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Here's another selection of news and articles and bits and pieces of interest from around and about, and here and there, eg:

from here

Transition Initiatives? ..ways of exploring how our communities can respond to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil. "Our aim is to re-localise our communities, making them vibrant, resilient and truly sustainable".
More information: http://transitiontowns.org.nz
and: http://sustainablechristchurch.org.nz/transitioncommunities/introduction
(see events diary: Transition Forum).

Survey: Many in NZ think it's too late to act on climate change. Even more in Oz. (21 August, NZ Herald).

Greens seek opinions from Kiwis on ETS. (21 August, Scoop).
Greenpeace: ETS must pass despite weaknesses. (21 August, Scoop).
Business NZ: Use cost to help decide. (21 August, Scoop).

Lincoln Profs' sustainability paper: judged Outstanding Paper of the Year 2007 by the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. (14 August, Lincoln University).

Hinds farmer plants stream edge with aid of Environment Enhancement Fund. (15 August, ECan).

Home energy: free, expert advice centre advances across the country. Aims to include Christchurch soon. (15 August, Sustainability.govt.nz)

Neighbourhood Week 1 - 9 November: Small subsidy for organising your neighbourhood event? Maybe. See here. (Applications close 5 September). (CCC: Neighbourhood Week programme).

Why are we pussy-footing around when it comes to kwila imports? (20 August, NZ Herald). Big stores divided over whether to continue stocking kwila. (18 August, NZ Herald).

PM warns New Zealand can't risk being seen as "dirty producer". (20 August, NZ Herald).

Bay of Plenty fish survey: turns up significant rubbish dumping issue. (5 August, Environment Bay of Plenty).

Aquaculture on display at Wellington airport. (20 August, NIWA).

Young Otago scientists shine in prestigious McDiarmid awards. (15 August, Universtiy of Otago).

Antarctic Conference at the University of Canterbury next month: Imagine Antarctica. (21 August, University of Canterbury).

Research: not a fearsome predator: colossal squid a colossal wuss. (21 August, Stuff).

Fishing boat aground: thousands of litres of diesel threatening Ninety Mile Beach.(20 August, Stuff).

Horowhenua sewage spills into lakes - Greens. (21 August, Stuff).

Brocoli will never be the same again: The secret life of food. (12 - 18 August, NZ Listener).

Keep NZ Beautiful: the Spring Clean is on again. (More than a million participants). (18 August, Scoop).

GM trees felled & police investigating containment breach. (August, ERMA).

New book from Canterbury University Press: Living with Natives. Editors: Ian Spellerberg and Michele Fry; photography by John Maillard: Narratives of people’s relationship with native plants: restoration projects, own gardens, corporation plantings etc.

Frogs: Christchurch writer Marlene Bennetts has a new children’s book to mark Year of the Frog. No Ordinary Frog describes the plight of an Archey’s frog searching for safety in a changed environment. 24 pages, includes a page of Archey's frog facts. Illustrated by Trish Bowles.
Enquiries to: marlene_bennetts@xtra.co.nz.

Here's a go ... sound like you?: Oxfam Trailwalker 2009: Lake Taupo, 4 & 5 April. Walk 100kms in under 36 hours to help overcome poverty and injustice. (Funds raised bring real change to real people). Oxfam Trailwalker won Best Environmentally Sustainable Event in NZ Event Professionals Awards 2008. It also won praise for minimal impact on the environment and for encouraging sustainability.
Contact details: www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz or info@oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz or
0800OXFAM NZ.

Govt wants your input: for National Policy Statement on urban design. Before Tuesday, 30 September. (Ministry for the Environment).

Job Offer: Sustainable Wanaka General Manager. Replacement sought for the present (on maternity leave) general manager. Initially part-time but with the opportunity to develop to full-time appointment (depending on future circumstances of the incumbent and extent to which the successful applicant can help grow the activities of Sustainable Wanaka). Desired qualities of the replacement include complementary skills to the incumbent and a demonstrated ability to work in a small team.
Enquiries: megan@sustainablewanaka.co.nz or ph. Megan 03-443 5057. Applications close Friday, 29 August.

Re-linked awards, submissions, consultations etc:

• Greenpeace: Fish: the don't eat list. (11 August, NZ Herald).
  
  

• A new online directory: which companies are and are not clean and environmentally friendly. (11 August, NZ Herald).
  

• Canterbury organic course starts in October. More here: www.bhu.co.nz. (August, Organic Pathways).
  
  

• A voice for Kiwi cyclists: Cycling Advocates' Network: CAN's 9-point plan for cycling safety (Sign the petition - it'll take about 4 secs. Maybe even 3).
  

• Submissions sought: proposed amendments to the Canterbury RegionalPassenger Transport Plan 2006. Till Tuesday, 2 September.(ECan).

• Public asked for views on Sumner beach parks (5 August, CCC).
  
  
• Christchurch South-west Area Plan consultation to start soon. (7 August, CCC).
  
  
• Wanted: Waste Advisory Board nominations. Before 7 September. (Ministry for the Environment).
  
  
• Competition for young people (under 20): Make a 5 minute film about sustainability. Entry deadline 19 September.

• Nominations (till end of October) for this year's Roger Award:
  Organised by CAFCA. info here.    
  

open now: ECan tree planting, fencing, biodiversity fund  
Landowners or groups working to protect and enhance native biodiversity in Canterbury have until the end of August to apply for contestable grants of up to $5,000 through Environment Canterbury’s Environment Enhancement Fund: more here (Applications close end of August).

• DOC Canterbury: Conservation Management Strategy review
  The Department of Conservation’s Canterbury Conservancy wants your help to develop the direction of its conservation work over the next 10 years. To find out more and to contribute: click here

& from there

• UK: On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction. (Reaction to senior Defra scientist Prof Bob Watson's pronouncement - in ecoNet Newsletter 10, also from The Guardian. see it again here). (11 August, The Guardian).
  
  
• Georgia: a blow to US energy: war in the Caucasus brought Georgia to heel, reasserted Russia's claim as the dominant force in the region, and dealt a blow to U.S. prestige. But in this part of the world, diplomacy and war are about oil and gas... (13 August, Businessweek).
  
  
• US: American way of life is unsustainable: "rather than attempting to perpetuate it, we must transition beyond it—quickly. Should we fail to do so, our society will collapse—in the not-too-distant future…" (20 August, Energy Bulletin).
  
  
• US: Reality bites again. (more social comment from James Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation).
  
  
• Australia: Peak oil bigger problem than climate change: ...and the two in combination "the biggest issue the world has ever confronted, not just in a warm, fuzzy context but in what it means in a hard-edged business sense." (20 August, Financial Standard).
  
  
• Population paradox: Europe's time bomb. (9 August, The Independent).
  
  
• Oceans on the precipice: scientist warns of mass extinctions and 'rise of slime'. (20 August, Christian Science Monitor).
  
  
• Revealed: the massive scale of UK's water consumption. (20 August, The Guardian).
  
  
• UK: 1 in 3 honeybees did not survive winter and spring: reaching crisis point - risk to fruit and vegetable pollination. (12 August, The Guardian).
  
  
• Dr Vandana Shiva: Why Prince Charles is right: we need GM free food and agriculture for food security. ( 21 August, The Telegraph).
  
  
• Will an organic revival overthrow the 'green revolution'? ... in places like India the backlash is increasing. (2 August, Alternet).
  
  
• China: The Green Long March. (20 August, NZ Herald).
  
  
• Soaring fuel prices: UK's long-neglected latticework of canals and rivers poised for a renaissance. (10 August, The Independent).
  
  
• US: Claim (didn't you already know it?): Waste-to-energy plants a waste of energy. (6 July, International Herald Tribune).
  
  
• Sending waste to China saves carbon emissions. (19 August, The Guardian).
  
  
• Antarctica: The death march of the penguins. (4 August, Alternet).
  
  
• Australia: Seals help scientists see under Antarctic ice. (12 august, The Australian).
  
  
• No, not science fiction - history: The year the world froze over. (5 August, Sciencenow Daily News).
  
  
• Germans try to halt glacier melt with giant screen. (14 August, Physorg.com).
  
  
• US: ...Speaking of techno-fixes, what about the modern practice of re-cycling water for drinking and domestic use: They call it toilet to tap (yuk!): America's latest drinking problem. (19 August, Wall Street Journal).
  
  
• Solar's problems solved? MIT researchers say they now have an inexpensive way to store solar energy when the sun isn't out.(4 August, Alternet/Christian Science Monitor).
  
  
• Negating the noise from wind turbines. (20 August, ecogeek)
  
  
• UK: Big Brother & surveillance: watching every move: the average Briton is recorded 3000 times a week. (17 August, The Telegraph).
  
  
• Your flat screen TV: A chemical used in its manufacture could rival some of the world's most potent greenhouse gases. (15 August, Alternet).
  
  
• BMW - a custom-designed Mini rickshaw - to beat the traffic during the Olympic Games in Beijing. (17 August, NZ Herald).
  
  
  
• US: Oh my goodness...: SF ponders - could bike lanes cause pollution, harm the environment? (Get a life!). (20 August, Wall Street Journal).
  
  
• Seed saving and the heirloom vegetable garden. (15 August, Energy Bulletin).
  
  
• Australia: The fossilised teeth of a giant kangaroo may confirm that humans, not climate change, pushed Australia's large prehistoric marsupials to extinction. (12 August, Cosmosmagazine.com).
  
  
• Stuttgart Zoo: Gorilla grieves over death of her baby ... & Mourning gorilla holds on to her dead baby (in pictures). (19 August, The Telegraph).
  

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• Event: Craft fair debut: Craft2.0.

  Where: Our City Otautahi, cnr Oxford Terrace/Worcester Boulevard
  When: 11.00 - 3.00 pm Saturday, 23 August.
  Activities, prizes, workshops for both adults & children.
  Admission free.
  Contact: Lucy  379 9860 or 021 2525 789 or lucy@bod.co.nz. (more info here).
  
  

• Opening Day: Lincoln Community Gardens:

  Grand opener: Selwyn Mayor Kelvin Coe.
  Guest speaker: Prof Steve Wratten.
  Competitions, prizes, Lincoln High Jazz Band…
  When: 2.00 pm Sunday, 24 August.
  Where: Lincoln Community Centre.
  Contact and info: Cello 325 2156.
  

• Native Tree Planting Day: Cashmere Stream.

  (Help plant native trees - you'll have fun and get to eat a sizzled sausage).
  When: 10.30 am Sunday, 24 August.
  Signposted from Worsleys Road.
  info here. (ECan).
  
  

• Transition Forum:

  (see under News and Links).
  When: 12.00 – 2.00 pm Tuesday, 26 August.
  Where: St Albans Community Centre.
  RSVP: christoph@stalbans.gen.nz
  Co-hosts: St Albans Community Centre & SOC (Sustainable Otautahi Christchurch).
  
  

• Talk: Venoms of doom! (how they can mess up your day).

  Speaker: Dr Simon Pollard, curator of invertebrate zoology, Canterbury Museum.
  When: 6.00 – 7.00 pm Tuesday, 26 August.
  Where: Bird Hall, Canterbury Museum.
  
  

• Talk: Kaitiakitangi – an ethic for stewardship in a modern context.

  Speaker: Professor Hirini Matunga, Maori and Indigenous Planning, Lincoln University.
  When: 7.30 pm Tuesday, 26 August.
  Where: Knox Church, corner Bealey & Victoria.
  info: minister@knoxchurch.co.nz
  
  

• Timaru: How Cuba survived peak oil.
  

  The Power Of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. DVD.
  Where: St John's Church Hall, Wai-iti Road.
  When: 7.30 pm Wednesday, 27 August.
  Tickets: $10 on the night or Cliff at Only Natural.

• Biofuels forum: Biofuels: the future or folly?

  (NZ Inst. of Ag & Hort. Science, Canterbury Section).
  When: 8.30 - 12.30 Wednesday, 27 August.
  Where: Stewart 2, Lincoln University.
  
  

• Talk: Biodiversity offsetting - what is it? how do we do it? and how can we be sure it is done well?

  Speaker: Assoc. Prof. David Norton
  When: 5.00 pm Wednesday, 27 August.
  Where: Waiau Theatrette, ECan. (58 Kilmore St.)
  
  

• Book launch: Albatross: their world, their ways.

  Authors: Tui De Roy & Mark Jones.
  When: 5.30pm Wednesday, 27 August.
  Where: Antarctic House, 53 Montreal St.
  Cost: $5 (includes drinks & nibbles)
  RSVP: Chris Todd 366 6317.
  Sponsored by Forest & bird.
  
  

• Talk: Human impacts on Canterbury plants: past, present, future.

  Speaker: Dr Colin Meurk.
  When: 2.00 pm Thursday, 28 August.
  Where: Canterbury Horticultural Society, Riccarton Ave.
  Cost: $5.00. (members $3.00).
  
  

• Green Drinks:

  When: 5.30 pm, 28 August.
  Where: Dux de Lux, Arts Centre.
  (background info here).
  

• Lincoln University's annual state of the nation's environment address:

  Prioritising Environmental Challenges:  What Matters Most?
  Speaker: Dr Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
  When: 5.00 - 6.00 pm Thursday, 28 August.
  Where: H12, Lincoln University.
  more info here.

• University of Canterbury & WEA combined election year lecture series: This week's talks:

  Tuesday, 26 August: The end of ideology in NZ politics?
  Thursday, 28 August: Party competition in NZ politics: diffferent ways to understand the election.
  Speaker: (both talks): Dr Bryce Edwards, Otago University.
  Times: WEA 1.30 - 3.00 pm, UC: 7.00 - 8.30 pm.
  Cost: $5.00.
  Registration: WEA 366 0285, & UC at
  UC Opportunity 3642470.
  
  

• NZSSES  Friday Forum: Strategies for Canterbury Water.

  Speakers: Jenny Ridgen, CCC and Jim Bradley, MWH.
  When: 11.30 am - 2.30 pm Friday, 29 August. (includes lunch).
  Where: MWH Office, 7 Deans Ave.
  Sponsor: NZSSES (NZ Society for Sustainability Engineering and Science).
  

• Otautahi critical mass:

  a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to reclaim the streets for bikes.
  When: 5.30 pm Friday, 29 August.
  Meet: Cathedral Square. to cycle round town and

  background info here.
  
  

• Event: Christchurch Vegetarian Centre pot luck meal.

  When: 7.00 pm Friday, 29 August.
  Where: Horticultural Centre, Riccarton Ave.
  Cost: $2 and a vegan dish to share (bring plate and cutlery).
  Contact: info@vegetarianchristchurch.org.nz
  or 021 026 23946.
  
  

• Film: "The Imam and the Pastor: reconciliation between Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye".

  (info here)
  To be followed by Christian and Muslim responses.
  When: 6.15 pm Friday, 29 August.
  Where: 201 Peterborough St. (Madras corner)
  Cost: Koha
  Contact: The Nawawi Center.  info@nawawicenter.org

• Three Free Home Composting Workshops: (Bokashi, Hot Compost, and Worm Farms).

  Where: 1: Opawa Community Gardens, 176 Opawa Rd (at Aynsley Terrace).
  When: 1.00 pm 2, 6 September. (1st & 3rd Saturday each month & 1st & 3rd Tuesday).
  2: Okeover Community Gardens, University of Canterbury.
  When: 12.00 - 1:30 pm, 27, 30 August. (2nd & 4th Saturday each month, 2nd & 4th Wednesday).
  3: Lyttelton Community Gardens.
  Where: 54a Oxford Street (behind swimming pool, above Farmer's Market/primary school).
  When: 1.00 – 3.00 pm Sat, 23 August. 10.00 – 12.00 pm Mon, 25 August.
  How: Just turn up.
  More info: Annmarie Banchy 021 190 4559, or 942 7190 (evening), abanchy@paradise.net.nz.
  Sponsored by CCC.
  
  

• EARTHWISE, Plains FM 96.9

  Each Monday & Wednesday at 10 pm.
  Conservation, environment and peace with justice.
  This week's interview: John Thacker (ECan & Friends of Orton Bradley Park).
  Orton Bradley Park: its history, importance to Christchurch & efforts to expand its native trees and shrubs
  Presenters: Martin and Lois Griffiths.
  
  

Coming up:

• 2008 Charles Fleming Lecture Tour:Science for Conservation.

  Speaker: Professor Mick Clout, Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland.
  When: 8.00 pm Wednesday, 3 September.
  Where: C3 Central Lecture Theatre Block, University of Canterbury.
  abstract & info here. Sponsored by RSNZ.
  
  

• Nga Kete a Rehua: Inaugural Maori Research Symposium - Te Waipounamu:

  When: 4 - 5 September.
  Where: University of Canterbury.
  more info here.
  
  

• Sanford Science and Technology Fair - Caroline Bay Hall, Timaru.

  Open to public: Thursday, 4 September.
  
  
  

• Lincoln University Canterbury-Westland Science and Technology Fair.

  more info here.
  Open to the public: Monday, 8 September.
  
  

• Talk: Controlling Stoats and Rats for
  Conservation in New Zealand.

  Speaker: Dr Craig Gillies, DOC Predator Ecologist, Hamilton.
  When: 7.30 pm Tuesday, 9 September.
  Where: Community Hall, Jetty Road, Governors Bay.
  
  

• International Parks and Recreation Congress: Making Connections - Make a Difference!  

  When: 15 - 18 September 2008.
  Where: Christchurch Convention Centre.
  Registration & info at www.ifpra2008.comContact: Diana Sexton 941 6628 or diana.saxton@ccc.govt.nz
  Hosts: NZ Recreation Assn. & CCC.
  
  

• Event: Carbon Crusaders: running/walking & planting at Bottle Lake Forest Park and Travis Wetlands.

  more info here.
  When: 20 September.
  
  

• World car free day.

  When: Monday, 22 September.
  more info here.
  

Reminders:

• Otamahua/Quail Island Ecological Restoration Trust Tree Planting:

  each weekend of August.
  New volunteers welcome but need to book in ahead. To register: Bev or Ian MacDonald at ihmacd@paradise.net.nz or ph 3325322.
  Further info: www.quailisland.org.nz.
  
  

• Bike trailer - one month's free trial:

  See how much fun and easy it is to carry loads without a car!
  Contact: Steven Muir
  Email: thepope@cyclingchurch.org.nz
  Ph. 03 365 8238.