What's new

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2-July-2009. London Conference workshop write-ups now available

Check out the twenty one workshop write-ups. Although it's not the full complement - the missing ones may dribble in during the next decade or two - we're sure there's something there for everyone.

Major thanks and kudos to all of you who transcribed the workshops and to Asha Bee for pulling them all together.

We also have the available for download pics of the output from 40 Open Space sessions. Of the 90 sessions, some weren't recorded, some weren't really legible, others are undoubtedly gracing the walls of Westminster, so we've only got 40 available for download. There are some real gems among them, and just about all of them will have a certain amount of relevance to most people.

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17-June-2009. Job opportunity: Web Manager

We need someone who can do this challenging job to orchestrate the development and implementation of Transition Network's web strategy as detailed in these recommendations to the board.

We envisage a marriage between process and technology to create the mechanisms for transitioners to connect, share energy and information, and get/give support.

In the words of one of the attendees of the Web strategy presentation at our recent conference "That's the best web strategy I've seen since I first got involved in the internet and software in 1994". Take a look at the recommendations above and see if you agree.

CV's and resumes to benbrangwyn[AT]transitionnetwork[DOT]org by 8-Jul-09 please, with a covering letter to say what you like (or don't!) about the recommendations.

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05-June-2009. Job opportunity: PA to Rob Hopkins and volunteer manager for Transition Network

Take a look at the full details to see if the role would be suitable for you. If it is, please send a CV and a covering letter explaining why you feel you would be able to fill this post by 19-June to jo.coish(at) transitionnetwork.org.

Just to confirm, this is a single post with a dual purpose.

If you're trying to imagine what this job might be, think of herding cats into a carwash while juggling kippers :¬)

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21-May-2009. Dutch translation of Transition Handbook - an exceptionally inspiring story

We live in extraordinary times, and one manifestation of this is the community-led translation into Dutch of the Transition Handbook. Fifty people from Flanders and The Netherlands who wanted a Dutch version collaboratively translated it - outstanding piece of work.

Congrats to the tranlators: Maarten, Natasja, Els, Vladimir, Kim, Kelly, Nahid, Yung Han, Luca, Eva, Kelly, Kris, Liesbeth, Jan, Dorien, Stefan, Lilly, Lotte, Sarah, Dorien, Eliane, Ana, Tina, Iris, Els, Lynn, Marilu, Xander, Jelle, Kirsten, Rik, Lieve, Stephanie, Kaatje, Kathleen, Céline, Charlotte, Sam, Fieke, Stefan, Franky, Luc, Christiane, Jochen, Hugo, Debbie, Lien, Ann, Auke, Pep, Wim, Nico, Alma, Anne, Paul, Hajé, Wivine, Esther, Anneleen, Adri, Latoya, Katrien, Jonas, Frank, Wim, Aagje, Rudy, Jeanneke

Full story here on the forum.

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17-May-2009. News just in - a few conference places just freed up

Due to some last minute cancellations we have an opportunity for a lucky few to book last minute for the Transition Conference which is happening from May 22-May 24. If you want one of these places please call Kristin on 07950542351. Places cost £85 which gives you access to the full smogasbord including workshops, open spaces, evening events, entertainment & lunch. It promises to be a wonderful weekend. Take a look at the programme for the full picture.

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2-May-2009. The Transition movie trailer released on Youtube

The movie is titled "In Transition" and its first full showing will be at the Transition Network conference in London at the end of May.

Take a look at the trailer, and if you're anything like as emotionally invested in the whole concept of transition as Rob Hopkins and Ben Brangwyn, you'll need your best polkadot hanky to hand.

Major kudos to Emma Goude and Caspar Walsh for their outstanding piece of work in very tight timescales.

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1-May-2009. Dutch version of the Transition Handbook now online and available for purchase

We live in extraordinary times, and one manifestation of this is the community-led translation into Dutch of the Transition Handbook.

Fifty people across the region who wanted a Dutch version came together and collaboratively translated it - outstanding piece of work. And you can even download the chapters online.

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28-April-2009. Education for the Great Reskilling, Development Day, 20-Jun-09, Gloucester, UK

This event is for people who are involved in formal and non-tertiary education and have some understanding of how the transition process works.

The aim of the day is to:

  • find out what's been achieved since the last development day (in Oct-08)
  • explore the types of learning pathways and institutions that might contribute to educating our people, young & old, to take an active role in powering down our society and thriving in a lower carbon, higher resilience world
  • begin to outline what such a syllabus might look like

If you want to find out more, read the forum post for further information, links to the agenda and the booking form.

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3-April-2009. Our Shed, Maidenhead

Our Shed in Maidenhead is an ambitious vision of a localised food centre and community space. From their website:

The project will actively seek to create, develop and support more local producers. The on-site cafe will source its ingredients from the wide range of food and drink available on the shop floor.
As well as the shop and cafe, Our Shed will provide:
  • Meeting areas - environmentally friendly conference space and meeting rooms
  • Exhibition Area - for local food-related exhibitions
  • Learning Area - for local people to participate in food based events
Overall it is a place for the community to share, sell, provide and learn.

They're seeking £500k from the Lottery fund.

Let's keep an eye on how they do - surely this is just what we need in every town.

And if the grant doesn't come through, mebbe they'd find at least that amount down the back of the sofas at AIG and Citibank (and the rest).

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2-April-2009. Farm for the Future - the event

Here's an example of a compelling event that uses one resource (the movie), combines it with real people all set within a well-themed, multi-element event (on an incredibly important subject):

"As a follow up to Rebecca Hosking's film The Future of Farming on the BBC last month, South Devon Green Party is hosting an event in Totnes Civic Hall on Tuesday, 2nd June at 7.30pm : FARMING BEYOND OIL PEAK.
To start with there will be a screening of Rebecca's ground breaking film, on the links between farming and oil and investigating possible future farming methods. There will be a panel presentation by farmers and farming experts about the importance of grazing in future scenarios. Then Q&A.
Speakers include Rebecca Hosking and Tim Green( film makers and local farmers), Graham Harvey (agricultural story editor for R4's The Archers, and author of The Carbon Fields), Roger Creagh-Osbourne, Number 2 on the Green Party's list of candidates for the European Parliamentary election (special subject farming and fishing), and Geoff Sayers (local organic diary farmer ), with Robert Somerville, of South Devon Green Party in the chair.
Anyone active or just interested in local food production; anyone interested in the relationship between soils and Co2, anyone worried about our oil dependency, about our internationally competitive and highly globalised food system, or about national food security; anyone keen to support small scale agriculture and who wants to buy local, anyone keen to find out what the Green Party would do to achieve a more sustainable agriculture, and anyone who missed Rebecca Hosking's film on the BBC, this event is for you!
It promises to be a very interesting presentation, coming as it does, from the farmers' perspective."

I shall be there and I'm sure it'll get filmed and "toobed".

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26-March-2009. Farm for the Future - the film

Here's a message from the maker and star of the film, Rebecca Hosking:

"Dear All,
Seeing how inundated we've been by transitions towns wanting a copy it would be good if they knew it's being repeated.
Just so you know, our film is to be repeated on BBC2 Saturday 4th April at 5.20pm.
I know many missed the first showing or didn't record it and were keen for it to be repeated , well now it is - but it's only repeated this one time only.
The BBC are not planning to make our film into a saleable DVD anytime soon, so it's good folks have made torrents out of it and put it on Google video, but there are a lot of people who aren't that computer savvy, so 4th April is the time they can record it.
Very best wishes to all'
Rebecca"

Hugely inspirational, educational and engaging. Up there with the best of the movies to show within (and beyond) Transition Groups. Unmissable.

And if you'd like to let the BBC know how wonderful it was (and how they should be doing more along similar lines), go here.

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24-March-2009. Transition Web Project Survey

Link to the survey.

We recognise that out in transition land there's a great diversity of web tools and processes currently in use and under development, and that some of these will be resilient and adaptable enough to support the changing needs of transition groups around the world. We also recognise that much can be done to map out this sometimes alien terrain for community groups, and introduce common tools, processes and protocols to make it easier for us all to do our work.

That's why Transition Network has kicked off a "Transition Web Project" with the lofty goal of figuring out:

  • what are the most suitable web-based tools for transition groups (and others) to:
    • create a web presence
    • connect on a local, regional and special interest basis
    • collaborate on group work and projects
  • what tools and common processes could we harmonise to enhance communications and share the knowledge that arises from our heroically successful projects (and equally glorious failures)

In addition to the workshops and pilots currently underway, a crucial part of this project involves surveying Transitioners, Low Carbon Communities and beyond. So please click through to the survey and help steer us in the directions that will work best for you and your transition group.

All responses are hugely helpful to us, regardless of whether you're a technowhizz or technophobe. Feel free to confer with others in your group if you wish, but it's not necessary at all - the fullest range of responses will give us the richest picture.

Once we've sliced, diced and cross-correlated your responses, merged them with the results from workshops and pilots, then pored over them for countless caffeine fuelled all-nighters, we'll be able to furnish you with recommendations, processes, templates and some key tools that will help us all connect our efforts together more effectively.

Thanks for your input into the survey.

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10-March-2009. Transition Bro Ddyfi steering group member has play on BBC Radio 4, 2.15pm, 12-March

A highly topical title of "Getting to Zero", by Sarah Woods.

An expert panel sets an average family the task of eliminating their carbon footprint in just six weeks - and living with the consequences.

With George Monbiot, Paul Allen, Peter Harper - note: the latter two are CAT stalwarts and climate giants.

Unmissable.

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10-March-2009. Announcing the Transition Conference in London, May 2009

Get the full scoop on the conference - it's looking very exciting, and judging by the 50 bookings we've already received on the same morning that the invitations went out, so do the transitioners out there too.

For those of you who can't make it, we'll be doing a full write-up and also, techno-gremlins permitting, we'll be setting up a live audio stream.

We're also planning courses in the run-up and after the conference. Keep an eye on the link above - fuller programme details and course arrangements will be added soon.

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5-March-2009. Insightful video about "stories"

Sent in by one of the Transition Tales pioneers, this 12 minute video explains the power of stories, how they relate to us as individuals and as groups, and how they can be used to bridge the divides that cause us to work less than effectively with others.

You'll probably notice that this lecture has a religious angle, and also that it doesn't impinge on the contents at all - a good sign that the message is universal.

Key lesson: share our stories.

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5-February-2009. Welsh Transitioners convergence postponed

The next quarterly Welsh Network Meeting, previously tabled for Sat 7-Feb-09 is postponed. Keep an eye out for further announcements.

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31-January-2009. Welsh Transitioners unite!

The next quarterly Welsh Network Meeting is on Sat 7-Feb-09. 10am-3pm, at the Centre For Alternative Technology, Machynlleth.

If you are part of a Welsh Transition Initiative or thinking of starting an initiative, come along to network with other Welsh initiatives, share your experiences and plans and discuss collective projects. Paul Allen, Director of CAT will be giving a presentation on Zero Carbon Britain.

Here are the directions to CAT.

If you're coming along, please email transitiondyfi[AT]yahoo[DOT]co[DOT]uk so CAT can plan their kind offer of facilities.

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29-January-2009. Methane and permafrost - the ticking bomb

It's not something new to many of us, this issue of the potential release of squillions of tons of methane from the warming permafrost. However, seeing it actually happening adds a certain visceral element that drives it home, just a little bit more.

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29-January-2009. Permablitzing in the Aussie suburbs

A wonderful 10-minute video that combines Richard Heinberg's portentous comments on Peak Oil and the wonderful concept of Permablitzing, as practitioned in Melbourne. It stars Asha Bee who is currently undertaking the latest in our series of Transition Guides - The Transition Guide to Cities.

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23-January-2009. This is a shout out for budding Transition Presenters

Transition Initiatives frequently make requests for presenters who can do a reasonable job of explaining peak oil, climate change and Transition at one of their community meetings.

We have a hunch that there must be loads of transitioners out there who'd be willing to step up for this. So, in the spirit of relocalisation, we're enabling these potential speakers to self-identify and make themselves available to talk to groups within a reasonable distance.

If you want to step up, take a look at the first post in this forum.

If you're looking for a local presenter, take a look at this GoogleMap. And if there's no one within striking distance of your locale, mebbe you should consider stepping up yourself.

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8-December-2008. Nottingham City Council unanimously passes Peak Oil motion!

It might just be a coincidence, but a mere 10 after the Transition Cities Conference took place in Nottingham, the City Council there unanimously passed the following motion today....

This Council acknowledges the forthcoming impact of peak oil. The Council therefore needs to respond, and help the citizens it serves respond, to the likelihood of shrinking oil supply but in a way which will nevertheless maintains the City’s prosperity. It acknowledges that actions taken to adapt to and mitigate against climate change also help us adapt issues around peak oil.
It will do this by:
  • developing an understanding of the impact of peak oil on the local economy and the local community
  • encouraging a move across the city towards sustainable transport, cycling and walking throughout the city
  • pursuing a rigorous energy efficiency and conservation programme through its carbon management plan, the work towards EMAS accreditation and on leading on raising energy awareness across all sectors to reduce dependency on oil based energy in the city
  • supporting research and production within the city which helps develop local effective alternative energy supplies and energy saving products in order to encourage a move away from oil based fuels and also in order to create local ‘green collar jobs’
  • co-ordinating policy and action on reducing our city’s carbon dependency and in response to the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change and peak oil.
In this way Nottingham City Council will not only be helping the city to rise to the challenge of peak oil but also encourage the city to grasp the opportunities which peak oil offers.

Some may recall that it was Nottingham who signed the first City level climate change "declaration", (henceforth dubbed the "Nottingham Declaration"). Looks like they're pioneering again...

FYI, the unanimous motion received cross party support and it's worth saying that Transition Towns were mentioned as having an important role to play!

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7-December-2008. Transition Cities Conference write ups now complete.

If you go to the Conference write up page, you'll find session notes, handouts, official and unofficial guidance material from the 5 workshops and 32 Open Space sessions. There are a few choice videos as well.

A little delving may yield some prize gems that will inform and enhance your transition efforts.

Big thanks to Steph Bradley, Asha Bee, the workshop facilitators and the Open Space scribes for making this happen.

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4-December-2008. Leicestershire County Council declares support for Transition!

Something very exciting happened in the meeting of Leicestershire County Council this afternoon (as well as a good few not-exciting things… it was a council meeting, after all).

Following the Somerset County Council motion a couple of months ago, a motion was put forward by the county council in Leicestershire declaring support for the Transition movement and pledging to support the county’s Transition groups in their activities. And… it was unanimously supported and adopted!

Here's the full article from the Transition Leicester blogsite.

Thanks to Reevesie in Leicester for the heads up on this.

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3-December-2008. Video of Ed Miliband referring to Transition towns as "absolutely essential"

Ed Miliband is the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. We're not always convinced by the words of politicians, but in this case, we think he's spot on!

Ed Collard, video maven - you're a star of the highest order.

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2-December-2008. Video from Cities Conference

There are now three versions of a brilliant 8 minute snapshot of the conference:

Kudos and thanks to Sally and Ed Collard for this - they've done a great job of capturing the flavour.

This film is for free use by transition groups. If other organisations want it for commercial use, please contact transition network to discuss.

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24-November-2008. Good Practice for Groups document

There've been a number of requests for guidelines around what ground rules could help to set a useful background for all of us in making our groups function well. Sophy Banks and Peter Lipman have come up with the following "Good Practice for Groups" as a start point.

It'll be a living document as we take feedback and learn new lessons.

Get it here and let us know how you get on with it.

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13-November-2008. New video: 12 steps to Transition

Described as "a romp through the 12 steps to Transition as part of the Lift Festival on the South Bank", this inspirational event condensed the entire transition process from "forming an initiating group" through to "creating an Energy Descent Action pathway" into a colourful and collaborative pageant running the course of an afternoon in July-08.

You can download the video here. Warning - it's a 1.3 Gig file, so it'll take a while to download.

Regarding our transition to a lo-carbon, hi-resilience ways of living:

  • climate change makes it imperative
  • peak oil makes it inevitable
  • transition initiatives seem to be making it feasible, practicable and highly enjoyable, as this video will show.

Major kudos to Lucy Neal (Transition Tooting), Duncan Law (Transition Brixton) and Mike Grenville (Transition Forest Row) for making it happen.

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9-November-2008. Yet another translation of the Primer - this time into Dutch

Being a little ignorant about this area of Europe, I was surprised to learn that Flanders (part of Belgium) and the Netherlands actually share the Dutch language. Indeed, between 1815 and 1830 the two countries formed the "United Kingdom of the Netherlands".

We love seeing transition ideas jumping across national boundaries and there's something very enduring about people feeling linked via a language that transcends arbitrarily defined borders.

This latest translation will undoubtedly help accelerate awareness and acceptance of transition ideas over there.

"Heel erg bedankt" to Rudy Dhont, Hugo Klip and Jeanneke for their excellent work.

We've also set up Dutch speakers' forum for our transitioning friends over there.

And if you've ever wondered why Dutch people are so good at languages, take a look at the forum and see how completely impenetrable their own language is - if they can master that, they can master anything!

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8-November-2008. Primer translated into Japanese!

Who would have believed it 18 months ago?! There's now a growing network of transitioners over there in Japan, and this translation will help it grow significantly.

And on top of that, there's now a Transition Japan website here. You'll need the right double-byte character sets running, otherwise it'll look like goobledegook.

"Arigatou gozaimasu" to Hide Enomoto of Transition Town Fujino for this work and for his efforts in coordinating the growing network of transitioners in Japan.

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3-November-2008. Recruiting!! We need a Project Manager for Transition Software Platform

This is a short term post, possibly up to 3 months. Fully funded. Needed urgently. A brilliant opportunity! All the details are here.

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16-October-2008. Transition Cities Conference: a vital event for all urban Transitioners

We are delighted to be able to announce details of the inaugural Transition Cities conference (details here), hosted by the good folks of Transition Nottingham on November 27th -28th 2008. This is a seminal event, one of key importance to all those active in urban Transition initiatives. You can download the poster for the event here, please print out and distribute among your initiative and its various groups.

The aim for the 2 days, which will be held, thanks to the generosity of Nottingham City Council, at the Nottingham Arena in central Nottingham, is to draw together best practice in urban Transition initiatives.

Since the first urban Transition initiatives began emerging nearly 2 years ago, they have taken the 12 Steps, 7 Buts, the Principles of Transition and so on, and tried to apply them in the urban context. But do they work? Might there be a different model for urban initiatives? How can the lessons learnt thus far underpin a more appropriate model?

This event will be run mostly as Open Space, with some workshop sessions, and will aim to produce a set of urban principles, and also allow the maximum amount of exchange between participants, so as to maximise the exchange of ideas and information. The Transition Network will be documenting the event for a Guide to Urban Transition for publication in the New Year. We have striven to keep the costs for the event as low as possible, and a charge of £20 will enable us to cover the costs of running the two days. Information about booking, accommodation, travel and so on, can be found here.

If you are active in an urban Transition project, please come. This is a vitally important event, one that you will find enormously useful. See you in Nottingham!!

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8-October-2008. The "BAE" award (Best Acronym Ever) in Forum for the Future article on transition

A great article entitled "futureproofers" describes (among other things) TT Brixton's imaginatively titled A.B.U.N.D.A.N.C.E. project.

Could this be the start of a trend...?

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8-October-2008. Food security council set up in UK

Looks like a few people in high places are beginning to comprehend the problems with food. The UK gov't has set up a heavy-weight panel to take a good look at how a food production system that uses 9 calories of oil for every calorie of food might fare in a world where energy costs are spiralling.

Readers with a sharp eye for the ironic will chuckle bitterly at the advert placed mid-article... an airline, fittingly!

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2-October-2008. Norwich and Brixton - Unleashed!

Over the last couple of days, the ranks of the unleashed has swelled to 5 now, with the Norwich and Brixton pioneers adding to Totnes, Lewes and Forest Row list. Rob Hopkins is the official "unleasher", but was suffering from gastric flu, so I (Ben Brangwyn), just back from a wonderful honeymoon, had the nerve-racking privilege to stand in for each of these stunningly heartening events.

I'm convinced that these (and all the other emerging) fired-up transition groups have the best chance there is of seriously tackling our resilience and carbon issues, inspiring others and creating an environment where currently unelectable policies become electable (think: moratorium on road building, proactive economic contraction, happiness indices as political drivers, energy rationing etc).

Check out the comprehensive and entertaining account of the event in Brixton, hot off the digital presses thanks to Amelia. I'm sure there will be pics and accounts of Norwich very shortly, and I'll link here.

Congrats and kudos to all involved for their hard graft in cooking up their initiatives to "unleashing" point and for organising such stunning events.

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29-September-2008. Leicester - from "eco"town to Transition Town

Robin de Carteret and the bearded-one, aka Reevsie, from Transition Leicester have been hard at work convincing the BBC that climate change and energy shortfalls will render the thinking behind the UK govt's "eco"towns initiative obselete. This YouTube video gives you a flavour, and here's their wiki page on it and their alternative proposal (pdf) is also available for download.

Feel free to get involved in the discussion there, I think it could go far...

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27-September-2008. The Transition Movie Needs YOU!

We are really thrilled about announcing a new initiative by the Transition Network. We have some funding to make a film about Transition, and after much contemplation, we have come up with a way to make it which we think best reflects the Transition ethos. In essence, the idea is that rather than having one camera crew spend months trudging around the many Transition initiatives around the world, hoping fortuitously to stumble across interesting things happening just at the time they happen to turn up, the idea is instead that the initiatives themselves make the film. In the best spirit of 'We-Think' and collaborative thinking, we want Transition initiatives across the world to record their stories, their dramas, their successes and failures, for 3 months between October 1st and the end of the year. We think it will lead to the creation of a film which is truly extraordinary.

The idea is that we provide some training, some digital tapes, a Transition Movie Hotline and a great deal of support and enthusiasm, and then you produce a record of what you are up to. We are working with Smith and Watson productions, who have made a number of films for the BBC, and with independent film-maker Emma Goude, who will have the unenviable task of sorting through the mountains of footage and producing an epoch-capturing, life-changing movie from it.

We want this film to be a celebration of the possibilities of the new media at our disposal, as well as being a celebration of the amazing work you are all doing out there catalysing your communities around responses to peak oil and climate change. This is an appeal to the creativity and artistry that is out there in the Transition community. There is a lot more detail here, and a beginner's guide to filmmaking here. We will shortly announce the dates and locations of the filmmaking workshops. So, this is setting you all a challenge.... let's see what happens!!

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22-September-2008. Transition Cities Conference Dates Announced!

We are delighted to announce the dates of the upcoming Transition Cities 'conference'. It will take place at the Nottingham Arena, on Thursday November 27th and Friday November 28th. It will begin at 10am on the 27th and end at 2pm on the 28th to enable people to travel home. The event is a 'conference' in the Transition sense of not really being a conference, rather it will be an opportunity for those of you actively involved in urban Transition initiatives to come together, to share what is working, what isn't working, tools you have found to be especially useful and so on. As at our annual 'conference', most of the time will be taken up with Open Space sessions and workshops.

Exact details such as costs, accommodation and so on, will be posted soon, but for now we thought it best that you have the dates to put in your diary. We are also actively seeking people who would like to offer workshops, so if you would like to host a workshop on some aspect of urban Transition, please let email Kristen at kristinsponsler@gmail.com. Watch this space for more information, and see you there!!

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5-Sep-08, Subscribe to Transition Network database

We've implemented a new sign up process for the newsletter and general communications - if you want to subscribe, click this link and watch the internet weave its magic.

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2-Sep-08, Transition Comes to London

Tues 16-September-2008 in London

Building sustainable and resilient cities will be crucial to navigating an orderly route through the coming climate and energy challenges. This event will help move the discussions forward and identify practical ways we can all contribute.

Presenting at Transition Towns come to London will be:

  • Mike Grenville of Changing Worlds - discussing Peak Oil and the urgency of action required
  • Rob Hopkins, author of The Transition Handbook - speaking on how communities can respond effectively to climate chaos and the end of cheap oil, and describing how to start to build local resilient networks

Panel Discussion speakers include:

  • Suzy Edwards of Camden Climate Action Network
  • Duncan Law of Transition Town Brixton
  • Mary Fee of LETSLink
  • Lucy Neal of Transition Town Tooting

Next steps and more details:

  • Registration
  • Where: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1
  • When: Tues 16th Sept, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
  • Cost: £5 on the door (includes refreshments)

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1-Sep-08, Transition Camp

19/21-September-2008 in Sussex

Thanks to the sterling efforts of the South East Transition group, a transition gathering that welcomes all the family and provides a space to meet transitioners from other places will be taking place on 19/21-September-2008 in Sussex.

There will be a basic framework of activities and also space for sessions you would like to offer. Unplugged music, story telling, skills, questions, debate, open fires and much more.

It will be a time to gather together, a time to celebrate, to share good food, visions for our future, skills and knowledge, have fun, to connect and just be with each other.

The camp site is on a beautiful organic farm in the heart of Sussex at the end of the Bluebell railway line and close to the Ashdown Forest. Elena's kitchen will offer delicious food and a there will be a yurt sauna. Children most welcome.

Suggested donation for the weekend camp Friday and Saturday nights: Adult £25 and child £10 family £50 (no day tickets)

Next steps and more details:

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31-Aug-08, A 12 Lépés az Átmenethez - Hungarian translation

It's always a thrill to see this material find its way into other countries, and this latest translation by Tracey Wheatley is the first foray into Eastern Europe.

The translation includes the 12 Steps and the 7 Buts and the Criteria for becoming an "official" transition initiative.

Thanks to Tracey for this work and kudos to her for mastering what looks like both an unpronounceable and impenetrable language.

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29-Aug-08, Welsh transition initiatives - meeting

There's lots of transition activity in Wales now and there's a big "all Wales" meeting on 25-Oct (probably in Builth). Keep an eye on the Wales forum for more information.

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15-Aug-08, Website update

Based on feedback, we've updated the site structure to make it easier for people who are learning about transition for the first time.

The other benefit is that it means we're only maintaining a single list of transition initiatives now.

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3-Aug-08, Transition Handbook now available at volume discounts in US

Chelsea Green Publishing is making the Transition Handbook available at volume discounts to US based Transition Initiatives.

Please contact mweaver[AT]chelseagreen[DOT]com for more details - and ask him when the Handbook is going to be the featured book on his site!!

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24-July-08, This week on BBC2 - Climate Change and Peak Oil thriller - UPDATE

It's a very impressive piece of work. If you missed the first installment (of two), you can get it here from the BBC i-player site here.

Can't wait for Friday's finale...

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21-July-08, This week on BBC2 - Climate Change and Peak Oil thriller

If you and your friends have done the smart thing and thrown your tv onto the scrapheap of brain-addling tat, then you may need to find a tame cathode ray tube addict for Wednesday 23-Jul and Friday 25-Jul at 9pm both nights on BBC2.

"Burn Up" is a 2-part thriller written by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) about the lies and duplicity of the denial industry pitched against people desperate to prevent runaway climate change.

Here's a truly brilliant article from, would you believe, the Mail On Sunday, written by Beaufoy.

"As I dug around the oil industry, I came across another extraordinary elephant in the room that nobody dared mention, but which will become crucial in the fight to prevent irreversible warming: Peak Oil.
When I started on this journey, three years ago, oil was 50 dollars a barrel and the Peak Oil theorists were dismissed as alarmist fringe elements.
But who is nuts, now? Oil has hit 147 dollars a barrel, house prices are plummeting and the stock markets are going through the floor.
I met a man employed by the oil industry to collate data on oil reserves...[his assessment was] 'A global crash, at a guess somewhere between 2008 and 2010'. "

Somehow I don't think we'll be getting an anodyne Gore-style third act in which the hero drives off into the sunset in his Prius hybrid having saved the world with a rucksack full of ecobulbs and toilet hippos.

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18-July-08, Universities OF Transition development day

Universities and educational establishments everywhere are going to need to play their part in the Great Reskilling. Some people at the forefront of planning for this are putting together a development day, provisionally booked for 11-October in Hereford in the UK.

Here's the program for the day. If you're interested in attending, please contact stephbradley[AT]transitionnetwork[DOT]org.

For further info about this, check out the opening few paras of this page and take a peek at the Education and Universities forum.

Any predictions for when the first "Chair of Transition" will be set up at a forward thinking University in the UK, or beyond...?

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15-July-08, Transition bubbling up in Hong Kong!

Don Latter in Lantau (the biggest island in the Hong Kong territory) is kicking off a transition initiative. It's good to start off with some positive press, and he achieved that big time with this article in the Sunday Morning Post. Read the article (thankfully in english!) and find out what Galileo and Don Latter have in common.

I shall be taking a slow boat to China to attend Don's permaculture course for exotic climates very shortly (in my dreams)...

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12-July-08, Transition Events Forum

If you are part of a transition initiative and you want to advertise a transition related event, feel free to use the Transition Events forum.

Check out the posting protocol (it's the first post on that forum) for guidelines on promoting the event.

Happy pluggage.

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9-July-08, Transition Presentation in Italian

A message from Ellen Bermann from Italy:

"Here's the presentation I used for introducing TT to the Italian audience. The transition network material has been very helpful and I made a sort of mixture out of it - the audience was really enthusiastic!"

And here's the presentation. Big thanks to Ellen for her work.

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19-June-08, Academic Researchers protocol

We're seeing a steadily increasing stream of academics approaching Transition Initiatives around the world, hoping to build their dissertations around the work that's being done in those communities.

The effort required by Transition Initiatives can be quite onerous, so it's important that:

  • initiatives don't go into this without a clear idea of what may be asked of them
  • researchers understand they need to establish a symbiotic relationship with these initiatives where the benefits flow in both directions
  • action-based research is most likely to yield a mutually beneficial outcome

To that end we've put together a page for academic researchers that gives the wider context and a (draft) protocol for them to follow. If you get approached by any academic researchers, you'll find your life a little easier if you direct them to that page from the outset.

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17-June-08, Additional Spanish translations

Doly Garcia, a member of the Brighton&Hove transition group, has translated a significant part of the Transition Handbook into Spanish. Please recommend this link to all your spanish-speaking amigos. El Concepto De Transición may help build up resilience and reduce carbon emissions across the most widely spoken language in the world.

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14-May-08, Bringing together the Climate Change and Peak Oil camps

Embryonic transition groups often emerge from Climate Action groups. Typically, there's a lively debate on how relevant Peak Oil is - some think it's crucial, others think it's a distraction. The discussion is often based on "either/or" thinking.

I truly hate the "either/or" mindset that is rooted in Malthusian scarcity theory. Far better is permaculture's "both/and" principle of abundance - achievable if we work with the natural cycles rather than against them.

It's easy to understand how people find it hard to see how peak oil can be relevant in the planetary emergency being precipitated by climate change. However, given that the key to responding to climate change is getting people to change their behaviours, to adopt lower carbon ways of living, then peak oil can be seen as a crucial tool in accelerating that action.

read more...

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23-Apr-08, Transition initiatives and the spirit of inclusivity

Concerns regarding extreme political groups getting involved in transition initiatives arose at both the conference and the recent strategy day. In response to this and also to a specific instance within one initiative, we're suggesting that the core transition groups explicitly support (probably through their constitutions) the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

There may be more elegant ways of making sure that extreme political groups that have discrimination as a core value are excluded from the decision-making bodies of transition initiative's, and there's a small team within the network looking at this.

We've added this point to the checklist for initiating groups.

It's true that certain actions taken by individuals belonging to these extreme groups may well end up contributing to rebuilding resilience and reducing carbon - after all, it's going to take a global effort. But regardless of how useful these individual actions might be, it's important to ensure that decision-making bodies within transition initiatives aren't influenced by views that fly in the face of the spirit and letter of the Human Rights Declaration.

We're updating the Transition Initiative Primer to reflect this key development.

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9-Apr-08, Transition Network conference

The bookings for this have gone over 200, and if you take a look at the conference programme, you'll see what they're letting themselves in for.

It's a heady mix of open space, workshops and meaningful conversations.

There will be quite a few people from outside the British Isles, and we're hoping that the carbon cost of their visits will be offset by the spirit and experiences they bring back to their home countries as they initiate projects that rebuild resilience and reduce carbon.

Full details of the conference are here.

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24-Mar-08, The Archers runs a story on "Transition Communities"

It took them 15,000 episodes (starting during WWII), but they finally did it. Pat Archer has got the transition bug and, if her usual levels of determination apply, this story may run and run.

Follow these links to get the scoop at Rob's blog.

Alternatively, go to Radio4's listen again for the Archers. The section on "transition communities" is at about 7mins 50secs after the unforgettable theme tune starts running.

Now, if you're from foreign climes, you may not know just how popular the Archers is (are?) - over 4million people a week listen to it. What's the betting that those figures go through the roof if they write an episode which has Rob addressing the community in Ambridge village hall :¬)

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12-Mar-08, Transition Town Totnes is recruiting an "Energy Descent Pathways Coordinator"

This has got to be one of the most exciting jobs on the planet, bar none. Here's the job advert:

Are you the creative and outgoing person who can take TTT's Energy Descent Pathways project forward? You need to be passionate about creating a positive future beyond our oil-dependent lifestyles, and committed to involving all sectors of the local community. The role includes creating events to stimulate visions of a vibrant, resilient low carbon future, as well as exploring and documenting possible pathways to get there. Your work will be an inspiration for countless other communities tackling these same issues.
  • Funded for 1 year initial contract
  • Remuneration £25,000 pa with 20 days paid leave
For more information and an application pack, contact Lou Brown at TTT.
  • Email: transitiontowntotnes@gmail.com
  • Tel: 01803 867358
  • Address: 43 Fore St, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5HN
The deadline for applications is Friday 25th April 2008.

% newwin% Follow these links to get the application form and job description and person specification.

Heck, if I wasn't enjoying myself so much working on Transition Network, I'd apply for it myself!

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05-Mar-08, Heinberg and Quinn available for talks in UK - grab 'em while you can

Transition Town Market Harborough is organising a UK mini-tour for Megan Quinn and Richard Heinberg after they've attended the Findhorn conference towards the end of March.

For those of you who haven't already been exposed to the wonderful work these two have done, please click on the links. We wholeheartedly recommend them both as being outstanding speakers, educators and in Richard's case, violinists.

Currently Megan's itinerary is:

  • March 28th - Brixton - confirmed
  • March 29th - Falmouth - confirmed
  • March 30th - Lostwithiel - mulling it over
  • March 31st - Bristol - confirmed
  • April 1st - Hereford/Gloucester - confirmed
  • April 2nd - Market Harborough - confirmed

Richard Heinberg's itinerary is:

  • March 29th - open
  • March 30th - open
  • March 31st - Leicester - confirmed

To find out the possibility of one of these two giving a talk in your community, please contact Darren Woodiwiss of Transition town Market Harborough either on his mobile: 07974 220102 or by email.

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01-Mar-08, The book we've all been waiting for - The Transition Handbook

In his magnum opus, Rob Hopkins weaves his hallmark magical weft, intertwining the three threads of the practical, emotional and logical - blending in frequent sparkles of humour.

The result is a cloth of the finest quality, and one we might all try on for size.

Launched this week (1-Mar-08), much anticipated - it sold 30% of its first print run even before it had been launched - and exceedingly needed in a world that'll find itself in great stress if we don't start acting immediately to reduce carbon emissions and increase resilience dramatically. And this book will tell you how.

It's heavy content but light reading.

Buy it here.

And if it's your mother's birthday soon, buy one for her too. Heck, if anyone you know has a birthday in the next 6 months, get one for them as well. The more people who understand this stuff at a deep and practical level, the better off we'll all be.

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12-Feb-08, Peak Oil for cities - alert your own city officials (UK specific hedzup)

 If you want to gently shove a firework beneath your city planners, here's your chance.

Daniel Lerch, author of Post Carbon Cities Handbook and programme manager at the Post Carbon Institute is visiting the UK and Ireland in March. He's available around the end of March to beginning of April (travel plans are being worked out) to talk to city planners anywhere in the UK and Ireland.

Here's Daniel's bio:

Daniel Lerch is the author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, the first major municipal guidebook on peak oil and global warming. Daniel has worked on urban planning issues for over ten years in the public, private and non-profit sectors. He is also a co-founder of The City Repair Project, an award-winning non-profit organization working on community public space issues. Daniel has a Masters in Urban Studies.

To start a conversation with Daniel, send him an email, then light the blue touchpaper...

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7-Feb-08, Training the trainers for transition

There's a huge demand from core teams within existing transition initiatives for Transition Training - the 2-day training course that helps them broaden, deepen and accelerate their project. So much that we need now to build a team of people who are capable of delivering that training.

We've therefore devised a "train the trainers" course and the first one will be held in Totnes in June.

Take a look at the details of this "train the trainers" course and muse on the possibility building up your own skill set to make a dramatic contribution to the ability of this country (and beyond) to make a viable response to peak oil and climate change - and you can get paid for doing it!

Sound interesting?

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27-Jan-08, Leamington Spa - local council support of Transition Initiative

 We often get contacted by local authorities who want to get an initiative started in their community. Our response is always that the role of the council is to support, not drive. Looks like Leamington Spa are embracing the transition concept and providing a lot of support.

We'll watch with great interest as this initiative develops to see how best a council can provide that support without jumping into the driving seat.

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24-Jan-08, Newsletter3 available

 Lots of interesting stuff about new communities reaching full "transition" status, others mulling it over, transition training and more. Lightweight reading, heavyweight content.

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18-Jan-08, Annual Conference dates announced

 This year, from Friday 11-April to Sun 13-April, we'll all be gathering in the UK at the Royal Agricultural College near Cirencester for the annual conference.

We're still finalising the details of the programme, but in the meantime, here's the scoop so far.

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27-Nov-07, Tour of Scotland

 Ben Brangwyn is all set for a rather remarkable tour of Scotland - 15 talks/meetings, 9 days, 9 towns! Here are the details:

  • 2-Dec: Aberdeen, 8.00pm
    • (carolinekemp1 "AT" googlemail.com for details)
  • 3-Dec: Falkland, 6.00 - 7.30pm, Stables, Falkland Estate
    • 01337 858 838
  • 4-Dec: Stirling, 7.30 - 9.30pm
    • (rachellnunn "AT" yahoo.co.uk)
  • 5-Dec: Dunbar, evening, Hallhill Healthy Living Centre
    • (philip "AT" templelands.freeserve.co.uk)
  • 6-Dec: East Kilbride, 7.30 - 9.30pm, East Kilbride Arts Centre
    • (johnnie.wales "AT" googlemail.com)
  • 7-Dec: West Kilbride, 7 - 9:30pm, Community Centre
    • (robsewell909 "AT" yahoo.co.uk)
  • 8-Dec: Glasgow
    • Phoenix Centre, 10 - 12.00 noon, Our Climate Our Future, general open space
    • Phoenix Centre, 4 - 6.00pm, open space - "Transition City Glasgow?"
      • (butlerlarry "AT" talktalk.net)
  • 9-Dec: Edinburgh, 2 - 4.30pm, The Melting Pot
    • (evaschonveld "AT" yahoo.co.uk)
  • 10-Dec: Biggar, evening
    • (john "AT" saocc.org.uk)

Kudos to the people who have put so much effort into setting this up. We're expecting a lively 9 days and to learn much from a country where the subject of "land reform" actually means something.

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05-Nov-07, updated Transition Initiatives Primer

 We're up to version 23b for this essential read. Just updated to include the most tedious section ever researched, entitled "Setting up your Transition Initiative – formal structures and constitutions". It now has the full baloney on different types of charities and associations, including CICs and Industrial & Provident Societies, along with sample constitutions - I told you it was boring! More excitingly, there's a new section on producing the EDAP, an explanation of "resilience indicators" (more thrilling than they sound) and a few minor tweaks that none of you will notice but make me feel a lot better.

Go here to get it.

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26-Oct-07, Newsletter

 Latest newsletter now available here. Includes information on the latest transition training dates.

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14-Oct-07, High definition video of Rob

 Rob didn't fly to Washington for the International Forum on Globalisation’s Teach-in: "Confronting the Global Triple Crisis - Climate Change, Peak Oil, Global Resource Depletion & Extinction". Instead he sent a video, thereby saving nearly three tonnes of CO2.

If you'd like the high definition version of this for showing at an awareness raising event, follow the link here. The file is called "Rob Hopkins Washington IFG Conference Oct-07.mpg" and it's 330 MB, so don't expect it to download in a twinkle.

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20-Sep-07, Politics

 Andrew McNamara, Queensland's newly appointed Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation talks about the importance of relocalisation in the face of oil depletion.

"There's no question whatsoever that community driven local solutions will be essential. That's where government will certainly have a role to play in assisting and encouraging local networks, who can assist with local supplies of food and fuel and water and jobs and the things we need from shops. It was one of my contentions in the first speech I made on this issue in February of 2005... that we will see a relocalisation of the way in which we live that will remind us of not last century, but the one before that. And that's not a bad thing. Undoubtedly one of the cheaper responses that will be very effective is promoting local consumption, local production, local distribution. And there are positive spinoffs to that in terms of getting to know our communities better. There are human and community benefits from local networks that I look forward to seeing grow."
- The Honourable Andrew McNamara, Queensland Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation

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17-Sep-07, Web content: Transition Italy online

 I don't know what the word for "viral" is in Italian, but that's what's happened recently. Our grandly named contact in Italy - Umberto Astolfi - has translated:

  • 7 barriere sulla strada di una iniziativa transition
  • 12 passi chiave per imbarcarvi nel vostro percorso transition
  • Test per diventare una transition town

You might not be able to translate any of it, but check out the wonderful picture featured on the pages. I think the appropriate response is, "Ciao bella, Umberto, mio buon amico"!

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13-Aug-07, Radio interview: David Strahan on peak oil

 One of the best interviews on Peak Oil that I've encountered involves David Strahan talking to Electric Politics. However, typically the mp3 files of radio interviews contain loads of puff at the start and the end and can be peppered with monologues about local issues, traffic news etc. So I've tidied up the mp3 file to keep just to the relevant material - just click on the link above.

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11-Aug-07, Radio Programme: BBC Radio Scotland on Transitions

 BBC Radio Scotland recently sent a crew to Totnes to find out more about TTT (Transition Town Totnes) and Transition Network. The programme was broadcast on 6-Aug-07 and unfortunately the BBC Radio only keeps their "listen again" links for a week on their website. But don't worry, the link above is to an mp3 I made of the programme. It's outstanding, full of excellent soundbites, healthy scepticism and inspiring phone-ins.

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7-Aug-07, Article: Quantifying the leaky bucket economy

 Just posted an article on how local economies haemorrage cash and how local currencies can stop the bleeding (adapted from Forest of Dean Local Food Directory 1998)

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1-Aug-07, Article: Peak Oil & Dentistry

 Just posted an article based on interviews with two Peak Oil aware dentists. This looks like being the first anywhere on the web - and high time it was done. Mebbe we'll see some action from the British Dental Association and the Dental Practitioners Association - I sent them both an email on 29-Jul-07.