john ackers |
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Present: John A, Lucy, Alison, Jessica, Guy, Antony, Sibylle
Apologies: Jacklyn, Robert, Doug, Deborah, Stephen
The meeting.
1. We welcomed two prospective members to iCRAG: Antony and Sibylle.
2. A ‘group contract’? We talked about how to make clear what the rights and responsibilities would be for CRAG members, and how to ensure that everyone understood these and agreed to them when joining the group. John said he would draw up a ‘group contract’.
3. iCRAG as a legal body? We had a brief discussion about whether and how iCRAG should be formed as a body with a legal identity, particularly if we intend to keep a fund of members’ monies, and apply for grants, etc. Sibylle kindly offered to do some research.
4. CRAG central strategy. We considered the draft CRAG central network strategy which sparked a wide-ranging discussion. Jessica thanked those who had already commented by email, and noted further thoughts and ideas. Jessica will prepare a draft synthesis of iCRAG’s thoughts for feeding into the network’s discussion.
5. Settling each quarter? A tangible benefit? This was a controversial idea, but we agreed to try to devise a system whereby we would do our carbon credit/ debt settling each quarter, rather than at the end of a full year. Some people felt that this would be administratively difficult, but agreed that it would be attractive to be able to measure our progress so concretely on a quarterly basis, and that this would be a useful illustration tool in talking about iCRAG to new members and the public. It was generally agreed that money need only change hands notionally at the quarter stages. We would need to work out quarterly quotas taking account of regional variations, eg, high heating use in winter. John and Guy agreed to work together to consider the difficulties and devise a practical scheme. It was suggested that the proposed scheme should be posted on CRAG fora for wider input.
6. Future discussions. We had intended to discuss: (a) iCRAG’s particular objectives and strategy, as distinct from the national CRAG network; and (b) plans for local expansion of iCRAG and for publicity and a launch event. Time was short and we agreed to discuss these items more fully at a future meeting. Members were invited to post ideas and links on the website, or via the iCRAG yahoo group.
7. Promoting iCRAG. We agreed to design and self-fund a set of business cards and possibly also postcards for members to use to promote iCRAG.
8. Next meeting. We agreed that the next meeting would be our first carbon accounting meeting, and asked that all members try their best to attend. See more details below at AGREED ACTION.
Next meeting: Monday 12 March 2007 7.15pm (venue probably Stoke Newington).
[NB. A journalist from the Guardian has expressed an interest to Jessica in attending our next meeting; he has not yet confirmed his intention to coming, but Jessica will keep the group posted.]
AGREED ACTION:1. All members to prepare their quarterly carbon account for the next meeting, 12 March. Members should complete the spreadsheet and post it on the website in advance of the meeting. (John A kindly offered to help anyone having difficulties.) They should bring a print out of their spreadsheet to the meeting, along with the bills, etc, to back it up. Use www.climatecare.org.uk for air travel. Anyone who can’t come to the 12 March meeting should let John know and ensure their spreadsheet is filled out so that John can bring it to the meeting.
2. Jessica to collate our thoughts re the draft CRAG network strategy and write a suggested redraft [in progress] and email round iCRAG for comments.
3. Antony to look at the ‘How do we start’ page on the CRAG website, which links to ‘CRAGs – a short guide’ and tell Guy what he thinks of them, as a ‘fresh pair of eyes’.
4. John to draft a ‘group contract’ and email round for comments.
5. Guy and John to work out how a system of quarterly quotas and settling would work, and what the quota for each quarter would be, and post on the iCRAG and central CRAG fora for comments.
6. Jessica will design a draft business card for iCRAG, and get costs quotes for business cards and postcards.
7. Guy to design a postcard for iCRAG/ CRAGs.
8. Sibylle to research options for forming iCRAG as a body with legal identity, and report back to the group.