Thursday July 9th  'The Psychology of Place Making'

HCC Reception Lounge, Garden Place, Hamilton
RSVP to mayor@hcc.govt.nz or 07 838 6976
5.00pm: Drinks & nibbles for 20-30mins prior to presentation commencing 5.30pm: 1 hour presentation followed by 20-30mins of questions

David Engwicht is author of four books on transport and urban design, his latest being Mental Speed Bumps: the smarter way to tame traffic. David is perhaps best known as the inventor of the Walking School Bus which has been adopted world-wide. He is considered one of the world's most innovative thinkers about cities, traffic, urban design, community development and place making. David is a writer, sculptor and street philosopher.

It is with great pleasure that we bring David direct to Hamilton to speak about his experiences as Place Maker for Wodonga, a rural city in Victoria, Australia where he was charged with turning a run down main street into the vibrant heart of the city. David will share his unique and ground-breaking approach which integrated urban psychology, social programs, economic development and urban design. He will argue that many urban revitalisation programs fail because they do not take into account urban psychology. He will also discuss the design principles of shared space and some of the common pitfalls.

This is an open invitation, please invite any of your colleagues that may be interested in David's presentation.

Friday 10th July 2009

“Carbon Farming” seminar
Environment Waikato, In conjunction with SSF, Carbon Farming Group and PA Handford & Associates Ltd,
1.00 – 3.00 pm
Environment Waikato (401 Grey St, Hamilton East)

 Information areas covered in the seminar include:
• New Zealand’s response to Climate Change
• Soil Carbon
• Carbon Trading in practice
• Carbon Forest Management
• Voluntary Carbon Market
• Practical implications – case studies
• Greenhouse Gasses – the rules
• Greenhouse Gasses and Farming Livestock

Presented by John-Paul Praat of PA Handford and Associates Ltd

• Seminar will provide an initial understanding of opportunities and issues involved in Carbon Farming

• Information sheets will be available at the seminar

 Afternoon Tea will follow
RSVP essential by Wednesday 8th July to Kasey Hilton or Therese Balvert on 0800 800 401

Have your say!

 International negotiations to address climate change are reaching a critical point, leading up to a major United Nations conference in Copenhagen late this year. The New Zealand Government is working actively to secure an effective global agreement.

 As part of these efforts, we intend to publicly state New Zealand’s 2020 emissions target policy in August. We wish to hear your views so they can be taken into account when setting New Zealand's 2020 emissions target policy. To assist in that process, the Minister for Climate Change Issues the Hon Dr Nick Smith is holding a series of public meetings around the country this month.

 You can have your say on New Zealand’s 2020 emissions target policy by:

· attending one of the meetings being held around the country - Hamilton, Waikato Room, Sky City Hamilton, Monday 13th July, 7.30 - 9pm

· submitting questions for the Minister for Climate Change Issues’ online video conference to be held from 7.30pm on Monday 20 July at www.r2.co.nz/20090720. Questions can be submitted in advance at 2020target@mfe.govt.nz

· emailing or writing to the Minister with your views at nick.smith@ministers.govt.nz or Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for Climate Change Issues, PO Box 10362, WELLINGTON 6143.

We are producing an information brochure to help you understand the challenges associated with setting a 2020 emissions target. A link to the brochure will be emailed to you in the next few days.

Get in quick! Act now!
To help us gauge numbers coming to the public meetings, please register your interest at the following link:

 http://www.climatechange.govt.nz/survey/x09nz2020register.htm

 Please forward this email onto anyone you think will be interested.

Green Drinks 5:30pm Friday July 3 is brought to you by the Green Building Network Waikato and will be hosted by WEL Networks at their new Greenstar 4 building: 114 Maui St, Cnr Maui St and Chanan Pl.

Brendon Moloney, Customer Relations Manager at WEL Networks, will be there to greet us and show us around.

Basic directions are - head up Te Rapa straight, go passed the Base and turn right into Church Rd and left into Maui St. Give carpooling a go!

As usual, please bring a bottle of something to share and a gold coin to cover nibbles.

Forward this message on through your networks. The more the merrier!

Contact Megan Edmeades on 021 414 529 or email greenme@xtra.co.nz

Thursday July 9, 2007,  Chartwell Room,  Hamilton Gardens. 

6.45pm Live Music

7.30pm Presentation

Godwits with the world authority Keith Woodley from Miranda.  Live music by Dave Calder, Hamilton County Bluegrass Band.

This a Forest and Bird event. Phone Jon 07 8558852 for more details.

Free bus gully trip to Hakarimata Ranges this Saturday phone 8585209 before Saturday to register and secure a seat on the bus  
Saturday        30-May  1.30 pm Bus  to field trip      Tour of the Hakarimata Ranges with Wayne Bennett        The walk looks at a gully system in the Hakarimata ranges and shows original natural vegetation of a gully site, showing what Hamilton’s gullies may once have looked like.     3 hrs   Uni Management School Carpark 

The next Waikato Biodiversity Forum is to be held on Monday 29 June 2009 from 9am-3.20pm in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Q block, Wintec, Avalon Drive, Hamilton

 Directions:-Travel along Avalon Drive to the Wintec Avalon Campus entrance gate, after entering the gate veer right towards the large carpark and park anywhere in this area.  Walk towards the building with a light aqua trim above large cream bricks. You can either cross the sports filed or walk towards the Trades building and follow the path left towards the Centre of Sport and Exercise Science.   Enter the Centre through the main reception area.

Key outcome: Discuss the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park project and develop solutions for maintaining the momentum of the project.

This Forum is an opportunity for you to:-

• have fun and share ideas with others who undertake conservation related work
• establish on-going partnerships/contacts for biodiversity restoration
• visit the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park and examine management issues of the site
• contribute to developing solutions for advancing the project
• publicise the project to the wider community
• highlight the projects of community groups in the area
• provide collective Forum expertise for the project
• take away ideas for your own restoration projects.

Presentations

• The Vision and context of the WNHP project locally and nationally
• Ecological restoration - succession planting
• Lake management
• Infrastructure development
• Workshops/discussion

Workshops

• Setting up a community nursery
• Funding options-achieving the business plan
• Education and publicity 
• Developing and maintaining community support

 
Contact Moira Cursey for more detail and registration  phone 07 8465066, mobile 027223791 or email m.cursey@xtra.co.nz

Reform in paradise: threat or opportunity? is being held at the SKYCITY Convention Centre, Auckland, on 8-9 June 2009.

This national summit will critically examine the Government's environmental reform agenda and is the place to be if you want to understand the proposed changes and influence the outcomes.

Issues being examined include proposals to do away with regional councils, the potential roles of the new EPA and the merits of establishing a Coastal Commission. Other potential reforms which will be debated include the removal of metropolitan urban limits, a separate legislative regime for aquaculture and the introduction of water and nutrient trading. The conference will also consider what should be included in the next round of amendments to the RMA and related legislation.

The conference has been endorsed by the Minister for the Environment, Hon Dr Nick Smith and is being supported by the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and a range of other sponsors. This year it is being organised by EDS in partnership with the Ecologic Foundation and the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development.

To register and to review the programme, go to http://www.edsconference.com/