One response to the global crisis that is gaining enthusiastic momentum in Tucson and around the world is the Transition Towns movement. Sustainable Tucson is taking advantage of many Transition Resources to support our Sustainability Planning Initiative.
Jennifer Gray, a pioneer in the Transition Initiative in the UK and cofounder of Transition US, describes it as [...]

[ Saturday, February 14, 2009; 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] Neighborhood Water Harvesting Workshop

Time: Saturday, February 14, 8am-12pm
Location: Rincon Heights Neighborhood (6th street & Campbell Ave. area), details given upon registration
Watershed Management Group (watershedmg.org) is hosting a workshop on Saturday, February 14 from 8am to 12pm  in the Rincon Heights neighborhood (6th St./Campbell area).  At this free workshop you’ll gain hands-on experience installing simple landscape [...]

(Originally published by The Tucson Weekly,  January 20, 2009)
End of empire, Beginning of struggle
by Bob Cook, Core Team member of Sustainable Tucson
The era of American empire has collapsed with the exiting of President George W. Bush, and the age of struggle for sustainability has begun with the “clean” presidential election of Barack Obama.
Bush presided over [...]

JANUARY General meeting — Organizing questions:
How can we get past the barriers that keep groups separated?
What needs to happen to create cooperation and inspiration instead of divisiveness and perhaps violence?
How do we shift our thinking to value relationships and peace and quiet over acquiring stuff and consuming stuff?
What can we do to recreate a more [...]

JANUARY Meeting –Organizing questions:
How large a population can Tucson/Pima County support in a sustainable manner, providing our needs from local capacity? (e.i., without importing energy, water, food, and other resources from outside the region)
Do we have a good database model of resources in and out of Tucson?
What is sustainability for a community? Is it self-sufficiency?
Where [...]

JANUARY General meeting — Organizing questions:
1) How do we get one million-plus people to be aware and participate?
2) How can we raise awareness in Tucson? (Most people need to hear about Peak Oil and climate change and ways to help adapt their lifestyles to one that is not dependent on oil.)
3) How can we accelerate [...]

JANUARY General meeting – Organizing Questions:
Policy issues – what can be done? What can be done to speed progress – change of policy & zoning? Education and marketing(?) from government. Why is this not utilized in Tucson, Pima Co.? effective tool.
Sustain. Public Participation – full engagement. Vision for region. [...]

Organizing Questions:
Language of business
How can our economy become more localized, so local needs are met through local jobs, networks, resources (sunshine) and community?
What is keeping the Sustainability advocates in Tucson from being able to reach out to the business community who could be such a forceful partner in community sustainability as it is in so [...]

JANUARY General Meeting — Organizing Questions:
Historic Preservation, beauty, eliminate more mcMansions, shelter to be elegant, simple, beautiful, sustainable. Vegetable Gardening in schools. Food production water(?). Block parties – getting to know your neighbors.
How can we get zoning changes to allow neighborhood shops in residential areas. More bikeways. More pedestrian walkways. [...]

JANUARY General meeting – Organizing Questions:
How do we encourage water harvesting?
How can we help people use less water?
What can Tucson do to save the 12″ rainwater for Tucson to use?
Is it feasible to collect more rainwater runoff on a large scale during monsoon?
How will Tucson provide water to a population that exceeds its resources (i.e. [...]

JANUARY Organizing Questions & Notes:
* How do we coordinate cooperation and support between people and groups involved in local small scale food production?
* Is it possible to have rainwater harvesting on every home in Tucson? Are community gardens in the future?
* How can we get fast food places to use recyclable containers?
What plants make sense [...]

January Meeting:  Organizing Questions:
I would like to see a Rapid Transit Magnetic Train between Tucson and Phoenix
How can we get a fast train between Tucson and Phoenix?
How can we as the residents and citizens of Tucson shift to a predominately car-free culture? Car free city = Uban spce absent of personal motorized petroleum-consuming vehicles.
How [...]

[ Saturday, February 7, 2009; ] For immediate release
Contact: Dennis Dickerson, (520) 792-1093
Volunteers needed to help remove buffelgrass
from parks, public land across the region on Feb. 7

Beat Back Buffelgrass Day is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7. The second annual volunteer
event, coordinated by Pima Association of Governments, will be held across the region. Last
year, over 200 volunteers removed more than 4,000 buffelgrass [...]

[ Saturday, January 24, 2009; 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Thursday, February 5, 2009; 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Watershed Management Group (WMG), a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization based in Tucson, AZ will be hosting two open houses for individuals interested in learning more about the organization and volunteer opportunities. The Executive Director as well as members of the Board of Directors will speak about the mission and activities of Watershed Management Group. As WMG [...]

[ Saturday, December 13, 2008; 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. Sunday, January 11, 2009; 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. ] Get Outside!
with Ironwood Tree Experience
www.ironwoodtreeexperience.org

RECRUITING KIDS AGES 12-14
for the JANUARY 2009 GET OUTSIDE! ECO- PROGRAM

~Inspirational eco-experiences activate kids’ body, mind, and spirit~
~kids hike, camp, explore nature, & learn primitive skills~
~Kids experience unique day trips to inspirational natural areas throughout the Tucson Basin~

Tucson Mountains – Santa Rita Mountains
Santa Catalina Mountains – Cienega Creek-Empire Grasslands

Kids research and [...]

[ Saturday, January 10, 2009; 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. ] Watershed Management Group (watershedmg.org) is hosting a workshop in the Rincon Heights neighborhood (near 6th St./Campbell Ave.). As part of WMG’s and Rincon Heights’ model program to improve water quality in urban neighborhoods, we’ll be shaping basins and swales, laying rockwork and gravel, and planting native vegetation. This workshop will be of particular interest to [...]