Back in New Zealand

We arrived home just over two weeks ago. Aside from the jetlag it felt very disorienting to be suddenly thrust into the middle of New Zealand winter and such a peaceful, quiet environment. There was some reminder of the main purpose of our journey with heavy rain and flooding in Northland, and then last week the same here in Hawke’s Bay. The heavy rain here came after a severe drought period that developed while we were away.

Despite these weather events it is very hard to not start feeling the comfort, slower pace of life, and distance from everything here in New Zealand. I feel such a deep sense of urgency as a result of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met and talked to over the last 5 months. The challenge is to maintain this. We all need to be waking up to the reality of what is unfolding in our world.

I gave a talk at very short notice at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council last week. As a result of this I am now giving two talks on the 6 August, as a special speaker in a speaker series organised by the Sustaining Hawke’s Bay Trust. Late last week I was in the Bay of Plenty region to reignite work I am doing with the Regional Council there (see www.envbop.govt.nz). On 7 August I am flying to Wellington to meet with Ministry for the Environment staff and also have 30 minutes with the Hon. David Parker, the government minister responsible for climate change. All of this is helping keep me on edge and focused.

My view is that New Zealand is in a position where it can provide some real leadership, through our individual and collective actions. But we need to focus our resources much more on empowering communities in shaping and enacting positive visions for their future. Two key needs stand out from our travels through Asia and Europe. The need for more trees and the need for us to develop a greater sensibility to nature.

Like many Asian and some European nations we have problems in New Zealand associated with deforestation and increasingly intensive use of land that is drought and/or flood prone. More erratic weather and more frequent weather extremes are compounding these problems. We need very smart planning and design for the future. There are success stories for us to learn from.

Meanwhile I’ve sent my film camera to Auckland to hopefully resolve the problems that I had after the lens unit was replaced in Florence. Once I get it back I’ll be borrowing another camera and creating backup tapes of all my master tapes. Then I can sit here and starting working through everything that we’ve filmed. I need to transcribe the interviews and start shaping the story that is there. I’ve decided that I want to tell my own story, in my words with my voice. I just need a little support, from someone who has directing/editing skills, who has access to an editing suite and who is happy to work with me. Anyone out there?

Our last night in London, farewell to Lena!

From floods in England to floods in New Zealand.

Back to nature, at Ocean Beach where local developers want to create a residential development. This is costing local ratepayers a small fortune to work through planning processes. There are some good people working on this, but why are we focusing so much energy on a beautiful beach that ought to be kept free of development when we have much bigger issues in front of us. Please can we step back and look at the bigger picture for the future and protect beautiful places where we can walk and enjoy nature.

Two weeks back home and finally a sunny day and a beautiful sunset in a stunningly clear atmosphere. Something that we take so much for granted here in New Zealand.

Final Post From London

Bags are mostly packed and we're ready for the long journey home to New Zealand, aside from Lena of course. It's been an amazing 5 months. One of our Thai friends, risakorn, reassured me back in February when I was looking a bit worried ... "Don't worry Gavin, if you do good things, good things will happen for you". He was right. So many good things have happened.

Lena is currently on her way home from her job here in London. Once she is here we're going out to the local pub for our final meal together as a family until Lena returns to NZ at the end of October. We're all looking forward to being home. There are plenty of challenges ahead for all of us, but also many possibilities and opportunities. I've had two meetings this week with film people. The first helped me clarify what I don't want to do, which is to give my ideas and contacts away and simply be used as a consultant. The second strongly affirmed what I am doing out of myself and to keep working in that way. It was very heartening to have this said to me today. Thank you to Charlotte for being so affirmative and supportive.

It seems ironic that we'll be in mid-air when the Live Earth concert is happening tomorrow. I contacted them via their website from Europe and offered to help, I was even willing to delay my flight home. We have gathered such powerful images and voices and I was willing to share some of these. Unfortunately I've heard nothing. These things develop their own lives and we keep on doing good things in our own lives.

Out travels are almost over, but keep watching. I'll be posting updates once we're home. I don't know who has followed this site other than family and friends. I hope it has drawn in a few other people. If that is the case then please let me know who you are and share your thoughts. You can post comments here, or go to www.earthlimited.org for a contact email address.

Alice's Renaissance study

It wasn't planned but it happened that we arrived in Florence a few days before Alice's class began a 3-week study of the Rennaisance. Their focus was Florence, the Duomo, and the work and art of the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others. We were very fortunate, through my colleagues at the University of Florence, to get reservations for visits to the Uffizi and Acadamia Galleries. The latter was built specifically to house Michaelangelo's 'David'. So we had one very full day going to these two galleries and climbing to the top of the Duomo dome. Alice was totally absorbed, awake to it's significance to her education and also very aware that she was in a living classroom while her classmates back in New Zealand were studying what she was experiencing and seeing. This was a very exciting time for her class teacher, Johnny, who was able to bring the subject to life much more by sharing some of what Alice was seeing and experiencing. These photos capture some of this.

Following our intensive cultural day we also managed a trip to Pisa to see the tower and then, on our way back to Florence, visiting the small village of Vinci. The home of Leonardo (his name literally means 'Leonardo from Vinci'. There is a small museum there with models of many of his designs. It was a real privilege to share all of this with Alice. Later in our journey through Switzerland and France we came across other places of relevance ... the old city of Basel has Renaissance period buildings, Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley is a wonderful example of French Renaissance architecture, landscape design and with period furniture inside, and at Le Louvre of course we saw a number of da Vinci's paintings including his most famous, Mona Lisa.

Alice's Renaissance slide show

2 July 2007 England

For most of our journey we've been experiencing warm, often very hot, weather. Not so since we came to England! Temperatures have been in the late teens to low 20s. There was flooding last week, including in Doncaster, South Yorkshire where Karen's Aunt and Cousins live. On the BBC news website (www.bbc.com) someone suggested that there was a need for reafforestation in many parts of England, in hills that were deforested at least 500 years ago. A big source of the problem, someone else said to the media, is that there have been too many housing developments in flood plains since World War 2. Along with these developments have been storm-water drainage systems and other infrastructural developments (such as motorways) that have tended to be contrary to, rather than in harmony with, natural water flows. Climate change is a factor say the experts. In the past floods often occurred after cold winters, with snow melt. Not so now, they are more a result of unseasonal rainfall events such as has been experienced here over the last week. What is the real source of the problem, what are the right solutions? All of the above and more. This is the reality of the early 21st century, the legacy of centuries, perhaps thousands of years, of human activity that has often been contrary to nature and natural processes.

What lessons are there to learn from the past? Visiting Stonehenge yesterday was cause for some reflection on this question ... a place that first had a human presence around 5000 years ago in an environment that was originally forested. But from listening to the audio commentary as I walked around it is clear that we have many more questions than answers. There is an awful lot that we are very ignorant of, but we're not very good at acknowledging our ignorance in all of the things we do in our modern world. We drove down the road to Old Sarum, the subject of what I consider to be a very powerful painting by Constable. A painting that to me is a reflection, actually a question, on the right relationship between human and nature. It was a Constable-like day with many clouds in the sky, wild and windy, a bit of sun trying to break through.



Reflections from Stonehenge.

A 'Constable' scene ... looking towards Salisbury from Old Sarum.

A view towards Old Sarum, just another hill from a distance, but a hill with 5000 years of human history. Fields and sky dominate now.

I'm meeting a film producer tomorrow. The first response I had over the phone was that my filming won't be good enough to work with. I was told that if I really have a story worth telling then maybe I could use what I've filmed to sell the idea, and then a film crew could be sent out. I wasn't demoralised by this. We're still going to meet. I can't say if the filming Lena and I have done is good enough or not. I do know I have a very good story amongst everything we've filmed. I know that I've captured images and moments that can't be reproduced in what would be a much more contrived manner. I also know that I've met and interviewed people who probably can't be re-interviewed and will never talk as freely and as spontaneously as I've managed to get them to talk at times. So we'll see what happens. It is very positive that someone is willing to meet with me. It's a beginning of another phase that I expect to be very challenging. Thanks to my Mum's estate, I found the resources to buy professional film gear and head off on a journey. I found support from some amazing people along the way, firstly from our amazing friends in Thailand, in particular Khun Tuenjai, and then from others in different places. I don't have the resources to do any more. It's time to get back to New Zealand and start earning some money again. But so many people have given so much and shown belief in me and what I'm doing. I'll keep on working as well as I can to make something out of all of this.

From London

Tuesday, 26 June
We arrived in London on Saturday (23 June), our journey almost over. There was a major scare at the airport in Paris. After doing an automatic check-in and passing through passport control we were in the queue to check in our bags. It was then that I discovered that the black bag with all 30+ hours of film from the last 4 ½ months was missing. No bag, film gone. I was told afterwards that I went white with shock. Through a combination of real exhaustion and carelessness the bag had been left behind in our lease car when we dropped it off and transferred to a shuttle. Fortunately we had time to spare and I had kept the paper with the phone number for the lease car company (only because it had a map on it and I'm a hoarder of maps!). They found the bag and delivered it to me at the arrivals area. This temporary loss had me questioning, for a short time, what I had achieved from this journey. Was it nothing without the film? I don't believe so. In fact I have gained so much more in terms of a deepened understanding of the real issues people are already experiencing and some of the very positive things that are being done. I capped off the day by taking Emma to see Crowded House and Peter Gabriel in Hyde Park (reviews here and here. Cheers Michael). It was a great way to finish a nearly disastrous day.

Yesterday I visited the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), www.defra.govt.uk, and gave a presentation covering my New Zealand adaptation work, lessons from this and reflections from the last 4 ½ months. It was well received, with plenty of questions and some discussion afterwards. One of the staff talked about the current international debate that is happening in terms of who pays who for adaptation and how you make the distinction between adaptation to climate change and adaptation to the inherent variability of climate. This debate is paralysing international actions. I kept reinforcing my very clear view that the only way forward is to be guided by what is happening on the ground. Too many people now are spending too much time in meetings, workshops and seminars talking and debating what ought to be done to address the effects of climate change. Meanwhile, people on the ground are acting. The smartest farmers are, in my view, always ahead of everyone and I certainly believe we've encountered some very smart people of the land on our journey. We do need local, national and international policy but it will only be truly effective if shaped in a way that is relevant to people's lives and aimed at empowering local people to own and implement local solutions. The problem is, to put it in the simple words of Michun Gurung, that we have too many talkers and not enough doers.

Where to from here? We are presently based in London until 7 July, then fly back to New Zealand. I have a couple of meetings lined up before we leave, including a return visit to DEFRA to talk in more depth to some staff there. I'm still searching for the right connections that will help me realise the goal of a documentary film. A book might also be a good idea. Seeking funds to support grassroots exchanges and sharing of information is something I will continue working on.

Keep watching this space. It has been very difficult for me to maintain regular posts via Michael (the blog site manager) since we arrived in Italy on 14 May. Access to the internet has been difficult in many places and there have been many demands on my time. From now on things will be much easier. So I will keep adding useful information for those who are interested.

Sunday, 18 June
Yesterday I met Jean-Pierre Caumont at the Montcuq market and bought some of his wine. This morning I drove to his farm to film an interview with him, most likely my only farmer interview in France and the last on this journey. Jean-Pierre comes from a farming family in the village of Escayrac. He went to University but was drawn back to the land and now farms farms 60 ha of cropping land and 3.5 ha of wine grapes with his wife, Claire. They also own about 40 ha of forest land for biodiversity and aesthetic benefits. Jean-Pierre has aways felt an affinity with nature, but farmed conventionally for many years. Increasingly he saw the effects of intensive use of chemicals and also began experiencing more chaotic weather patterns. So he decided to move towards an organic production system. The term 'organic' or 'biologique' in French, is one that he and his wife, Claire, have been cautious in using. They are people who are simply passionate about the land and the environment and don't really like to be labelled in a particular way. Over the last 20 years Jean-Pierre has noticed more extreme weather events, more unpredictability with rainfall, and higher temperatures. Hotter summers are being reflected in increased alcohol content of wines in the region. He perceives greater challenges in the future with cropping than with the wine grapes. The deep-rooting of the vines enables them to withstand drought, for example. His experience is that with organic soil management, biodiversity protection and diversity of production they have a greater capacity to buffer against climatic extremes. Both Jean-Pierre and Claire are strongly committed to protecting local biodiversity, demonstrated by the fact that they recently bought a neighbouring piece of woodland to prevent another would-be buyer from clear-felling it.

If you live somewhere in Europe and want to support a couple of very dedicated people by purchasing their wine you will be able to find out about them over the web in the future. The name of their farm is Le Pech d'Auzonne. You can get mail order wine by writing to them:

Claire and Jean-Pierre Caumont, Escayrac, 46800 Montcuq, France.

Jean-Pierre and Claire Caumont are deeply committed to protecting and enhancing their local environment for the future.

The man and the vine. Jean-Pierre can honestly say that he knows every vine in his 3.5 ha vineyard.

Vines with woodland in the background, purchased by Jean-Pierre to protect biodiversity around their farm.

5 June - 17 June 2007

Sunday, 17 June

We left Florence 12 days ago. The time has rushed by as our journey comes towards an end. We left Florence at about 5.30pm, after collecting the film camera from being repaired. From there we drove through to Milan, where we began our Italian journey on 14 May. It was a brief, one night, stay in Milan and then on to Lugano in southern Switzerland. There we spent time with the Grilli family, who Emma had spent 3 months with until joining us when we arrived in Italy. After 5 nights in Lugano we drove to Dornach, near Basel, for 3 nights, then down into France. We arrived in France on 13 June, spending two nights in a tiny place called Chichilianne in the Rhone Alps region, then one night in another small village in the Puy de Dome region, south of Clermont-Ferrand. We're now near yet another tiny village called St. Cyprien, in the south central area of France. Tomorrow I am meeting with a local farmer who I met at the market this morning. This may well be my last interview on this journey.

We have done a lot of travelling but I have managed some interactions with people as well as continued to reflect on lessons from this journey. I have talked increasingly about the importance of finding ways of working harmoniously with our earth, with the natural world. This is a contrary view to the well know British scientist, James Lovelock, who developed the so-called Gaia hypothesis. More recently he has expressed his concerns about the state of the earth and has suggested a planned retreat from nature. I disagreed with this view before and disagree even more strongly now. The many people we have met in different places and their very positive actions support a different approach that is focused on an intelligent and heart-felt re-engagement with nature. Everything we have, all of the wonderful results of the industrial revolution and our modern technological revolution, have been derived from the earth in some form or another. We cannot so easily retreat as Lovelock thinks. I prefer to look at the leader of the Karen village in northern Thailand and his very smart 16 year old daughter, to the Buddhist monk north of Bangkok, to the work of Ajarn Yak in Thailand, to a wise 78 year old man in northern Viet Nam, to wise local leaders in Nepal, to the work of Sekem in Egypt, and more recently to the inherent understanding of our place in landscape, in nature, that is visible in parts of Europe and in the work on the best farmers here.

In the parts of Italy we visited, Switzerland, and now in France we see landscapes where there is a history of understanding the importance of forest and water management. In all the places we've been in these countries I have seen hills covered with trees that in New Zealand and many parts of Asia have been stripped bare. In Switzerland, water catchment areas are forested. In New Zealand, when I gave a talk to a Regional Council a couple of years ago I was considered naïve to suggest that planting trees was the most important thing we could be doing as an adaptation to climate change. Everywhere I've been, every place I've seen, every person I have spoken to over the last 4 months has reinforced this view. In Europe I see the legacy of centuries of understanding the importance of managing whole landscapes. We don't have this legacy in New Zealand. What we do have is a freedom of choice that many other countries and people do not have any more. But for how much longer?

It is very clear to me now that there is a great, unrealised, opportunity to develop truly effective responses to climate and other global changes by simply opening our eyes and ears to the very good things that people are already doing all over the world. In fact I believe we must do this. Things are now moving too fast for the politicians and scientists to keep up. People are already acting, some are already well ahead in their work and thinking.

Scenes from rural France

Making hay in the Rhone Alps region.



The lush countryside in the Puy de Dome region.

14 June
Today we visited a place called Terre Vivante (www.terrevivante.org). This organisation has existed since 1979 when the magazine 'Les Quatre Saisons' was launched by seven passionate ecologists. In 1994 they began the development of a 'discovery centre' focused on demonstrating practical ecology. We visited this centre, with its blend of forests walks, gardens and demonstration sites, on a day when a bus load of school children was there to explore, experience and learn. Their presence strongly reinforced the value of providing a living learning environment for all age groups, aimed at demonstrating positive, attainable, actions for a sustainble 21st century.

In the evening I met with Remy Bacher, the editor of Les Quatres Saisons magazine. I told him how impressed I was with the Terre Vivante centre, with practical examples of the very simple solutions to the many environmental problems we have in the world. I also talked about the importance of local people who provide leadership and an example for others to follow. This has been evident everywhere we have been. Remy said that not just Terre Vivante but increasingly the Trieves area as a whole, in the Rhone Alps where Terre Vivante is located, is providing an example for the rest of France. More an more people are aware of the work of Terre Vivante, of the high proportion of organic farmers in the area, and of a very beautiful and well balanced environment.











Terre Vivante is an excellent educational and resource centre with practical examples for sustainable living in the 21st century.

11 June
As we drove through Switzerland, from Lugano to Dornach, it was evident everywhere that the Swiss understand the importance of trees in the landscape and in managing water catchments.

10 June
Through our wonderful hosts, the Grilli family, I was introduced to a local farmer. Renzo was not born to a farming family, but became a farmer nearly 40 years ago. His motivation was to live and work with the land, with the natural world. He and his family are alpine farmers, During the winter period they move down to their winter house and their stock are housed. In the summer period they move to the summer house, above the tree line, where the stock are able to free range on the herb pastures. Renzo was a bit reluctant to be interviewed and filmed, but he generously agreed. He talked about the dramatic reduction in snow cover that they now experience every winter. The winter rest period, which he considers important for the earth, animals and people, is no longer as it was. The climate is changing and nothing is predictable in the way that it was in the past. This is very unsettling and I think stressful for a family that has worked very hard over a long period. What more can they do than they already are, working and living in a very balanced way?


A view towards Lake Lugano, southern Switzerland, showing a forested water catchment area.

The Swiss have a very clear understanding of the importance of forest cover in water catchments, even with small streams.

There is a long history of winter rest and summer grazing in high alpine areas of Switzerland. This is beginning to change with higher temperatures and significant reductions in snow cover.

The summer farmhouse, with small terrace restaurant for walkers, where Renzo and his family live while they graze their animals in the alpine herb fields.

Renzo, a man who came to live and work with nature 40 years ago and is now finding that he can no longer follow the seasonal rhythms of the past.

5 June
Before leaving Florence my colleague, Professor Marco Bindi, and I talked about possibilities for collaboration. My very strong interest is to work to develop interactions between local people in different parts of the world. I increasingly see this as a real possibility and something that could help provide true leadership for the future.

Italia 29 May - 5 June 2007

Today we began our week of activities hosted by the Department of Agronomy and Land Management at the University of Florence. Thanks to my colleague, Professor Marco Bindi, and his staff (Sandra and Giacomo) for organising this week for us.

Our first stop was the University research farm, a 300 ha property in the famous Chianti region of Tuscany. A very beautiful place. The manager of the farm talked about some of their research activities, for example work they are doing on erosion control and water conservation through land contouring, and showed us around their facilities. I asked him about changes in climate that they are experiencing. His response was that nothing is reliable with the weather any more. Annual rainfall here is around 400 mm. Historically most of this came in the winter months. Now the distribution is unpredictable. Temperatures are increasing, and rapid temperature changes are being experienced at times. Crops are being affected, for example when they pruned the grapes in the dormant winter period last winter they found that there was still sap flowing at a time when there would normally be no such activity in the plant. It is becoming very hard to manage farm activities with such changes.

A typical scene from Chianti, Tuscany.

Gavin with Giacomo and the manager of the University research farm who talked about the challenges of more chaotic weather that they are already experiencing.

After lunch in the nearby village we drove to a place called Camporbiano (see www.poggiodicamporbiano.it) where we met Piero Alberti, a biodynamic farmer. Piero has been farming this 200+ ha property biodynamically since 1986.

Piero Alberti, one of the smartest farmers I've met.

The farm is organised as a cooperative community with about 14 people living and working there. Piero was the first one there and is responsible for most of the farming activities. He is a very very smart farmer, one of the smartest I have met in all of our travels and even compared to some very good New Zealand farmers that I have worked with. The focus is to farm this property as a living organism, with a focus on sound ecology, a strong social environment and a very robust farm economy. To achieve this there are a diversity of production activities, processing of farm products for sale, biodynamic production techniques, recycling of farm waste back into the farm, management of a very limited water situation extremely smartly, and implementation of a self-sufficient energy programme. The importance and value of this ecologically balanced approach is reflected in the ability of the farm to sustain economic viability through a severe drought period several years ago. They managed the farm through this drought without needing the external economic support that other farmers in the area needed. In relation to climate change Piero made a very profound statement, that farmers in Italy can no longer rely on the proverbs of the past. Everything has changed and is changing very rapidly. The modern farmer, in his view, needs to both be smart in using available technology and develop a greater sensibility to nature. Their success is reflected in the fact that neighbouring farmers are beginning to follow some of their practices.







Scenes from Poggio di Camporbiano, a farm that is about 50:50 forest and productive land, and which is both ecologically and economically very sound.

Our time with Piero was quite limited, but I was so impressed by this story that I arranged a return visit for the following Sunday (3 June). When we returned Piero and his wife Patricia took us on a tour around some of their facilities and the farm. We then joined the whole of their small farm community for a delicious shared lunch. It was only at this time that I fully learnt about the full extent of the cooperative nature of this farm.

Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to an approach to farming and working with nature that is both very relevant now and increasingly relevant for the future.

A delicious shared lunch at Poggio di Camporbiano.

Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to a very holistic approach to farming and working with nature, drawing on traditional knowledge and wisdom but working in a very smart and technologically advanced manner.

5 June
Today is our last day in Florence. It has been an excellent time and I'm very grateful to my host Marco Bindi and his staff. We have managed to mix a few farm visits and interviews, a presentation to people at the University and some local farm leaders, a visit to a research lab in Florence, and taking time to see some of Florence. It has been a great privilege to do the latter with Alice, whose class in New Zealand has just this week begun a study of the Renaissance. Here we are at the heart of the Renaissance, inspired by the work of Leondardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others. This experience has reinforced in me a need for a modern Renaissance ... perhaps a reunification of the arts and sciences as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and a rethinking of how we work and interact with our natural world.

27 May 2007

For the last week we have been enjoying the beauty of Umbria.

We've seen fields with scattered poppies everywhere here, very beautiful.

A time for making hay before the dry of summer really sets in.
At the same time my hope of connecting with some people in the valley we are staying in was realized. It has been a wonderful week, relaxing for the girls and Karen and for the most part for me as well ... the one downside is a mark inside the lens of the film camera which has me concerned. I filmed anyway yesterday to capture important material.

The first few days here we were finding our feet, me still getting used to driving on the right side of the road, finding local supermarkets and so on. In between I managed to make some good connections. With the help of a young Italian couple staying in the apartment next to ours I managed to talk to Guiseppe, the co-owner of La Casella Marilena where we are staying, about my interests. He then connected me with a local woman, Katharina. Through Katharina we met Alfredo and Christine, a couple who own a 100 ha organic farm and a restaurant in the hills here. On Thursday night we had dinner at their lovely restaurant and talked about our journey and my work. They were very interested. It emerged that they are part of a group of people who moved to this valley in the 1970s and have been working over a long period of time on environmental issues. Some of their networking activities can be seen at http://lareteinrete.net The challenge they have had is being seen as outsiders by the long-standing local farmers and community. However, over time, they have worked to make connections and try and influence positive changes with the community. I see a real opportunity to help facilitate stronger connections and interactions. Now is the time for this to happen, as we've seen and heard in every place we've visited so far on this journey. More on this later...

On Friday we went to Assisi. This was a very special day. St Francis of Assisi was a very special person at a time of much conflict, with a universal message that is very relevant now. It is worth repeating part of the text from the brochure we collected from the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi...

“Franciscan existence is an immense space where God, man and the world of nature harmoniously find their place. In Assisi even the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and wind feel at home because Francis dared to call them 'brothers' and 'sisters'.”

Reading this reminded me of a movie I saw about 32 years ago, about the life of St Francis “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”. This movie made a very big impression on a then 16 year old. What moved me most in the Basilica was the Giotti painting of “The Sermon to the Birds”. We walked from the Basilica to the highest point in Assisi, a beautiful view over the village and surrounding countryside.

A view of the Basilica of St Francis
As we left Assisi I was captured by images of field and sky, with Assisi and the Basilica in between. And then a sign to the Sanctuary of Rivotorto caught my eye. This is named the 'hovel of St Francis' where the first Franciscan community was briefly housed... the humble, simple dwelling now overwhelmed by the church of Rivotorto.

The village of Assisi, between earth and sky

The hovel of St Francis within the Church of Rivotorto

On our return to the commune of Lisciano Niccone we drove into a thunderstorm and then beautiful scenes of sun radiating through clouds over the nearby village of Mercatale.

A stunning scene from our temporary home at Marilena la Casella, looking towards Mercatale

Yesterday (Saturday) we drove to Alfredo and Christine's farm, first in mid afternoon to film and photograph scenes on and from the farm and later in the evening to film an interview with Alfredo. It was this on this morning that I noticed a spot through the film camera and discovered some sort of mark inside the lens. This was quite distressing, but I worked my best to manage filming to avoid this mark coming through... and in some cases filmed anyway in the hope that with modern technology something can be done in an editing process to remove the mark that is very obvious at times on the screen.

Alfredo and Christine came to this valley in the mid 1970s, students from University in Rome coming to live an ideal in the countryside. They discovered this beautiful place in Umbria, 100 ha of abandoned land in the hills. The hills were mostly abandoned in the 1960s, with people either moving to the cities or down into the valley to work on tobacco farms which predominate here. They chose an organic approach, consistent with traditional agriculture in this environment, but with contemporary ideas and technology. The forested hills here provide a protective cover that is very important in an environment that becomes very dry in the summer months. But there are problems. The hills and forest are no longer managed in a way that supports sustainability of the whole environment. Mostly now they are occupied by tourists, with over use of water becoming an issue. People are having to drill deeper to get water. The winter snows of 30 years ago are no longer happening, an important source of groundwater recharge. There is heavy use of water in the valley. Alfredo talks to the old people and they say that the agriculture in the valley has been destroyed. Local people hear through the news about climate change, they are experiencing local climatic changes, they wonder if there is a connection. They lack relevant information to help make the connections. The potential here is in the forest, the environment, the mix of people ... the likes of Katharina, Alfredo, Christine and the long-standing farmers and others in the community being supported and empowered to work together for the future.

A traditional storage dam, on Alfredo and Christine's farm. The majority of these traditional dams have been abandoned.

Alfredo cutting hay. In the past the grass would have been 3 times this height at this time of year. Hotter weather and less moisture are possible causes for the lower production in Alfredo's view.



A balanced farm forestry environment.

A view of the farm homestead, with olive grove.

The valley, looking towards the commune of Lisciano Niccone. A very balanced, harmonious environment but with important issues that need to be addressed.

Alfredo, a man who has dedicated his adult life to being a 'doer', putting his ideals into practice in partnership with Christine ... together providing real leadership for the future.

Being in this beautiful valley in Umbria, visiting Assisi, has been very uplifting and a further affirmation of what motivated me towards undertaking this journey with my family. We continue to meet people doing good things... now stretching from Thailand, Viet Nam, Nepal, Egypt, to Italy. It is my goal to work to strengthen the connections that have been made, to create the possibility of bringing some of these grassroots people from different places together. I can do this through a documentary film if I ultimately find the extra support needed to realise this. But I also now carry a goal to physically bring grassroots people from different places together ... to facilitate an interaction that I think could be very powerful and really help guide a true action focused approach to addressing the real issues of our time in a realistic manner.