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2010 UK Tour

As I've had a number of requests regarding my plans for organising events this year I thought I'd put up a short note about a my plans for another tour.

I had hoped to release details of my new UK tour in December but we have – once again :-( – been struck down by the "attempting to move" bug; we've found a really good location to move to and are trying to negotiate its purchase, so for the moment I can't commit to any long-term engagements. As I won't know until the end of February whether I can spend the rest of 2010 travelling the country, or whether my priority will be doing a full eco-renovation on a derelict farm, I'm not yet committing to a serious tour as yet. However, either way, I'll be able to fit in a few limited gigs over the course of the year.

As well as the old stalwarts – Energy Beyond Oil, Less is a Four Letter Word and Energy and Food – this year I have two new presentations to offer:

• The Great Outdoors – Training for a Post-Energetic World
  This is the 2-hour presentation on the results of the Free Range Networks' Great Outdoors Initiative. Essentially there are a whole lot of skills that we need to re-learn in order to manage with "less", and in our everyday lives it can take a lot of money, hassle and red tape in order to do them. The simplest option is to carry them out in a limited way that gets around the cost and the red tape problems, and for most people the simplest way they can do that is to go camping. The presentation also looks that the spiritual/eco-psychological side of the lifestyle transformation process, and the way in which camping and getting "outdoors" can aid this process by putting you within an environment where self-reliance, and the slow contemplation of our needs and actions, is easier to achieve. Note: If people have a large space outdoors (a large garden/field) then it would also be possible to re-work the event as a five or six hour practical workshop – if we can camp overnight, even better!
• Limits to Tech. – The Ecological Boundaries of the Digital Age
  This 2-hour presentation is the result of my latest research, developed in association with the Free Range Salvage Server Project, on the implications of resource depletion on modern society – especially our use of cheap consumer electronics. It examines the way in which the characteristics of modern consumer electronics tend towards developing more energetic and complex systems, and why this process is ultimately limited by the availability of the highly specialised materials that modern digital electronics requires to function. As well as outlining the flaws in the present model of digital electronics, the presentation also looks at simple methods we might adopt to begin to make our use of these systems slightly more sustainable – e.g. through the use of recycled equipment and free software.

As noted above, due to the uncertainties about moving I have no time frame for when I'll be available over the course of the year. I'll be able to squeeze in a few events before late April, but after that I might have to retire until the Autumn. If you'd be interested in hosting any of these events then please email me to dicuss possible dates/venues – mei@fraw.org.uk.

P.