Transition Culture

An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent

Transition Culture has moved

I no longer blog on this site. You can now find me, my general blogs, and the work I am doing researching my forthcoming book on imagination, on my new blog.

Archive for “The Transition Companion” category

Showing results 6 - 10 of 35 for the category: The Transition Companion.


12 Apr 2012

Transition Streets: an evidence base to support the Transition approach to change

I am really pleased today to be able to share with you some of the key outputs from Transition Streets, which I have written about here before.  Let’s start, for people who are new to the concept, with this short video which beautifully captures how Transition Streets worked in Totnes:

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4 Apr 2012

A March Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition

Our thanks to Gerd Wessling, co-ordinator of the German hub, for the following story from Germany:

“Sunday May 13th 2012 will be declared “In Transition 2.0 film and information day” in Germany, Austria and Switzerland!  We kindly ask all German, Swiss & Austrian Transition initiatives to self-organize screenings of the movie at that date in their regions/towns/cities.  More info for the organizers (in German) & about the coordination here.

A screening in Bielefeld is already fixed; see details here.  We would love to generate a lot of broad, positive reviews and excitement about the movie and Transition in general at that date in the German-speaking region(s) of the world”.

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15 Mar 2012

Reflections on Energy Descent Action Plans: a response to Vera Bradova

A fascinating post over at Leaving Babylon by Vera Bradova called Tedium and black magic: the trouble with Energy Descent Action Plans (EDAPs) raises some interesting questions about Transition and planning, and EDAPs in particular.  The version published at EnergyBulletin.net pulls out some of the most salient comments.   It offers a very good opportunity to revisit the role of the EDAP in Transition, and how that has changed over time, an issue I am very grateful to her for raising. 

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12 Mar 2012

Transition initiatives building partnerships through Big Lottery: Transition Finsbury Park’s story

A while ago I mentioned the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘Communities Living Sustainably’ fund.  The shortlist was announced last week, and it was great to see 4 Transition initiatives among the 30 who got through to the second round of being given £10,000 each to prepare their bids, which will see 10 of them winning £1 million each.  Transition NorwichTransition Market Harborough and Transition Minehead & Alcombe all successfully engaged in BIG funded projects in their own communities which have made it through to the second stage of the initiative.  Also, Transition Finsbury Park were part of one bid, and today Jo Homan from the group tells its story, and of the partnerships they have created to deliver it.  A great example of the Transition ingredient ‘building partnerships’

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14 Dec 2011

“Another world is not only possible… she’s opening a bakery round the corner”. Reflections on the Portas Review

The newly opened Dunbar Community Bakery.

I spent a fascinating afternoon on Monday at an ‘Economic Summit’ (nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds) for Members of South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council.  The meeting was called to update councillors on the strategic thinking within the councils in terms of the economic development of the area and to hear their views on it.  Three communities were invited to present to the councillors the work they were doing to regenerate their economies, and Totnes was one of them.  What I want to do in this post is two things simultaneously.  I want to give some reflections from that meeting, but also give a review of ‘The Portas Review’ (“an independent review into the future of our high streets”) which was published yesterday.  Together they give a sense of the two deeply different narratives that were on show at the Summit, the dangers that their incompatibility presents, as well as the opportunities that emerge. 

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