Village Vancouver June 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to the
Village Vancouver Newsletter
June 2015

WHAT'S NEW? VOLUNTEERS TRANSITION NEWS EVENTS

Usher in the Summer with Village!

Our Demo Sustainable Village at Main Street Car Free Day, 100 in 1 Day interventions, the Mt. Pleasant Seed Library Launch, Volunteer Sunday, the Aberthau Garden Project, Seed sharing and gardening advice in Burnaby, Neighourhood Village potlucks and workshops, the Kits Village Recycling Depot, and a booth at the 25th Annual Strawberry Festival highlight our 40+ activities this month.

From beautiful and sunny days to needed rainy breaks, this has been a great start to an outdoor season filled with activities. Village is taking advantage of the great weather and we hope to see you at some of our great upcoming events!

What's New? Lots!!!

We have eleven – count ‘em eleven - exciting activities planned for 100 on 1 Day on June 6th and 7th – including another Permaculture Blitz, a Seed Library at Mt. Pleasant Branch VPL a Marpole-Oakridge Neighbourhood Food Network booth at Marpole Community Day, a seed giveaway and gardening advice at North Burnaby Neighbourhood House, gardening parties, potlucks, and a seed packet party.

We‘re really excited about our bigger than ever 6th Annual Demonstration Sustainable Village at the Main Street Car Free Day Festival on June 21st! Always one of the highlights of Car Free Day, we'll be centred around the intersection at 13th and Main, and this year we're taking over a whole block. We’re looking for dozens of volunteers (and tents, tables, and chairs to borrow), and encourage you to join us for this engaging community event. As we go to press, there's still room for more groups and projects to display in the Village, so please get in touch if you're interested.

On Wednesday, June 24th, we're launching our latest Seed Sharing Library. The Mt. Pleasant Seed Library is a collaboration between Village and Mt. Pleasant Branch VPL. The launch also features a Plant Swap.

Both Garden parties and Neighbourhood Village Potlucks abound during the month, including a couple of work parties at our Aberthau Garden Project Permaculture Demonstration Garden on the 13th and 27th. You can share some good food and conversation with your neighbours at partner organization West End Neighbourhood Food Network’s June Community Potluck on the 14th, and participate in a book and clothing swap at Commercial Drive Village's monthly potluck on the 18th, while June 12th features another Drop-in Spaghetti Night in Village Burnaby.

In addition to our own workshops, VanDusen Botanical Gardens and others are offering lots of workshops this month. Among the many other worthwhile activities being offered -- a Pollinator Walk and music dance celebration (June 6th), Guy McPherson addresses Responding to Abrupt Climate Change (June 12th), and there's a new Permaculture Design course starting on June 27th.

In Off Beat News, you can learn how to create a 3D digital tree and hear about the latest Gravity Light Project. We'd also like to remind you that you can support Village by purchasing books through our partner program with New Society Publishers. More details can be found in What's New.

And in Transition News, Transition Network is looking for inspiring stories for the climate talks in Paris this winter.

Grab your friends and let’s make the most of this beautiful season with Village Vancouver!
See you there!

Your June Newsletter Team,

Aska Djikia, Liz Gosselin, Ross Moster, Bonita Jo Magee, and Simone Hoedel

Become a Society Member Today

Join the Village Vancouver Transition Society! The membership fee is based on a sliding scale (suggested dues are $25) and it helps us develop this Village and its community. Your annual membership will make our movement even stronger! It's easy to join here.

100 in 1 Day Vancouver

100 in 1 Day Vancouver, an annual and global civic engagement festival, returns on June 6 with a promise: small actions equal big change. Village Vancouver is pleased to be a Community Partner for 100 in 1 Day Vancouver and will also be hosting eleven events in Vancouver and Burnaby. Currently in its second year in Vancouver, this growing movement aims to change how people interact with their cities by connecting citizens in leading and joining small but powerful community interventions. In the past, 100 in 1 projects have ranged from beautifying the streets with urban gardens to meeting your neighbours in social events. The list of events this year - which numbers over 100 - includes a nature scavenger hunt, trash tunes, 100 love letters in 1 day, permaculture parties, sidewalk doodling, a Stanley Park clean-up, community potlucks, and much more!

Join thousands in Vancouver and surrounding areas and help spark change on June 6 – spread the word, participate in one or more of community projects, or pitch your own one-day intervention!

Click here to learn more about 100 in 1 Day Vancouver, follow their movement on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or their Blog, and use the hashtag #100in1DayVan.

Presented by Evergreen.

Click here to learn more about 100 in 1 Day Vancouver, follow their movement on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or their Blog, and use the hashtag #100in1DayVan.

VV 100 in 1 Day Activities

Join us anytime between 10am and 9pm on Saturday or Sunday at one or more of our 100 in 1 Day Interventions in Burnaby (North Burnaby Neighbourhood House) Kits (Green Streets Garden), Kits Point (Billy Bishop Legion Hall and elsewhere) Mt. Pleasant (Vancouver Public Library - Mt. Pleasant Branch), Strathcona/DTES (Cottonwood Community Garden), and the West End (West End Community Centre) for a wide range of activities, including gardening, permaculture, seed giveaways and seed saving, potlucks, a Food Scrap Drop Spot, Marpole Community Day, and more.
Saturday, June 6th VV- WE Neighbourhood Food Network- Recycling Alternative Food Scraps Drop Spot 10 am - noon West End Community Centre Every Saturday WENFN volunteers receive food scraps from hundreds of the 45,000 residents in the West End. The take since June 2012 now totals over 50 tonnes of food scraps scraps for composting to be recycled back into growing, also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

VV Permaculture Plot Work Party 10 am - noon Cottonwood Community Garden
Join us for our weekly work party at our permaculture, DTES Neighbourhood House, Inner City Village, and herb spiral garden plots at Cottonwood Community Garden. It's fun, it's educational - no experience necessary, we teach you. VV Village Burnaby- North Burnaby Neighbourhood House Free seeds along with gardening and seed saving advice 10 am - 3:30 pm North Burnaby Neighbourhood House Free seeds and gardening advice as well as informing people about collaborative gardening opportunities in Burnaby. The aim is ultimately to promote self-reliant resilient communities that can work together and provide food for themselves.
VV Marpole-Oakridge Neighbourhood Food Network Booth at Marpole Community Day 11 am – 3 pm Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre Please join us at this family friendly neighbourhood festival.We'll have the Marpole-Oakridge Neighbourhood Food Network seed library there - you can get some free seeds for your garden or swap or donate some seeds - as well as information about Village Vancouver and the Food Network (which is sponsored by Village Vancouver).

VV Seed Savers Work Party 3:30 - 6:30 pm Kits Point, RSVP to ross@villagevancouver.ca for address We've folded over 2,000 seed packets for our Seed Libraries at our previous work parties, and have been busy filling them with seeds. New volunteers welcome and you don't need to know anything about seed saving to help! A potluck follows at 6:30.
Are you interested in helping maintain and stock our seed libraries? Assisting in producing a seed saving brochure? Helping promote or learning more about the benefits of seed saving? If so, we invite you to get involved with VV Seed Savers.

VV Community Potluck
6:30 - 9 pm Kits Point, RSVP to ross@villagevancouver.ca for address Share some good food, drink and conversation, including food freshly picked from the garden. Bring something yummy to share.

Sunday, June 7th

VV Kits Permaculture Blitz
10 am - 4 pm Kits Point, RSVP to ross@villagevancouver.ca for address
Join us for a Permaculture Blitz Day - a fun and educational KitsBlitz "barnraising" work party where we'll transform a space using Permaculture design principles. Up to 25 people at a time have participated in past VV garden blitzes in various neighbourhoods around Vancouver over the last four years.. Last year we restored and expanded a medicinal, herbal, and pollinator attractant garden on 100 in 1 day, and more recently, we created a demonstration permaculture site at the Aberthau Garden Project.

Part 1 of a 2 part blitz, this garden party will be held in a yard near Cornwall and Arbutus, where we'll be re-designing an existing garden. (Part 2 date take part on July 4) Everyone's welcome and no experience is necessary. Potluck Lunch - please bring something to share.

VV Kits Village Green Streets Garden Work Party
4 - 5 pm Kits, RSVP to ross@villagevancouver.ca for address
Weekly garden party at our Green Streets Garden. New volunteers welcome.

VV Kits Village Collaborative Garden Work Party
5 pm - 7:30 pm Billy Bishop Legion Hall
Weekly garden party. Our 5th year growing food together at The Billy Bishop Legion Hall. New volunteers welcome, no experience necessary. A potluck follows at 7:30.

VV Community Potluck 7:30 - 9 pm Kits Point, RSVP to ross@villagevancouver.ca for address Share some good,food, drink and conversation, including food freshly picked from the garden. Bring something yummy to share.

Car Free Day 2015 - June 20 and 21st

Photo credit: thirteencentpinball via Flickr

From our friends at Car Free Day Vancouver via the Car Free Day Vancouver website --

This year marks the 11th anniversary of Car Free Day in Vancouver and we’ve got tonnes of family friendly, community fun in store!

Car Free Day celebrates the vibrancy of Vancouver’s diverse neighbourhoods by organizing a multi-site annual arts and culture festival that reclaims traffic thoroughfares as community-focused public spaces allowing residents, artists, performers, artisans, non-profits and businesses to interact, engage and re-imagine spaces normally reserved for vehicle traffic.

The festival began 11 years ago on Commercial Drive as a response to the provincial government’s Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project. The idea was to reclaim the streets and oppose highway expansion and more traffic. Today, we still believe that fewer cars equals more community. This year Car Free Day will occur in four Vancouver neighbourhoods and the concept has expanded to three cities in B.C. and three local high schools.

On Saturday June 20 and Sunday, June 21, there's no better place to be than Car Free Vancouver Day. On Commercial Dr (Venables to N Grandview) on the 21st, Denman St (Robson to Davie) in the West End on the 20th, all over Kits (block parties) on the 20th and 21st, and Main St (Broadway to 30th - 20+ blocks!) on the 21st, the streets come alive with literally hundreds of thousands of engaged, happy people.

VV 6th Annual Demo Sustainable Transition Village at Main St. Car Free Day

IMAGINING YOUR IDEAL NEIGHBOURHOOD: CULTIVATING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

One of the highlights of Car Free Day is our Demo Sustainable Neighbourhood Transition Village. (Now there's a mouthful!) This year we're taking over a whole block, including most of 12th-13th Ave. and the intersection at 13th and Main.

Our 30+ tent and open space Village highlights our work cultivating community resilience, as well as the work of other community groups and social enterprises, and typically includes things like neighbourhood villages, bees, chickens, solar panels, seed libraries + seedling giveaways, Transition Towns, permaculture, local/sharing economy resources, member projects, placemaking, native edibles, homesteading, GMO info, community DIY, neighbourhood food networks, drop-in spaghetti nights, potlucks, dinner groups, asset mapping, gardening/urban ag, growing advice, community/collaborative gardens, green spaces, composting display, emergency prep, recycling, bike maintenance, imagining possibilities for a better future, a library, refreshments, a hospitality suite, lots of FUN AND CELEBRATION and more.

We invite other community groups to join us. Forming an important part of the village will be loads of other groups (many of whom we partner with). As we go to press, 2015 groups are still being confirmed - past groups have included Just Say Hello, Kits Space Project, SPEC, False Creek Watershed Society, The HUB, MODO, SPUD, Vancouver. Neighbourhood Food Networks, Cottonwood Community Garden, Vancouver Urban Farmers Society, 2 Block Diet, Vancouver Renewable Energy Co-op, Mt. Pleasant Neighbourhood House, LocoMotoArt, Blessed Bees, Madame Beespeaker, Daily Eggs, Homesteaders Emporium, PosAbilities, Can You Dig It, O.U.R. Ecovillage, E.A.R.T.H. Native Edibles, Langara College, GE Free BC, Grant's Gourmet Gardens,Museaum of Vancouver, Community Arts Council, Zero Waste Vancouver, Bat House info, Sun Dog clotheslines, Bike Trailers, etc.

Come by and say hello, pickup some free seeds or seedlings, connect with your neigbhours, find out what's going on in the community, and imagine the possibilities.

Lots of volunteers needed. If you'd like to help, check out our Volunteers section. We're also looking to borrow more tents.

See you there!

Mt. Pleasant Seed Library Launches June 24th

Village Vancouver and the Mt. Pleasant Branch of the Vancouver Public Library are teaming up to bring you the Mt. Pleasant Seed Sharing Library. Join us on Wednesday, June 24th for the official launch of the Library. Pick up some free seeds for your garden or swap or donate seeds or plants, learn how the Seed Library works, and meet fellow gardeners and seed savers. All ages welcome.

Click here for more information.

WE Neighbourhood Food Network June Potluck, Strawberry and Car Free Day Festival booths, and other Summer Activities

Yum! Come on over to the West End Community Centre on Sunday, June 14th from 1–2:30 pm and share some great food and conversation with your neighbours. Bring some food or drink to share and a cup, bowl, spoon, etc. if you're able to, and find out the latest with the West End Neighbourhood Food Network and also Village Vancouver. Everyone's welcome to join us!

We'll have the WENFN seed library present, and you can get some free seeds for your garden or swap or donate some seeds.

On Saturday, June 13th, WENFN and Village will be sharing a booth at the Strawberry Festival, and the following Saturday (June 20th), we'll be sharing a booth at the West End Car Free Day Festival - more chances to secure some seeds and find out what we're up to.

WENFN is sponsored by Gordon Neighbourhood House. Other WENFN Summer activities and more details can be found below and on our website at www.foodwestend.wordpress.com.

New Society Publishers

Summer is here! Time to garden, and also time to sit back, relax and catch up on your reading. Check out the latest gardening titles offered by our partner, New Society Publishers. Whether you like to flip through a hardcopy or swipe across you favourite e-reader (e-books available!), there are books for all levels of gardeners, and other green pursuits. Your purchase also helps Village Vancouver, with 15% of sales donated back to VV.

Off Beat News

1 Heart, 1 Tree (Kickstarter)

Create a unique digital 3-D tree using your own pulse, captured by your cell phone, as the life force. For every digital tree created, a real one gets planted as part of one of the many reforestation programs around the world. Follow your real tree's progress through reports and a Google Earth file. [Details]

GravityLight2 Project (Indiegogo)

Safe, clean efficient lighting, powered by gravity. Originally designed for communities without reliable electricity, if any, and to reduce the use of kerosene lamps, the GravityLight is a portable and cost-effective solution. Now in its second phase of development, GLO2 also aims to setup an assembly plant in Kenya, providing locals with jobs and affordable lighting. [Details]

VV Volunteer Sunday

This month's VV Volunteer Sunday falls on June 21st - Car Free Day. we invite you to join us at our Demo Sustainable Village -- see Call Out for volunteers and tents... for more details.

Call out for volunteers and tents for VV Demo Village at Main St. Car Free Day Sunday, June 21st

This year we're taking over a whole block. For our biggest volunteer activity of the year, we need 40-50 volunteers on the day of, and a few more before and after. If you'd like to help us with setup (9 am - noon), at a Village info table during the day (between noon and 7 pm), with breakdown, or with transportation. Please contact volunteer@villagevancouver.ca, if you can help.

If you have have tables, chairs or tents we can borrow, send us an email at carfreedaystuffweneed@villagevancouver.ca.

If you're a group or individual who would like to promote/display a community project, group, or activity you're involved with, or for general inquiries, contact ross@villagevancouver.ca.

Seed Packet Parties!

Village Volunteers have folded over 2,000 seed packets for our seed libraries in the last month and a half. Join us on June 6th from 3:30-6:30, June 14th from 5:30-7:30, and/or June 28th from 5:30-7:30 for another round of seed packing (all followed by potlucks), and let’s grow our libraries together. As always, everyone is welcome and no experience is necessary.

Want to get more involved with VV Seed Savers??
Are you interested in helping maintain and stock our seed libraries? Assisting in producing a seed saving brochure? Helping promote or learning more about the benefits of seed saving? If so, we invite you to get involved with VV Seed Savers. seedsavers@villagevancouver.ca.

21 Stories for COP21

In the run-up to COP21, the Paris climate talks this December, Transition Network is searching for the 21 most inspiring stories from throughout the Transition movement to share with the world. Transition Network is going to celebrate the remarkable thing Transition has become: a quiet revolution.

Learn more and submit your story by June 21!

This announcement originally appears in the current Transition US Newsletter.

Jun 2 - Main Street Village Vancouver Monthly Potluck and Workshop

Village Vancouver May 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to the
Village Vancouver Newsletter
May 2015

WHAT'S NEW? VOLUNTEERS TRANSITION NEWS EVENTS

Spring into Summer with Village!

Volunteer Sunday, Stone Soup, Village Burnaby, 100 in 1 Day, the Aberthau Garden Project, and our Demo Sustainable Village at Main Street Car Free Day highlight our May and June activities

We hope that you've been enjoying the great weather as much as we have. As always, there's more going on in Village then you can shake a stick at!

Come by and pick up some free seeds for gardening at our booth at the 20th Annual Stone Soup Festival on May 9. The following day, May 10, marks the start of VV Volunteer Sundays. Join us at a garden party, a permaculture project, a seed packet party, or a community potluck. The following week, Village Burnaby re-launches with a Drop in Spaghetti Night. Garden parties abound during the month, including a couple at our Aberthau Garden Project permaculture demonstration site.

May 29 marks the deadline for voting on the Transit Plebiscite. Thoughts from VV Transition Society's Board of Directors can found inWhat's New, and whether you're for or against, we encourage you to vote.

We have three exciting activities planned for 100 on 1 Day in early June - another Permaculture Blitz, a Marpole Neighbourhood Food network booth at Marpole Community Day, and a Seed Library Launch in Mt. Pleasant. (The latter is still to be confirmed.)

And last, but far from least, we looking for dozens of volunteers (and tents, tables, and chairs) for our 6th Annual Demonstration Sustainable Village at Main Street Car Free Day on June 21st.

With dozens of upcoming activities, there's something for everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

Your May Newsletter Team,

Ross Moster, Bonita Jo Magee, Aska Djikia, and Simone Hoedel

Become a Society Member Today

Join the Village Vancouver Transition Society! The membership fee is based on a sliding scale (suggested dues are $25) and it helps us develop this Village and its community. Your annual membership will make our movement even stronger! It's easy to join here.

Village Vancouver Volunteer Sunday May 10

Weekends are a great time to get involved with Village! Join 20 of your fellow villagers for fun volunteer activities on May, 10. You can come for one or more of the activities – whatever you decide. We will be starting the day at 10 am, and run through until 8:30 pm. Everyone is welcome!

Our itinerary includes a lot of time outdoors, in celebration of the great weather. It’s promising to be a sunny day, perfect for gardening activities. Join us for one or more of the following:

10 am – Working on the Plots:

We will begin the day by working on our plots at Cottonwood Garden (Permaculture plot, Inner City Village plot, Downtown East Side Neighbourhood House Plot, and Herb Spiral Plot). This fun and educational activity requires no previous experience!

12:30 pm and 1:30 pm – Kits Gardens:

Help maintain urban greenspace at the Kits Village Green Streets garden in Kits, followed by a work party at our collaborative garden at 1:30 in Kits Point.

4 pm – Seed Packet Party:

With the help of Village Volunteers, we’ve folded over one thousand seed packets for our seed libraries! Come out and help us pack seeds in them, and let’s grow our libraries together. As always, everyone is welcome and no experience is necessary.

7 pm – Potluck:

We'll end the day with potluck! Enjoy some good food and conversation and find out what's happening in Village Vancouver. We'll have the Kits Village Seed Library there – you can get some free seeds for your garden or swap or donate some seeds. Bring some food or drink to share!

We hope to see you Sunday!

Aberthau Garden Project 2015-17 -- VV Permaculture Blitz April 18 and May 2...and upcoming garden parties

Over 30 Villagers joined us for our two part Aberthau Garden Project blitz on April 18 and May 2. Facilitated by Grant Watson (April 18) and Ross Moster (May 2) we built a hugelcultur, an herb spiral, and spiral paths, and planted lots of herbs, berries, flowers and veggies. As a demonstration permaculture garden, our goals include water conservation, attracting pollinators, saving seeds for our seed libraries, and showing permaculture principles in action. This is a hands-on project and new volunteers are always welcome. Our next work parties are on May 30 and June 13. No experience necessary - we teach you as we go along!

Hosted by Village, and building on the last two year’s outdoor garden project, the 2015-17 Garden Project includes collaborations with local artists, community members and the WPG Preschool. Among our many offerings: free workshops open to all ages (please check the VV website for updates), and Aberthau Artists-in-Residence Rob Scharein and Laura Lee from LocoMotoArt will be collaborating on the Sunflower Garden - Placemaking with Children Project. For info on the garden's previous years Flax – Food - Fibre Project, go towww.Aberthauflaxfibrefood.blogspot.ca/.

March

Blitz!

APRIL 18

Good Morning

Getting Started

Path Building

Creating the hugelkultur

Lunch!

Building the herb spiral

Herb Spiral

Big help from a little guy

Planting

Stretcharoo

Facilitator Grant Watson planting beet seeds

May 2

Cardboard for the paths

Tools of the trade

Borders

Mulching

Facilitator Ross Moster

End of the day

VV and the Transportation Plebiscite

As the local chapter of the Transition Town movement, Village Vancouver (VV) strongly supports low-carbon, healthy modes of transportation such as public transit and cycling, which are essential for a sustainable future. Despite the fact that the 2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite is far less than perfect, the VV Board has nevertheless unanimously expressed support for a ‘yes’ vote for the Mayors’ Council proposed 0.5% sales tax. We believe that the transportation plan proposed by the Mayors of the region is generally good, and will benefit everyone by improving the regional transportation network. Village Vancouver has joined the Better Transit and Transportation Coalition along with some other 130 groups in the region that represent business, environmental organizations, unions, students and seniors, to support the YES campaign. For more information on this coalition, please see http://www.bettertransit.info/. Finally, this article in The Georgia Straight offers a useful perspective on why it matters to vote ‘yes’: "TransLink looks for a yes vote that will move Vancouver into the future" -- http://www.straight.com/news/393046/translink-looks-yes-vote-will-move-vancouver-future

100 in 1 Day in Vancouver

100 in 1 Day Vancouver, an annual and global civic engagement festival, returns on June 6 with a promise: small actions equal big change. Village Vancouver is pleased to be a Community Partner for 100 in 1 Day Vancouver and will also be hosting several events. Currently in its second year in Vancouver, this growing movement aims to change how people interact with their cities by connecting citizens in leading and joining small but powerful community interventions. In the past, 100 in 1 projects have ranged from beautifying the streets with urban gardens to meeting your neighbours in social events. The list of events this year includes playing a truth or dare game with strangers using cards placed around the city, learning to pack a go-bag in case of emergencies, and a nature walk to teach children about insects and our connectivity with them.Join hundreds in Vancouver and help spark change on June 6 – spread the word, sign up for one or more of hundreds of community projects, or pitch your own one-day intervention!

Click here to learn more about 100 in 1 Day Vancouver, follow their movement on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or their Blog, and use the hashtag #100in1DayVan.
Workshops Building up to 100 in 1 Day, people of all ages, backgrounds and locations across the city are invited to attend workshops to develop their interventions—from idea to execution. This workshop process is meant to inspire generative, creative and reflective interventions, and for you to share your ideas for making your city a better place to live.
During the workshops, participants will be asked:

What is your dream?
What do you wish your community to be like?
What actions will improve the quality of life in your community, street and block?

Upcoming Workshop Schedule

The workshops will be a source of inspiration and resources to guide successful interventions across the city. Check the 100 in 1 Day website for information on when workshops are happening near you.

See below for a list of Village Vancouver 100 in 1 Day Interventions.

VV 100 in 1 Day Activities

VV Marpole Neighbourhood Food Network Booth at Marpole Community Day

11 am – 3 pm

Please join us at this family friendly neighbourhood festival on 100 in 1 Day. We'll have a seed library there, and will be doing our other usual tabling activities – telling folks about Village projects and activities, making new connections, and promoting the Marpole Neighbourhood Food Network, which is sponsored by Village. If you'd like to help table, please contact volunteer@villagevancouver.ca.

Kits Permaculture Blitz
10 am – 4 pm

Join us on 100 in 1 Day for a Permaculture Blitz Day – a KitsBlitz "barnraising" work party where we transform a space using Permaculture design principles. Up to 25 people at a time have participated in past VV garden blitzes.

This garden party will be held at a home near Cornwall and Arbutus, and we'll be re-designing an existing garden.

Everyone welcome and no experience necessary – it's fun and educational

Please RSVP here or to ross@villagevancouver.ca

For more information click here.

This Greenest City Neighbourhood Small Grant project is funded by the Vancouver Foundation and the City of Vancouver, and administered by Kits Neighbourhood House.

VV Seed Sharing Library More details to follow.

Responding to Abrupt Climate Change

Award-winning Conservation Biologist Dr. Guy McPherson to Speak in Vancouver.

Dr. Guy McPherson, Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources from University of Arizona, has made a detailed study of the scientific literature on climate change and has determined that feedback loops and tipping points in the climate system are vastly increasing the rate of change, but are not being addressed in our official response policy. He will speak on this urgent topic, and about his personal journey from scientist and teacher to author and counter-culture activist, at Heartwood Café, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. at 7:00 p.m. on June 12, 2015. For more information, visit http://www.guymcphersontour.com

Queens & Quirks from Vancouver Storytellers

Listen! Laugh! Enjoy! Stories for YOU! On Sunday, May 17 join Vancouver Storytellers Mary Gavan, Priscilla Jones, Jennifer Martin and Kristy Woodcock for an evening of storytelling and music from acclaimed fiddler Mary Brunner and Irish vocalist Philomena Jordan. Tea will be a celebration tea focussed on potatoes! We provide the tea, please bring a potluck treat. St. Marks, 1805 Larch @ 2nd Avenue, Kits. Cost $7.

Blogger Volunteers Needed

Are you familiar with Blogger and HTML? We need 2 more volunteers on our fabulous newsletter team! It's just 4 hours each month. Help format and insert photos in this awesome newsletter. Interested? Please email us at newsletter@villagevancouver.ca

VV 6th Annual Demo Sustainable Transition Village at Main St. Car Free Day

Imagine Your Ideal Neighbourhood: Cultivating Community Resilience. Sunday June 21st.

Call out for organizers, volunteers, tents and participants!

Our 30+ tent and open space Demo Sustainable Transition Village at and surrounding13th and Main will highlight what Village is up to, and, once again, we're inviting several other community groups to join us.

Want to help plan and organize the Demo Village? Team leaders needed for Transportation, Setup, Breakdown, and Info Booths. We 're holding planning meetings on May 27 and June 10. Please contact demovillageplanningteam@villagevancouver.ca.

Want to volunteer? We need 40-50 volunteers on the day of, and a few more before and after. If you'd like to help us with setup (9 am - noon), at a Village info table during the day (between noon and 7 pm), with breakdown, or with transportation, please contactvolunteer@villagevancouver.ca.

If you have have tables, chairs or tents we can borrow, please contact carfreedaystuffweneed@villagevancouver.ca.

If you're a group or individual who would like to promote/display a community project, group, or activity you're involved in, please contactross@villagevancouver.ca.

Transition Burnaby

Burnaby Village is re-animating itself on May 16th with a Drop in "Spaghetti" Dinner! Share a meal with people in the Burnaby community. The cost of the meal is covered by the neighbourhood small grants so all you need to bring is a healthy appetite! Hosted by John, there'll be a variety of food but I'll try to make something that vegetarian friendly (may contain a little milk and free-range eggs) Limited to 8 guests, first come first served but will tell you if you got on the list as soon as possible. The dinner will feature some food from Village gardens grown by Village members. Details here.

Apr 23 to May 28 - VV Spring 2015 Cultivating Food, Cultivating Community Series
Strathcona Community Centre

Apr 26 to May 3 - EAT! Vancouver
BC Place Stadium & Various Venues

May 1 to 3 - Jane's Walk (in honour of Jane Jacobs)
City-wide, Metro-wide

May 2 - Renew, Re-engage and Reconnect to Life
Stanley Park Ecology Centre

May 2 - Plant Sale
Delta Hospital Extended Care Unit

May 2 - VV Permaculture Blitz! (part 2)
Aberthau Mansion Garden

May 2 - Jane's Walk: An affordable alternative to the Broadway Subway
VCC Clark Skytrain Station

May 2- Seedy Saturday: Garden care and seed saving
VPL Kensington Branch

May 2 - Mastering Macro Photography
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 2- Let's Learn about Honeybees
Terry Alsman Branch Library (Hillcrest Community Centre complex)

May 2 - Jane's Walk: Renters' Union Guide to Mt Pleasant
Mount Pleasant Community Centre

May 2 to 30 - West End May Food Scrap Drop Spots

Gordon Neighbourhood House & West End Community Centre

May 3 - VV Permaculture Plot Work Party & Potluck
Cottonwood Community Gardens

May 3 - Jane's Walk: An affordable alternative to the Broadway Subway
VCC Clark Skytrain Station

May 3 - Kits Village Green Streets Garden Work Party
Kits, please RSVP for location

May 3 - Kits Village Collaborative Garden Work Party
Kits, near beach

May 3 - VV Seed Savers Volunteer Work Party (filling seed packets)
Kits, near beach

May 3 - Jane's Walk: An Archaeological Tour of the Habitat Forum 1976 site at Jericho Beach
Jericho Sailing Centre

May 3 - Kits Village Dinner Group #2 May Gathering
Kits

May 3 - VV Potluck
Kits, near beach

May 5 - Main St Village Vancouver Monthly Potluck and Workshop
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House

May 7 - VV Transition Society May Board of Directors Meeting
Vancouver

May 9 - Introduction to Permaculture

VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 9 - We Love Weeds - Foraging 101
Homesteaders Emporium, Strathcona

May 2 - Jane's Walk: Architectural Heritage and Human Scale Urbanism in Mt Pleasant
Quebec Manor in Mount Pleasant

May 9 - Stone Soup Festival - Village Vancouver Booth
Britannia Community Centre

May 9 - Stone Soup Festival
Britannia Community Centre

May 9 - Permaculture in the City
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 9 - KidsZone: Seed Ball Making
Kensington Branch Library

May 9 - Truth and Reconciliation in the Indigenous Land and Food System
Britannia Community Centre Library

May 10 - Village Vancouver Volunteer Sunday
Strathcona, Kits, Kits Point

May 10 - Village Vancouver Permaculture Plot Work Party
Cottonwood Community Garden

May 10 - Kits Village Green Streets Garden Work Party
Kits, please RSVP for location

May 10 - Village Vancouver Seed Savers Volunteer Work Party (filling seed packets)
Kits, near beach

May 10 - Kits Village May Potluck
Kits, near beach

May 10 - Deer Lake Walk with Dogs, Potluck & Permaculture
Deer Lake, Burnaby

May 12 - Nature at Work for Employee Wellness
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 13 - Gardening for Birds
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 14 - Kits Village May Plastic Recycling Depot
Location TBD

May 14 - Building Your Garden's Soil
West End Community Centre

May 14 - History of the Medicinal Garden
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 16 - Burnaby Village Drop-in Spaghetti Night
Willingdon Hastings Area, North Burnaby

May 17 - Village Vancouver Permaculture Plot Holiday Work Party
Cottonwood Community Garden

May 17 - West End Neighbourhood Food Network May Community Potluck
West End Community Centre

May 17 - Kits Village Green Streets Garden Holiday Work Party
Kits, please RSVP for location

May 17 - A Taste of Latin America - Pupusas
Britannia Community Centre

May 17 - Kits Village Collaborative Garden Holiday Work Party
Kits, near beach

May 21 - Rapt in Nature Tropical Walk
Bloedel Conservatory

May 21 - Commercial Drive Village Vancouver Potluck & Free Workshop
Rising Star Co-op

May 23 - Botanical Names Explained
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 23 - Britannia School Garden Fundraiser
Astorinos Hall

May 23 - West End Neighbourhood Food Network booth at Community Farmstead Day
Roedde House Museum

May 23 - Community Farmstead Day
Roedde House Museum

May 24 - Deadline for June Newsletter

May 24 - Village Vancouver Permaculture Plot Work Party
Cottonwood Community Garden

May 24 - Kits Village Green Streets Garden Work Party
Kits, please RSVP for location

May 24 - A Taste of Latin America - Tamales
Britannia Community Centre

May 24 - Kits Village Collaborative Garden Work Party
Kits, near beach

May 25 - Village Vancouver Transition Society May Board of Directors Meeting
Vancouver

May 26 - Helping Bees in your Urban Garden
VanDusen Botanical Garden

May 27 - Planning Meeting for VV Demo Sustainable Village at Main St. Car Free Day
Kits

May 27 - VV Admin Working Group Meeting
Kits

May 28 - Spring Slaw! Fermented Vegetables
Strathcona Community Centre

May 28 - Wine in the Garden
VanDusen Botanical Gardens BMO Great Hall

May 30 - Aberthau Garden Project: VV Demo Permaculture Garden Work Party and Potluck
Aberthau Manion Garden

May 31 - Village Vancouver Permaculture Plot Work Party
Cottonwood Community Garden

May 31 - Kits Village Green Streets Garden Work Party
Kits, please RSVP for location

May 31 - Kits Village Collaborative Garden Work Party
Kits, near beach

May 31 - Kits Village Dinner Group #1 May Gathering
Kits

Jun 2 - Main Street Village Vancouver Monthly Potluck and Workshop
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House

Jun 3 - How to Improve Wet Garden Zones
VanDusen Botanical Garden

Jun 4 - Capturing Summer with Watercolour
VanDusen Botanical Garden

Jun 6 - Village Vancouver 100 in 1 Day Intervention: VV Seed Sharing Library
Mt Pleasant

Jun 6 - 100 in 1 Day Vancouver
Vancouver

Jun 6 to 27 - West End June Food Scrap Drop Spots
West End Community Centre

Jun 6 - Village Vancouver 100 in 1 Day Intervention: Kits Permaculture Blitz
Kits

Jun 6 - Village Vancouver 100 in 1 Day Intervention: VV Marpole Neighbourhood Food Network Booth at Marpole Community Day
Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre

Jun 7 - Kits Village Dinner Group #2 June Gathering
Kits

Jun 10 - Planning Meeting for VV Demo Sustainable Village at Main St. Car Free Day
Kits

Jun 10 - VV Admin Working Group Meeting
Kits

Jun 12 - Responding to Abrupt Climate Change, with Guy McPherson
Heartwood Cafe

Stay Updated on Upcoming Events
The most up-to-date calendar of upcoming events!

Plug into Village Vancouver

Visit us online at www.villagevancouver.ca

Check out our Facebook page for job postings and news

Attend an event - Village Vancouver and member of the VV community put on an amazing array of events each month, ranging from workshops to discussion circles and potlucks. During the pandemic and in accordance with BC COVID safety protocols, we are hosting most of our events oniine! Check out our Events page frequently for details! You can also check eventbrite for any upcoming programs!

Volunteer! We are a people-powered organization. Due to COVID-19, volunteers are working remotely from home. If you are interested in working from home, or working on the many gardens we have, let us know! Check out our website or contact us as volunteer@villagevancouver.ca to find out how to connect with a particular project.

Got an idea? Start a new project or group! Write to us to find out how we can support you! projects@villagevancouver.ca

Get involved with your neighbourhood village check out the list by clicking here!

Send us your submissions!

The Village Vancouver Newsletter is your forum for all things Transition in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. We want this to be a place for inspiration, where people can share their stories about people and projects that are helping to build a positive, resilient and sustainable future in the region.

Please send your articles, photos, ideas, stories and anything else you'd like to share to newsletter@villagevancouver.ca by the 24th of the month in order to ensure that they can be published in the following month’s newsletter.

Our Editorial Team:

Daniella Prandocxky

Ganimul Singh

Samantha Loo

Stephanie Shulhan

Tom Prugh

Ross Moster

Why not join us? Write to newsletter@villagevancouver.ca if you've got a Transition journalist, editor or columnist itching to emerge!

Support Village Vancouver

Donate now to help support Village activities, events and the behind the scenes work. Village Vancouver is here for our community members and takes actions to build resilient communities that are sustainable and community driven. We're extremely active and typically engage in over 400 activities in a year. The board and staff are working hard facilitating our Community Food Resilience Program and ask for your help! Any amount, however small, will have a big impact and will provide Village Vancouver with the financial stability it needs in order to provide ambitious grassroots Transition leadership. If interested you can click here.