We've organised a film night and a general meeting. It's the first general meeting for the year so it would be great to start off with a big one.

By popular request, as the film night's main feature we'll be re-screening the acclaimed documentary "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil ".

The film traces events in Cuba following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s when Cuba lost access to Soviet oil.  Overnight, the country was plunged into crisis as the economy, which was largely dependent on fossil-fuel to run agriculture, had to initiate conversion to small, less energy-intensive organic and urban gardens to feed the population.

Compared to the USA, Cuba maintains roughly equivalent levels of life expectancy and infant mortality while consuming only 12% of the energy.  Cuba provides a valuable example of how to successfully address the challenge of reducing our energy use through  cooperation, conservation and community. With the challenge of climate change looming large, there is much we can learn from the Cuba experience.

Preceding the main feature, a short film Forest Gardeners, by local filmmaker Shivanii Cameron will be shown.  It is about two Brisbane men who turn wasteland into forest with a technology they call the 'chunky pizza' method.

The following Wednesday we will be holding a general meeting. We'll give some updates on our projects and hopefully get some useful discussion happening. It's also a good way to meet some interesting people over a nice cuppa tea and a biscuit.