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
I know it has been a thrillingly exciting wait, but now we can announce the Top Ten films most popular with Transition initiatives!! Thanks to everyone who voted. I know the fever pitch of excitement this has generated. You can either read them below (click ‘read more’) or you can play this little player to hear them read out in a Top Ten countdown kinda stylee.
Last Friday I visited Brixton in south London to visit Brixton Energy. Brixton Energy had just closed its second share launch, Brixton Energy Solar 2, which had raised £70,000. Its first project, Brixton Energy Solar 1, was the UK’s first inner-city community-owned solar power station, a 37kW solar array on the roof of Elmore House on the Loughborough Estate. The second was a 45kW system spread over the roofs of the 4 housing blocks of Styles Gardens. I joined Agamemnon Otero of Brixton Energy on the roof of a neighbouring tower block on a crisp and clear winter day, with a clear view over the solar systems that Brixton Energy had already installed (see picture above), to ask him more about the project.
I recently watched a fantastic documentary, ‘Last Shop Standing: the rise, fall and rebirth of the independent record shop’ and found it very inspiring. Here is the trailer:
It’s fantastic. Get a copy. It made me wonder whether the recent revival of independent record shops have a few things to teach us more generally about vibrant local economies? As a vinyl junkie and as someone who grew up in independent record shops, I wanted to explore some of the issues in the film in more depth. I was therefore delighted to be able to start out by interviewing Graham Jones, author of ‘Last Shop Standing’ and presenter of the film. As lovers of music, vinyl and independent shops we could have talked all day, but luckily for you we kept it brief.
A couple of weeks ago we presented an interview with Kevin Anderson of the UK Tyndall Centre and mentioned that he was soon to give a lecture at the Cabot Institute’s annual lecture in Bristol. The film of Kevin’s talk is now available, and I would suggest that it could turn out to be one of the most important 58 minutes you ever spend sat in front of your computer. This is powerful, and essential stuff and makes a nonsense of the idea that the most sensible thing to do at this point is to throw everything at trying to rekindle economic growth.
It’s Friday, been a long week, so here is something beautiful to inspire and soothe the soul. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, this video document of the recent Transition gathering in Marbella is just beautiful. Filipa Pimentel, who co-ordinates the network of Transition hubs was at the event and wrote “the video mirrors perfectly what you could feel there – it was magic… (I cried all day, of course). After this event, a new Transition Initiative was started – the first meeting with 60 people!”
The event also made the local TV news.
