Transition Circles - TN2 and Circle West - Friday 27 November and Tuesday 1 December

It’s all about heating this month. All the Transition Circles are talking long johns and fingerless gloves, we’re getting out our electric, gas and oil bills and getting down to the nitty-gritty. We are also deciding how to work together. TN2 is now becoming a hub, exploring the main ideas and philosophies behind carbon reduction and disseminating them to the outside world. Transition Circles are neighbourhood groups that concentrate on personal carbon reduction and how these actions might influence and impact the local area. Initially the subjects under discussion will be the main drivers of Carbon Cutting – energy, transport and food.

TN2 On 6 October we shared the last of the party cider and a delicious meal at Christine’s flat in central Norwich. We introduced ourselves by speaking about the qualities and experiences we bring to this project. We went in order of age (22-74) and our skills ranged from oceanography, local government funding and research into sustainable communities to creative directorship, psychology, consciousness and on-line collaborative learning. We then had the “big discussion about how we see this group and the Transition Circle process” that included the recent funding bids, whether we should use a fixed programme such as Carbon Conversations or Totnes Together with a curriculum and workbook, and whether we were still committed to cutting our emissions to half the national average over the next year. In amongst the many tangents concerning bees, neighbours, co-operative food sharing, car-sharing and how to keep cheerful, we were discovering a creative and fluid structure that will not only enable us to work together but want to. (Charlotte Du Cann/Strangers' Circle)

Transition Circle West met on 26 October, starting as usual with a bring-and-share meal. This month Teresa Belton gave a somewhat abbreviated version of the Social Science Cafe workshop she had developed for CUE (Community University Engagement) East’s first Sustainable Living Festival in the Forum in May, called “Increasing Happiness, Decreasing Consumption”. This combined a setting out of the findings of research into wellbeing with exercises to explore aspects of life that nurture wellbeing. Of course, Transition people know all about the downsides of consumption already, so the consumption element of the workshop which would be included for a more general participant group was left on one side. Afterwards the group said they felt it was well worthwhile to be helped to be reminded of those things that really do cultivate our sense of wellbeing - none of which have either an environmental or a financial cost. (Teresa Belton/TC West)

The Transition Circles meet regularly in people’s houses (see calendar for full details). Transition Circle West will be held in NR2 on 1 December - contact Helen Wells on heavenwells@mac.com, Transition Central will be meeting in central Norwich during December (date to be confirmed) - Contact Christine at transition@phonecoop.coop, The Strangers’ Circle will be meeting on 30 November in Reydon - contact Charlotte at theseakaleproject@hotmail.co.uk

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.

TN2

Transition Norwich has achieved great things in a short space of time. But are we moving fast enough, urgently enough, or changing deeply enough given the urgency of the threat from climate change?

At a packed meeting on 16 June 2009 there was a strong feeling that we could be more radical. One idea that emerged there, and has been developing since, has been to create groups of 10-12 people who are ready to make a really big change in their lives, radically cutting their climate change impact, and want to support each other in that process. The meeting also initiated some new neighbourhood groups (which may or may not be the same thing!)

Transition Norwich 2.0 (TN2) was the original initiating hub group of the Transition Circles. It met several times to explore the main ideas and philosophies behind carbon reduction and how to disseminate them to the outside world. Unlike programmes such as Carbon Conversations or Totnes Together which work to a fixed curriculum and workbook and have a designated faciliator, TN2 activists were engaged in a creative discovery on the cutting edge of carbon reduction.

One of this group's main aims was to create a collaborative community of people taking practical steps to reduce our carbon and environmental footprints. It the Circles first year TN2 looked at how best to seed new groups, securing a £1000 funding from Norwich City Council to help groups get going, as well as collating a skills audit and individual case studies.

Presently TN2 runs a downshift debate on the googlegroup and contributes to the TN blog, This Low Carbon Life. All full-on carbon-cutters welcome to contribute, as well as to join local groups (see website for more details).

For a full story of the development of Transition Circles click here.

Contact: tully@transitionnorwich.org

Click here to view / join the TN-2 email discussion group (Google Group)