Irwell Group

Living Well in Manchester.

100% organic intellectual — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:45:19 +0000

Our council is committed to reducing poverty: it’s a cornerstone of its strategy, but will
more economic growth really deliver? Is it sustainable? Is it even feasible given an
economic system in permanent crisis? What are the alternatives that can also rapidly
reduce our shared carbon footprint?
Our new publication discusses the dilemma and suggests an alternative and realistic approach in the light of actually happening no-growth and the spectre of runaway climate change. Is it possible for us all to prosper without the economy growing?
Read more.

An Uncertain Future – building a social movement in Manchester

rosejeffmo — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:22:34 +0000

The second of our discussion papers begins to address the issue of how to create a broad-based social movement in Manchester, that can provide the political will to turn Manchester’s Climate Change Action plan from a document to a reality.

It suggests that we need to focus on developing loose social networks, provoking debate, inspiring people to construct positive visions of their future and encouraging them to see the way in which their immediate concerns are interconnected to the broader issues of sustainability.

Culture, the missing element of “A Certain Future”

100% organic intellectual — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:07:09 +0000

Here is the first in our series of discussion papers.

It deals with the question of culture, first outlining what we mean by culture and then exploring what a culture consistent with a low-carbon Manchester might look like. To do this it uses the format of the A Certain Future themed sections.

Our view is that education and behaviour change are not enough – mitigating and adapting to climate change means changes in the way we all live – a different culture.