Telling Our Stories
By Yaz Brien 31st October 2019
“The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it.” (James Baldwin)
Humans have been telling stories since we created language and our first drawings were carved into stone. From infancy the stories we are told teach us about safety and danger, about love and loss, about values and morals, and everything in-between. The stories that we tell frame the culture that we live in, which frames the way that we see ourselves and our place in the world around us.
Transition Network is committed to learning from and amplifying stories of transition – stories which can inspire, inform and empower us all to make the changes needed to create a sustainable and socially just world.
We need to reimagine so that we can rebuild – we need to rebuild so that we can reimagine.
Through our stories we can put a spotlight on innovation, experimentation and the impact of community-led action. We can re-frame our understanding of power as not simply being about money or resources or status, but about what our collective knowledge, skills, experience and passion can enable us to achieve. We can dare to hope – an active hope that is rooted in the action we are taking, together, in the present.
The psychological impact of living with climate and ecological emergencies is real, and it’s heavy, and we need to be able to offer each other moments of relief, compassion and appreciation. And telling our stories is also about connecting to people who are not yet our allies. It’s the vehicle by which we can talk to people about the challenges that we face in a way that they just might listen.
Climate Outreach have done extensive research into communicating about climate change. The evidence tells us that science and facts can polarise people, that crisis and fear alone can overwhelm people – that what humans really relate to is other humans who are authentic and credible. By telling our stories of Transition we can open ears and hearts to the challenges that we are joining together to overcome.
Telling our stories isn’t only about using our words, especially when we are a movement of many languages. There is power in visually documenting the impacts of climate change, and there is also great power in seeing images of people all over the world creating, doing and benefiting from solutions.
What stories can we tell?
This is an invitation for you to connect with us, share with us, and gift us your stories.
Are we already connected on social media?
We try to follow as many Transition groups online as we can, picking out stories to share that might resonate with an international audience. As we are so many it’s not possible to share everyone’s local events, but we really love to see what you’re doing, your photos and your stories.
Please connect with us on social media, and we will reciprocate. You can like/follow/tag/message Transition Network on:
Facebook @transitionnetwork
Twitter @transitiontowns
Do you have an idea for a piece of writing, a blog, an interview or a news story to be shared on our website?
Your group might be celebrating an anniversary, starting an exciting collaboration with other groups in your region, developing a new and innovative project, or finding new ways to understand and engage with inner transition. You may be struggling with a particular challenge and want to share your learning and hear about the experiences of others. You may have spent some time reflecting on a particular issue or experience that you think would be interesting to others around the movement.
We’d like to hear your ideas for future stories and blog posts – you can email us at ourstories@transitionnetwork.org to tell us more.
Do you have images we could use on our website or social media, or that we could share with others?
We would love for you to share your high resolution images (photos and illustrations) for us to use in Transition Network resources, on the website and social media. We also regularly receive media enquiries and together we can better amplify the Transition movement with a collection of images, from around the world, that we can share.
You can send your images to ourstories@transitionnetwork.org telling us who to credit for the photo, and confirming that we have your/their permission to use them.
Have you created a video or podcast?
Please tell us about it by tagging Transition Network on social media, or by sending a link via email to ourstories@transitionnetwork.org. If the video or podcast is not in English, please also include a few sentences to explain, introduce and frame the content.
Telling stories in all of our languages
A lot of the content on our website and social media is in English, but we know that the Transition movement speaks with many different tongues.
If you have a blog, video or podcast in a language other than English, please do still get in touch with us. We may choose to publish or share your story in its original language, or there may sometimes be possibilities for exploring how we could support the translation of your piece into English. This could take the form of arranging for written translation, adding English subtitles to a video, or providing proofreading or editing support if you have created your piece in English and this is not your first language.
We look forward to sharing and learning from your stories.
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Re-Launching Bega Repair Café including Boomerang Bags: Repairing, restoring, upcycling, training, teaching, reducing waste, plastic, landfill & reliance on fossil fuels https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=re-launch%20of%20the%20bega%20valley%20repair%20cafe%20(was%20bega%20remakery)&epa=SEARCH_BOX
Exciting news – thanks for sharing! If you have photos or a story about the Bega Repair Cafe you might like to share, do send us an email to the address in the blog.