Communications Group

The communications group is a small working group comprised of people with skills relevant to the dissemination of Transition – writers, editors, event managers, performers, artists and designers. We are responsible for publicising what is going on within the initative to both Transition Norwich and to the wider public. We have also taken part in public debates and liase with the local media, including EDP,  Future Radio and Triangle magazine. In 2013 much of the work pioneered by the group formed the basis for national Transition projects, including the quarterly newspaper, Transition Free Press.

Our work has fallen into two main categories: written publications and events.

Blogs The two Transition Norwich blogs were launched on TN's first birthday party on October 4 2009. The news blog serves to carry up-to-date news and reviews and appears on the website’s front page. From 2010-12 it worked as a monthly news bulletin and reported everything that was happening within Transition Norwich. It now broadcasts relevant events and TN project news.

The TN blog, This Low Carbon Life, was a community blog that ran on a daily basis between 2009 and 2012. Over 1000 posts were written by 17 Transitioners from different groups within the initiative and showcased the personal lives and experiences of people undergoing Transition. The contributors took take turns to post, and past topics have included: flying, the industrial food system, books, sustainable livelihoods, fashion, green building, climate change and the seasons and feedback from our various projects and enterprises.

TN also takes part in Transition East’s blog which showcases Transition initiatives in the Eastern Region, the Transition Network Social Reporting Project and the national newspaper, Transition Free Press.

Events The communications group have helped organise many of the events within the initative and with the wider community. Appearances have ranged from the Lord Mayor's Procession in Norwich, to the Wave in London to Nicole Foss and Rob Hopkins at the United Reform Church. The communications team set up many of the talks, films and parties held in the primary years of Transition Norwich, and have also been involved in promoting the Magdale-Augustine Street Celebration.

Selection of pictures from the First Anniversary poster (designer Andy Croft)

The Norwich bloggers

The Wave, London

Flowers at the Midsummer Transition Party

Contact: Charlotte Du Cann on theseakaleproject@hotmail.co.uk

Click here to view / join the Communications email discussion group (Google Group)

Transport Group

Transitioners are committed to reducing their personal footprints by walking and cycling more; using public transport wherever possible; car-sharing when the car's the only way to go; avoiding air travel, whether it's for personal journeys or the goods we buy. As a group, we're campaigning for the infrastructure to help us to make the transition.

The TN Transport group aims to help to achieve a resilient transport infrastructure for Norfolk, working in partnership with other transport groups and local government - at city level, at county level and taking account of important links outside the county. In particular, we want to help reduce dependency on road use, both for private cars and for road freight.

We are campaigning for improved public transport within the city and across the county:

-better rail services on the existing lines, bringing disused railway lines back into service to improve connections between the market towns and the city;
- investigating the feasibility of train/tram services;
- better bus services, with rapid transit services linking the railway station, city centre and major destinations eg N&N hospital, the university, science and business parks; services that are clearly integrated, with reliable and easily understood bus times; affordable fares and tickets that can be used interchangeably on buses, trains and trams.

We encourage more cycling, with support for the City and County Council’s plans for more cycle routes. Several of our members are actively involved in events to promote cycling

We support the City Council’s proposals for working towards a car-free city centre.

We are also actively researching more resilient approaches to transporting freight – by rail and by water – and working with others in Transition Norwich towards reducing the need for travel via local sources of supply rather than national distribution of goods.

The Transport Group meets monthly, to keep up to date with the latest news and developments and to share ideas for further activities. We usually meet at Take Five in the city centre, by kind permission of their staff. Our members include cyclists, rail users and tram passengers, inner city residents who want to be able to walk around the city without being mown down by cars, city councillors, county councillors…. and people just looking for ways to cut down their road use!

Contacts: Jane Chittenden jane@janechittenden.co.uk

Click here to view / join the Transport email discussion group (Google Group)

Transport Group

Transitioners are committed to reducing their personal footprints by walking and cycling more; using public transport wherever possible; car-sharing when the car's the only way to go; avoiding air travel, whether it's for personal journeys or the goods we buy. As a group, we're campaigning for the infrastructure to help us to make the transition.

The TN Transport group aims to help to achieve a resilient transport infrastructure for Norfolk, working in partnership with other transport groups and local government - at city level, at county level and taking account of important links outside the county. In particular, we want to help reduce dependency on road use, both for private cars and for road freight.

The Transport Group will continue to campaign for a better transport infrastructure for Norfolk and Norwich in the light of the coalition government's report on its spending review in the autumn of 2010 and local councils' responses to that report.

We are campaigning for improved public transport within the city and across the country:
- better rabetter rail services on the existing lines, bringing disused railway lines back into service to improve connections between the market towns and the city;
- investigating the feasibility of train/tram services;
- better bus services, with rapid transit services linking the railway station, city centre and major destinations eg N&N hospital, the university, science and business parks; services that are clearly integrated, with reliable and easily understood bus times; affordable fares and tickets that can be used interchangeably on buses, trains and trams.

We encourage more cycling, with support for the City and County Council’s plans for more cycle routes. Several of our members are actively involved in events to promote cycling.

We support the City Council’s proposals for working towards a car-free city centre.

We are also actively researching more resilient approaches to transporting freight – by rail and by water – and working with others in Transition Norwich towards reducing the need for travel via local sources of supply rather than national distribution of goods.

The Transport Group meets from time to time, to keep up to date with the latest news and developments and to share ideas for further activities. We usually meet at Take Five in the city centre, by kind permission of their staff. Our members include cyclists, rail users and tram passengers, inner city residents who want to be able to walk around the city without being mown down by cars, city councillors, county councillors…. and people just looking for ways to cut down their road use!


Contacts: Jane Chittenden jane@janechittenden.co.uk

Click here to view / join the Transport email discussion group (Google Group)

Pix: Carfree city centre; Gridlock at Christmas

Heart & Soul

One of the things that makes the Transition movement unique is its recognition that we need to address our problems spiritually and psychologically as well as practically. Whether at the level of education and awareness, in group and community processes, or through commitment to a spiritual practice, it’s about changing consciousness as well as changing our way of life.

The first Transition Town in Totnes formed a group dedicated to this aspect of the work and they called it ‘Heart and Soul’. Taking our cue from them, we have formed a Heart and Soul group in Norwich. Our purpose is to explore how we can build inner resilience to help us all make the shift from a high-energy consumer lifestyle to a life-sustaining one.

The Norwich group has been meeting since October 2008. During this time we’ve explored what’s important to us in the context of Heart and Soul, and what makes us tick as a loosely-bound community. We’ve had some lively workshops and discussions on a variety of subjects, including Clowning, Authentic Movement, The Work That Reconnects (Joanna Macy), The Dreaming of Norwich, Soulcraft, the Endorphin Effect and Collective Intelligence.

We initially described the group as ‘Heart, Soul, Art, Culture and Wellbeing’ but have now narrowed this down to: anything relating to consciousness, psychology and spirituality. This might include, for example:

• bringing psychological and spiritual awareness to our view of self, community and the natural world.
• reconnecting with nature.
• creating community celebrations, and rituals to mark seasonal and other transitions.
• learning and sharing skills in communication, group process, interpersonal dynamics, and conflict resolution.
• expanding our capacity for presence, stillness, joy, creativity, empowerment, love, and aliveness.

We have formed a small ‘Pulse Group’ who are meeting regularly to help create an enabling structure for Heart & Soul work. We’ve decided that the group should be no more than six, and every 6-12 months we’ll open the membership up to new members.

We would love to hear from you if you would like to run or organise a workshop or if you’d like to join the Pulse Group.

Jo Guthrie - joannaguthrie1@yahoo.co.uk
Liz Day - liz@anniemoxham.wanadoo.co.uk (01603 628892)
Jo Mack - jomack@talktalk.net
Naomi Duffield - trust@mangreen.co.uk

Click the following link for The Story So Far - a narrative put together by a member of the Heart & Soul group, reflecting on the themes and concerns that we explored during our first year.

Click here to view / join the Heart and Soul email discussion group (Google Group)

Core Group

The core group has existed from the very first days of planning Transition Norwich - that is since January 2008.

The core group is not an executive, management or steering group. Transition Norwich is a gathering of empowered individuals who come together in various groups, and the core group doesn't seek to manage that process.

Rather, the core group seeks to "hold" or support Transition Norwich, noticing what's happening across TN as a whole, seeing where there are gaps, opportunities or problems, and looking for ways to fill those gaps.

This means that the role and feel of the core group has changed over the years. Between January 2008 and the Unleashing in October that year, the core group took a lead on raising awareness and preparing for the Unleashing. Then for the next two years the group was active in initiating groups and projects, from organising and supporting the first round of theme group meetings, to suggesting the TN2 initiative, the Resilience Plan and the proposed Transition Norwich Projects company.

From October 2010 it feels like the core group is entering a third phase that is more focused on process than content. That is, the group wants to work with other groups in TN on issues like conflict resolution, consensual decision-making, and creating activities as an alternative to meetings.

A principle of the core group is that its membership should change over time. In its first phase the core group members were self-selecting; in the second they were elected by TN's membership. In this third phase we invite anybody who has been involved for a while with TN and wants to join the core group, to apply to join. Applicants are invited to attend a couple of meetings and then assess their potential contribution to the group. If they want to stay, other members will choose to step aside in order to keep the group to a manageable size.


At its October meeting the outgoing members of the Core Group began the process of handing over to an almost entirely new group. Chris, Christine, Jane, Alex and Tully have all decided to step aside. We thank them all for all they’ve done in starting and supporting Transition Norwich over the last 3 years. Fortunately Tom stays on, while Jane and Alex have agreed to attend a couple more meetings to smooth over the transition. Elena, Kerry, Liz and James were the new faces trying on the Core Group for size, and we hope that some or all of them will decide to join the group and make it more valuable than ever to Transition Norwich. New members are always welcome, so if you are active in Transition Norwich and are interested in joining the core group then let Kerry know (kezereky_the_first@hotmail.com).

Minutes of the Core Group are public and can be downloaded from the "files" section of the tn-announcements google group page.

Pix: Tully, Jane, Chris and Christine at the TN2 First Meeting on June 16, 2009; Christine at the TN stall in the Forum; Chris with Celeste at the Lord Mayor's Procession; Alex feeding ducks.