> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # February 2015 – Transition Network Newsletter - URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/february-2015-transition-network-newsletter/ - Published: 2015-02-05T00:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2024-06-06T23:58:34.000Z - Author: Transition Network international - Tags: #News, #Import 2026-03-17 *We hear how Belgians ‘Changent le Monde’ and the forthcoming musical gets funded. We have a number of fascinating articles on our two themes so far this year of The Power to Convene and How We Got Started. Some final articles from Transition Free Press. The Transition Agony Aunt solves your Peak Oil dilemma, online social media tips from REconomy and setting up a Reuse and Repair Centre plus Transition Roadshow in Bristol and a book review.* --- **NETWORK NEWS** **Transition Network 2015 International Conference** 18-20 September Venue: South Devon Plus trainings and events in the 2 days leading up to and following the main event. Details to follow shortly. **The Fierce Urgency of Now: 3 days in Belgium** “Something very powerful feels to me like it is starting to move” says Rob Hopkins. “I see it in the victory of Syriza in Greece on a platform of localisation, resilience building and sustainability as an antidote to austerity. I see it in the explosion of craft breweries, farmers markets, community energy companies and so on, in Scotland’s moratorium on gas fracking. I also saw it in the two days I just spent in Belgium supporting the great work of the regional Transition hub “Wallonia-Brussels” there. The trip was also to support the Belgian release of the French language version of The Power of Just Doing Stuff (“Ils Changent le Monde”).” https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/fierce-urgency-now-3-days-belgium **Transition Free Press goes out of print** Sadly the innovative grassroots newspaper Transition Free Press will not be published this year. Announcing the news, Charlotte Du Cann writes that “We were hoping to relaunch this Spring with a bright new expanded edition but have been unable to raise sufficient funds to pay for our core costs.” http://transitionfreepress.org/2015/02/04/breaking-transition-free-press-goes-out-of-print/ **Transition Town : The Musical** “We’ve met our target of 10k with your help” writes project manager Chloe Uden. “Over the remaining few days to 14 February when the Kickstarter closes we’ll be working hard to encourage further backers to support the project to allow us to produce better quality products, and pay for materials to put on the production.” There are lots of tempting Rewards on offer. For example there must surely be more groups willing to take the plunge and back the project by taking a license to use the script! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/862794604/transition-town-the-musical/ --- **THEME: The Power to Convene** **Atmos Totnes and the Power to Convene** One of the most ambitious examples of The Power to Convene to come through a Transition initiative is Atmos Totnes in Devon. It has brought together the site’s owner Dairy Crest, a mainstream developer and a community, to plan the future of the former manufacturing site. Atmos Totnes have just put out this video, which tells the story so far, and offers a powerful taste of how The Power to Convene can feel when it goes well. https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/atmos-totnes-and-power-convene **How Transition Town Tooting Convene Through Celebration and Imagination** From the Carnival down Tooting High Road in 2010 that looked to involve not just the community of Tooting, but the communities of Tooting, to current projects that are mid-process, and have begun with the idea of holding a space open to conversation, without articulating a specific outcome. [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/how-transition-town-tooting-convene-through-celebration-and-imagination](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/how-transition-town-tooting-convene-through-celebration-and-imagination?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Pamela Boyce Simms on convening faith groups** Convener of the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub, which brings together and supports Transition groups from southern Connecticut to Virginia in the US, Pamela Boyce Simms is also a very active Transition trainer and is also involved in interfaith work. She wrote recently that “we often hesitate to override inertia and consistently and compassionately reach out to those who don’t look like us, sound like us, think like us, and who rarely attend Transition events”. https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/pamela-boyce-simms-convening-faith-groups **What does the Power to Convene look like in Stroud?** One of the first Transition groups to form and have an impressive portfolio of projects they’ve achieved. https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/what-does-power-convene-look-stroud **What Makes a Good Mediator?** Part of the Power to Convene is the ability to bring groups and people together to work in new ways. The story of the South Devon Cycle Link campaign and in particular the role of James Furse has many useful insights for this. “You have to share enough of yourself to bring people into their trust – it’s a combination of tact, diplomacy and determination” he tells Rob Hopkins. https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/what-makes-good-mediator **Transition Buxton Take on Former Council Plant Nursery** [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/news/2015-01-14/transition-buxton-take-former-council-plant-nursery](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/news/2015-01-14/transition-buxton-take-former-council-plant-nursery?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **How ‘The Power to Convene’ can transform Transition** Rob Hopkins suggests that the Power to Convene should be the key role of what Transition groups do and how they function [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/how-power-convene-can-transform-transition](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/how-power-convene-can-transform-transition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) --- **THEME: How We Got Started** **Transition Black Isle** “The general feeling was that Cromarty was too small to sustain the energy needed, and all the active people were feeling burnt out (yes, I know, before we even started!).” [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/how-we-got-started-transition-black-isle](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/how-we-got-started-transition-black-isle?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Transition Stratford** Stratford-upon-Avon is not just about Shakespeare and tourists – among the local residents are those concerned for the future of the town as much as for its past. [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/how-we-got-started-transition-stratford](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/how-we-got-started-transition-stratford?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Mapping the Transition Movement in Aotearoa New Zealand** https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/mapping-transition-movement-aotearoa-new-zealand --- **Some final articles from Transition Free Press:** **Real Media conference celebrates independent journalism** On 28 February the Real Media Gathering will take place in Manchester, with speakers, discussions, workshops and networking on independent journalism and the alternative to a mainstream media which many feel is selling us short. http://transitionfreepress.org/2015/02/04/real-media-independent-journalism/ **Accelerating transition, city by city** Amy Hall reports on a European research project hopes to find out what makes Transition Initiatives thrive and, in turn, support the change towards sustainable low-carbon societies http://transitionfreepress.org/2015/02/02/accelerating-transition-arts-research/ **ENERGY: exploring biogas for communities** Suffolk-based group Transition Lavenham is considering launching its own energy project: making biogas from food waste, reports Transition Free Press energy editor Gareth Simkins http://transitionfreepress.org/2015/01/25/lavenham-biogas-anaerobic-digester/ **POLITICS: Citizens lobby for the climate** Hugh Chapman explains why he is behind another campaign calling for carbon pricing as a way to mobilize the transition to clean energy. http://transitionfreepress.org/2015/01/11/citizens-climate-lobby-carbon-pricing/ --- **REconomy** **The Journey of Setting up a Reuse and Repair Centre** Sophie Unwin, Director of Remade in Edinburgh, shares her experience of setting up a Reuse and Repair Centre. From what inspired her in the beginning to what is working to this day. A story we can all learn from, and celebrate. [http://www.reconomy.org/the-journey-of-setting-up-a-reuse-and-repair-centre-a-solution-for-a-circular-economy/](http://www.reconomy.org/the-journey-of-setting-up-a-reuse-and-repair-centre-a-solution-for-a-circular-economy/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Making Events #Social** Events and social media sit hand in hand as means of enabling communities to revision their economic future and to share what they learn. This blogs offers some of the tips discussions from recent online skill shares on this topic. [http://www.reconomy.org/making-events-social/](http://www.reconomy.org/making-events-social/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) --- **The Transition Agony Aunt** **On How to Talk About Peak Oil** Given that we are now seeing oil at below $50 a barrel, how is my Transition group meant to talk about ‘peak oil’? https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/transition-agony-aunt-how-talk-about-peak-oil **On Reviving Failed Initiatives** What’s the best way to start a Transition group after a previous one has folded? And should you even think of doing so if you haven’t been able to track down at least eight people who were involved in the folded group?https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-01/transition-agony-aunt-reviving-failed-initiatives --- **SUPPORT** **Transition Roadshow comes to Bristol** 14 March The Transition@Trinity event is about creating connections for sustainability; between places, groups, projects, and themes. It is about finding the help you need, and making the whole greater than the sum of the parts. This will be a packed day of workshops and talks find out more here: http://transitionbristol.net/save-the-date-for-the-transition-bristol-roadshow-14th-march-2015/ **Our Support Framework – give it a go and let us know what you think** [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2014-12/our-new-support-framework-here-give-it-go-and-let-us-know-what-you-think](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2014-12/our-new-support-framework-here-give-it-go-and-let-us-know-what-you-think?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) --- **BOOKS** **“The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels”. Really?** Just as there was no “moral case for slavery” in 1860 there is no “moral case for fossil fuels”. But given the alarming rise, in the US and elsewhere, of the climate sceptic/pro fossil fuel lobby it feels important to look a bit closer at the arguments presented here. https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/book-review-moral-case-fossil-fuels-really --- **COMING UP** The theme on the Transition Network website for March and April will be ‘Transition & Arts’ --- More **events** [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/events](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/events?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Follow Transition Network on **Twitter** [http://twitter.com/#!/transitiontowns](http://twitter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#!/transitiontowns) Be a Friend on **Facebook** **Film Reviews** [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/films](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/films?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Transition **Youtube** Channel [https://www.youtube.com/transitiontowns](https://www.youtube.com/transitiontowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Resources** — Editor’s Picks [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/resources](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/resources?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Find **previous editions** of the newsletter here [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/tags/transition-network-newsletter](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/tags/transition-network-newsletter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Read **this newsletter** online [https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/news/2015-02-05/february-2015-transition-network-newsletter](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/news/2015-02-05/february-2015-transition-network-newsletter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Subscribe** to Transition newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/transitionregister This newsletter is published on the first Friday of each month. Next newsletter is 6 March 2015