Do you have time to get involved in organising this festival?  If you do please email Kathryn Johnson.

The exciting idea of a festival to explore what we mean by "sustainable local economy" and how we build it is the outcome of a handful of people coming together on a couple of occasions.  We feel a festival would build local knowledge and expertise and help us work out a plan of action for the following year.

We are thinking this could take place late this year or early next and will have to be done on a shoestring of both time and money.  So we are thinking of some core events organised by Sustainable Hackney and partners and asking other organisations to contribute by organising workshops or meetings or training in keeping with their own priorities and specialisms within the time frame and under the banner of the festival.

Ideas so far:

• What do we mean by a SLE and how do we build one in Hackney?  How do we create local economic resilience?
• Keeping money local, raising awareness of the benefits, building the co-operative and social enterprise sector
• Where does the money go? Inward investment, outward profits
• Greener workplaces: taster session / training day
• Pensions: protecting deferred pay, getting our money invested sustainably
• Environmental policy and practice in local businesses and organisations
• Sustainable, decentralised energy projects
• Public sector procurement
• Challenging discrimination, defeating division
• Fighting for the London living wage
• Fair Trade
• Fuel poverty
• Climate jobs / green jobs

As you can see there is no shortage of ideas!  So, have you got time to help make it happen?  If you have please email Kathryn Johnson.