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.
Come find me at robhopkins.net
Archive for “General” category
Showing results 271 - 275 of 506 for the category: General.
4 Sep 2009
September 17th sees the release of the first in a series of ‘how to’ books published under the imprint of ‘Transition Books’ (due soon, guides to money, working with local government and cities). Entitled ‘Local Food: how to make it happen in your community’ it is the work mainly of Tamzin Pinkerton (who was recently interviewed here at Transition Culture) with bits from me, and it is really quite brilliant. Rather than being an intellectual exercise, it is really about the nitty gritty of setting up local food projects, drawing largely (but by no means exclusively) from the successes and failures of Transition initiatives around the world. It is packed with examples, tips, links, ideas and inspiration for rebuilding food resilience where you live. ‘Local Food’ is available from Transition Culture (and elsewhere) from September 17th, but you can preorder it now, and be among the first people to get a copy! To give you a taste, here, in full, is my introduction to the book. There will be two book launches, one in Totnes on October 1st, and another in London, to be confirmed. I’ll keep you posted.
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3 Sep 2009
Today is a bit of a Transition Culture landmark. Extraordinarily, this is the 1000th post I have put up here. Since the dim and distant early days of this site in November 2005, I have been leaping out of bed bright and early every morning to bring colour and vim to your lives, thrilling you with tales of compost loos, odd things you can make out of potatoes and the Alberta Tar Sands. I thought long and hard as to how best to mark this momentous moment, and despite expending a great deal of mental energy on the question, have come up with… nothing. Your suggestions for how best to mark it would be much appreciated. In the end, I decided to celebrate by offering a quote from ‘Comet in Moominland’, which I am reading with my 7 year old at the moment, and which we both love. It is a quote which perhaps describes what the Transition process should be like better than anything else I have read (or written during those 1000 posts).
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1 Sep 2009
Good to see you again. Had a good break ‘staycationing’ (as it seems to be known, and as about 10% more Brits did this year than last year apparently), in Cornwall, Devon, the Forest of Dean, as well as taking my house to bits and painting it all (not yet finished). Anyway, Transition Culture is back. I thought I’d ease us back in gently, with a list of books with a difference. As regular readers will know, I often write lists of books I am reading (another is pending), but the pile of books that accumulates in my bathroom offers an insight into things I dip into, rather than read from cover to cover, in rare moments of peace and quiet (I believe they are sometimes referred to as ‘toilet books’). They tend to accumulate, and every now and then get cleared out. So I scooped up the current pile, and here they are, for what its worth.
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11 Aug 2009
NOTE: This post has been drafted up by me, Ben Brangwyn (benbrangwyn@transitionnetwork.org), while Rob’s on holiday.
Actually, I’m trying to be on holiday too, but had the misfortune of going somewhere that has a reliable broadband connection. 
For those people who have seen this movie in one of its previews, you’ll know it’s something a bit special. For those of us who had the good fortune to be involved in it (submitting footage, trying out our best “inscrutable Brad Pitt smile” in the trailer, getting the money together, giving feedback to make it better, making chamomile tea for the director), there’s more than just a little emotion tied up in this production and some high hopes in terms of who it’ll reach and how it’ll affect them. The purpose of this post is to provide the timeline for rolling out the movie for group viewings and beyond, and to state the costs for the group viewing licence.
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29 Jul 2009
Ah, the English summer. Rain, rain and more rain. It is at this point that I take my leave of you for most of August, to spend some time building sandcastles with my kids on Cornish beaches, visit my newlyborn nephew, check in with family, and try not to think about Transition (well I can try). Was meant to be going to the Big Green Gathering, which has been outrageously policed and health and safety-ed out of existence, a tragic loss. Such a great event. In the meantime, you might enjoy the mashup of the ‘Can Totnes Feed Itself’ work that Geofutures have just put online, SeedtoPlate‘s rather excellent Plot Designer, and, in case you missed it, the story about the German brothel’s low carbon policies. My summer reading material is Alan Weiseman’s The World Without Us and, on Carolyn Baker’s recommendation, Al Siebert’s The Resiliency Advantage. Just finished Mark E Smith‘s autobiography, Renegade, which was very enjoyable. Business as usual will be resumed here at the end of August, by which time there will hopefully be some of the 2009 TED talks for you to enjoy. Have a great summer and thanks for all your support, encouragement, comments and enthusiasm thus far.
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