The "Stickyness" of Local Government Systems

I went to a meeting recently where council staff, who have not been in their jobs for very long, told us all that all we needed to do was make submissions to the Council so that we could get our issues addressed.  They didn't have a whole lot to say when a number of people noted that they had been making submissions for years and they seldom get local issues addressed! It's even worse when the Council realises that the community were right 10 years later and as a result, fixing the problem has become a lot more expensive.  I've seen the same thing over a number of years, and forums and it begins to seem like putting the focus on submissions is a way of distracting energy away from the places where the real decisions are made!

I'm intrigued at how a system with some pretty good and well meaning people in it can be so impervious to efforts to change it!  Its also interesting that players in many different parts of the system are frustrated - councillors, community board members, advocates, businesses, and council staff.  Part of the problem seems to be the environment in which local government in New Zealand operates.  They are governed by legislation which limits what they can do.

Furthermore, in Christchurch at the current time, we are operating in some unusual conditions in which our national level government has chosen to remove or undermine both out City Council and our Regional Council.  Part of this is due to being in a disaster recovery environment, and part of it came before the earthquakes struck when elected members of the Regional Council were sacked and replaced with Government appointed commissioners.

All this makes it entirely difficult to work with local government.  Instead it seems that we might be better to start trying to work with other important players in the system - local businesses, for example.  A difficult thing given the nebulous nature of the the business world - even more nebulous that the world of local government!

Reflecting on the last year

Its been a busy year and is now perhaps time to get this blog up and going again. Where are we at in Christchurch?
Well, there were more traumatic earthquakes during the last year but they are getting less frequent and, it seems, smaller. The Central City is much worse than it was back in March last year because many buildings that looked ok back then have been demolished. Our national government has gone against all advice from international best practice in disaster recovery and set up a new Government body (CERA) which is overseeing the "recovery". I put recovering in ""s since at this stage it seems to largely mean the demolition of our City and the undermining of our Council. As Bronwyn Hayward suggested in a press article it might have been a lot more sensible to spend the money on supporting the Council and its staff rather than coming in and undermining them and lessening their capacity to act.

At this stage over a year since the devastating Feb 22 earthquake, we have demolished approximately half of the buildings that have been lined up for demolition which means we are not going to have a central City for some years to come, and if any of the new buildings that have been put up are anything to go by, Christchurch is going to distinguish itself by being the ugliest city imaginable! Still, some good things have also come out of this disaster and I"ll talk about them in my next blog post.

MORE Earthquakes

I live in Christchurch New Zealand which has just had is second strong earthquake in less than 6 months. It has been awful in many ways to see my city devastated - many familiar landmarks are now simply rubble and many of those still have dead bodies waiting to be retrieved. it is a terrible time for families and friends waiting to have the deaths of those reported missing confirmed.

At the same time it's amazing to see the way many people rise to the occasion by getting out to help and also to see the number of people who would like to help but who have not been able to find a way to do so. Those who can dig are off removing mud that has come up from the ground - "liquefaction" but many people are unable to dig or perhaps like me unable to dig for long without putting out their backs or something similar.

I think we have done better this time around but, of course, there is more to do. Yes, I think we have been able to look after each other within communities better this time but we also need to be able to work and establish contact across communities. My area, for example has not been so badly affected, but people on the other side of the City have been. The issue has been how to connect with people over there who could do with a hand. This is challenging because many people are without power, phone or internet. On top of this it appears that local organisations are not necessarily using the resources that they have here. The local red cross for example has chosen to use international assistance for visiting those in need whilst their local volunteers have been put off because normal services are not operating. Many of the local people are looking for ways to get out and assist others and it would seen that the need for this is certainly there.

It seems that there is quite a need for coordination at local level as well as at City, regional and national levels. Should we at local level develop our own plans for how to manage disasters independently of the official civil defence channels which are more focused (rightly) on the big issues that arise at times like these?

Keeping up the energy in community work

I'm reading a book on Insight Dialogue by Gregory Kramer and reflecting a little on how we behave in relationship and also how deep our patterns of interaction in relationship are. I"m finding it a fascinating book with a lot of useful stuff that is helping me think through the patterns I"m observing in myself in doing community focused work.

Kramer observes that we (human beings) have a need to be seen and to be recognised that comes from our need as infants to survive. He notes that if we don't feel valued or recognised we can become despondent and withdraw from what we are doing. This of course is the basis of 'extinction' and is a tool that many parents use to stop unwanted behaviour in their children by simply ignoring that behaviour. If we feel ignored we can withdraw - or, of course, we can try something else!

This struck a chord because I've been observing in myself a certain lack of energy around some of my voluntary community focused activities. I realise now that this is actually a lack of confidence and perhaps a certain nervousness about putting myself out there. It also comes from this need to feel that what I do is valued and the realisation that I really need positive feedback. Another thing I notice is that for me it seems to be easier to notice the setbacks than the successes and this also means I"m more likely to become despondent rather than energised. While it may make sense to give up on something that does not appear to be working, it is clear to me that I must also recognise that community initiatives take considerable time to build and to get going.

So my aim is to remind myself about some of the small things that I observe coming out of this work that I might be able to use to keep my energy levels up and to keep on moving rather than letting things slide and peter out. Another important aspect of this is the need to find ways to help others to feel valued when they are doing this work, and if they are anything like me that does not need to be big or complicated - sometimes it is simply telling them you appreciate what they do.

The point of making submissions?

I posted something like this on my greenpress blog but it has got lost and I found myself talking to someone about it the other day so thought I'd write it here.

Sometimes the whole business of writing and presenting submissions is depressing and feels like a waste of time. Once a plan is in draft, it seems to me that very little is likely to change. However despite our best efforts, this process is still all that we mostly have at least in our little corner of the world.

However I was talking with a local councillor who gets to hear all these submissions and she noted that unless people like me DO write and present submissions, people like her (who are in the minority on Council in terms of being a little Green and slightly left wing) cannot defend that perspective. So my writing to suggest safer measures for cyclists or pedestrians does have a purpose even though actually very little comes of it through the process.

So now I write fewer submissions, but when I write them, I think of them as placeholders rather than necessarily as instruments of change. I guess I"ll just have to cast around for the latter (if such things are possible in our current political climate here in Christchurch).

Designing services to get people meeting

Now here is an interesting idea! When a courier calls, what if they left the package with a neighbour rather than taking it back to the post shop. Then people have a reason to knock at the neighbour's door and so to meet their neighbours. I like this idea because I must admit that I find it difficult to knock for no reason!

Reflecting on the Good things of the last year

Its holiday time again, and it also a new year and a good time to reflect on all the things that have happened over the last year. For many of us in Christchurch, it's easiest to remember the earthquake (and for me to remember having a car accident and breaking a few ribs about a month later) and to forget that a lot happened last year. It is for this reason that I keep a note in my diary of what happens each day and what I get up to.

I started doing this because I found it was too easy to get to the end of a week and wonder what I"d actually filled it with. I also found that I would somehow forget the enjoyment I'd had as part of my 'everyday' life. About half way through last year I also did an a community education course called the Science of Happiness and from that time on I've pretty much kept as part of that diary, a note about the things I am grateful for - good things both big and small that happen to me on a daily basis. Again it has taught me how easy it is to take these good things for granted. Keeping a note of them at the end of each day keeps them more at the front of my mind.

So as well has having an earthquake and a car accident (as a result of which I discovered what a lovely supportive group of people I know), going back through my diary has helped me remember that I've set up a new business, I had some wonderful work experiences of which the best was probably at Easter handing out questionnaires to people in Deep Cove, a magical place in Southwestland (New Zealand). I met some great people (too many to list here) and have developed some new friendships, and started a community newsletter which I think people do appreciate and which has certainly helped me get a handle on what happens in my own community. I am grateful for the people that I meet and work with in various ways and grateful that I"m able to contribute into a range of activities and spaces and to the lives of others and that they do the same for me. One of the most wonderful things that happened for example was a group of people turning up one Saturday morning and helping me recover an area of my garden that was lost under weeds.

So while there have been some things about the last year that made it challenging, quite a lot of good stuff has actually happened too and its fantastic to be able to reflect on that.

Earthquake Recovery

Well I"m back on Blogger since it appears that Greenpress disappeared off the face of the internet and my blog there went with it. Hi Ho!

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand where we experienced an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale. It disrupted life quite considerably and continues to do so for many people who suffered extensive damage to the houses and in some cases to their land.

What has been most interesting to me is the observation that while our Civil Defence guys and girls pretty much had things sorted in the immediate aftermath of the quake, the phase known as recovery has been much less smooth sailing.

Recovery is much longer term. People move from being grateful for being alive to being angry that life is not returning to normal as quickly as they had hoped. The aftershocks continue (we're still getting them 3 months on although they are much less frequent now than they have been). Social Services are bracing for a particularly bad Christmas from a domestic violence point of view because men particularly find it difficult to cope with the uncertainty and lack of "control" involved in the earthquake and it effects. streets remain closed, sewers remaing damaged because the amount of repair work is just massive and the limiting factor is equipment and manpower.

Insurance companies are reeling with the extra work, Councils are trying to make decisions quickly but they need to grapple with a lot of questions that needs input from scientists, engineers and so forth.

Despite all this some great things are happening. Community groups are taking things into their own hands. One of the most interesting things that has been the development of initiatives aimed at filling in the gaps left by demolished buildings. Check out Gapfiller and Greening the Rubble for examples. For most, this is to avoid the default turning of these areas into carparks which then contribute to traffic congestion and the development of an ugly and unattractive City.

May these kinds of community activity continue and from the rubble we may get a range of new intiatives and ways of living.

My blog has moved

my blog can now be found at http://ChrysH.Greenpress.com

Community Gardening

I recently started working at a community garden in Christchurch - the Strickland Street or Spreydon Garden. It is an interesting place and I"m meeting some very interesting people with an interest in green issues in a very practical grass roots sort of way.

The garden has a spectacular composting system and takes in kitchen waste from a number of nearby households as well as composting everything that comes from the garden (weeds, prunings etc). I've been learning about the art of teaching people about composting (which like every other form of teaching I've had anything to do with involved a lot of learning). I've also become the promotions person which is a slightly novel experience for one with my background!

I suppose what I'm concluding from all this that the whole idea of social learning and on reflecting on action is as useful gardening and composting as it is in lots of other places. No compost heap or garden is ever the same and on top of that everyone who gardens has learned a great deal through their own experimentation and assessment of success or failure.

This means that actually it is feasible to learn something from everyone who has every tried to plant and grow something and that good gardeners have to be good at reflecting on their efforts because the environment in which they garden is continually throwing new issues and problems their way.

Planning, public participation & learning humility!

I've been presenting submissions at planning hearings this week and last. Yesterday I took a different approach and presented very little so that we could get into questions and discussion. I'm very glad I did because I learned a lot all in quite a short space of time and want to reflect on that.

I'm intrigued at how the system we have here in New Zealand sets submitters up to feel powerless. I sent in my written submission. Then I received feedback that indicated that everything I said was rejected. Unfortunately, this made me feel that it was "me against them" and that I needed to convince and persuade. However if I had done that I would have missed the mark completely and learned nothing.

I had talked about my feelings prior to going into the hearing which was very useful because I had determined that I should go into the hearing with compassion, and to learn, or as another friend, Lucy Baragwanath put it, with humility - the assumption that I didn't know it all (which I already knew!). This worked well, although I found it a bit scary because I was worried that I would look like a fool when the conversation went outside my level of knowledge.

What I learned was a lot more about what the committee could and could not change and just how limited their power is in the system. It also left me thinking that any significant change is impossible once a plan is drafted because of the way various plans and strategies articulate.

The bulk of the work of an advocacy group needs to be done before the plan is put out for submissions.

Time really does matter

I'm writing an article at the moment on communication and change. As I write I"m also composing a presentation to the Regional Land Transport committee here in Canterbury to try and convince them that they need to think differently about transport.

Anyway in doing all this, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is no way we will be an adaptable resilient society if we keep trying to live at our current speed. Which makes me think that slowing people down is actually the task that we need to be working on if we are going to foster more sustainable practices.

I"m also reflecting on something I heard recently from a colleague who noted that the problem that we have is not so much too much consumption, but too much affluence (which then leads people to consume). So we need to work less (something that I have said in other posts) and earn less so that we consume less but also so that we have more time to reflect on what we are doing and to change. Change, particularly complex changes take time and effort but often not money or resources!

Of course I"m not implying that such a major shift as getting people to feel ok about less affluence is easy but perhaps the recession really is a blessing - its our opportunity to slow down and think. The question is how to make such a shift in a way that is fair.

:-)

Earth Whisperers

I went to my first movie premiere last night. Earth Whisperers was a great documentary movie that caught the personalities of each of the people who talked about their passion - some aspect of the New Zealand Environment. This varied from healers through to organic gardeners to people who have saved large tracts of native bush or restored them. It is well worth a look if you get the opportunity. I must say it is nice to see an environmental movie that provides inspiration rather than documenting the problems we face. Each of these people have done what they did because of the problems that they see and have made a difference in very tangible ways.

Check out a wee excerpt here on YouTube

Transport and peak oil etc

I've been writing submissions this week focused mainly on tranport - and specifically on trying to get our local councils here in Canterbury to recognise the need for them to provide cycling and walking facilities.

For some reason they seem to have lost the plot on this one perhaps because of some misguided reaction to the economic downturn but their answers seems largely to focus on providing for more private cars or (and this is not quite so bad) for significant upgrades to our public transport system.

It worries me that organisations charged with looking after our environment and with thinking about the future can ignore the fact that they need to privilege active transport over private cars and that roading is a tremendously bad investment when we are heading into post peak oil and a growing recognition of the issues associated with climate change. Politics is a weird business.

Still there is hope, as this blogger points out - just a pity it is on the other side of the world!

Peak Everything?

I've just read an interesting article about to come out in American Scientist. Revisiting the limits to growth after peak oil links oil to the cost of other resources from metals and minerals through to food. The authors point out that:

• commodity prices have fallen despite the fact that they have become increasingly difficult to produce because oil prices dropped. This drop hid the effect of the increased energy needed for production.
• For every calorie of food produced in the world, 10 calories of energy to into producing, processing and transporting that food.
• The maximum energy return on investment for oil was 100:1 in 1930 but between 20:1 and 30:1 in 2005. That is the amount of energy balance of energy out to energy in has dropped significantly and continues to do so.
• The "limits to growth" model developed in the 60s and 70s is actually predicting very closely the changes that we are currently seeing.
  
• Oil effectively currently provides each person in Europe and the States with "on average some 30 to 60 or more "energy slaves," machines to "hew their wood and haul their water," each slave being equal to a strong, fit person.
• Our new sources of green energy do not provide very high return on energy investment and certainly will not be able to replace oil any time soon as a source of cheap energy.
• Few scientists are working on the issues associated with human population approaching the limits to growth since there has been no funding for that work. Over the last 20-30 years. this means that there are no obvious intellectual leaders debating these issues today and governments do not appear to be taking them seriously in any way, perhaps as a result of this.

Slow living

I'm reading a book by Wendy Parkins & Geoffrey Craig called Slow Living and really enjoying it.

Slow living has emerged from the slow food movement and builds from it. They talk about slow cities - small cities of 50 000 people or less which are focused on fostering "slow spaces" - spaces where people can take time out to reflect, and wonder and to enjoy just being with and talking to other people. Slow spaces, in other words are spaces that encourage people to build some form of community.

What I really like about their argument is the idea that we need to learn how to enjoy life, "to be less impressed by money and success, . . . and to have alternative stories about what makes life good" (I'm quoting one Adam Philips here) Slowing down occasionally and reflecting on enjoyment actually enhances it. If we just keep moving fast, there it not time to notice the little things nor to reflect on or be grateful for the enjoyment and wonder that exists in the everyday.

To this end, I've started a new practice of recording all the things that I've enjoyed about each day at the end of it and I find that there are an increasing number as I get better at spotting them.

:-)

Facilitating Innovation and change

I was asked to write something the other day about innovation and rather oddly it took me some time to realise that in fact I do know quite a lot about innovation, having studied change and development processes!

Anyway, a few conversations later I found myself thinking about the conditions that foster innovation. I've reached the conclusion that the greatest problem that we have in this day and age is our focus on efficiency and time management. Having had a few months off work now, I find myself able to think, talk, work out how to do new things and generally be a more adaptable human being, despite trying not to spend much money. Innovation is sooo much easier and so much more likely because I can apply my mind to the various things the trip me up and I have time to let them tick over while I do other things without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

I put this together with the fact that we are told as New Zealanders that our productivity is very low and yet most of the people I know are working their butts off. Maybe if we worked less we'd actually be more productive?

:-)

Credit crunches and Ecological limits

A new issue of Resurgence is out. I was particularly interested to read an article by Andrew Simms called Planet Crunch where he puts together a range of issues from the links between our attitudes to credit and money and how that links to resource use. I was also interested to read his account of the way in which oil tanker drivers were able to bring the UK to its knees because of the "just in time" nature of oil distribution through the UK. This didn't just affect people's capacity to travel - it had a major effect on food distribution to the point where Simms suggests the UK was "9 meals away from anarchy". This of course links up social unrest with food distribution and in the longer term with access to a resources that people need to live their lives. Given the fact that the world human population is growing and that food reserves are at their lowest for a long time food security is becoming something to think about for all of us - rather than only those living in poverty. As Jared Diamond put it in Collapse being rich only gives you the capacity to die last when the ecosystem on which you rely collapses.

Not a happy thought but one that might be worth pondering in terms of what action is needed as we head into a world of diminishing resources.

Changing for the times ahead

I've just read an interesting account of how the current bailout packages and focus on
"getting people spending again" is not going to create the shifts that we need as we move up against our biophysical limits. Interestingly I see Chris Martenson has also just released a new report that discusses the need to think about how life might change in future as we move up against those same limits. To me, the way we do this as the pressure comes on will stem from the state of our communities at local level and the nature of our political and social system.

Dimitri Orlov confirms this in his account of what happened over the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. He also offers some analysis of how he thinks a similar collapse might be played out in the USA and in another article some ideas about best practice for social collapse, in which he points out that goverments might be better to focus on how to provide Food, shelter, transportation, and security on an emergency basis. It was interesting because it contrasts with the sense of success that one gets from reading about what happened in Cuba as a direct result of the Soviet collapse but with what seems to have been a slightly more 'together' set of communities. Orlov points out some very important aspects of the political set up in the Soviet Union and how that assisted or exacerbated recovery and the lives of people on the street. He notes also that money becomes quite irrelevant but social connections, access to needed resources are invaluable in a post collapse scenario.

lots to be happy about

Its been a while since I wrote here. What can I say? it's summer here and I've been on holidays. I"m just back from a couple of days at a retreat in Mid Canterbury and I'm feeling very relaxed and, well happy - despite all the bad news around the place!

A new blog talks about this a bit. It's one of the thing that constantly delights and amazes me that there is so much pleasure in working in the garden, reading a book, doing chores around the house, going for a wander or visiting friends. It's all a matter of having the time and I wonder sometimes what all our working working working is for when it just seems make us so time poor and to try to squeeze so much into so little time. I"ve had a month on holiday now and I"m just starting to feel like I"m getting down to a reasonable pace and starting to enjoy those small things that get lost in the rush.

roll on the next month!