SLA

The Wilderness Society has a strong history in Armidale, from the days when the Armidale Branch was an open Environmental Centre with a Wilderness Society shop for community members, activists and campaigners – united by our shared love for the unique value of nature.

• Where: Armidale Town Hall
• When: Tuesday May 28th
• Time: 12:30 – 7:30pm
• Cost: FREE!

Lunch and a light super will be provided

This event celebrates you, the history of the Wilderness Society in Armidale and its local community.

We encourage you to come along meet and connect with each other, share your stories and meet the NSW Campaign team. We’d love to update you on The Wilderness Society and celebrate the historic decision by Woodside to pull out of the destructive gas hub project planned for James Price Point in the Kimberley.

Come for lunch from 12:30pm or supper from 5:30pm on wards or whenever you can throughout the day. More details about the program to come!

Food will be provided as a thank you for your support over the years either as an active participant in winning historic campaigns like Guy Fawkes and the Werrikimbe Wilderness area to your kind donations and other campaign in principle support.

Please RSVP to Emma Wasson on 02 9282 9553 or at emma.wasson@wildderness.org.au by May 22

Australia’s 140,000 farms; many of them small-medium, family owned businesses, are a vital part of our teleworking future, both on and off farm. Farm-to-customer retail, remote on farm product support, tele-veterinary and tele-agronomic support, remote diagnostics, assisted living, tele-health and education are but a few of the exciting possibilities available to an emerging smart services sector. Farms are a rich source of environmental data, for both farm managers and their external advisors, and also for those involved in the health of our landscapes, emergency management and utility management. Add to these opportunities in crowd sourcing and ‘citizen science’ and technologists working on the latest in ICT and sensors. We also face challenges and opportunities around how we manage data and information within and between stakeholder and client groups; how we store and secure it, derive value-add products from it and exchange it. Finally, of course, none of this will ever fly unless it stacks up economically.

Digital Rural Futures 2013 (Smart Farms – Smart Regions) is a national forum aimed at raising awareness of, and promoting discussion around these challenges and opportunities.

With 12 keynote speakers and 58 breakout and poster presentations, the conference offers the chance to interact with some of Australia’s most innovative business leaders, academics and regional development organisations, as well as farmers and farmer peak bodies, to set the scene and increase general awareness across a range of challenges and opportunities.

This inaugural, 3-day conference will be held at the University of New England, located in Armidale NSW, home of the NBN and will focus on four themes :

• Smart technology,
• Data and information management,
• Smart services and decision support systems,
• Smart Farms, education, extension and outreach

Website: www.une.edu.au/smart   Registrations close Monday 3rd June

Just who are the people on SLACC (SLA Coordinating Committee) and where do you get to meet them?
If you’d like to find out over an informal meal, or just a drink, come and join us after our next monthly meeting (or come to that, too!).  The next meeting is on Tuesday May 28th at 6pm at the SNELC office in East Mall (above the Colour Copy Centre).

After the meeting, at 7.30pm, we’ll go to the Royal Hotel (corner of Marsh and Beardy). Partners/friends are welcome. It will make it easier at the pub if you let us know you’re coming info@slaati.org, but you can just turn up.

Right now the Coordinating Committee is made up of the three elected positions: Iain MacKay (Convenor), Robyn Newberry (Treasurer) and Bar Finch (Secretary), plus a representative from each of the action groups:

Armidale Local Food – Ray South

Community Garden – Jo Leoni

Transport – Tom Fisher

Energy – Patsy Asch

Action on Coal Seam Gas – Jan Brahe

Heart & Soul – Cathie Lamont

ArmLETS – Angela Symonds

Our committee meetings are open to all, and we welcome input and feedback, either in person or via <info@slaati.org>.

A decentralised organization like SLA is at its best when people get involved in the aspects that excite and interest them, and indeed our action groups engage with lots of members and friends. Here’s a chance to get to meet together across the action groups.

There will be a ‘Meet the Author’ event with Tim Marshall at the Town Library, Monday 20th May, 5:15pm.

Tim is a pioneer of organic certification. He was a founder of the first Australian organic certifier (NASAA) and the first Standards & Certification Manager of the worldwide peak body of the organic industry (IFOAM). He started Acres Australia: the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture in 1988, and continues to write for that publication. He also writes for ABC Organic Gardener, ABC Gardening Australia, Bud Organic Magazine, and many others.

Peter Cundall says “Tim Marshall has long been a legend in Australia as an outstanding communicator, writer and broadcaster, specialising in organic techniques”

Amongst his publications are The New Organic Gardener and Composting: the ultimate organic guide to recycling your garden.

Introduction to Taketina Rhythm Workshop in Armidale
A process  promoting connection to rhythm, stillness & meditation.
Friday 17th May 7pm – 9.30pm
continuing on Saturday 18th May 10.30 -6pm

At Magwick Hall – Universtiy of Armidale Full weekend-$120/$90 Friday only $25/20/15 UNE Students contact Catherine {mobile prefix oh four}51375056 bookings www.newworldrhythm.com

By: Catherine Higgins

Sustainable Namoi Living is presenting 3 workshops in Tamworth this Saturday 18th May, 9am-4pm

Lifeline Centre, 63 Denne St, West Tamworth, bookings essential by Wednesday 15th May

Workshop 1 (2½ hrs) Building Living Soils with Tim Marshall

open heap composting – closed bin composting – worm farms 

Tim is the author of the best selling compost book: Compost: the ultimate organic guide to recycling your garden

(plus 3 other books: Weed, Bug and The New Organic Gardener)

Peter Cundall says “Tim Marshall has long been a legend in Australia as an outstanding communicator, writer and broadcaster, specialising in organic techniques”

Workshop 2 Container gardening with recycled materials (1 hour)

Get the kids involved, purchase your favourite container from our Lifeline selection, organic soil and locally grown, in-season seedlings. You’ll go home with a whole new garden! 

Workshop 3 Harvest your garden bounty (1 hour)

Learn how to preserve food quickly when your garden has produced a bumper crop. Try a taste sensation!

$15 per person includes all 3 workshops, lunch and morning and afternoon teas

Places are limited so bookings are essential by no later than Wednesday 15th May 

email contact: tamworth.community.garden@gmail.com

ph Lee 0417 857 468  or Hether 0402 071 114

Thanks heaps to all who helped make our Community Garden fundraiser last Sunday such a success; Rowan and his team from Neram Harvest did an awesome job, and behind the scenes the Goldfish Bowl made a huge contribution; Ultimate BBQ produced some delicious food with their Argentinian lamb asado, and we even got a chance to try some beer from our very own local brewery, New England Brewing Co. Thanks too to The Kitchen Band for their great music, and to all the people who brought along the fabulous array of desserts. Finally, and most of all, thanks to everyone who turned up and took part in the event and helped raise money for the garden, we’ll make sure we put it to good use!

UNE Landcare is undertaking another tree planting on Sunday 12^th May at Sport UNE.  The area we will be planting is north of the creek right next to the Sport UNE playing fields.  Other than vehicles with trailers you will have to park your car in the Sport UNE car park and walk over the playing fields to access this site.  For details of the working bee please see below:-

• Time:                     9am (if I can get AURG people there at 8.30am to help set up and start drilling holes etc that would be great thanks.)
• Date:                     Sunday 12^th May 2013
• Location:              Sport UNE playing fields. Park at the Sport UNE car park and walk over the playing fields!
• What to bring:   BYO long sleeved shirt, long pants and sturdy boots.  Please also bring gloves, trowel to plant trees, broad brim hat and sunscreen.

A morning tea and lunch will be provided for a gold coin donation.

I hope to see you all there!

Kind regards