Transition Towns WIKI

Programme for 2nd Annual Transition Network Conference

Here's the programme for the conference. We've taken into account your feedback for the sessions and workshops, so we're hoping that it'll meet your requirements.

There will be probably be a few amendments as we get closer to the date, but it's pretty well set now.

Workshops - NOT ALL OF THESE ARE FINALISED, SO EXPECT A FEW CHANGES

------------------------------------------
Workshops Session 1 (Friday 4-5pm) ------------------------------------------

1. Working with Local Authorities. How best to approach local authorities, and what useful insights might we draw from the work Transition Initiatives, Post Carbon groups and others in our building relationships with our local government.
   • Daniel Lerch of the Post Carbon Institute
   • Caroline Lucas MEP
2. Permaculture and Transition. The Transition model is underpinned by permaculture principles, but what exactly are they, and how might they best underpin our work, and what does permaculture have to offer our work?
   • Patrick Whitefield, Transition Glastonbury
3. The Heart and Soul of Transition. How best might we help ourselves and others move through the powerful feelings that can arise from this work? What tools are being developed to assist in this work?
   • Sophy Banks, Transition Town Totnes
   • Hilary Prentice, Transition Town Totnes
4. Engaging Young People. Engaging young people in Transition will be key to its long term success and to its take up in our communities. A number of Transition Initiatives have now been working with their local schools and devising innovative ways of engaging young people. This workshop will explore some useful tools for this work.
   • Keith Ellis, Transition Town Lewes
   • Hannah Mulder, Transition Town Totnes
5. Peak Oil and Climate Change. What they are and how they overlap. An opportunity to refresh your knowledge on peak oil and climate change and on how the two overlap. What is peak oil, and what is the latest prognosis on climate change, and what happens when we look at the two issues together?
   • Chris Vernon, the Oil Drum
6. Transition and Local Food. Strengthening our local food economies is going to be one of the key elements of Transition work. If we were to think of our current situation as being akin to 1939, with the need to urgently and collectively rebuild local food systems, where might we start, what organizations, resources and support is available for doing so.
   • Claire Milne, Transition City Bristol
7. The Transition Network. structures, governance and constitution . As the Transition movement grows, the Transition Network is attempting to build a structure to most effectively inspire, support, encourage, network and train these emerging initiatives. How does it plan to do that, what will that structure look like, and how will it function?
   • Ben Brangwyn, Transition Network
   • Peter Lipman, Chair of Trustees of Transition Network
8. Local feast or local famine? Putting food security on the map. Can existing UK farmland keep us fed, clothed and housed? A recent study says yes, for the UK as a whole. In this workshop, geographic information expert Mark Thurstain-Goodwin uses powerful data and mapping technology to zoom in to the local scale – and discovers that England on its own sees a shortfall leaving 9 million people hungry, with even more marked disparities between smaller regions. The analysis makes clear that there are solutions at hand, but also signposts how climate change and flood risks need to be central to our plans.
   • Mark Thurstain-Goodwin, GIS expert
9. Tba

------------------------------------------
Workshops Session 2 (Saturday 10 – 11.10am) ------------------------------------------

1. Organizational models and structures for Transition Town groups. Choosing the most effective and responsive structure for your Transition Initiative is a complex process. What might be best models, and how do we go about choosing the most appropriate model?
   • Gary Alexander
   • Paul Baker
2. Local Energy Systems. Many Transition energy groups are starting to explore the practicalities of decentralized energy systems, locally owned and managed energy systems which harness local energy sources to power local communities. Transition Penwith is one of the most advanced in this field.
   • Charmian Larke, Transition Penwith
3. The Fractal Transition model: hubs, networks and practical devolution. The Transition Network is modeling itself on the fractal model, that of a form or model which reproduces itself on a range of scales. Already emerging are national ‘hubs’, regional ‘hubs’, and an assortment of scales on which Transition is being spread. What is the thinking behind this, how can we make it most effective and how might systems thinking underpin our models?
   • Ben Brangwyn, Transition Network
4. The 12 Steps of Transition. At the heart of this process is the 12 Steps of Transition, the collection of tools, insights and activities that underpin the first couple of years of most Transition Initiatives. This workshop will go through each step, and will offer space for people to share their experiences of using them, and their insights and suggestions.
   • Rob Hopkins, Transition Network
5. Telling Transition Tales. The idea of Transition Tales is very powerful, one of finding creative ways to enable people to envision a powered-down Transitioned world. This work can be done with adults and with children, but rather than being a workshop about how to do Transition Tales, this is a creative storytelling workshop where you create them! Bring your imagination, creativity and sense of making the impossible possible.
   • Hannah Mulder, Transition Town Totnes
6. Communication. A good poster is worth a thousand words. Or perhaps a film shown in the local cinema, or a really arresting website? How we communicate Transition is one of the key aspects of the success or otherwise of our work. This workshop will look at ideas for design, communication, and how to make the most of your visual outreach.
   • Jody Boehnert, Transition Brixton
7. The Transition Timeline. One of the key pieces of work the Transition Network has been involved in is the Transition Timeline, which is about pulling together from the latest thinking and modeling on peak oil and climate change a ‘map’ of the next 20 years, a scenario of how things might unfold and the terrain upon which our energy descent plans can be designed. This workshop will present work-in-progress and unveil what will prove a very useful resource for Transition Initiatives.
   • Shaun Chamberlain, Lean Economy Connection
8. Post Peak Medicine. The role of herbal medicine in a more localized healthcare system.
   • Mandy Dean, Transition Bro Ddyffi
9. Cities in Transition. Attempting to apply Transition thinking to our urban areas offers a unique challenge.
   • Sarah Pugh, Transition City Bristol
   • Paul Clarke, Transition City Nottingham

------------------------------------------
Workshops Session 3 (Sunday 9.30 – 10.30am) ------------------------------------------

1. The ‘F’ Word. Ah, the big question. Funding, and how to get some. Although Transition initiatives can roll along quite happily for a while with no funding, after a while financial input is needed to allow key projects to emerge. How best to approach funders? What do they want to hear? How best to maximize your group’s chances of success?
   • Fiona Ward, Transition Town Totnes (tbc)
   • Cath Peters, Transition Town Totnes
2. Local Authorities. At the moment the Transition Network’s advice to Councils who get in touch is that Transition is a process they support but not one that they drive. However, if you are a Town, Parish or District Council and you want there to be a vibrant Transition Initiative in your community, what do you do? How might Councils become proactive in getting Transition Initiatives underway?
   • Bill Gifford, Transition Leamington (tbc)
   • Linda Hull, Transition Glastonbury
   • Lorely Lloyd, Transition Town Falmouth
3. Energy Descent Pathways. The last of the 12 Steps is the creation of an Energy Descent Action Plan, but so far the only one in existence is Kinsale’s which was, in effect, a student project. Now Totnes, Lewes and others are starting the processes of developing theirs, and in this workshop you can catch up with the latest on the process and how it is evolving.
   • Rob Hopkins, Transition Network
   • Adrienne Campbell, Transition Town Lewes
4. ESCO's. ESCO (Energy Supply Company) is an oft-bandied about term, but what are they, and how do you set one up? What are their benefits and disadvantages, and how do they operate?
   • Chris Roland, Ouse Valley Energy Services Company (tbc)
5. Economics & Sustainability. How to start ‘plugging the leaks’ in our local economies? What role can local currencies play, and what other tools and approaches might be useful when we are looking to localize our economies and build in economic resilience?
   • Molly Scott Cato, Transition Stroud and author of ‘Market Schmarket’ (tbc)
6. Transition Transport. Transport is our key Achilles heel when it comes to our oil dependency. Breaking our addiction to the car and shifting towards more locally powered and efficient transport sources will be key. What strategies might be most appropriate for Transition transport groups?
   • Peter Lipman, Sustrans
7. Education and Training – an introduction to Transition Training. Transition Training has been an amazing success, sold out each time it runs, and giving participants an empowering and inspiring crash course in Transition. This workshop offers a taste of what the training contains in an experiential way, as well as allowing space for feedback and for ideas as to how Transition Training might evolve.
   • Sophy Banks and Naresh Giangrande, Transition Town Totnes and Transition Training
8. Avoiding Transition Towner Burnout. Being at the cutting edge of Transition Initiatives can be exhilarating and empowering, but it can also be exhausting, and lead to our taking on more than is good for us. This workshop will explore tips for avoiding burnout, how to notice when it is creeping up on us, and how to also support our fellow Transitionistas in avoiding this common pitfall.
   • Mike Grenville, Transition Forest Row
   • Adrienne Campbell, Transition Town Lewes