Plan for Larkhall - Energy Descent Action Planning

Energy Descent Action Plan – what is it, how does it relate to Larkhall and how do we create one?
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An Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) is a document that details the actions that a community needs to take in order to make the transition from an oil-dependent community to a more sustainable one that depends far less on oil and has a vastly reduced carbon footprint.

To state context briefly; Peak Oil having been reached, the prediction is that by 2021, the amount of oil that will be available to the world will have halved. Almost every aspect of our lives currently relies on the ready availability of cheap oil, and this is not something that can continue into the future.

The Energy Descent Action Plan looks at every aspect of community life as it is as present, where the cheapness and readily availability of oil underpins the way we lead every aspect of our lives and it firstly details the way we do things now. The strengths of the community and its vulnerabilities are set out for this particular aspect.
Secondly, for each aspect of community life, a vision is set out of how things might be in a future, more sustainable community. These visions of the future are a big part of the process, and various ways for envisioning a more sustainable community have been suggested.
Thirdly, a plan made up of practical actions that must be taken in order to achieve the more sustainable community is set out in the EDAP document against a realistic timeline.

For example, when considering Food in our community, we might note that most Larkhall residents buy food from Morrisons or Waitrose or Somerfield all of which has been transported from central depots by road. Since most work full time, they shop at the weekends. We might note that a strength in our community is the presence of Tony’s greengrocer which sells locally produced food, and the fact that as opposed to being an urban community we’re on the edge of town, and productive farmland is nearby. We might note that a vulnerability in the community is the four year long waiting list for allotments and the fact potential allotment space in Southbourne Avenue is the subject of a development battle.
A vision of the future might be one where residents eat locally grown food sold in Larkhall shops, with Somerfield also sourcing its food from local produce. At the local schools, school dinners are made up from 70% locally sourced ingredients. Allotment surplus is exchanged via a weekly grower’s market in Larkhall Square. Or something…
Steps to achieve this utopian state might be for TL to throw its weight behind that campaign to save Southbourne land for the allotments (no personal agenda here!). To set up the weekly grower’s market by forging links with the allotment association and getting more allotment holders on board and so on – I’ll leave the real details for someone other than myself as this is just an example.

This process needs to be carried out for all the aspects of Larkhall life that we feel we can affect on a local level.

Finally, via an ongoing process of engagement with the wider community and local authorities, the validity of the Plan is such a no-brainer that the local council adopts the EDAP as part of its policy. The council’s legislative weight, political clout and financial resources are set towards achieving the aims of the Plan.

The plan, which is necessarily flexible rather than something immutable to be followed even if parts of it become irrelevant, would be an excellent framework to guide our activities over the coming years. The research and consultation within the community that would be needed in order to create one would allow us to engage with the local community on a new level.

So why do we need one and how do we go about creating one?

I don’t feel qualified to say how we go about creating the plan, since this is the journey we’re all on and these things need to be designed by the whole group, but the Eat The Suburbs web site breaks down the process of EDAP creation into 5 parts and I’ll copy them into this doc for ease of access. You can find the whole document at :

http://www.eatthesuburbs.org/edap-primer/

1. Creation of the Plan involves research, auditing and consultation within the community, for example, Bryn’s suggestion of involving local schoolchildren in gathering data about how we live at the moment and John’s creation of the carbon footprint profile of Larkhall. This needs to take place alongside an education process about Peak Oil and also persuade people that adopting a more sustainable lifestyle needn’t mean accepting a less desirable way of living, We need to educate people in the benefits of a more sustainable lifestyle:
* Healthier food
* More active lifestyles
* Greater self-reliance
* A sense of connection to place and products
* The re-emergence of local identity
* An emphasis on quality over quantity
* A means of overcoming addictive behaviours such as over-consumption
* A meaningful common goal and sense of purpose.

This might involve film screenings, or presentations on Peak Oil in the local context, followed by facilitated sessions of feedback and ideas. Groups to approach might include the churches, industry groups such as health professionals, food workers, community workers, teachers, police, local shops The Rondo, etc, and any other interest groups we can think of, including of course, council. It should also include public events. This represents a large effort.

2) Research
Food mapping, researching wind flows, solar radiation, incomes, local skills, current energy mix and vulnerability, existing groups and their potential to aid organisation etc. etc. We need to audit the region as best we can, to figure out what skills and resources and opportunities are available and what are lacking. This step could happen simultaneously with step 1 and inform the consultation and education process. Creating a better sense of possibilities means inspiring as many projects as early as possible. So hopefully this is a dynamic process!

3) Community projects and having fun
Building on the ground projects, community exposure and trust. Finding fun ways of building skills and investing in the future. Like the permablitz concept, community gardens, community skills education, and where ever your interest or opportunities may lie. We should tie in with existing efforts and networks, and get inspired to start new ones. The EDAP might seem to be just a piece of paper, a plan. But the process of creating it must also a process for tying our efforts together, working on some publicly appreciated projects, testing our own abilities, and learning first hand what is possible. These are the practical projects which get people interested and inspired. They make this awkward acronym begin to filled with meaning. For the plan to have support there must be the base in reality and community support these projects lead to.

4) Producing the plan
Creating a visionary but grounded document condensing all the best of the feedback and our own, no doubt brilliant, ideas. Editing it into a cohesive whole.

5) Gaining council support
By this stage we should be unstoppable and any council which resists would be foolish indeed! But a strategic approach to gaining support would be well advised and we’re lucky that we are already forging good working relationship with BaNES, who are disposed to take Transition values seriously.

6) Implementation
An essential factor in whether or not we can have a relatively successful preparation and adaptation to Peak Oil, will be whether or not the community has a sense of excitement and agency in the process. How do we facilitate this exactly? Awards and prizes, continuing consultations, newsletters, inter-community activities such as permaculture backyard blitzes … really, I don’t know, but a lot of potential for creativity. The plan really doesn’t have to be followed step-by-step, its value is showing us that a prosperous post-peak community is possible. But it will be a reference point, and stimulus to a great many outcomes.

Some good references:

The original Energy Descent Action Plan drawn up by Transition Kinsale, as a template for future plans:

http://transitionculture.org/wp-content/uploads/KinsaleEnergyDescentActi...

An excellent article about what an EDAP is, why we should create one, and with loads of information about how to go about doing so, from which I have drawn heavily, nay copied wholesale in places:

http://www.eatthesuburbs.org/edap-primer/

Some streamed audio: Rob Hopkins and Sonya Wallace discussing some of the issues around forming an Energy Descent Action Plan.

http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/creating_an_energy_descent_action_plan