I live in a small village that is in the Milton Keynes area called Olney.

Area: Milton Keynes 001D (Lower Layer Super Output Area)

As you can see from this table there are not many people that live here, and I would describe as a rural townand there si not a great deal of ethnic cultures

Milton Keynes 001D

2001 Population: All people (Persons, Apr01)1
Count
1,609

2001 Population: Males (Persons, Apr01)1
Count
799

2001 Population: Females (Persons, Apr01)1
Count
810

2001 Density (number of people per hectare) (Persons, Apr01)1
Rate
0.86

People stating religion as: Christian (Persons, Apr01)1
%
73.21

People stating religion as: Buddhist (Persons, Apr01)1
%
0.25



According to the statistics on the table of Milton Keynes SOA 001D, we have a minimal amount of people on benefits, have no deprivation, no cause for issues, and I believe that to be true. There has just been a secondary school built for the children of Olney and surrounding villages, and as much as it is hi-tech, it has also been built with sustainable thoughts in mind also.

Housing in general is very high priced, and has not faltered through the beginnings of the recession. This does make it hard for the younger people to get their first affordable house here, and many of them move further away to cheaper places nearby in Bedfordshire or Northants.

3-month moving averages by number of bedrooms in Olney

Mar 2008 - Mar 2009

Change
5 Bedrooms
£645,000
£553,736
-14%
4 Bedrooms
£377,808
£362,655
-4%
3 Bedrooms
£238,398
£262,054
+10%
2 Bedrooms
£221,490
£202,647
-9%
1 Bedroom
£192,633
£141,504
-27%
All
£336,723
£285,900
-15%

This shows that on average families are still striving (and struggling) to afford to move here.

Olney is quite often classed as ‘quaint’, and many people move here, that commute to work once they are married and have children. The schools are good, and it is a nice place for children to grow up, with little crime, and plentiful spaces to play.

On the whole, council tax is banded extremely high, because we are banded to Milton Keynes Council, so the facilities are available to us, such as the library, etc, but are quite far out of reach, as are the police. Policing has been an issue of late, because of small issues, such as teenage drinking, and graffiti, but in comparison to other places in MK we have nothing to complain about, and this has been dealt with having a couple of Special constable police to be seen about.

Milton Keynes recycling for households is very good, and they also have a recycling scheme for outdoors waste for compost, at a small charge, and there are 2 large recycling centres to go to.
Sustainable issues are ‘rife’ at present in olney because there is a wind farm being proposed. Personally I am all ‘for it’, but there are many that are against, arguing that it will compromise the natural beauty of the small town and countryside. Unfortunately for the people opposing, it has been through court and rejected.
http://www.blew.org.uk/

The Milton Keynes area as a whole, does have problems..
there are 6 LSOAs in MK which are within the most deprived 10% in England. These areas cover a large part of Woughton Ward and part of Eaton Manor Ward. Overall there are 22 SOAs within the most deprived 30%. There are 14 areas within the least deprived, 10% of these are in rural areas, Newport Pagnell and some areas in the city. [Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 – Lower Super Output Area Analysis of MK]

Milton Keynes as a whole, is grouped into areas, of deprived and non-deprived due to its construction, so obviously they are trying to help the areas most needed at present.

The tannery of Olney was closed approx 6 years ago, and many people in Olney had worked there since leaving school, so this was a problem, also there are many farmers in this SOA, and there used to be a huge cattle market in Olney in the week, and has now ceased to exist, which meant having to go to Northampton, which has also moved now, but other industries have taken their place and so there is little unemployment here. There is a small industrial estate, and many of the 'long' lived locals work there, and the majority of the community is very close-knit, however there does still seem to be a slight animosity to the new people that move here, but still commute to their work place.

Community spirit is still high, and Olney has its yearly Cherry Fair, , and Dickens Day throughout the year, and we have a high tourist input with the farmers market also, which generates a lot of business for local businesses. There is also a monthly magazine all about the goings on in olney, to keep everyone up to date, and to comment on. Usually the comments are quite random, and non-specific, eg. The colours of shop fronts, and a slight tinge of graffiti in the bus stop, so it concludes to me, that most people are happy in this town/village.

Local transport links are good to Milton Keynes, and Northampton etc, but slightly erratic if living in one of the smaller villages. (They only seem to turn up when they want to). I think this could be improved quite considerably.

There are few amenities available for the youth, and this is the main cause for others annoyance, but there are 4 pubs, and several other restaurants. I think it would be good if there was somewhere for the youngsters to ‘hang out’ without getting in the way of everyone else, ‘not seen, and not heard’ scenario.

references:

http://www.blew.org.uk/

http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk/councils/olney/index.html

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=301167&c=MK46+5BJ&d=141&e=13&g=410003&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1236729047328&enc=1&dsFamilyId=789
http://www.mkiobservatory.org.uk/page.aspx?id=1912&siteID=1026

http://www.phoneboxmagazine.co.uk/default.aspx?g=topics&f=6

Sustainable Development in Education

I think educating sustainable development in schools from Key stage 1 is a great idea. This is will teach our future the importance of all aspects and will for them, become instinct to react and deal with it.

Education is changing greatly with new subjects being introduced. For example, sex education to promote safe sex, and the knowledge of STI’s, hopefully to decrease these diseases back into ‘rare cases’, Up to one in ten sexually active young people are thought to have Chlamydia, and in some places/schools where 1 in 4 students are suspected to have Chlamydia. Hopefully, this will prevent the disease, instead of having to deal with the disease.

‘It is informed by the past and relevant to the present, and prepares individuals for the future. Education teaches people to be better individuals, family members, community members and citizens.’(UNESCO online)

Scotland have already introduced this into their education and have a vast knowledge and learning departments to refer to, to teach all year groups the different importances of sustainable development.


Climate Change resource
The Climate Change resource for Scottish secondary schools encourages young people to investigate, communicate and act to tackle climate change.
The resource features the latest international research and essential information, details of climate research in Scotland, and photographs from around the world for use in Scottish schools.

Schools' Global Footprint
Use the Schools' Global Footprint resource to calculate the amount of resources you and your school use compared with what is available in the world and find out how to reduce your school's impact on the planet.

This should hopefully develop their awareness and understanding of the
Environment in which we live, and make them more committed to help with sustainable
development issues at a personal, local, national and global level."

The importance of Geography
"Geography is a focus within the curriculum for understanding and resolving issues
about the environment and sustainable development....It can inspire them to think
about their own place in the world, their values, and their rights and responsibilities to
other people and the environment.
However, other sustainable issues can also be taught in other subjects, not just in Geography.

The importance of Science
“...They learn to question and discuss science-based issues that may affect their own
lives, the direction of society and the future of the world.”

Design and Technology
They combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetics, social and
environmental issues, .....Through design and technology, all pupils can become
discriminating and informed users of products.....

Citizenship
It encourages pupils to play a helpful part in the life of their schools, neighbourhoods,
communities and the wider world. It also teaches them about our economy and
democratic institutions and values; encourages respect for different national, religious
and ethnic identities; and develops pupils' ability to reflect on issues and take part in discussions.(www. Itsscotland.org.[online])

I think teaching sustainable development in all different subjects and integrating it into the learning is achievable, and will be very beneficial to our way of life. Its harder to try and make people change their views once they have been ‘set in their ways’, but if you teach the young from an early age, they will grow with the idea of sustainable development in ‘mind’.

In taking this module I have learnt so much that I was unaware of, and because I am a lot older than most of the other students in this class, I have noticed that they have a lot more knowledge about this subject than I do. I have loved learning more about sustainable development, and don’t feel so naive as I did when i first started this class, but I only wish I knew more about it years ago.


References:
http://www.fpa.org.uk/information/leaflets/documents_and_pdfs/detail.cfm?contentid=128
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/sustainabledevelopment/findresources/index.asp
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27542&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://www.services.bgfl.org/services/pdf/yoenc.pdf

Credit Crunch.

‘The action taken in response to the credit crunch indicates the scale and speed of what is possible. Saving the ecosystem services upon which we all depend would seem to be at least as important as baling out the worldwide cartel of reckless and greedy bankers.’

This was the response from Professor Chris Rapley, director of the Science Museum, London, when asked by The Independent whether we should have a’ Plan B’ to curb the worst effects of global warming. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/what-can-we-do-to-save-our-planet-1221097.html

This is true.. The government have gone to huge lengths and costs to try and sort this out for everyone, to make it as painless as possible, so why can’t they ‘step it up’ a couple of paces with the climate change and solutions to it? Surely all they need to do is start putting through some new laws about carbon output, and taxes on coal and other non-renewable fuels, and it would be achieved, after all they are usually quite happy to put new laws into action.
If you just tap into google or another search engine ‘new laws in 2008’ there are a vast amount of them, ranging from tax exemptions, missing peoples families, men paying for sex, and forced marriages to name but a few that most of us know nothing about!

However, while life is in a changing time, with the credit crunch and ever increasing redundancies being made life will surely change for the better for our sustainable development issues hopefully.

Our spending ways are decreasing dramatically for most of us. Where are most of us going on holiday this year?, if indeed, a holiday at all!

Feb 4th Thetimes:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5654242.ece
British Holidays for British Workers.

Pontin's announced yesterday that it is creating 2,000 jobs and spending £50 million updating its Ocean Parcs to cope with demand. Landmark Trust (the upmarket Pontin's where you can stay in 18th-century follies in the shape of pineapples) has been inundated with requests not just from the Shadow Cabinet, which now has to holiday in Britain, but from bankers vying to sleep in a Gothic temple in Buckinghamshire.

This will help with unemployment in the UK, and less carbon emissions from aeroplanes. Who can afford to go on holiday abroad when the pound is so weak to the Euro and the dollar? The flights to these places are still cheap, but then it is going to cost a small fortune while you are holidaying there.

Most of us that are over 20 can remember some kind of credit crunch/ recession, and even if it wasn’t a worldwide, or nationwide credit crunch, most individuals at some point in their life have a period of having no spare money and wondering how on earth they are going to pay the big red bill that has just zoomed through the letter box! (or is that just me?)

This will change most people’s views on leaving the lights on because they are in too much of a rush, and leaving the TV on standby all night because they can’t be bothered to turn it off. The little things as everyone always tell us, are the most important. Its like the old saying, ‘Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves’. I’m not so sure that it is true, but when you are struggling to pay the basic household bills, and rent/mortgage, anything is worth a go.

Gone are the days, that you want to ‘dress to impress’ and spend over the odds on new clothes. Now it has become ‘Bargain Hunt’ Era. Less people are shopping for the finest foods, and are with the rest of us at the local Poundland, or 99p store.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article5541951.ece

These shops are definitely not feeling the credit crunch. Poundland are revelling in it, aiming to open another 30 stores this year.

Primarks are also a leading ‘bargain’ store for clothes, which are still doing well, but what about the child labour that goes into all these clothes getting made? Have we now stopped caring, because we can’t afford to care? Does everything really revolve around money.

The Fairtrade and Organic brands were often bought at the supermarkets. Have we stopped buying these now and started buying the ‘Value’ instead? Was the reason that we bought them in the first place just to look like we cared, or can we really not afford that extra 20p for them anymore?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1970474/Financial-crisis-Credit-crunch-fails-to-stop-our-summer-holidays.html

Another subject is ‘home-growing’. Having your own allotment has been on the increase steadily for the last couple of years, probably due to all the gardening programmes, and the chefs like Jamie Oliver that have their own little cabbage patch, but in the last year, some of the councils have been inundated by requests for an allotment.

In Sheffield 2,200 people want an allotment, compared to 35 people 10 years ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4409956/Recession-creates-queues-for-allotments.html
Figures from councils across Britain reveal that as many as 100,000 people could be waiting for allotment places as hard-pressed families seek to save money by returning to "The Good Life".

Could this be the Good Life..... returning to this?

I think it could definitely help us towards reducing our waste and carbon emissions, but I also agree with Nef;

Out of the ashes of the crash, a new economic order is emerging. This is a genuinely historic – and for many, painful – time. But it presents us with a unique opportunity to build a financial infrastructure that actually does the job the old order failed to do: to value and protect our fundamental social and natural operating systems. In a new economy, these are what must be valued and invested in, not the hollow, unsustainable and destructive promises of easy credit, consumerism and unsustainable economic growth. A return to ‘business as usual’ is not an option.

http://www.sustainablescotland.com/library/new-thinking/wellbeing/view-category.html?dir=ASC&limit=5&limitstart=0&order=name

Whatever good things come out of the credit crunch, there still needs to be huge restructuring to our way of lives to make everything better, if that is at all possible any more.

Our Travel Survey

Last thursday the whole class split into small groups and for an hour each throughout the day, with a half hour lapse of each other, we did a survey of the amount of cars entering the university car park in tally form, tallying how many had 1 person or 2,3 etc. The travel survey, was completed at 11am. I was surprised how many cars came in at this time. I thought that the majority of people arriving at uni would be in the morning and around lunchtime.



We did seem to notice that a lot of people were having real problems trying to get into the car park because it was the first couple of days that the barriers had started working, and over half of the people parking at this time were trying to access the car park using their student card, which caused much amusement for us within this hour!



However, I had to leave the survey half way into it because of family chaos, but the time I had completed seemed to be quite constant with cars turning up probably averaging 1 car per 1-2 minutes, and I was surprised to find that most cars only had 1 person in.

Its a shame that there isn't a more wider knowledge, or site that can be posted on nile, so advertise car sharing, because this would reduce the amount of cars by quite a huge ammount.



The questionnaires that were completed were hard to get people to stop. I think it was because most people were in a rush to get to lectures...or so they said!!, and the people that did offer to fill one in, seemed to get bored half way through, so if we had to do this again, I think it would be better to keep it less complicated. I think it was mainly question 5 and 7 that made the questionnaire longer than it looked.



If we were to do the travel survey again, it would be effective if we could get enough people to do it for more than one day, ideally 3 to get more of an average over the week of cars using the car park, and maybe doing hours without the half hour gap, as that data is missing.



As we only had so many groups though, I think it was the best possible solution to space it out through the day like that, and it will give us a good enough result of cars using the car park throughout the day.



Our group struggled considerably to get questionnaires, not just because a lot of people declined, but also because of the lack of people in our group, but we did our best to get as many filled out. It was also raining at the time of our hour outside doing tallies and questionnaires, so this didn't really help either.

WHAT CAN ‘WE’ DO TO HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

There are a number of things that we can all do to help make a difference, such as recycling, saving energy by turning electric appliances off when they are not needed, washing our clothes on 40 degrees instead of 60 (or maybe not washing them as much as you would normally!) Walking small distances instead of driving, or maybe taking the public transport that is available instead; and not forgetting the all famous compost heap down the bottom of the garden. But is this really enough? I think it is a start, and is better than doing nothing at all....

‘But’.. I hear some people moan...... ‘what’s the point of me doing it if the rest of the world isn’t. On a worldwide scale it will have no effect!’, and you can see their point, when in the The Guardian on Tuesday 9 Dec they printed a nice picture of new figures that confirm that China has overtaken the US as the largest emitter of CO2. (compiled by EIA, the Environmental Information Administration.)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/interactive/2008/dec/09/climatechange-carbonemissions

As usual there is always two sides to every story.. and this may be so, but if we do nothing and no other country does anything then the world as we know it won’t be about for much longer..

So I ask myself, is there anything else that we can do to help??

Some people have gone that little bit further to help like the group ‘Plane Stupid’. As much as I admire them and think ‘Yay, go for it!’. I, fortunately wasn’t one of the many people stuck at Stansted airport because my plane had been cancelled!, and in the long run, what has this achieved? Certainly lots of annoyed people that didn’t get to go on holiday that day, 50+ of the group getting arrested, bad publicity.... (or is there such a thing?).

I believe there are many successful protesters that have fought long and hard for what they believe in.

http://articles.mibba.com/People/907/Emily-Pankhurst -

If it wasn’t for Emily Pankhurst, that fought from 1889 – 1928 to get the right for women to vote equally as men. She fought hard and was imprisoned countless times, because she believed in our rights as human beings.

Maybe we should all become super heroes, like ‘Climate Man’?, who this week breached the most heavily guarded power station in Britain and crashed a giant 500MW turbine, leaving a calling card reading ‘no new coal’.

Nobody has a clue who this was, but he singlehandedly cut UK carbon output by 2%... Not bad for a days work.Can’t fault the guy!!). He has also gone that little bit further to help with the current climate issue.

So, I think we should do as much as we can to help in this struggle to save our planet. If we can’t be a super hero, or don’t want to get arrested, just change your life a little and you know that you are doing your bit for our world as it is, to stay like it is a little longer.

Blog 4.. UN debate

Doing this exercise of the ‘UN’ style debate I found out lots of facts on SouthAfrica which I would have had no idea about. I didn’t know a lot about this country at all apart from the fact that people go there on holiday a lot ad they have a good rugny team! I was aware of the fact that there was a massive problem with AIDS/HIV and the basic structure of the whole country, eg the bits you see on the news; appartheid, nelson Mandella etc, but that was all. So when we started researching this country it was easy to find the basic facts, but it took a little while to play with ‘wording’ on the site engines to get any information up about the sustainable Development issues. Once we had sorted that out though we found vast amounts of information.

The end of appartheid in 1990 has completely changed tis country, before this the majority of the population were unaccounted for (so to speak), and now it is having to care for the whole population which has brought on huge changes & difficulties. However, South Africas Constitution is now regarded as one of the most progressive in the world.
Also, we found the South African Energy Policies for Sustainable Development, edited by Harald Winkler from the Energy research Centre, In University of Cape Town, and this showed policies that could happen, how easy they would be to implement, and the cost effectiveness of them. Both these items, I forgot to mention in the presentation!!

I think South Africa are definitely progressing well, but still have a lot to achieve to be on target for their ‘Vision’. Hopefully with the FIFA Wold Cup 2010 being held there, a lot of money will be invested wisely into the country which will give them a helping hand towards some of their targets.

By doing a presentation, we were able to not only find out about our own country through the research we did, but also find out all about the other countries policies and struggles which we had no idea about, (Imagine how long that would have taken us to research on our own!!). Eg, i now know that Denmark is the ‘elite’ in sustainable development, and all I can imagine now is that it looks like something out of the Honda advert..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXf5UUnLzwQ

On the day of the ‘UN’ debate, i know everyone was very nervous. (Iknow I was). I’ve never stared at a table for so long!, but considering this, i think we all did really well. I agree that we all should have looked up more & not just read from our notes, but the fact we all did our presentations without passing out with fear was quite an achievement i thought.

I know the money went to the most deserved countries that needed it, but if it had been different and the money had gone to the contries that gave the best presentations, i think it would have been given to Cambodia & Malawi. I think they were the most confident speakers.

Despite the fact that I felt sick all day knowing I had to stand up and give a presentation I really did enjoy it. It will be good to do it again, and is a great way of learning the differences other countries face. Next time we all have to do this, i am sure everyone will be much more confident and will be far louder and ask more questions... bit more debate-style. I did think the whole group were really supportive of each other though.

Considering the handout was only to be 2 pages long, it was hard to compress all the research we had found into it. If I was to do it again, I would probably just put the main points down, and not describe it so much.
I like working as a team because you get the added bonus of ‘back up’ and Adam was good in the presentation. It was hard for us to meet up and collate findings because of work & other commitments, so we ended up mostly relaying information through e-mails, but seemed to work fine. We only met briefly to discuss what each of us was going to say in the presentation, and I think we should have gone through this in more detail to make our presentation flow better, but on the whole... I think we worked well.

rubbish

After looking at the results of the provisional recycling rates of the NJMWMS (Northampton Joint Municipal Waste Magement Strategy) , I could see that the recycling rates varied greatly in the different districts.

From the highest DDC (47%), to the lowest CBC (28%)... So why the difference?

DDC - although it has the highest recycling rates, at a staggering 47%. Since 2001 when this project started, it has only increased by 3%. Whereas,
CBC - has increased its recycling by an impressive 28% in that time.

If you look at the Main Collection Services offered to these areas:

DDC - has Residual Refuse only collected 2 weekly, but Recyclable weekly
This will encourage people in that district to recycle as much as possible, to get rid of as much 'rubbish' weekly.

CBC - have their Residual Refuse collected 2 weekly, but Recyclable is also only 2 weekly, and there is fewer recyclable items collected than DDC.

You only have to look at ENC to see the difference of the collection and the recycling rates make: ENC have only improved by 10.8% since 2001, but they are still having their black sacks collected every week, and the recycling in this area is so confusing with paper 1 week, cardboard etc. 2 weeks & glass every 4 weeks.

It is understandable to assume that nobody wants their 'rubbish' hanging around for that long, so it just gets 'slung' in with the refuse! Not to mention, having to pay for having your grass cuttings taken away.

If every district was offered the same services as DDC, the recycling rates would rise considerably. It is so much simpler & less time consuming for the average householder. Most people want to do 'their bit' for the environment and recycle, but it is remembering which week is for which collection ( that gets very confusing, trust me!), and then, generally people get bored with worrying about it.. Also putting the wrong rubbish out on the wrong week, (Easily done, I assure you!), and then it doesn't get collected, so they are left with bins full of recycling and household refuse!! Very frustrating!!http://zkonedog.mlblogs.com/01-frustrated.jpg



As a conclusion: the simpler the service is for the householder, the more they will be willing and happy to do it. After all, most people have busy lives.

Improvements to the scheme could include an incentive like a lucky draw. In Milton Keynes, there is a Cash for Trash incentive, where you can win 2 x £100 weekly.
http://www.miltonkeynescouncil.gov.uk/recycling/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=48379

Greenstar is investing million to build an automated recycling facility which can process co-mingled recyclables to high quality standards.
http://www.processingtalk.com/news/grn/grn108.html
The less time recycling takes, the simpler it is...people will welcome it.

Maybe other small incentives such as bringing back the 'deposit & return' on bottles. Bribing people to get them to do something, is always easy. The Scottish government are seeking views on the return of this idea. In Denmark, the return rate for this scheme is around 85%.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/07/25132225

I really don't agree with imposing fines & enforcement. I just feels like another threat from the government and another rule that must be obeyed by 'us'. (By 'us', I mean 'we' the people). it makes most of 'us' not want to do it.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=14261&channel=0

The best way to get a child to do something you want them to do, is by rewards & praise, not punishment, and we are, after all, all 'kids at heart'.http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/6/0/9/6/ar119387780569062.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.illuminateict.org.uk/first-visitor&h=800&w=800&sz=74&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__lyXGepYXha1U8KBE4B4FqJGn7fk=&tbnid=ho5bgcVFvn6nNM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgold%2Bstar%26gbv%3D2%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26cr%3DcountryUK%257CcountryGB%26sa%3DGhttp://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.johnpottsvending.co.uk/images/refills/chupa/ChupaLolliesL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.johnpottsvending.co.uk/mach_chupa.html&h=300&w=260&sz=9&hl=en&start=5&um=1&usg=__UdZR4RGDuVpb1sXCnjRcHwLA63o=&tbnid=sVSnxXDSH3N4MM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchupa%2Bchups%26gbv%3D2%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26cr%3DcountryUK%257CcountryGB