Urban Heat 2nd October '15: our third Tooting workshop on community-led approaches to urban heatwaves

Today we hosted the third workshop in the Urban Heat research project. This is an 18-month research process into community-led responses to urban heatwaves, with a particular focus on the local impact on vulnerable people. The research is led by the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster, with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
For the details of the wider project, please see our short posts on the two previous workshops in June and July. TTT has been inviting and convening local groups to take part, and hosting the events.

Today's workshops saw diverse Tooting community organisations meet a group representing the strategic and borough-wide institutions who have a mandate to act on heatwaves alongside many other priorites.
This was not intended to be adversarial...! The purpose was to bring together key players who respond at different local and city 'levels' to heatwaves, all in the interest of local people's wellbeing and health.

The community groups summed up their ideas and proposals identified so far, and these were grouped into three themes:

• Bridging and making connections
• Communications and awareness
• Resources and infrastucture

Everyone present discussed each theme in detail - so we can all understand, anticipate and respond to the impact of urban heatwaves, together. There was a lot to talk about!
The research team will be summing up points made and actions proposed. This is 'action research' - it is up to us all locally to decide which of these ideas are most valuable and can be put into practice, while the researchers continue with the next steps of the project.
We'll keep you informed.

Represented today were: Age UK (Wandsworth), Be Enriched, Emergency Planning at St George's Hospital Trust, Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, Housing Strategy & Development at London Borough of Wandsworth, Neighbourhood Network SW17, Public Health at London Borough of Wandsworth, Thinking Works and Transition Town Tooting. Thank you all!

Growing, jenga, community energy and wellbeing at St George's Community Open Day, 15th Nov.

Thanks so much to St George's Healthcare NHS Trust for the invitation to have a stand at the Open Day last Saturday - our third year running.
And thanks to all who came to talk, share ideas, participate in the games for all ages, and sign up to our email lists to keep in contact. 

We chose three areas of what we do locally to share with visitors:

• The Tooting Community Garden
• Sustainable living and wellbeing games
• Our sister project, the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone

Some high points included:
 
Playing with the planet: 
plotting the sources of common foods on the world map

Giant jenga, with green living tips

There were twelve volunteers on the varied activities through the day, and there was a lot of preparation...

Sometimes action takes over

...the most valuable aspect of the day was having the time to talk to visitors about plans and ideas.

Making drinks carton wallets

Rhubarb on the St George's Allotment

Doing the day together as a team was also special.








TTT and the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone have some great events happening in the next month - see our Events Calendar on the top right of this blog homepage.  

All welcome!


  

Plus: we are discussing future projects with St George's. 
We'll share news soon..

'Growing Tooting' - the third theme for our stand at St George's tomorrow

We're keen to help more people - individuals, families, groups and clubs, enterprises - grow healthy local food in Tooting. Come and have a chat on Saturday at our stand at St George's about how we might do this together.

We'll be on the 1st floor in the Lanesborough Wing, in the Ingredients Restaurant.

We are so lucky to have the Tooting Community Garden, where we have enjoyable sessions every Sunday.

We also want to reach out to more people:

• who can't get to the garden on a Sunday, 
• or who would like to start their own growing space, 
• or who have a garden and would like some ideas and advice, 
• or who grow on a balcony and window box and want to be successful  'vertical gardeners'
• and others...

 ...and including coming to join us at the Community Garden on Sundays, special project days, or at the Open Day in June..

We're calling this 9-month project 'Growing Tooting'




Between now and the Foodival in September '15, we'll offer and arrange guidance and workshops on many aspects of growing.

• We'll encourage people to volunteer and get involved with others locally to look at many practical aspects of successful growing
• We'll get to grips with Tooting's soil and conditions, with home composting and waste reduction, with choosing what and when to grow and harvest, plus sharing recipes and cooking - maybe cooking together outdoors over the summer.

We're not replacing the Community Garden - we want to widen the impact of what we are all trying to achieve in there.

We hope there will be more gardens flourishing in Tooting after these next months - we have some contacts already who have space and potential energy. If you come and chat at St George's tomorrow, we'll ask if you have some ideas for locations and groups who would like to garden and grow.

A successful Foodival will be a great milestone for the project as for the past seven years it has always drawn together many aspects of community growing - gardening and plants, social contacts and relationships, ideas and surprising achievements, enjoyment, fun and teamwork.

There are many diverse growing skills that we can share in Tooting!

Green living & games: a second theme for our St George's Open Day Stand

A theme we'll be looking at with our stand in the hospital at St George's all day on Nov 15th is green living, with games and activities to explore home and personal sustainability. Living green is a practical response at family and community level to global climate change.

Professor Chris Rapley's play / lecture called 2071 'explores the future of life on earth and climate change' this week at the Royal Court Theatre. Some of us from TTT saw the play today, and one of the conclusions is simple and powerful:

1. Global population will probably stabilise - say at c9.5 billion
2. That population will need energy
3. That energy must be carbon-free for us to have a successful future

Blunt words.
Getting rid of 'carbon' in energy and production is not the only key to being sustainable and happy...but it's a core step. TTT have found the practical focus on everyday carbon reduction has been successful in the series of Carbon Conversations meetings we've offered locally since 2011. To see a recent run through of our 2014 series in six blog posts, click here - and we will be happy to talk about the meetings with visitors on Saturday.

What about games?

We know playing games is a simple (and sophisticated) way of understanding a new subject or rehearsing larger-scale challenges.

 
In Carbon Conversations, there are a lot of games - for example on our choices in managing home energy, and on travel options, and on 'where is the carbon in the food we use?'


Come along on Saturday and we guarantee you will enjoy our games for all ages: Giant Green Living Jenga, Food Mapping, Food Footprints, and making a Drinks Carton Wallet.

We've been making these wallets in Tooting since 2010 (last seen at the 2014 Foodival, where dozens were hidden around Tooting, each with a local chilli pepper and an invitation inside...).


Like to see a step-by step guide to make 
them at home?
1 First squash your carton, with a concertina fold in each side:
2 Fold into three and then....
  ...well, come along on Saturday and find out! 


We look forward to seeing you all day on Saturday 15th at St George's, and all ages are welcome to come and play.

Sustainable, Healthy and Resilient Tooting

We're hosting a TTT stand at St George's Community Open Day, this Saturday 15th Nov from 10:30 to 4pm. The event is held throughout the hospital and medical school . Do come and chat with us, and catch up with what we're doing - and we'd love to hear your ideas on what a more sustainable Tooting would look and feel like.  
We'll be upstairs on the first floor of the Lanesborough Wing, in the Ingredients Restaurant.

We're painting a new banner

We can talk about TTT plans, and about sustainable living, and about the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone. We'll have some fun on the stand too: we'll have games, activities, and things to make for all ages: so all are welcome.

We're doing three daily blog posts for the rest of this week to lead into the St George's Open Day, on three themes that make a green thread running through our activities:

1. Enjoying the outdoors in Tooting
2. Sustainable living and low-carbon games 
3. The 'Growing Tooting' project

Please read on as we explore these themes, and come and chat about them on Saturday.

Enjoying the Outdoors in Tooting - one theme for our St George's Open Day stand

Come and talk to us at our stand at St George's Community Open Day on Saturday 15th Nov. about opportunities to get outside in Tooting. Outdoor Tooting can be a surprising and rewarding place for all ages, and TTT want to encourage more young people and adults to get outside - for fun, to play, for exercise, to meet people, to learn - & more.

Four glimpses of our outdoor project with Gatton School:                                                      

This morning we hosted 70 
Year 4 children, staff and parents who were investigating what's living in six different Community Garden habitats - with the group braving showers and wind.




The end of today's session, under the holm oak.
Time to go home, and now the sun has come out.





Last week, in one of the weekly sessions with Reception children






 


A year ago, Year Six made a practice DIY drainpipe system to learn about getting water from the roof to the butts for the rainwater harvesting build project. 
It worked!


 

Back in September, just before the Tooting Foodival, teenagers from The Challenge project helped to harvest potatoes at the Garden, and much more. 
(The rainwater build now doubling as an outdoor room, nice...)


Adults are welcome outdoors! 
Another way to enjoy being outside is to try on of FanSHEN Theatre's Tootingwalks: two audio tours of Tooting that you can download to your mobile, and then walk the guided tour - or load on your computer to preview at home, like a radio programme. 
For all the details online, click here. 
Chat with us about the Tootingwalks if you come to St George's.

Or, get ideas with Project Wild Thing: click here for info. Adults or young people can be bold and pledge to spend an hour outside for every hour spent looking at a screen.....try it!

We're going to plan some Wild Days Out(doors) in Tooting in 2015, and also show the  'Project Wild Thing' film one evening - keep in touch, chat at St George's, and come and get involved.

'After the Foodival' open meeting 15th October

TTT Open Meeting Tuesday 15th October - looking forward at TTT and local activities to build on the energy of the Foodival

Please come along: we have a regular TTT meeting in the upstairs room at The Selkirk in Selkirk Road, SW17 0ES on Tuesday at 7pm. All are welcome. We'll aim to tap in to the energy raised by, and have a bit of a debrief from, the Foodival - and hear about ongoing opportunities to get involved with existing projects.

Maybe you have a project idea you'd like to develop with others?  

If so why not come along and share with the group?

This meeting will have a structured section as well as time to chat. 

Please contact us if you are interested in presenting at this meeting: email us here

Our latest TTT mail out to subscribers was sent on the 11th October: click here to read a copy.

No TTT post is complete without a photo: so here are 2 from yesterdays' plant printing session for families at Gatton School's Big Draw and Cultural Day - thanks for asking us!

Meanwhile TTT was also at yesterday's St George's Hospital Community Open Day, where we dished out a lot of Community Garden seeds and had some good conversations. 

And how about the medical students dance society?  They should have been on the stage at Foodival - maybe next year, they were great!