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.
Last Friday, in Totnes Civic Hall, saw the historic launch of the Totnes Renewable Energy Society (TRESOC). A key piece in the relocalisation of Totnes and district, TRESOC offers members of the community the chance to buy into their own renewable energy company. The evening started with Cllr. Tony Whitty, the Mayor of Totnes, who put the work of TRESOC in the context of the town’s wider spirit of being a pioneering town, a spirit now embodied in its identity as a Transition Town. He mentioned the 74 photovoltaic panels now adorning the Hall as part of the Transition Streets initiative, which will be formally ‘switched on’ at the Energy Fair next Saturday. TRESOC, he told the nearly-full Civic Hall, is another key step towards enhancing the sustainability and resilience of Totnes.
I have referred to Stroudco here before, the innovative ‘food hub’ project in Stroud which aims to “provide local people with a new way of linking with local producers to buy good food and drink at fair prices for consumers and producers”, to “make a real connection between consumers and farms and other local places producing food and drink” and to provide everyone involved with “control, understanding, awareness, education, social links, nourishment and fun”. It has been running for a few months now, so how’s it going? Here’s a short film that provides a fascinating update on Stroudco….
This Friday night in Totnes (7pm in the Civic Hall), a historic event occurs, the launching of the Totnes Renewable Energy Society (TRESOC). TRESOC describes itself as “an Industrial and Provident Society established to enable the community of Totnes and surrounding parishes to take charge of the development of our renewable energy resources and provide maximum benefit to the local economy”. It originally emerged from an Open Space Day on energy held by Transition Town Totnes, and although it is not a TTT project, it is clearly a key part of the infrastructure of relocalisation as set out in the Totnes & District EDAP. Anyone in Totnes or the surrounding parishes will be able to buy between £20 and £20,000 of shares, which will entitle them to one vote. The model means that the company will be democratically owned, and provides a safeguard from takeover by large commercial interests. TRESOC will be announcing, on the night, news of its first major renewable energy projects which have, until now, been kept tightly under wraps. The share option pack will also be available on TRESOC’s website from just after the launch. I will be posting a report about the launch, and will be taking my cheque book in order to be among the first to invest in the renewable energy future of my community!
Last weekend I was at Embercombe, about 20 minutes drive from Totnes, for the West Country Storytelling Festival. Embercombe is a fascinating evolving project, describing itself as “a charity and social enterprise established to champion a way of living that celebrates the opportunities inherent in this challenging time and that inspires people to energetically contribute towards the emergence of a socially just, environmentally sustainable and spiritually fulfilling human presence on earth”. It is also a stunning place, a mix of woodlands and fields. Food production is becoming a key part of its work, and it now has a wonderful vegetable garden, orchards, field scale veg and, of particular interest to me, some small scale cereals production. The day I was there, they were threshing (or attempting to thresh) some of what they had grown, and I thought I would share some of the conversations that took place by the threshing machine.
Two months’ worth of round up in quick succession… normal service will be resumed next month. So, let’s start this roundup in Europe, with an interview with Ellen Bermann of Transition Italia, sat on a terrazza somewhere with a rather nice view (understanding Italian an advantage…).
Transition in Germany is going on well, with another successful training and a further one coming up on 9 October in Bielefeld, so if you’re interested do get in touch with them. There are also lots of new registered users for their German-speaking Transition Network, as well as meetings with key players in German peak oil organisations, and increasing interest from the media as more articles appear in German publications. And congratulations to TT Bielefeld as they celebrate their first year! Thanks to Gerd for this update. Here is a film of him giving a presentation about Transition (understanding German will help considerably.)….
How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? This site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations
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Last Friday, in Totnes Civic Hall, saw the historic launch of the Totnes Renewable Energy Society (TRESOC). A key piece in the relocalisation of Totnes and district, TRESOC offers members of the community the chance to buy into their own renewable energy company. The evening started with Cllr. Tony Whitty, the Mayor of Totnes, who put the work of TRESOC in the context of the town’s wider spirit of being a pioneering town, a spirit now embodied in its identity as a Transition Town. He mentioned the 74 photovoltaic panels now adorning the Hall as part of the Transition Streets initiative, which will be formally ‘switched on’ at the Energy Fair next Saturday. TRESOC, he told the nearly-full Civic Hall, is another key step towards enhancing the sustainability and resilience of Totnes.
