transition circle east

Lizzie Gillett Comes to Downham Market - 8 February

2012-02-08T13:20:00.000Z

Lizzie Gillett, the producer of The Age of Stupid, is coming to Transition Downham Market and Villages to give a talk about her work, which starred Pete Postlethwaite in one of his last films.

On the five-year production, she managed a crew of 105 people in six countries and raised one million pounds through the pioneering crowd-funding model. She organised the Guinness World Record beating Global Premiere, in which over one million people in 63 countries participated.

She was featured by Harpers Bazaar magazine as a “21st century heroine”, one of twenty “exceptional women changing the world for the better through the work they do and by Vogue as one of the UK’s leading “female eco-warriors”.

Lizzie will give a short talk about her work & experiences. People will then have the opportunity to ask about all aspects of Independent Film production and the various environmental projects and inspiring people that she has been involved with.

This talk in Downham Market launches a series of events throughout 2012. The programme provides us with inspiration for building a stronger community, better prepared for the challenges of the 21^st century.

Wednesday, 8 February 2012 - Open at 6:45 for light refreshments and chatting!

Lizzie’s talk starts at 7:30 in the Town Hall Bar Room

Contact Bernie (01366) 347369 or email DownhamVillagesTransition@gmail.com

East Anglian Food Co-ops Conference - 6 February

2012-01-31T08:34:00.000Z

The Food Co-ops & Buying Groups project presents its 2nd and last East Anglian conference:

GROWING, SELLING, BUYING IN YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY

Linking up food co-ops, buying groups, allotment plotholders, community gardens, urban scrumpers and small producers on February 6th 10am - 4pm at Sproughton Tithe Barn near Ipswich, Suffolk www.sproughtontithebarn.org.uk

There will be presentations & Workshops from: Abundance London & Leeds - Harvesting & distributing fruit that would otherwise be left to rot; Maria Iacovou of Wivenhoe buying group - Troubleshooting & diversifying session for wholefood buying groups; Eloise Dey - London’s Capital Growth project supporting community gardens to sell surplus; Meet the Local Foods Suffolk team; Rebecca Tully - Organiclea workers' co-op's Cropshare stall selling; allotmentholders’ surplus in Walthamstow, Metfield Chicken Co-op & Suffolk’s Pig Clubs.

Plus opportunities for networking with local groups and action planning to help set up or improve your community food project.

Delicious lunch of local seasonal produce.

This is a FREE event but booking is essential
Contact: gemma@sustainweb.org or 07971 863 586

More information and a toolkit showing how to get started is available at www.foodcoops.org

LAUNCH - part time transiton training in east anglia

2012-01-27T17:36:00.002Z

LAUNCH transition training as an evening class.

We are piloting the 2 day LAUNCH transition training as an evening class at the Apricot centre in Manningtree Essex starting on April 17th 2012 (You can find full details of the coming series here).

This course is normally run on a weekend as a very intensive 9-5 course. I know after delivering one of these courses I feel pretty exhausted and I am sure most of the participants go away very happy but also exhausted, and especially if you have a job or children this weekend format can be inaccessible.

In the transition training pool we are thinking about widening access to the growing range of courses available, so running the introduction course to transition as an evening class seemed like an easy step. The course will run on Tuesday evenings 7 pm till 9.30, for 6 weeks. We will cover; the outer context for transition, peak oil and climate change, how to raise awareness and engage with different sections of society, how to run an open space meeting, the inner transition, and some inner work exercises, visioning a positive future, where transition is going in the future, how to initiate groups or if most people are in them already we explore group dynamics. And more !

The teaching techniques are interactive and creative and fun. And as a group we also learn a huge amount from each other and what we are doing in our transition groups or areas. We can also build networks from this course that will support you and your group in the future.

The course is intended for people starting out in Transition but there is a huge amount of tools techniques and information in the course for those not only starting out but wanting to broaden and deepen their understanding on transition. For those further along the road a new course called Transition THRIVE is being piloted currently.

If you are interested the details are on the Apricot Centre for Sustainable Living website and Transition network website
www.apricotcentre.co.uk
www.transitionnetwork.org
Marina O’Connell is a part of the Transition training pool and based at the Apricot centre in Manningtree Essex.

BUNGAY: Plant Medicine Bed 2012, plus Talks, Walks and Workshops beginning Sunday 15th January

2012-01-02T13:13:00.008Z

Each year the central flowerbed at Bungay library community garden takes a different theme. In 2011 it was Wild Plants for Bees and Butterflies, this year it will be Plants as Medicine. The intent behind the Plant Medicine Bed is to rekindle our relationship with the plants we share the earth with and to learn about making simple kitchen and garden remedies. As well as using plants physically to help maintain our health and wellbeing, having a relationship with flowers and trees is a tonic in itself.

So in addition to the flowerbed as a display for all kinds of wild weeds and healing herbs, there will be a series of vibrant plants for life talks, walks, conversations and practical workshops with fellow ‘plant people’, taking place monthly throughout the year in the library and around the town. They will follow the seasons and are open to anyone who wants to deepen their connection with and knowledge of plants.

We start on 15 January with a creative look at Medicine Roots with SB’s Charlotte Du Cann (author of the forthcoming 52 Flowers That Shook My World). On 19 February, in conversation with David Wrenn of Orchard End Organics, we’ll focus on practical tips for planting and growing herbs. And on 18 March Medical herbalist, Dan Wheals (Transition Ipswich) will introduce Adopt a Herb (part of the Norfolk and Norwich festival), and show us how to find out about one chosen plant and explore the different stories that emerge. We look forward to seeing you there!

Where: Bungay Library

When: Sundays 19 February, 18 March at 3PM

Look out in the Spring and Summer for the Spring Tonic plant walk, making teas and tinctures and the Midsummer walk and wild plant oils workshop.

For all enquiries contact Mark Watson: 01502 722419 or markintransition@hotmail.co.uk or check this website where I’ll be posting regular announcements and write-ups for both the plant medicine bed and the events.

Bungay Library Community Garden was inspired by permaculture and transition principles and designed and constructed by members of SB’s library courtyard working party. It blossomed and burgeoned throughout 2011 thanks to the attention of many people, in particular Richard Vinton, who keeps a daily eye on the plants and trees (and the watering can, trowel and compost close by). Do pay us a visit during regular library times. The plants will love the company and you’re sure to love theirs!

Photo: Talking plants and bees at the Library Community Garden, Bungay Beehive Day, July 2011

New Low Carbon Community Fund - deadline 22 Dec

2011-12-15T10:38:00.003Z

The deadlines are tight, the grants are substantial and the criteria are right in the sweet spot for Transition Initiatives.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has just announced a new £10 million fund which is available to communities in England and Wales that are playing an active role in the development of a low carbon society. LEAF aims to help communities to accelerate their activity on energy and climate change.

Initial applications must be submitted online by 12 noon on 22-Dec-2011.
The follow up applications need to be submitted by 20-Jan-2012.

The grants are available to finance projects that increase understanding and uptake of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and help to make energy supply secure and affordable for everyone in their community. The scheme aims to help communities to equip themselves to work with the private and public sector to deliver real projects through mechanisms such as the Green Deal, Feed in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive.

This fund is a short-term intervention to be completed by 31-Mar-2012 and is expected that average grant values will be around £50,000.

There is some useful guidance material here
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2011-12-13/leaf-update-uk

Details of how to apply for LEAF are available here:
http://www.greencommunitiescc.org.uk/DECCAbout.aspx

REPORT: Third Transition East Gathering 2011

2011-12-14T10:45:00.004Z

On Saturday, 26th November 2011, 40 Transitioners from 13 Transition Towns in East Anglia met for our third regional meeting. It was hosted by Transition Stour Valley and held at Old Hall Community, East Bergholt in Suffolk. It was an inspiring day, that included a shared lunch, children's activites, a tour of Old Hall. Just hearing about each others’ experiences - good and bad - was valuable and illuminating.

Here are some of the highlights for me:

Transition v transition A few people reported that their initiatives had become inactive due to conflicts or burnout, but were then replaced by practical projects (ex. a community farm) which weren’t officially associated with the ‘Transition’ movement. The feeling was that these ‘transition’ projects were a natural extension of the movement and something to be proud of, not sorry about. There are lots of ‘transition’ projects around by people who don’t want to be part of an organised movement, but are very much on our wavelength.

Food projects galore!Most groups reported active food projects of various types: CSAs, food hubs, coops, market stalls, food sharing, festivals. Many met to discuss this in an Open Space session. Then in the closing session, we set up a small group that will help these food projects across our region to keep in contact with each other and promote synergy between them.

An East Anglian Transition currency? I was in the Open Space discussion of local currencies. It was difficult to choose the Open Space group I wanted, but I was so gripped that I stayed there throughout. We were actively discussing what we can do in case of major economic difficulties. The people from Cambridge are putting on a small conference on Alternatives to Economic Growth to look at this. The most exciting idea for me was a proposal for an East Anglian Transition currency that we could all use, tied to businesses and people who want an economy driven by wellbeing not money.

We will hold our next meeting next Summer. Several small groups will take forward the results of our discussions. Everyone thought it was an enjoyable and useful day. Gary Alexander

Third Transition East Gathering - 26 November

2011-11-17T12:21:00.000Z

Many of you will remember the first two gatherings of Transitioners from all around East Anglia, at Downham Market and at Diss. I found them really excellent events, and heard the same from many others who were there. They gave me a strong sense that there were many others like me, with similar projects and similar difficulties. Sharing those gave me a renewed sense of purpose, lots of good ideas, and, especially, new friends. They were well worth the travel effort.

I hope you will spread the word and come with a group from your initiative.

The third gathering will be on 26th November, hosted by Transition Stour Valley and held at Old Hall Community, East Bergholt from 9 am (for a 10 am start) - 5 pm with optional food and evening entertainment for those wishing to stay on. The venue itself is an inspiring place, a large community that has been running for about 40 years on very environmentally sound and democratic lines. A tour of Old Hall is an option as part of the programme.

The programme is designed to help you to meet those Transitioners from around the region who are most likely to be of interest to you, with mapping exercises, discussions, and 'organised but informal networking'. There will also be fun creative activities for children and a children’s Book and Toy swap, so bring along any you would like to swap.

Please bring some lunch to share, and information about your group and what it has been doing, perhaps as a poster or leaflets. (If you can't come, please send information anyway. It will be displayed.) Come by public transport or in shared cars if possible. Gary Alexander

Getting there: Old Hall Community, East Bergholt, CO7 6TG. Buses run from Manningtree station and will stop outside Old Hall if you ask the driver at 09.40 (96), 11.40 (96) and 13.40 (96), its also a beautiful 3 mile walk on footpaths. Evening lifts can be arranged back to the station. There are also buses from Ipswich and Colchester to East Bergholt. Contacts: Miriam 07904198649 or Dave 07799338733 and further info and full programme .

Photo: First Transition East gathering in Downham Market, 2009

NORWICH: 3rd Year Celebration with Rob Hopkins - 15 November

2011-11-14T10:41:00.001Z

An evening for Transition Norwich and the City of Norwich to celebrate, reconnect, remind, regenerate, share and discuss where we are and what we have achieved since the 'great unleashing' back in 2008.

The evening is set for Tuesday the 15th of November- 7.30pm at the United Reform Church (Princes Street). The plan is to have a happy and relaxed celebration, an opportunity for further dreaming and planning, with stalls to display the various projects throughout Norwich that have been a direct result of TN or link directly with TN in their ethos and vision.

Rob Hopkins will be joining our celebration, sharing the broader story of transition as he witnesses it as well as discussing his upcoming book The Transition Companion (including sections about the TN blog, Norwich FarmShare and a great pic of the NR3 Reskillers by helenofnorwich).

Plus.... there are plans to put a short 10 min film together that reflects on Transition Norwich, the place, the people, the projects.For inquiries about the event please contact Christine Way at training@transitionnorwich.org

The Transition Companion by Rob Hopkins (Green Books) was published on 27 October and had its launch in London on 12 October.

An open letter: Please Support Occupy London

2011-10-22T18:58:00.000+01:00

Dear Transitioners,

The world’s poorest 2 billion are still the poorest 2 billion, violence and resource wars fueled by our insatiable hunger for diminishing resources like oil and rare earth minerals for consumer gadgets are helping keep them that way. This year saw record ice melt in the Arctic. Despite efforts to decouple CO2 pollution from economic growth, not to mention a global recession, we are currently tracking the IPCC’s worst case emissions scenarios. Improvements to well-being have all but stalled in the world’s largest economies while inequality and resulting social and health problems are booming.

20th Century capitalism alone isn’t helping us address these urgent 21st century issues. Instead of trickling wealth and resources down, we seem to be hoovering it all up. There’s a desperate need for a new economics that delivers shared prosperity at home, helps quickly raise living standards in developing countries and emerging economies and does it all within ecological and planetary limits and boundaries.

To wit, some pesky kids have decided to occupy Madrid, Wall Street and now the City of London. Far from being the trouble making free-loaders some currently seem to think they are, my take is that these predominantly young folk are bucking the trend for apathy and instead championing activism. And where many of us feel paralysed and helpless at the task in front of us, they are actively exploring, embracing and promoting solutions. They deserve our support.

In their first week Occupy London have opened an outdoor kitchen (hygiene certified), a library and hosted free, public talks and workshops from the likes of the New Economics Foundation, The National Institute of Economic and Social Research and Egyptian writer and activist Nawal Saadawi - right in the heart of the city. They’d like to stay there and carry on hosting talks and workshops on new economics, social justice, ecological limits and transition all winter.

To cut a long story short, they need your help. The best way to do that right now seems to be to petition (nicely) St Paul’s Cathedral and appeal to them to continue giving Occupy London a home.

Obviously a tent city suddenly arriving on your doorstep is a bit of shock, and St Paul’s are currently wrestling with potential health and safety implications - but with will, those are issues that can almost certainly be resolved through cooperation.

Please take five minutes to write to the Dean and Chapter: deanspa (at) stpaulscathedral (dot) org (dot) uk and ask them to support the Occupy London camp.

Best,
Jay

jay (at) transitionwivenhoe (dot) org (dot) uk

NORWICH; Magdalen Street Celebration - 1 October

2011-09-27T13:24:00.000+01:00

On Saturday October 1st, Magdalen Street will celebrate its unique character in street festival style with performances, exhibitions, fashion shows, workshops, family activities and local history tours.

Following on last year's memorable and groundbreaking success, even more musicians and activities have been arranged.

Norwich Taiko Centre will be opening the event under the Magdalen flyover and some of the best-known bands in the city will be playing on the street throughout the day, using a cycle-powered PA. The audience will be able to hop on the bike and power up their favourite bands!

Helen Simpson-Slapp of the organising committee said “The goal of the day is to bring together neighbourhood residents, regulars and visitors to highlight Magdalen Street's role as a hub of creative, independently-owned, ethnically diverse and environmentally sustainable businesses. ”

The art events, stallholders and historical aspects to the day will bring to life Magdalen Street's rich heritage. The street still boasts a range of food, clothes and shoe shops and is classified by the City Council as the busiest in the whole of Norwich for numbers of pedestrians and buses. Some of the shops from 1905 have survived - most notably 2 of the original fish shops.

The Magdalen Street Celebration themes for 2011 are Creativity, Diversity and Sustainability. Known informally as the 'Creative Quarter', the area houses a multitude of creative businesses. 'Diversity' refers to the street’s ethnic diversity as well as the range of disability-related charities operating in the area and 'Sustainability' is represented by the plethora of second-hand, vintage, antique and craft shops in the area.

The event is spearheaded by members of Transition Norwich seeking a fun way to engage community, celebrate the range of cultural backgrounds represented and promote the opportunity to live more sustainably by shopping locally, buying second-hand and making friends locally. Transition Norwich is a community-based response to peak oil, climate change and economic recession. The organisers are grateful for the financial assistance of Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council who are supporting this year's event. Chris Hull

TO GET INVOLVED: Helen Simpson-Slapp helenofnorwich@hotmail.com Tel: 07747 751656 Stefi Barna Tel: 07964 494836 Next meeting: Aladdin's Cafe, Magdalen Street. Tuesday 6th September, 7pm Web: magdalenstreet.blogspot.com or join our Facebook page

BUNGAY: Happy Mondays at the Community Kitchen - 10 October

2011-09-26T09:39:00.009+01:00

In August we hosted the second Happy Monday at the Community Kitchen, a soon to be regular shared meal made with local ingredients and served at the Community Centre. The first Happy Monday was a pie and mash night, the second a curry night and the kitchen team did a fantastic job; coming up with a great seasonal menu then turning vegetables and fruits from local farms and gardens into a mix of spicy Indian dishes followed by a plum kulfi.

Eating together is a pleasure that seems to transcend other cultural barriers and, as I’ve experienced working with farming communities in Italy, France and Spain, it’s a chance to talk unguardedly, perhaps do a bit of business, and celebrate great cooking, local food and food producers. The benefits of eating together go beyond the social: collective cooking has a lower environmental impact with fewer pots in fewer ovens, less energy and water used to cook and clean and, if well planned, less waste is produced.

Happy Mondays at the Community Kitchen will always be a celebration: the room will be decorated; the menu will use the best local and seasonal ingredients. But it will also offer opportunities for volunteers to build their kitchen confidence, learn about local suppliers and discover new recipes and ideas.

To highlight what’s growing in and around Bungay gardens and to help make sure it all finds a home, every Happy Monday will feature an Abundance table - a chance to bring and share surplus garden produce.

In time we hope there will be a Happy Monday every week, but at the moment our aim is a monthly meal. If you’d like to get involved, perhaps supplying ingredients from your garden to the kitchen and abundance table, cooking, suggesting recipes or helping meet and greet please do contact us.

For the next meal we’re focusing on local autumn fruit and vegetables, we’re cooking for 40 – please do join us!

When: October 10th, 6:45 for 7pm
Where: Bungay Community Centre, Upper Olland Street

If you'd like to join us for a delicious meal made using mostly local, often organic and always carefully thought about ingredients then please get in touch (info@sustainablebungay.com).

The exact menu will be decided closer to the date as we get a better idea of what might be available, but we're planning a celebration of autumnal bounty. What we can tell you is that our two course meal will only cost £5 - which we will ask for when you arrive - will be cooked and served by volunteers and will taste fantastic!.

We work to a single sitting and will be cooking for around 40 people so please arrive at Bungay Community Centre in Upper Olland Street at 6.45pm for dinner at 7pm (places will go quickly so please do fill in the form if you'd like to come).

We don't have a licence to serve alcohol, but do feel free to bring a bottle if you'd like a drink with your meal. Josiah Meldrum

HALESWORTH: Forest Garden Talk

2011-09-12T10:40:00.005+01:00

Our HinT meeting at Halesworth Library last Thursday evening (8th September) was so well attended that we had to scout around the library to find more chairs. Marion Gaze who works at Wakelyns' Farm in nearby Fressingfield presented an entertaining and lively talk about how she ended up working on this experimental agroforestry farm. She went on to tell us more about the research they carry out at the farm where they are currently working with mixing different varieties of the same crops together and growing crops between lanes of trees.

Marion then introduced us to the concept of forest gardens, and the course with Martin Crawford that she recently attended. Although we have already run a HinT tour of the farm, we can see that another one could be interesting for newer HinT supporters. Trish Dent

HinT website: http://hint.onesuffolk.net

BUNGAY; Give and Take Day - 24 September

2011-09-12T09:54:00.000+01:00

Give and Take is Back! Saturday 24th September 10am-1pm at the Chaucer Club, Popson Street, Bungay. Bring along unwanted, non-electrical items on the day and take something home all for free! The perfect time to clear out the cupboards and let the moth balls fly before the cold kicks in! SB can collect any large or bulky items on or before Friday 23rd September by prior arrangement.

For more information or to arrange collections, contact Eloise Wilkinson (01986 788785)  eloise.wilkinson@gmail.com Eloise Wilkinson

Transition Tea Tent @ The Waveney Greenpeace Fair - Sunday 4 September

2011-09-02T07:44:00.003+01:00

The Waveney Greenpeace Fair is on! It will be taking place in its new location alongside the lime trees at Henham Park, Suffolk on Sunday 4th September from 11am to 11pm (find us on map here).

The Fair features three music stages: the big top with a range of amplified music, the acoustic stage, and a lively human dynamo stage where the sound system is powered by members of the audience riding an exercise bike! The music encompasses jazz, folk, blues, reggae, samba and much, much more.

Stalls are back, plus great kids’ activities and entertainment including the Woodcraft Folk and the Foolhardy Folk.

Some new things include Swingboats, ‘History of the Albion Fairs’ tent, a healing area, more campaign stalls and of course The Transition Tea Tent, organised by Sustainable Bungay and featuring sustainable bicycle-powered smoothies by Transition Norwich's Jo Balfe. There will also be a Transition East stall inside for all initiatives in the Eastern region to contribute posters and info, so do come along! It's a great place to meet up.

Admission is £10 per adult, £8 concessions, £5 children under 12, under 5s free. Please car share or come by bike, there's no extra charge for parking this year.

For further details including about volunteering contact Eloise Wilkinson eloise.wilkinson@gmail.com. For full line up www.waveneygreenpeace.org.uk

Transition Tea Tent and Stall from Greenpeace Fair 2010 by Mark Watson; Jo and bicycle-powered smoothies at the Harlequin Fayre.

NORWICH: Introducing Kitchen Conversations - Low Carbon Cookbook - 24 August

2011-08-12T14:40:00.004+01:00

Last month the Low Carbon Cookbook project met, as usual, for delicious supper of shared dishes (from rainbow summer slaws to foraged cherry plum pie) and afterwards discussed the Burning Issues embedded in the present industrialised food system. We looked at the scarcity of water, the destructiveness of supermarkets, peak phosphates, and how we can change the menu, both practically and philosophically, in our daily lives and neighbourhoods.

We also decided to open out these monthly discussions and invite everyone to take part in a conversation over supper on all aspects of food and carbon reduction.

Our first Kitchen Conversation will be on Eating Local for Real on Wednesday 24 August at 6.30pm at Jo Balfe's new cafe The Nectar at 16 Onley Street, just off the Unthank Road. Jo is a member of the TN Permaculture group and gives regular workshops on cooking and eating local and raw food. We'll bring our own local low carbon dishes to share and Jo will be offering drinks and pedal-powered desserts.

We'll be holding our second Low Carbon Kitchen Conversation at Norwich FoodCycle Cafe in September. These free community meals are cooked up each week at the Friends Meeting House kitchens from food that would otherwise be thrown away, donated by local shops, restaurants and market stalls (including surplus veg from Norwich FarmShare).

Everyone is welcome at both events. Details and times will be added soon to the calendar. Watch this space! Charlotte Du Cann

Bicycle blender outside The Nectar; Low Carbon Cookbook Crew; blight-free organic potatoes at The Spuds Don't Work anti-GM rally outside the Forum

Kitchen Conversation 1: Eating Local for Real at The Nectar Cafe, 16 Onley Street. KC 2: Food and Waste will be at FoodCycle, Friends Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane in September. For more details contact Charlotte Du Cann rootshootsandseeds@hotmail.co.uk

NORWICH: Grapes Hill Community Garden - Grand Opening - 7 August

2011-07-29T16:45:00.003+01:00

Since the Grapes Hill Community Garden opened its gates to the public on 2nd July it has proved a hit with people and wildlife alike.

We had a great evening in the garden on Sunday 10th July, after St. Benedict's Street Fair. On other days people come in to enjoy the garden's peace and tranquility. People appreciate the garden's wealth of vegetables, herbs and ornamentals, with the wildflower meadow being a particular favourite.

The garden is attracting birds and insects too. A pair of blackbirds nested in a courtyard backing onto our garden and the parents foraged for food here. Bumblebees, butterflies, moths, ladybirds and hoverflies are moving into the garden and we're keeping a note of what we see.

On Sunday 7th August we have our Grand Opening Day. This starts at 11am when Will Giles from Norwich's Exotic Garden officially opens the garden. There will be food, drink, music, ice cream, face painting, competitions, plant sales and information about the garden, until 3pm.

There will also be a one-off chance at this event to join the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group for half price until the end of 2012 for £5 (waged) or £1.50 (unwaged).

Admission to the garden is free - please come along and see Norwich's newest green space. Jeremy Bartlett.

Above: Drinks and food in the garden - 10th July 2011. Photo copyright Grapes Hill Community Garden Group. Visit our website or our Facebook page for more information.

Bungay Beehive Day - Sunday 24th July, 10.30am - 4pm on Castle Meadow

2011-07-05T13:26:00.006+01:00

Bungay Beehive Day is a celebration of the honeybee and other pollinating insects along with the plants they love. It’s a first-of-its-kind event organised by Bungay Community Bees (BCB) as part of the Bungay Festival and aims to promote awareness and enjoyment of the key relationship between people, plants and bees.

Although we’ll be celebrating “all things bee” our theme will centre on the importance of insect pollination and how everyone can grow and protect flowers to support bees and other insects in our local environment. Come and find out what our group is doing and what each of us can do in response to the worldwide honeybee crisis and to help restore balance in our overstretched environment.

Central to the day and the marquee will be an observation hive provided by Waveney Beekeepers, so everyone can see how honey bees work within a hive. There wil also be a display of our recent venture into top bar hives. A wide diversity of stalls will be busy giving both information all about bees and bee-friendly plants and everything you need to know about becoming a beekeeper and also selling plants and seeds, bee-related crafts and of course honey! There will be an activities area for children from making a bee swarm to to a flower mural and on the stage there will be a lively series of workshops and talks running through the day.

So if you want to know how to make a bee hotel and beeswax candle, find out about natural beekeeping, bumblebees or how to plant a 'patch in a pot' of bees' favourite wildflowers, this is where you need to be!

We’ll have guest speakers from both the innovative River of Flowers project talking about creating urban meadows in green corridors, pollination and bio-diversity, and the Natural Beekeeping Trust on beekeeping on an earth-friendly scale. On the Bee and Flower walk we’ll visit a variety of ‘green spaces’ in Bungay (including the burgeoning Library Courtyard Community Garden), on the lookout for the wild (and not so wild) flowers that the bees are visiting. There will also be a talk on the healing power of honey. And throughout the day you’ll be able to talk to Bungay Community Beekeepers about all our activities and even join the group if you haven’t yet subscribed.

Oh, and calling all bakers. If you bake and bring along a honey cake and enter it into the competition, you could win a £15 gift voucher from BCB organiser and master cake maker from Three Willows Café, Gemma Parker.

Talks 11am Bee Guardians: Natural Beekeeping Trust 12 noon Bee and Flower Walk 1pm Bee corridors and biodiversity: River of Flowers 2pm Healing Power of Honey 3pm Bumblebees.

Workshops 11-12.30 Wildflowers for gardens and making bee Hotels. 2.30-4 Wildflowers for allotments and vegetable gardens and making bug hotels. Ongoing making beeswax candles and beeframes; children's activities: making puppets, mobiles, masks and bee and flower mural.

Honey cake competition: Bake and bring along a honey cake with the most delicious winning a £15 gift voucher. 3pm Judging

Everyone is welcome. Refreshments are available.

If you would like to help out on the day please let us know.

Contact Gemma: enquiries@humblecake.co.uk or Mark: markintransition@hotmail.co.uk or Tel. 01502 722419

Bungay: Midsummer Celebration at the Library Community Garden - 24 June

2011-06-21T17:37:00.001+01:00

Bungay’s library courtyard is positively blooming this summer as its beautiful, new wildlife garden comes into its own with a great burst of activity.

Colourful chamomile, cornflowers, poppies and foxgloves catch the eye, not only of library visitors but bumble bees and many other insects. And there are plenty of feathered visitors too, including a pair of blue tits who have successfully reared a family of youngsters in one of the new bird-boxes.

To celebrate the success of this flourishing community project and to boost the ongoing Save Bungay Library campaign, a Midsummer Evening is being staged at the library courtyard on Friday, 24 June, from 7-10pm.

All library supporters and well-wishers are invited to come along. Drinks and nibbles are provided and local musicians will add to the atmosphere, playing acoustic instruments.

Over the past year, this underused courtyard space has been transformed into a hive of activity. This spring pupils from Bungay Primary School saw the bulbs they had planted last Autumn emerge from the earth and burst into bloom. On May Day Sustainable Bungay held a second Give and Grow Day, exchanging seedlings, seeds, flowers and veg (and growing tips!) and establishing a permanent plant and produce corner.

During the drought, the library staff and volunteers have been kept busy watering the assorted herbs, wildflowers and young fruit trees, relying on tap water when the rainwater butts ran dry. The busy staff are seeking someone who is willing to spend a few minutes each week, sweeping the courtyard to keep it looking spick and span. Dustpan and broom will be provided! A shed with tools and compost for garden maintenance is now in situ.

Sara Johnson, who redesigned the courtyard garden with the project’s working party, is really pleased with its progress. “I’m delighted - after the freezing conditions of the winter and now a prolonged drought – that it’s established and positively thriving.”

For more details about the midsummer evening, or if you would like to contribute any refreshments, please contact the library staff or email: info@sustainablebungay.com.

Transition East Summer Gathering - 25/6 June

2011-06-14T01:37:00.001+01:00

Last year Glenn and Jeannie hosted the first gathering of Transitioners from Suffolk, South Norfolk and North Essex at their farm in Framsden. This year they’re making their farm available for a two day gathering from 10.00 on 25th June, so come along to meet other Transitioners, share experiences, swap ideas, enjoy each other’s company and celebrate.

There’s even a village Barn Dance in a C15th barn – that’s something you definitely can’t get at Glastonbury!

In true Transition fashion, this will be a self organising weekend, with agenda and workshops arranged using Open Space. Workshops are expected to start around 13.30 on Saturday and to continue on Sunday.

Camping is free and self catering, on grass or in a barn. A loo and shower are available.

The (optional) barn dance starts at 7pm on Sat 25th and costs £5 (children £2).

Transition East summer gathering 25th/26th June - Hill Farm, Framsden, Suffolk IP14 6HAContact Glenn & Jeannie for more info and if you want tickets for the dance please let them know asap: hillfarm@helmingham.com or jeannie@hillfarm.eclipse.co.uk or 01473 890737.

Pic: meeting of Transition East food projects in Ipswich at Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm

Norwich FarmShare - Open Day - 11 June

2011-06-10T11:01:00.001+01:00

It's Open Day down on the farm at Postwick on Saturday 11 June! Join us on the farm for a family day out. Bring a picnic to share!

We’ll be offering tours of the farm, introducing you to all the crops we’re growing and showing you the wildlife that shares our site. We’llh ave an opportunity for anyone who wishes to join in with the work onthe farm for an hour or so, and lots of fun activities for children. We’re also looking forward to a chance to share with you all the plans we have for the future. Absolutely everyone is welcome on the day: we hope to make it a real celebration of everything we’ve achieved so far. Please bring your friends and families along, the more the merrier. There will be lots of FarmShare members on hand to answer any questions you have and a chance to sign up if you haven’t yet.

Additionally, existing members are invited to join us a little earlier on the day at 12.00 for our Quarterly General Meeting. This will take only half an hour and is a great chance to catch up with what’shappening and take part in the decisions we make about the farms. As always, please contact us if you have any questions. Laura Creen

For latest Norwich FarmShare update click here.

Photo: Field of Dreams by Elena Judd

Transition Training in Wivenhoe, Essex

2011-05-16T20:28:00.004+01:00

The fantastic 2 day Transition Training takes place in Wivenhoe on 4th and 5th June.

Due to external funding via Community Matters, Transition Town Wivenhoe are offering places for the amazing price of only £10 + £10 returnable deposit!!

Places are filling up so please get in touch if you are interested.

Transition Network Trainers are Marina O'Connell and Gerri Smyth.

Transition Wiv at the University's Green Fair

2011-05-01T09:48:00.000+01:00

Come and see Transition Wivenhoe and Transition Colchester at our stand at the University of Essex May Green Fair on Wednesday, May 4th from 10am ‘till 2pm, Square 5. We’ll have demonstrations and info about transition, energy and local food. Our bicycle generators will also be pedal powering a free-to-play Playstation (teaming up once again with local technology recyclers, ML-Solutions).

To cap off the day Transition Wivenhoe and the Revolutionary Bicycle Powered Cinema are transforming the University Lakes into a giant, outdoor cinema for a screening of ‘Home’, the awe inspiring film from the extraordinary photographer behind the Earth from Air series of books and exhibitions, Yann Arthus-Bertrand. If this fine weather we're enjoying holds the combination of outdoor cinema, film and beautiful location should make for a pretty special occasion.

The Movie spins into life at 8:30pm, it's all free and all are welcome.

DIY Bike Power Workshops 2nd and 9th April

2011-03-31T15:49:00.000+01:00

Every once in a while Transition Wivenhoe wheels out it's revolutionary pedal-powered cinema (you can come see it in action at the May Fair) and puts on a fun event, like when we teamed up with Moiving Image and screened Ghost Busters on Wivenhoe Quay for Halloween. We reckon we might have built the world's most efficient cinema, we do big screen and big sound to audiences of a few hundred and less using about 100 Watts of energy – about the same as one of those old fashioned light bulbs – so little that it can be powered by a bicycle and a simple renewable energy system. Bicycle Power is a great introduction to renewable energy, physics, bicycles, electricity, education, appropriate technology and lots more. Find out how to do it at one of our workshops at the Wivenhoe Bookshop Shed on the afternoons of the 2nd and the 9th of April. Courses are free (but space is limited) run from the 2pm 'till 5pm and will be followed by a fun activity in the evening. On the 2nd we'll show you how to build your own and on the 9th you'll find out how bicycle power can be used to make things (including brains) whizz and whirl at schools, community events and elsewhere.

hello-bikepower@transitionwivenhoe.org.uk

Introduction to Permaculture course in Cambridge

2011-03-30T11:04:00.000+01:00

Transition Cambridge are organising another Introduction to Permaculture weekend course on 16-17 April (09:30-17:30, Trumpington Pavilion). It's a great opportunity to learn design principles and practical approaches for sustainable living, land use and growing some of your own food. Permaculture principles are also an important foundation of the Transition movement. The teacher is Nicole Freris, from Naturewise in London, who's a very experienced permaculture teacher and facilitator. By all accounts she's great, and very inspiring! The cost of this course is £60 (£45 unwaged). For more info, see www.transitioncambridge.org/permaculture. The last course was fully booked, so book your place soon!

Rob Hopkins is coming to Cambridge on 28th March!

2011-03-27T09:22:00.000+01:00

We'd like to invite everyone to come to Cambridge on Monday 28th March to hear Rob Hopkins speak on "The Transition Journey: from oil dependency to local resilience" and to share in Transition Cambridge's 3rd birthday celebrations!

The talk will start at 7:30pm (doors open at 7), at Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1RR. The talk is free, with a suggested donation of £3-5. After the event there will be drinks and cakes to celebrate Transition Cambridge's 3rd birthday, with stalls from local transition groups so that you can find out more about transition projects in and around Cambridge.

About the talk: We live in an oil-dependent world, and we have reached this level of oil dependency in a very short time. We have used up vast reserves of oil in the process, without thinking ahead to times when the supply of oil may not be so plentiful. In this talk, Rob Hopkins will show how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome, leading to the rebirth of local communities who grow more of their own food, generate their own energy, and use local materials to meet their needs.

When we are looking for responses to peak oil and climate change, rebuilding local communities matters, because of the power that emerges from working together and creating meaningful change through shared action. In a world where people’s sense of connection to their communities is in decline, taking practical action together enables us to rediscover meaningfulness and community.

Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network. He has many years experience in education, teaching permaculture and natural building, and is author of ‘The Transition Handbook: from oil dependence to local resilience’ and the forthcoming 'The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times". He publishes http://www.transitionculture.org, lectures and writes widely on Transition, lives in Devon and is a keen gardener.

More info here: http://www.transitioncambridge.org/robhopkinstalk including a downloadable poster and some leaflets.

Stoneleigh Comes to Norwich - Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil - 25 March

2011-03-23T14:00:00.000Z

Nicole Foss gave a gripping presentation to the Transition Network Conference last year and we are excited that she has agreed to come to Norwich to help us understand the challenges of climate change, economic recession, rising fuel and house prices. Under the pseudonym Stoneleigh, she is co-editor of the blog,The Automatic Earth. which has been chronicling and interpreting the on-going credit crunch and the economic climate that has allowed it to happen. She brings together finance, energy, environment, psychology, population and real politik in order to explain why we find ourselves in a state of crisis and what we can do about it.

No tickets but donations welcome on the night. Please circulate this widely to all your networks as everyone is invited.

Contact: training@transitionnorwich.org for further information. Christine Way

Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil - A Presentation by Nicole Foss will be at the United Reform Church, Princes Street, Norwich NR3 1AZ Time: 7.45pm

Green Drinks - Zero Waste Bungay - 15 March

2011-03-14T14:29:00.010Z

For this month's Green Drinks and in preparation for our Give and Take Day on Saturday we've invited Karen Atthey-Woods to talk to us about her community interest company Wombling which runs a sort of year-round give and take (augmented by training on repairing and reusing) in Norwich and Jules Shorrock of VC Cooke a Beccles based recycling company who are working towards creating a zero waste site and offer advice and incentives to encourage businesses and communities to do the same.

Give and Take
This Saturday Sustainable Bungay is holding its third Give and Take Day at the Chaucer Club. We'll be inviting people to bring along things they no longer want or need and if they see something else they want to take it home with them - all for free. So far we've seen pretty much everything except a kitchen sink come in through the door with one person and leave with another; from surf boards to sofas and books to bikes - we're never left with much more than a bit of tidying up to do at the end of the day.

Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle... (in that order!)
The Give and Take Days have far exceeded our expectations and so far we've ensured that almost 20 tonnes of potential landfill has found a new home. But this is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of waste generated by Bungay and the surrounding villages - according to the Office for National Statistics every one of us generates almost half a tonne of household waste every year - around 2,500 tonnes for Bungay alone (and that doesn't include trade waste, DiY and building waste and the waste public services generate on our behalf).

Cradle to Cradle thinking
Recycling is increasing and Waveney has a good record for increasing and improving recycling rates, but it still remains low by European standards. But recycling is about the end of a product's life and before we even consider it we should think about buying less in the first place and then extending the life of the things we do buy - repairing them, reusing and them passing them on to others. There is a lot that product designers could do to help us with this by, for example, creating things that need less packaging, last longer, are easy to repair and reuse; so called cradle to cradle thinking.

Zero Waste Bungay
It's pretty clear that we are still a long way from cradle to cradle approaches to consumer goods - we probably won't ever get there but a zero waste Bungay might just be possible if we start to redefine our waste - it's not rubbish, it's resources; our resources and we should think twice before throwing them away.

As ever Green Drinks will begin with short talks from our expert conversationalists Karen and Jules, there will then be time for more general questions and discussions. Anything could come up (it usually does) but the conversations might include:

What would a Zero Waste town look like?
Would Karen's Wombling business work in Bungay - is it the next step beyond the Give and Take?

How could we work with companies like VC Cooke to reduce waste in Bungay?
How does closing the Beccles recycling site (albeit reprieved for 6 months) fit in with Suffolk County Councils recycling targets and how might the site fit in with our future plans?

As ever we look forward to seeing you tomorrow night (Josiah Meldrum)

Transition Suffolk - Climate Change and Food Security - But What About Peak Oil?*

2011-03-03T09:37:00.003Z

* Originally published as Peak Oil! Peak Oil! Oil! Oil! Oil! on Transition Norwich Blog 25th Feb 2010

Today I had planned to write about the Suffolk Agricultural Association’s Regional Conference on Climate Change and Food Security, which I attended last Friday at Trinity Park in Ipswich. But I’m finding it difficult.

There were probably 150 people at the conference, made up of farmers, lawyers, county councillors, politicians and transitioners. Although agriculture is not my subject, I am getting used to the flexibility that being in transition is requiring of me, so when I was invited to go and write about the conference I accepted immediately.

Professor Ian Crute of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board was clear and informative about climate change, although he ended his talk in what I thought was a very odd way. He showed us two pictures, one a detail of the Amazon rainforest before being cleared for agribusiness, and one after. He then said there was an argument for the second picture (a typical crop field which could be part of an industrial farm anywhere) being ‘better’ than the first. But didn’t tell us why.

The Agriculture Manager from Waitrose showed us how the company were going to increase their profits from £5 billion in the last year to £8 billion by 2016.

Then there was the unabashed and rampant display of pro-GM and biotech marketing by two speakers from the Conservative party.

But these are not the reasons I find it hard to write about the conference. I think it’s because the realities of Peak Oil were almost entirely absent from the proceedings. Representatives of several Transition groups in the region ( some of whom manage farms themselves) raised the subject.

The Waitrose man was unable to answer questions on oil price volatility, and how that would affect the supermarkets, it wasn’t his area. Other speakers just didn’t seem to hear the questions about Peak Resources. At least when (Lady) Caroline Cranbrook, who has worked closely with East Anglia Food Link, spoke out about phosphates already having peaked and asked “Is there a national larder in case of sudden food scarcity? ” she received the one direct reply I heard in the whole conference.

“No,” said chairmen John Gummer (former Secretary of State for the Environment), “is the simple answer to that question.”

Which means the just-in-time lorries serving the supermarkets are our only larder.

The conference was very much focused on the 'big picture' (the how will we feed the 9 billion people in the world by 2050? scenario), although one speaker, Lucy Wyatt, did tell us about her small mixed-farm, where she has set up an oilseed rape bio-fuel plant, providing her with electricity, and fuel for the farm machinery.

But there was no spokesperson for organic production and no representative of one of the community, small-scale projects that are happening all over Suffolk and East Anglia, like the Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm CSA, Joanne Brannan (Transition Ipswich) has set up. John Taylor, Suffolk's Climate Change officer, did ask about the small scale projects, but the question was not properly addressed.

And although I'm only a member of the mere hoi polloi, I'm inclined to say that a conference about climate change and food security that avoids the questions of Peak Fossil Fuels and small scale food projects is not really a conference about climate change and food security.

Well, I really didn't think I had anything to say about the conference, but there you are.

Just two more things for today. One is if you haven't read "The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century" by James Howard Kunstler, and you want a solid, readable, intelligent book which brings climate change, peak resources (especially oil) and the follies of economic globalism together in a coherent manner, then this is the book for you. Don't let his occasional coarseness put you off, it's just his manner.

Secondly, The Waveney Greenpeace Winter Fair is taking place in Southwold tomorrow - 11am - 11.30pm. Donations in the day and £5 in the evening. It's usually fun with good food and stalls. Maybe see you there.

Pic: Sprouts and Clover at Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm by Richard Mudhar

Create a Greener Home

2011-02-18T21:19:00.004Z

Transition Town Wivenhoe's Bicycle Powered Cinema is helping the Orchard Barn Project run a day of workshops demonstrating practical approaches to saving money and developing self reliance that will interest Transitioners. Creating a Greener Home Day, Saturday 26th February - Ringshall Village Hall, Suffolk.

http://www.orchardbarn.org.uk

Green Drinks: Bungay Community Bees -Tuesday 15 February

2011-02-11T14:01:00.002Z

Green Drinks: Bungay Community Bees
Tuesday 15th February, 7:30pm at the Green Dragon
With Elinor McDowall, Gemma Parker and other members of Bungay Community Bees

Inspired by a desire to help everyones favourite (indispensable) pollinators, Sustainable Bungay established what is probably the first Community Supported Apiculture (CSA) scheme in the UK – possibly the world! Lauded by the Soil Association and a major influence on the Mayor of London’s Capital Bee project, Bungay’s Community Beekeepers are entering their second year with plans for exciting new education and outreach projects.

We’ve invited community beekeepers Elinor McDowall, Gemma Parker along with other members of BCB to tell us more about the plight of the honey bee, how community beekeeping works and BCBs plans for 2011 and beyond. As usual we’ll ask them to speak briefly about what they’re doing, answer questions from the room as a whole and then circulate as we break into less formal conversations.

Over the past year lots of other groups have expressed an interested in community beekeeping – some from as afar afield as Canada and the USA – but most quite local. BCB has promised to organise a weekend workshop for these groups but it won’t happen until the bees are more active; the Green Drinks evening will provide an excellent insight into the workings of the project. For those who don’t know anything about BCB there is a short precis below – there is also lots of information on the Sustainable Bungay website.

Bungay Community Bees in brief:
Bungay Community Bees (BCB) demonstrates the emphasis Transition places on raising awareness and building a sense of community through practical actions and activities. To date BCB has been funded through a subscription scheme based on the increasingly popular community supported agriculture (CSA) model. This year the group is considering adopting a more formal structure, becoming a social enterprise and moving out from the umbrella of transition initiative Sustainable Bungay.

In its first year BCB has:

•Raised £800 and bought hives, equipment, training and insurance
•Engaged 37 members who’ve bought annually renewable £20 ‘shares’ in the project (representing about 90 people)
•Established two small apiaries on the outskirts of Bungay
•Held regular meetings, opportunities to visit the hives and offered formal training Actively communicated the work of the group through: blog posts, press releases, social networking, local TV and radio
•Established two subsidiary groups, Plants for Bees and Education and Outreach. In 2011 these will work with local schools and community groups
•Inspired other groups all over the country (and internationally) to do the same. Most significantly the BCB model has been a major influence on the Mayor of London’s Capital Bee project and BCB members spoke at the recent Bee Summit held at the Royal Festival Hall – 50 similar groups are now being established in London
•Created a community of friends around the hives and a feeling of mutual support and learning – none of the BCB beekeepers were particularly experienced at the start of the project
•Engaged with other local beekeepers through the Waveney Beekeepers group.
BCB members feel confident and inspired and Sustainable Bungay plan’s to apply the CSA approach to other food and craft projects. BCB shows how Transition initiatives act as a catalyst for change, gathering people and ideas together, building trust and empowering them to act. Projects like BCB evolve at their own pace – often this can be a (frustratingly) slow process - but it’s vital to ensure community leadership and ownership. Hard work, a clear collective vision and a certain amount of trust are also required if projects like BCB are to work.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

Transition to a Sustainable Swaffham: The (short) story so far

2011-01-24T13:15:00.005Z

We're still pretty new, having formed the core group in December 2010. A few of us were mulling on our own how to get an initiative started, but thanks to "synchronicitous" mechanizations beyond understanding, we were put in contact and things began to happen.

Right away, two of us managed to get in on a Transition Training weekend that was held in Ipswich at the beginning of December, led by Naresh Giangrande from Totness and Marina O'Connell of the Apricot Centre in Suffolk. (Thanks to Steve Marsden of Transition Ipswich for making that possible). Soon after, we held our first core group meeting and set our sights on hosting a January film screening for as many people as we could get to come.

In the meantime, we've enjoyed a couple of impromptu, fun social get-togethers over food and wine with interested neighbors and friends, who were quite receptive to the Transition message. We've also developed a Web site and blog to promote our presence and keep people up-to-date, and are slowly-but surely building our mailing list. We've fortunately already attracted attention of certain town movers, and have found a seat in at least one of four community partnership groups developing a plan for Swaffham's future. So things look quite promising at this early stage.

Last night (Sunday, Jan. 23rd) we held our first "public" event in the nearby village of Castle Acre, with a very good attendance (16 that could make it, though others that support us were unable to come). We screened the film "In Transition," fielded a few questions afterward, and shared a brief open space session. All-in-all, a fine first outing, and another event is already planned for February 13th.

News from Transition Ipswich

2011-01-15T20:05:00.004Z

The lastest Transition Ipswich newsletter is here!
.

Bungay - Green Drinks: Shifting Cultural Values - 18 January

2011-01-14T13:02:00.004Z

With Dr. Rupert Read, reader in philosophy at the University of East Anglia, co-founder of values-change blog Green Words Workshop and Norwich Green Party Councillor.
The Green Dragon, 18th January, 7:30pm

To date our Green Drinks themes have had quite a practical focus, but this month we’re tackling something that at first glance seems a little more esoteric – shifting cultural values. In fact it’s pretty much central to all Sustainable Bungay’s projects and is at the heart of Transition; but we generally only acknowledge it in so much as we recognise that, if we’re to tackle climate change, come to terms with finite resources and cope with a radical economic readjustment we’ll have to change the way we think about each other and the world. At Green Drinks this month and with the help of Dr. Rupert Read we’ll delve a little deeper.

Ready to be nudged?

The Government is keen to ‘nudge’ us into making ‘better’ choices and believes that this approach could replace regulation to help it achieve its commitments to public health, the environment and well-being. But many argue that without big shifts in our values approaches that attempt to shape behaviour are likely to have little impact in a culture where the consumer is still king and economic growth is the most important measure of national success.

A Common Cause

At our first Green Drinks evening we talked briefly about a report called Common Cause: The Case for Working with our Cultural Values published by a consortium of organisations including WWF, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The report makes a clear case for a wide range of civil society organisations to work together in order to strengthen those cultural values that have been shown to underpin people’s concern about a whole range of problems – from climate change to global poverty. It goes on to argue that the public will only place enough pressure on politicians if they place greater emphasis on those ‘intrinsic’ values (which include the value we place on things like relationships with other people, the natural world, a sense of place/belonging).

We’ve invited Dr. Rupert Read, reader in philosophy at the UEA, co-founder of values-change blog Green Words Workshop and Norwich Green Party Councillor to help us think about some of these issues. As usual we’ll ask Rupert to speak for 5 or 10 minutes then open the floor for questions and a general discussion before breaking up into smaller informal conversations. It’s never possible to say exactly what might come up at Green Drinks but we might talk about;

•What kinds of values do we need to shift to and what are we moving away from – is it as simple as a move from ‘Me’ to ‘We’?
•How can we strengthen the kinds of intrinsic values outlined in the Common Cause report and bring them to the fore locally?
•Should we begin talking to other local groups about emphasizing these values? How?

And much more besides… there is bound to be a lively discussion!

Events for Community Food Enterprises

2011-01-01T01:46:00.003Z

GOOD GOVERNANCE & COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR CO-OPERATIVES

A training day for individuals, employees, volunteers, public sector organisations, transition groups, community groups & co-operatives
_________________________________
10 - 5pm Saturday 22nd January 2011
Friends Meeting House, Fonnereau Rd, Ipswich
_________________________________

This event isn't restricted to food enterprises; I want everybody to come!

The skills on offer may not at first glance seem meaty or applicable, but it's been proven that when community projects fail it's often due to the membership or employees not having the basic skills to work together, or not understanding the infrastructure and systems of the entreprise.

A MINIATURE FOOD CO-OPS CONFERENCE FOR THE EASTERN REGION

For interested individuals, new and established community-owned food entreprises, and food access or ‘5-a-day’ projects

_____________________________________
Tuesday 25th January 10:30 - 4:30
Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk
www.eastanglianlife.org.uk
____________________________________

Discover what support you can get from Sustain’s Food Co-ops project, where your nearest co-op is, hear from experienced food projects, and exchange ideas for the future!

Speakers:

- Kirstin Glendinning - Swillington Community Supported Agriculture & the Soil Association
- Gemma Sayers - Food Co-ops Project & Ipswich Food Co-op

A Plenary with:

- JP- Hastings Community Fruit ‘n’ Veg project
- Jacqui - Community Food Entreprise, East London

+ Networking with local groups and Action Planning to help set up or improve your community food project
+ Delicious lunch of local seasonal produce

This is a FREE event but booking is essential
Contact: http://www.blogger.com/gemma@sustainweb.org or 07971 863 586

More information and a toolkit showing how to get started is available at http://www.blogger.com/www.foodcoops.org

If you are involved in the local food, community food, or food production sector, this event is for you. Likewise, if you are faced with transitioning to a more sustainable and autonomous future. But you are welcome even if your interest is simply in the consumption of good food!

I have chosen the speakers to cater to a variety of groups; those needing templates for making their entreprise stand alone when they've previously been shored up by local authority funding and support; those looking for radical ways to take control of their food supply, those needing specialised information on ambitious independent systems like CSA's; and anybody who'd like to know what's out there that can make good food more affordable and accessible.

There will be plenty of time for Open Space discussions at the event, and that includes food co-ops and others presenting about the work they do, bringing any issues they've encountered to the forum, or thrashing out ideas for a project step-by-step.

Training for Transition comes to Suffolk

2010-12-02T15:10:00.000Z

Last call for the few remaining places on the official Training for Transition course running in Ipswich from 9.30 to 5.30 on 4th and 5th December. Thanks to support from Suffolk Climate Change Partnership we’ve been able to keep the course fee down to £30.

The venue is the Reg Driver Centre, in Christchurch Park. We feel its environmentally efficient design makes it a perfect venue for such an event! Here’s a link to Google Maps: http://bit.ly/cOniuv - just zoom out of street level and click “map” to plan your route.

The course will be along the lines described here, though adjusted to meet participants’ needs and updated to cover the new Transition ingredients, or pattern language.

The trainers are Naresh Giangrande, a founder member of Transition Totnes and the Transition Network, and Marina O’Connell who runs the Apricot Centre just over the border in Essex. Naresh’s details can be found here. As Marina’s recently qualified as a Transition Trainer her name’s not on the Transition website yet, but she’s also a highly experienced trainer and lecturer in permaculture, horticulture and sustainability.

To register email steve_marsdenbtopenworldcom or call/txt 07889 751578.

Norwich - Zero Carbon Concert - 27 November

2010-11-22T18:31:00.002Z

Climate campaigners have organised a zero carbon world concert on the eve of the next UN climate summit to demonstrate that a zero carbon world is both achievable and fun. The concert will consist of a number of events all over the world – in England, Wales, Holland, Italy, Poland, Sierra Leone, China, Australia and the USA.

The summit begins on 29 November and there will be an event in Norwich on 27 November featuring Vic Salter, Pedalo, Ruth Gordon and Jimmy and the Magic Shoe in the St Thomas Church Hall, Earlham Rd. It will be acoustic so that it causes no carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, people will be encouraged to travel to the event without emitting carbon. They are asked to walk, cycle, or use public transport instead of driving – unless they have an electric car powered by green electricity, or a diesel vehicle using waste vegetable oil. Also, the venue will be unheated - we've asked them to turn off the gas central heating - so dress accordingly!

N.B. Norwich Critical Mass Bike Ride is on Friday 26th, NOT Saturday 27th as stated in error on some Zero Carbon Concert posters. Concert organisers apologise for this error.

Tickets are £2 in advance (from Chris Keene, 01603 614535, 07801 250982 chris.keene@tiscali.co.uk) or £3 on the door. You can have a look at the website for the zero carbon world concert for a zero carbon world at http://www.zerocarbonconcert.org/

2010-11-09T18:00:00.003Z

Green Drinks, Tuesday 16th November at the Green Dragon, Bungay from 7:30pm

This month's theme is energy and communities

After the great success of last month's economics and livelihoods themed Green Drinks evening (you can read about it here) we've invited not one but two excellent guest conversationalists to bring their expertise and insights to our second evening. Simon Weeks is a member of Cookpole Energy Action, a community group that plans to set up its own wind power scheme - the only one in this part of the country. John Taylor is the Community Advisor for the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership where he advises communities on energy saving and generation schemes. John and Simon will speak for a few minutes each before we open the floor to questions and then devolve into the more relaxed conversational style that makes Green Drinks evenings so enjoyable.

We'd love you to join us too and bring your thoughts and questions about energy (generation, saving and efficiency) and how communities like ours can take more control and reap more of the benefits.

The timing of this evening couldn't be better.

Not only is there a surge of interest and confusion around feed in tariffs (whereby small generators are paid a fee for the energy they produce), but the Government is about to introduce a new energy bill (The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill). Once law this will provide a new financing framework to enable the provision of energy efficiency measures to all households funded by a charge on energy bills (rather than up-front payments). It could make it much easier for people to invest in a range of energy saving measures - from better windows and draft exclusion to loft and cavity wall insulation - but does it really go far enough?

Last week Sustainable Bungay, as part of the Big Climate Connection, sent a team to lobby Peter Aldous (MP) and raised some of the issues that will undoubtedly come up on the 16th. Peter's response was very positive (you can read more here), but the pressure needs to be kept up because grassroots initiatives and low-carbon communities in general need greater backing from government and ideally the creation of an infrastructure with secured resources to implement projects - without these neither top-down government, nor bottom-up initiatives will get very far.

One of the guiding principles of Green Drinks is that the evenings should go where they want... But I imagine we might find ourselves talking about: insulation schemes for Bungay; community owned energy generation using wind, solar or bio-mass; energy reduction ideas; the sustainability of schemes like the feed-in tariff; the drivers for changes in energy use and generation; the implications of a less energy secure future...

This month our guests will be:

Simon Weeks of Cookpole Energy Action

Cookpole Energy Action (CEA) is a not-for-profit organisation formed in July 2009 by residents of the parishes of Cookley and Walpole in north east Suffolk. While recognising that individual households and businesses can do a lot to reduce their carbon footprints and that many have already begun, CEA believes that action at the level of the community is important - in their case that is a community of around 150 households. At the moment CEA is developing a community wind power scheme.

They intend to install two medium sized wind turbines in the parish and all the electricity generated will be fed into the grid. The community will receive an income for this electricity according to the ‘feed-in’ tariff, which came into force in April 2010. The income will be spent on carbon reduction projects in the community. The whole scheme will be managed by a charitable Trust, or similar not-for-profit organisation.

Simon will talk to us about the progress of the project - what's been easy and the difficulties they've encountered so far.

John Taylor, Community Advisor, Suffolk Climate Change Partnership

Suffolk County Council is working with other key organisations as part of the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership to develop a comprehensive action plan to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The Partnership wants householders and local businesses to get involved to make their pledges to help reduce their CO2 emissions and to help save energy, it provides free hands on advice to small and medium sized businesses in Suffolk who want to cut their carbon emissions, save money and stay ahead of the competition.

John has an MSc in Sustainable Architecture from the Centre for Alternative Technology and his work focuses on supporting communities and helping them to help themselves. He's given advice and support to many groups - including Cookpole Energy Action and Sustainable Bungay - and has a wealth of knowledge about energy generation (especially small scale renewables) and energy saving. He's also an active member of Transition Ipswich.

What the Greens didn't get wrong: DDT

2010-11-06T13:07:00.013Z

On Thursday 4th November 2010 Channel 4 in the UK broadcast 'What the Green Movement Got Wrong' and specifically charged environmentalists with responsibility for prolonging Malaria for decades as a result of bans following apparently wrong-headed environmental campaigns against DDT.^[1]

DDT is harmful to wildlife when introduced into the environment, but also is a useful tool for combating Malaria.^[2]

Apparently the programme was even re-edited just before broadcast to scale back the accusations, which originally expressly laid the blame for 10s of millions of deaths directly at the door of Silent Spring author Rachel Carson and green campaign groups – parroting claims made by libertarian ideology groups in the US^[3]. It's stunning rhetoric and a powerful warning as to the perils of communities, scientists and interest groups getting involved in decisions best left to big business and profit-makers. It's also fabricated nonsense from start to finish.

There was no such worldwide ban on DDT, the chemical has seen continued and widespread use in agriculture and disease control in developing countries throughout. Instead there were partial agricultural restrictions in the US. Sometimes us foreigners like to jest that yanks have trouble differentiating between America and the entire rest of the world; well, tee-hee-hee. The UK and a handful of developed European nations also joined with limited agricultural restrictions of their own. That was the sum of global statutory restrictions until 168 international governments ratified the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, which came into force not decades ago, but in 2004; Annex B of which green-lights the continued use of DDT for disease control^[4].

In reality, through decades of hard campaigning, what the green movemnet achieved was to highlight devastating environmental damage that spurred policy makers and scientists from a broad representation of fields to deliver sensible legislation that protects our environment and promotes best practice for disease control. Instead of what the bent propaganda from the poisonous, divisive and largely US politicking would have you believe, a generation of environmental campaigners have plenty to be proud of. Channel 4 should set the record straight.

Jay Pettitt, jaypettitt@googlemail.com, Transition Town Wivenhoe

Contact Channel 4
Contact Of-com

References
1. www.channel4.com/programmes/what-the-green-movement-got-wrong 6/11/10

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT6/11/10

3.www.google.com/search?q=ddt+millions+death 6/11/10

4. chm.pops.int/default.aspx 6/11/10

Halesworth - The Age of Stupid film showing - 12 November

2010-11-02T20:13:00.009Z

Halesworth in Transition are showing the film The Age of Stupid at St Mary's Church Hall at Steeple End by the C of E church in Halesworth. We will provide refreshments while a discussion with John Taylor from Suffolk Climate Change Partnership on what we can achieve by working together.

This is an opportunity to set up sub-groups that can lead towards a more resilient and positive future in areas that can reduce our fuel bills; improve our skills to recycle materials; grow or buy locally grown food and generally discuss what other projects people would like be part of.

Start time: 7pm. Donations at door. Further info: Linda Owen (HinT) 01986 875323

Social Entrepreneurship and Transition

2010-10-18T17:08:00.003+01:00

The Suffolk School for Social Entrepreneurship is now open for business: http://www.sse.org.uk/school.php?schoolid=12
Could this be a resource we could use to accelerate Transition in our region?

Bungay - Green Drinks and Economics

2010-10-17T13:02:00.005+01:00

We are re-launching our Green Drinks evenings, giving each one a theme and inviting a speaker – or perhaps more accurately an expert conversationalist – who can answer our questions about a specific subject, or steer our discussions along fruitful paths.

October theme: Economics and Livelihoods

It will have escaped no ones notice that the 20th is the day of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review when they will announce what will be cut, when and how hard. At the same time, and as part of this process, there is an expectation that communities and voluntary groups (like ours) will join something called the Big Society and take greater responsibility for the provision of services in their areas – from social care and libraries to cleaning the streets.

Pile that on top of a growing energy crisis, an increasingly depleted resource base, climate change, huge global inequality of opportunity and consumption (and destructive over consumption in countries like our own) and it looks more than a little bleak. Especially as the only answer economists and politicians can offer is to accelerate the consumption driven growth that got us into this mess in the first place.

But there are also big opportunities for positive change: a new economic paradigm is required and we really can start to create it here in Bungay – it’s just hard to know exactly where or how to start!

Fortunately our guest on Tuesday will be Dr. Gary Alexander and, though would be fair to say that he doesn’t have all the answers, he will bring some examples from history of where human-scale economics based on trust and collaboration have worked as well as some interesting and perhaps provocative ideas of his own.

Dr. Alexander believes sustainability and a set of values that promote sustainable livelihoods and social relations must be the key. His introduction is bound to stimulate conversations about the Big Society, Suffolk County Council’s plans, opportunities to establish exciting new social and co-operative enterprises in Bungay, alternative currencies and much much more…

So when better than the 19th to have a beer and talk about the future of the economy, Bungay and what we’re going to do about it all?

Green Drinks at the Green Dragon start at 7:30pm end at some point later in the evening…

Bungay, Halesworth and Beccles - Apple Days - 16 and 23 October

2010-10-06T14:07:00.012+01:00

Several Transition Suffolk initiatives are hosting Apple Days this year in celebration of our great native fruit and all things juicy and sweet - from local community orchards to the best apple recipes. Sustainable Beccles and Halesworth are both holding stalls in their respective town centres on 16 October and Beccles hosting an apple talk and community lunch on 23 October (see poster).

Sustainable Bungay meanwhile hosted a stall at this years' Bungay Apple Day on 2 October in collaboration with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Our main aim was to promote the Abundance of Fruit project and sign up people with surplus fruit, neglected trees who were keen to help gather, process and redistribute fruit much along the lines of the inspiring Abundance project in Sheffield and similar to the work Transition Beccles and Halesworth are doing.

We pressed apples and gave away juice, tried some of the 50 varieties of apples that Jim Cooper of Clarkes Lane Orchard grows and ate Elinor's delicious apple cake (Josiah Meldrum).

Scratting (breaking the apples up before pressing them)

Some of Jim's apples

Norwich - Cycle Dynamo Workshop - 25 September

2010-09-21T12:48:00.001+01:00

Build your own bike-powered generator - a kit made up of a Turbo Trainer, 250 watt generator, 12 volt battery and bits to join them together safely.

WHEN? Saturday 25th September 2010, 1-5 p.m.
WHERE? Friends Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane, Norwich NR2 1EW
COST? £120 incl. all parts & evening meal.

The non-profit workshop is led by Tom Foxe, electrician/TV engineer, bike lover, and builder of the Human Dynamo sound system. It's limited to 12 people, so early booking is advised.

What skills/knowledge do I need ?
If you can use a screwdriver you can do it ! The kit can be built by a child of, say 8+. We will NOT be going deeply into theory of electricity/ mechanics, we will focus on A. Safety B. Building the generator C. Applications

After the workshop there will be a Pedalpower Party including Live performances using a pedal-powered sound system and lighting and a short film, using a pedal-powered computer and data projector.

To book or for more information contact: Tom 01603 920801 or tom7railway@yahoo.co.uk.

Above: Tom Foxe on bike genny in action, Greenpeace Gig 2010. Left: Carol (Transition Downham Market/The John Preston Tribute Band) generating the power at last year's TN First Anniversary

Suburban permaculture - Mike Guerra in Luton

2010-09-02T12:10:00.005+01:00

A forthcoming permaculture afternoon in Luton. Details below, or on the Transition Luton website.

Suburban Permaculture: An Afternoon with Mike Guerra

Inspired by permaculture and forest gardening, Mike and his family grow up to 250 kg of food a year in their small suburban garden. This remarkably productive garden has inspired countless others in turn, and been documented in articles, on television, and in Mike's book 'The Edible Container Garden' - proving that you don't need a smallholding to get started in permaculture.

Saturday 25th September 2010, 1:45 for a 2pm start
High Town Methodist Hall, High Town Road, Luton
(Plenty of parking nearby, or two minutes walk from the station)

£6 - or £5 if you arrive on foot, by bike or public transport.

You can show up on the day, or email jeremy(at)makewealthhistory.org to reserve a seat.

Downham Market and Ipswich: Is Transition about to go Economic? - 14 September

2010-09-01T15:12:00.000+01:00

This year's peak Transition event was arguably the economics lecture given at the Transition conference titled Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil. A recording of the talk will be broadcast and discussed on 14 September in Ipswich (see details at end of piece) as it was last month in a gathering organised by Downham Market and Villages in Transition. Members of Transition initiatives in Norfolk met in Stoke Ferry to reflect on what has come to be known as The Stoneleigh Effect. David Perry reflects on its implications:

On Sunday, 25th July some of us met at John & Carol’s straw bale studio to listen to a recorded lecture given by Nicole Foss of Automatic Earth, in which she talks of the impending "perfect storm" as the twin consequences of peak oil and the bursting of the credit bubble, created by the world’s "Ponzi" financial system, crashes and causes a period of brutal deflation. Deflation as part of a planned transition to a low energy economy is much to be desired, but it was the spectre of it’s unplanned and unexpected nature, with it’s numerous random consequences, of dramatic falls in house prices and a return to negative equity, that made it so scary. Perhaps not so surprisingly, some of us struggled to maintain a community focus as we began to reflect on the dire consequences for ourselves and our families. For all it’s wisdom and seeming inevitability it’s perhaps helpful to remind ourselves that this is a radical view that only time can validate.

During our meeting, reference was made to the 2010 Transition Network Conference Guide (12th - 14th June 2010). This includes details of the workshops and an introduction to Transition as a Pattern Language - a work in progress that looks forward to the further development of Transition beyond the 12 Steps. One of the conference workshops was entitled Communicating the Economic Crisis as the Third Driver of Transition and asks the question ..."should Transition now be talking about economics and the bursting of the debt bubble as a third driver? And ...to what extent ought an awareness of economics underpin Transition?"

At the end of the session, Gary Alexander distributed copies of a booklet entitled Sustainable Diss 2030: Food - Environment - Community. Addressed to the citizens of Diss, it’s introduction begins...Concerned about climate change, the credit crunch and other looming problems? Starting with The Good News it envisages what a sustainable Diss might look like in 2030, arguing that... If we don’t envisage and design a future we want, we might be forced into one that we don’t like - that’s the chapter on The Bad News. This refers to the human impact on the earth’s resources - climate change being one impact and peak oil being another, arguing... whatever we do next must put the environment at it’s heart. Not surprisingly, the message to the citizen’s of Diss is ...."the kind of economy we have experienced for the past few decades - wasteful, globalised, driven by economic growth instead of growth in well being needs to be replaced by a community-based economy that is more stable, resilient, self-reliant, less money-based, self-correcting, environmentally-friendly and uses much less oil."

Then on the following Tuesday, some of us met at Rachel’s to watch the film Money as Debt II: Promises Unleashed by Paul Dignon, a fascinating insight into the nature of money and how the banks have been licensed by governments to lend us money they don’t have, and then charge us interest on it! It deals with the massive expansion of credit which appears not to be backed by anything of value and yet unleashes massive purchasing power to consume goods and services that have to be provided from the finite resources of the planet. If anyone still doubts the potential of banking in it’s present form, and the prevailing financial system, to reduce the natural world with it’s vital life-support systems into a wasteland of commodities and synthetic novelty, this film is a must. Again, one is left with the clear conviction that we are saddled with a damaging and unsustainable economic system that urgently needs to be replaced with a more viable and sustainable model that uses money as a means of exchange rather than as a commodity.

A recently published book - Tim Jackson’s Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet (ISBN 978-1-84407-894-3) argues for a new economic model that doesn’t rely on continuing growth to stabilise it....A different kind of economic structure is needed for an ecologically constrained world...Society is faced with a profound dilemma. To resist growth is to risk economic and social collapse. To pursue it relentlessly is to endanger the ecosystems on which we depend for long-term survival. We have to break free from the iron cage of consumerism and develop new community-based ecological enterprises in which the culture of consumerism is dismantled.

Having noted that the UK’s apparent 6 per cent reduction in carbon emissions between 1990 and 2004 is turned into a 11 per cent increase once emissions embedded in trade are taken into account, the author challenges the concept of decoupling - the idea of continuing growth without suffering the carbon consequences, by driving down the carbon intensity of production. A compelling case is made for the impossibility of achieving the IPCC’s target figure for CO2 reductions by 2050 through reductions in carbon intensity. Hence the title of the chapter - The Myth of Decoupling. Others have also acknowledged the impossibility of the UK achieving the rates of decarbonization required.

So what are the implications for Transition?

If the IPCC targets cannot be achieved through reductions in the carbon intensity of production and we accept the size of population as a given, it would seem that contraction in economic activity - Gross Domestic Product (GDP) offers the only prospect of reaching the IPCC targets and saving the planet’s ecosystems. This argues for an understanding of economics becoming an important aspect of Transition culture. Rather than it becoming a third driver, as hinted at in the 2010 Transition Network Conference Guide, perhaps economics will need to become the central concern that underpins all future Transition activities. David Perry

Transition Ipswich: At last month’s excellent Transition Suffolk gathering we touched on the Stoneleigh presentation – the one that had a big impact at the Transition conference. If you’re interested in seeing it, you and yours are welcome to join Transition Ipswich for a repeat performance at 7.30pm on Tuesday 14th September at University Campus Suffolk, Waterfront Building, Neptune Quay, Ipswich IP4 1QJ. We don’t actually have Stoneleigh in person, but we’ll be running the voice recording of her talk along with her slides. Afterwards we’ll discuss her prognosis and what it could mean for us, our families and the broader community, and how we can respond. We’ll finish by 10pm, but discussion will probably continue in the pub. The venue holds 60 so we have plenty of room. Please let me know if you’re coming so I can let the university security guys know how many people to expect. Steve Marsden steve_marsden@btopenworld.com

"Cocky and Little share their thoughts on the financial crisis"; Transition straw bale at Stoke Ferry. Photos by Gary Alexander (Transition Diss)

Cambridge: Wind turbine making course - 3-5 September

2010-09-01T14:52:00.000+01:00

During this three day-course, everyone will get a chance to work on all aspects of building a wind turbine, including woodworking, metalworking and electrics. At the end of the course we will erect the turbine and see it in action (if it's windy!). The turbine we will be making is a 12V / 200W Hugh Piggott Axial Fluxturbine and will have a 1.2m blade diameter. The course will be run by Cambridge Greentech and V3Power and will be held at the Cambridge GreenTech workshop, Harvest Way, Cambridge. There are 12 places available. The cost is £150 before 25 June or £180 after that (this is much lower than normal thanks to the support of the Society for Environmental Improvement). Meals are included and we will do our best to put people up if you need somewhere to stay. More info and booking here: http://www.transitioncambridge.org/windturbine.

Community Gardens – Transition King’s Lynn, Wivenhoe and Bungay

2010-07-31T11:25:00.041+01:00

This month there are Transition Gardens in production and construction all over East Anglia. Produce is being swapped and shared, not just from garden shares and allotments, but from Transition plots in all sorts of extraordinary places. Here's our round up of some of the East's flourishing community gardens.

Transition King’s Lynn began their Edible Garden in the Walks (public park) in May 2009. They have been running regular workdays, planting and sowing days, picnics and tree pruning workshops ever since.

As part of Love Parks week last August Transition King’s Lynn staged an event that involved planting up lots more plants, including lavender donated by the Borough Council, and more vegetable and herb plants. Visitors to the bed were treated to a share in the harvest of salad leaves and French beans, and children were able to sow seeds of rocket, radish and oriental leaves in biodegradable origami pots to take away and plant at home.

Here's Viv from KL: "Some members of Transition King's Lynn set up a stall in the Walks to give away some of the produce from the bed. The feedback from this was very positive, though some people were suspicious as to why we were giving it away for free, and others simply couldn’t bring themselves to take it for free, so gave donations (gratefully received!). Other surplus produce has been donated to a local homeless charity to be used by the cooks in their day centres."

The produce from the bed is available for anyone to harvest and eat themselves. TKL is always open for more people to get involved -seeding, mulching, weeding, watering, dead-heading, harvesting etc. So do get in touch if you'd like to join in.

Transition Wivenhoe began their Station Garden this Spring and the Food Group has gained Network Rail's approval of the Station Master's House community food garden. Travellers, station staff, passers-by and garden volunteers have enjoyed crops of rocket and lettuce. Courgettes, peas, tomatoes, potatoes and winter squash are on the way. Volunteers have helped regularly at Broomgrove School veg patch, it has been lovely to suppport the children's enthusiasm for growing food.

This Friday they had a Station Garden cookout. Here's Peta of TW's very active Food Group: "The overwhelming verdict of the station house garden marrow curry, cooked up by Kaushali yesterday was "delicious!". This has been a much watched and commented on vegetable over the weeks as walkers, cyclists, commuters, garden helpers and station staff have witnessed the little courgette turn into a fine marrow. Even Wendy the station cat seemed to have an opinion, though perhaps a slightly dim one as she has had to shift her sun bathing spot as the monster plants have slowly taken over her space. Watch out as the winter squash are next to surprise and delight... along with the fantastic sunflowers of course. Over 40 bowls of veggie curry and handmade rolls were dished up to surprised passers by, a few commuters who made the time to stop and some Station Pub regulars, along with food group activists who set up the stall outside the entrance to platform 1.

In Bungay this summer we've been engaged in laying the foundation work of our Library Courtyard Garden (you can follow our Community Garden blog, brick by recycled brick!). Yesterday we shovelled 5 tons of top-soil into the beds ready for planting up our fruit trees (cherry and apple and pear) in our permanent bed and seasonal flowers, vegetables and herbs in our seasonal round bed. We’ve also got a wormery, rainbutts and compost bin, so our “Living Library”, as well as providing an outdoor meeting place and a quiet spot in turbulent times, will serve as a showcase for the ecological principles behind Transition. Designed by a working party formed after our Permaculture course (taught by Graham Burnett of Southend-in-Transition) in January it will be a living demonstration of everything from carbon reduction to water conservation, medicine plants to the restoration of the honeybee. We’re hoping to have a grand opening for everyone who has been so far involved in the project (about 100 people) in September.

Transitioners hard at work in King's Lynn Edible Garden; making banners under a Walks tree; planting the first potato at Wivenhoe's Station Garden; rocket to go; Sustainable Bungay workparty at the Library Courtyard.

REPORT - Transition Suffolk and the Pattern Language

2010-07-14T14:15:00.034+01:00

Last Monday 8 Suffolk Transition initatives and 1 Norfolk (Diss) came together to discuss how to share resources and skills and to feedback ideas from the recent Transition Conference in Devon. Charlotte Du Cann from Sustainable Bungay reports:

I felt the meeting was significant. Many of the initiatives felt “on their own” and having already engaged in awareness-raising were looking for a new direction. Where do we go from here? There was a sense of urgency and a feeling we needed to relate to our communities and each other in a different way. I was struck as we drove through the golden barley fields towards Stowmarket and Linda and Josiah were exchanging childhood stories of fishing in farmer’s ponds (in Peasenhall and Thelnetham) that everyone in the room had the territory of Suffolk in common. We knew each others’ market towns and villages; the roads that connected them, the rivers and oak trees.These connections were to give this meeting a sense of reality and companionship that more civic“workshop” type gatherings do not have.

The meeting was held in a farm outhouse and took a very simple direct form. 22 of us sat in a circle for three hours with a short ten-minute break in the middle for very welcome cheese and beer kindly provided by our hosts, Glenn and Jeannie from Transition Debenham. The talk moved effortlessly from one speaker to the next and we covered a lot of ground.

After giving feedback about the workshops five of us attended (Social Enterpreneurship, Co-ops, Food Mapping, Communities, councils and carbon) and the influential Stoneleigh talk, Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil, we explored the new concept of Pattern Language which is set to replace the former organising structure of the 12 Transition Steps. The 63 Patterns form an interconnecting web of principles and activities that define a Transition initiative. We then discussed ways in which we could weave together our different experiences and projects, our Patterns, in order to provide a strong network and backing for each other.

In between our discussions, which ranged from biodiversity to “the Big Society” (we decided that Transition and Politics, the sixth level of Patterns, would be for another time) , we told stories about our initiatives. Some have become divided between haves and have-nots, some have been slowly gaining acceptance in the community, others that were successful last year with climate change and Copenhagen on the agenda but were now experiencing a lack of interest. Some of us felt overwhelmed when thinking of the future in large terms (“130,000 mouths to feed” as Steve Marsden said from Transition Ipswich), others felt by focusing on the small scale, on immediate and do-able working projects, such as garden shares, this provided a strong base for larger and more ambitious schemes.

Here were some of the projects/patterns that arose as examples during the discussion;

· Community Renewable Energy Companies 5.4 John talked about Transition Ipswich’s communty owned wind turbine which will help fund other local community projects.
· Food Initiatives and CSAs 3.10 and 5.9 Josiah talked about Bungay Community Bees and the Sustainable Bungay Pig Club.
· Arts and Creativity 2.8 and The Great Reskilling 3.11 Linda talked about Transition Halesworth’s Upscaling Bag project.

Dale from Transition Debenham explained how a sewing bag project could then expand into clothes making. Garden shares could expand into CSAs. By doing things together people could think as a community. For me that was the key shift. Transition provides a way to move out of a culture of individualism towards collective action. To open the door for people to work together in a new and meaningful way, to give heart and value to the ordinary things we can achieve.

How to proceed? Where should we go next? The key word of the Conference was urgency. It was clear that times of radical change were coming and that they would be felt in the financial sector first. People in Transition who had become personally resilient and understood the process of social change were in a position to provide coherent structures for communities - projects that offered solutions to the difficulties of an energy-poor future - as well as opportunities for self-government. Stoneleigh urged that Transition had a vital role in showing people there were other ways of doing things. This was the predominant mood of the meeting. In spite of individuals feeling their initiatives were not as up and running as they would like, as a collective, as a crew, we were coherent and committed. The buoyancy and sense of purpose was similar to that of the 2010 Conference in June. This was it. This was the time.

As the meeting came to a close we decided to meet again in September, to keep communications open and to share our resources. We agreed that Suffolk initiatives would begin to collate and “swap” patterns. I suggested the Transition East blog (www.transitioncircleeast.blogspot.com) could be a holding station/sorting house for everyone’s stories and pictures and provide material for a possible Transition Suffolk newsletter. A Transition Network on-line directory for the Patterns is meanwhile underway. (P.S. Running Successful Meetings is Pattern 2.4 and Forming Networks of Transition Initiatives 4.2)

The 2010 Conference Booklet that includes the Pattern Language is available as a pdf from www.transitionnetwork.org. A short precis of the 63 patterns will be posted shortly under Pattern Language (left hand sidebar)

Making patterns: first meeting of Transition Suffolk; barley field; Sustainable Bungay joining forces with the local Cycle Strategy; Transition Halesworth reskilling at the Library; The Bro-Dyfi Community Wind Turbine project that provided the inspiration for Transition Ipswich; wholefood co-op food pattern

Transition Suffolk - Meeting about 2010 Conference - Monday 12 July

2010-07-05T13:10:00.011+01:00

There will be a meeting of Transition groups in Suffolk to exchange information and feedback from the 2010 Transition Network conference. David Price (Greener Fram) and Jeannie and Glenn (Transition Debenham) are hosting an evening for anyone who is interested in and around East Suffolk.

There will also be a discussion about local support between Transition groups. This will be an opportunity to see how our groups can work together to spread the load, as well as find out more about the bigger picture of Transition. All welcome.

The evening will be at Jeannie and Glenn's at 7:30.

Hill Farm
Framsden
STOWMARKET
Suffolk
IP14 6HA

For further information please contact David Price Email: davidstephenprice@me.com

Glenn (Transition Debenham) and David (Greener Fram) in conference during the Big Group Process, Day 2.

Norwich: Introduction to Permaculture Gardening Workshop - 10 July

2010-07-05T12:36:00.002+01:00

Come and find out what Permaculture Gardening is all about. These informal workshops will cover the 12 Permaculture Design Principles, how to apply these in your own gardens to create edible, biodiverse and beautiful spaces, including using ponds, discovering Mulch (and why mulching matters!), companion planting, herb spirals, keyhole beds and composting. Also a session on Forest Gardening, layering and Perennial crops. and Permaculture gardeners question time!

The introductory workshop will be held at the Grow Your Own shed at Bluebell Allotments (South), from 10-4 on Saturday 10th July. Please bring something to share for lunch, hot drinks provided. £10 donation to cover costs. 10-12 participants. (Brenna Powys/Food & Farming)

To book a place please contact Mahesh Pant at sustainable@talktalk.net tel:01603 455868 www.grow-our-own.co.uk

Ipswich/Beccles: Survival Tales performances

2010-06-17T12:07:00.012+01:00

Hey everyone

This is short notice but I've been asked to secure a venue and date for a last appearance in this lady's first East Anglian tour - thankyou to residents of the Spinney for agreeing to host her! Please come to the performance next Thursday in Ipswich - it doesn't clash with anything! It's an intimate, interactive show. Circulate to your friends!

There are other performances on Wednesday night (Norwich) and Thursday afternoon (Ilketshall St Andrew) but for details of those contact Jo Chitty www.jochitty@yahoo.com

See you there, Gemma x
___________________________________

Survival Tales
a performance and workshop by Eirlys Rhiannon

Thursday 24 June 2010 7.30pm*
The Spinney, 108 Westerfield Road, Ipswich
£5 (no-one turned away for lack of funds)
Places need to be booked in advance – sayersgemma@googlemail.com

* please note no admission to the show later than 8pm

What's it all about? See information below or visit http://www.survivaltales.org.uk/

========================================

To survive in this world, we each create stories.

Our stories affect people around us, and in turn we get affected by the stories we hear and see every day.

But there’s a new – and old – challenge looming: to realise that ‘how we live’ is also ‘how we kill’.

This challenge is phenomenally frightening.

To protect ourselves, we create safe stories: ‘the scientists are lying’, ‘the government will sort it out’, ‘this product will help’.

But the challenge remains.

We need to decide how we live – but how do we make decisions? Is this version of democracy the best we can do? Who’s in charge? Can we trust any of our solutions?
Can we learn anything from history? And does anyone have a super-hero cape in my size?

How do we tell the noose and the lifebelt apart?

=========================================

Survival Tales is a series of small, intimate performance events, designed to take place in unusual venues, including living rooms, community gardens and social centres. Each event has two parts:

- a performance featuring personal stories and songs

- a short workshop about how we make our survival stories

Touring selected parts of the UK during Summer 2010. Contact us for booking details:
http://www.survivaltales.org.uk/

Produced in association with Natasha Machin and Trapese Popular Education Collective, with assistance from Artist Project Earth http://www.trapese.org/ http://www.apeuk.org/

Beccles: Community Apple Share Project 2010

2010-06-09T15:18:00.008+01:00

Early Summer is now upon us and the glorious apple blossom has all but gone. That sea of pink will miraculously develop into delicious juicy fruit and it will all happen quicker than we think, so now’s the time to plan.

Last year, as part of the Sustainable Beccles group strategy, a group of folk began a scheme to marry unwanted apples with those who were keen to get their hands on some of these versatile fruit, and they plan to run the scheme again this year. If you live in the Beccles and Bungay area and have fruit you cannot pick, a group of people can help you by arrangement with the organizers. In addition we want to encourage planting local variety apple trees and also to run an apple flavoured lunch and talk on all aspects of growing fruit trees and getting to know apples in July.

If you are interested in the scheme from any aspect please get in touch. You may have more fruit than you can use, or maybe you have difficulty picking it; you may want to offer your services to help pick fruit for others or you may want some fruit for your pies and chutneys – whatever your interest, register it now, without commitment. Let’s celebrate this very English fruit and enjoy the abundance that grows locally – we’ll save more than the money.

Contact: netta.swallow@btinternet.com or ring 01502 470135 to register an interest in picking, giving or receiving fruit.

Bungay Community Bees - Reappearance of the Bees

2010-06-03T16:53:00.002+01:00

This May it's been a busy month in Transition. Plant swaps, carbon conversations, Strangers' circles, blogs, bulletins. And yesterday afternoon, bees.

I've recently joined the Bungay Community Bees project (Britain's first bee CSA) and twenty five of us converged at Gemma's in Flixton to help build frames for the new beehives in time for the arrival of the first queen bees in June.

There really was a buzz as Elinor and Gemma reported on the progress so far. As well as getting our three hives (one of them donated), two more people are already being trained up as beekeepers and there are more and more offers of land where the bees can be kept...and of course, there's the bee blog. Meanwhile, Charlotte and Eloise are going to map out all the local wild and garden bee-loving plants and trees throughout the coming year.

Then we all got down to some serious woodwork. Luckily enough we had an experienced carpenter present - I haven't done any woodwork since school - a very long time ago - and I was not good at it!

People feel very strongly about bees. And particularly now with the loss of so many colonies here and abroad. Our neighbour Julia, who we bought the first hive from, lost hers in London. Waveney Valley beekeepers are reporting losses of about a third. And even the most experienced beekeepers say there seems to be no single, simple explanation. Keeping bees and providing organic, pesticide-free land with plants that bees love (like White Clover, pictured - pink when young and later turning white) has to be one way forward. See Sustainable Bungay's website for excellent bee links and information.

Yesterday I brought along Anise Hyssop and Mexican Hyssop for Gemma and Elinor. These are two of my favourite bee plants. I talk and fuss about them so much that Charlotte can't bear it any longer so don't tell her I'm writing about them on the blog! Anise Hyssop is also called Licorice Mint and the whole plant has an amazing smell of anis or licorice as its names suggest. The leaves make great tea. Mexican Hyssop has a more minty smell and is an ingredient in herbal medicine for the heart in Mexico. They are closely related and cross-pollinate so it's best to grow them far apart - especially as bees love them both madly and visit them with great gusto when they flower - which is over a long period in the summer. The seedheads are attractive, long-lasting and smell amazing. Enough! Enough of this encomium!

But the plant of the month must be Lemon Balm, which Andy talked about in his Deadly Resistances post. Also in the Mint family, its Latin name Melissa means honey bee. Both the smell and the tea of Lemon Balm really revive flagging spirits and cheer the heart. And bees really do love it. (Mark Watson)

Pics: Bungay Community Bees people get to grips with hives, frames and foundations, and young white clover in a bee friendly field; Anise Hyssop or Licorice Mint on either side of Mexican Evening Primrose, July

Seedling Swaps in May - Bungay, Norwich and Wivenhoe

2010-05-12T10:33:00.013+01:00

Seedling Swaps are the happening event this Spring! This Saturday (May 15) there will be tables overflowing with small salad and vegetables plants all over Transition East Anglia. Transition Wivenhoe will be flourishing at the local Farmer's Market and Transition Norwich (see poster) on show at the Norwich Playhouse bar terrace.

Writes TN's allotment holder, Jane Chittenden: "Growing more of our own food is a great way to start designing a better future. Very environmentally friendly, doesn't require fossil fuel and kind to our pockets too! So we're having a plant swap, where we’ll have seedling plants (tomatoes and other veggies plus herbs and flowers too) and we invite people to bring along their own plants to swap. If you haven't got anything to swap for our plants, a donation would be much appreciated. Do come along with your plants - organic for preference, labelled and with advice on growing tips if possible!"

Sustainable Bungay’s lively Give and Grow seedling and plant swap was held in Bungay library courtyard on May 2. SB's Mark Watson reports: "The place was transformed inside and out with a constant lively buzz as people gathered, swapped plants and talked about everything from beekeeping to heritage bean varieties - in spite of the rain and the cold. We'd all been patiently (very patiently this year) growing our seeds for allotment and garden in homemade newspaper pots, toilet rolls and even ordinary pots. The tables were laden with vibrant healthy lettuces, currants of all colours, tree saplings, cosmos, mints, aloe vera, grasses, lemon balm, foxgloves, snowdrop bulbs, wild flower seeds, seed potatoes, cucumbers, the list goes on. And you had to be pretty quick as plants swapped hands even before they got on the tables. Especially the sturdy tomatoes which several people said they'd been having difficulty growing so far."

Time to get our hands in the earth!

Seedling Swaps on Saturday 15 May: Transition Norwich Playhouse Bar terrace, St George's St. 11am - 3pm. For more info contact info@transitionnorwich.org.

Transition Wivenhoe @ Farmers' Market, 9am-12noon @ Congregational Hall. 9am-3pm. Contact Julia (826015). Bring your excess veg & herb plants to swap/donate, or take some away for a small donation!

Taking home: rocket, lettuce, chives, pot marigold, lemon balm, lovely black grass and a rowan sapling

Kings' Lynn - Talk on Waste Management - Friday 14 May

2010-05-11T15:29:00.000+01:00

A last minute cancellation in his speaker dates has meant that Prof Paul Connett, one of the world’s leading experts in waste management, is coming to Kings Lynn tomorrow (Friday 14th May) to give a talk regarding the incinerator which is planned for Kings Lynn, and Zero Waste which is a viable, sustainable alternative.

Dr. Paul Connett is a graduate of Cambridge University and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College. Since 1983 he taught chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he specialised in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology. He retired in May 2006. Over the past 25 years his research on waste management has taken him to 49 states in the US, and 52 other countries, where he has given over 2000 pro bono public presentations. Ralph Nader said of Paul Connett, “He is the only person I know who can make waste interesting.”

The talk is free and open to everyone, it is hoped that some of those councillors who are proposing and supporting the incinerator will make themselves available to attend the talk. It will be at the NORA offices 6:30pm for a 7pm start, till 9pm Friday 14th May. The NORA offices are on the South Gate roundabout. There is a small car park on site. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear an independent expert’s view of the incinerator.

Bungay Community Bees - New Spring Project

2010-04-21T13:49:00.005+01:00

Recently bees have been disappearing in their millions, affecting not only the production of native honey in every country, but most importantly, the bees' great task of pollinating the trees, fruit, vegetables and herbs that make up two-thirds of what we eat every day. In Bungay a new group has formed within Transition initiative, Sustainable Bungay, to help the threatened honey bee.

Bungay Community Bees is a Beekeeping Project which aims to manage hives in as sustainable a manner as possible. It will run as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) scheme where members own ‘shares’ in the bees, hives and harvest, taking part in the beekeeping year. This allows members to support honey bees without being ‘hands on’ - though the group plan is to fund training and hives for up to two new beekeepers each year.

“We are not a commercial venture and honey production is viewed as a bonus rather than a prime motive for bee keeping. We aim to use two or three systems over the next few years until we find one that suits us and the bees best.”

In the first year Bungay Community Bees hopes to recruit at least 20 supporters to invest in two hives (National type) and colonies, insurance for two beekeepers, basic equipment and training for two new beekeepers with the Waveney Beekeepers Group. Benefits will include visits to the hives to learn more about beekeeping, an opportunity to have a hive in your garden and most exciting of all, attending a honey harvest. The share of honey and wax will increase as the hives grow in strength and number.

Bungay Community Bees is being organised by Elinor McDowall and Gemma Parker. Both Transition beekeepers learned their art with the Waveney Valley Beekeepers and already have two hives and fifteen members signed up for the project.

“We’re hoping to acquire our first bees via the Waveney Beekeepers Group” said Elinor. “These are likely to be a mongrel mix of Italian origin and native British bees. However, in future years we would like to try some more native bees which are smaller and darker and because they are well- adapted to this climate, may be more resilient in times of change.”

In Waveney, there has been a huge increase in beekeeping interest. Last November the documentary, Vanishing of the Bees was shown to a packed audience at Geldeston Village Hall and a great cheer went up in the audience as Suffolk Beekeepers were seen marching to Parliament with their petition to help save the endangered bee.

In response gardeners everywhere are starting to growing flowers for the bees in their gardens and windowsills and local and sustainably-harvested honey has become highly-sought after. But perhaps the most effective way everyone can help starts at the table.

Colonies are made vulnerable to disease (especially the varroa mite), by the widespread use of pesticides and lack of bio-diversity in single-crop farming, as well as the the stressful nature of commercial beekeeping.

By eating fruit and vegetables grown without chemicals on organic farms or in local allotments and gardens which support a strong diversity of wild and domestic plants we will be giving pollen and nectar to one of our greatest allies on earth.

If you want to start a bee-friendly garden this summer, why not come along to Sustainable Bungay’s Give and Grow Seedling Swap on Sunday May 2 at the Bungay Library Courtyard and meet the Bungay Community Beekeepers?

If you would like to join Bungay Community Bees contact info @sustainablebungay.com. Membership is £20 per annum. The Give and Grow Seedling Swap is on May 2, Bungay Library Courtyard, 11am-2pm. For more information about the project and how CSAs work contact www.sustainablebungay.com.

Turning The Tide - performances - 6 and 11 April

2010-04-05T13:07:00.008+01:00

Climate change had a high profile this winter thanks to the Copenhagen summit and many of the carbon reduction campaigns, such as 10:10. And though the world’s governments came to few real agreements and the media has focussed on climate scepticism it’s clear, perhaps more than ever, that individuals and communities have a decisive role to play in keeping the carbon levels in the atmosphere down.

To keep the conversation about climate change going and avoid “burn out” is the intent behind the play, Turning the Tide. It’s set in a small rural community where very different characters comes to terms with changing their lives to reduce carbon emissions, from the perils of wheelie bins to arguments about wind farms. Afterwards the cast invite the audience to discuss the issues explored in the play. It’s a lively informal way for people to explore modern dilemmas that are often thought about but not always expressed or acted on. “Drama can be an effective and fun communication tool,” said Open Space Theatre Company director, Yves Green, speaking after the cast’s first performance at Wenhaston Village Hall. “Ordinary people can often be excluded.”

The play has been hosted by different Transition initiatives throughout Suffolk and is showing at Framlingham on 6 April and in the Woodbridge Library at 2pm on 11 April. It ends its month-long Suffolk tour in Bungay and if you’d like to take part as well as find out about any aspect of carbon reduction, from using one of the Library monitors to joining in with the town carbon audit, do come along.

Turning the Tide – A Carbon Fantasy in One Act by Peppy Barlow is at the Bungay Library on April 11 at 6.30pm. If you would like to reserve a place, please ring 07976 941 613 or contact .

Greener Fram: Future Visions - A World Beyond Oil

2010-03-22T11:05:00.010Z

This Saturday March 27 Greener Fram will be holding an event centered around the key Transition topic, peak oil. This event will provide an exploration of what oil depletion could mean for Framlingham and the surrounding area, and how we can respond to these changes to create a brighter future.

- For every barrel of oil we discover we now consume three
- Oil production is already falling in sixty counties
- At some point global oil production will start to fall - FOR EVER

How can our communities adapt to changes that will come about through energy depletion and climate change?
How can we secure our future food supplies when at present every calorie of food takes 10 calories of oil to produce?
A report produced recently by UK industry, with a foreword by Richard Branson, warned about The Oil Crunch - a wake up call for the UK economy.

The Speakers will include:

Simon Weeks, Cookpole Energy Action; a community wind-power project near Halesworth
http://www.energyaction.org.uk/

David Strahan is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary film-maker who specializes business and energy. He is a trustee of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, fellow of the RSA, and an honorary researcher at the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre.
http://www.davidstrahan.com/

William Kendall, Maple Farm, Kelsale; “One hundred years ago Maple Farm, along with its neighbours, would have been producing all of the fresh food that the local town and villages needed. We hope that this can be the case again.”
http://www.maplefarmkelsale.co.uk/

Tim Waygood was born and raised on Church Farm. All his family farmed when he grew up, now he's the only one. It has been a lifetime of interests and passions that have led him to start up the family farm again and to found the Agrarian Renaissance.
http://www.peopleand/

We will also have a range of stands, and local food and drink for refreshments, plus an informal opportunity for everyone to feed in their ideas and ask questions about this very important topic. Tickets: £4, £3 concs. Time: 1-6pm. Venue: Thomas Mills High School, Saxtead Road, Framlingham.

For more information contact http://www.greenerfram.org.uk/.

Norwich: Food,Inc.

2010-03-21T10:36:00.000Z

This must-see film tells an unwholesome story of big American agri-business, where working conditions, animal welfare, the livelihoods of farmers and consumers’ health are all held hostage by the drive for ever bigger profits.

The film highlights how a mere handful of companies control most of the food production business. One such company, Monsanto, has teams of detectives out scouring the countryside for farmers daring to save seed from one year to the next – or those that could be said to encourage such practice through their offer of services, like seed cleaning.

The film illustrates how ‘corn’ (maize to us) is turned into beef in the notorious feeding lot (with not a blade of grass in sight) – how corn indeed forms the basis for so many products in what seems on the surface to be an almost infinite choice in the modern American supermarket; how chickens (with echoes here of recent TV programmes by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall & Jamie Oliver) are crammed in their thousands into spaces where they can barely move around – and if they could, they’re so weighed down by grossly fattened bodies that their legs can’t carry them more than a few paces.

Don’t miss this film! Catch it at Cinema City on Monday, 29th March, 8.30 pm. Peter Melchett – Policy Director of the Soil Association and North Norfolk organic farmer – will be present at the end of the film for a Question & Answer session. The Soil Association is the official charity partner of the film.

Suggested links: http://www.foodincmovie.com/; and ‘Why Food, Inc. should make us all retch’ by Charles Clover in The Sunday Times: www.timesonline.co.uk/news.

(Sarah Gann/Transition Norwich Food Group)

REPORT: Transition Talk Training (Colchester)

2010-03-03T12:48:00.005Z

Twenty of us met at the Old Library in Colchester Town Hall for a useful day of learning how best to spread the T word. In essence it's the art of instilling in your audience the gravity of the dilemmas we all face without scaring them rigid; guiding people beyond that 'Peak Oil Moment' and giving them something solid to hold onto once Pandora's box has been opened - conjuring a good ship Transition to climb aboard and not leaving just a soggy plank to cling onto.

There was plenty of inspiration and energy in the room as folks from Bedford, Broxbourne, Colchester, Debenham, Norwich, Waldon, Wivenhoe and Woodbridge (plus Kevin all the way from Cornwall!) shared ideas and strategies. It was clear that it's not just a presentation of facts that wins peoples hearts and minds (although getting those facts right is crucial), it's the passion and conviction of a messenger speaking from their personal experience. The most infectious way of spreading the word and getting people involved is by displaying the momentum of Transition schemes in action and examples of success.

(Andy Croft/Transition Norwich http://www.transitionnorwich.org/ ).

Turning the Tide (A carbon fantasy in one act) By Peppy Barlow

2010-02-18T12:52:00.014Z

Showing at Halesworth Library on 21 March 2010 starting at 11 0’clock.

Showing at other local venues: Framlingham at St Michaels Rooms at 7:30pm on 6th April and Woodbridge Library at 2:00pm and Bungay Library at 6:30pm on 11th April.

The idea behind the project is to use drama as a novel means of communication in trying to encourage action over carbon reduction. Many people seem to feel “burnt out” following the first wave of enthusiasm as a result of doom and gloom climate change stories in the media and the play is designed to re-stimulate interest through entertainment.

The play sets out to hold a mirror up to what is happening in our society, without being preachy.
Halesworth in Transition (HinT) are preparing to form an Energy Group to explore ways of reducing our energy output.

Created with sponsorship from the East of England Development Agency. Tour funded by the Green Suffolk Fund, the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Sustainability Fund & The Adnams Charity.

The play is aimed towards children 8 upwards and their families, if you are interested please just come along.

Linda Owen

Halesworth in Transition (HinT)

Permaculture Weekend with Sustainable Bungay

2010-01-27T13:28:00.011Z

Since forming in November 2007, Transition initiative Sustainable Bungay have hosted several successful community events, including a local food conference, a give and take day, two carfree days and an energy day. In 2010 the group plans to transform Bungay library courtyard into an inviting and sustainable green space and ‘living library’ with raised beds, compost bins, wormery and rainwater harvesting.

Graham Burnett teaching

With this in mind we asked permaculture teacher and author Graham Burnett http://www.spiralseed.co.uk/ from Southend in Transition to run a weekend introduction to permaculture at the library in January. 15 of us from Bungay and other local Transition initiatives immersed ourselves in two full-on days of theory and practical group exercises.

Considering the territory

The basis of the Transition movement (founder Rob Hopkins taught permaculture for many years), this approach is about “designing sustainable human communities by following nature’s patterns”. It works with the shapes of the living world (e.g. branches, waves, the spiral of snail shells, the scattering of dandelion seeds), rather than imposing artificial straight lines and boxes on it. Key before starting our project was how to take time to observe nature’s rhythms and cycles, rather than rushing for a quick fix.

Paul talks about caring for fruit trees in his allotment-type garden

During the course we also learned how this ecological design system offers low carbon and energy saving solutions to food growing, transport, waste, the economy and community spaces.

After the weekend it was my turn to write for the Transition Norwich community blog (18-22 January), and I go into more detail about the weekend there, so do have a look.

Sustainable Bungay meets on the third and fourth Tuesday of every month at The Green Dragon, and the Bungay Library. All welcome.
To get involved with the library courtyard project, email Nick: transitionnick@gmail.com
To contact Sustainable Bungay email Sustainablebungay@gmail.com or call Josiah on 01986 897097

Pics by Josiah Meldrum (top and bottom) and Mark Watson (middle)

Calling Transition Food Groups

2010-01-14T10:59:00.007Z

The Making Local Food Work programme has taken on regional advisers to support and promote community food co-operatives, out of a belief that they build social cohesion, encourage healthier eating, raise awareness of seasonality, benefit the local economy, keep growing skills alive, bolster local resilience by opting out of the multinational supermarket hegemony...

The adviser for East of England is me - Gemma Sayers - hi! I want to see lots of new food co-ops set up! And to improve the sustainability of those that exist. My role involves finding existing food co-ops and mapping them on the Food Co-ops Finder website: http://www.foodcoops.org/
My definition of 'food co-op' encompasses small wholefood buying groups, veg box/bag schemes, veggie van deliveries, markets - anything where a community comes together in a non-profit way to meet their dietary needs.

Online mapping will hopefully make it easier for people seeking a food co-op to join, as they can stick in their postcode and a map appears with what co-ops exist nearby.

If you're in a food co-op, please go ahead and add your details to the Food Co-ops Finder website. Even if you don't want more members, please consider adding yourselves without contact details, for the map's sake! East Anglia is looking skimpy!

If you're a member of a food co-op i'd love to come see how it's run, how you're set up, so i have a chance to learn from different models, and also i can offer you specialist advice both myself and through the partners on the MLFW programme - Co-ops UK, the Soil Association...
Perhaps you want to expand your customer base, or to learn consensus decision making because those interminable meetings are driving you mad?

If you don't have a food co-op near you but you want to join one or set one up, I would like to help you!
Setting up a food co-op can be a really easy first step for communities to start taking control.

What i can offer for FREE is:

*The Food Co-ops Toolkit: www.sustainweb.org/foodcoopstoolkit/
This is a comprehensive guide to setting up and running a food co-op in all manner of forms. There is a paper version on request.
*Coming to do presentations like 'How to set up a food co-op' to your group
*Access to specialist advice on business plans, governance and legal structures, co-operative principles in practice, marketing, financial sustainability
*Training days, workshops, exchange visits to other food co-ops and mentoring
*Local food newsletters
*Colourful leaflets, posters and banners to promote your food co-op

Please do get in touch.

If you are part of or know organisations in your area dealing with local food or communities and food access, i'd love to have their contact details!

Thanks,
Gemma Sayers
East of England Food Co-ops Adviser
(Transition Ipswich)

gemma@sustainweb.org
07971863586

www.foodcoops.org
www.sustainweb.org
http://www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk/

Colchester - Transition Talk Training 9 February

2010-01-06T16:53:00.006Z

Colchester Borough Council is hosting the 1 day "Transition Talk Training" for those wishing to learn how to give an effective talk on Transition.

When - 9th February 2010, 9am – 5pm
Where – Old Library, Colchester Town Hall, High Street, CO1 1FR
The cost of the course is £50 per person
(including lunch, tea/coffee, cold drinks).

The course is aimed at people in a Transition Initiative* to help them raise awareness and inspire others.

The training will cover;

• Peak Oil
• Climate Change
• The mechanics of Transition
• The inner transition
• Skills for good and effective public talks.

By the end of the training day, you'll be armed with a solid presentation that you can adopt to your own style, a set of facts and figures to underpin your talk, an understanding of some of the deeper aspects of transition, and a new level of confidence to deliver presentations with flair, authority and maybe a bit of humour too.

*A Transition Initiative is a community working together to respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change - http://www.transitiontowns.org/.

The trainers are from the Transition Network, further details can be found on
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionTraining#TransitionTraining

To book a place please contact Sam Preston on samantha.preston@colchester.gov.uk or 01206 282707 Please note – all deposits must be received by 22nd January 2010.

Blue Saturday, Green Saturday

2009-12-07T12:00:00.009Z

Some weekends you just can’t stay at home and dig the garden. You have to go out and find your people. And sometimes those people don’t live in the community in which you have rooted yourself. Sometimes you find yourself travelling across the region because you need to know you’re not on your own. Charlotte Du Cann reports on two away weekends.

Blue: This Saturday (5 December) Sustainable Bungay travelled from East Anglia down to The Wave in London and I went with them. We had come to take part in the biggest climate march in history, bringing attention to the planetary crisis that is being discussed this week by the nations of the world at Copenhagen.

It was a big march with 50,ooo people dressed in all shades of blue: royal blue dragons, turquoise wigs, indigo-striped faces. While MPs and campaigners spoke eloquently and passionately at Speakers' Corner, thousands gathered in Grosvenor Square before moving through the great shopping and political highways of the West End towards Parliament. Placards supplied by political and religious organisations declared an end to climate chaos, poverty and capitalism, brightly coloured homemade ones (including our own) from all round the UK declared Climate Emergency, Cardiff is Ready and There is No Planet B. Along the way and as we circled the Houses of Parliament both sides of the Thames I met fellow Transitioners - from Ipswich and Norwich at Speakers' Corner, from Berkhamsted by the Houses of Parliament, from Brixton, who were carrying a banner over Westminster Bridge. At three o’clock Big Ben sounded and a great cheer went up from us all. Was anyone listening? Is this the time when ordinary people get to speak out about the 101 issues that climate change brings to light, rather than give the authorial voice to the scientists and politicians and the corporations who pay for them behind the scenes? It was a beginning. Our voices were quiet, but we were there nevertheless.

You can find a full report on the day on http://www.transitionnorwich.blogspot.com and check out the big blue pictures taken by Josiah Meldrum on flickr (http://tinyurl.com/ye2xjvv)

Green: How do we get from those fossil-fuelled buildings of our past to these solar and wind powered dwellings of the future? Last Saturday (28 November) I went to Framlingham for a day organised by Greener Fram in a local primary school. While downstairs stalls were busily demonstrating everything from cycle-powered smoothies to free insulation, upstairs in a classroom we learned about greening a listed building, buying a wind turbine for a school, the ins and outs of apple heritage, the ethics behind permaculture. In between these short talks and Transition films there was a presentation by Kate Edwards about cob building, an ancient method of building houses that needs only natural materials and the earth it is rooted in to make and the sun to warm it. I once lived in the desert in Arizona in an adobe roundhouse and know it’s the best way to live on this earth. One day I’m going to live in one again I said to myself.

If you told me a year ago I would have sat riveted listening to the finer details about insulation materials (crude oil, wood chip and sheeps wool) I would not have believed you and yet here I was. Here we all were, Transition towns from all over Suffolk – Halesworth, Saxmundham, Ipswich, Bungay, Debenham. Meeting up and exchanging our stories. Creating a network, making our presence felt, quietly, invisibly, asking questions (about the silica in solar panels), noting down statistics (£76, ooo a year to power a school). Dreaming of living one day in a cob house, built with our own hands, or, if not ourselves, forging a way in our imaginations and our hearts for those who follow in our wake.

Greener Fram: town of the future. Illustration by Jem Seeley

Transition takes to the Streets

2009-12-02T16:50:00.005Z

STOP PRESS! The notes of our Second Regional Gathering are up on the Transition East website and this blog has now gone officially regional! You can find notes on the day, plus individual reports of our open space and Transition Troubleshooting sessions on http://tinyurl.com/yl9ys3t. (see post and list below)

Meanwhile everything is hotting up (as it were) for the world's biggest Climate Action march, The Wave in London next Saturday. Coaches from all over the region are heading down to the city, and initatives from all over East Anglia are on board waving banners and wearing blue!

On Saturday 21 as part of the build up to Copenhagen, Transition Norwich and Sustainable Bungay took part of a lively and colourful demonstration and rally in the central streets of Norwich. Christine Way, core member of TN reports: "On Saturday 21st November several transitioners gathered in Chapelfield Gardens to join the biggest ever Norwich Climate March while Tom (Harper) set up the TN stall on Millennium Plain ready for the Climate Emergency rally. There was a buzz in the air as the organisers and police negotiated the route which had already been agreed. At last the Samba Band with its drums and colourful dancers started and we were on the move, but not for long as the traffic ahead of us came to a standstill on St Stephen’s Street. This gave us lots more time to hand out leaflets and get the message across to the fascinated shoppers that climate change is real and we need to act now. The Transition Norwich banner was up there near the front and was clearly visible on the TV News bulletins that went out over the weekend.

Then hundreds of people gathered outside the Forum for the Climate Emergency Rally where speakers including Dr Ian Gibson warned of the dangers of runaway climate change and of this being the “biggest issue of our time”. County Councillor Andrew Boswell said: "Gordon Brown should declare a National Climate Emergency and tell it like it is” and our very own Tully and Kate spoke about some of the solutions and all the positive things that are already happening in Transition Norwich and Bungay."

Meanwhile Maria Price and Mark Crutchley from Transition Norwich (Buildings and Energy) and Kate Jackson of Sustainable Bungay were interviewed by the Politics Show (East). TN were filmed conducting a light audit in various city centre shops, whilst Kate was hard at work on her allotment! The report is scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday 6th December in a programme on Climate Change which will also include an interview with Professor Kevin Anderson, head of the Tyndall Centre at UEA.

Watch this space for reports on The Wave and all other news and reviews of the region (including a report from last Sat's Greener Fram event!)

Notes from the Gathering

2009-12-02T13:46:00.012Z

Over the last week the Transition East Support Group have been compiling notes taken at our Second Regional Gathering in Diss on November 14. They have just been uploaded onto the Transition East website if you would like to have a closer look.

There is still work to do and we're missing notes from a couple of the sessions and don't yet have the transcripts of the Transition Troubleshooting post-it notes. Over the next week or so, as well as adding these missing sessions and notes, pictures and a more complete introduction will be up-loaded.

To whet your appetite the titles of the sessions are listed below!

Meanwhile news of our activities has gone nationwide. On Nov 17 a glowing report of the regional document was posted by Rob Hopkins on his Transition Culture blog entitled A Brilliant Look at What’s Rising in the East of England (that’s all 29 of us!).

Open Space sessions

Transition East Talks: attract speakers from outside a specific Transition Town, to give Transition a wider appeal. (John Webb - Letchworth)
Making the Most of Food: exploring initiatives similar to the Fife diet, raising awareness about where our food comes from; supermarket waste; schools initiatives; Abundance schemes, foraging (James Lockley and Pippa Vine - Diss and Cambridge)
Complexity of insulation schemes: this was about making sense of the bureaucracy surrounding lots of well-meaning council initiatives. (Glenn - Debenham)
Moving from core group to community involvement: what actions need to be taken? (David Greenacre - Framlingham)
Making the most of renewable energy (John Taylor – Ipswich)
Converting talk into action (Nick Watts - Bungay) notes in
Scope of Transition groups (James Thomas – Cambridge)
How many people are enough? (Carol Hunter – Downham Market and Villages)
On-line Communications (Gary Alexander- Diss)
How best to tell the story of Transition thorugh the present media/culture (Charlotte Du Cann– Norwich)

Transition Troubleshooting
Run by the Transition East Support Group

Burn out and fall out (Nigel McKean - Woodbridge)
Group Dynamics (Gary Alexander - Diss)
Facing Difficult Lifestyle Challenges (Mark Watson – Norwich/Bungay)
Engaging with Local Councils (Jane Chittenden – Norwich)
Communications between groups and the media (Charlotte Du Cann – Norwich/Bungay)

Gathering the Gathering

2009-11-21T10:48:00.013Z

One of the key observations made in our First Regional Document was from Shane Hughes of Transition Bedford. How to value and assess our achievements? was a question he felt that Transition groups needed to ask. The core group there were designing a series of events so that each one could build on what had gone before. We're hoping to do this with last week's Gathering.

During this week the Regional Support team have been putting together all the notes from the Open Space and Transition Troubleshooting sections and next week we'll make them available on the Transition East website.

You 'll be able to find out what was discussed, debated, decided at Making the Most of Food, How Many People are Enough? Converting Talk into Action, and How Best to Tell the Story of Transition through the Present Media and Culture? and a host of other intriguing subjects . . . we'll keep you posted!

Transition East Gathering - First Report

2009-11-16T16:44:00.028Z

We had a great day. In spite of the torrential weather 55 people from 18 different initatives travelled from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex and converged in Diss. Here we are (most of us anyway) just at the end of our plenary in which we summed up the events and the conversations we had enjoyed together.

In the morning we mapped ourselves in time and space. We said outloud where we were 1) along a time line according to when and how our initiatives began and 2) where we were within the Eastern Region and what our plans were for the future. We then had an Open Space session, conducted by Rachel from Downham Market, with twelve different subjects from Insulation to Abundance schemes to Communication with the Media.

Lunch was terrific, great dishes accompanied with home-baked bread from Diss and the Downham Loaf, local cheese, vegetable soups, apple pies, quinoa salad, spiced chick peas, curried potatoes . . .

Afterwards back in the great circle we had keynote speakers giving the highlights from their respective initiatives: Cambridge's packed event programme, Norwich's Transport Group and original Transition Circles, Downham Market's great Food fir the Future Day with 400 visitors, Ipswich's massed bike ride for the International Day of Climate Action.

The main slot of the day was Transition Troubleshooting in which we posted our troubles on the wall and set about finding ways of dealing with them in five different groups led by the Transition East Support Team. These included Group Dynamics, Communication (inter-group and media), Facing Profound Lifestyle Changes, Burn-Out and Fall-Out and Dealing with Officialdom. This was a new creative move within the Transition process that rippled across country to Totnes (see Rob Hopkin's post on http://www.transitionculture.org/ today).

Meanwhile we'll be adding more details here about the day during the week . . . stay tuned!

photo by Robert Stanford (Bassingbourn Transition Village)

Transition Troubleshooting

2009-11-15T12:53:00.005Z

The Troubles We Have to Shoot
There comes a point when you realise - Transition is hard work. The Handbook makes it sound like a breeze. Doors are supposed to be open when they are shut. You’re supposed to be positive and you feel downhearted. People are telling you the movement is too radical, not radical enough, not inclusive, too middle class. Your inbox has 101 emails. The press don’t return your calls. You NEVER want to put on an event again. Nobody turned up to the screening. Your family doesn’t want to hear one more thing about Local Food or Peak Oil (even your cat has turned against you – so what happened to all those nice radiators that used to be on, huh?)

Somehow however you know that you can’t just give Transition up. Peak oil and climate change are not going to go away, whether you are part of the movement or not, and nothing out there quite captures the zeitgeist and makes such sense as Transition culture. Tell me , you say to yourself, What are you planning to do with your one wild and precious life? Before you know it you are heading off to another core/communications/transport/food meeting.

This document came out of one such meeting and one such moment when the Transition East Support Group met in Norwich just as autumn arrived, and I was beginning to think resilience was a modern version of the stiff upper lip. It started when Josiah admitted as we began our shared meal that his dish of perfectly gleaned beefsteak fungus was in fact quite inedible and we didn’t have to be polite about it. We all roared with laughter. Afterwards we sat in a circle and went round introducing urselves as is customary in our meetings, saying how Transition was going in our respective initiatives. Nigel from Woodbridge spoke first. "I would say it had a negative effect,” he reported calmly.

Several small gasps were unleashed into the room. Negative? We’re supposed to be positive, aren’t we? Part of this uplifting, fantastic, power-of-now, power-of-community Great Reskilling of Humanity, aren’t we? Before we knew it everyone was admitting that things weren’t going quite as smoothly as the Handbook suggested they might be. None of us wanted to indulge or offload the bad news (most of us having joined Transition as a welcome relief from the doom-laden anti-everything activist stance taken by most environmental groups). However we didn’t want to do a jolly Transition marketing spin on our experiences either.

One of the key facts about Transition is that we have to face the very real realities of the triple crunch and the radical changes these will effect in our lives. Not just in the way we go shopping but in the way we think and feel and perceive the world. Another fact is that we can’t do this on our own. We can’t go forward unless we learn how to work and communicate as a group. And those groups are tricky things to negotiate. By its very nature Transition is a process (“A verb not a noun,” said Nigel), and even though we would like it to be plain sailing, sometimes you have to weather the storm and go through stuff.

Shortly after our meeting Josiah sent round Rob Hopkins’ post on Transition Culture from September 22. It was from the initiative in Oxford that had stalled. All of us recognised the situations that were recorded so frankly. It seemed like we had simultaneously reached a turning point. We had come so far and now we had to start inventing ways of dealing with our common difficulties. Transition Troubleshooting was born.

Transition Troubleshooting aims to take the form of a freestyle workshop that can address any issues people would like to look at: Head issues, Heart issues and Hands issues (practical things like funding, publicity, how to run events, running a community allotment, a community blog etc). It’s a chance to share our experiences and give each other a hand and voice things out loud that might not get said otherwise. In preparing for the Gathering many initiatives shared their difficulties that ranged from unhelpful and antagonistic Town and Parish Councils to lack of success with publicity and events.

Some of these were practical questions which we could help each other with:

๏ how to find funding, what are its advantages and disadvantages?
๏ who to ask about public liability insurance, entertainment licences etc.?
๏ what kind of official status (charity, public company) works best for Transition?
๏ What is the most effective way we can publicise through the media?
๏ What is the best way to deal with officialdom?

Other difficulties are the kinds of things that are easy to admit to oneself but hard to articulate with people you don’t know that well. Transition challenges the status quo and old ways of doing things. We have to work co-operatively and we’re used to running things our way as individuals. Control and power issues often arise within groups. It might be rosy at the beginning but then the storm hits the rigging. Sometimes people use Transition as a way to further outside agendas or to tick boxes. This can create unrest (not of the blessed kind) and sometimes tips the boat rather than the point.

Of all the difficulties spoken by far the greatest number were those that occurred within the core and theme groups: people losing interest, walking off in a huff, groups dissolving, initiatives stalling. (“You are not on your own” was a line I found myself repeating several times in the course of speaking to everyone involved). What helps is that we create real working relationships with one another and that our meetings are warm and friendly. It’s not easy to know how to speak to people you don’t live or work or have lifetime experiences in common with. Meeting in people’s houses and sharing food often encourages this, rather than draughty church halls or noisy public places. It is an art to create the kind of flexible communication that is neither too stiff and committee-like - which inhibits free speech and creativity, nor too relaxed and social - which results in nothing being discussed in a structured way or at any depth.

Here are some of the difficulties mentioned during the in-depth phone conversations I had with the people in Transition East initiatives and that we might be able to look at and address on November 14:-

Individual Effects of Transition
๏ Overwork (40 hours regular work, plus Transition work) – balancing two worlds at once, whilst bringing another world into being
๏ Feeling on one’s own as core organiser
๏ Pressures for time and work (especially when everyone in the core group is in fulltime work and with children)
๏ Exhaustion
๏ Feeling you haven’t achieved anything
๏ Overload of negative feelings to deal with after meetings
๏ So easy to get dispirited and say sod it
๏ Zero energy return on energy invested
๏ Struggling with time and money

Working in Groups
๏ Too few active members, too little willingness in planning stage, people limited to helping or attending events (once organized) and making comments
๏ Restricted to a small group of doers within initiative
๏ Working with enthusiastic volunteers without necessary expertise, leading to bull-in-a-china shop situations
๏ trying to get people involved and engaged at any level, having to persuade to do
๏ Lack of steering group
๏ Lack of people to commit to anything
๏ Lack of warmth in human relationships in meetings; lack of fellow feeling.
๏ Shooting off with mega-projects to rule the world and not having enough volunteers
๏ Fall out within groups - people participating and drifting away, booms and busts of energy
๏ Slowness and reluctance of group to engage in projects and events, leading to frustration
๏ Steering group in-fighting, not dealing with the conflict
๏ Storming within some groups, leading to fall out (especially within Heart and Soul)
๏ Not enough awareness within core group about what we are doing and need to do, that Transition is a process, something we are doing, not just a label we can stick on ourselves (i.e. Transition Town)
๏ Resistance to visioning and other Transition techniques to do with inner work
๏ Lack of realisation of the profound changes we are going to experience
๏ Danger of dwindling (numbers in group), theme groups dwindling
๏ Unsure how to proceed with new people once the groups are up and running (not same energy as when at their initiating creative stage)
๏ Different levels of understanding about the process of Transition within the core group, some of whom are sceptical and concerned that Transition is too radical and will put people off.
๏ Not seeing how to evolve, not having the energy to evolve
๏ Not enjoying meetings at all
๏ Talking too much and no action
๏ Too much fixed and conventional thinking in group, affiliations with outside institutions (church, university, councils etc) leading to people pushing their own agendas, often unconsciously
๏ Tendency to rush analysis which could derail the whole thing

Places
๏ Towns without any grassroots infrastructure

Events
๏ Difficulty with events without proper booking system or team (one person running around all the time) and being dependent on people turning up
๏ No way of properly measuring and valuing the activities (beyond our own sense of personal integrity and purpose)
๏ Not sufficient people working for events, key people working too hard
๏ Exhaustion, too many events at once

Working with local government
๏ Old School Town Council – negative, badly-disposed towards anything environmental. Fall out suffered in group after clashes with council, leading to loss of confidence and depression.
๏ Parish Councils too parochial (!), lacking in leadership, not structured for social enterprise, antagonistic regarding publicity
๏ Struggle to find suitable official status e.g. charity. company etc.

Working with Public
๏ Conflict of interest when working with local business and Transition (wanting to encourage business outside of town)
๏ Initial interest not maintained after event (example of planting a community woodland with 150 people turning up, but only 6 people afterwards continued to manage the wood)
๏ Apathy within village
๏ Low response from public in spite of publicity, leading to loss of enthusiasm and common Transition feeling of zero return on energy invested
๏ Lack of engaged relationship with public
๏ Climate change deniers and the Daily Telegraph (!)
๏ Not good at catching people’s energy at events and capitalising on them
๏ Not seeming to make any impression
๏ Getting people involved

Publicity and Communications
๏ Lack of press attention beyond notices and reports of events. “They don’t tell the story.”
๏ Unsympathetic press. Cognitive dissonance “They just don’t get peak oil” and see us as an environmental green fringe group
๏ Being dismissed as “tree huggers”
๏ Organisation of publicity
๏ Information overload and too many emails, leading to difficulties in group
๏ Lack of awareness in on-line forum discussions, leading to negative feedback
and misunderstandings
๏ Anti-tech bias within Transition
๏ Swamped by emails

Text and Research: Charlotte Du Cann

For full report of the Transition East Regional Gathering including the Troubleshooting sessions visit http://tinyurl.com/yl9ys3t on the Transition East website.

Transition East Gathering - 14 November

2009-11-14T14:55:00.001Z

Welcome to to our Second Transition East Gathering and to our new blog, transitioncircleeast, which brings together all the 28 initiatives in the region for an informal exchange of Transition ideas and experiences throughout Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

Today some of us are are coming together in the market town of Diss to explore our connections and future collaborations, to find ways we can best work together in Transition - share in our successes, grapple with our issues and identify people who can provide specialist support and expertise. The day's programme includes mapping, open space, Transition Troubleshooting and of course lunch.

Here is an round-up all the intiatives below. Many thanks to all those who contributed for today and for the future.

See you there!

Full details about the day can be found on our website http://www.transitioneast.net/. or contact Gary Alexander garyalex@earthconnected.net or tel 07766 711999.

Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire

2009-11-14T12:53:00.011Z

Village: pop. 4000
Timeline: Started Autumn ‘08

Bassingbourn Transition Village have a core group of 12-15 people who meet on a monthly basis. They work within four main areas – Food, Water and Biodiversity, Social and Awareness, Transport and Travel (including safer routes to schools) and Energy and Homes. They have working parties around these themes which have just begun to develop beyond the core group.

BTV evolved from the 2008 Parish Plan and as a result has good working relationships with both the parish council and the local community centre. Their screening of The Age of Stupid was a sell-out and their first Harvest Market (in partnership with the parish church) with 23 stalls selling village produce from food to paintings, is now set to run quarterly.

At present the Energy and Homes group are working towards to becoming local energy advisors, gathering information and setting up an insulation project and home energy audits with the county council, as well as working with the local Primary School who have just installed a wind-turbine. The Food group has spent the last 18 months setting up a CSA with the local council and a local farmer and the Transport group meanwhile is working on an engineering plan to create a cycling and pedestrian route to nearby Royston.

BTV also runs very lively on-line communications pages and their plans for the future include car-share, a commuter bus, a vegetable and food growing club, a seed exchange and a series of films at the village hall.

Bassingbourn Transition Village's shopping bag, made as part of their plastic-bag free village campaign

Main Website: http://bassingbourntransitionvillage.ning.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BassingbournTV
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/BTVFacebook
Parish Web Site: http://tinyurl.com/BTVParish
Contact Person:
Simon Saggers
Tel: (01763) 243 960
Email: simon.saggers@gmail.com

Beccles, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:51:00.002Z

Market town: pop. 10,000
Timeline: Started November ‘08

Inspired by Sustainable Bungay’s Growing Local Food Conference, Sustainable Beccles began last November. Originally the group was supported by members of a local church who had a strong interest in the environmental and community aspects of Transition, and their first event was a successful screening of Power of Community. The initiative stalled when numbers dropped and there was a lack of commitment to move projects forward.

However a renaissance occurred when a working party began the Apple Share project in the summer. This is a scheme to collect unwanted apples from gardens and neglected orchards to redistribute back into the community and make into apple juice. The scheme was inspired by the many urban gleaning and scrumping projects that have recently sprung up all over the country, from Shef f ield (http://www.growshefield.org/) to Walthamstow http://www.growingcommunities.org/). On October 10 SB had a stall in the High Street identifying and giving away many different varieties of apples, apple recipes and freshlypressed apple juice. Next year they hope to team up with neighbouring Sustainable Bungay to map and document the fruit trees of the surrounding district. Another high profile event SB organised was a well-being day on October 31 when Neil Chadbourn (of Transition Town Totnes, responsible for the planting of the TT well-being garden) came to talk about the relationship between Transition and the health service in the future.

Beccles are now waiting for other members to join the steering group who will take SB forward. (“We would become official provided we can maintain sufficient interest.”) Meanwhile another working party is neogtiating with the Town Council to renovate an old school playground another working party is negotiating with the Town Council to renovate an old school playground and turn it into a community orchard and educational centre.

Poster for Apple Share Day, October 10 '09

Website: www.transitioneast.net/
groups/sustainable-beccles
Contact Person:
Netta Swallow
Tel: (01502) 470 135
Email: swallownetta@btinternet.com

Bedford/Castle ward

2009-11-14T12:49:00.002Z

County town/electoral ward: pop. 140,000/5000
Timeline: Zero Carbon Castle started June ‘07,
Unleashed April ‘09, Seeded Transition Bedford June ‘09.

Castle is an urban village within the town of Bedford and was already engaged in low-carbon community activities before becoming a Transition initiative. Zero Carbon Castle began on a similar time-line to Transition Town Totnes. Unusually they unleashed before becoming official (still to do so) by holding a Street Fair in the high street with stalls, a cycling event and children’s competitions (with Mr Zero). Their other very successful events have been a Garden Give Away with 30-40 gardens actively exchanging plants and produce in the neighbourhood, all-day clinics on energy, transport and waste, and several film showings. They have four very clearly defined food-growing areas within the neighbourhood - a herb-planted roundabout, a corporate space behind a restaurant, an allotment in a Christian Society and a guerrilla garden - and many of their present activities are based around the growing cycle in these gardens. Their recent Food Day at the roundabout attracted about 100 people with workshops and harvesting of herbs.

In June the ZCC Core group (about 6-7 people) moved to seed Bedford the town. Unusually for an Eastern town Bedford started within a neighbourhood first (Norwich, Ipswich and
Cambridge for example started as a hub and now are beginning to branch out into the suburbs and hinterlands). “We’re in the next phase, “ said organiser Shane Hughes. “Asking ourselves
how can we replicate and support both these groups? How can these two groups work together and evolve?”

After a successful and well-attended open meeting, Transition Bedford has grown quiet and reflective. It’s a certain stage of evolution many initiatives are experiencing at the moment. High activity followed by a period of dormancy (“Four months meditating in a corner,” laughs Hughes). The present Bedford core group is larger than ZCC (about 12-14) and has pro-actively
sought people with the right skills and knowledge base, so that all areas are covered, such as media, politics, well-being etc. They are therefore now at a planning stage and developing a
series of events in 12-13 segments, designed so each one will build on the success of the previous one with a follow-up mechanism afterwards (something Transition events tend not to
do). They have deliberately fended off the attractions of funding in favour of constructing a base with strong working partnerships, in order to find “creative ways of taking people over the threshold”.

Herb gathering day at the ZCC's roundabout gardens, Sept '09

Website: http://www.zerocarboncastle.org/
and http://www.transitionbedford.org/

Contact Person: Shane Hughes
Tel: 0207 193 5242
Email: shanehughes@lycos.com

Bungay, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:47:00.007Z

Market town: pop. 4500
Timeline: Started November ‘07, became official June ’08,
unleashed May 09.

Sustainable Bungay was formed at the end of a Climate Change conference organised by the local Emmanuel Church. At the beginning the group were primarily engaged in discussing local environmental issues and the way forward before they became an official Transition initiative. One of the original group had met Rob Hopkins at a Soil Association conference and was keen to use the Transition structure. The core group then shifted its focus and began to hold stalls at local events, talk with local groups in the town (Rotary Club, Royal British Legion, Horticultural society) and to neighbouring towns, giving advice on local food and starting up initiatives (Beccles, Diss, Halesworth, Framlingham and Woodbridge). They also held a series of Peak Oil films during the summer at the local Fisher Theatre.

Bungay’s most successful events have been their Growing Local Food conference, A Give and Take Day in the Community Hall and a Carfree Day, as part of World Carfree day (Sept 22) in which local schools participated. At their Unleashing in May they invited Shaun Chamberlin to talk about his recently released book, Transition Timeline, and invited everyone at the celebration to join in with creating the Bungay Timeline for the next 20 years. Recently they have held an Energy Day at the local library (where they have a shelf for books on low-carbon living, climate change and peak oil) and presented their Carbon Audit, using the ReapPetite carbon calculator, which they plan to distribute to 400 households in different neighbourhoods in the town.

At present Sustainable Bungay has a core group of about 10-15 people, a mailing list of 100 and working parties engaged in setting up a solar panel buying club, a car share, a pig club, land share and community-supported beehives. The core group comes together twice a month, officially for a core group meeting and unofficially for Green Drinks at the Green Dragon pub. They also produce a quarterly newsletter which is distributed throughout the town and to their mailing list as a PDF, and have made positive links with the local press and enjoyed interviews on Radio Suffolk and the Politics Show on BBC1.

Their main focus in the coming year is the creating of a permaculture garden and Living Library in the local Library courtyard. Like other initiatives in East Anglia they are running a Permaculture course (taught by Graham Burnett of Transition Westcliff) which will take place this January.

2010
After our initial permaculture course, the Library Community Garden was constructed, planted up and formally opened in September. The big news in 2010 was the extraordinary success of the Bungay Community Bees, the first Community Supported Apiculture in the UK, which attracted wide press attention as well as 35 members and six hives. The group also ran a second Give and Take Day, an Apple Day, gave a talk on economics, took part in Transition Suffolk, the Big Climate Connection and a local Cycle Strategy, procured a bio-diesel still, began a reskilling sewing sessions and a themed Green Drinks with speakers and enjoyed desseminating all Transition news on their new website and blog. Next year the food and farming group plan to start an Abundance of Fruit project and work with the local Black Dog Arts to create a Harvest Festival.

Website:http://www.sustainablebungay.com/
Contact Person: Josiah Meldrum
Tel: (01986) 897 097
Email: info@sustainablebungay.com
Twitter: Sbungay

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

2009-11-14T12:46:00.016Z

City: pop. 120,000
Timeline: Started February ’07,
became official July 08

Transition Cambridge is one of the Eastern region’s longest running initiatives and so far has successfully run more than 40 events. Helped by being in a thriving university town with a tradition of green and grassroots activities, TC has a particularly strong food group which works closely with the Trumpington Allotment Society. They have a core group, several active theme groups and a mailing list of 1,100 people.

The Transition Café is held fortnightly at a community café. TC also has an action-packed website and runs a concise weekly bulletin, keeping everyone in touch with what is happening. Their most successful events have included a participation with the Environment Festival in June in which they organised events most days, including workshops on wild food, education and psychology, a plant swap, The World Needs Your Passion and local and global food. They have also run two Storytelling events, two Open Space sessions, a Grow Your Own course and several film screenings (their Power of Community screening sold out, helped by distributing 150 posters through the town “we could probably have sold the tickets twice over,” reports core member Anna McIvor).

In spite of this high activity the group is keen to evolve and is aware of many of the difficulties faced by a movement that is itself in Transition: how to keep momentum and not suffer from
burn-out; how to proceed with new people once the theme groups are up and running (not same energy as when at their initiating creative stage); how to capitalise on the events. These
are all questions now being asked.

TC are presently forming a new training group for that will include Non-Violent Communication and group facilitation, “because it’s about working well in groups as much as it is about being in Transition.”

Recently the area of Cherry Hinton has become a Transition initiative and in the future TC see themselves developing into a communication and co-ordination hub with smaller neighbourhoods and villages in Transition working on a more local level, and facilitating their unleashing.

Future house from Transition Tales and Visions, April 25 '09

Website:
www.transitioncambridge.org
Contact Person:
Anna McIvor
Email:
transitioncambridge@gmail.com

Colchester, Essex

2009-11-14T12:45:00.003Z

County town: pop. 155,000
Timeline: Started October ’09.

Transition Colchester (TC) continues on its transition journey working alongside its neighbouring initiatives, Transition Wivenhoe, Stour Valley and Nayland. Its core group normally meets monthly at the Quaker Meeting House, Church St, Colchester. Early in 2010 two of the group attended a Transition Training event sponsored by Colchester BC and met with fellow Transitioners from across the region. In April one of the group went to Cuba to see firsthand the organoponicos (urban market gardens). This informed a public showing of the film Power of the Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil in June. Over the summer two of the group attended a permaculture course at the Apricot Centre

The group recognizes that Colchester already has a fair number of green-minded groups and not wishing to dilute others’ energies sees TTC developing a role in facilitating effective communication and interaction between these groups, for example, Walk Colchester .To this end TTC is currently working up a directory of Transition focused groups/organizations in Colchester.

Contact Person:
Robert Parkes
Email:
info@transitioncolchester.org.uk
Website: transitioncolchester.org.uk

Photo: Transition Talk Training at Colchester February 2010

Dereham, Norfolk

2009-11-14T12:44:00.002Z

Market town: pop. 18,000
Timeline: Started in May ’08.

Matt Walker began promoting the Transition idea around Dereham with a blog and the first of several letters to the local newspaper about Peak Oil. TD has shown The End of Suburbia twice locally: first in the town in May 09 and later to a gathering of young adults near Mattishall in July. But despite some interest a core group has yet to form.

Each Transition initiative is helped or hindered by the place in which it arises. Dereham lacks the kind of social infrastructure that makes it easy for Transition to spark off. Everywhere has its challenges. However Transition is based on a market town with a tradition of alternative and future ways of thinking and strong connections with its hinterland. Dereham, though it is a market town, has few of these links outside the town’s Green Party.

In October 08 Matt created both the regional map and the Transition East GoogleGroup, which he continues to maintain. This was one of the early elements in the development of the Transition East regional network. If anyone would like help in any way to keep the regional map updated please get in touch.

Website: http://www.transitiondereham.org.uk/
Contact Person:
Matt Walker
Tel: 07720 142 047
Email: transitiondereham@googlemail.com

Diss, Norfolk

2009-11-14T12:42:00.001Z

Market town: pop. 7000
Timeline: Started June ’08, became official April '09

Transition Diss has a core group that meets every few weeks
(originally the core group was closed but has recently opened).
They have had one main event, a Knit-In, held outside the
just-closed Woolworths store in town. They have also had stands
at the Farmer’s Market and local environmental events such as
the Greenpeace Fair and the Zero Carbon Fair in Norwich, given
talks to local initiatives, Slow Food (Diss is a Citta Slow)
and the Community Partnership and hosted an evening of Future
of Food talks. Diss is also home and operations centre for the
Transition East web portal and support group.

Transition Diss arose out of an existing community group. This
has had both advantages and disadvantages. Stable and
sustainable emotional relationships between people are quite
rare in Transition (due to its relative newness) but they do not
always foster the boldness and drive required to move initiatives
forward. Gary Alexander says Transition is like building a fire
with wood that is not quite dry. After an initial burst the flames
die away. You add kindling, it catches somewhere and people say
I want to be part of that. Then it dies down again. We are past
those early stages and it is now the time to blow on the flames to
the point that the fire takes off on its own. When it reaches
critical mass and people get it and it takes off.

Website: www.transitioneast.net/
groups/transition-diss
Contact Person: Gary Alexander
Email: garyalex@earthconnected.net

Downham Market and Villages

2009-11-14T12:41:00.003Z

Market town and surrounding villages: pop. 10,000
Timeline: Started October ’08

Downham Market and Villages in Transition was the first place to host the Transition East Gathering (March 7 '09) in which many initiatives got to experience the Transition technologies of Open Space and World Café for the first time, as well as meet fellow Transitioners from outside their own core groups. TD have put on a series of films (Crude Awakening, Power of Community, The 11th hour) and threw a highly successful party in conjunction with a screening of The Age of Stupid (two core members are part of a great band, The John Preston Tribute Band) to which 150 people came. They have held stalls at various fetes, offering debates and information and collecting ideas.

In August the core group put aside one whole day to reflect, digest and reconnect, in which they engaged with what being in a Transition group entails without any business-of-the-day. This was a crucial step: “It’s quite hard for that space to exist,” said John one of the movers and shakers of the group. Carol expanded: “It became clear that we need to make time to meet together without goal-orienated agendas or our capacity to reflect on the deeper currents of our activity and motivation would be in danger of becoming swamped by the planning and administrative mind."

TD’s recent Our Food, Our Future conference on October 31 received funding (£2,500) from local councils and businesses which allowed them to invite Bob Flowerdew as one of their speakers, pay for half the public liability insurance, buy a projector and other events costs which can sometimes be beyond the scope of many initiatives. They plan to tour the food event in all the surrounding villages. They are presently running a Copenhagen month leading up to the Climate talks in December and actively engaged in the local campaign for allotment provision in the only town in Norfolk without any allotments.

Transition Norfolk meeting on "The Stoneleigh Effect" 2010, organised by Downham Market and Villages in Transition

Website: http://www.transitiondownhamandvillages.co.uk/
Contact Person:
Carol Hunter
Tel: (01366) 502 106
Email: carolhunter135@hotmail.com

Ely, Cambridgeshire

2009-11-14T12:41:00.000Z

City: pop. 15,000
Timeline: Started June '08, became official October '08

Transition Ely “started from scratch” in a city that traditionally
has little grassroots activity apart from the Green Party. They
have interacted with the city using “the gradual coaxing
approach”, talking with groups such as the Rotary Club and the
Ely Society, and taking an active part in local events such as
Apple Day (where one of the core group, a yurt builder, erected a
yurt and held workshops). TE now enjoy a friendly relationship
with the Farmer’s Market and have hosted The Age of Stupid
and The Power of Community in their local cinema.

Last month TE held a successful Local Food Conference with
speakers Ben Reynolds from Sustain and local farmer, Ken
Kelso. It was opened by the deputy mayor and local MP James Paice,
the Shadow Sectretary for Agriculture. Core to the event was an
open space where the participants talked about what was needed
in the area, and in the future the group plan to launch several
food projects on the back of this event. They would also like to
strengthen their core group and build up their contacts.

Website: transitionely.wordpress.com
Contact Person:
Martin Black
Email:
info@transitionely.wordpress.com

Framlingham, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:39:00.005Z

Market town and surrounding villages: pop. 2700/7500
Timeline: Started June ’08, official October ‘08.

Greener Fram was already up and running as a group before it
decided to adopt the Transition structure. Like Sustainable
Bungay, GF were inspired by the Climate Change conference in
Bungay in 2007. They have a core group of 12 people (four of
whom have done the Transition training) and strong affiliations
with local food networks. Says organiser David Price: “In this
shift into becoming a Transition initiative, Greener Fram are
very keen to identify our objectives and move forward, what they
are and how to achieve them.”

So far GF have put on a series of events: a screening of Power of
Community and talks on Local Food and Transition and Car
Clubs (by local car-share initiative Wombat) and taken a stall to
local events. They are presently engaged in a solar-panel bulk
buy and free insulation project, funded by Suffolk Coastal
Council and organising a Greener Saturday, showing the
Story of Stuff, Inside Out and In Transition on 28 November.

In the future Greener Fram are planning a second series of films
including End of Suburbia and a second showing of Power of
Community. They are also setting up a talk for next March with
David Strahan, leading peak oil expert and author of The Last
Oil Shock.

2010

The high point of the past year was Greener Fram being presented with two Greenest County Awards one for Communications and the other for our ‘Events and activities’. We have endeavoured to improve our communications this year by upgrading our website, writing regular Framfare articles (local monthly mag) and making new links with our Town council, County council groups and the surrounding villages, establishing Greener Fram as a transition group and giving talks in school assemblies and village meetings.

Apart from successful events we have also this year organised two DIY insulation schemes in partnership with SCDC and completed a Solar hot water panel bulk buy. Over the last few months we have started a food group and instigated a Community gardening project in partnership with Framlingham College. Many of our later events have been in cooperation with other organisations. We have had training on permaculture and transition towns.

The core group, which have organised and promoted the events and activities, started the year as twelve is now down to seven. We now urgently need new people to join the core group, to bring new ideas and to share the exciting times ahead.

Website: www.greenerfram.org.uk
Contact Person: David Greenacre
Email greenerfram@btinternet.com or info@greenerfram.co.uk

Gipping Valley, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:38:00.001Z

Bio-region, including Needham Market: pop. 8,045
Timeline: Started ‘09

Transition Gipping Valley are based in Needham Market and
have so far run several Give and Take events in the village hall,
including a plant swap and a Swishing Party. TGV are presently
working with the local allotments and also on a leaflet they plan
to distribute to households (publicity and connections with local
government so far has been thwarted by a resistant Parish
Council). Even though there is both a light and dark green
presence in the Valley, the initiative has yet to get into gear and
would welcome anyone who would like to join.

Contact Person:
Lisa Linsdell
Tel: (01499) 720 061
Email: lisa.linsdell@btconnect.com

Hadleigh, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:37:00.001Z

Village: pop. 8,150
Timeline: Started June ‘09

Hadleigh have held two environmental screenings at the village hall: An Inconvenient Truth and The Age of Stupid. After the second, Jane Haylock asked if anyone was interested in taking Transition forward and Transition Hadleigh was seeded. Although very much at its early stages (they plan to have a first open meeting in early 2010), there are many elements that would make an initiative take root and flourish in the village. The Chamber of Commerce has begun a food initiative that has included farm visits and a talk on 1940’s food (looking at the effects of rationing and home-growing). The medieval Town Hall has just had a carbon footprint survey and the council have just started up an allotment association and intend to apply for grants for a meeting hut and compost toilet that will enable people to come together and share seed orders etc. There is a growing groundswell of interest, reports Jane, and she hopes the initative will take off next year.

Contact Person:
June Haylock
Tel: (01473) 827 752
Email:
jane@theidlerplus.com

Halesworth, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:33:00.004Z

Market town and surrounding villages: pop. 6000
Timeline: Started June ’09, became official September ‘09.

Transition Halesworth are very much at the planning stage of their initiative and have deliberately so far kept all their actives in-house. They have a core group of 9 people with a support group of about 20. In this preparation period they have shown Power of Community and run a series of workshops (with food sharing) on eco-systems and visioning. Several of the group have also done the Transition Training.

TH are planning to show The Age of Stupid to their support group as a run-up to showing the film in public with a Q&A and have set up talks to the Town Council, local WI and the Halesworth Business Group and are working on a leaflet to distribute in town.

Transition Halesworth at the local Library upcycling used materials into zero-waste shopping bags

Website: none at present
Contact Person: Linda Owen
Email: hint@talktalk.net

Tel: 01986 875323

Ipswich, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:26:00.006Z

County town: pop. 140,000

Timeline: Started October ’08, became official September ‘09.

Transition Ipswich have a core group of about 8-10. Their main activities have been holding film screenings and discussion evenings, such as the BBC documentary Farm for the Future, Home and In Transition. During May TI held a week-long series of events during a local May festival, centred around a Bedouin tent. They launched their very popular backgammon Nights during this week, which now runs once a month at the local Museum Street Café.

Ipswich consider themselves in the awareness raising phase and are making links with existing groups, such as the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Recently they organised a Massed Bike Ride for the International Day of Climate Action.

Meanwhile they have also formed a food group and a solar-panel buying club. The food group are working with the local co-op (Ripple) who have recently moved into the city centre and are actively engaged in organising wild food walks, the mapping of fruit trees and gleaning projects. They also work very closely with the People’s Community Garden in Mildenhall, which has a permaculture club, as well as an office powered by solar panels and a newly installed wind turbine.

Website:
http://www.transitionipswich.org.uk
Contact Person: John Taylor
Tel: (01473) 432 096
Email: ttipswich@googlemail.com

King's Lynn, Norfolk

2009-11-14T12:24:00.000Z

Market town: pop. 35,000

Timeline: started January ‘09

“Our main success is our edible garden in the local park,” reported one of Transition King’s Lynn’s prime movers, Viv Manning. Helped by a Greener Neighbourhood Grant, the land grows different kinds of vegetables, herbs and fruit trees, and forms the focal point of this group, as well as providing a way of forging links with the local town council. They have also recently taken part in another scheme (Do Something Different) to help advise local residents on how to grow vegetables on the local Fairstead estate.

Other activities follow the Transition tradition of showing The End of Suburbia (5 people!) and having stalls at local events, such as the Burnham Deepdale Earth Day. They have also made links with local beekeepers and the Hardings Pits Association, formed to help protect a community-managed wildlife site.

TKL have a steering group of six at present but are looking for more active members to take the initiative to a more dynamic level.

Website: http://www.transitionkingslynn.wordpress.com/
Contact Person: Viv Manning
Tel: (01553) 765 061
Email: transitionkingslynn@googlemail.com

Lavenham, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:23:00.000Z

Village: pop. 1,750

Timeline: started March ‘08

Transition Lavenham is unusually a community company. They
have a core group of 8 people (4 very active), some of whom are
also on the Parish and District County Council. Their main focus
of attention has been to get the village involved in community
projects to generate local energy sources, including incentives
for solar panels and insulation.

One of the key provisions Transition can offer communities is
that of synthesis. In Lavenham many groups have reached a
plateau and TL find that by encouraging people to get involved
with the Transition energy project, they also promote other
activities and groups at the same time.
Next spring TL are conducting a Village Appraisal in
collaboration with the Energy Savings Trust. A former village
survey had a successful return rate of 60-70% (which catalysed the
new Village Hall where none existed and a community bus). It
was found that the survey worked because people spent time
knocking on doors and interacting with people.

Other activities include planting of apple, pear and plum trees
around the church, holding a stall at the local Farmer’s Market
and showing The Age of Stupid, where in spite of terrible
weather (!) 70 people turned up. TL are also working towards a
landshare. Recently they have been given a £5000 grant by the
Suffolk Foundation to get the initiative off the ground.

Website:www.transitionlavenham.co.uk
Contact Person: Carol Reeve
Tel: (01787) 247 674
Email: careeve@btinternet.com

Mersea Island, Essex

2009-11-14T12:22:00.001Z

Bio-region: pop. 7,000
Timeline: Started October ’08,
became official May ‘09

Transition Island Mersea have had several successful events but, like several other initiatives, a mixed reception to date. After finding some islanders resistant to the Transition “brand” and the idea of another group telling them how to live their lives the initiative decided to go “Transition light” and use its cohesive nature to facilitate greater working relationships between everyone. Mersea has 120 community groups and Transition has served to bring many of these into awareness of each other and work in collaboration.

In 2008 TIM ran a series of films in the two parts of the island and an Open Space session in which the community defined particular areas they wished to concentrate on. They also facilitated a partnership between the Co-op and the local primary school.

This summer the first Mersea Island Food, Drink and Leisure Festival was run along Transition lines and included a children’s marquee, food stands and local oystermen, farriers and beekeepers. In summer the numbers on the island swell to 20,000 and time becomes a rare commodity for most committee members (numbering 6) who already have other communıty commitments. Key member, Beverley Perkins reports that the main challenges are now enabling those outside the committee to lead specific areas or projects and maintaining momentum.

TIM are working towards creating a Skills Sharing and Growing project with the recently secured allotments. A base will provide tools as well as a place in which to interact, share food and seeds and pass on the kitchen and garden knowledge of generations.

Contact person:
Beveley Perkins
Tel: (01206) 382572
Email: beverley.perkins@gmail.com
Website: none at present

Mundesley, Norfolk

2009-11-14T12:21:00.000Z

Coastal town: pop. 2,695
Timeline: Started '09

Transition Mundesley came to the last Transition East Gathering
and began with talks from local initiatives in Diss and Norwich,
as well as a screening of The Age of Stupid. Due to unforseen
circumstances their most active member had to withdraw their
support and as a result TM are waiting for someone to take the
initiative forward.

Contact Person: Sally
Email: mundesleytt@mail.org

Nayland, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:20:00.001Z

Village: pop. 1200
Timeline: Started March ’09

Transition Nayland began with one person who, after making a pitch to the Community Council, negotiated the use of the local community hall and film equipment and enlisted support from 2 members of the Community Council to help set up a film night to which 65 people came. Out of this film night and inaugural meeting a core group of seven people was formed, who now meet on a monthly basis, with an open meeting every two months. Their core group is unusual in that everyone is under the age of 45, in full-time work, and many have young families. It also includes the owner of the local pub, The Anchor (recently voted the Greenest Pub in Suffolk, which grows its own vegetables). The wider and very supportive general group of a further 10 people includes a local Parish councillor, District councillor and a County councillor as well as representation from the WI.

TN feel that the awareness-raising stage is crucial to get people up to the same level of understanding. So far they have had two screenings at the local village hall. At the first they showed Farm for the Future and The Story of Stuff, and at the second The Age of Stupid. They are conducting a local Transition Survey of the village (based on the Totnes survey), asking people questions about where they shop, whether they use the allotments etc., to find out what the community wants. They are also in negotiations with the Parish Council over an extension of the local allotments. In addition, they are introducing battery recycling and investigating location options for a bottle bank.

Like many village or smaller town initiatives TN benefits from having a closely defined community and the fact most places of activity are within walking distance. Some projects are more easily achieved as a result. Nayland is also helped by a common pride of place and being socially rich, with several active societies and groups, two village shops, a post office and an eco-plan school. Transition Nayland are also initiating plans for hydro-power in the River Stour and have a regular column in the local community paper. In the future they also plan to run an informal green "clinic" at the pub, where people who want to can speak with those who have knowledge and experience of renewable energy and can share their resources.

Website: www.transitionnayland.co.uk
Contact Person: Will Hitchcock
Tel: 07768 435719
Email: info@transitionnayland.co.uk

Norwich, Norfolk

2009-11-14T12:18:00.004Z

City: pop. 137,000
Timeline: Started January ’08,

Transition Norwich began with a core group of five people who focussed all their attention on awareness raising and the build up to an Unleashing which was to feature Rob Hopkins and local Labour MP, Ian Gibson. These steps included the showing of films, talks with local schools and churches and a day of activities shared with other Climate Change groups with stalls, a Cuban band and screenings of Power of Community at the city’s Arts Centre. The night before the Unleashing the City Council passed a unanimous motion to give support to TN.

The Unleashing was a highly successful event (in spite of the fact Hopkins could not make it – Ben Brangwyn stepped in at the last moment) with 450 people attending, most of whom joined TN’s mailing list. Following shortly after that event 14 theme groups began to meet in the city centre on a regular basis and explore the many aspects of Transition. A year later TN have reorganised their core group which now numbers six people. Outwardly TN is actively engaged with other groups to bring about sustainable change. They are looking at government plans for the region, supporting the sustainable inititatives and challenging the pressure for more roads, houses etc. as well as supporting national campaigns for climate action. Their main in-house focus has shifted towards building up the Resilience Plan (formerly known as the Energy Descent Action Plan!) and the theme groups, ranging from Heart and Soul to Transport to Textiles, having undergone many changes, are now concentrating their efforts on working with this plan. The other two drivers are the Transition Circles and the Communications group which organises events, outside communications, press and publicity and the website (with two blogs) and a monthly bulletin.

Transition Circles mark a departure from the structure set out in the Handbook (though paralleled by the Totnes Together scheme that began at the same time). Their focus is on personal commitment and includes a hub circle known as TN2 and several neighbourhood groups (TN2 is made up of a group of “descenters” who have committed to radically reducing their carbon footprint). All groups discuss the effects of carbon reduction, especially home energy, transport and food, as well as the wider, more philosophical issues. The future plans of TN include the training of several councillors on the City Council and the development of several growing projects – a CSA, a community mill for local flour, a school market garden – as well as their own Transition allotment. The Communications group has also recently been invited to join the co-operatively run OneWorldColumn on the EDP, specifically to discuss the Transition movement.

2010
This is the year the original community blog This Low Carbon Life took off. We also received major funding for the CSA and other Food Projects and work began at our first two sites in Postwick and the Hewett School. our neighbourhood group, NR3 ran a highly successful Magdalen Street Celebration in October which drew enthusiastic crowds from all over the city. We also ran a series of Carbon Conversations, in tandem with our 4 home-grown Transition Circles. Meanwhile the building of a powerdown culture continued with seed swaps, climate actions, skill-shares, cook-ups, celebrations and of course, a LOT of meetings!

Website: transitionnorwich.org
Contact Person: Chris Hull 01603 664928
Email: info@transitionnorwich.org

Twitter: tnnorwich

Otley, Suffolk

2009-11-14T12:16:00.000Z

Village: pop. 1,100
Timeline: Started May ‘09

As well as Transition initiatives there are several up and running low-carbon and energy groups in Suffolk, some of which have subsequently followed the Transition model. Otley Green has a committee of 8 people and has put on two main events, both of which were very successful. 96 people came to the village hall to watch The Age of Stupid, followed by a talk by Schlumberger's (an oil exploration services company) Research Fellow for Energy, Carbon and Climate Change who verified the facts of the film and spoke about carbon sequestration.

The second event, an Energy Saving Fair, had several stalls run by renewable energy companies, including composters and recyclers. The village shop served local food and helped publicise the advantages of shopping locally. The school had an art competition about the environment. They also invited Otley Pioneers - local people who had made significant steps towards using alternative energy, such as photovoltaics and installing wind-turbines to talk about energy saving beyond insulation. “There was a real buzz,” reported organiser Tony Barrett. A connection with nearby Otley Agricultural College helped with publicising both events.

On the day Otley Green gave people who signed up for the 10:10 scheme a free pack of briquettes made from waste material produced by Mencap's furniture workshops. These people could also borrow an electricity monitor. They also launched a solar panel buying club, supported by Suffolk Coastal District Council, a garden-share scheme and a cycling club. As well as delivering the results of their village carbon survey, they began making plans for a community woodland.

Contact person: Tony Barrett
Email:tonypbarrett@yahoo.co.uk

Saffron Walden, Essex

2009-11-14T12:03:00.003Z

Market town: pop. 16,000
Timeline: started October ’08

Walden in Transition began when a group went to visit Adrienne
Campbell of Transition Lewes and were inspired to start their
own initiative. They have run a series of ambitious and
successful talks, ranging from Jeremy Leggett, talking about The
Triple Crunch, David Strahan, author of The Last Oil Shock,
talking about Peak Oil, and Joe Smith, social and political scientist
at the OU. At the end of May they had an open meeting to discuss
the different information gleaned from the speakers and decide
how to deal with the issues raised in the community. Part of this
meeting was an open space discussion around the question, how
do we see Saffron Walden in 10, 20, 30 and 50 years time?

In a second open meeting they decided what they were going to
do. “Transition is about doing stuff”, said Stephen Willoughby
one of the six core group members. They formed several theme
groups as a result, including the Walden Pound, Skills Shares,
Trees and Open Spaces, and Values (educating people to
question assumptions, to ask questions such as what do we
mean by choice/economy/progress/development?). They have
now decided to abandon the open meetings and concentrate on
the projects organised by these groups.

WIT have two food community interest companies, a food
market and a community-run sheep farm with ancient woodland
on the outskirts of the town that is in conversion to organic
husbandry. There are plans to coppice some of the wood.
The Walden pound group meanwhile is supporting the local
business forum’s loyalty scheme and hopes to launch the pound
in the near future. The local Lets scheme and very active
Freecycle in the area mean there is already an engagement in
swapping and recycling, ways of doing things which the Skills
group can build on for future activities.

In spite of a “rather difficult” relationship with local councils, recently the Sustainable Uttlesford group (formerly LA21, Energy and Waste), which includes some of the Walden core group, went to speak to the District Council regarding the EERA plans for massive development in the area by 2031. “This is not going to happen,” Willoughby told them, “We just have to powerdown.”

Website: www.walden-intransition. org.uk
Contact Person:
Stephen Willoughby
Tel: (01799) 501 456
Email: steve@netweaver.org

St Neots, Cambridgeshire

2009-11-14T12:01:00.000Z

Market town: pop. 26,390
Timeline: Started February ‘09

Transition St Neots had a lively first meeting in which ten people
came forward to be involved in setting up an initiative. The
group then dwindled in subsequent meetings and now consists
of three people connected though home education. The town of
St.Neots lacks an alternative infrastructure or grassroots activity,
though there was once a thriving Letts group and Green Fair (the
original woman behind these initiatives, now 80, has been very
supportive of TSN). “There is a lot of me-thinking and not much
sense of community,” reports would-be Transitioner Sarah
Newton, so the kind of time and energy required to move
forward is quite high. The group are hoping to connect with
nearby Huntingdon who have recently shown The Age of Stupid)
and would be happy to hear from anyone in the area who would
like to get involved.

Contact Person:
Sarah Newton
Tel: (01480) 211 989
Email: transitionstneots@googlemail.com

Sheringham, Norfolk

2009-11-14T11:57:00.000Z

Coastal town: pop. 1743
Timeline: Started September ‘09

Sustainable Communities have just formed their committee of 15
people and plan to make Sheringham and surrounding villages
more sustainable. They are presently gathering ideas and
investigating whether or not to adopt the Transition process.
They have had four meetings and already have several projects
in mind, including planting a coppice wood. They are working
closely with the Upcher community.

Contact Person:
Janet Farrow
Tel: (01263) 825 952
Email:
janet@upcher.co.uk

Southend/Westcliff, Essex

2009-11-14T11:54:00.000Z

Seaside town: pop. 170,000
Timeline: Started March ’08

Transition Westcliff began in 2008 and shifted to becoming
Southend in Transiton this year mainly because they wanted to
involve everyone in the locality. They began by showing a series
of environmental screenings (End of Suburbia, Transition Towns
and Power of Community), connecting with other groups like
Friends of the Earth, building up contacts and grounding
themselves in the subjects of peak oil and climate change.

SIT are assisted by three “drivers” in the area: local incentives
for Southend to become a Cycling Town, a Cultural Capital for
2016 and strong links with the growing University and College.
Southend in Transition also work in partnership with several
local groups, an interconnectedness which is reflected in their
website and their monthly newsletter. They have a mailing list of
300 plus, 50 facebook members and the website enjoys over
1000 visitors per month. They have also made a YouTube video.
Last month they ran a permaculture course with their resident
permaculture author and teacher, Graham Burnett, in partnership
with Milton Community Partnership and SpiralSeed, and showed
the peak oil marathon film What a Way to Go – Life at the End of Empire.

Like many other groups they have a Transition Drinks once a
month and have sub groups in development e.g. Food, Transport,
Heart and Soul. “Last year we focused on events to get people
involved,” said key member, Kamil Pachalko. “2010 will be our
year of projects.”

Website:
www.transitionwestcliff.org.uk
Contact Person:
Kamil Pachalko
Tel: 07707 676 308
Email: kamilpac@googlemail.com

Stour Valley, Essex/Suffolk

2009-11-14T11:53:00.001Z

Bio-region: pop. 7,434
Timeline: Started February ‘09

Transition Valley had their first meeting on the snowiest
evening of the year when 9 people turned up resiliently
to start this burgeoning initiative. They have recently
branched out from their core group and started Communications
and Heart and Soul groups. The Communications group have founded
a very active blog, while the Heart and Soul group is concentrating
on engaging with the slower and steadier pace of Transition.

One of their most successful events has been the Great Food
Swap which formed part of the local Beach Bash.
Swaps are now part of their repertoire (even the groups’
children are organising their own toy swap). They show regular
films, such as Power of Community and In Transition, and have
recently been awarded funding from the Dedham Vale AONB for
a series of workshops called Reskilling the Valley.

At the heart of the initiative, like Transition itself, is the practice
of Permaculture. A permaculture course is presently being run
by horticulturalist Marina O’Connell, one of the core members.
Transition Valley are also presently working with a local primary
school to become a Transition School.

Plums from Fruit Picking Day, Sept 21 09

Website:
transitionvalley.blogspot.com
Contact Person:
Mark O’Connell
Tel: (01206) 230 425
Email: info@theapricotcentre.co.uk

Wivenhoe, Essex

2009-11-14T11:50:00.001Z

University Town: pop. 10,000
Timeline: Started November ’08,
became official April ’09, planning to unleash
in the spring

Transition Wivenhoe run a ‘seeds for change’ over the summer at local events, giving out custom packaged sunflower seeds in return for a donation. No flower could perhaps signify Transition so well - bold, useful and composite. There are 9 people in the core group (two of whom have done the Transition training) and they have put most of their energy in the past year into awareness raising, showing a series of films, building their mailing list (200) by attending lots of local events and making links with other groups including 2 residents associations, the local football club, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society at the University of Essex and the local Green Party. They enjoy good relationships with the Town and Borough council. Some of the core group previously worked on the community-led Town Plan in 2008 which led to starting the Transition project.

One of the most innovative creations is TW’s bike-powered cinema which has been used for screening The Story of Stuff and Crude Awakening so far. They took it to an Eco Schools conference which fascinated the young participants. They have strong links with nearby Transition (Stour) Valley (whose communications group gave advice on how to set up a blog) and are currently applying to the Low Carbon Communities Challenge. As well as regular steering group meetings TW run Transition & Green drinks at the local pub, the Greyhound. A recent fruit picking walk prompted ideas for a food group, though this has yet to start.

Like many Transition initiatives, managing the balance between doing stuff and taking time to embed a deep understanding of the issues of peak oil, climate change and to learn about permaculture in an already busy life, is a key challenge. They are thinking about unleashing in the spring or summer.

Website: transitionwivenhoe.co.uk
Contact Person:
Jo Wheatley
Tel: (01206) 827 649
Email:
info@transitionwivenhoe.co.uk

Woodbridge, Suffolk

2009-11-14T11:41:00.000Z

Market town: pop. 12,000
Timeline: Started October ’08,
became official April ‘09

Transition Woodbridge started with a steering group of 10-12, which has dwindled to five. They are hoping to attract more people at their AGM on Friday 13th. During the last year they have shown several films at local church halls, including Power of Community, Akenfield and Farm for the Future, held a hustings for the local candidate just before the European elections and a series of talks. The talks have been on a diverse range of subjects from the Problem of Population, Local Food, Climate Change and Energy to local artist Fran Crowe’s installation using 48,000 pieces of rubbish found on local beaches http://www.flyintheface.com/. Spokesperson and TE Support Group member, Nigel McKean, felt that the speakers were not radical or hard-hitting enough to provoke a response or create an impact. The initiative is now concentrating on more practical projects.

Transition Woodbridge have also started having Transition Drinks once a month at the local Cherry Tree pub, as well as forming an allotment association and hosting the Permaculture club that recently built a clay oven at the Mildenhall Community Garden in Ipswich.

TW’s future plans include starting a food coop and an educational Permaculture Project. They are hoping to unleash in the spring and to become a hub for the surrounding villages and smaller initiatives.

Website:
www.transitionwoodbridge.org.uk
Contact Person:
Nigel McKean
Tel: (01206) 827 649
Email: info@transitionwoodbridge.org.uk
info@ttwoodbridge.gmail.com