The second CHE Northern England Gathering took place at Sedbergh's Community and District Office on Saturday 30th June. Despite the less than sunny weather conditions, six CHE graduates and friends of the CHE met to discuss the issue of the sustainability of rural living. They considered why these questions are important and what a sustainable rural community would look like. Sedbergh was used as an example of how these ideas could be applied.

The day was introduced by CHE graduate Criggy Haas, who currently works with rural communities in the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Her presentation described her work and looked at how issues of climate change and peak oil may affect these communities. It also examined resource use in rural areas and issues of rural isolation and disadvantage (using research from the Commission for Rural Communities, www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk), concluding with examples of community sustainability projects throughout the UK and possible tools for change.

Deyna Hirst, a CHE graduate who works at the Sedbergh Community Office, then introduced a 'hands-on' example of rural sustainability, by introducing the group to Sedbergh, its history and some of the town's current and planned projects to become more sustainable. These ranged from the development of Sedbergh as a 'book town' (which began following the impact of foot and mouth), green tourism initiatives, developing a green village hall, plastic bag reduction, community cinema, local food production, and farmers' market. The group discussed opportunities to further develop these projects, what could help, challenges that may be faced and potential ways they could be overcome. The link between environmental, social and economic benefits became clear as the discussion progressed.

The day was an excellent opportunity for CHE graduates and friends to meet and share ideas.

The next meeting of the CHE Northern Group will take place on 13th October from 11am until 3pm at Rivington Park, near Horwich, Bolton in Lancashire.

The theme will be well-being with the exact content to be finalised, but Andy Wynne will explain the New Economic Foundations approach to well-being and Peter Jones will highlight well-being using Hodges' model and measures.

Anyone interested in finding out more should contact Andy Wynne in the first instance at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it