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Viral gets creative juices flowing

May 28, 2008 Posted by Jeff_J in : Bristol, Community Media, Media , add a comment

Genius video about South West creativity has had over 35,000 hits on youtube….

Virtual Farmers Market - Join us on 29th May to Help Develep Bristol's NESTA Big Green Challenge Bid

May 19, 2008 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Bristol, Innovation, Events, Environment, Green ICT, Food, Bids , 10 comments

NESTA Big Gren Challenge
VIRTUAL FARMERS MARKET PROPOSAL

The food we eat makes a significant contribution to climate change, accounting for 31% of our greenhouse gas emissions (EU 2007). If we are to stand a realistic chance of preventing runaway global warming, it is time to rethink our agricultural systems. This project seeks to go beyond the popular concept of “food miles” to consider the complete life-cycle of food – from field to plate. A sustainable local food system will address emissions by engaging the communities of the Bristol city-region, from the farmers and allotment associations, to the consumer, to local government, academics and community groups…

Open Collaboration Session

Date: 29th May
 Time: 2.30-5pm (followed by networking opportunity)
 Location: Connecting Bristol, First Floor, 11-19 Wine Street, Bristol BS1 2PH MAP

Purpose:

Bristol’s bid to create a Virtual Farmer’s Market (VFM) has won through to the next stage of the NESTA Big Green Challenge competition. Well done Matt Fortnam of University of Bristol for taking the proposal this far!

Read a PDF summary of the bid here - Virtual Farmers Market Sumary

The timescale is, of course, very short. A final bid must be made to NESTA by 9th June. We are working with local food consultants F3 and Ed Mitchell to further develop the bid and will be holding an open collaboration session on 29th May to achieve the following,

Registration

The Open Collaboration Session is an opportunity for anyone who is interested in this proposal to join-in. Please join us at this session. We welcome your input. Just confirm your attendance by registering HERE

We look forward to meeting you

Connecting Bristol says you can Work from Home

May 14, 2008 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Bristol , 1 comment so far

workwiseuk
Tomorrow (Thursday 15th May) is National Work from Home Day. Promoted by Workwise UK, national Work from Home Day marks the start of National Work at Home Week – a celebration and demonstration of the joys and benefits of flexible working.

In a nutshell, the big idea is that home working = smarter working. It is good for the environment, good for productivity, is cost effective and offers employees greater flexibility, leading to improved job satisfaction and better quality of life.

Connecting Bristol is a great advocate of (ultra) flexible working (Homeshoring, Slivers of Time etc.) We see this as a way to create more flexible job opportunities for people who face particular obstacles in gaining employment. For example, the unemployment rate amongst blind and partially sighted people is 75% - unacceptably high… technology could play a crucial role here. However, it is also noteworthy that employers rank ICT as the most significant obstacle to achieving flexible working, in WorkWise’s 2008 survey.

So if you are an employer, how about encouraging your employees to work at home tomorrow. Who knows, with fewer cars on the road at peak times maybe the buses will even run on time?

Is technology the key to reducing energy consumption?

Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , 1 comment so far

The role of the ICT industry and technology in general in reducing environmental impact is a area of some debate. SOCITM and others have outlined the potential, but also highlighted the negative effects of manufacture, use and disposal.

The European Commission is joining the debate, announcing that it is encouraging the ICT industry to demonstrate leadership in reducing its own CO2 emissions and to identify and create sustainable solutions which will benefit the whole economy. The initial focus will be on improving energy efficiency throughout the economy, starting with buildings, lighting and the power grid.

If Europe’s increasing energy use goes on unchecked it is expected to rise by as much as 25% by 2012. The European Council has agreed to ambitious targets around climate change including commitments to save 20% of energy consumption by 2020 through energy efficiency, to increase to 20% the share of renewable energies and to reduce by 20% the emission of greenhouse gases. The potential for the ICT industry, and ICTs in general, to contribute to these targets is clear. The most modern and advanced computer servers consume the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and if widely used they could see potential energy savings of up to 70%.