You are right – this is no longer the time for just symbolic actions. While symbolic actions have their place, we also need to engage in the practical visioning of how this will all happen in our communities and start taking really practical actions.

Our whole way of life needs a great deal of new thinking. Symbolic actions seem to imply that it is someone else that needs to change and not us.

Each angle could be a dedicated pathway for a specific subject,
The path (a line) would radiate out from the centre with whatever is considered the greenest/ most positive step closest to the centre.

1 degrees = transport: —-walk —-cycle—-bus—-train—-car share—-service vehicle—-less frequent journey—-drive slower—-fly—-

2 degrees = food: —-homegrown—-local—-less meat—- etc, this one would finish with Tesco ; )

It’s not so symbolic (hopefully!) but is using the combined clout of communities who are trying to do something about climate change to exert some pressure on the government… we’re launching it in the next few weeks, so watch this space…!

When I think about what McKibben & crowd are doing, as differentiated from what you & Transition crowd are doing, it reminds me of your post about the Joanna Macy talk at Findhorn – the 3 elements of the Great Turning. (24 March 2008)

Much of McKibben’s work has been directed in the category Macy called “stopping actions” to prevent further destruction. Transition Towns, in my mind, are clearly “creating new structures.”

Macy reminded us that all 3 elements are necessary. Thus McKibben’s politically-oriented projects are necessary alongside the Transition’s community-oriented projects. (And might I offer that perhaps some personality types are better suited to one kind of project over another.) The house-on-fire analogy lays claim that one element of the 3 is more critical than the other two, but this disregards Macy’s wisdom about the need for balance.

The other problem with McKibben’s house-on-fire analogy is, while it’s great to raise awareness of the 350 number, the only viable way we’re going to get back to that 350 number is through power-down. 350.org focuses on political action and legislative influence — that might eventually help with the huge emitters (corporate manufacturing, etc), but many of them are banking on some form of techno-rescue to allow “business as usual” to continue. (Recall Holmgren’s statements about the techno-fantasy scenario.)

That’s where the Transition approach is so marvelous — it folds in a “how to” on power-down, through many facets of people’s lives. And it ends up working on the third of Macy’s points: consciousness change.

How about 350 attendees to reskilling classes? Or getting people to offer 350 reskilling sessions throughout a particular section of the country?

How about 350 fruit trees planted in a Climate-Saving ORCHARD?
People in the community could pay to ‘sponsor’ a tree. Have their name on a plaque.
Sequesters carbon, provides food, creates community, creates jobs, is visible day after day after day…

Sincerely,
On behalf of Transition Town Farnham