Click here to have a look…. https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/

Posted Uncategorized
inClick here to have a look…. https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/
28 Saturday Nov 2020
Posted Discussion, Funding, News, Transport
inA new project run by Active Derbyshire and High Peak Borough Council will help make our community stronger and healthier, contributing to our shared ‘New Mills 2030’ vision.
This aims to try and bring more movement into the day to day lives of the residents of New Mills. They’re interested in supporting more traditional sports and physical activity offers, but especially determined to support people who are currently fairly inactive to make changes to their lifestyle. They want to widen the number of New Mills residents who embrace being outdoors. This could be either by incorporating more activity into day to day activities, such as using feet or bikes for travel, or becoming involved with a community initiative such as a community garden or a befriending offer of walking together.
They recognise a strong link between community strength and the level of physical activity in a town, and note the great potential for some cross-over or connectivity between some of the work that is already happening or being planned. They’d like to assist this but also see if there is some way we could help existing projects thrive. They’re also conscious that significant portions of the New Mills population participate a lot less than others. They want to understand this better and use your insight and experience to discover and enable activities and communication that will address this imbalance.
So if you have a project that increases people’s movement and activity, especially ones that address inequality in participation in physical activity, we and they would love to hear from you!
https://www.activederbyshire.org.uk/our-work
16 Wednesday Sep 2020
Posted Biodiversity, Rewilding
inNature New Mills has responded to the Defra England Tree Strategy consultation that was launched in June and closed 11th September.
The consultation sought views on the following:
Local communities and local authorities
Supporting the economy: Ecotourism
(Note: The England Tree Strategy is interested in tree planting as a means of supporting the economy. Nature New Mills has made mention of ecotourism in meetings. Eco tourism could well be a useful way of supporting the economy, so we referred to it in the strategy document as below:
23 Thursday Jul 2020
Posted Uncategorized
inThe New Mills Transition Reading Group meets monthly, currently on Zoom, to discuss a book, watch a film/video or host a speaker. This month we discussed Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Racism by Reni Eddo-Lodge. We are all white but some have close family members and friends who are people of colour.
Participants liked the book, found it readable and appreciated the author’s use of her personal experiences and anecdotes to explain well, in a few words, the situations and double binds that black people find themselves in when talking to white people about racism.
We found useful her explanation of the difference between prejudice and racism (prejudice plus power) and the discussion of institutionalised and structural racism. We found useful, if uncomfortable, her critique of the liberal approach which says ’everyone is equal’ but denies the existence of the power imbalance.
The chapter on black history was good and led to a discussion about the slave trade, the development in the 19th century of a pseudoscience of racism, and the ways in which groups are deliberately ‘dehumanised’ in order to allow exploitation, discrimination, mistreatment or justify war. We looked at how the definitions and categories of racism have changed over time and place.
We discussed the powerful role of the media and culture in shaping and supporting racist ideology but noted that this reflects the structures of power in our society. Living in a small, predominantly white town whiteness is easily seen as the norm and we need to make more visible the diversity of backgrounds that we already have in order to challenge that assumption. We discussed the section on feminism, racism in the women’s liberation movement (several of us are watching Mrs America) and the issue of intersectionality of different oppressions.
Being white and looking at racism from the position of privilege is uncomfortable but inaction is collusion. She puts it to white people to talk to each other and take action. We discussed experiences of interrupting racist comments and the Quaker response ‘I wouldn’t see it that way myself’. Change needs to happen in tandem between personal change together with social and institutional changes. Other suggestions from the group were – be friendly to counteract the hostility of white racism, get comfortable acknowledging mistakes.
22 Monday Jun 2020
Posted Uncategorized
inWe are delighted to welcome Peter Macfadyen, author of the renowned book Flatpack Democracy (and 2!).
Starting in the Somerset town of Frome in 2013, the Flatpack Democracy movement has shown that by standing as a group of independent local councillors working closely together, people all over the country can and do steer their local councils to thrive and prosper. Flatpack Democracy is a practical guide and inspiration!
Join us on Thursday, 2 July 2020 from 19:30-21:30, using the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83256460019?pwd=ZC9ab0FiVTlvdHFvVkhWb3phK3duUT09
Feel free to invite your friends, too!
For further reading in the meantime, click here: https://www.flatpackdemocracy.co.uk/about/