It was heartening to welcome over 20 people at our first Café Conversation this year following a break of several years! There was a real buzz in the room, and we all came away knowing more about what’s on our minds, getting the latest from the Council, hearing expert knowledge from specialists … Chris once again gave us full use of the Marmion’s function room, keeping us warm with hot and other drinks before and after our conversation. An informative, and really enjoyable evening!
There were no speeches and no power-points. The atmosphere was up-beat – we didn’t wallow in despair about the future or about what others should be doing. The focus was firmly on what we can do as individuals and local communities to create our futures. And it gave us at A Greener Melrose an opportunity to listen to what is important to the TD6 community.
The conversation was wide ranging and covered recycling, composting, transport, energy, heat. We each took away a something new to guide us on our individual journeys – some highlights include:
- Lots of people are already recycling and composting but we could do more to help people up their game by, for instance, sharing a map of diverse recycling options for various materials
- We learned about a few options and places for repairing things we tend to throw away for lack of options – another area that is ripe for replication
- Transport remains a challenge in rural areas such as the Borders – we learned that bus and rail timetables are linked for the Galashiels Interchange, which might explain why they are not at Tweedbank …
- People are open for car shares and community transport schemes – something we could help facilitate or host for interested groups?
- We learned about the many opportunities people have to decarbonise energy and heat systems and of some of the advantages and disadvantages of shared heat and energy schemes – a hot topic in some of the follow on conversations around the bar, apparently…
We all agreed that it shouldn’t be so difficult to live our lives in an environmentally friendly way and the benefits should be accessible to everyone. We wondered how initiatives such as Placemaking might be drivers for this change.
The Conversation gave us all food for thought and the trustees of AGM will be considering how we can work more closely with the local communities in TD6 and around to take forward some of the great ideas that were shared.
We’d love to see you at our next Café Conversation, which will be on Thurs 12th March at Marmion’s, Melrose: “How can we feed ourselves in the Borders without costing the earth?”
Yvan Biot and Oonagh McGarry
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