Info, news & debate
Personal development
What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé?
There’s an approach to life that sees craft jobs, or smallholding and food production, including baking, brewing and beekeeping, as well as any kind of job that involves manual work and dexterity as somehow retrograde and passé, and that ‘work’ now means mainly putting on a suit and travelling to an office to do something-or-other …
New found freedom: WWOOFing as a digital nomad
Are you a remote worker dreaming of pastures new? WWOOFer Imogen shares how her experience of WWOOFing as a digital nomad enabled her to combine making a living with meaningful volunteering.
Help Lowimpact.org become a wiki, to provide more (and more relevant) information for visitors
We’ve been liaising with Simon Grant, of the P2P Foundation Wiki, and making plans for turning Lowimpact.org into a wiki. We already have a network of specialists who provide information for our topics and respond to visitors’ queries. We want to expand this network, as well as the number of topics we cover.
Are power hierarchies inevitable in human society?
Just to be clear, I’m only talking about institutional, power hierarchies here, not hierarchies based on beauty, knowledge, intelligence, ability, respect etc. Those hierarchies are inevitable, of course, and life would probably be quite boring without them.
Creating a national network of social care co-ops: Graham Mitchell of Co-operative Care Colne Valley
Today I’m talking with Graham Mitchell, of Co-operative Care Colne Valley. He’s part of a group starting a social care co-op in the Colne Valley, West Yorkshire, and they’re also building a toolkit / step-by-step guide for people to start a social care coop in their own community. I’m interested in how this toolkit can …
Why we need social care co-ops: Graham Mitchell of Co-operative Care Colne Valley
Today I’m talking with Graham Mitchell, of Co-operative Care Colne Valley. He’s part of a group starting a social care co-op in the Colne Valley, West Yorkshire, and they’re also building a toolkit / step-by-step guide for people to start social care co-ops in their own community. I’m interested in how this toolkit can help …
Reflections on ‘Extinction: The Facts’ by Sir David Attenborough
Hailed as ‘essential viewing’, ‘painful’ and ‘terrifying’ by viewers, Sophie Paterson shares her reflections on the hard-hitting BBC documentary Extinction: The Facts.
What post-Covid communities could look like, if enough of us want it
Here’s a little story for anyone who’s noticed that things aren’t going too well in our communities. Small businesses are going under, unemployment is on the rise and money’s becoming scarce.
The upside of lockdown: WWOOFing in Shropshire
When the coronavirus crisis hit, Imogen Lacey was volunteering through WWOOF UK, living and working on a smallholding in exchange for accommodation, food and a wealth of learning opportunities. Here she shares her personal experiences of WWOOFing in Shropshire under lockdown.
Post-covid: ‘getting back to normal’ is suicidal – here’s the alternative
“For those who dream of a return to “normalcy”: normalcy was standing on the tracks watching an oncoming train & arguing about how fast it was going. Something just banged into us & sent us sprawling. It hurt. A lot. Now let’s get up, but NOT get back on the tracks again.” – David Graeber
Post-covid: ‘getting back to normal’ is not just a bad idea – it’s suicidal
There’s been a lot of talk about ‘thanking’ coronavirus for giving us the breathing space to re-evaluate, and for giving nature some breathing space too. This isn’t one of those articles. I don’t find it compassionate to thank a virus that’s killing thousands of people, and closing millions of small businesses, allowing Amazon to hoover …
Surviving the Future: an online course for our times
Our friend Shaun Chamberlin of Dark Optimism shares news of Surviving the Future: conversations for our time, an eight week online gathering which he will be co-facilitating on behalf of Sterling College, starting on Monday 6th April.
Coming together to build a new economy: Matthew Slater, barefoot economist and Credit Commons co-designer, Part 2
In part 1 I described why a resilient economy needs be to separate from the failing capitalist juggernaut and that we need to start by finding new economic partners from without the Market.
Starting from scratch: Matthew Slater, barefoot economist and Credit Commons co-designer, Part 1
Donald Trump recently derided Greta Thunberg and everyone pleading with government to heed environmental science as ‘doomsayers’. The more imminent peak oil or environmental collapse appear, the more intransigent our political system seems to be. Whatever the reasons for this, responsible citizens can only accomplish so much while the political and economic winds are blowing …
11 days left to support a collaborative new online ethical lifestyle toolkit
We hear from our friends at the Permaculture Association about a new ethical lifestyle toolkit in the making alongside Ethical Consumer, and how you can help make it a reality by supporting their Crowdfunder campaign ahead of 26 January. We’re particularly excited about this one! It’s over to Jemma to tell us more…
Fancy joining the Pentiddy Woods family on an immersive 9 month internship?
Here’s your chance! We hear from Ele and Anthony at Pentiddy Woods about a unique learning opportunity on offer from October 2019.
Hartwyn free natural building course: 2019 applications now open
We hear from Joe Duirwyn of Hartwyn about a fantastic free natural building learning opportunity running from June to September 2019.
Free online course: Toward Co-operative Common Wealth MOOC
Calling all activists, practitioners and policy-makers! We share news of a masterclass in movement building in the form of a massive open online course (MOOC) starting on 25th March 2019.
A guide to WWOOFing: 10 top tips from Scarlett Penn of WWOOF UK
Anybody considering going on a WWOOFing adventure for the first time will benefit enormously from these 10 tips compiled by Scarlett Penn of WWOOF UK.
Free learning with a Wholewoods community build camp in 2019
Wholewoods are continuing their fantastic work, offering volunteers on-site learning on a 2019 build camp to construct a roundhouse for OrganicLea. Adrian Leaman has all the details of how to get involved below.