Caffi Caban in Brynrefail is part of a centre that was founded with sustainability values at its core. It was wonderful to be there on the 4th of February for GwyrddNi’s 3rd Dyffryn Peris Climate Cafe. The first was held in November at the Lone Tree Cafe and the second online at the beginning of December for COVID safety reasons.
Climate Cafes take place all over the world. They’re informal events. An opportunity to share opinions, listen to others and make new connections.
It was wonderful to see some returning visitors as well as new faces.
Over the two hours, with some coming and going as is the nature of these events, I enjoyed the company of Moira, Rhian, Gareth, Eve, Lindsey, Kerry, Ruth and Trystan. Some had seen the Facebook advertisement and others by word of mouth.
Here’s a summary of the inspiring conversation topics that we flowed through and ideas shared;
- Utopias Bach
- Local primary schools doing great work
- RSPB/NRW Nature Recovery Project (Natur am Byth) that Eve works with
- Cwm y Glo old primary school building becoming Menter Fachwen HQ
- Locavores (where can we buy locally grown food?)
- Gareth & Menter Fachwen ‘What if…..?’ guided walks envisioning alternative landscapes (which inspired a group activity)
- Could there be District Heating initiative for Brynrefail?
- Trystan’s energy sufficiency assessment and modeling
- Profiad Ni – peer-to-peer house visits to showcase domestic sustainability endeavours
- Sewing Club @ Caban every Tue AM
- Community Councillor Cari Jones’ great work in community building
- New builds, retrofitting and internal vs external wall insulation and novel materials
- 3km wide insect networks
- Early access expression of interest to take part in Climate Assemblies
Following on from Gareth’s tales of the ‘What if?’ walks where walkers were invited to envision the landscape if conditions were different, I invited everyone there to come up with their own ‘What if? Question in response to climate change.
These are the questions that were posed. Would you care to respond to any of these?
Before heading home, I got to visit Brynrefail’s allotments with Angharad Owen. Another excellent example of a community pulling together with a sustainability initiative.
I’m extremely grateful to everyone who attended for taking a chance on an event with little information, run by a relative stranger! I sincerely hope that they found as much enjoyment and hope there as I did.
The next Climate Cafe will be on the 4.3.22 at 10am at the Coffee Pot (Arts and Craft Centre) Llanberis