Another Hugely Inspiring Day from Schumacher Society and CAT”Yes We Can” was the message from The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). They presented their recent report ‘Zero Carbon Britain 2030’ (ZCB) to an enthusiastic Council House audience, showing that this challenge can be met, if we make the decision to do so. Jacqueline McGlade, director of the European Environment Agency, and Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy, followed Peter Harper, Head of Research at CAT. Each speaker laid out different but complementary views on making the transition to a sustainable society.Peter presented the details of their study, ranging across the technological, political, social and practical aspects of ZCB. Of particular note was his discussion of how every decarbonisation ‘solution’ has proponents and opponents, and how the CAT team had sought to make some hard but practical decisions on which they felt worked together most effectively.Juliet Davenport presented details of Good Energy’s exploration of these challenges in the renewable energy field. She set out a vision of a radically different energy future, with new players in the market, more decentralisation and much more renewable energy. Jacqueline McGlade took the audience on a philosophical and practical journey from the Enlightenment to the present day, from Galileo using the first telescope to farmers using satellite data to manage their farms more effectively. The take-home message was, as with all the other speakers, that public participation will be central to enacting the many changes that must be made, in order to create low-carbon societies.The campaigning face of this great transition was provided by Ben Margolis of 10:10. This is a movement of people, schools, businesses and organisations cutting their carbon by 10% in a year. The campaign is spreading rapidly around the world and is giving people many ways to take part in this global effort.The workshops again focussed on practical issues arising out of the talks. Feedback was positive from all of them, and the one I attended on feed-in tariffs presented by CAT was excellent. Entertainment was provided by musical duo The Bird and the Butterfly, who sang several unforgettable songs at the start of the morning and afternoon sessions.The day was summed up by Paul Allen, who gave some closing remarks after the lively afternoon panel session. He said, “Change is coming, whether we like it or not”. Our choice lies in what kind of future we work towards. The speakers and participants on the day all reaffirmed that the transition can be a fun and empowering one, which creates a more secure, healthy, equitable world. I imagine E.F. Schumacher himself would have found very little to disagree with. You can pre-order a DVD of the day via the Schumacher Society’s website: www.schumacher.org.uk.