Shell, BP, etc are extracting oil from tar sands, not only destroying the local environment and contributing masses of greenhouse gas emissions, but also driving indigenous people off their land. Sounds awful? Well, yeah. Come and find out what we can do in Cambridge to stop it happening.

 A specifically vegan baking session for the cafe, meet in the cafe at 1.30pm, bring any recipes or outlandish/specialised ingredients with receipts and you can be reimbursed, but check our baking page for details of the ingredients we already have in the cafe (sugar, flour etc). Otherwise just bring yourself - no experience required!

We'll meet up, and walk or cycle to the kitchen. We will be baking in a kitchen in a squatted building (which, by the way is very friendly, safe, exciting and legal!) The kitchen is also not very well-equipped, so if you have any useful utensils/big mixing bowls, please bring them along.

We're planning to make vegan pizza as well (just to eat ourselves!), so bring any toppings along (again, vegan please), we'll have the basics.

If you can't meet at 1.30pm and want to come along later for a bit, or have any questions, contact ali <alasdair.mussell[at]yahoo.co.uk> or 07849434636.

Please sign up for the shifts or let me know so that I know who to expect. x

 After the success of the first one, this is Acoustic Vibes 2! Possibly a bit more low key as the advertising has been less-existent. Please come along and play!

 The Cambridge branch of the DF movement (http://www.spanthatworld.com) is putting on a jam session for all. Bring guitars, songbooks and plenty of breath for a good old singsong. 

A meeting to discuss all things Cafe related and make decisions about said things. We are certain to discuss things such as baking, filling volunteer shifts, opening times, upcoming events & banking along with whatever else people think needs discussing.

Meetings run by consensus, generally with a big pot of tea, and should be incredibly inclusive and friendly...

If you have any agenda items for the meeting (whether you're coming or not), or are excluded by the day/time and would like to let us know when would better for you, please send a message to soc-cafe-discuss XXX lists.cam.ac.uk (where XXX stands for @ ) .

Peace & Love,

The Cafe

A meeting to discuss all things Cafe related and make decisions about said things. We are certain to discuss things such as baking, filling volunteer shifts, opening times, upcoming events & banking along with whatever else people think needs discussing.

Meetings run by consensus, generally with a big pot of tea, and should be incredibly inclusive and friendly...

If you have any agenda items for the meeting (whether you're coming or not), or are excluded by the day/time and would like to let us know when would better for you, please send a message to soc-cafe-discuss XXX lists.cam.ac.uk (where XXX stands for @ ) .

Peace & Love,

The Cafe

Come along to get involved with Cafe project organising!  Bring your ideas and dreams for the Cafe, and your enthusiasm!  Tea and cake will be available if we have any cake!  If not, just tea!

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

This Week :

This weeks theme is how our beliefs about the underlying nature of a problem affects the kinds of solutions we are open to. The two talks are :

Devdutt Pattanik : East vs West

Malcom Gladwell : What we can learn from spaghetti sauce

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

TED Chat is an opportunity for thought provoking discussion on a wide range of topics. It is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

The format is that we'll watch one of the TED Talks, and then there will be an opportunity for group discussion. Usually we'll cover 2-3 talks in an evening. Some weeks they may all be on a particular theme, such as sustainable development.

This Week :

The theme for this week is 'Appropriate Technology', I have chosen two talks on this theme :

Amy Smith talks about how she used students at MIT to to develop alternative fuels to reduce deforestation and respiratory diseases caused by the use of wood biomass for cooking.

Cat Laine talks about how she combines the ideas behind international development and venture capital to help foster local businesses that meet the needs of local populations.

If you have a TED talk you'd particularly like discussed please contact me : alex [at] alexrice.co.uk

Come and help get the word out about our grand 2010 kickstarter party. Join us for some light lunch, a bit of inevitable flyer slicing, and then hit the streets to let people know about the Art Party.

Good times!

Film showing by UNIFEM Cambridge

UNIFEM is the Fund for Women Agency at the United Nations. It works to raise awareness and funding to promote social, economic and political empowerment and equality of women in developing countries, as well as domestic violence and forced prostitution in developed countries. UNIFEM Cambridge has organised its January – June campaign around the food crisis and the role that women play within it. This cycle of films link food to women in a light-hearted but deep way.

This is the second film (see also the 3rd March):

Mr Slimani, an old man of Algerian origins who has been working for all his life at a port, dreams of opening a restaurant. He is divorced and with a difficult relationship with the “women” of his family. However, thanks to his dream, the entire family re-compacts to the point that perhaps that dream is not just a dream.

Film showing by UNIFEM Cambridge

UNIFEM is the Fund for Women Agency at the United Nations. It works to raise awareness and funding to promote social, economic and political empowerment and equality of women in developing countries, as well as domestic violence and forced prostitution in developed countries. UNIFEM Cambridge has organised its January – June campaign around the food crisis and the role that women play within it. This cycle of films link food to women in a light-hearted but deep way.

“Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” by Ang Lee is the story of an old Hong Kong chef who lives with his three unmarried daughters, Jia-Jen, a chemistry teacher converted to Christianity, Jia-Chien, an airline executive, and Jia-Ning, a student who also works in a fast food restaurant. Their life turns around the ritual of food and the preparation of an elaborate dinner each Sunday; however, unexpected events happen and start changing the life of one of the daughters, affecting the whole household.

 Green Week cafe - come and find out more about the campaigns that CUSU Ethical Affairs runs, or just chat about the issues you care about over tea and cake.

As part of CUSU Green Week (www.camgreenweek.com), this series of lunchtime discussions is based around how climate change affects and interacts with issues and concerns that other groups in Cambridge are working on.

Climate Change and Human Rights

Hannah Perry, CU Amnesty International president talks about how climate change links to human rights, focussing particularly on the actions of Shell in Nigeria

As part of CUSU Green Week (www.camgreenweek.com), this series of lunchtime discussions is based around how climate change affects and interacts with issues and concerns that other groups in Cambridge are working on. More details to follow...

Carbon trading: an efficient solution to climate change, or a way for businesses to cash in on the crisis? Natalie Szarek discusses the problems with trying to solve climate change with the system that created it.

As part of CUSU Green Week (www.camgreenweek.com), this series of lunchtime discussions is based around how climate change affects and interacts with issues and concerns that other groups in Cambridge are working on.

 Climate Change and Workers Rights

 If tackling climate change means closing airports, factories and power stations, what happens to the workers? Tom Woodcock discusses a workers perspective on climate change, and the fight for green jobs.

As part of CUSU Green Week (www.camgreenweek.com), this series of lunchtime discussions is based around how climate change affects and interacts with issues and concerns that other groups in Cambridge are working on. 

Let's close out the year with a get together and a film.

Next year i plan to show films pretty regularly on Friday evenings, so just to end the year as i mean to go on, we can choose from a few of my favourites, or please bring one to suggest to the clan :

Home- beautiful film by the photographer who does the earth from the air diaries

From the Heart of the World- documentary about a remote, still thriving pre conquest south american indegenous group, and their message to the world

Waltz with Bashir- animated exploration of war and memory in the Lebanon

Come cosy up in the cafe, drink tea, share stories and ring in the end of the year,

delightful :)

Just hanging out... y'know...

.....Mambo Ayi Kosake (Meaning 'Whereever There Are People, Problems Are Never Lacking') is a beautiful documentary which follows the life of Isaac, a cobalt miner in the southern Congo. By Belgian director Bram van Paesschen, the film lasts ~90 minutes. 

Cafe Run by Funky Flamingo 

http://www.cafeproject.org/themes/greenhouse/images/img03.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(70, 130, 89); background-position: 0% 100%; ">http://www.funkyflamingo.co.uk/ff.html

General Meeting for organising and running the Cafe.  Everyone is welcome, bring your dreams and wishes and ideas and enthusiasm!

All are welcome to the first in what is hoped will be a series of evenings of informal chat and networking related to sustainability and international development. The evenings will start with a showing of a talk from the TED conferences.

This week it is a talk by Robert Neuwirth, a writer who spent two years living in squatter communities across four continents and is entitled "The Shadow Cites of the Future".

Engineers Without Borders UK is an international development organisation that removes barriers to development through engineering. Our programmes provide opportunities for young people to learn about technology's role in tackling poverty. Supported by the EWB-UK community, our members can work on projects around the globe. For more information see our website www.ewb-uk.org.

An informal discussion of how to encourage the use of Renewable Energy in Cambridge. The Transition Cambridge renewable energy group's aims are to :