ECONOMY TRANSITION

Heart shape created by Vintage Machinery at Soar, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the legislation which created National Parks and AONBs. Picture from BBC Spotlight.

AONB look to celebrate 60th

IN August this year South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be celebrating their 60th anniversary. The unit are delighted after securing support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards its Celebrating South Devon @60 programme. The South Devon AONB is a special designation denoting the stunning natural beauty and distinctive landscape of the area; it covers 130 square miles (337 square kilometres) of coastline, estuaries, and countryside, and was designated as protected landscape in August 1960. The Celebrating South Devon @60 campaign funding was made possible by money raised by National Lottery players and will see the AONB wide ranging and plans to raise their profile as one of Britain’s finest protected landscapes via a programme planned from August 2020 to July 2021. Celebrating South Devon @60 will look at life in the past, present and into the future. Elements will include: l Living here in the past – a series of mini-projects looking at specific events which have had an impact on our landscape. l Living and working here now - a programme of visits, walks and talks, led by local people, about farming, fishing, boats and waterways, holidays and food in the AONB. l Living here in the future - A filmed, targeted, participative consultation with a range of groups, exploring what they think the AONB will look like in the future.

Cows coming in to milk near the Coast Path Holbeton The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Stuart, McLeod Director, London & South said: “We are delighted to help mark and celebrate this important anniversary. The AONB is a designated exceptional landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are precious enough to be safeguarded in the national interest.”

Guided heritage walk near Start Point Roger English, Manager of the South Devon AONB Unit commented: “AONBs are protected and enhanced for nature, people, business and culture. We want this celebratory year to involve as many individuals, communities, and businesses across the AONB marking its significance and promoting its wellbeing for now and the future.” Part of the programme will feature a 60@60 walking challenge to raise funds for Young Carers to have days out enjoying a variety of activities from surfing and canoeing to foraging and photography, in partnership with the South West Coast Path The official launch of the programme takes place on Monday August 3 with representatives from the AONB Partnership and South West Coast Path team walking a stretch of the 60 miles of South West Coast Path in the AONB from Broadsands to Berry Head. l The programme may be modified depending on Covid 19 guidelines at the time.

This Pandemic brings new possibilities for economic transition

JAY TOMPT, manager of the REconomy Centre in Totnes, sets out a pathway to a new climate economy, and plots a route to a new economic transition.

MANY people don’t want l Regional Transition Enterprise to go ‘back to normal’ Ecosystem Fund to accelerate the but want to go forward to development of bioregionallysomething better. This is obvious appropriate economies. It could by now. The economy crashed but fund 10,000 co-working and what many notice is bird song, incubation spaces across the clean air, simpler patterns of life. country; entrepreneurial training Citizens also notice the billions of pounds the government suddenly conjured up. There’s always been plenty of money for things like programmes,startups and young companies, networks, ‘fab labs’, research and ‘enabler’ organisations. healthcare, education, housing, l Farming Regeneration energy transformation, it’s just that Programme to increase adoption there’s been a lack of leadership, of ‘agro-ecological’ methods, honesty and justice. Now we producing more of our food know addressing climate and domestically in ways that build soil, ecological crises is possible and ecosystem health and food security. affordable. Might this bring new And attract new farmers, too. political expectations backed by a greater willingness across all parts of society to act; to hold those in power accountable or depose them? The government is acting to save business as usual, with bailouts for banks and big business. Action on the climate and ecological crisis remains in the background. We’re facing, perhaps, another Great Depression and wise government spending is the obvious remedy. Some conservatives are poised to reimpose austerity. But calls for a ‘green new deal’ and #buildbackbetter are rising and getting louder. The Totnes REconomy Project has tried to be a catalyst for fair, ecological and resilient economic transition. The importance of these goals has become crystal clear during this crisis. Maybe now there’s a chance to realise them. What might an ambitious, inspiring, transformative ‘Local New Deal’ response look like from this point of view? Economic Transition and Resilience Programme – Our economy must l NHS Resilient Provisioning Network would create a robust and resilient supplier ecosystem for essential goods and services for the NHS, social/ green/cooperative enterprises able to produce a range of goods and services, as well as being flexible, adaptable, mutually supportive. These practical programmes would help us meet the imperative delivered by the IPCC 1.5° report to reduce emissions 45% 2030. And they would build the foundation for long term economic resilience and prosperity. Clearly, more needs to be done - a just overhaul of the tax system, reforming the planning system, reappropriating land from aristocratic and royal families, and so on. These and other sensible proposals for economic transformation won’t become part of the national political discourse without the backing of a strong, credible movement. What we learned in the last election is that the party political system is, well, unreliable. This pandemic brings a rare opportunity. It requires citizen action and energy to grasp it. change to meet everyone’s needs, dramatically shrink our ecological footprint, and increase resilience. This requires more local and bioregionally appropriate methods, more local and regionally-based ownership and accountability. This programme must be ambitious – like the climate economy version of ‘the Moonshot’, perhaps. It would include: l Regional Mutual Bank Network. There are a small number of startup banks of this kind, such as the South West Mutual. These banks would be essential financial services providers to a vibrant and growing relocalised and resilient economic system. Let’s fund 100 such banks across the country.