A snapshot of Transition in … Brazil.
By rob hopkins 5th April 2016
Report | 3rd Meeting of the Brazilian Network of Transition Towns.
São Paulo, February 26, 27 and 28, 2016.
At Coletivo Amor de Madre.
3 days of pure Transition, that’s what’s happened!
3 days of magic, where collaboration, the joy of being together and sharing the best we have!
Three days of collective construction of the dream and vision of the network we want to have!
Day 1
It was a great day of sharing experiences and sensations.
We talked about ourselves, our Transition groups and groups that are not yet called transition, but are in the process of transitioning.
We discussed ongoing projects and what is to come.
Of course, there is never time to do everything we want. In all of the meetings in which I participated, I left with the feeling that if I had had more time I would have said it all. Well, maybe we need to always leave a little unspoken… But we talked a lot and closed the wheel in anticipation of the second day.
Day 2
We received very special guests!
We had the privilege to listen to the generous Vicki Robins (Transition USA | Langley, Washington, see above) who talked about Local Food and its enriching dynamics. Ricardo Zylbergb talked about mapping, networks and connections and his incredible online platform (www.engajados.com.br) which will revolutionize our network. Lala Deheinzelin astonished us with her lecture on Creative Economy and the 4D accelerator.
Our dear Claudia Visoni showed us that every day it is possible to do urban agriculture, public space occupation and partnerships with the local government.
We closed the day with the locomotive Monica Picavea and her research on the needed and dreamed REconomy Project.
The coolest thing is that all this was recorded as a TED Transition Talk and it will be available soon on the Brazilian network website.
Just you wait!
The afternoon started with a dynamic activity orchestrated by Lara Freitas, who brought it from the latest Transition Conference in Devon, England. Many thanks to Juan and Josué for sharing it with us!
We divided a “clothesline” into regions of our country, from where all participants came. Then each group wrote on a colored paper their answers to:
“What am I celebrating?”
“What am I looking for?”
“What did I bring to the meeting?”
And everyone’s contact info.
Needless to say, it was a feast of good things!
Then we went on to the dream… 3 questions filled our minds for the rest of the day:
1) What is the dream for Transition Brazil?
2) What are the positive and negative points of the Transition Brazil today?
3) What are the actions that need to be taken in order for us to fulfill our dreams of Transition Brazil?
“World Cafe” organized, we then did the important work of looking at ourselves, recognizing our shortcomings and successes, dreaming about the future and planning it.
A lot of great exchange and responses in the best atmosphere possible.
We ended the day tired and full of inspiration for action.
Day 3 — final day of the meeting.
We started with a special vegetarian breakfast from one of our favorite food trucks. Another day with very special guests! We give thanks for technology for having provided us with a wealth of wonderful online conferences.
We had a delightful talk with Filipa Pimentel | Transition Network Hubs National Coordinator and EU Policy Coordinator. As our dear Filipa is Portuguese, the conversation was very fluid and everyone loved the opportunity.
It was a pity we did not have a Harry-Potter style fireplace to bring Filipa live and with all colors.
I highlight here an exciting part of the conversation we had:
“As the transition has been a magic lab that happens locally, each transition initiative in each country is unique, new and unprecedented filled with learning with such diversity and complexity…
How can we live together, inspiring each other with the differences?
The transition in Brazil is not the same as Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Italy, Portugal and USA. But strangely when we are together we are part of a family. If we discover the secret of it, it will be peace on Earth.”
Gathered by Heliana Mettig.
The conversation was long and we will soon have the video ready for you all to watch.
And it’s Dragons time! Total immersion in Dragon Dreaming, with the facilitation of Xaba! It was amazing!
Working groups were set up, dedicated to create the next steps of the movement in Brazil.
- Communication
- Mapping
- Events
- The Transition game
It is enough work for the whole year.. What a joy to share with so many people the task of taking Transition forward!
Last part of the day:
A live chat with Rob Hopkins! It could not be different. After three days of Transition, we had to close the meeting with our biggest inspiration!
We filled Rob with questions. And the first was:
“Rob, what’s your” elevator speech?” In other words: what is the phrase that defines the movement today and if you only had the time to get in the elevator with someone from the 1st to the 5th floor, what would you say?
Here’s Rob thinking about his elevator speech…
“A movement of people and communities coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world”.
Putting this incredible movement that is the Transition in just one sentence was difficult but not impossible. We had an amazing conversation that soon will be shared with all. It was exciting for the group to be able to connect with Rob, even for a short time and virtually. Once again the “Harry Potter magical fireplace” was missed.
But they were 15 minutes of exchange which fueled us with joy and inspiration for the rest of the year. I can say that this meeting was really amazing. We want to thank everybody who made this meeting possible in such a collaborative way and with practically no money invested.
Below, I share the report that Monica Picavea generously wrote about the meeting and her impressions. It is now our task to keep the flame always fed by this beautiful network of people who really believe that a more interesting world is there to be created and that we are the protagonists of this creation! After all, what could be a better thing do with our time other than creating the world we want?
Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes
———-
Monica Picavea’s Report
“The 3rd Meeting of the Brazilian Network of Transition Towns brought us a maturing of the movement. It was possible to first of all recognize that transition initiatives, while not having the name Transition Towns or Cities in Transition, do exist and are quite numerous not only in São Paulo but in several other locations in Brazil.
The effectiveness and transformative actions are part of the daily lives of many groups working on specific areas, and I see that the Movement of Cities in Transition is unifying these experiences, and that a cooler world and more full of purpose, is coming together.
The meeting brought us a sharing of experiences, and especially the creation of a common horizon, by working groups in pursuit of this dream, which increasingly seems possible. Each group brought the experience they find to be the most interesting, and which was part and from it, the synergies and best practices were being built.
The meeting’s objective is to use all Transition initiatives to create more initiatives and increasingly attract people to this movement. We noted that there is a will to spread this new way of living, with less impact, with more purpose, and that creating the best ways to do this is necessary and urgent.
Groups linked to communication, mapping, events and a transition game have been born and are working to increasingly have ways to reach more people and make them enjoy the experience of being part of a Transition movement. The creation of the “better world” will work best if we join all our actions.
A group of researchers was also created from this meeting, so that searches and information gathered by them can be shared and each and all of them will continue searching for solutions. This meeting marks a more mature movement in Brazil, and a greater unity with other movements that are in the same effort to create a more interesting, less harmful to the environment and with more purpose in seeking a possible and happier world”.