REPORT: TN2 Second Meeting

On 21 July a group of TN members agreed to form a "collaborative community" of people taking practical steps to reduce our carbon and environmental footprint, whilst living the positive vision of the world we want to create. After our first large and exhuberant gathering of midsummer, this was a sober meeting as befits the beginning of a bold and committed enterprise. We discussed our ideals, our aspirations, our doubts, 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 Sept 3 at Inner Space! Bring food to share. NB 7pm start not 7:30.

Enter the Dragon

Celeste, our very own Transition Dragon, has made her debut at the Lord Mayor’s procession on 11 July, driven in wizard style by Chris Hull and accompanied by her creator Bel and attendant Transitioners. Thousands of Norwich citizens turned out to welcome her. After a short rest, she is in residence at the Forum, in the Millennium Library from 27 July to 8 August. She plans to tour the county in the autumn.

Celeste is here to campaign for more sustainable use of the elements that she is made from (earth, wind, fire and water).

To find out more, visit http://groupspaces.com/e/click/rreq-vhmp-1xr8tylgbe?u=http://www.transitionnorwich.org.

The Power of Community

This powerful film tells the story of how Cuba responded to the peak oil situation that was imposed upon it by the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is perhaps one of the most inspiring films about transition and provides hope that we can make the lifestyle changes needed to survive in a post oil society. Instead of ice cream bring a loaf of bread or some chopped veg to add to a big pot of soup to share during the interval. This will be followed by a discussion about how we can use some of the ideas in the film here in Norwich. 7pm at Inner Space, Maude Gray Court, St Benedict's Street.

The Age of Stupid - 9 July

The Age of Stupid is being screened again at Cinema City on Sunday 9th August at 5.20pm, followed by a panel discussion. In this film Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the environmental wasteland of 2055, looking back at footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we save ourselves when we had the chance? This is essential viewing for anyone interested in life on earth in the 21st century. The film sold out when it was screened here in April and has been doing so around the globe, so book early (0871 704 2053) or http://groupspaces.com/e/click/rreq-vhmp-1xr8tylgbe?u=http://www.picturehouses.co.uk.

REPORT: Transition Training 2009

Transition Norwich, Transition Dereham, Transition Harleston and Transition Unoki were represented at the Transition Training in Norwich last weekend. TT Network facilitators Mandy Dean and Mike Payne led participants through presentations on peak oil and climate change, pair and group work exercises on personal stories of transition, visualisations of a resilient future and Joanna Macy exercises on inner change. Participants also ran their own Open Space session on local issues. Although most participants were already involved in theme groups locally, another, Eric Maddison, is hoping to start a Transition initiative in the Unoki district of Tokyo in Japan - his trip overseas just happened to coincide with the training. Although surely clocking up the biggest carbon footprint for attendance at a TTN training weekend, he was forgiven! Details of Transition Training across the country are available fromhttp://groupspaces.com/e/click/rreq-vhmp-1xr8tylgbe?u=http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TrainingforTransition

EVENTS: St Benedict's Fair and Transition Party

The Summer Solstice weekend was a busy and challenging one for Transition Norwich with our first party on Mousehold Heath and a stall at the popular St Benedict's Street Fair. It poured with rain on Saturday but the resilient Transition party crew carried on having a good time. 40-50 people cycled or walked up the hill to the Ranger's House where we gathered happily under the willow and apple trees. Everyone brought a sustainable dish. Children made fabric sunflowers and flower-dotted paper and listened to Su the storyteller. We learned about making felt slippers and herbal highballs, drank home-made elderflower cup and ate home-grown strawberries. We swapped clothes and books at the “Old is the New New” stall. Tom sang with his cycle-powered dynamo. Later we had a jam session in the Triple Crunch tent and proved that a spot of stormy weather doesn’t need to get you down!

Meanwhile on Sunday The St Benedict’s Street Fair the weather was fairer, but we were competing for airspace. Co-ordinator Andy C writes: "A great team assembled at short notice, but it was hard to hard to engage with people, as we had an oppressively loud sound system blasting full pelt from a very short range". Nevertheless we were there and the post-it board was again very popular. People wrote their thoughts down about their visions for a resilient Norwich. Key themes were transport and allotments - better facilities for cyclists, independent shops and vegetable growing workshops for schools.

Midsummer Transition Party

Meanwhile . . .roll up for the party of the year - a Summer Solstice outdoor picnic hosted by HEART AND SOUL, RESKILLING and NR3. It's a chance for everyone in transition to get together, have fun and celebrate in a sustainable way. We're having it in the garden at the Ranger's House at Mousehold Heath (a house also in transition, with plans for becoming a nature study centre, run on alternative energy). Do bring food and drink to share (and plate, fork and cup) and anything you feel would make the party go with a swing. There will be reskilling activities through the afternoon (check out the main TN calendar next week for details and times), as well as storytelling, live music, children's crafts, an "Old is the New New" stall, skills exchange, a conversation cafe and more. For directions, and more information on what to bring see the attached map. A good drop off point - and look-out across Norwich - is on Brittania Road opposite the track to the house. See you there!

Time: 12noon-5pm (and beyond). Food: Bring and Share stall, please bring any locally sourced, organic, in-season dishes and also the recipes (for special diets and for Transition cookbook). There will be a BBQ and drinks, tea and coffee available for a donation. Transport: There is very limited parking so people are encouraged to walk and cycle, or car-share from further afield (find someone to share with by registering your journey on http://www.carsharenorfolk.com/). Nearest car park is ten minutes walk. There will be walk and cycle groups leaving from the Red Lion Pub at 11.45 and 2.30 if you would like some help finding your way. Please drop us an email if you want to join one of these groups, as they'll only run if we have sufficient demand, transitionparty@hotmail.co.uk.

Transition Circles

What if we only had three years to save the planet? was the question Tully posed to the whole of Transition Norwich on June 16 2009.Inspired by the Transition Conference in London, he wrote a challenging paper Transition 2.0 and called an extraordinary meeting where a more urgent, ambitious and bold approach to creating a better world was laid out. 54 people came together to step up personal action in the face of climate change.

After that initial meeting a group who decided to dedicated themselves to a year of cutting carbon emissions came together. We discussed our ideals, our aspirations, our doubts, what we had already let go of (ranging from dramatic reductions in 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 who are embarking on similar explorations. Subsequently three Transition Circles met during August in order we could swop 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.

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 are the main drivers of Carbon Cutting – energy, transport and food.

Each of the circles has it own style of meeting but covers the four main subjects: energy, food, transport. At the beginning we are laying down our personal powerdowns and considering everything from small issues to the (non-green teenage sons, a clothes habit, hot baths) to the larger ones such as social equity in relation to our pursuit of resources, the clash between a new culture of limit and spiritual concepts of endless universal energy. Our meetings are social occasions where we share our low-carbon high veg recipes as well as look at our electricity, gas and oil bills, car log books. Where our feelings about the future, and the data and our ordinary lives meet.

TN2 Transition Norwich 2.0 (TN2) was the original hub group of the Transition Circles. It explored the main ideas and philosophies behind carbon reduction and disseminating 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, the group was engaged in a creative discovery and cutting edge of carbon reduction. We took turns in facilitation and note taking. One of its main aims was to create a collaborative community of people taking practical steps to reduce our carbon and environmental footprints.

TN2 looked at how best to seed new groups, securing a £1000 funding from Norwich City Council, as well as collating a skills audit and individual case studies.

It enjoyed a lively downshift debate on the googlegroup, which then became the platform for carbon reduction, the TN community blog, This Low Carbon Life.

The Strangers’ Circle is one of the Transition Circles established through the “Transition Norwich 2” discussions. Like Transition Circle West, we are a small group of individuals who are working to reduce our own carbon footprint and environmental footprint, coming together to learn from each other and support each other in this endeavour.

The members of the Strangers’ Circle all live outside Norwich, and mostly south of Norwich. (The word Stranger was used in Norwich in the middle ages to describe someone who didn’t live in Norwich).

During our first year we looked at the main drivers of home energy, transport, food and “stuff” (that is, consumption of goods and services in general). We set out to quantify how far we managed to reduce our footprint, most of us determined to reduce below half of the average UK footprint, and then work on further reductions after that. We then set out to discuss the wider ramifications of Resilience.

Because we live in geographically dispersed locations, some of us are thinking about seeding new groups in the places where we live.

To find out more about this group or to take part please contact Tully Wakeman tully@transitionnorwich.org

Transition Circle West began at the same time as Strangers and was open to anyone living in the west of Norwich interested in raising their awareness and cutting their carbon. The group met monthly in each others' houses. Meetings start with sharing food and then go onto the theme for the night, which can be energy in the home, stuff, travel, food, and how we can support each other to reduce our consumption and therefore our carbon footprint. The idea was to form neighbourhood groups- as each group attracts new members and grows too large to fit in a living room- it will split into two - so the Transition ethos will spread like cell division.

In the course of a year we collected and measured our use of household energy and created a baseline that we will measure again next year to see how we have reduced our energy consumption. Part of what the group does is share stories and experiences of how each of us lives, what is working, what is difficult, real lives making real changes.

In August 2010 Transition Circle West split and seeded into three groups -Transition Circle Earlham North and Earlham South and Transition Circle Hethersett.

Contact: Kerry Lane(kezereky_the_first@hotmail.com) for Earlham North and

Erik Buitenhuis http://lgmacweb.env.uea.ac.uk/green_ocean/positions/Buitenhuis/feedback.html for Earlham South and Hethersett

Photos of the Strangers Circle by Mark Watson and Carbon Conversations by Christine Way; illustration of the Transition Circles West by Helen Wells.

Transition Circle West

Transition Circle West is open to anyone living in the west of Norwich who is interested in raising their awareness and cutting their carbon. The group meets monthly in each others houses. Meetings start with sharing food and then go onto the theme for the night, which can be energy in the home, stuff, travel, food, and how we can support each other to reduce our consumption and therefore our carbon footprint. The idea is to form neighbourhood groups - as each group attracts new members and grows too large to fit in a living room - it will split into two - so the Transition ethos will spread like cell division. In meetings so far we have collected and measured our use of household energy and created a baseline that we will measure again next year to see how we have reduced our energy consumption. Part of what the group does is share stories and experiences of how each of us lives, what is working, what is difficult, real lives making real changes.

UPDATE! In July 2010 Transition Circle West, having completed its discussions on the principle drivers of carbon reduction - energy, transport, food and "stuff" - split into two groups; Earlham South and Earlham North. For details about meetings and contacts look under those titles on the website and calendar,

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)

REPORT: TN CSA Meeting

The Transition Norwich Food group hosted a very exciting and energetic meeting on June 2 to get to grips with the details of how we will run Norwich's CSA. Everybody came with lots of enthusiasm and ideas for our discussion about the pricing and distribution of our food shares and even what those shares could include - from scorzonera to kiwi fruit, but not forgetting potatoes and onions. It was really inspiring to see how much passion there is in Norwich for locally grown produce and how committed people are to making Norwich's CSA happen. By the time you read this the Food Group will have submitted a funding bid to the Lottery-funded Local Food Fund, to pay for the start-up costs of this, the School Farm, the flour mill and the other Norwich food projects. We hope to get a decision in October and to have vegetables ready for pickup next spring or early summer.

If you want to get involved but were not at the meeting please email tully@transitionnorwich.org.

NR3: At Home at The Ranger's House

NR3 have been meeting most weekends and developing ideas for grassroots projects at their base at the Ranger's House on Mousehold Heath, in collaboration with a sustainable education centre. If you would like to find out more about their activities, such as building a willow bender, the equinox picnic and Earth Hour please check out their blog http://www.norwichtransition.blogspot.com. Although the group is based in North City the gatherings are an open house for people to come along and get involved. Watch this space for details of the Midsummer Transition Party, June 20.

Creating Our Resilience Plan - 25 May

One of the outcomes of the Open Space meeting was that a group decided to form to facilitate the preparation of a resilience plan for Norwich. Our aim is to help Transition Norwich to create a clear statement of what we need to do in all the areas covered by the theme groups - food, energy, transport, heart and soul and so on - to create a more resilient Norwich. This is the same document that's described in the Transition Handbook as the "Energy Descent Action Plan". According to Transition Network, the Resilience Plan should "paint a picture of the community that is so colourful, so appealing and so irresistible, that anyone not involved in bringing it to fruition will feel bereft of meaning in their life." The group also felt it needed to include some clear numbers about the amount of food, energy etc. we're going to need to maintain a good quality of life. The Group's first meeting will be on Tuesday May 26th at 7.30pm at Inner Space. We already have representatives from some theme groups but we'd ideally like all groups to be represented. Contact tully@transitionnorwich.org for more information.

REPORT: Open Space Expands Vision

After experiencing this dynamic form of freestyle group discussion at the Transition East Anglia conference, TN held their first Open Space morning on April 25. Open Space Technology is a key tool for Transition (Step 6) and allows time and space to look at subjects and issues at a deeper and broader level than in regular group meetings. It was also an open door for people who had come to the Unleashing but not yet joined a group, to come along and meet those who have, and for everyone to exchange ideas (as well as share a delicious and sustainable lunch).

Notes on some of the topics discussed, from How to Deal with the Ecomomic Recession to How to Revive a Flagging Group are available on the website at:

http://www.transitionnorwich.org/OpenSpace25Apr09.htm.

The next Open Space meeting will be held on July 11.