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Opportunities for better bus services – O4B report published

In February Oxfordshire for Buses (O4B) ran an expert workshop on ‘Delivering Better Bus Services for Oxfordshire’, supported by a grant from the Foundation for Integrated Transport (FIT).  38 people attended, including senior managers of the bus companies, representatives of the county council and of community transport, district authorities, the hospitals, universities, bus users and the disabled community, among others.  The workshop was an opportunity to debate and explore a range of issues and resulted in a number of conclusions and insights into how to improve bus services and increase bus use, summarised in this report. These include:

  • the importance of road space allocation, parking and planning in influencing bus use;
  • the importance of managerial talent;
  • the benefits and risks of a franchising model;
  • opportunities for the Enhanced Partnership (between the county council and bus companies) to contribute to improved bus services.

The report will feed into the local debate about future management and ownership of bus services, alongside the recent Citizens’ Assembly on the future of transport in Oxfordshire, and a report commissioned by the County Council from sustainable transport planning consultancy ITP.

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Making space for nature in north Oxford: Alexandra Park needs your help!

Next spring will mark the 100th anniversary of Alexandra Park, possibly Oxford’s oldest public park, situated between Middle Way and Woodstock Road, just a block from Summertown’s shops. Over the past four years local volunteers have been working to transform the park into a welcoming, safe place for people of all ages – a place to meet friends or enjoy quiet contemplation, to rest and to play, and to connect with nature. More projects are planned, including a community sensory garden and haven for local biodiversity. Summertown and St Margaret’s Neighbourhood Forum are now calling for more people to join them and to be part of next summer’s Centenary celebrations. Email the Forum (sstmnf.secretary@gmail.com) if you would like to find out more.

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Oxford Car Free Challenge report published

How did they do it? And what did we learn?

The Oxford Car Free Challenge report is published today. 10 out of the 12 participants reported that they intend to cut down on car use permanently as a result of participating in the project. Read more here -find out about the benefits of, and barriers to, driving less in Oxford – and what types of support can help.

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Come and meet us at the North Parade Market!

LCON runs a stall every 4th Saturday of the month at the North Parade market, 10am-2pm.

Pop along to see us, learn about our projects, discuss ideas, and meet others looking to reduce their carbon footprint. LCON members and other groups with similar interests to LCON are welcome to participate in the stall – contact us at info@lcon.org.uk. We hope to see you there!

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Come to one of our warm and friendly Climate Cafes

Are you feeling concerned, anxious or overwhelmed by the climate crisis? Climate Cafés provide a supportive space in which to talk about how the climate crisis is affecting us – without pressure to act. They take place monthly, alternating between Saturdays at The North Wall Arts Centre, and Sundays at Common Ground Workspace

Everyone is welcome – we hope to see you there!

More details and dates on our Climate Cafe web page.

To receive our monthly newsletters with news and updates on our climate cafes and other events and activities, click here.

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“Forget fast fashion – buy second hand”

Students from the Cherwell, Oxford High School and St Clare’s arrive at the Natural History Museum for their photo shoot

On the same day as the COP26 rally, north Oxford school students sent their own message: climate action can be fun!

Armed with 20 bags of second hand clothes from Oxfam, the 18 students from Cherwell, Oxford High School and St Clare’s designed and upcycled new outfits before heading to Oxford’s Natural History Museum for their fashion photo shoot. They have now produced some amazing posters to spread awareness of sustainable fashion among their peers and beyond – here are some of them:

Thank you to LCON member and sustainability educator Kim Polgreen, Jeni Williams, the teachers and staff at the schools, staff at Oxfam and the Natural History Museum, for making this happen – and most of all, thank you to the students for their passion, positivity and enthusiasm!

Here is what the Oxford Mail had to say about the project.

If you want to find out more about the impact of fast fashion and what we can do about it, have a look at our collection of information and resources here.

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Talking waste and climate – tips and resources from our recent workshop

Our second ‘Spring Workshop’ from Communities for Zero Carbon Oxford (hosted by Low Carbon West Oxford) took place this week, ‘Talking climate and waste’. It was great to explore different aspects of consumption and waste with a fantastic team of experts, including Anaïs Bozetine from Replenish, Jenny Figueiredo, formerly at WRAP, and Mark Watson, Waste Strategy Projects Officer at Oxfordshire County Council.

A recording of the event and slides are available on the Low Carbon West Oxford website.

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It’s our 10 year anniversary! Watch our short film about LCON

Moved by the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, in 2010 a group of North Oxford residents got together to find ways of taking local action to combat climate change. To mark our first ten years, and to help more people find out who we are and what we do, we have made a short film. We describe the activities we have carried out over the years, reflect on where we need to go next, and share our hopes for a future Oxford. Watch the film on our YouTube channel – and if you like it, please share! 

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Want to talk about Climate Change? Join one of our friendly Climate Cafes

Our Climate Cafes run monthly. Details are on our Meetup page. Climate Cafes provide a supportive space in which to talk about how the climate crisis is affecting us – without pressure to act. The cafes are facilitated by Rebecca Nestor. 

During the Coronavirus outbreak our Climate Cafes are taking place via online platform Zoom. Please see the Meetup page for further details, including future dates.

We think our Climate Cafes offer something different from the usual gatherings of people with interests in climate change. They are facilitated – so you can be sure that there will be space for you to speak. They are not designed to recruit you to do anything or to put you under any pressure. The idea behind them is that talking about climate change is really important – but it is often made more difficult by our feelings of guilt that we are not doing enough, or frustration that others are not doing enough. So we provide a space in which we don’t talk about what we or others are doing or should be doing. We just talk about climate change and how it is making us think and feel. Everyone is welcome.

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Time to act: fossil fuel divestment

  • Students call for fossil fuel divestment at St John’s College

Last week Oxford students occupied St John’s College in protest at its £8.1m fossil fuel investments. The students held up placards reading “We can’t eat money or drink oil”, “Fossil Fuels are History” and  “Wake up Fossil Fools”. As they endured the overnight cold in their tents, the college’s response included attempts to keep out sleeping bags and blankets, deactivating the students’ key fobs, and a proposal from the Bursar that he could “arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect”. Calling themselves “Direct Action for Divestment“, the campaign group was supported by the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, XR Oxford and other climate activists.

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