“The Power of community”
Roberto Perez and
international permaculturist from Cuba is visiting Bellingen on the weekend of
the River Festival. He works as a
environmental educator for the Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Cuba's major
environment organization based in Havana.
His visit to Bellingen will provide a rare
opportunity to hear about the Cuba experience first hand and engage in dialogue
and discussion on practical ways we can meet the challenges of climate change
and making the transition to a low energy society.
Living
Planet Sustainability Index
Roberto Perez is familiar to many Australians as the
dynamic permaculturist featured in the DVD documentary "The Power of
Community", which has inspired a diverse audience throughout Australia,
including schools, universities, climate action groups, relocalisation groups,
community gardeners, church groups, and countless public and private
screenings.
The new wave of change firing the Australian public
signals a readiness to re-examine our society and explore sustainable solutions
to embrace the challenges of a low-carbon future. We have much to learn
from the Cuba experience, particularly in the areas of urban agriculture, food
security, building community and living a low-impact lifestyle.
The 2007 Living Planet Report recently released by
the World Wildlife Fund claims that the only truly sustainable country in the
world is Cuba--Sustainable development being defined as a commitment to
"improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying
capacity of supporting ecosystems".
The two key parameters employed by WWF
for measuring sustainable development were the United Nations Development
Program's (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) as the indicator of human
wellbeing --calculated from life expectancy, literacy and education, and per
capita GDP; and Ecological Footprint calculated at 1.8 global hectares per
person to measure the demand on the biosphere.
Cuba was the ONLY country on earth to achieve both
criteria for sustainable development.
In terms of ecological footprint, Australia rates as
the 6th highest nation on earth. If everyone lived like the average
Australian we'd need almost 4 planets to support the earth's current
population.
The report naturally does not imply that everything
in Cuba is perfect, it still faces challenges in terms of environmental
degradation and living within the limits of the USA trade embargo, yet this
externally imposed restraint is perhaps the key factor resulting in the Cuban
population living within it's global footprint. The report is definitely a
wake-up call that the affluent lifestyle enjoyed in Australia is clearly not
sustainable and we need to live more like Cubans in terms of simplicity and
frugality, we need to dramatically reduce our consumption and become more
resourceful with less.
Roberto's visit will provide a unique opportunity to
learn more about how a society can survive with serious resource constraints
and attain a high degree of self-reliance. Documentary will be presented by Roberto
Perez at 5 Church St Cafe Sunday night 4th Nov at 6pm.