Look to future

By Casey Neill
SELBY will host a community conversation on the hills’ social and environmental future this weekend.
The event at Selby Hall on 20 March will be the first in a series.
One of the organisers, Steven Jeffery, said they hoped to kick start community discussion on where the hills were heading, environmentally and socially.
“The idea behind community conversations is to get people engaged in thinking actively about how we might face problems like peak oil or climate change as a community,” he said.
The day will feature community sustainability trivia with prizes and group workshops on local food production, transport and ‘what does community resilience mean?’.
“The outcome of this exercise ought to be groups of people coming together to start some practical projects to build a more resilient community,” Mr Jeffery said.
“In a world of finite resources it is important that we consider the future that we want and how we might achieve it.”
The event is one outcome of the Transition Towns movement in the hills.
A Transition Town starts when people form a group to respond to peak oil and climate change. They then set out to engage people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative.
This is a community working together to increase resilience to the effects of peak oil and reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change.
The event will run from 9.30am to 3pm at Selby Hall, corner Belgrave-Gembrook and Selby-Aura roads.
Entry is $6. Participants are asked to bring a plate to share and can exchange a preloved item or produce at the swap shop. Bookings are essential.
Readers can call Kristy Henderson on 9755 2990 for more information or to get involved.