Our First Birthday – Sunday 4 October

Come to our First Birthday Party and see the first Norwich screening of the In Transition film. We’ll have low-carbon and local drinks and snacks and music to set the scene, as well as feedback from the key TN groups that have been active around the city since our Unleashing last year. The party is for everyone in Transition Norwich and anyone else who would like to come along. We’re asking for donations at the door between £3-5 to cover costs. 7.30pm at Unit 5, Beckham Place, off Edward Street.

If you would like to book a place or give us a hand on the night contact Elena at info@transitionnorwich.org or phone Charlotte (01502 722419).

TN2 First Autumn meeting - 3 September

After our first large and exuberant gathering of midsummer, TN2 had a focussed discussion in July about what personal actions we had already made in the face of climate change (ranging from reduced use of water and fuel, cycling to work, almost zero waste) and how we should log our personal carbon footprints and make connections with other groups embarking on similar explorations. We decided to meet in two Transition Circles (TC West and The Strangers) during August, so we could swap stories and start building a co-operative network of people and resources, as well as map out what a low-carbon way of life might look like. If you want to join us, do come to our next open meeting on Thursday Sept 3 at Inner Space! Bring food to share. NB 7pm start not 7:30.

Developing a Resilience Plan

Transition Norwich is developing a positive vision of the kind of Norwich we would like to live in in the future, and to build the city’s capacity to deal with any crises that will come along the way, such as peak oil and climate change. Through our theme groups we have expertise in different aspects of this, such as food systems, buildings and how to heat them, transport, and reskilling.

The aim of the Resilience Plan (also known as an Energy Descent Plan or Pathway) is to capture these visions and this knowledge in a single document that we can share with each other and with others, such as local authorities. A Resilience Plan Group has set itself up (and you’re welcome to join it), and is asking all of the theme groups to make their contributions to the Plan. Hopefully this has been discussed in theme groups over the summer and most groups are now finalising a first draft of their respective chapters. Over the autumn we hope to bring these together into a coherent whole. If there are contradictions or inconsistencies between what different groups have provided, we will discuss these with the groups concerned. We also hope to hold a visioning event that will be open to everyone involved with Transition Norwich. (Tully Wakeman)

Transition Norwich's Very Own Allotment

Stop press - we have just heard that Mahesh Pant of Sustainable Living Initiative (see Allotments Open Day article below) is reserving a block of allotment strips for Transition Norwich at Bluebell Lane South allotments, which will become available in October. In the Transition spirit, we will be planning to grow and share produce where it is most needed; and we'll be keeping a blog record of our successes ... and the things that maybe don't go so well, like slugs and bugs! For further information email Jane Chittenden at editor@transitionnorwich.org

Keir Hardie Ceilidh – Wednesday 16 September

Ceilidh dances are held at the Keir Hardie Hall on the third Wednesday of each month between September and May and feature some of the best ceilidh bands in East Anglia. The first dance this season is being jointly promoted by TN and the band is Ethel’s Cats. All the dances are called and are preceded by a short walk through – so no experience is needed – but a good sense of humour helps. The music is lively and the dances are quite energetic.

John from the TN Waste group writes: “So why is TN having a Ceilidh? A ceilidh brings strangers together to have fun, but needs them to work together and learn new skills – it is a great experience to be part of a room full of people all moving together to the music from a skilled band. Ceilidh music and dances are based on the traditions from our past but each caller and band adapts the dances and brings in new musical elements. We hope you can see the parallels to the work of the Transition movement!” Tickets on the door £4 (£3.50 conc). 8pm Wednesday 16 September. Keir Hardie Hall, St Gregory’s Alley, NR2 1ER www.reeldance.org.uk or phone John (01603 812472)

3-D Model of City Centre Donated to TN

Norwich City Council has generously donated its 2m x 2m 3-D model of the city centre to Transition Norwich, to be used at exhibitions and events to show how the city is becoming - or could become - more resilient. We could use it to show (for example) a vision of tram and cycle routes; independent local businesses, green spaces. It will be a fantastic resource for helping to make our visions of the future come alive.

Greenpeace Fair – Sunday 6 September

The Waveney Greenpeace Fair is held annually after the harvest in the open fields of Hulver Farm in North Suffolk and is one of the principal fundraising events for Greenpeace. Lively and good-natured, this Fair is enjoyed for its wide range of stalls (excellent for food and second-hand clothes), local bands and beer, campaign info, green cinema tent, children’s area etc. Transition Initiatives from East Anglia, including TN, are sharing a stall in the tea-tent (accompanied by cycle-powered music), so if you want to meet fellow Transitioners, come along and find out what is happening in the region. N.B. This year the entry fee for cars is £20 (zero parking in the lanes), so do car-share, cycle or take advantage of the free bus shuttle from Bungay or Halesworth www.waveneygreenpeace.org

The Greenhouse Trail and Open Building – 11-13 September

The Greenhouse have created a climate change exhibition that will be on display upstairs from Friday September 11th to Sunday 13th inclusive, from 10am-5pm. Full of thought- provoking images and text, the exhibition will explore the issues facing humanity, and explore the actions that need to be taken now to prevent runaway climate change. We will be focussing especially on renewable technologies, and how they can play an important role in reducing CO2.

On Sunday 13th, the Greenhouse will be opening and running a climate change/building trail. The event is free and you will be given a route to walk around the city with clues and questions. Follow the route and come back to the Greenhouse for lunch, or afternoon tea and cake and the chance to win a raffle prize! The walk is approximately 4 miles and takes approximately 2 hours without breaks. Start any time after 10.30am and finish any time up to 4.30pm.Contributors including The Energy Savings Trust, Warm Homes, Good Energy, Norfolk Solar - and Transition Norwich (volunteers to support our stand would be most welcome). The event promises to be engaging, interesting and fun, so please come along and join in! For details of the route and more, visit www.GreenhouseTrust.co.uk.

Green Buildings Open Days in Norfolk – 10-13 September

The Campaign to Protect Rural England's annual season of guided tours at energy-efficient buildings across Norfolk. From cottages to mills, barns to smallholdings, studios to sheds - each of the 12 buildings opening their doors has something different to offer. Many harness the energy of the wind, sun, river and rain. Some are hand-made - built from straw, cob, earth or timber. Some have roofs of sedum, wildflowers and grasses. Many use sheep's wool, recycled newspaper and other recycled or reclaimed materials. Visit www.cprenorfolk.org.uk/news-events for more information and then book with the Energy Saving Trust (01376 531547).

Carbon Chronicles and Seize the Day – Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 September

The Zero Carbon Caravan arrives in Norwich on the 18th on its cross country journey from Wales via Transition Initiatives in East Anglia. To celebrate a tragi-comic opera, Carbon Chronicles, is being performed with a local and professional cast with the opportunity for anyone to join in. The story is about elemental beings who become part of Earth, life and fossil fuels, their exploitation by humans and the consequent planetary crisis and climate chaos. Learn simple tunes and choruses and make musical instruments from recycled and found materials and decide how the story ends at the Open Workshop, 10am-4pm Saturday 19th, United Reform Church, Princes St. Performance, 7.30pm at the Friends Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane (free admission). To take part please contact Lesley Graham (01603 920801) lesley7railway@yahoo.co.uk

On the Sunday there will be a Zero Carbon fair at Chapelfield Gardens with the highly acclaimed radical folk band, Seize the Day. 2-8pm. Transition Norwich will be there with a stall. All volunteers welcome. Please contact Elena info@transitionnorwich.org to help on the TN stall and for details on how to join Chris Keene (TN Transport) on his epic two-wheeled journey see www.zerocarboncaravan.net

Sustainable Living Initiative's Allotments Open Day – Saturday 26 September

This is a great opportunity to visit Mahesh Pant's community allotments scheme just when it is at its productive best. Highlights of the day include a tour of the allotments, a gardening game/quiz for all ages, a raffle, sustainably produced refreshments - and of course, a wide selection of organically grown allotment produce. Free entry. The allotments are at Bluebell Lane South, off The Avenues down a narrow lane immediately after George Borrow Road on the way out of the city. 12-4pm. For more information, see http://grow-our-own.co.uk/docs/openday.png

Big Lunch in NR2 – 18 July 2009

Small beginnings made for a great party. First there was one- she registered on the BIG LUNCH website and talked to a friend; then there were two- they made a slip asking if anyone was interested and put them through all the letterboxes on Connaught Road inviting us to a meeting, and caught people in the street who couldn't say no! Then there were 5 - and with one offering to do poster invites and put them on all the trees, and one with an awning to put up over the pavement, and one with tables and chairs, and all of us saying we would be there.

We were off. There was one moment at 1pm- our starting time when we wondered if it would just be us, but then everyone started to arrive and about 50 people came and shared food and talked and found old connections and new connections, neighbours who had been there for 30 years and others just moving in, we had musicians playing and the sun shone and we all thought we'll do this again. (Helen Wells/NR2)

Local Food – How to Make It Happen in Your Community

by Tamzin Pinkerton and Rob Hopkins (Green Books)

Out on the 17th, this is an invaluable guide for setting up practical and inspirational food projects - including CSAs, community orchards, garden shares, food coops and directories. Reports and tips from world-wide Transition initiatives, as well as “mission statements” from key food activists, from Growing Communities in Hackney to the fruit gleaning project, Abundance, in Sheffield.

Reskilling - The Norwich Green Guide

Kerry Lane (TN2/Resilience Plan/Reskilling) writes: I am an environmental science student at UEA and a regular participant of Transition. In my three years in Norwich I have gradually discovered more and more of its amazing secrets and I would like to make it possible for others to discover them more easily. So I want to put together a guide to living a green life in Norwich, giving all of the local information on places to get local food, where to bank, recycling centres and everything else under the sun. If you would like to help make this a reality or have any titbits of information then please join the Norwich Green Guide group at http://groups.google.com/group/norwichgreenguide Any help appreciated!

Dance Camp East

This ten day camp provides a wonderful example of low impact community living for around 500 people. We camped in circles of about 30, each around an open hearth which provided endless cups of tea and vast pots of delicious food each day. The circle is your home base and family for the week; a place where you can chill out when not dancing, singing, being creative, having a massage or taking part in the huge range of workshops and activities on offer. The low impact facilities included sauna, hot tubs and bucket showers for deep cleansing as well as beautiful compost poo palaces. There was a very strong emphasis on reducing waste, reusing and recycling. This year we were blessed with the most glorious weather and it certainly ranked as one of the best Dance Camps I have ever been to. There was a posse of Transitoners from around the country and we enjoyed many chats in the café and the circles and even gathered for a workshop led by Chris Southall from Clacton http://www.ecodiy.org/). In the final cabaret we sang a transition song written by Julian Nangle from Transition Chichester: Here are the words and I’ll leave you to guess the tune. (Christine Way/Core Group)

Imagine there’s no oil
Not easy if you try
No oil production
See the oil men cry
Imagine all the people
Living without oil - yah ha

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’ve got to get it right
We hope some day you will join us
To see-ee-ee the oil free light

Imagine roads and airports
It isn’t hard to do
Empty and abandoned
No public transport too
Imagine all the people
Walking to their work - yah ha

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’ve got to get it right
We hope some day you will join us
To see-ee-ee the oil free light

Imagine living simply
With hammer and with nail
No need for competition
Just helping those who’re frail
Imagine all the people
Living in an oil free age yah –hoo

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’re not the only ones
There is a call for resilience
From ee-ee-ach and every one.

Dance Camp East

This ten day camp provides a wonderful example of low impact community living for around 500 people. We camped in circles of about 30, each around an open hearth which provided endless cups of tea and vast pots of delicious food each day. The circle is your home base and family for the week; a place where you can chill out when not dancing, singing, being creative, having a massage or taking part in the huge range of workshops and activities on offer. The low impact facilities included sauna, hot tubs and bucket showers for deep cleansing as well as beautiful compost poo palaces. There was a very strong emphasis on reducing waste, reusing and recycling. This year we were blessed with the most glorious weather and it certainly ranked as one of the best Dance Camps I have ever been to. There was a posse of Transitoners from around the country and we enjoyed many chats in the café and the circles and even gathered for a workshop led by Chris Southall from Clacton http://www.ecodiy.org/). In the final cabaret we sang a transition song written by Julian Nangle from Transition Chichester: Here are the words and I’ll leave you to guess the tune. (Christine Way/Core Group)

Imagine there’s no oil
Not easy if you try
No oil production
See the oil men cry
Imagine all the people
Living without oil - yah ha

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’ve got to get it right
We hope some day you will join us
To see-ee-ee the oil free light

Imagine roads and airports
It isn’t hard to do
Empty and abandoned
No public transport too
Imagine all the people
Walking to their work - yah ha

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’ve got to get it right
We hope some day you will join us
To see-ee-ee the oil free light

Imagine living simply
With hammer and with nail
No need for competition
Just helping those who’re frail
Imagine all the people
Living in an oil free age yah –hoo

You may say we’re alarmist
But we’re not the only ones
There is a call for resilience
From ee-ee-ach and every one.

TN2 First Autumn Meeting

After our first large and exuberant gathering of midsummer, TN2 had a focussed discussion in July about what personal actions we had already made in the face of climate change (ranging from reduced use of water and fuel, cycling to work, almost zero waste) and how we should log our personal carbon footprints and make connections with other groups embarking on similar explorations. We decided to meet in two Transition Circles (TC West and The Strangers) during August, so we could swap stories and start building a co-operative network of people and resources, as well as map out what a low-carbon way of life might look like. If you want to join us, do come to our next open meeting on Thursday Sept 3 at Inner Space! Bring food to share. NB 7pm start not 7:30.

Transition Training

This inspiring weekend course run by Transition Network trainers is essential for those wishing to know how to set up, run, and maintain a successful transition initiative. This course is packed with imaginative and inspiring ways to delve into both the theory and practice of Transition. If we can fill the course with people from East Anglia it will help us to network, support each other and increase our chances of a successful transition. Last year the course here was oversubscribed and bookings are already coming in from far and wide so book your place soon.

Further details are available at http://www.transitiontowns.org.uk/ or email mailto:info@transitionnorwich.org (01603 614460).Bookings can be made by sending your cheque for £105 payable to ‘Transition Norwich’ to Inner Space, Maude Gray Court, St Benedict's Street, Norwich NR2 4PA.