Gathering Journal #3: Why Gather?

As you’ve hopefully heard by now, Transition Network International is preparing to host a global gathering next May in Portugal. It will begin with three days of strategic planning for TNI staff and Hubs leaders, followed by a three-day festival with workshops, Open Space conversations, and celebratory events for 200+ Transitioners, partners, and members of the public. The gathering will conclude with a series of optional intensives, which will likely include a radical imagination workshop with Transition Movement co-founder Rob Hopkins, a special staging of Town Anywhere with Ruth Ben-Tovim, and a tour of local regenerative sites. More details to come!

While the answer to “Why gather?” may seem self-evident to some, there are valid reasons why others might question it. Indeed, it costs a lot to gather together in-person from all over the world, in terms of money, time, and greenhouse gas emissions.

However, we’ve decided to do it anyway. The reason is partly because 2027 will be the 20th anniversary of the movement and we want to celebrate that. It’s also been more than a decade since we’ve held a gathering this big and we believe it’s now time. There’s something subtle but undeniably powerful about gathering in-person. It builds connection, trust, solidarity, and determination. It reminds us in a way that can be directly felt that our local groups are part of a much larger global movement.

This was my experience when I helped organize a National Gathering for Transition US in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2017. Because this was something Transition US had never done before, it seemed like a risk, but nearly 350 people ended up participating. There were keynote presentations by Rob Hopkins, the late great Richard Heinberg, and Phyllis Young and Pearl Means from the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. We held a two-day Movement Strategy Session, 40 workshops on a wide variety of topics, and six different intensives. 

We also had morning yoga and qigong, opening and closing ceremonies, bioregional breakouts, and a group sing-along one day during lunch. But it wasn’t just the scheduled program that made this gathering so special. Plenty of magic happened in the spaces in between. We visited Minnehaha Falls, ate at the legendary Gandhi Mahal, and hung out at bars late into the night. You can get a sense of the vibes from my favorite testimonial:

"The T-Town conference was off-the-charts inspiring. Just walking into the first event gave me 'electric shivers' - so many like minds & hearts gathering together as one. Creative, flexible, courageous, clearsighted, compassionate - the quality of this group was beyond outstanding. We're forging a new culture - it's already happening, right in our Transition movement, and became tangible and real for me at the Twin Cities' conference. Lives on as a bright flame in my heart: what we've most needed, we are creating together: do not despair!”

This was the first project we undertook in partnership with our national Collaborative Design Council – made up of local and regional Transition leaders – and the experience of working together to make it happen deepened our bonds and made us stronger. While only a handful of members from each Transition group attended, those who did returned home inspired and energized, which led to a resurgence of the movement throughout the country. New initiatives and hubs formed, and engagement with Transition US hit an all-time high.

This was something only an in-person gathering can do. Even though we hosted an online summit in 2019 that was broadcasted to 30 groups throughout the US, and another in 2021 that attracted 1,100 participants, neither had quite the same galvanizing effect. 

Nevertheless, for those who don’t want to travel, we plan to make some of the content from the gathering available, either as recordings or via a livestream. Local and regional groups may choose to organize their own in-person gatherings around this “main stage” content.

For many of us involved in Transition and other related movements, this work can seem strangely paradoxical. On one hand, we long to help ourselves and everyone reconnect with community and the natural world. On the other, we too often find ourselves stuck behind screens, interacting through Zoom calls and social media. This global gathering will be an opportunity to touch grass, hug our far-flung friends and colleagues, and continue traveling towards the more beautiful and regenerative future we can only create together.

In Community,
Don Hall

P.S. If you haven't yet contributed to our crowdfunder for next year's global gathering, please consider doing so here.