The October/November 2014 Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition
By rob hopkins 14th November 2014
Bath & West Community Energy just closed their third public share offer. It raised a remarkable amount of money, £1.6 million, to build the Wilmington Farm Solar Array. Coming on the heels of the recent West Solent Solar Co-operative (which included many members of Transition New Forest) share issue raising £2 million, it’s very impressive to see the scale of these Transition community energy initiatives. On November 10th they tweeted:
We are thrilled to announce that #PublicShareOffer2014 is now fully subscribed having reached £1.6M target. Welcome to our new investors!
They also recently installed a solar array on the roof of the local Council offices. Here’s a photo:
So why did people invest in BWCE’s share issue? Let’s ask a few of them. Here’s Jane:
… and Angus …
… and Shay …
Totnes, which according to the Plymouth Herald is now “twinned with Area 51 after end of agreement with Narnia”, is set to host its Transition Film Festival this weekend, with an incredible line-up of great films and workshops. Totnes also celebrated a national first with its announcement of the signing of an agreement which enables the town’s Atmos Totnes project to finally proceed.
The announcement was made at a public event in September, and now a very innovative public consultation process is underway (see promotional card above). Here is a podcast of three people discussing their experience of visiting the Hub:
As you will see, it’s that time of year when many Transition initiatives’ thoughts turn to apples. Transition Stratford tweeted:
Over three quarters of a tonne fruit picked, join us tomorrow at Anne Hathaway’s 10-12 for our next #harvestshare picking session.
Transition Town Tooting held their Foodival event, another great success. You can read their full report here.
Also held a Restart party, and here is a great selection of photos from the event. Transition Marlow are in the running for local radio station Marlow FM’s ‘Hidden Gems’ awards. Here is a great introductory video to the work of Transition Cardiff:
Let’s talk local currencies for a bit. The Bristol Pound just held its second birthday. They tweeted:
We did it! Bristol’s local currency is TWO yrs old & is growing every day! £619,000 Bristol £s issued,705 £B traders & most buses accept it
They celebrated with a party – here’s the poster:
You’ll see it mentions a £B Cash Point. If your idea of that is the kind of cash point we are all used to, think again. Indeed, here is a photo of the £B Cash Point. That’s him in the middle, with the blue pointy hat.
The Bristol Pound have also produced a great new video about why the Bristol Pound matters:
You can use local currencies for all kinds of things. The Brixton Pound recently tweeted:
Whoop whoop, now accepting @brixtonpound Drop in pole dance classes for B£ users 2-4-1 £9!! O.E 31.12.14
The Totnes Pound has now gone electronic. Also, the new signs in the town’s car parks tells visitors about the Totnes Pound and where they can get them!
It’s not just these places where local currencies are underway. There is so much interest in them, that November saw the launch of the Guild of Independent Currencies in Bristol. Attended by 70 people representing schemes across the UK and beyond, it was an inspirational event. You can read about it, and hear the podcasts of all the talks, here.
Jay Tompt, one of those behind the REconomy work in Totnes, recently gave this talk outlining what REconomy is and how it works in the town:
Transition Town Brixton are planning a Local Entrepreneurs’ Forum for next year, and have already started promoting the idea. Transition is underway in Northhampton – someone recently tweeted:
First Northampton Transition Town meeting will be held Wednesday 8th October @ The Barn, Taylor Avenue Northampton at 7pm
Transition Loughborough held their Autumn Fayre, which was reported in their local paper. It quoted Steve King from the group as saying:
“We want to make the most of what Loughborough’s got. It’s not just about paying for things, it’s about swapping with other local producers. Hopefully, it will catch on”.
Here is a selection of Transition initiatives’ newsletters: Transition Marlborough, Transition Cambridge, Transition St Albans, Transition KW, Transition Town Totnes. Transition Reading are cracking on with their Draughtbusting, and have produced a great Q&A for other groups thinking about it. New Forest Transition are holding an exhibition called ‘Live and Unleashed’ to celebrate their work over the last few years (see right).
Transition St. Albans are forging ahead with their Transition Streets, with new groups still forming across the town. If you’re in St Albans and you’d like to start one, see here. Transition Worcester have just finished their extensive programme of apple pressing. Here they are in action:
Transition Stirling held an upcycling event on how to make new things from old bike chains. Transition Haverfordwest appeared in their local paper under the headline Town heads towards sustainable future. It celebrated the group becoming an ‘official’ Transition initiative. It said:
“In the early days we concentrated on raising awareness through screenings of films and hosting talks,” said Guy Norman, a founder member of the group. “These days we are much more focused on the power of ‘just doing stuff’.”
The ‘stuff’ the group has done includes working with talented local chefs to run a monthly local food supper club, organising a successful series of Green Fayres, and – under the Orchard Mawr project – planting hundreds of fruit and nut trees on public land in and around Haverfordwest.
Transition Ealing tweeted:
Keep your diaries open for the Ealing Transition Community Fayre, Oct 11th, 1:30-5, St Mary’s Church. Another great event! @ttealing
Crystal Palace Transition Town’s ‘Palace Pint’ initiative appeared in the Guardian.
“Palace Pint is a community project to encourage local people to grow their own hops to be harvested into a seasonal, unique and local beer. They plant on St Patrick’s Day, exchange tips and advice on the group’s Facebook page throughout the year, and tonight they collect the yield at Beer Rebellion. Later on, the crop will be cycled over to Penge-based micro brewery Late Knights, who will perform whatever sorcery turns a heap of flowers into beer”.
Here’s a picture of the Palace Pint crew:
CPTT’s food market continues to go from strength to strength. Here’s a great blog about it. The town of Belper just won the GB High Street competition. Transition Belper have been very active in the process, as they tweeted when announcing the news, “Spot the Transition projects”.
According to the Hertfordshire Mercury, Buntingford recently held an event, organised by the charity Peace Child, to explore the idea of Buntingford becoming a Transition initiative. People were asked for their thoughts as to how the town could look in 2050. Asked why Peace Child had organised the event, David Woollcombe, founder of Peace Child, said:
“When Madela Baddock – who hosted this meeting with us – said let’s do this, we agreed that sustainability comes home to roost in our own time. There is an opportunity for a small town like Buntingford to model green, sustainable development and work for effective planning laws much more easily than a big town like Stevenage or Hertford. That’s why we feel we could become a wonderful Transition town.”
Transition Chesterfield have been bringing a theatrical angle to their work. They tweeted:
Final Rehearsal of the Transition Drama production – Insulation. All welcome to join, support etc. Thursday 27th, Calow Church 19:30
If anybody saw ‘Insulation: the Play’, we’d love to hear from you. Southend in Transition held their annual Apple Day. Transition Wivenhoe appeared on a programme on BBC called Glorious Gardens from Above. It introduces viewers to various of their projects, in particular their various community gardens including one at the town’s station. The programme description said:
“Horticulturist Christine Walkden explores gardens and countryside from a hot-air balloon. Christine continues her exploration of Britain’s gardens in Essex”.
Readers in the UK can watch the programme for another 3 weeks (starts 31:00). The amazing work of OVESCO in Lewes and their excellent peer-to-peer work with 10 local Transition groups was celebrated in this article from their local paper:
Transition Town Worthing are busy too. They tweeted:
“exciting things going on in #worthing! Funding for #communityenergy scheme, a #snug #retrofitting initiative, and soon also #community #growingspaces all set up by @TTWorthing members; weekend @mcsuk beach clean time!”
Transition Stroud produced a Stroud in Transition Action Menu which has been delivered to every house in the town. You can download the pdf of the Menu at the bottom of this Round Up. Here is a selection:
Transition Stroud also held their AGM. Click here to see the invitation. Here is a film about the evening:
One of their projects, the Woodfuel Project, was recently captured in this video by Philip Booth:
Sustainable Harborough held their annual Apple Day in the town square. Transition Peterborough held their annual fundraising ceilidh. Tickets went very fast. Transition Galway screened ‘A Farm of the Future’. Transition Honiton held their Winter Warmer Fair.
Transition Cambridge held a Restart Party, which made it onto local TV. Below is a photo from it. They also launched a home energy survey.
In April, Transition Kentish Town, Transition Tufnell Park and Transition Dartmouth Park held a meeting to explore how they might work together to kick off some kind of community energy initiative. Now going full steam ahead under the banner of Power Up North London, they are taking some very real steps towards making it a reality. Nice logo.
Transition Linlithgow were one of the groups who came to the gathering of Scottish Transition initiatives. Here is a poster they prepared about their work so far:
A group from Hong Kong and China recently came on a Transition tour of the South West of England and produced this record of their trip to capture their learnings about local food systems, community energy, local money and the Transition model in general:
The annual gathering of representatives of national Transition Hubs took place in Copenhagen. You can read a write up of it here, and here is a video about the second half of the event, which took place in a car park in Copenhagen!
Sweden held their first annual Transition conference. We are still waiting for a write-up of it, but here is a photo of people arriving on the start of the first morning:
Also in Sweden, Transition Trainers Naresh and Sophy were there recently teaching various Transition Trainings. Here is Naresh leading a session about Max Neef’s work on human needs:
Now here’s a fascinating video. Transition Bielefeld recently held a community sauerkraut-making workshop, which appeared on television! Over to our on-the-spot reporter, who will tell us all about it:
Repair Cafes appear to be all the rage in German Transition initiatives right now. Transition Bielefeld’s Repair Cafe events recently won a prize! I think. I think that’s what’s happening in this video:
Transition Essen also held a Repair Cafe, which appeared on its local TV station:
The first Repair Café in Transition Würzburg was organised on a Sunday evening in October. 20 repairers, nearly 150 visitors and the result: 138 object e.g. electric gadgets, bicycles, trousers and also jewelery, all repaired. There are currently 150 Repair Cafés in Germany, but the number is still raising. Click here to see a clip from local TV about the Würzburg Cafe.
Transition Town Wiesbaden im Wandel appeared on their local radio station:
Transition Witzenhausen have launched a Food cooperative initiative in November after long time planning and testing phase. The aim is to offer local and organic food to local people. They are further looking for consumers, organisers and farmer as well. Here is their poster:
To Hungary now, with thanks to Noemi. Transition Wekerle in Budapest organised a ‘Green Saturday’ in November. There was an exhibition about recycled games and clothes made by children, a presentation about Wekerle’s Garden Share project, but participants could also make themselves eco-washing liquid (see photo below).
Transition Wekerle and Transition Kecskemét organised an event where several local food projects were presented, and participants could discuss different local food strategies such as local markets, food-coops, community supported agriculture, gardening, Garden Share and so on. In Autumn people in Wekerle were very active. 8 garage/fleamarkets and clothing swaps were organised, where a lot of used things found new owners and a new life. More than 150 people took part in these events.
The washable nappy club is still running, they recently organised their 4th meeting since they have launched this summer. He are some of their nappies … (clean ones…):
In Belgium, some members of Réseau Transition recently sent a video fifth birthday greeting to Grez Doiceau en Transition (GeT):
Rob Hopkins recently visited Bologna in Italy, a trip he wrote up here, but here is a short video by Italia Che Cambia which captures the trip:
To the US now, and a member of Transition Wilmington, Delaware was vox popped at the recent huge Peoples’ Climate March in New York. Transition Streets is starting to take off in the US, supported by Transition US. They have adapted Transition Streets from the UK to the US context. They recently held a great online webinar to introduce people to it:
Here’s a short video in which Christine, a mother of two shares why she’s enjoyed being part of the pilot Transition Streets project in Clemson, South Carolina.
Totnes aren’t the only place holding a Transition Film Festival! Transition Pioneer Valley just held their third – more about it here. Transition Keene have been reflecting on the sharing economy. Transition Town Media are hosting a Map Jam. A what? This video explains:
From Canada, Transition Winnipeg tweeted:
Thanks to all who came to help us ignite #winnipeg‘s great transition this afternoon! So many great ideas were put forward!
Transition Perth ran an event, supported by their local government, called ‘Let’s Talk Resilience’. This is part of what they wrote about it on their website:
Imagine everyone being secure, even if oil becomes too expensive to use excessively or if economic uncertainty affects us on a larger scale. Imagine everyone being healthy, even if the cost of food continues to increase or changes in our climate become more pronounced. Imagine everyone being happy, even in light of current downsizing trends or some forms of employment becoming more scarce. Potentially we could create local sources for energy, food security, transportation, and meaningful employment. We could choose to respond constructively to many of these changes and challenges, and celebrate together how our community adapted! Each of us hold parts of the knowledge, skills, vision, and enthusiasm to secure the future of our community. Together, Let’s Talk Resilience on September 26th at the Perth Legion!
The Montreal Gazette ran a great piece about Transition called Montreal’s Transition members seek positive change. Transition Trainer May East wrote a great piece for the Guardian about Transition in Brasilandia in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Jay Tompt, mentioned earlier, has been on a tour around Europe running workshops and giving talks about REconomy. With Inez Aponte they also presented the first Real World Economics workshop in Germany based on the work of Manfred Max-Neef. One of the props Jay took with him was a bottle of ‘Atmos Ale’ brewed by the Transition-inspired New Lion Brewery in Totnes. Like those tales of stolen garden gnomes then being photographed in different parts of the world, he has so far sent photos of it in Bonn …
and in Maastricht …
Where next?