .is a process. We live in the modern world but we make changes at the personal, group level and finally at the community level to avoid the consequences and serious problems of a future with less resources and less energy to power the modern engine. We build more resilience with our activities, ”says Speirs.
As for the local currency, the director of La Chispa magazine has commented to Positive News that there are about 70 associated people offering a wide range of products and services. “1 coine = € 1 in value. We use a notebook system to remember the exchanges and the partners organize the prices of the products and services between them. They cannot spend more than 200 or save more than 200, so it is a dynamic, live and local currency, ”he explains.
The medium of exchange is complementary to the national currency and constitutes an additional alternative to the daily economy, adding new possibilities of interaction based not only on the needs and their satisfaction but also on mutual trust within the community.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
http://cointransicion.blogspot.com/
Photography: Courtesy of Coín in Transition
