# Transition Network News & Newsletter
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Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).
## Pages
### Privacy policy
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/privacy-policy/
Last updated: 2025-01-24T19:37:27.000Z
### **1.Overview**

[news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) is maintained by Transition Network.

If you have any questions, or wish to submit a data subject request, please email [privacy@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:privacy@transitionnetwork.org)

### **2.Analytics**

We host our own analytics server using Matomo software. [analytics.transition-space.org](http://analytics.transition-space.org/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org), This is hosted on [Netcup.de](http://netcup.de/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org) under the terms detailed below.

### **3.Helpdesk**

We use a helpdesk service to manage support tickets [helpdesk.transition-space.org](http://helpdesk.transition-space.org/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org). This is hosted on [Netcup.de](http://netcup.de/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org) under the terms detailed below

### **4.Cookies**

This site does not store cookies.

### **5.Transition Network international as a Controller**

Transition Network is the controller for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), other data protection laws applicable in Member states of the European Union and other provisions related to data protection:

Transition Network, c/o Darnells 30 Fore Street Totnes, TQ9 5RP Totnes, UK  
The data protection officer is [Sam Rossiter](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/samuk/home?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)  
Phone: +44 (0)1803 865 669  
Email: [privacy@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:privacy@transitionnetwork.org)  
Website: [https://transitionnetwork.org/](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Transition Network acts as a *controller* of your personal data in the following cases:

- if you visit the [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) website
- if you register or sign up for an account on [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) and use the service (registered users)
- if you email privacy@transitionnetwork.org

### **6.What types of personal data are processed?**

We process the following types of personal data:

- **Registered user information:** email address, userid, password, IP address, metadata, subscriptions, and server preferences.
- **Profile information**: profile picture, bio, profile metadata (which may infer details about our users).
- **Website Visitors**: IP address, metadata.
- **Metadata**: Information about the terminal or machine used to connect to [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/), your machine's operating system, display resolution, web browser and browser version, date of access to the website, and details your logged-in sessions. If you email us, we may also see email header information.

### **7.Purposes for processing data**

Personal data noted above is processed because otherwise the service doesn't really work.

- **Registered user information** is necessary to provision and administer accounts.
- **Profile information** is provided by you and can be as much or as little as you desire. If you include special category data in your profile information, such as details about your race, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or health information, or details about your sexual orientation or sex life, you are, *legally-speaking*, making this information ‘manifestly public’, which is a very lawyerly way of saying “it’s on you.”
- **IP address and other machine identifiers** are collected by default in [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) for the purposes of allowing us block/disable access to problematic users or bots, to render the site properly on different devices, and because that is how the internet generally works.

Some information (such as user access, registration, errors, etc.) are also stored in separate Linux system logs (SystemD), which are also maintained on netcup.de. These logs serve the purpose of maintenance and security of the server, and are rotated every 14 days.

Backups are further retained for 90 days on Scaleaway.

### **8.Legal basis for processing data**

Transition Network relies on **consent** for processing your data

We rely on your consent if you create an account, update your profile, contact us via the [privacy@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:privacy@transitionnetwork.org) email address, or open a support ticket at [helpdesk.transition-space.org](http://helpdesk.transition-space.org/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org).

In the unlikely event that you do something dodgy on the site, Transition Network relies on legitimate interests for subsequent processing (i.e., account suspension, deletion, or if necessary, reporting to authorities). If we are served with a legal order requiring us to provide information relating to you in connection with suspected or alleged misuse of the service, and we comply with that order, the lawful basis will be **necessity to comply with a legal obligation**. Please don't let it come to that.

Transition Network rely on **contractual necessity** and **legitimate interests** to host this website and deal with emails. Transition Network have agreements in place with Netcup.de for hosting, based in Germany. We backup data to Scaleaway. We have agreements with [Mailgun](https://www.mailgun.com/gdpr/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org) for delivery of email.

### **9.Retaining your data**

By emailing [privacy@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:privacy@transitionnetwork.org) you can request deletion your account and data.

The [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) server attempts to delete content stored in logs automatically after 14 days, to make optimal use of server space. If you create an account here, it will remain on our server until:

- You choose to delete it;
- We delete the account manually;
- We delete the service;
- Something really bad happens (thermonuclear war, the heat death of the universe, etc.)

### **10.Exercising your rights**

You have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of personal data. You can also ask us to restrict processing or object to processing (to the extent that's possible).

To contact us, including to exercise your rights, please email to [privacy@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:privacy@transitionnetwork.org)

​​​​​​​You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a Supervisory Authority. As a controller, the Lead Supervisory Authority for Transition Network is the information commissioner's office in the UK. You can find more information about lodging a complaint with the ICO by going to [https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/](https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

### **11.Security**

Except where you make data 'manifestly public’ (see point 9\. above) Personal data processed by [news.transitionnetwork.org](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/) is accessible only to the Transition Network admin team and those under contract to Transition Network. In addition to limited access, the following additional security measures are in place:

- Strong, robust identity management & authentication, including 2FA for our servers and email;
- reasonable security hardening of the server itself;
- Daily, redundant backups of instance data;
- encryption in transit (TLS 1.3, via LetsEncrypt);
- encryption at rest on Netcup and Scaleaway;
- data processing agreements in place with our subprocessors.

We rely on assurances provided by Hetzner, Netcup, Scaleaway and SINCH AB/Mailgun regarding their own technical and organisational measures. Details on Sub-processor controls can be found below:

HETZNER ONLINE GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany (Server infrastructure) [https://www.hetzner.com/legal/privacy-policy](https://www.hetzner.com/legal/privacy-policy?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

SCALEWAY S.A.S, BP 438, F-75366 Paris Cedex 08 (Backup) [https://www.scaleway.com/en/privacy-policy/](https://www.scaleway.com/en/privacy-policy/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

NETCUP GmbH Daimlerstraße 25 76185 Karlsruhe (SSO system, ID system, Analytics) [https://www.netcup.eu/kontakt/datenschutzerklaerung.php](https://www.netcup.eu/kontakt/datenschutzerklaerung.php?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

SINCH AB Lin­dhagensgatan 74 Stoc­kholm, 112­ 18 Swed­en (email delivery) [https://www.mailgun.com/legal/dpa/](https://www.mailgun.com/legal/dpa/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

### **12.Transfers Outside of the EU**

Transition network uses hosting based in the EU & relies on sub-processors considered adequate by the EU.

Of course, by posting, your profile information and your content is available globally, so please think twice before posting anything personal.

### **13.Content Delivery**

We use third-party Service Providers to serve some traffic. This means all of these providers have access to your IP address and other information sent by your web browser. This information is used for analytics and security purposes. We have assurances from these providers they do not track any individual user.

### crowdin.net (Translation)

[GDPR CommitmentGDPR compliance at Crowdin localization software![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon.svg)Crowdin Docs![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/gdpr.png)](https://support.crowdin.com/gdpr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### CookieYes (Cookies)

[Cookie Consent for GDPR & CCPA Compliance - CookieYesObtain cookie consent for your website’s use of cookies with the most easy-to-use and simple cookie consent solution, trusted by 1.5 million+ businesses.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-cy-favicon-270x270.png)CookieYes![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tab1-img.svg)](https://www.cookieyes.com/product/cookie-consent/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### Bunny.net (Fonts)

[General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | bunny.netLearn about bunny.net General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), policies, and processes to keep your data safe.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/icon-192x192.png)bunny.net![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/bunnynet-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr.png)](https://bunny.net/gdpr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### **Cdn.jsdelivr.net. (JS)**

jsdeliver in turn uses these third party companies

#### Cloudflare

For more information on the privacy practices of Cloudflare, please visit the following web page:  
[https://www.cloudflare.com/security-policy/](https://www.cloudflare.com/security-policy/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

#### Fastly

For more information on the privacy practices of Fastly, please visit the following web page:  
[https://www.fastly.com/privacy](https://www.fastly.com/privacy?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

#### Gcore

For more information on the privacy practices of Gcore, please visit the following web page:  
[https://gcore.com/legal](https://gcore.com/legal?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

![](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/content/images/2023/12/A-part-of-TN.org-1.png)
### Welcome!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/welcome/
Last updated: 2025-04-23T16:07:50.000Z
_This post is for subscribers only._
### Contact
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/contact/
Last updated: 2026-03-23T12:58:06.000Z
Please use [our helpdesk form](https://transitionnetwork.org/contact/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to get in touch with Transition Network.

Post: Transition Network c/o BSN Associates Ltd, 3B Swallowfield Courtyard, Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury B69 2JG

Telephone (online answerphone): +44 (0)1803 865 669
### Terms of Use
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/terms/
Last updated: 2026-03-23T13:04:43.000Z
Transition Network's terms of use govern how you may use this website and its content.

For full terms and conditions, please visit the main Transition Network website at [transitionnetwork.org/terms](https://transitionnetwork.org/terms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

By using this site you agree to our privacy policy.
## Posts
### August 2026: Transforming through Play
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/august-2026-transforming-through-play/
Last updated: 2026-08-14T10:46:42.000Z
Do you think deep transformative change can happen by playing?

Have you had a chance to play the [**Cultural Transformation Game**](https://inner-cultural.transitionnetwork.org/ctgame/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? This might be your time! 

[Here's an invitation to a facilitated group play session](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1F5byr8YXwv4fHHha35eYQ4jxIV3H4oJKIft6f1zJZ02PzQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Bring curiosity and a willingness to explore the cultures we have inherited and the ones we dream of as we work to change our worlds. You may find a welcoming space to practice care and lay the groundwork for a more connected culture with fellow changemakers. Join an upcoming session and see what shifts. 

Find also in this issue: East Asia Gathering, new Fundraising Foundations evergreen training, our JEDAI policy and resources, new entry of the Gathering Journal, and more! 

May you be safe and in community,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## **What's buzzing at TNi?**

- The Cultural Transformation Circle is hosting their next round of the [**Cultural Transformation Game**](https://inner-cultural.transitionnetwork.org/game/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on August 26th, 2026.
- [JEDAI: challenging the status quo and walking the talk](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/jedai-walking-the-talk/) on **Just Transition, Equity, Diversity, Accessiblity and Inclusion**. Check out our collective journey!
- The next Practising Transition webinar, on [**Intergenerational Eco-Cultural Mapping: Co-Designing the Future with Young People**](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/intergenerational-eco-cultural-mapping-co-designing-the-future-with-young-people/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), will be held on September 3rd, 2026.
- The [**Fundraising Foundations evergreen training**](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+3+1/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) just launched! Open and free for everybody, it's designed to provide a solid baseline for getting started with raising funds.
- Join the **Equinox participatory celebration** '[Returning to Balance](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)', on Thursday September 24th, 2026 at 13:00 UTC. Register [here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/inner/gath-encue-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [**Why gather?** Read the Gathering Journal #3](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-3-why-gather/), this time from the pen of Don Hall.
- Blog: [Eva Schonveld faces the Hydra](https://inner-cultural.transitionnetwork.org/hydra/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **Can the metaphor of the hydra help us** better understand the layered interplay between personal and social unconscious patterning that makes it so hard to change the system?

## **Heartbeat of the Movement**

- **Worldwide**: Have you heard about the **Waves Community Café**? It is a regular space for people on [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to showcase their projects and ask for support. In **September 11th Café**, **Indy Rishi Singh** will share a project exploring accredited healthcare education on food, farming, ecology, and community as medicine, while **Peter Jeffs** will introduce HearthQuest, a 16-week permaculture-based programme for building resilient, regenerative organisations and preventing burnout. We'd love to see you there, and if you have a project to amplify or ask for feedback, you are welcome to share. [Haven't heard about Community Waves yet? Check this out](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/community-waves-ethical-social-media/).
- **Asia:** On August 8-9, 2026, the [**Transition East Asia Gathering**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-east-asia-gathering-2026/) took place in Kyohoku, Kyoto, , with the aim of fostering exchange and friendship in East Asia and promoting peace. A total of 68 people gathered—34 from **South Korea, China, Hong Kong**, and **Taiwan**, and 34 from **Japan**. We talked, danced, and ate together—it was a truly fulfilling two days!
- **Scotland:** Join Polmont Community Hub for music, food, fun for everybody. [**Polmont Festival**](https://felscotland.org/event/polmont-fest/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Saturday 29th August, 2026.
- **Australia:** [Localisation Sharing Circle](https://transitionaustralia.supporterhub.net.au/events/localisation-circle-4-lookupstream?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Can localisation projects and movements work at the policy level to rebalance the economic playing field? Wednesday 19th August, 2026, 7.00pm - 8.30pm AEST.
- **Germany**: Transition Participation Conference 2026 -[**be there**](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/netzwerktreffen-2026?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! "Shaping democracy and prosperity in a sustainable way - paths and crossroads of change" happening 18-20 September 2026, Open House of Cultures in Frankfurt a.M.
- **Online:** [**Parenting Paradoxes**: the Beautiful and Messy Contradictions of Raising Kids Today](https://otherwise.one/parenting-paradoxes-the-beautiful-and-messy-contradictions-of-raising-kids-today/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 5pm CEST / 11am ET, with Theresa Fend and Clément Moliner-Roy.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

**Check out the Community Waves calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://communitywaves.space/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. (set them up as "[Public](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)" - see "Route 1"). 

## **Resources**

[****The Joy of Change: Play for Transition and Creative Transformation**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resource/the-joy-of-change-play-for-transition-and-creative-transformation-with-dan-rudolph/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **with Dan Rudolph**

[****JEDAI Policy on Just Transition, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Inclusion**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/jedai-walking-the-talk/)

## **Opportunities**

- [Festival for Re-imagining the Economy](https://reimaginefestival.ca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): August 12–26 2026\. This online/local unconference invites people and groups across Canada to host conversations and share what they've learned around how we might grow an economy in service to all Canadians and our planet.
- [Teach the Future are recruiting two new Campaign Organisers – paid roles ideal for young people (aged 16-26) looking to develop their skills in volunteer management, political engagement, and campaigning](https://sosuk.livevacancies.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/job/details/46). Deadline is 18 August 2026.
- The [Integrated Drought Management Programme seeks proposals for youth-led projects](https://www.droughtmanagement.info/idmp-activities/youth-engagement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (age 18-35) to build resilience in communities vulnerable to floods and droughts.Deadline is 31 August 2026.
- [Stanley 1913 Creators Fund welcomes applications from early-stage non-profit organisations with bold ideas to strengthen their communities](https://www.stanley1913.com/pages/stanley-1913-creators-fund?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Deadline is 13 September 2026\.
- [Community Storytellers Lab](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbdSNi%5FDcec/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on housing alternatives, ECOLISE September 2026, 4 module training.
- [The Water Research Foundation seeks proposals from organisations conducting research to analyse and improve drought management, impact, and communications](https://portal.waterrf.org/outbound-grant-details/3355?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).Deadline is14 September 2026.
- [Young Inventors Prize](https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/young-inventors-prize/about-prize?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Deadline is 30 September 2026.
- The [Pollination Project welcomes applications from grassroots and volunteer organisations creating a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world](https://thepollinationproject.org/pre-screen-quiz/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).Rolling deadline (daily grants).
- The [COP31 Evidence for Climate Action (E4CA) programme invites submissions from researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to help inform international policy dialogue at COP31](https://www.e4ca.org/en/cop31-call-for-proposals?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Deadline is 31 August 2026.

**Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners?** 

## **Stay Connected!**

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **September** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **31 August, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.** 
**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? You can [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### JEDAI: Challenging the status quo and walking the talk
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/jedai-walking-the-talk/
Last updated: 2026-08-14T09:58:11.000Z
The Transition Network has always been rooted in social and ecological justice values and principles. But we, as a team, felt that something important was missing. Hear about our ongoing journey and join the conversation: find pathways and opportunities at the end of this blog. 

We would like to be accountable and make transparent where we’re at, and the steps we’re taking to become better skilled and embody **JEDAI: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion**, in ways that feel aligned with the changes we want to ripple across the movement and the world. 

Our hope is that by sharing some of this process, we can collectively keep these conversations and policies alive and adaptable in service to our ever evolving landscapes (our internal / external conversations, contradictions, celebrations, challenges and conflict), because we are complex and imperfect beings! We are also existing (some thriving, some barely surviving) within various social structures, also known as systems of oppression (e.g. colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy) which continue to impact us in myriad ways, both known and unknown, conscious and unconscious.

## **The JEDAI pathway**

### First steps

Back in January 2023, we enlisted the paid skills and experience of[ People Support Coop](https://peoplesupport.coop/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (PSC) who have been active in shaping policies and processes alongside many organisations (cooperatives, charities, NGO’s, community groups) challenging the status quo and aligning their policies to reflect their ways of working, whilst also remaining employment law compliant – no mean feat! PSC have also been instrumental in [ RadHR](https://radhr.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a learning and sharing network and community that are clearly passionate about this work.

### The JEDAI policy

This policy, which we choose to call JEDAI, is an acronym for Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion and was co-created by a number of team members from TNi and People Support Coop. 

[Check out our active JEDAI policy](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-rTjeMKr%5FBZf6%5FJpr38GNghZpV99vqTl/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Feel free to reach out to us with questions and feedback, and to take this as inspiration for your work if that’s helpful in any way. 

In the UK at least, many mainstream organisations call this policy EDI (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) and it is often a tick box exercise ensuring that as an employer, this policy covers them (from a risk, law, compliance perspective) in relation to the UK Equality Act 2010, which highlights the following 9 protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

To be honest, putting this policy together hasn’t been easy at all. It was in draft format for a long time with 5 versions before this final one. Amber held the main accountability and her inner critic and position as a white, UK based, long term employee, often made her question things and doubt she was the right person to hold it. She often felt blocked as she really wanted it to mean something and not be aspirational. There was also a real tension between the need for this to be a working policy, but also a living and breathing one which could be collectively held by the whole team. We didn’t want to use a standard EDI template, we truly wanted a guiding piece that supports us to embody the values we believe in and work for. After some paralysis, a version was finally circulated for feedback across the team. At times, it felt difficult to integrate or respond to some comments, but we made it, and finally consented to the [TNi JEDAI policy](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-rTjeMKr%5FBZf6%5FJpr38GNghZpV99vqTl/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which alongside all our policies and in the spirit of our shared governance is shared as *Good Enough for Now and Safe Enough to Try*.

### The training

In order for our team to reach a deeper understanding of what JEDAI actually means to each of us in our different contexts (across geography, language, culture, colonisation, wealth, class, sex, education, status, etc.), and how it shows up in how we support the movement, we are setting off now on a learning journey accompanied by the team at [Ulex Project](https://ulexproject.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

The *Team Wellbeing Working Group* (currently Amber, Anahí, Esther) shortlisted and contacted several potential training providers. This was after asking our team for feedback on any previous training they may have attended (as a participant or facilitator) and any recommendations for JEDAI (aka De-Colonisation, Anti-Oppression, Collective Liberation, Active Solidarity) training providers.

![graffiti on a wall that says, only in diversity](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1623412912058-4e4552dbc10d?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fGludGVyc2VjdGlvbmFsaXR5fGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NjcwMTQ0M3ww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000)

Photo by [Claudio Schwarz](https://unsplash.com/@purzlbaum?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit)

Amber had an honest conversation with two team members who shared some reflections about an anti-oppression training they attended in 2024\. We agreed that because we three had already been colleagues for a number of years, there was already an established trust that enabled this open conversation to happen. Some key takeaways and questions: 

- Care is needed, before, during and after – intention setting, preparation, patience and planning are paramount
- Meet people where they are
- How we collectively show up, as both facilitators and participants is important, especially when things get difficult
- It lands differently in different parts of the team
- Wounds being opened and people being triggered (leading to potential conflict) are not just possible, but likely – how we respond to this is crucial
- Time, care and space is needed for people to respond to challenges. An open held space should be offered after each training session – for decompression and/or processing tricky feelings
- Huge learning and growth, despite being challenging
- North Star: how do we collaborate better, across and honouring our differences?
- How to be regenerative with what we’ve learnt?

This starts with us laying the foundations, tending to the soil and sowing seeds so that by the time we meet as a team for the training sessions in early 2027, there is some collective understanding of why we are meeting and what we hope to manifest.

## **Join the conversation**

Obviously, this doesn’t happen in a void, but as part of the movement we’re serving and being part of. Here are three invitations for you: 

1. **How do you embed JEDAI work in your groups and communities?** We’d love to hear. Feel free to reach out to us or to join the discussion on Community Waves.
2. [**Join the Equinox gathering on September 24th**](https://events.transitionmovement.org/inner/gath-encue-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), where we’ll be collectively learning and discussing JEDAI with two lovely guests from collectives rooted in these principles (Uma Uma Rainbow Collective from Nairobi, and Queer Food Growing Collective, from Kenya).
3. **Check out** [**TNi’s JEDAI policy**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-rTjeMKr%5FBZf6%5FJpr38GNghZpV99vqTl/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and other** [**Just Transition resources**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?s=just+transition&post%5Ftype=resource&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **available**. Let us know whether they’re helpful, feel free to share your feedback.

Looking forward to this next stage of the crossing, and to sharing our learnings and progress with you all.

In community, 

*TNi Team Wellbeing Working Group* 

Amber, Anahí and Esther
### トランジション東アジアギャザリング Transition East Asia Gathering 2026
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-east-asia-gathering-2026/
Last updated: 2026-08-12T21:48:44.000Z
From **Shunro Yoshida**:

2026年8月8−9日と2日間 京都京北で東アジアの交流と友情の架け橋と平和を目的としたトランジションの東アジアギャザリングを開催しました。韓国、中国、香港、台湾から34名、日本から34名と68名の方が集まり、お互いの活動をシェアし、活動での悩みや心に負った傷の内面の話から、アジアの平和から世界平和へ向けて私たちが何ができるかなどアイデアを出し合って話し踊り、共に食べた充実した2日間でした！僕が住む熊本の地震のことも各国の皆さんが心を寄せていただき、なんと！￥82、000の暖かい支援金をいただきました！本当に皆さんから心配の言葉をいただき、この支援金は僕が住む阿蘇で被災地に毎日、被災地に通い、必要な物資を聞き、運び、被災した家の片付けから、食べるものの炊き出し、重機による残骸の撤去から、軽トラの救出まで様々な活動をしている「デキルシコ支援ネットワーク」に寄付させていただきます！皆さんありがとうございました！

On August 8–9, 2026, we held the Transition East Asia Gathering in Kyohoku, Kyoto, over two days, with the aim of fostering exchange and friendship in East Asia and promoting peace. 

A total of 68 people gathered—34 from **South Korea, China, Hong Kong**, and **Taiwan**, and 34 from **Japan**. We shared our activities, discussed our inner struggles and emotional wounds, and exchanged ideas on what we can do to move from peace in Asia toward world peace. We talked, danced, and ate together—it was a truly fulfilling two days!

Everyone from each country also showed their concern for the earthquake in Kumamoto, where I live, and—to my surprise—we received a generous donation of 82,000 yen! I’m truly grateful for everyone’s words of concern. I will be donating this money to the “Dekirushiko Support Network,” which is active every day in the disaster-stricken areas of Aso, where I live. They carry out a wide range of activities, from listening to the needs of the affected communities and delivering essential supplies, to cleaning up damaged homes, providing hot meals, removing debris with heavy machinery, and even rescuing people trapped in small trucks! Thank you all so much!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/shunro1-1.jpg)

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Credits: Shunro Yoshida and Hūi-gî Kang

この2日間を終えて、感動とやり切った感と、これからの希望と、感謝の気持ちが交差して余韻と考察に耽っている。台湾、韓国、香港＆中国と日本の方ですごした2日間。近い隣人でもあり、複雑に交差してきた歴史、共通する文化、異なる文化、異なって特徴のある国民性？民族性。それらを感じ、感謝できる時間。共に歌い、共に踊り、共に語り、共に抱えて解決しようとしている課題を共有し、笑い、涙し、汗をかき、食卓を囲み、共同で作って来たイベントでした。本当は触れにくい、朝鮮半島の南北問題からこの困難な時代同若者をサポートしていけるか、自分たちの在り方をどのように互いに確認し深めらるか？様々なことを国境を超えて話し合った。この場には国境はなかったね。終わった後のみんなの笑顔と充実した想いと互いに感謝を伝えたい想いが表れていて、何か大きな壁を突き破ってブレイクスルーした感覚がある。これが開催できて本当に良かったと思えるし、今後にもとても大きな希望が持ち続けられるきっかけになりました。これを支えた仲間の努力と参加し、支えてくれた海を渡って来てくれた仲間に深い深い感謝の気持ちです。

As these two days come to a close, I find myself lost in reflection and contemplation, with a mix of emotion, a sense of accomplishment, hope for the future, and gratitude. Two days spent with people from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong & China, and Japan. We are close neighbors, yet our histories have intersected in complex ways; we share common cultural elements as well as differences, and each nation—or perhaps each ethnic group—has its own distinct characteristics. It was a time to feel all of that and express gratitude. We sang together, danced together, talked together, shared the challenges we’re facing and trying to solve together, laughed, cried, sweated, gathered around the dinner table—it was an event we created together. We discussed a wide range of topics across national borders, from the sensitive issue of North and South Korea to how we can support young people in these difficult times, and how we can reaffirm and deepen our shared sense of purpose. There were no borders here. 

Everyone’s smiles after it ended, their sense of fulfillment, and their desire to express gratitude to one another were all evident—it felt like we’d broken through a major barrier and achieved a breakthrough. I’m truly glad we were able to hold this event, and it has given me great hope for the future. I am deeply, deeply grateful to the friends who worked hard to make this happen, as well as to those who participated and came from across the sea to support us.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/14.jpg)

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Credits: Hūi-gî Kang

From **Hūi-gî Kang**:

很多的正能量。信任自己、信任他人，信任我們是大自然與宇宙運作的一部分，不需要擔憂焦慮未知，我們只要作好自己參與其中的的工作，種下種子，讓種子與土壤結合發揮潛力。挫折的時候想想這世界上不同的角落有一些跟我們走在同一條路上的人願意跟我們一起牽手跳舞、擁抱，爲彼此打氣。我們並不孤單。下一站藤野。

A lot of positive energy. Trust yourself, trust others, trust that we are part of the operation of nature and the universe, do not need to worry about anxiety and the unknown, we just have to do the work we are involved in, plant seeds, and let the seeds and soil combine to achieve potential. When you think about setbacks, there are some people in different corners of the world who are on the same road as us who are willing to dance with us, hug, and cheer each other up. We are not alone. The next stop is Fujino.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/lee2.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/lee1-1.jpg)

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Credits: Lee Yonghee

From **Lee Yonghee**:

2026年8月8日(土)・9日(日)、日本の京都「あうる京北」にて、トランジションタウン東アジアギャザリングが行われた。参加されたのは、台湾、韓国、香港、中国、そして日本の各地から、持続可能な生き方を考え、実践しているみなさん。プログラムは東アジア各地からの様々な活動の紹介や、歌や踊りの交流、インナーワーク、課題解決についてみんなで話し合うオープンスペーステクノロジーなど、多種多様な内容。様々な言語が飛び交う中で、一生懸命に伝えようと話す人、それを丁寧に通訳してくれる人、そして、その思いを受けとめ、共感してくれる人たち。この2日間、東アジアのみなさんと過ごして、いろんな思いが湧いてきた。僕たち人類は、国や民族、宗教、思想、文化、考え方や立場など、いろんな「ちがい」を理由に争ってきた。この東アジアでも、過去にはたくさん不幸な歴史があった。そして今も、その影響が残っているところもある。外国人による犯罪のニュースを聞いたとき、「これだから〇〇人は」と、よく分かってないくせに、ひとくくりにその国を悪者にする風潮がある。でも、〇〇人と実際に会って、共に時間を過ごし、生身の人間として血の通った交流をする機会があれば、そんな偏見も無くなるかもしれない。今回、僕たちはこうして実際に出会うことができた。一緒にごはんを食べて、笑って、歌って、語り合うことができた。鳥は自由に空を飛び、魚は海を自由に泳ぎ、人類以外の生き物たちは自由に大地を駆け巡っている。なのに人類だけが、自分たちでつくった国境やルールによって、自分たち自身を縛りつけている。なんて不便なことだろう。過去から学び、未来をつくっていけるのは、今を生きている僕たちだ。今回、熊本で起こった地震で真っ先に思ったのは、友人の安否。外国で自然災害や戦争が起こったとき、そこに友人がいたら？きっと同じように、「大丈夫だろうか」と心配になるだろう。そして戦争は、一番の環境破壊であり、人災だ。自然災害とは違い、戦争は人間が起こすものだ。街を壊し、森や海を汚し、そこに暮らす人たちや、生き物、植物たちの生命、生態系そのものを壊してしまう。頼むよ、人類。今、世界中で気候変動による自然災害や海洋汚染など、いろんな問題が起こっているのに、戦争なんかしている場合じゃないです、ほんまに。歴史を振り返ると、この東アジアだけでも、「ちがい」を理由に争ってしまった出来事がたくさんあった。そして、その影響は今も一部に残っている。でも僕たちは、「ちがい」を理由に争うのではなく、「同じ」ところを見つけて、分かり合うことも、共感することも、助け合うことも、できる。今回のギャザリングで、僕はそれを実際に体験することができた。東アジアに明るい未来はある。希望や可能性は無限にある。そんなことを感じた。そして僕は「在日韓国人」として、国と国、民族と民族の狭間に生まれた者として、もしかしたら、こうした人と人との橋渡しができる立場にあるんじゃないか。そんなことも、今回あらためて感じた。そして同時に、語学、もっと勉強せなあかんなぁ……ということも、あらためて痛感(;´д｀)今回のトランジションタウン東アジアギャザリングを企画、運営していただいたスタッフのみなさん、ご参加いただいたトランジションタウン東アジアのみなさん、今回のギャザリングによって、東アジアに小さな平和の種が蒔かれました。この種を芽吹かせ、育て、世界まで広がる大輪の花を咲かせるのは、わたしたちです

![🌸](https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tf0/1/16/1f338.png)

本当に2日間ありがとうございました！またお会いしましょう～( ´ ▽ \` )ﾉ

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

On Saturday, August 8th and Sunday, August 9th, 2026,   
the Transition Town East Asia Gathering was held at Owl Keihoku in Kyoto, Japan.   
People came from Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, China, and different parts of Japan — people who are thinking about and practicing sustainable ways of living.  
The program was diverse and full of different experiences, including introductions to various activities from across East Asia, exchanges through singing and dancing, inner work, and Open Space Technology, where everyone could come together to talk about challenges and how to solve them.  
Among all the different languages being spoken,  
there were people doing their best to express what they wanted to say,   
people carefully interpreting their words,   
and people listening, receiving those feelings, and responding with empathy.  
Spending these two days together with people from across East Asia brought up so many thoughts and feelings in me.   
We, humanity,   
have fought each other over all kinds of “differences” —  
our countries, ethnicities, religions, beliefs, cultures, ways of thinking, positions, and so on.  
East Asia, too, has a long history filled with painful and tragic events.  
And even today, some of their effects still remain.  
When we hear news about a crime committed by a foreigner,   
there is often a tendency to say,   
“This is why those ○○ people are like that.”  
People sometimes blame an entire country or nationality,  
even though they don't really know the person or the situation.  
But what if we actually met those ○○ people?  
What if we spent time together,  
and had the chance to connect with each other as real, living human beings?  
Maybe some of those prejudices would disappear.  
This time, we actually had the chance to meet each other.  
We ate together.  
We laughed together.  
We sang together.  
We talked together.  
Birds fly freely through the sky.  
Fish swim freely through the ocean.  
And all kinds of living creatures other than humans freely roam the earth.  
And yet, somehow, humanity is the only one that has created its own borders and rules,  
and then used them to tie ourselves down.  
What an inconvenient way to live.  
The ones who can learn from the past  
and create the future  
are us — the people living right now.  
When the earthquake happened in Kumamoto, Japan,  
the very first thing I thought about was whether my friends there were safe.  
If a natural disaster or a war happened in another country,  
and you had a friend there,  
wouldn't you feel the same?  
You would probably wonder,  
“Are they okay?”  
And war is one of the greatest forms of environmental destruction.  
It is a man-made disaster.  
Unlike natural disasters,  
war is something human beings create.  
It destroys cities,  
pollutes forests and oceans,  
and destroys the lives of the people, animals, and plants that live there —  
even entire ecosystems.  
Please, humanity.  
There are already so many problems happening around the world,  
from natural disasters caused by climate change to ocean pollution and so much more.  
We really don't have time to be fighting wars.  
Seriously. We don't.  
But we can choose something different.  
Instead of fighting because of our “differences,”we can look for the things we have in common.  
We can understand each other.  
We can empathize with each other.  
We can help each other.  
We can.  
At this gathering,  
I was able to experience that for myself.  
I felt that East Asia has a bright future.  
The possibilities are endless.  
There is so much hope.  
That's what I felt during these two days.  
And as a Zainichi Korean,  
as someone born in the space between countries and between peoples,  
I wondered if perhaps I am in a position  
where I can help build bridges between people.  
I felt that again during this gathering.  
And at the same time,  
I also realized once again…  
I really need to study languages more.  
A lot more…(;´д｀)  
To all the staff who planned and organized the Transition Town East Asia Gathering,  
and to everyone from Transition Town East Asia who took part,  
through this gathering,  
a small seed of peace has been planted in East Asia.  
It is now up to us  
to let this seed sprout,  
to nurture it,  
and to help it grow into a magnificent flower  
that can spread all the way across the world.

![🌸](https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tf0/1/16/1f338.png)

Thank you so, so much for these two days!  
I hope we meet again soon～( ´ ▽ \` )ﾉ

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/Sun-Xiao-Mao3.jpg)

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Credits: ****Sun Xiao Mao**
### Gathering Journal #3: Why Gather?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-3-why-gather/
Last updated: 2026-08-12T17:38:06.000Z
As you’ve hopefully heard by now, Transition Network International is preparing to host a [global gathering next May in Portugal](https://donorbox.org/a-global-gathering-of-regenerative-communities?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 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](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a special staging of [Town Anywhere](https://youtu.be/cRvhY4S94ic?si=n3-GR0vpX91gVpuh&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 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.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-d97a0e30-a3a5-4502-b02e-af7df6849f90.jpeg)

Standing Rock elders, Phyllis Young and Pearl Means, deliver a keynote presentation at the Transition US National Gathering in 2017

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](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2026-08-04/devastating-news-the-loss-of-richard-heinberg/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and Phyllis Young and Pearl Means from [the Standing Rock protests](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJJeNu27rM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 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](https://www.eater.com/22441013/gandhi-mahal-restaurant-minneapolis-protests-burned-ruhel-islam-interview?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), 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!”

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-1bb28e1a-15e4-4386-8953-636ddeb7268a.jpeg)

Group photo taken after the closing ceremony for the Transition US National Gathering in 2017

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.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-f328b645-b720-45ff-a5d9-0a98664b4fdd.jpeg)

Graphic recording from the Movement Strategy Session that was held as part of the Transition US National Gathering in 2017

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](https://donorbox.org/a-global-gathering-of-regenerative-communities?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
### July 2026: Hacking the Transition narrative space
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/july-2026-hacking-transition-narrative-space/
Last updated: 2026-07-16T10:47:27.000Z
Dear friends,

How can the language and metaphors we use shape reality in meaningful ways? How can Transitioners reach new members and funders to truly see, engage and support the foundational work we do?

For some months, we've been researching, reflecting and deepening our learning to support a Transition narrative shift. Emerging from the rabbit hole, we're excited to share the new [Narrative Hack](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hacking-transition-narratives/) to leverage our movement and community-led climate action to a next level. We hope it energises you and we look forward to hearing your feedback. 

Find also in this issue: news from Mexico, UK and Scotland; Thrutopia episode, Transition Gathering logbook new chapter, an invite to play the Transitioner Game that changes conversations, big bunch of opportunities and more. 

May you be safe and in community,  
  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## **What's buzzing at TNi?**

- **New** [**Transition narrative**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hacking-transition-narratives/) loading... Check out the full report and the **Regenerative Storytellers & Communicators Narrative Hack toolkit**. Let's shape reality together!

[Hacking the Transition Narratives: Shaping Reality TogetherThis is the second part to the blog Rhizomatic Adventures on Narrative Hacking I wrote last year. If you haven’t, take a look to better understand where this comes from. As you know, Transition Network international won a seat at the Rhizome Fellowship 2025\. This allowed us to learn![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-bb9641fa-3376-4d13-a754-d7e3a096a850.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/20-years-banner-61d928c1-8783-42c1-a0fd-b9c3c0d57ed5.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hacking-transition-narratives/)

- **Who's the Gathering for?** Read Dan's entry into the [Gathering Journal](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-2-who-is-this-gathering-for/).
- **What does it mean to be a Hubs Group Link?** [Read on](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hubs-link-seba/) as Seba from Argentina tells his story.
- [Don Hall: **Nobody ever said changing the world would be easy**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/nobody-ever-said-changing-the-world-would-be-easy/), but by engaging in a process of lifelong learning and continual evolution, we can make this work much easier on ourselves.
- [**Play the Game**](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/game/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **that changes conversations!** There are two upcoming sessions this month, **16 July at 12:30 UTC** and **28 July at 17:00 UTC**. You can register [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/playing-the-cultural-transformation-game-tickets-1986904905057?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

## **Heartbeat of the Movement**

- [**Everyday Changemakers**: Martin, The Stove](https://sccan.scot/blog/everyday-changemakers-martin-the-stove/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). SCCAN's Story Weaver, Kaska Hempel, talks to Martin O’Neill from the Stove Network in Dumfries, Scotland.
- Totnes, 1 August 2026 - **Young people in Totnes** are holding a one day [Festival and Assembly](https://dandelion.events/e/x4wrk?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) where young people can be held in their community to listen, talk and dance in the beautiful forested Glade in Dartington, UK.
- [**Collaborative Mycelia and Forests of Hope in Mexico**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/micelios-colaborativos-bosques-esperanza-mexico/)\[in Spanish with translation\]

[Micelios colaborativos y bosques de esperanza en MéxicoMicelios colaborativos y bosques de esperanza para tejer futuros posibles impulsando la transición ecosocial en México | Collaborative mycelium and forests of hope to weave possible futures by driving the eco-social transition in Mexico![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-a1235d49-7667-47dd-9e9d-2b963f99e809.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_7447-740a7f27-87cb-4156-b236-28df0e3fcf65.JPG)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/micelios-colaborativos-bosques-esperanza-mexico/)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-30-at-11.39.39-AM--1-.jpeg)

Our Social Weaver, Pame, met with Transition Mexico team last month. Credits: Pamela Carmona

- [**What Futures Are You Imagining?**](https://kateevansauthor.com/2026/07/03/what-future-are-you-imagining/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) The author Kate Evans has released the first episode in her Thrutopia series *Futures Remapped: The Chronicles. The First Years,* which was short-listed for the **World of Books Sustainable Story Award**. The story takes today’s world as a starting point, and explores the possible paths towards a more sustainable and just society. Check it out and download [here](https://kateevansauthor.com/2026/07/03/what-future-are-you-imagining/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

**Check out the Community Waves calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://communitywaves.space/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

## **Resources**

📒 ****'20 Years of Proof'** [****Narrative Hack report**](https://canva.link/gsgr20gbd63p7az?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

📒 [****Narrative Hack Storytellers & Communicators Guide**](https://canva.link/regen-storytellers-toolkit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## **Opportunities**

- The [**Art on Climate Competition**](https://www.artonclimate.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) invites submissions of original illustrations and animations on the theme of climate change. Closes 31 July 2026.
- [**Climate Tech Fellowship**: Supporting Early-Stage Innovators at the Intersection of Energy & Urban Resilience](https://www.nyclimateexchange.org/climate-tech-fellowship?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Deadline is 1 August 2026.
- [**Purpose Earth** **Grant and Mentorship program**](https://www.purposeearth.org/apply-for-a-grant?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They welcome applications from purpose-driven leaders and organisations finding creative solutions across environmental protection, cultural collaboration, and community activation. Deadline is 10 August 2026 (or at 200 submissions).
- **Work That Reconnects Network** are seeking an[**Islands of Coherence Coordinator**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Huwy4-Bg2YxVA8G89GaIluiYANnKXT7IrWoIcKSixpQ/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Applications close 15 August 2026.
- **UNESCO Global Youth Hackathon 2026** “Play Your Part: Youth Designing the Future of Media and Information Literacy”. Applications close 16 August 2026\.
- Training: **Gaia Education** offers an [**Indigenous Sciences online course with Dr Lylah June**](https://www.gaiaeducation.org/indigenous-sciences?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) starting in September. scholarships available until 31 August 2026\.
- **ECOLISE** has a [call for an **Intern**](https://ecolise.eu/regenerative-communities-fund-funding-fairer-futures-intern/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)for their **Regenerative Communities Fund**. No fixed deadline.

**Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners?** 

## **Stay Connected!**

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **August** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **31 July, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.** 
**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? You can [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Micelios colaborativos y bosques de esperanza en México
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/micelios-colaborativos-bosques-esperanza-mexico/
Last updated: 2026-07-16T07:00:19.000Z
\[*Translated version below*\]

### **¿Y si sí?**

El domingo 5 de julio, terminó el mundial 2026 para el equipo de México. 

Sin embargo no se acabó la esperanza y el sueño de otros mundos posibles para las comunidades mexicanas que en el dia dia luchan con coraje y pasión para corregir las injusticias sistémicas, las desigualdades y proteger la vida en todas sus formas, en unos de los países del mundo más afectados por violencia, conflictos ambientales y cambio climático.

En el transcurso del mundial una de las frases motivadoras más repetidas entre la porra mexicana era: ¿y si sí?… otorgando esperanza al equipo y al pueblo mexicano. 

Dicen que soñar no cuesta nada, sin embargo en México no es una cuestión monetaria, es más bien un elección de vida, en un país con una dura realidad y al mismo tiempo una conexión profunda con raíces ancestrales, reexistencias, resiliencia y creatividad.

A nosotros de Transición México. *Y si sí*, nos recuerda no solo el *What if* de [**Rob Hopkins**](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), sino también los sueños y anhelos de muchas luchas de pueblos originarios, comunidades campesinas y urbanas para generar otros mundos posibles a partir de la imaginación radical y el cuidado de la vida, muchas veces con acciones impulsadas más por *corazonadas,* como dicen aquí, que con un apoyo real y consciente del poder económico y político. 

Aquí se sabe desde hace mucho tiempo que la fuerza del amor de los corazones verdaderos, es la forma más valiente, poderosa y eficaz de transitar hacia otra realidad…

Un cambio que no se puede parar, radical, inagotable, invencible.

### **Del lecho de un lago salado a una comunidad próspera**

Así que venimos a nosotros y a nuestro evento: *Micelio Neza* que se desarrolló en los días 26, 27 y 28 de junio en la *Casa de las Sábilas* en Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl. Siendo esta una ciudad satélite de Ciudad México que ha rebasado el millón de habitantes y que está asentada en el lecho desecado del lago de Texcoco, originada a partir de los años 40 del siglo pasado como asentamiento informal más grande del mundo, junto con Iztapalapa y Chalco. 

Este asentamiento ha sido el lugar de destino de muchas olas de migración interna especialmente de pueblos originarios de otros estados y de Oaxaca, con una presencia aún relevante del pueblo Ñuu Savi. Ha sido un lugar estigmatizado y marginalizado por muchas décadas, pero cuya población ha luchado con tenacidad para ser reconocida, mejorar sus condiciones materiales y tener servicios, impulso que aún sigue con enfoques más ecologistas e inclusivos de otras perspectivas.

[**La Casa de la Sábilas**](https://www.instagram.com/casadelassabilas9/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) es uno de los muchos espacios de resistencia de la ciudad donde desde hace más de 10 años se hospeda una feria de economía solidaria que reúne prosumidores del noreste de la conurbación que intercambian productos y servicios por medio de una moneda social que se llama: sabila.

En este contexto llegó la propuesta de [*Micelio Neza*](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZT73lpRzZh/?hl=pt-br~&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) como un espacio de hibridación entre el artivismo y los procesos participativos de mapeo y articulación facilitados por el equipo de transición.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7489.JPG)

C: Anahí Martínez Encinas

El lado de artivismo fue bajo el cuidado de *Zurciendo el Planeta* una colectiva de mujeres bordadoras parte del Hub México que ha participado con su exposición de bordados llamado: “[Bosque de esperanza](https://zurciendoelplaneta.org/el-bosque-de-esperanza/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)” en varios espacios de sensibilización al cambio climático paralelos a las COP de Glasgow (UK) y de Belem (Brasil) y la preCoP de Oaxaca para mencionar algunos.

También se proyectaron dos documentales como impulso a la reflexión: “Los sueños que compartimos” y “Tejiendo resistencia”. El primero referente al viaje de los zapatistas mexicanos en varios espacios de resistencia de Europa para tejer alianzas y hermanamientos intercontinentales y el segundo un corto documental sobre la situación de desplazamiento forzado por violencia del crimen organizado sobre su gente y su tierra nativa forestal de los Ñuu Savi en la Mixteca Alta de Oaxaca. Ita mujer indígena del pueblo Ñuu Savi e integrante de la organización de Red de Futuros Indígenas, vino a visitarnos para exponernos el caso de la comunidad desplazada, levantando también la voz y el entendimiento sobre el rol de las comunidades ancestrales que se presentan como *solución viva a la crisis climática*, al conservar la memoria biocultural de los territorios expresándose en su lengua, manteniendo sus buenas prácticas ambientales, como el cultivo de la milpa, y la protección de los bosques que sostienen el equilibrio y permite la preservación de la vida.

CD Nezahualcóyotl se construyó en un contexto desfavorable a la vida, un lago seco de sal, el esfuerzo social para transformarlo en una ciudad próspera nos ofrece una herencia cultural de resistencia exitosa encarnada en sus organizaciones y comunidades, que siempre han estado en transición para una vida mejor. 

En una época como la nuestra donde la transición ecológica y social es inevitable y los escenarios son incierto y preocupantes, este legado y experiencia de lucha social para mejorar condiciones materiales de vida nos parece un hito a partir del cual el intercambio generacional puede revitalizar el propósito de poner otra vez la vida en el centro, no solo la humana, hacia un descenso creativo, alternativo a las tendencias suicidas del capitalismo en su fase terminal, transformando la visión de un inevitable colapso sistémico en horizontes compartidos de esperanza. 

### **Un micelio colaborativo bajo el Bosque de Esperanza**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7453.jpg)

C: Anahí Martínez Encinas

El [Bosque de Esperanza](https://zurciendoelplaneta.org/el-bosque-de-esperanza/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) con su llamado a ser como humanos bosques, nos ofreció un marco de arte, belleza, reflexión e inspiración congenial para introducirnos a la metáfora del micelio y a la importancia del tejido invisible de relaciones que mantiene próspero un ecosistema. 

Así como las redes subterráneas de los hongos conectan las raíces de los árboles en los bosques compartiendo información y nutrientes, para fortalecer el tejido social podemos juntarnos, conectar acciones, fortalecernos reciprocamente, visibilizar retos y necesidades para el sostenimiento mutuo de procesos de cambio local. 

El objetivo de la propuesta del *Micelio Colaborativo* es generar una plataforma y un directorio de redes, organizaciones y actores locales que intercambien habilidades y saberes y cubran recíprocamente bienes, servicios y necesidades para responder a lo desafíos presentes y futuros sobre alimentación, gestión de la naturaleza, salud, economía, energía, transmisión de saberes intergeneracionales e interculturales etc.

La metodología de facilitación fue desarrollada por el Hub de México para mapear bioregiones en cuencas hidrográficas y fortalecer alianzas y tejidos colaborativos de activismo regenerativo para el cambio, todavía está en fase de experimentación piloto, *Micelio Neza* fue una primera etapa que esperamos poder replicar pronto en otros contextos.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7436.JPG)

C: Anahí Martínez Encinas

En tres intensos días generamos un espacio de cuidados abierto a los representantes de más de 15 organizaciones locales que dejaron insumos por el mapeo colectivo, y participaron de varias actividades, la exposición, las proyecciones, las charlas, los círculos de bordado, la feria de economía solidaria.

Aunque la participación no fue la esperada, las conexiones generadas con espacios facilitados y dinámicas convivenciales fueron muy significativas, y sembraron las esporas para el fortalecimiento del micelio colaborativo futuro.

Nos dimos cuenta de la importancia de crear espacios presenciales de reconocimiento, valorización de las experiencias previas de las formas de autoorganización local, personas y organizaciones que han trabajado y trabajan con el territorio y las comunidades desde décadas haciendo transición ecosocial sin saber que existe un movimiento global de transición. 

La propuesta ha fortalecido el nodo mexicano de transición llenándolo de propósito, esperanza y alianzas. Estamos trabajando para sistematizar la metodología para que pueda replicarse en otros territorios de México y de Abya Yala.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7441-1.JPG)

C: Anahí Martínez Encinas

Así que con la emoción aún viva de un fin de semana esperanzador aún inspirados de la experiencia de ser naturaleza viva nos preguntamos:

¿Y si invertimos más en crear espacios presenciales donde conocernos y articularnos en colaboraciones para imaginar juntos y fortalecer nuestras relaciones?

¿Y si nos valorizamos y nos inspiramos los unos de las prácticas y acciones de los otros? 

¿Y si tejemos más conexiones ecosistémicas, fortaleciendo la interdependencia y la complementariedad entre nuestros colectivos?

Juntos sí podemos crear un tejido invisible de relaciones significativas, un micelio de esperanza que puede sostenernos y regenerar nuestros contextos de vida.

**Roberto Spano (Transición México) y Marco Aguilar (Casa de las Sábilas)**

---

## **Collaborative mycelium and forests of hope in Mexico**

### What if?

On Sunday, July 5, Mexico’s run in the 2026 World Cup came to an end.

However, hope and the dream of other possible worlds remain alive for Mexican communities that, day in and day out, fight with courage and passion to correct systemic injustices and inequalities and to protect life in all its forms—in one of the countries most affected by violence, environmental conflicts, and climate change.

Throughout the World Cup, one of the most frequently repeated motivational phrases among Mexican fans was: “What if?”… offering hope to the team and the Mexican people.

They say that dreaming costs nothing; however, in Mexico, it is not a matter of money, but rather a life choice—in a country with a harsh reality yet a deep connection to ancestral roots, re-emergence, resilience, and creativity.

For us at Transición México, “Y si sí?” reminds us not only of [Rob Hopkins](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ “What If,” but also of the dreams and aspirations of many struggles waged by Indigenous peoples, rural, and urban communities to create other possible worlds through radical imagination and the care of life—often through actions driven more by “corazonadas” (a hunch or intuition), as they say here, than by real and conscious support from economic and political power.

Here, it has long been known that the power of love from true hearts is the bravest, most powerful, and most effective way to move toward another reality…

a change that cannot be stopped—radical, inexhaustible, invincible.

### **From the Bed of a Salt Lake to a Thriving Community**

So let’s turn to us and our event: Micelio Neza, which took place on June 26, 27, and 28 at the Casa de las Sábilas in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl. This satellite city of Mexico City, with a population now exceeding one million, is situated on the dried-up bed of Lake Texcoco. It originated in the 1940s as one of the world’s largest informal settlements, alongside Iztapalapa and Chalco. This settlement has been the destination for many waves of internal migration, especially from Indigenous peoples in other states and from Oaxaca, with a still-significant presence of the Ñuu Savi people. It has been a stigmatized and marginalized place for many decades, but its population has fought tenaciously to be recognized, improve their living conditions, and gain access to services—a struggle that continues today with more environmentally conscious and inclusive approaches that incorporate other perspectives.

[La Casa de la Sábilas](https://www.instagram.com/casadelassabilas9/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is one of the city’s many spaces of resistance, where for more than 10 years it has hosted a solidarity economy fair that brings together prosumers from the northeastern part of the metropolitan area to exchange products and services using a social currency called the “sabila.”

It was within this context that the [Micelio Neza](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZT73lpRzZh/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) proposal emerged as a space for hybridizing artivism with the participatory mapping and coordination processes facilitated by the transition team.

The artivism aspect was led by Zurciendo el Planeta, a collective of women embroiderers affiliated with Hub México, which has participated with its embroidery exhibition titled “[Bosque de esperanza](https://zurciendoelplaneta.org/el-bosque-de-esperanza/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)” (Forest of Hope) in various events raising awareness about climate change held in parallel with the COPs in Glasgow (UK) and Belém (Brazil), as well as the pre-COP in Oaxaca, to name a few.

Two documentaries were also screened to encourage reflection: “The Dreams We Share” and “Weaving Resistance.” The first documented the journey of Mexican Zapatistas to various sites of resistance across Europe to forge intercontinental alliances and sisterhoods, while the second was a short documentary on the forced displacement of the Ñuu Savi people from their native forested lands in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca due to violence perpetrated by organized crime. Ita, an indigenous woman from the Ñuu Savi people and a member of the Indigenous Futures Network, came to visit us to present the case of the displaced community, while also raising awareness and fostering understanding of the role of ancestral communities as a living solution to the climate crisis, by preserving the biocultural memory of their territories through their language, maintaining their sound environmental practices—such as milpa farming—and protecting the forests that sustain ecological balance and enable the preservation of life.

CD Nezahualcóyotl was built in an environment hostile to life—a dry salt lake—and the social effort to transform it into a prosperous city offers us a cultural legacy of successful resistance embodied in its organizations and communities, which have always been in transition toward a better life.

In an era like ours, where ecological and social transition is inevitable and the outlook is uncertain and troubling, this legacy and experience of social struggle to improve material living conditions strikes us as a milestone from which intergenerational exchange can revitalize the purpose of once again placing life—not just human life—at the center, moving toward a creative descent that offers an alternative to the suicidal tendencies of capitalism in its terminal phase, and transforming the vision of an inevitable systemic collapse into shared horizons of hope.

### **A Collaborative Mycelium Beneath the Forest of Hope**

The Forest of Hope, with its call for us to be like forests as human beings, offered us a setting of art, beauty, reflection, and inspiration—perfect for introducing us to the metaphor of the mycelium and the importance of the invisible web of relationships that keeps an ecosystem thriving.

Just as the underground networks of fungi connect the roots of trees in forests, sharing information and nutrients, we can come together to strengthen the social fabric by coordinating actions, supporting one another, and bringing challenges and needs to light—all to sustain local processes of change.

The goal of the Collaborative Mycelium initiative is to create a platform and directory of local networks, organizations, and actors who exchange skills and knowledge and mutually provide goods, services, and support to address present and future challenges related to food, nature management, health, the economy, energy, and the transmission of intergenerational and intercultural knowledge, among others.

The facilitation methodology was developed by the Mexico Hub to map bioregions within watersheds and strengthen alliances and collaborative networks of regenerative activism for change; it is still in the pilot phase. Micelio Neza was a first step that we hope to replicate soon in other contexts.

Over three intense days, we created a nurturing space open to representatives from more than 15 local organizations, who contributed ideas to the collective mapping effort and participated in various activities, including the exhibition, film screenings, talks, embroidery circles, and the solidarity economy fair.

Although participation was lower than expected, the connections forged through facilitated spaces and communal activities were very meaningful and planted the seeds for strengthening the collaborative mycelium of the future.

We realized the importance of creating in-person spaces for recognition and appreciation of past experiences with forms of local self-organization, as well as the people and organizations that have been working with the territory and communities for decades to bring about an eco-social transition—without even knowing that a global transition movement exists.

This initiative has strengthened the Mexican transition network, infusing it with purpose, hope, and alliances. We are working to systematize the methodology so that it can be replicated in other regions of Mexico and Abya Yala.

So, with the excitement of a hopeful weekend still fresh and inspired by the experience of being living nature, we ask ourselves:

What if we invest more in creating in-person spaces where we can get to know one another and collaborate to imagine together and strengthen our relationships?

What if we value and draw inspiration from one another’s practices and actions?

What if we weave more ecosystemic connections, strengthening the interdependence and complementarity among our collectives?

Together, we can create an invisible web of meaningful relationships—a mycelium of hope that can sustain us and regenerate the contexts in which we live.

**Roberto Spano (Transition Mexico) and Marco Aguilar (Casa de las Sábilas)**
### Hacking the Transition Narratives: Shaping Reality Together
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hacking-transition-narratives/
Last updated: 2026-07-21T13:58:55.000Z
*This is the second part to the blog* [*Rhizomatic Adventures*](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/rhizomatic-adventures/) *on Narrative Hacking I wrote last year. If you haven't, take a look to better understand where this comes from.* 

As you know, Transition Network international won a seat at the [Rhizome Fellowship](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 2025\. This allowed us to learn first-hand the Culture Hack Labs narrative hacking methodology, and resulted in a Narrative Hack applied to Transition and community-led climate action. It’s high time we share this with the world!

📒 ****Check out & download the full** [ **Narrative Hack report**](https://canva.link/gsgr20gbd63p7az?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

📒 **Check out & download the** [****Narrative Hack Storytellers & Communicators Guide**](https://canva.link/narrative-hack-toolkit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We’ll also provide a brief guide for Transitioners and one for funders by the end of the month – will add here. 

### **The Narrative Hack goal**

We’ve been supporting pioneering regenerative, community-led transformation for over 20 years across \~70 countries. Today we see that dominant climate narratives still privilege tech-fixes and top-down solutions that perpetuate extractive systems, while community-led approaches we've already applied and proven get ignored or reinvented. Also, Transition groups and hubs have expressed their need for support with a narrative that feels compelling and engaging, in accordance with our realities. 

Therefore, **we aim to demonstrate that community-led transformation is essential infrastructure, not just inspiring supplement — shifting how storytellers, funders, and institutions understand scale and authority in climate action**.

To do this, we are engaging Regenerative Storytellers and Communicators across territories to connect our 20 years of proof to audiences ready for alternatives, making "communities as infrastructure" the new common sense.

### Language shapes reality: How we talk about community-led climate action matters

The shift from "inspiring projects" to "essential infrastructure" isn't semantic, it's about power distribution, resources, and who gets to define what counts as serious climate response. The evidence is in, it's time institutions listened.

For 20 years, 1000+ Transition groups across 60+ countries have been implementing proven climate solutions. Yet media coverage has consistently framed this work as feel-good sidebars to the "real" stories about tech innovation or policy announcements. This framing isn't neutral, it shapes where attention, belief, and resources flow.

The problem is that our own language suggested we were small-scale and supplemental, when the truth is we're essential infrastructure operating at appropriate systems-scale.

We’re starting a deliberate **linguistic transformation that makes visible what community-led networks actually are and positions the Transition movement to receive the resources proven solutions deserve**.

Every story we tell either reinforces or challenges dominant frames about what counts as "serious" climate response. 

### **The Narrative Hack materials**

The Case Study and the toolkits we’ve created give you the language, framing techniques, and story approaches to position community-led networks as the essential infrastructure they actually are — shifting how millions of people understand scale, authority, and what transformation looks like.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/TNi-narrative-docs-image.png)

📒 ****Check out & download the full** [ **Narrative Hack report**](https://canva.link/gsgr20gbd63p7az?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

📒 **Check out & download the** [****Narrative Hack Storytellers & Communicators Guide**](https://canva.link/narrative-hack-toolkit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We’ll also provide a detailed guide for Transitioners and Committed funders by the end of the month – come back here. 

Does this feel helpful to your community and projects? We’d love to hear from you!

### **The invitation**

**For Transition Communities**: Start using this [language in your communications](https://canva.link/regen-storytellers-toolkit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You're not just a "nice local project" — you're part of essential infrastructure with 20 years of proof. Own that authority. 

**For Funders**: Recognize that communities stewarding proven solutions aren't charity cases — they're the most strategic climate investment available. Redistribute accordingly.

**For Partners**: When you talk about our work, [use language that reflects what we actually are](https://canva.link/regen-storytellers-toolkit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) — coordinated networks demonstrating transformation at appropriate scale — not what makes institutions comfortable (small, supplemental, inspiring). 

### **Explore further: Learn the CHL narrative hacking methodology** 

Want to learn the Culture Hack Labs methodology and be able to apply to your very own campaigns and communications? 

Then, here are some interesting options for you:

- Watch the [narrative hacking workshop](https://youtu.be/GUdgIly4tKg?si=LDBQAp4O5DoEVOV4&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we delivered with CHL as part of the Day of Transition Practice in April:
- Watch Culture Hack Labs’ introductory videos and join the 5 Open Monthly Sessions (free), starting July 29\. Scroll down [this page](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) until you find the following section:

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/image.png)](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Some TNi team members will also be joining. We’re contemplating hosting sessions for peer learning and going through our Narrative Hack in a bit more depth, together. **Are you interested in this? Sign up for the sessions and let us know!**

This might seem like a subtle shift in language, but if we all start using it, we’re **envisioning a redefined panorama on a wider scale, where community-led action is taken seriously and gets the attention, validation and resources deserved.** 

Please share your feedback with us, we’d love to hear from you.

Best, 

*Esther*
### Gathering Journal #2: Who Is This Gathering For?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-2-who-is-this-gathering-for/
Last updated: 2026-07-11T13:11:31.000Z
One question has been following us around over the past few weeks of planning:

**Who is** [**this gathering**](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **really for?**

Simply put, it's for people who are doing transition\*.

That includes all of you who are nurturing local Transition groups, supporting regional hubs, weaving together networks, or helping the wider movement grow.

And the many of you who have dedicated years of their lives to the Transition movement. Elders of the movement. Those who have planted seeds, built communities, held spaces, organized gatherings, supported local initiatives, and kept the spirit of Transition alive through changing times. 

We hope that the gathering will also include organizations, networks and communities that may not identify as part of the Transition movement, but who are, in their own way, doing transition.

When I look around, I see many people and organizations whose work is deeply aligned with that spirit, even if they don't use that language.

Working with both the [Ecoversities Alliance](https://ecoversities.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Transition Network](https://www.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), I've often noticed how much overlap there is. Many Ecoversities initiatives could also be Transition initiatives, and vice versa. In both networks there are community food projects, regenerative farms, repair cafés, cooperatives, climate justice groups, community arts initiatives, youth projects, Indigenous-led work, local democracy initiatives, and countless other efforts rooted in place, relationship and care.

And there are many other networks like this.

One of the guiding intentions that's emerging as we plan this gathering is to **create more opportunities for friendship, collaboration and partnership, both within and beyond the Transition movement.**

Community-led networks are becoming essential infrastructure for the times we're living through. Recently, friends from the [Cornwall Climate Action Network](https://cornwallclimateactionnetwork.earth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) shared how, after a major storm caused widespread power outages, people began coming together in new ways. There was a growing openness and curiosity about what community-led responses could look like. It was a reminder that, as the impacts of climate disruption become more frequent, our ability to organize, support one another and act together locally will become increasingly important. I think this is true both on the local level as well as globally, on the movement or network level. 

Relationship and trust sit at the heart of meaningful collaboration.

And there are few better ways to cultivate them than by gathering together. Sharing meals, sitting around a fire, learning from one another, or having conversations that continue long after the sessions have finished. Discovering unexpected common ground and beginning collaborations that none of us could have planned in advance.

We're planning to reach out to a number of values-aligned organizations and collaborative networks we're connected with to invite them into this process, including The Work That Reconnects Network, Ecoversities Alliance, Global Ecovillage Network, Permaculture Association, Biomimicry Institute, Earthrise Collective, Post Carbon Institute, Sociocracy for All, ECOLISE, Doughnut Economics Action Lab, and many more. We’d also be happy to connect with organizations and networks from our hosting country, Portugal, who are working along similar paths and would like to be part of this conversation.

**If you're part of an organization, network or team that feels aligned with this vision and you're curious about being part of the 2027 International Transition Gathering in Portugal, we'd love to hear from you.** We'd be happy to share more about what we're creating and explore what it might look like for members of your community to join. Feel free to reach out via [email](mailto:danrudolph@transitionnetwork.org). 

In Community,  
Dan

*\* What does ‘doing transition’ mean?* 

*Simply put, doing work that is aligned with the* [*Transition Principles*](https://transitionnetwork.org/about/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*. You can* [*read more here*](https://canva.link/zgyl4xi9y5ow8qz?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *to get a better sense of how this shows up in Transition Groups.* 

---

If you haven't read the first journal entry, you can find it here: [****Gathering Journal #1: The Planning Board**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-1-the-planning-board/?ref=transition-news-newsletter). In it, Liza shares some of the early conversations that have shaped the beginnings of this gathering, and the questions we've been carrying with us from the start.
### Escuchando los territorios: aprendizajes desde el rol de Hubs Link
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hubs-link-seba/
Last updated: 2026-07-14T09:27:57.000Z
\[Translated version below\]

## Hola bella y hermosa familia de Transición.

Mi nombre es Sebastián. Nací en Argentina, vivo entre distintos territorios de Abya Yala y actualmente acompaño procesos de transformación humana y relacional. Soy padre de una hija, con otra hija en camino, y gran parte de mi vida ha estado dedicada a explorar qué hace posible que las personas, las comunidades y los territorios puedan convivir de manera más consciente y regenerativa.

Antes de llegar a este rol, mi camino me llevó por experiencias muy diversas: la permacultura, comunidades intencionales, el trabajo con juventudes, procesos educativos itinerantes, el aprendizaje junto a pueblos originarios y el acompañamiento terapéutico. Aunque los contextos eran diferentes, con el tiempo fui encontrando un mismo hilo conductor y mi propia esencia en esto.

Muchas de las crisis que enfrentamos además de ser ecológicas, económicas o sociales. Son también crisis de relación.

Nuestra relación con nosotros mismos.Nuestra relación con los demás.Nuestra relación con nuestras comunidades.Nuestra relación con los territorios que habitamos.Nuestra relación con el tiempo, la tecnología, los ancestros y las generaciones futuras.Nuestra relación con el dinero o la abundancia.Nuestra relación con lo visible, lo invisible.Y más…

Por eso, cuando asumí el rol de Hubs Link, sentí que de alguna manera estaba continuando el mismo trabajo desde otra escala.

## **¿Qué significa ser Hubs Link?**

Para mí, ser Hubs Link significa escuchar y proponer con el corazón por delante.

Escuchar qué está vivo en los territorios, que late en ellos para darle fuerza a ese impulso natural de crear actos de consciencia, cuidado y amor.

Escuchar cuáles son los desafíos que atraviesan las personas que hacen parte de los hubs, cuáles son sus sueños, qué aprendizajes están emergiendo y qué preguntas necesitan ser compartidas con la red global y en el círculo.

También significa ayudar a crear puentes.

Puentes entre culturas, idiomas, geografías y formas distintas de comprender la transición.

Puentes entre la experiencia local y las conversaciones globales.

Puentes entre quienes llevan años sosteniendo procesos y quienes recién están comenzando.

Más que transmitir información, veo este rol como una práctica de cuidado de las relaciones que sostienen la red.

## **Lo que estoy aprendiendo**

En estos meses acompañando a las distintss seres de los hubs, una de las cosas que más me inspira es descubrir que, aunque los contextos son muy diferentes, muchas de las preguntas son compartidas.

¿Cómo sostenemos la participación a largo plazo?

¿Cómo cultivamos liderazgos distribuidos?

¿Cómo navegamos el conflicto y las diferencias?

¿Cómo regeneramos nuestros territorios sin agotarnos en el proceso?¿Cómo seguimos potenciando la diversidad que somos desde el respeto y cuidado mutuo?

Cada persona responde de manera distinta, pero cada experiencia contiene aprendizajes valiosos para toda la red.

Cuando logramos compartir esas experiencias, el conocimiento deja de pertenecer a un lugar específico y comienza a convertirse en inteligencia colectiva.

## **Mirando hacia adelante**

Sueño con una red cada vez más conectada, diversa y viva.

Una red donde los aprendizajes puedan viajar libremente entre territorios.

Donde las distintas culturas puedan encontrarse sin perder su identidad.

Donde podamos seguir construyendo confianza, colaboración y sentido de pertenencia.

Creo profundamente que la transición no ocurre solamente a través de proyectos o iniciativas, ocurre a traves de personas y pensamientos de acciôn.

También ocurre a través de las relaciones que somos capaces de cultivar, cuidar y sostener.

Y quizás una de las tareas más importantes de nuestro tiempo sea justamente esa: aprender a tejer relaciones más sanas entre personas, comunidades y territorios para que la vida pueda florecer.

Sigamos tejiendo juntos, sabiendo que “ somos en relación” 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/FF1D78AD-534A-41F0-9BB9-D483E89E18F9.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/post-disfruta-momentos---4--1.jpg)

## **Listening to the Territories: Learnings from the Role of a Hubs Link**

## 

## **Hello beautiful Transition family,**

My name is Sebastián. I was born in Argentina, I live between different territories of Abya Yala, and I currently accompany personal and relational transformation processes. I am the father of a daughter, with another daughter on the way, and much of my life has been dedicated to exploring what makes it possible for people, communities, and territories to live together in more conscious and regenerative ways.

Before stepping into this role, my path took me through many different experiences: permaculture, intentional communities, youth work, itinerant educational projects, learning alongside Indigenous peoples, and therapeutic accompaniment. Although these contexts were different, over time I discovered a common thread running through them all—and, in many ways, my own essence.

Many of the crises we face today are not only ecological, economic, or social. They are also crises of relationship.

Our relationship with ourselves.

Our relationship with others.

Our relationship with our communities.

Our relationship with the territories we inhabit.

Our relationship with time, technology, our ancestors, and future generations.

Our relationship with money and abundance.

Our relationship with the visible and the invisible.

And much more.

That is why, when I stepped into the role of Hubs Link, I felt that I was continuing the same work, but at a different scale.

## **What Does It Mean to Be a Hubs Link?**

For me, being a Hubs Link means listening and bringing proposals forward with the heart leading the way.

Listening to what is alive within the territories. Listening to what is pulsing beneath the surface and helping strengthen that natural impulse to create acts of awareness, care, and love.

Listening to the challenges faced by the people who are part of the hubs, their dreams, the learnings that are emerging, and the questions that need to be shared with the wider network and within our circle.

It also means helping to build bridges.

Bridges between cultures, languages, geographies, and different ways of understanding Transition.

Bridges between local experiences and global conversations.

Bridges between those who have been holding processes for many years and those who are just beginning their journey.

More than transmitting information, I see this role as a practice of caring for the relationships that sustain the network.

## **What I Am Learning**

In these months of accompanying the many beings who form part of the hubs, one of the things that inspires me most is discovering that, although our contexts are very different, many of our questions are shared.

How do we sustain participation over the long term?

How do we cultivate distributed leadership?

How do we navigate conflict and difference?

How do we regenerate our territories without exhausting ourselves in the process?

How do we continue to strengthen the diversity that we are while nurturing mutual respect and care?

Each person responds differently, yet every experience contains valuable learnings for the whole network.

When we are able to share those experiences, knowledge stops belonging to a single place and begins to transform into collective intelligence.

## **Looking Forward**

I dream of a network that is increasingly connected, diverse, and alive.

A network where learnings can travel freely between territories.

Where different cultures can meet without losing their identities.

Where we continue building trust, collaboration, and a sense of belonging.

I deeply believe that Transition does not happen only through projects or initiatives. It happens through people and through ways of thinking that become action.

It also happens through the relationships we are capable of cultivating, caring for, and sustaining.

And perhaps one of the most important tasks of our time is precisely this: learning how to weave healthier relationships between people, communities, and territories so that life can flourish.Let us continue weaving together, remembering that we become who we are through our relationships."

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/07/awana-saltando-1.jpg)
### Nobody Ever Said Changing the World Would Be Easy
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/nobody-ever-said-changing-the-world-would-be-easy/
Last updated: 2026-07-08T14:30:11.000Z
In my experience, working to bring about a truly just, sustainable, and regenerative future has been many things: deeply meaningful, endlessly fascinating, hugely transformational, and overwhelmingly rewarding. It can also be transcendently joyful at times. Nevertheless, nobody ever said changing the world would be easy.

While this seems obvious, we could all be forgiven for thinking otherwise. The great Richard Heinberg, in his Foreword to *The Transition Handbook*, famously remarked that Rob Hopkins had “found a way for people worried about an environmental apocalypse to invest their efforts in ongoing collective action that ends up looking more like a party than a protest march.” Hopkins himself seemed to imply something similar when he suggested “Let it go where it wants to go” as one of his original Twelve Steps of Transition.

These statements powerfully conjure up a spirit of creativity and celebration that continues to be an essential part of the Transition Towns Movement, but they also gave many people the mistaken impression that the Transition Process is meant to unfold intuitively and effortlessly, as if by magic. Although transforming one community is certainty easier than trying to change the whole world, running a local Transition group remains undeniably challenging. Consider, for example, just a few of the many hats Transition leaders need to wear and the many tasks we need to become good at:

- Understanding the interconnected environmental, economic, social, and political trends that are currently shaping our planet and the places we live.
- Developing a holistic vision for the future that’s both realistic and hopeful enough to be compelling.
- Collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds with diverse preferences and opinions, weaving them together into a unified movement.
- Designing and facilitating successful meetings, events, programs, and campaigns that build momentum and prove a better world is still possible.
- Measuring the impact of our work and telling irresistible stories about it.
- Reaching beyond the choir to engage more and more people and partners over time.
- Managing and scaling up a complex organization, including raising the funds necessary to support it.
- Working with our own personal shadows and uncovering our hidden potential to become the trustworthy, compassionate leaders our communities need us to be.
- Avoiding burnout and maintaining balance to persist and thrive over the long run.

Of course, we don’t have to master all these skills ourselves, especially not right from the start. However, we do need to learn many of them eventually, particularly in groups where resources are limited and we can’t afford to outsource everything to experts.

That’s one big reason why Transition is an international learning network. Drawing on the experience and insights of more than 1,000 groups worldwide who have been doing this work for almost two decades now, we’ve compiled [stories of replicable models](https://archive25.transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/COP21%5F21%5FStories%5Femail%5FEng.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), convened [communities of practice](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/twelve-bioregional-partnerships-lsa/), produced [how-to guides](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [webinars](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and developed [trainings](https://training.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that can save us from having to reinvent the wheel and help speed us on our way. Most immediately, I’ll be offering a [free online discussion course](https://evolutionarychange.org/events/the-regeneration-handbook-online-discussion-course?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) based on *The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World*, starting July 19th.

And beyond [Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and its 18 regional and national [Transition Hubs](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), there are many other amazing organizations we can learn from that are part of a much larger movement of movements. A few of my favorites include [Post Carbon Institute](https://www.postcarbon.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Shareable](https://www.shareable.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Gaia Education](https://www.gaiaeducation.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Permaculture Institute of North America](https://pina.in/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Work That Reconnects Network](https://workthatreconnects.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Sociocracy for All](https://www.sociocracyforall.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Evolving Organisation](https://evolvingorganisation.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [Foundation for Intentional Community](https://www.ic.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Nobody ever said changing the world would be easy, but by engaging in a process of lifelong learning and continual evolution, we can make this work much easier on ourselves, sense and steer it where it “wants to go,” and create plenty of opportunities to celebrate along the way.

This article was originally published on Don Hall's website, [Evolutionary Change](https://evolutionarychange.org/blog/nobody-ever-said-changing-the-world-would-be-easy?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).   
  
****Don Hall** is the Training Coordinator for Transition Network and is the author of **The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World* (New Society Publishers, 2024). For more information about Don and **The Regeneration Handbook*, you can visit his website at [https://evolutionarychange.org](https://evolutionarychange.org/?ref=practise.transitionmovement.org).
### June 2026: Bioregional partnerships around the world
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/june-2026-bioregional-partnerships-world/
Last updated: 2026-06-16T12:59:21.000Z
Dear friends,

This month, we are truly delighted to **welcome twelve pioneering partnerships from across five continents to our first Living Systems Alliance cohort.** These represent a rich diversity of ecosystems, cultures, governance approaches, and regenerative initiatives. Together they form a living laboratory for exploring **nature-centred governance and design, regional collaboration, and practical pathways toward regenerative futures**. 

Keep reading to discover more about the LSA pilots plus more news and articles from the movement: the Portugal 2027 journal entry, 2026 East Asia gathering, Rovira Regenerativa in Spain, Villages of the Future film in Portugal, Nick Osborne, Mel Bivar, Rob Hopkins, and much more!

In Community,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## **What's buzzing at TNi?**

- We are excited to start this [one year logbook journey](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-1-the-planning-board/) towards the 2027 Gathering!
- Very happy to announce the [selected LSA pilots](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/twelve-bioregional-partnerships-lsa/) from all around the world.
- What does it mean to be a Hubs Group Link? Read on as [Mel Bivar from Brasil](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hubs-link-mel-bivar/) tells her story.
- Our [relational agreements](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-relational-agreements/) see the light.
- Come along and [explore the themes of the *Regeneration Handbook*](https://evolutionarychange.org/events/the-regeneration-handbook-online-discussion-course?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with Don Hall. Starting on Sunday **July 19th, 2026**.
- Welcoming you all for the **June 18th, 2026** Solstice Gathering: [Solstice Celebration: Across Light, Darkness, and Distance](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/light-darkness/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Post - The Common Space - Waves\# Next Waves Community Café Friday, June 19 - 15:30 - 17:00 UTC\* (see your time zone here(https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Waves+Community+Caf%C3%A9&iso=20260619T1530&p1=1440…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180-1d35f2d4-f400-4b45-be6f-54c6d922302f.png)Waves![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d-d0c3a8ef-bdb8-47d9-985b-1760c0949b23.jpg)](https://communitywaves.space/content/perma?id=84344&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Join the Waves Community Café next Friday June 19th

## **Heartbeat of the Movement**

- If you are in Spain, visit and support [Rovira Regenerativa, near Barcelona](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/rovira-regenerativa-spain-we-are-ready-to-grow/), Spain.
- Read on [Rob Hopkins adventures](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-day-so-hot/) at the annual *Don’t Panic Festival* in Dorset, UK.
- How is Transition Town Greater Media doing? [Check it out](https://youtu.be/hiNE%5FPhQzQ0?si=kplLeuEwSFXn6tY8&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [トランジションタウン 東アジアギャザリング 2026 / Transition Town East Asia Gathering 2026](https://peatix.com/event/4965334/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Villages of the Future](https://www.re-rural.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an inspiring documentary from Portugal making waves. Organise a viewing with your neighbours and communities!
- Nick Osborne continues with his [series of articles](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bouncing-back-isnt-the-point/) on Metacrisis, Resilience & Thresholds.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

**Check out the Community Waves calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

## **Resources**

🫶

[****Make care visible**](https://www.andrewglang.com/make-care-visible?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Lovely initiative, get inspired and spread the love

## **Opportunities**

- Wild & Kind Futures: An Eco-Conversation Series in progress! 3rd to 24th of June. [Check it out](https://events.humanitix.com/wild-and-kind-futures-an-eco-conversation-series?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!
- Ecolise [call for pathfinder communities](https://ecolise.eu/regenerative-communities-fund-new-call-for-pathfinder-communities-now-open/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Deadline is June 22nd 2026\.
- [Capacity Building on Gender Equality](https://asef.org/projects/call-for-applications-capacity-building-on-gender-equality-and-womens-participation/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The Asia-Europe Foundation welcomes applicants for this 3-day, in-person programme (Yunnan, China) for people who influence policy, programme design, institutional practice, advocacy, research, or public dialogue on gender equality in their nations. Apply by July 3rd 2026.
- [One Young World](https://www.oneyoungworld.com/scholarship/spirit-togetherness-award-2026-presented-pernod-ricard?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) invites applications from young leaders (age 18-35) building opportunities for connection and belonging in their communities. Deadline is July 20th 2026.
- 2027 [RISK Award](https://www.munichre-foundation.org/en/climate-adaptation/risk-award/news/2027-risk-award-call.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The Munich Re Foundation and UNDRR seek applications from local non-profit organisations (in middle to low income countries) reducing the risks of climate-related disasters in informal or semi-formal urban settlements. Deadline is July 31st 2026.

**Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners?** 

## **Stay Connected!**

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **July** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **30 June, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.** 
**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? You can [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Gathering Journal #1: The Planning Board
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/gathering-journal-1-the-planning-board/
Last updated: 2026-06-16T19:11:36.000Z
### June 2026

**So, fellow Transitioners — how does it feel to know we might be meeting in less than a year?**

We’ve decided to document the preparation for this gathering as a journal, to give a glimpse into the process and the decisions as they happen. This is the first in a series of monthly entries running through to May 2027\. They’ll be written by different people involved — from the organising team (Dan, Don and myself at the moment), from Transition communities around the world, from people who’ve been part of this since early on and people who’ve only just found it. Some entries will be practical, some more personal, and some will invite your thoughts. The aim is to share the process as it unfolds, while including what’s still uncertain.

I’m writing this in June 2026, which sounds like plenty of time until you look at what actually still needs to happen: venue contract, funding for travel scholarships, visa support, programme, catering, organising the volunteering teams, communications, accessibility — each one its own project. Things are moving, but a lot is still being worked out as we go.

For now, the basic framework is in place. We know the country (Portugal), the month (May 2027), and the broad shape of the programme: a main gathering with opening and closing ceremonies, skill-sharing workshops, Open Space sessions, World Café discussions, regional meetups, and evening celebrations; optional one- and two-day intensives, tours, and other activities for those staying longer; and a multi-day strategy retreat on the future of Transition and the wider movement for regenerative communities.

In all Transition gatherings in the past, starting with a small conference in Nailsworth, UK in 2007, something has happened that doesn’t quite happen in other settings. At all those Conferences, regional gatherings, and national meetings across dozens of countries, one thing keeps coming back - that **being together in person changes how the future ahead of us feels, and how people relate to each other.**

Next year it's the Movement’s 20th anniversary, and it feels like the right moment to be in the same place together, so we can keep that rooted collective vision strong and thriving. 

More on all of this as the months until the Gathering pass by. It would be good to hear your thoughts along the way. And if you’re able to share the Fundraiser, or contribute to it, you may help someone in the movement make it to Portugal.

Abraços, Liza

[The Donorbox for the Gathering 2027](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Bouncing Back Isn't the Point
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bouncing-back-isnt-the-point/
Last updated: 2026-06-11T12:35:45.000Z
[When the Maps Run OutMetacrisis, Resilience & Thresholds- Part 1![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-4abb9adff6f51a3f300eea40baf65ea0e3fac2dca03d05ce8a8040d3fdbb33ab.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterNick Osborne![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/30CA610B-9F6B-44CB-82A5-50C5E686BBC5_1_105_c-431154173d0413b60472ad177a546c9510fa435c6deef9e8ef5e309806b08231.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/when-the-maps-run-out/)

Part 1

## **Summary**

Most of us have been working from a particular model of resilience without quite naming it: absorb the difficulty, recover, return. It's a reasonable model, and it's been useful in some ways. But there's a growing sense — in people who've been through enough, or who are paying close enough attention to what's actually happening — that returning isn't quite it anymore. This piece works through three ways of understanding resilience, and finds that the one most of us have been aiming for still isn't the thing.

---

## Is Bouncing Back Enough? 

There's a word that's been circulating for a while now, carrying more weight than it can comfortably bear.

Resilience. You hear it everywhere. In team off-sites, in wellness programmes, in leadership development curricula. Sometimes it appears as a verb — *build resilience* — as if it were a competency like project management, something you could add to your repertoire and tick off. And somewhere in all of that use, the concept has picked up so many different meanings that it's worth pausing to ask what we're actually talking about when we use it.

Because the version most of us have been working from — the default model, the one built into most coaching, most organisational culture work, most of what gets described as resilience training — rests on a particular image. A spring. Compressed, released, returning to its original shape. Bounce back.

The spring metaphor feels intuitive because it maps onto a real experience. You go through something hard. You recover. You find your footing again. There's something true in that, and I don't want to dismiss it, because return is sometimes exactly what's needed. Coming back to yourself after a period of sustained difficulty is a real and valuable thing.

The problem isn't with return. The problem is with what the spring image treats as given.

It assumes that the self that returns is the self that should return. That the disruption was an interruption to a state worth restoring. That the job is to absorb the impact and get back to normal. And in a world where disruptions are discrete, temporary, and the equilibrium on the other side is stable and recognisable, that's a functional model.

We're not in that world right now. But even before we get to the metacrisis and the colliding systems — all of which I wrote about in the previous piece — there's something limiting about the bounce-back model that operates at a much more personal level. It treats the disruption as signal-free. Something to get through rather than something to read. The spring doesn't learn anything from being compressed. It just returns.

---

## Resilience as Bouncing Forward

So we moved, as a field, toward a more sophisticated framing of resilience as a concept. Post-traumatic growth. Bouncing forward.

The idea is appealing, and it's an improvement. Rather than returning to your prior state, you use the difficulty as a catalyst — emerge changed, more capable, more adaptive. The disruption teaches you something. You grow through it rather than despite it. Most personal development and leadership resilience work now operates from something in this neighbourhood, and it's better than the spring. It takes seriously that something changed.

The limitation is more subtle, and I've had to work it through myself to see it clearly.

Bounce forward is still fundamentally a story about the individual's trajectory. It asks: *what did this experience make you capable of?* It keeps the lens on you — the returner, now improved. The disruption is still an event that happened to you, still something to navigate and integrate and, in the best case, to grow from.

What remains outside the frame is the web you're part of. The relational field you inhabit, the collective conditions that made the disruption likely in the first place, the others who were part of the same difficulty and are on their own bounce-forward trajectories — none of this appears in the model. A more capable you re-enters a system that hasn't been examined.

There's something worth pausing on here, because the bounce-forward model is deeply aligned with the values many of us hold: growth, adaptation, the belief that experience shapes us. The turn I'm making isn't a critique of those values. It's that there's a version of resilience that those values haven't yet reached.

---

## Bouncing Outward

Drawing on the work of Chris Johnstone (1), at the [Bjärkan Resilience Project](https://chrisjohnstone.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), our aspiration is built around a third way of framing the idea of Resilience: **bouncing outward**.

Not a return to yourself, improved or otherwise. Not even a cleaner, more capable version of the prior self re-engaging with the same world. Something different in its basic orientation: the encounter with difficulty as a way of becoming more porous to the larger web of connections you're part of.

This is where I have to be careful, because it's easy to make this sound like a virtue instruction — *be less self-focused, pay attention to the collective* — and that's not what I mean. The shift isn't moral. It's perceptual.

What I've seen happen, in the work and in myself, is this: certain encounters with difficulty — the kind where the usual tools don't quite reach, where the scale is too large or the uncertainty too sustained — begin to soften the membrane between the isolated self and the larger system it's embedded in. Not immediately. Not without friction. But over time, something that was experienced as *happening to me* starts to be experienced as *moving through the system I'm part of*. The difficulty becomes legible at a different scale.

When that happens, the question changes. It's no longer only *how do I recover, how do I grow?* It becomes something more like: *what is this difficulty revealing about the larger web? And what becomes possible when I work from there rather than from the isolated self trying to return or advance?*

One participant from the 2024 training put it this way — and I'm paraphrasing, not quoting:

> the quality of being actually present, without anything else competing for attention, felt like a different relationship with difficulty itself. Not the absence of it. A different orientation to it. Something that belonged less to managing the difficulty and more to inhabiting the moment fully enough that the difficulty stops being something to get past.

That's close to what the third frame is pointing at. Not a technique for becoming more resilient. **A change in what resilience is *for*.**

---

## Personal Resilience is Necessary But Not Sufficient

The nested egg model — which the full series is working through — places personal resilience at the centre. But it matters that it's the centre, not the whole. Every outer layer (Group, Community, Ecosystem, Transpersonal) is simultaneously holding it. Personal resilience work that doesn't eventually extend outward isn't wrong. It's self-referential in a way that mirrors the very pattern it's trying to address: the isolated self trying to manage, adapt, and become more capable, while the web of relationships that might actually transform the conditions remains unexamined.

![](https://assets.cdn.filesafe.space/fAFGvNWRkCh0yJKFlyY1/media/69fadcd4d38dd61887291179.png)

The discomfort I want to leave with you here isn't about the work you've already done — on yourself, on your practice, on your capacity to navigate difficulty. That work matters. The discomfort is about what frame you've been using to locate it.

**Bounce back** asked: *can you return?* **Bounce forward** asked: *can you emerge stronger?* Both are reasonable questions. **Bouncing outward** asks something less comfortable: *what would it mean to let this difficulty reorient you toward something larger than your own recovery?*

---

*What would it mean for you if resilience wasn't a return — not even an improved return — but a fundamental reorientation?*

The **Meeting at the Threshold** event in Sweden in July is designed around all three framings — especially the third. [bjarkan.org/meetingatthethreshold](http://bjarkan.org/meetingatthethreshold?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Next week: the thing that makes reorientation almost impossible for most of us.

---

**A note before I close this piece:** I've been deliberately working through these framings in order, and I don't think any of them are without value. The point isn't to graduate from bounce-back to bounce-forward to bounce-outward as if it were a development path. The point is to notice which one you've been unconsciously using as the default — and whether it's doing the work you need it to do.

---

## References

1- Chris Johnstone, Book 7 Ways to Build Resilience at [https://chrisjohnstone.info/books](https://chrisjohnstone.info/books?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[****Nick Osborne**](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

This article was originally posted on [Beyond the Machine](https://thebeyondthemachineproject.substack.com/), Nick Osborne's blog exploring what it takes to move teams, groups, communities, organisations — and ourselves — beyond the machine-paradigm thinking that built the world we're now trying to navigate. You can follow Nick there for writing that sits at the intersection of organisational transformation, adult development, and civilisational transition. Nick is the founder of [Evolving Organisation](https://evolvingorganisation.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and one of ten Holacracy Master Coaches worldwide, with 30 years of practitioner experience working inside living systems. This article is part of a series drawing on the work of the [Bjärkan Resilience Project](https://www.bjarkan.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in northern Sweden — a 107-acre land-based community and resilience practice that he co-founded in Jämtland with his wife and project partner [Justine Corrie](http://www.justinecorrie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

If this resonates, subscribe for his monthly articles and practices to help you move beyond the machine.

[Learn more ](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

[](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Twelve Bioregional Partnerships as part of the Living Systems Alliance
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/twelve-bioregional-partnerships-lsa/
Last updated: 2026-06-11T12:31:52.000Z
**We are truly delighted to welcome twelve pioneering partnerships from across five continents to our first LSA cohort.** These were selected, with great difficulty, from more than 130 excellent applications. In response to this high level of interest we are also creating a wider community of practice, a lighter touch co-learning journey, and are seeking additional funding to enable inclusion of many more of the incredible regions and applicants.

[The Living Systems Alliance](https://transitionnetwork.org/the-living-systems-alliance/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (LSA) was created to support the emergence and strengthening of regional partnerships, in the belief that this level of action - combined with an ecosystem orientation - can catalyse rapid regenerative change far beyond isolated initiatives and projects. Guided by the wisdom of local living systems and the lived experience of communities and practitioners, the LSA will support regions to develop deeper skills in reconnecting, learning, designing and deciding in partnership with nature—so that nature’s inherent value, agency, and more-than-human intelligence are centred in governance and place-based design. 

The LSA inaugural Community of Practice launches on **June 18th 2026**. The regions and partnerships joining are local networks of multiple careholders, bridging civil society and grassroots groups together with public institutions, local government, researchers, faith groups and businesses. Over the coming year, we will collaborate through action learning and piloting to co-design an open, scalable toolkit for nature-centric design and decision-making. This will include a guide to place-based, living-systems-led practice, a biomimicry and “humans as keystone species” case study database, resources for nature-centric governance, and a training pathway to scale what works.

## **A Global Cohort Rooted in Place**

These first 12 partnerships represent a rich diversity of ecosystems, cultures, governance approaches, and regenerative initiatives. Together they form a living laboratory for exploring nature-centred governance and design, regional collaboration, and practical pathways toward regenerative futures. 

Over the next year, participants will learn from one another and the LSA partners, test new approaches, and contribute case studies, tools, and insights that will help communities worldwide strengthen their relationship with the living systems they depend upon.

From coral reefs in the Caribbean to wetlands in Uganda, from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil to the agricultural landscapes of Hungary, each partnership brings unique knowledge and experience while sharing a common commitment: working with communities, organisations, and the living world to regenerate place-based systems.

### **Toulouse Ville et Campagne, France**

This pioneering network connects urban, suburban, and rural transition initiatives across southwest France. Bringing together local associations, researchers, community groups, and ecological innovators, the partnership is exploring how food systems can become a vehicle for ecological restoration while strengthening connections between city and countryside.

### **Living Systems Thailand**

Based in Chonburi Province, this partnership demonstrates how the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy can be applied in practice. Through learning centres, ecological education, traditional medicine, and community networks that have reached more than 100,000 practitioners, the initiative offers a powerful example of whole-system regeneration in a rapidly developing region.

### **Koffi et les Écovillages du Togo**

Working alongside local communities, government agencies, and the United Nations Development Programme, this partnership supports ecovillage development through renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and cultural preservation. Their work demonstrates how traditional knowledge and modern sustainability practices can reinforce one another.

### **Kiwaatule-2030, Uganda**

Centred around the Nalubaaga Wetland in Kampala, Kiwaatule-2030 combines traditional Baganda governance, ecological restoration, and innovative digital participation tools. Local residents collaboratively direct resources toward restoring relationships between people, land, water, and community.

### **Sydney Eastern Heathway, Australia**

This collaboration is working to reconnect fragmented urban landscapes through habitat corridors, regenerative economic models, and Earth-centred governance. Drawing on First Nations knowledge and contemporary systems thinking, the partnership seeks to restore ecological connectivity across one of Australia’s largest metropolitan regions.

### **Regeneramos Coquimbo, Chile**

Operating in one of South America’s most climate-stressed regions, this emerging network brings together communities across three interconnected watersheds. Faced with prolonged drought and ecosystem degradation, partners are developing a bioregional weaving approach that supports collaboration, resilience, and regenerative solutions tailored to arid landscapes.

### **Teranga Alliance – Guardians of Paradise, Colombia**

Located within a marine protected area in the Colombian Caribbean, this alliance works to transform tourism from an extractive industry into a regenerative force. Through coral restoration, environmental education, and community-led governance, the partnership is helping protect one of the region’s most important coastal ecosystems.

### **Transition Common Grounds, Brazil**

Connecting urban and rural initiatives across Rio de Janeiro State, this partnership supports community resilience through agroecology, reforestation, regenerative enterprise development, and distributed leadership. Their work illustrates how networks can function as living systems, adapting and evolving through collaboration.

### **Community Catalysts of the Southwest Algarve, Portugal**

This partnership is weaving together diverse grassroots initiatives across a region facing drought, wildfire risk, and social fragmentation. Using participatory design and regenerative frameworks, the network focuses on strengthening the relationships and collective intelligence needed for long-term bioregional stewardship.

### **ReThink Red Deer, Canada**

Working across Central Alberta, ReThink Red Deer is building a coordinated regional approach to food resilience, land stewardship, inclusion, and anti-racism. The partnership places particular emphasis on Indigenous leadership, youth engagement, and creating practical pathways for community participation and employment.

### **We Are Avon, United Kingdom**

Based within the Bristol Avon catchment, this growing alliance is bringing together citizen groups, farmers, legal advocates, researchers, and community organisations to address water pollution and ecological degradation. Through river pilgrimages, assemblies, festivals, and agroecological initiatives, the partnership is helping communities reconnect food, land, and water systems.

### **Zala Green Network Collective, Hungary**

This rural partnership is strengthening community resilience through permaculture, agroecology, biodiversity conservation, and local economic development. Working in a region challenged by depopulation and industrial agriculture, the network is supporting practical alternatives rooted in community participation and ecological stewardship.

## **Learning Across Regions and Ecosystems**

These partnerships represent tropical forests, marine ecosystems, wetlands, coastal regions, agricultural landscapes, urban catchments, mountains, and drylands. They bring experience in community governance, regenerative economies, rights of nature, ecological restoration, food sovereignty, Indigenous knowledge, and systems transformation.

By sharing their successes, challenges, and innovations, the cohort will contribute to a growing body of knowledge that supports communities everywhere to design, govern and regenerate in partnership with the living world.

We look forward to sharing stories, insights, and emerging resources that come out of this incredible group and our shared learning journey together throughout the year.

The LSA is a collaboration led by [Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [The Biomimicry Institute](https://biomimicry.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Global Ecovillage Network](https://ecovillage.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Kincentric Leadership](https://www.kincentricleadership.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [Permaculture Association.](https://www.permaculture.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) These organisations and movements are bringing together their practices, frameworks and learnings from the past 20-50 years in support of this co-learning and co-design journey, and we are excited to share in a cross pollination process with the place based communities.

[\- Transition NetworkAround the world, communities are rediscovering ways to live and lead in kinship with the living Earth. In times of accelerating disruption, these initiatives![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1db8a7f6-3102-4370-b895-51c58aec6a06.png)Transition Networkadmin![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-og-butterfly-f82bf701-3f0a-42b6-931d-4d4baa78003a.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/the-living-systems-alliance/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Tecendo Pontes Vivas: O Papel do Hubs Link na Transição Global
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hubs-link-mel-bivar/
Last updated: 2026-06-02T12:55:15.000Z
\[Translated version below\]

### **Quem Sou Eu: minha caminhada de Transição pessoal** 

Salve família global! Para aqueles que ainda não tive o prazer de conhecer, me chamo Melissa Bivar, do Hub Transition Brasil. Atualmente, estou como Hubs Link, ao lado dos queridos Sebastian (Transition Colombia) e Richard (Transition Londres). 

Chegando aqui para me apresentar um pouco a vocês e quem sabe iniciar uma onda de apresentações! 

Bom, me juntei ao movimento em 2011, ano marcado por uma transição profissional, e que acabei descobrindo ser uma profunda transição pessoal na minha vida: quando deixei o universo corporativo do setor de energia, óleo e gás, onde atuei por 16 anos, e iniciei minha jornada pessoal me colocando à serviço da vida. Nesse momento eu não tinha a menor ideia do que faria dali em diante. Mas estava aberta a descobrir. Muito curiosa com todos os novos universos de vida que se apresentavam pra mim. Como a vida é muito generosa, fui apresnetada ao Gaia Education, onde conheci o movimento da Transição e desde então, tudo fez muito sentido.

Passei a integrar o grupo local do Rio de Janeiro onde aprendi muito! Sou eternamente grata a minha parceria veterana de Transição que me recebeu, Claudia Arakaki. 

Em busca de encontrar meios de sustentar minha nova vida, fundei minha empresa Social Contemporâneo, uma consultoria em design e redesign de projetos e negócios regenerativos, inspirada nos princípios do movimento da Transição. De lá pra cá, venho atuando com o Hub Brasil e meus dois grupos locais, Rio de Janeiro em Transicão e Vale das Videiras em Transição (Petrópolis) e desenvolvendo inúmeros projetos que propõem ambientes laboratoriais de colaboração profunda entre empreendedores e comunidade local, experimentando novas ferramentas de gestão, restauração ecológica e modelos econômicos disruptivos. 

Mais recentemente, estou experimentando o ambiente da UMMA Hub de Negócios Regenerativos. A UMMA é um organismo vivo de colaboração profunda entre pessoas, organizações e iniciativas que trabalham pela regeneração da vida. Mais do que uma comunidade de empreendedores regenerativos, a UMMA funciona como um ecossitema relacional, onde diferentes talentos, experiências e propósitos se conectam de forma interdependente para co-criar projetos, aprendizagens, soluções e novas economias alinhadas aos sistemas vivos. Funcionamos em modelo Holacrático de colaboração profunda entre empreendimentos.

Em 2025 fui eleita para Hubs Link. Uma experiência totalmente nova para mim. Mas abracei o desafio que compartilhei com Rakesh ( já veterano!) com quem aprendi muito. Sigo aprendendo todos os dias.

### **O que significa ser um Hubs Link?**

No Movimento de Transição, os grupos locais são o coração da mudança, e os Hubs nacionais ajudam a sustentar e fortalecer essa rede nos territórios. O papel do Hubs Link nasce justamente para cuidar das conexões entre esses Hubs e o movimento internacional.

Ser Hubs Link, para mim, é atuar como uma tecelã e polinizadora de relações. É apoiar a circulação de aprendizados, experiências e inspirações entre diferentes lugares, entendendo que uma prática local pode gerar impacto e inspiração em muitas outras partes do mundo.

Esse papel envolve criar espaços seguros de encontro e escuta, fortalecer conversas significativas e ajudar a construir pontes entre as realidades locais e a visão global do movimento.

No fundo, é um trabalho de cuidado com a vitalidade da rede, mantendo vivos os fluxos de colaboração, confiança e aprendizagem coletiva.

O papel do Link envolve:

- Promover Encontros: Criar espaços seguros para que os guardiões dos Hubs possam trocar experiências, dores e tecnologias sociais.
- Facilitar Conversas Significativas: Ir além da burocracia, mergulhando na escuta profunda para que a inteligência coletiva da rede internacional possa emergir.
- Construir Pontes Glocais: Traduzir as visões estratégicas do *Transition Network International* para a realidade pulsante dos Hubs locais e, inversamente, garantir que a voz dos territórios informe as decisões globais.

### **Meu Trabalho na Prática**

Como Hubs Link, atuo como uma tecelã dentro desse organismo vivo. Meu trabalho é escutar atentamente a rede, perceber onde os fios estão mais frágeis, desconectados ou precisando de apoio, e ajudar a fortalecer as relações, os fluxos de colaboração e os espaços de participação.

Trabalho para que as práticas de governança sociocrática sejam cada vez mais acessíveis e vivas para todos os hubs, apoiando processos mais distribuídos, transparentes e colaborativos. Mais do que estruturas, buscamos cultivar confiança, pertencimento, autonomia e corresponsabilidade. E ampliar espaços de diálogo verdadeiro e profundo é essencial.

Acredito que nosso movimento é um organismo vivo em constante aprendizagem e adaptação evolutiva. Por isso, nosso papel como Hubs Links é apoiar a sustentar conexões significativas entre pessoas, territórios e iniciativas, garantindo que o movimento continue sendo uma ponte viva entre o presente e os futuros regenerativos que desejamos construir coletivamente.

### **Inspirações e Sonhos: O Horizonte Glocal**

Minhas maiores inspirações vêm da natureza, da capacidade humana de se permitir aprender a colaborar e da potência que emerge quando criamos espaços seguros de confiança, escuta e pertencimento. Bebo das fontes da Pedagogia do Amor ( de Paulo Freire), do Design de Territorios Regenerativos (do Instituto REGENESIS) da REconomia (do Transition), Economia Regenerativa (Capital Institute), Fluxonomia 4D (Lala Deheinzelin) da Economia Donut (Kate Raworth) e do design de sistemas vivos de múltiplos autores e culturas ancestrais.

Acredito profundamente que a juventude precisa ser mais escutada, não apenas como “futuro”, mas como presença viva capaz de trazer novas perguntas, sensibilidades e caminhos para o agora. Por isso, busco apoiar a criação de ambientes onde jovens possam experimentar quem são com liberdade, construir vínculos significativos e participar ativamente da regeneração de seus territórios.

Meu sonho é ver territórios resilientes, onde a economia local seja um ato de cuidado, colaboração e reconexão com a vida. Atualmente, esse sonho ganha corpo no projeto Rio de Cima, em Petrópolis (Brasil), onde trabalhamos para restaurar o solo e a água por meio de uma aliança territorial de negócios regenerativos e jovens lideranças.

Sigamos Juntos, tecendo novos presentes.

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/mel2-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/mel-1.jpg)

## **Weaving Living Bridges: The Role of a Hubs Link in the Global Transition**

### **Who I Am: My Personal Transition Journey**

Greetings, global family! For those I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Melissa Bivar, from the Transition Brazil Hub. I am currently serving as a Hubs Link alongside the dear Sebastian (Transition Colombia) and Richard (Transition London).

I’m arriving here to introduce myself a little, and perhaps to spark a wave of introductions from others too!

I joined the Transition movement in 2011, during a period marked by a professional transition that later revealed itself to be a profound personal transition in my life. After 16 years working in the corporate energy, oil, and gas sectors, I chose to leave that world behind and begin a journey of placing myself in service to life.

At that moment, I had no idea what would come next. But I was open to discovering. Deeply curious about the many new worlds of life unfolding before me. Life, being very generous, introduced me to Gaia Education, where I first encountered the Transition movement — and from then on, everything began to make sense.

I became part of the local Transition Rio group, where I learned immensely. I remain deeply grateful to my long-time Transition companion who welcomed me, Claudia Arakaki.

Seeking ways to sustain this new chapter of my life, I founded Social Contemporâneo, a consultancy dedicated to the design and redesign of regenerative projects and businesses inspired by Transition principles.

Since then, I have been actively involved with the Brazil Hub and with my two local groups: Rio de Janeiro em Transição and Vale das Videiras em Transição (Petrópolis) while developing projects that create living laboratories of deep collaboration between entrepreneurs and local communities, experimenting with new governance tools, ecological restoration practices, and disruptive economic models.

More recently, I have been cultivating the experience of UMMA Hub. UMMA is a living organism of deep collaboration among people, organizations, and initiatives working for the regeneration of life. More than a community of regenerative entrepreneurs, UMMA functions as a relational ecosystem where different talents, experiences, and purposes connect interdependently to co-create projects, learning processes, solutions, and new economies aligned with living systems. We operate through a Holacratic model of deep collaboration among enterprises.

In 2025, I was elected as a Hubs Link, a completely new experience for me. I embraced this challenge alongside Rakesh (already a veteran in the role!), from whom I learned so much. And I continue learning every single day.

### **What Does It Mean to Be a Hubs Link?**

In the Transition Movement, local groups are the beating heart of change, while national Hubs help sustain and strengthen this network across territories. The role of the Hubs Link emerged precisely to care for the connections between these Hubs and the international movement.

For me, being a Hubs Link means acting as a weaver and pollinator of relationships. It means supporting the circulation of learnings, experiences, and inspirations between places — understanding that a local practice can inspire and impact many other parts of the world.

This role involves creating safe spaces for meeting and listening, strengthening meaningful conversations, and helping build bridges between local realities and the global vision of the movement.

At its core, it is work rooted in caring for the vitality of the network — keeping alive the flows of collaboration, trust, and collective learning.

The role of the Link includes:

- **Fostering Gatherings:** Creating safe spaces where Hub guardians can exchange experiences, challenges, and social technologies.
- **Facilitating Meaningful Conversations:** Moving beyond bureaucracy and into deep listening, allowing the collective intelligence of the international network to emerge.
- **Building Glocal Bridges:** Translating the strategic visions of the international Transition movement into the living realities of local Hubs — and ensuring that the voices of territories inform global decisions.

### **My Work in Practice**

As a Hubs Link, I act as a weaver within this living organism. My work is to listen carefully to the network, perceive where the threads are weaker, disconnected, or in need of support, and help strengthen relationships, collaboration flows, and spaces for participation.

I work to make sociocratic governance practices increasingly accessible and alive for all Hubs, supporting more distributed, transparent, and collaborative processes. Beyond structures, we seek to cultivate trust, belonging, autonomy, and shared responsibility. Expanding spaces for deep and authentic dialogue is essential.

I believe our movement is a living organism in constant learning and evolutionary adaptation. That is why our role as Hubs Links is to help sustain meaningful connections among people, territories, and initiatives — ensuring that the movement remains a living bridge between the present and the regenerative futures we long to build together.

### **Inspirations and Dreams: The Glocal Horizon**

My greatest inspirations come from nature, from the human capacity to learn collaboration, and from the power that emerges when we create safe spaces of trust, listening, and belonging.

I draw inspiration from the Pedagogy of Love of Paulo Freire, Regenerative Territory Design from the REGENESIS Institute, REconomy practices within Transition, Regenerative Economics from the Capital Institute, Fluxonomy 4D by Lala Deheinzelin, Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, and the design of living systems inspired by many authors and ancestral cultures.

I deeply believe that young people need to be more deeply listened to — not only as “the future,” but as a living presence capable of bringing new questions, sensitivities, and pathways for the present moment. That is why I seek to support the creation of environments where youth can freely explore who they are, build meaningful relationships, and actively participate in regenerating their territories.

My dream is to see resilient territories where local economies become acts of care, collaboration, and reconnection with life. Today, this dream takes shape through the Rio de Cima project in Petrópolis (Brazil), where we work to restore soil and water through a territorial alliance of regenerative businesses and young leaders.

Let's move forward together, weaving new presents.

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### A day so hot that even a Pan Galactic Gargleblaster can’t help
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-day-so-hot/
Last updated: 2026-05-29T09:30:15.000Z
*Originally* [*posted*](https://www.robhopkins.net/2026/05/26/a-day-so-hot-that-even-a-pan-galactic-garlgeblaster-cant-help/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *on Rob's website www.robhopkins.net* 

On the hottest day in May ever recorded in the UK, breaking the previous record not by a fraction of a degree as usually happens, but smashing it by a full 2 degrees, I headed to Stalbridge in Dorset for the annual Don’t Panic Festival. Stalbridge is where Douglas Adams wrote most of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and the festival is an annual celebration of his legacy. And damn it was hot, somewhere north of 32 degrees.

I was invited by [This Living Place CIC](https://www.thislivingplace.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), doing amazing community development work in the town, to run a workshop as part of the festival. This Living Place describe their work thus: “We are a community-led organisation rooted in our rural place, working together to create what’s needed for ecologically and socially thriving futures. We bring people together, turn ideas into innovative projects, and build the infrastructure that makes transformative, community-led work possible, locally and alongside communities across the UK”. Noble and timely work indeed, all infused with lashings of radical imagination.

‘Hitchkhikers Guide…’ fans wandered around with towels and dressing gowns, drinking Pan Galactic Gargleblasters, and other impressive book-themed fancy dress. And it was hot. Did I mention that? I was asked to give a short talk on the main stage in order to drum up interest in the workshop I was giving an hour or so later. I started with the first few lines from ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’:

> “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this, at a distance of roughly ninety million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet, whose ape descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea”.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-25-at-20.10.45-1.jpeg?resize=1100%2C825&ssl=1)

Don’t Panic Festival, credits Rob Hopkins

I told people that while it may indeed be “an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet”, I am rather fond of it, and that the temperature today is not normal. The reality is we may well come back to look at this as being the coolest May of the forthcoming decade, but this is absolutely not right, not normal. I said that although the festival is called ‘Don’t Panic’, now might actually be a very good time to panic, and to really grasp what’s happening to the world around us.

After an iced hot chocolate and an hour in the shade, it was workshop time, in a small marquee at the edge of the site. As you might imagine by now, it was very very very hot, although the tent did offer at least a little shade. I was definitely a shoe-in for the ‘Speaker Most Resembling a Tomato’ prize. About 40 people joined me for a workshop that ran for almost an hour and a half. We time travelled, we played games, we dived into the power of longing and why time travel is an activist’s best friend.

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Don’t Panic Festival, credits Rob Hopkins

One of the participants (see photo above) was an older woman wearing a think purple embroidered coat, with the words ‘Wizard Gran’ written on it. How she didn’t just collapse on the spot is beyond me. Maybe she’d had a few too many Gargleblasters. I managed to emerge from the workshop having not suffered heat stroke, which in itself felt like a major achievement. Lots of nice feedback from people, and nobody actually melted in front of me or spontaneously combusted, which was also a win.

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Don’t Panic Festival, credits Rob Hopkins

Thanks to Laura, Deanne and the rest of the crew for inviting me and looking after me, and to Laura for fetching me water halfway through the workshop and thereby quite possibly saving my life. I drove home listening to the BBC Radio news which seemed to mostly consist of vox pops of people on the beach in Portsmouth saying how much they were loving the heat, and what a nice ice cream they’d had. It did feel rather like they were missing the vast elephant in the corner of that particular conversation.

I dropped into a village shop to buy provisions for the ride home, got into a conversation with the woman in the shop about how hot it was and I said “well this is what climate change looks like”, to which she replied “I very much sit on the fence with climate change”. I point out to her that there was no fence, just one bunch of qualified people who do actual measurements and actually know what they are talked about, and on the other side a bunch of oil industry-funded grifters and liars, but I could sense I was getting nowhere.

As I headed home, it still hadn’t cooled even at all. It was hot. Very hot.
### Our relational agreements
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-relational-agreements/
Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:44:46.000Z
We've been working on our relational agreements at Transition Network international for a while. This is the (good enough for now, safe enough to try) version we came up with and consented to recently. These are alive, and we’ll revisit them periodically with the same care we bring to our work.

The **aim of these agreements** is to serve as a general reference for guiding how we work, volunteer and behave together as team members, trustees, volunteers, and with the wider movement and other stakeholders such as funders or collaborators. 

**Do you have any relational agreements in place in your local group, hub, or territory? We'd love to hear!**   
Also, feel free to use whatever helps you from these agreements we share today. 

## **Transition Network international’s Relational Agreements**

*Guiding how we work, volunteer and behave as active agents of the ecosystem of change*

### The agreements in a nutshell:

· We cultivate trust and accountability  
· We communicate with care and awareness  
· We honour wholeness and diversity  
· We balance flexibility and effectiveness  
· We navigate conflict and change 

### The agreements' complete version

##### 

**1\. We cultivate trust and accountability** by

- doing what we say we’ll do, and communicate early if things change;
- trusting each other’s intentions and expertise;
- embracing imperfection and learning from mistakes together;
- committing to self-awareness and taking personal responsibility.

**2\. We communicate with care and awareness** by

- listening deeply, speaking in authenticity and honouring diverse perspectives;
- communicating in clear ways with awareness of different language and cultural backgrounds;
- sharing feedback early and kindly, with curiosity over judgment;
- prioritising having difficult conversations when needed and showing up with compassion.

**3\. We honour wholeness and diversity** by

- bringing our full selves (needs, emotions, gifts) and respecting others’ boundaries;
- intentionally including identity, cultural, and cognitive diversity;
- making space for quieter or minority voices to speak;
- trusting that each role, circle and team will fulfil their accountabilities and purpose, and ask for support when needed;
- remaining aware of how oppression affects resource access and power dynamics, challenging injustice when we see it.

**4\. We balance flexibility and effectiveness** by

- focusing on what moves us toward purpose, letting go of what no longer serves it;
- supporting local first, working virtual first, minimising high-footprint travel;
- valuing both paid and unpaid contributions equally;
- respecting capacity and boundaries, and setting reasonable expectations accordingly.

**5\. We navigate conflict and change** by

- recognising and bringing awareness to conflict (personal, relational or structural) as early as possible, engaging with agreed-upon processes and resources when relevant;
- practicing solidarity, staying curious, open to multiple perspectives, trusting the collective wisdom of the group;
- adapting governance as our purpose evolves, creating role mobility where appropriate.
### Rovira Regenerativa (Spain) - we are ready to grow
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/rovira-regenerativa-spain-we-are-ready-to-grow/
Last updated: 2026-05-28T15:46:31.000Z
*This article is written by Anna Louise Gurney, founder of Boodaville and Rovira Regenerativa. The original version is in English and the article and all the links included are published in Spanish AND English.* 
  
*Este artículo está escrito por Anna Louise Gurney, fundadora de Boodaville y Rovira Regenerativa. La versión original está en inglés y tanto el artículo como todos los enlaces incluidos están publicados en castellano e inglés.*

The Boodaville Association has been active for over 10 years with youth permaculture education projects and during the last 4 years we have brought the Rovira Regenerativa project to life: we are cultivating and sharing a regenerative food system in Spain - the Río Algars area, between Catalonia and Aragon. Our story is an example of how a dedicated team can do a lot with a little, and our big news in 2026 is that we are ready to grow and secure the future of the project. We have an active [crowdfunding campaign](https://en.goteo.org/project/rovira-regenerativa?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) until the 4th June 2026, to share what we are doing, share our regenerative products - including our natural wine from the 2025 harvest- and meet our funding goals for the next steps. 

What we are building in Vall Rovira and Caseres is much more than a farm. It is a living system with the potential to regenerate the soil and the water cycle, produce healthier food, activate a local and international community, offer experiences that transform the way people live, and inspire other projects to do the same.

The project emerged from the work of the Boodaville Association and from the desire to apply permaculture on a larger scale in Vall Rovira, creating and sharing a farm of the future. Today, we are five people coordinating an active network of collaborators in the region, together with an international community that continues to grow around this vision.

I particularly love our catchphrase "Everything we do is better when it is shared", as a teacher in formal and non-formal education all my life, and as a permaculture student from 2011 onwards I am passionate about sharing good ideas and inspiring people by working together on real ecological projects. We have shared every step of the Boodaville journey for many years, and with the crowdfunder we are inviting anyone and everyone to join us; contributions range from tiny amounts to enormous donations and our experience with the first weeks of the campaign is a positive feedback loop where supporters feel great about connecting with us, (and hopefully many will visit us in the future!) and of course our energies and motivation are lifted by getting closer to our holistic goals. 

## **A farm that restores.** 

The vineyard is currently under a land-use agreement with the Boodaville Association, and since 2023 we have been implementing an agroforestry design across 8 hectares of vineyards, forest, and almond trees in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. By combining trees and crops, improving soil health, and adapting through careful observation, we work alongside local farmers and experts in regenerative agriculture to restore the land step by step.

More than 1000 young trees have already been introduced into the system, enriching the soil with manure from neighbors’ chemical-free Spanish Mustang horses, biochar produced directly on the farm, and wild seed mixes designed by ecologists. From this land we already produce grapes, olives, figs, and herbs, with plans to expand into nuts, berries, perennial vegetables, and eggs in the years ahead.

After two harvests, we have produced 1000 bottles of natural wine together with a local winemaker, and we are now ready to evolve this production even further in the coming years.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/RR-nota-prensa-poda-con-jovenes.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/RR-jovenes-nota-prensa-1.jpg)

Rovira Regenerativa, Credits: Robin Delebecque

## **Inspiring our visitors**

More than 1500 people from 30 countries have already participated in Boodaville’s activities, all designed to inspire new ways of thinking and living. Alongside permaculture courses and volunteering programs, we have spent the last two years organizing “Regenerative Weekends” — practical learning experiences where visitors work alongside us, learn from external facilitators, and build meaningful connections within our wider social network dedicated to permaculture and regeneration. These weekends have also become an important source of income for the project, while giving people the opportunity to directly experience regenerative living.

## **Connection and opportunities for local people**

Responding to the challenges of supporting eco-social transition at a municipal level and encouraging repopulation in this rural area, we have designed a public space next to the Algars River in Caseres. This space will serve several functions: a community garden of native plants that acts as both a seed bank and educational area, a plant and tree nursery for agroforestry systems, and a small shop for local products. Together, these elements create new opportunities for local people while strengthening the connection between regeneration, community, and place.

We have several weekend events in the calendar for 2026 (for example August 21-23, October 23-25) and youth opportunities for volunteering and exchanges (The UK will rejoin the EU program in 2027 so we look forward to partnering again!). You can see these on our [opportunities page.](https://boodaville.org/opportunities/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) We are also very active on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/boodavillepermaculture/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) this year as the easiest place to share video updates! 

Most importantly [the GOTEO campaign is live until 4th June 2026!](https://en.goteo.org/project/rovira-regenerativa?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/RR-nota-prensa-plantar-arboles-2.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/RR-aprendizaje-nota-prensa-2.jpeg)

Rovira Regenerativa, Credits: Robin Delebecque
### May 2026: What if... we met in person?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/may-2026-what-if-we-met/
Last updated: 2026-05-14T13:18:56.000Z
Dear friends,  
We have some news we've been been looking forward to sharing with you. Last week we officially launched the [fundraiser for the **International Transition Gathering in May 2027 in Portugal**](http://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), to celebrate the movement's **20th anniversary**. 

**It's been over a decade since we last gathered like this,** and we're more ready than ever to do it again. We're hoping that the togetherness in Portugal seeds a new rhythm and wave of deeper connection among us all for the coming years.

We're aiming to raise £50,000 to cover the venue, programme coordination, and crucially, scholarships and travel support so that people from across the movement can be there. **If you want to help make it happen**, you can donate [here](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and spread the word. Read more further in this issue about what we're planning.

In Community,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## **What's buzzing at TNi?**

[It’s Happening: Transition Gathering in Portugal, May 2027We’re gathering. Will you help make it happen?![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-48.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/HubsOnTheGrass-1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-gathering-in-portugal-may-2027/)

[gathering.transitionnetwork.org](http://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Playing Together, Transforming Together: The Journey of the Cultural Transformation GameWe’re excited to share a new chapter of our Cultural Transformation Game project. Playing the Cultural Transformation Game is more than a group activity, it’s a journey into the heart of how we relate, think, and act together. Each round invites participants to pause, reflect, and notice the![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-18.png)Cultural Transformation CircleTheresa Fend![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Bildschirmfoto-2026-04-21-um-17.03.10.png)](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/playing-together-transforming-together-the-journey-of-the-cultural-transformation-game/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Learning from and Designing with Nature: A Webinar SeriesLearning from and Designing with Nature is a series of interactive webinars running through May-November 2026 designed to explore how we can reconnect with the wisdom of the living world and apply it to the systems we are part of.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-13.png)Practising TransitionDan Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/yuri-krupenin-CIgoAHGwdA0-unsplash.jpg)](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/learning-from-and-designing-with-nature-a-webinar-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Psycho-Social Resilience: Nervous System Regulation for Organising and Collective WorkThis practice offers a simple, embodied way to understand and navigate stress in these contexts. By recognising the signals in ourselves and in others, we can begin to bring more awareness, choice and shared language to how we respond under pressure.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-14.png)Practising TransitionIlaj![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/ilya-semenov-sdvCRUbhdHc-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/psycho-social-resilience-nervous-system-regulation-for-organising-and-collective-work/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Psycho-Social Resilience: Nervous System Regulation for Organising and Collective Work, webinar happening May 14th, 16:00 - 17:30 UTC

[Host a HOPE screening & bring the wave to your communityHost your own HOPE screening event! We are thrilled to announce that Transition Network international has signed a collaboration agreement with the…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-45.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/host-a-screening-1200px-1-3.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/)

3 spots left for scholarship! Host a HOPE screening in your community

[Courses | Transition Training![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/WgBW2mgHm_edit-4.png)Transition Training Home Page![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/GnzaKKgtb_edit.png)](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

A new online self-paced course for you: ****Tech in Transition**

[Post - The Common Space - WavesHi everyone, Over the past couple of months, we’ve been gathering insights through some surveys shared in the space, along with all the conversations happening across the forum. We started noticing a…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180-4.png)Waves![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d-1.jpg)](https://communitywaves.space/s/community-garden/post/post/view?id=6542&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

****Interactive:** What do you expect from and how do you commit to a community space? Let's unpack the desire for connection, collaboration, and spaces that feel nourishing rather than overwhelming.

## **Heartbeat of the Movement**

[\[ES&+\] El corazón de la Madre Tierra nos llama a tomar decisiones poniendo la Vida en el centro: Conferencia Internacional para la Transición más allá de los Combustibles FósilesConferencia Internacional para la Transición más allá de los Combustibles Fósiles![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-49.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterDennise Dueñas![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-01-at-21.00.04--6--1.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/corazon-madre-tierra-sta-marta-away-fossil-fuels/)

[The Future Is Now:The Powerful and Practical Benefits of Combining Storytelling and Imagination Practice![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-15.png)Practising TransitionDan Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Transition_Network_Butterfly_Talk_4.24.png)](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/the-future-is-now/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Check out [this blog](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/the-future-is-now/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and recordings from the Day of Transition Practice

[Transition in Colombia: A Living Tapestry of Regeneration and HopeBy: Transition in Motion Tour 2026 Team – Mauricio Deliz, Dennise Dueñas, Claudio Madaune![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-44.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Foto-06---Self-managed-Forest-School-Semillas-Kariba-2-1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-in-colombia/)

[When the Maps Run OutMetacrisis, Resilience & Thresholds- Part 1![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-43.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterNick Osborne![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/30CA610B-9F6B-44CB-82A5-50C5E686BBC5_1_105_c.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/when-the-maps-run-out/)

[Artivism: Río de la Plata MurgaEvery February in Uruguay, many people paint their faces and take the stage. They sing together. Laughter is guaranteed, for a while. They also speak about what hurts, what touches the mind, body, and heart. This is Murga: a moment to express, without filters or fear, our social truths and![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-19.png)Cultural Transformation CircleSebastian Pibi![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/muga-uruguaya.webp)](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/artivism-rio-de-la-plata-murga?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

**Check out the Community Waves calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

## **Resources**

****· Full Day of Transition Practise 2026** [****recordings playlist**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FXC88fr6PT4&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5Flhl23-cSWMcYmRGFGbiQTZqb&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)   
  
****· Ready to download and print** [****stickers and postcards**](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **with the ten Characteristics of Transition (scroll down)**

## **Opportunities**

- [Introduction to Engaging Children in Permaculture Course](https://www.permaculturechildren.org/intro-course?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): Wednesdays, 20 May - 24 June, 2026\. A live online course for school & nursery teachers, forest school leaders, nature kindergarten teachers, parents, and other educators to learn how to engage children in all aspects of permaculture, learning from nature with a child-led approach.
- [Call for Social Projects: International Cooperation 2026](https://fundacionlacaixa.org/es/convocatorias-sociales-cooperacion-internacional?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). "Fundación la Caixa" welcomes applications from local organisations working to reduce poverty and inequality through social innovation, community wellbeing, and education. Deadline is 20 May 2026.
- [The Thrive Grant](https://www.thrivephilanthropy.org/thrivegrant?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) funds initiatives outside USA that accelerate alternatives to industrial animal agriculture, create plant-rich food systems, and/or increase access to or awareness of nutritious plant-based foods. From $10,000 USD to $30,000 USD.
- [The Pankaj Award](https://www.oneyoungworld.com/scholarship/pankaj-award-end-conflict?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): 'One Young World' invites applications from young leaders making a contribution to preventing and resolving conflict around the world. Deadline is 15 june 2026.
- St Ethelburga’s Spiritual Ecology Festival, 6-14 June 2026\. [Check out the full programme here](https://www.stethelburgas.org/spiritual-ecology-festival-programme ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners?** 

## **Stay Connected!**

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **June** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **31 May, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.** 
**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? You can [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

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Gratitude and love to all of you, from the Day of Transition Practise

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### It's Happening: Transition Gathering in Portugal, May 2027
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-gathering-in-portugal-may-2027/
Last updated: 2026-05-14T10:35:54.000Z
It's been over a decade since the international Transition movement last came together in person. A lot has happened since then, in the world, and in this wide community of communities. And through all of it, more than a thousand local groups across 70 countries kept finding ways to make their communities more resilient and supportive.

We think that's worth celebrating, and worth building on.

In **May 2027**, we are inviting Transition groups, supporters, partners and allies to gather in Portugal. It's the movement's **20th anniversary**, and we’re designing a programme that will include workshops, Open Space sessions, World Café discussions, regional meetups, optional deep-dive trainings, evening celebrations, and a multi-day strategy retreat, to think seriously about where Transition goes next. And perhaps even more importantly, time for shared meals, unhurried conversations, time outside, and the connections that happen when people who've been working in parallel finally get to be in the same space.

We've thought carefully about whether a gathering like this makes sense, in terms of the costs, the carbon, and the time. We keep coming back to the same answer: there are things that only happen in person. Relationships that form differently, ideas that go somewhere they wouldn't on a screen, and sense of the movement as a whole that's hard to hold from a distance. We feel that once in a decade, that's worth it.

We also want to be honest that "worth it" only holds if the gathering is genuinely accessible. That means sliding scale registration fees, and it means scholarships and travel support for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to come. Some of the most important voices in this movement are in parts of the world where the financial barrier to something like this is real. We don't want a gathering that reflects only who can afford to show up.

That's where the [fundraiser](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) comes in. We've just launched a campaign with a goal of £50,000, split across venue and accommodation, programme coordination, and scholarships and travel support. We wanted to come to the movement first, because that's the right order of things, and the truest form of solidarity we know. And if you can't be there yourself, a donation is a real way to help someone else get there. 

[A Global Gathering of Regenerative Communities | TRANSITION NETWORK (Powered by Donorbox)The international Transition Towns Movement currently consists of more than 1,000 local groups and 19 regional or national hubs spread across 70 countries, all dedicated to cultivating more just and regenerative communities from the bottom up. To…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon-15.ico)TRANSITION NETWORK (Powered by Donorbox)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/iqUT3lFuR12JKaVDop30-1)](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

And we're thinking beyond 2027 as well. Our hope is that Portugal is a starting point, not a one-off: that what gets sparked there seeds a new rhythm of regional gatherings closer to home, lower in carbon, easier to reach for more people. The international gathering as a moment of ignition, and then something spreading outward from it.

Many of you have been asking for a Gathering in the past few years. If you'd like to be part of making this happen, you can donate and follow the gathering journey itself at [gathering.transitionnetwork.org](https://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Esperamos que possamos abraçarmo-nos em maio 2027, em Portugal.**

### Please spread the word and support with what you can! 

[Visit Gathering Fundraiser](http://gathering.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### [ES&+] El corazón de la Madre Tierra nos llama a tomar decisiones poniendo la Vida en el centro: Conferencia Internacional para la Transición más allá de los Combustibles Fósiles
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/corazon-madre-tierra-sta-marta-away-fossil-fuels/
Last updated: 2026-05-13T17:52:32.000Z
*This blog has been written by Dennise Dueñas (Kuku) in Spanish. Find the translated version below the original text. Title: 'Mother Earth's Heart calls on us to make decisions putting Life at the center: International Conference Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels'. The photos have been gently provided by Dennise.* 

Cuando el corazón hace el llamado, todo se alinea y se armoniza. Así sentí este pálpito y el llamado en mi corazón, cuando me enteré que se iba a realizar en Santa Marta, Colombia, la [**Primera Conferencia Internacional para la Transición más allá de los Combustibles Fósiles**](https://transitionawayconference.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

Sentí una gran emoción y agradecimiento a las posibilidades colectivas de seguir abriendo caminos para cuidar la vida y dar paso creativo a las barreras que han frenado y ralentizado las acciones que aporten a respuestas efectivas y contundentes para la emergencia y crisis sistémica que sigue poniendo en riesgo la vida de la humanidad y del planeta.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-ab04a71c-c193-42c9-9a54-a138c5a34b76.jpeg)

Kuku junto a otras personas participantes en la Conferencia. Fotografías cedidas por ella. 

*Yuawika umunukunu* \- corazón del mundo la casa de todos - en lengua Iku, de la Familia Arahuaca una de las comunidades indígenas guardianas de este importante epicentro de biodiversidad cultural, natural y cósmica. Montaña más alta del mundo cerca del mar.

Este corazón de la madre tierra, territorio sagrado nos llamó para tejer la unidad en la diversidad, nos reunimos representantes de 57 países 13 grupos de interés: Gobiernos nacionales y subnacionales, científicos, academia, pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes, sector privado, parlamentarios, sindicatos, comunidades campesinas, movimientos sociales y ambientales, mujeres, jóvenes, niñez y sociedad civil. 

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Configuramos un espacio sin precedentes que pone la vida y la protección de la biodiversidad natural y cultural en el centro de las acciones, sumando más de 1.500 participantes. Las conversaciones se centraron en tres temas clave: reducir la dependencia económica de los combustibles fósiles, transformar la oferta y la demanda, y avanzar en la cooperación internacional.

Del 24 al 30 de abril 2026 sucedió un hito histórico. En estos días se convocó la “**Coalición de las Voluntades - (Coalition of the Willing)**”, un "espacio seguro" para el diálogo político horizontal, diseñado no para negociar tratados, sino para generar un entendimiento compartido sobre cómo implementar de manera práctica la salida del carbón, el petróleo y el gas, la implementación de energías limpias y el aporte de todos en el descenso energético.

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### **Perspectivas y Demandas de los Sectores**

Durante las plenarias, la atmósfera estaba cargada de urgencia y visiones diversas que enriquecieron el debate:

- **Pueblos Indígenas:** Reafirmaron que no habrá justicia climática sin el respeto a su **libre determinación** y al **Consentimiento Libre, Previo e Informado (CLPI)**, exigiendo financiamiento climático directo sin intermediarios.
- **Juventudes:** Hicieron un llamado radical para establecer un **Tratado de No Proliferación de Combustibles Fósiles** jurídicamente vinculante y demandaron embargos energéticos a estados en conflicto.
- **Coalición Ecuménica:** Presentó una dimensión ética y espiritual, abogando por la cancelación de la deuda del Sur Global como un imperativo moral.

**Propuestas Innovadoras de Gobernanza**

- **Zonas Libres de Combustibles Fósiles:** La creación de áreas donde se prohíba toda nueva exploración y explotación, como las propuestas para el **Pacífico y la Amazonía**.
- **Tratado de No Proliferación de Combustibles Fósiles:** Un instrumento legal vinculante que establezca un marco internacional para la eliminación progresiva de la producción de hidrocarburos.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-01-at-22.30.12.jpeg)

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### **Resultados Clave de la Conferencia**

La conferencia se estructuró sobre tres pilares: superar la dependencia económica, transformar la oferta y la demanda, y avanzar en la cooperación internacional. De este proceso surgieron **cinco resultados fundamentales**:

1. **Continuidad del Proceso:** Se anunció oficialmente la **segunda conferencia para inicios de 2027**, la cual será copresidida por **Irlanda y Tuvalu**, con una reunión previa en Irlanda y la sede principal en Tuvalu.
2. **Grupo de Coordinación:** Se estableció un equipo para asegurar la continuidad entre conferencias, integrado por los coanfitriones actuales (Colombia y Países Bajos) y los futuros, junto con países líderes en transición como el Reino Unido, Brasil y Francia.
3. **Incidencia en la Agenda Global:** El reporte final de Santa Marta se entregará formalmente a la **Presidencia de la COP30** para informar su hoja de ruta, y se presentará en eventos clave como la Semana del Clima de Londres y la de Nueva York.
4. **Líneas de Trabajo (Workstreams):** Se lanzaron tres frentes de acción abiertos y flexibles:
  - Desarrollo de **hojas de ruta** nacionales alineadas con los NDCs.
  - Análisis de **dependencias macroeconómicas** y arquitectura financiera, con énfasis en el alivio de la deuda.
  - Alineación entre **productores y consumidores** para descarbonizar el balance comercial.
5. **Anclaje Científico:** Se lanzó el **Panel Científico para la Transición Energética Global (SPGET)**, encargado de proveer evidencia para hojas de ruta alineadas con el objetivo de **1,5 °C** y derribar barreras legales y políticas.

### **Próximos Pasos y Desafíos**

El camino hacia 2027 ya está trazado, pero requiere acciones inmediatas:

- **Gestión de la Deuda y Finanzas:** Es imperativo pasar de las restricciones de deuda a una **capacidad de transición soberana**, utilizando mecanismos como canjes de deuda por clima y reformas fiscales progresivas.
- **Reconversión Laboral:** Los gobiernos deben implementar **planes territoriales de transición justa** que no solo se centren en el reentrenamiento, sino en la protección de los derechos de los trabajadores y la participación comunitaria.
- **Eliminación de subsidios:** Se trabajará en la transparencia y reforma de los subsidios fósiles (estimados en **7 billones de dólares**), redirigiéndolos hacia energías limpias y apoyo a grupos vulnerables.
- **Soberanía Energética:** El enfoque se desplazará hacia sistemas descentralizados y propiedad comunitaria para garantizar el acceso en zonas rurales y marginadas.

La **principal conclusión** de la conferencia es clara: este impulso debe mantenernos unidos y los esfuerzos deben organizarse a mayor escala.

> “Logramos reunir al mundo. Decidimos no resignarnos a una economía construida sobre la destrucción de la vida; decidimos que la transición más allá de los combustibles fósiles ya no puede seguir siendo un eslogan, sino que debe convertirse en un esfuerzo concreto, político y colectivo. Cuando las personas miren hacia atrás en el futuro, no recordarán únicamente esta conferencia. Recordarán si estuvimos o no a la altura del desafío de nuestro tiempo”, 

afirmó la ministra de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible de Colombia, Irene Vélez Torres.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-01-at-21.39.41.jpeg)

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Por su parte, la ministra de Clima y Crecimiento Verde de los Países Bajos, Stientje van Veldhoven, señaló: 

> *“*Puedo decir con confianza que, en los últimos días, **hemos sentado las bases para una acción concreta para alejarnos de los combustibles fósiles. Con una coalición tan amplia de países y representantes del sector privado, la sociedad civil y más allá, este es un grupo capaz de generar un impacto significativo**. Los países convocados en Colombia representan aproximadamente el 30% de la demanda energética mundial y cerca del 20% del suministro energético global. Juntos, hemos comenzado a organizarnos a gran escala para enfrentar este desafío, comprometiéndonos también a una participación sostenida a largo plazo. Esta transición requerirá navegar un conjunto complejo de desafíos económicos, sociales y técnicos. El mensaje para abordar esto fue claro: **pongámonos a trabajar y ayudémonos unos a otros durante todo el proceso**”.

**Lista final de países participantes:** Angola, Antigua y Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bélgica, Brasil, Camerún, Canadá, Chile, Costa Rica, Dinamarca, República Dominicana, Unión Europea, Finlandia, Francia, Alemania, Ghana, Guatemala, Islandia, Irlanda, Italia, Jamaica, Kenia, Kiribati, Luxemburgo, Malawi, Maldivas, Islas Marshall, México, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Nueva Zelanda, Nigeria, Noruega, Pakistán, Palaos, Panamá, Portugal, San Cristóbal y Nieves, Santa Lucía, Senegal, Singapur, Eslovenia, Islas Salomón, España, Sri Lanka, Suecia, Suiza, Türkiye, Tuvalu, Uganda, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte, República Unida de Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vaticano – Santa Sede.

📜

[Documento con compilación de las sesiones plenarias y comunicados de prensa de la Conferencia](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HUptpSOiofAug2DrKKlLKVR6hO0gGxgKPwMytita5hw/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
  
Descubre más aquí: [https://transitionawayconference.com/contributions](https://transitionawayconference.com/contributions?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-e74e2619-b89e-4d3a-a501-52c45b9b3a97.jpeg)

---

Translated version:

## **The Heart of Mother Earth calls on us to make decisions putting Life at the center: International Conference Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels**

**When the heart calls, everything aligns and harmonises.** That is how I felt this heartbeat and the call in my own heart when I learned that the First International Conference for the Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels was to be held in Santa Marta, Colombia.

I felt immense excitement and gratitude for the collective possibilities of continuing to open pathways to care for life and to creatively address the barriers that have hindered and slowed down actions that could provide effective and forceful responses to the emergency and systemic crisis that continues to jeopardise the life of humanity and the planet.

*Yuawika umunukunu* – heart of the world, the home of everyone – in the Iku language of the Arahuaca family, one of the indigenous communities that guard this important epicentre of cultural, natural and cosmic biodiversity. It is the highest mountain in the world near the sea.

This heart of Mother Earth, a sacred territory, called us to weave unity in diversity. We gathered representatives from 57 countries and 13 stakeholder groups: national and subnational governments, scientists, academia, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, the private sector, parliamentarians, trade unions, farming communities, social and environmental movements, women, youth, children and civil society.

We created an unprecedented space that places life and the protection of natural and cultural biodiversity at the centre of action, bringing together more than 1,500 participants. The conversations focused on three key themes: reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels, transforming supply and demand, and advancing international cooperation.

A historic milestone took place from 24 to 30 April 2026\. During these days, the 'Coalition of the Willing' was convened – a 'safe space' for horizontal political dialogue, designed not to negotiate treaties, but to generate a shared understanding of how to practically implement the phase-out of coal, oil and gas, the deployment of clean energy, and everyone’s contribution to energy descent.

### **Perspectives and Demands from Different Sectors**

During the plenaries, the atmosphere was charged with urgency and diverse viewpoints that enriched the debate:

- **Indigenous Peoples:** They reaffirmed that there will be no climate justice without respect for their self-determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), demanding direct climate financing without intermediaries.
- **Youth:** They made a radical call to establish a legally binding Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and demanded energy embargoes on states in conflict.
- **Ecumenical Coalition:** They presented an ethical and spiritual dimension, advocating for the cancellation of Global South debt as a moral imperative.

**Innovative Governance Proposals**

- **Fossil Fuel-Free Zones:** The creation of areas where all new exploration and exploitation is prohibited, as proposed for the Pacific and the Amazon.
- **Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty:** A legally binding instrument establishing an international framework for the progressive phase-out of hydrocarbon production.

### **Key Outcomes of the Conference**

The conference was structured around three pillars: overcoming economic dependence, transforming supply and demand, and advancing international cooperation. Five fundamental outcomes emerged from this process:

1. **Continuity of the Process:** The second conference was officially announced for early 2027, to be co-chaired by Ireland and Tuvalu, with a preparatory meeting in Ireland and the main venue in Tuvalu.
2. **Coordination Group:** A team was established to ensure continuity between conferences, comprising the current hosts (Colombia and the Netherlands) and the future hosts, along with leading transition countries such as the United Kingdom, Brazil and France.
3. **Influence on the Global Agenda:** The final Santa Marta report will be formally delivered to the COP30 Presidency to inform its roadmap, and will be presented at key events such as London Climate Action Week and New York Climate Week.
4. **Workstreams:** Three open and flexible fronts of action were launched:
  - Development of national roadmaps aligned with NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions).
  - Analysis of macroeconomic dependencies and financial architecture, with an emphasis on debt relief.
  - Alignment between producers and consumers to decarbonise the trade balance.
5. **Scientific Anchoring:** The Scientific Panel for the Global Energy Transition (SPGET) was launched, tasked with providing evidence for roadmaps aligned with the 1.5°C target and dismantling legal and political barriers.

### **Next Steps and Challenges**

The path towards 2027 is already mapped out, but requires immediate action:

- **Debt Management and Finance:** It is imperative to move from debt constraints to sovereign transition capacity, using mechanisms such as debt-for-climate swaps and progressive fiscal reforms.
- **Labour Reconversion:** Governments must implement territorial just transition plans that focus not only on retraining but on protecting workers' rights and ensuring community participation.
- **Subsidy Elimination:** Work will be done on the transparency and reform of fossil fuel subsidies (estimated at $7 trillion), redirecting them towards clean energy and support for vulnerable groups.
- **Energy Sovereignty:** The focus will shift towards decentralised systems and community ownership to guarantee access in rural and marginalised areas.

The main conclusion of the conference is clear: this momentum must keep us united, and efforts must be organised on a larger scale.

*"We managed to bring the world together. We decided not to resign ourselves to an economy built on the destruction of life; we decided that the transition beyond fossil fuels can no longer remain a slogan, but must become a concrete, political and collective effort. When people look back in the future, they will not only remember this conference. They will remember whether or not we rose to the challenge of our time,"* stated Colombia's Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Irene Vélez Torres.

For her part, the Dutch Minister for Climate and Green Growth, Stientje van Veldhoven, noted:

*"I can confidently say that, over the past few days, we have laid the groundwork for concrete action to move away from fossil fuels. With such a broad coalition of countries and representatives from the private sector, civil society and beyond, this is a group capable of making a significant impact. The countries convened in Colombia represent approximately 30% of global energy demand and nearly 20% of global energy supply. Together, we have begun to organise at scale to address this challenge, also committing to sustained, long-term participation. This transition will require navigating a complex set of economic, social and technical challenges. The message to address this was clear: let’s get to work and help each other throughout the process."*

**Final list of participating countries:**

Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City.

📜

Plenary sessions and press releases compilation document  
  
Find out more here: [https://transitionawayconference.com/contributions](https://transitionawayconference.com/contributions?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition in Colombia: A Living Tapestry of Regeneration and Hope
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-in-colombia/
Last updated: 2026-05-12T12:19:37.000Z
**By: Transition in Motion Tour 2026 Team – Mauricio Deliz, Dennise Dueñas, Claudio Madaune**  
  
Between January and February 2026, Colombia became the setting for a deeply inspiring experience: the **“Transition in Motion Colombia 2026 Tour”**, an initiative organized by Cambia el Mundo Colombia, Change the World (Norway), and Transición Colombia.

More than a series of activities, this tour was a journey through a country where transition is no longer just an idea, but a reality in the making. Through encounters with ecovillages, ecobarrio initiatives, rural and urban communities, permaculture networks, Afro-descendant organizations, and public institutions, a clear phenomenon emerged: **Transition in Colombia is alive, diverse, and expanding.**

## **A Transition emerging from multiple territories**

One of the main learnings from the tour is that Transition in Colombia does not follow a single model. It manifests in many ways:

- In ecovillages such as Nashira, where governance and community life are being strengthened.
- In urban ecobarrio initiatives like Aguacatal in Cali, where transformation happens within the city.
- In educational initiatives such as Semillas Kariba, planting a new culture from childhood.
- In rural territories that integrate conservation, sustainable production, and regenerative tourism.
- In institutional dialogue spaces where civil society, public entities, and municipal officials collaborate to integrate transition methodologies into territorial policies.

This mosaic of experiences shows that Transition, rather than an abstract concept, is a **practical approach adapted to each context.**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-08---Advising-Nashira-ecovillage-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-09---Tacuara-Bioconstruction-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-07---Zafra-Nature-Reserve-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-01---Speech-to-students-from-Oberlin-College--Ohio--USA-1.jpg)

Photos: Advising Nashira ecovillage; Tacuara Bioconstruction; Zafra Nature Reserve; Speech to students from Oberlin College, Ohio, USA 

## **Key advances: networks, methodologies, and trust**

During the tour, significant progress was observed in three key areas:

**1\. Strengthening living networks**  
Colombia has a strong base of interconnected initiatives. Spaces such as the 20-year gathering of the ecovillage movement reflect accumulated experience and growing maturity.

**2\. Practical tools in action**  
Methodologies such as Transition Initiatives, permaculture, participatory governance, conflict mediation, personal development, and solidarity-based economies are already being applied on the ground. These are not just theories, but tools that help sustain real processes over time.

**3\. Bridges with institutions**  
Important advances were observed in collaboration with public institutions, such as the exploratory work with DAGMA in Cali, opening pathways to integrate transition approaches into local policies.

## **A transition with its own identity**

A particularly relevant aspect is that transition in Colombia is developing its own identity. It is not a copy of European models, but a process that integrates:

- Ancestral and cultural knowledge
- Grassroots community processes
- Territorial diversity (urban, rural, Afro-descendant, educational)
- A strong human and relational dimension

Here, Transition is both about ecological solutions, and also about **rebuilding relationships, trust, and a sense of community**.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-022---disseminating-information-about-transition------El---gora-----Telepac--fico-channel.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-021---Disseminating-information-about-transition------El---gora-----Telepac--fico-channel.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-04---Studio-visit-to-Ecobarrio-Aguacatal.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-05---Workshop-with-officials-from-14-municipalities.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/Foto-03---Workshop-with-ecosocial-and-community-leaders-of-Sumapaz.jpg)

Photos: Disseminating information about transition - “El Ágora”, Telepacífico channel; Studio visit to Ecobarrio Aguacatal; Workshop with officials from 14 municipalities; Workshop with ecosocial and community leaders of Sumapaz

## **Global inspiration from the local**

The tour also showed how local processes connect with global challenges. Exchanges such as the one held with international students at Solunagua highlight Colombia’s potential as a source of inspiration for other regions of the world.

Initiatives such as Solunagua, natural reserves, bioconstruction projects, and intentional communities demonstrate that **practical, replicable, and deeply human solutions already exist** in response to current crises.

## **Facilitating Team**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/image-1.png)

****Mauricio Deliz** Director of Change the World Norway, expert in sustainability and Artificial Intelligence applied to social projects.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/image-2.png)

****Dennise Lissete Dueñas Riveros** Specialist in regenerative communication, intercultural education, and strengthening collaborative networks.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/05/image-3.png)

****Claudio Madaune** Director of Cambia el Mundo Colombia / Solunagua and Ambassador of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN).

Their work enabled the sharing of tools, and also the opportunity to **listen, learn, and weave meaningful relationships**.

## **Conclusion: A Country in Real Transition and Regeneration**

The overarching conclusion of this tour is clear**: Colombia is not just beginning its transition; it is already living** it in a vibrant way. Here, transition is understood in its broadest sense, integrating all the initiatives, collectives, and projects that—across diverse fields—contribute daily to sustainability, the care for life, and regeneration.

Today, there is a great opportunity for the Transition initiatives to strengthen these existing processes and catalyze the creation of new proposals based on its methodologies and systemic design tools.  
  
While the **"2026 Transition in Motion Tour - Colombia"** was a labor of love self-funded by the facilitating team that managed to sow valuable seeds, we are aware that for this impact to grow, securing resources is essential. Scaling and developing this proposal will allow the transition movement to play a leading role in the country’s transformation.

The invitation that emerges is powerful: to continue connecting and co-creating. Change is already underway, and Colombia has a wealth of experiences that the world needs to know.

## **Acknowledgements**

We deeply thank all the people, communities, and organizations who made this tour possible through their openness, trust, and commitment.  
Thank you for showing, through concrete actions, that another way of inhabiting and building community is already underway.  
  
**For more information and contact:** [giratransicionenmovimiento@gmail.com](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/home/liza/Downloads/giratransicionenmovimiento@gmail.com%C2%A0%20)  
@Changetheworld @CambiaelMundoColombia @TransicionColombia
### When the Maps Run Out
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/when-the-maps-run-out/
Last updated: 2026-05-12T11:00:18.000Z
### Summary

Many of us are navigating something that doesn't quite fit the usual categories of stress, grief, or burnout — a sense that the maps we've relied on are giving less information than they used to, that the difficulty has taken on a quality our current tools weren't built for. This is the first in a series of articles exploring resilience not only as a personal capacity to be developed but as something that lives across five nested layers — from the deeply personal to the collective, the ecological, and the transpersonal. It introduces the Resilience Egg as a way of locating where support is needed and where something new might be trying to emerge.

---

# When the Maps Run Out

Underneath many of the conversations I'm having right now, it feels like tectonic plates of meaning are on the move.

Not dramatically. Nothing you could point to easily. But underground. I've been spending time with people who are doing good work — practitioners, facilitators, community organisers, people who are thoughtful, committed, and not naive — and I keep sensing a texture to the difficulty that wasn't there five or ten years ago.

For many of these people, the work itself is more sophisticated than it's ever been. They understand complexity. They're finding ways to work with it.

And yet. They're tired in a way that doesn't resolve with a rest. The maps they've trusted are giving them less information than before. And underneath the practical questions — how do we hold this much, how do we keep going, how do we make decisions that actually stay made — there's something that sounds less like a problem to solve and more like a *question about orientation*.

It's in specific moments. The exchange with a close friend where you both find yourselves saying *I don't know* about things you'd previously had a clear view on, and neither of you quite names what that shift is. The team planning session where someone asks about the one-year picture and there's a small pause before anyone answers — not from not knowing, but because the answer feels less certain than it used to. The Sunday evening that carries something heavier than next week's tasks. Not dread exactly. Something less perceptible: a low-grade awareness that the week ahead is somehow more than just the work in it.

## Where are we?

I don't want to over-dramatise this. What I keep sensing, though — in conversation after conversation — is something about the ground underneath us. Or, the reliability of the frame we're working within.

The difficulty isn't primarily practical. The tools work. We have the skills to use them. What's becoming less adequate are the maps that help us feel like we know where we are and where we're going.

Part of why this has been so hard to name is that it's not coming from a single place. Economic instability, institutional erosion, the fracturing of social trust that used to feel load-bearing, ecological conditions arriving into contexts that weren't built to account for them, the deliberate disruption of political relationships previously assumed to be stable — these aren't separate stories. They're pressing at the same time, on the same people and the same organisations. The difficulty isn't that any one of these things has exceeded what people can handle. It's that they're arriving together, in combinations that exceed what most of our current operating logic was designed for.

There's a particular quality to this moment. On any given day, life is largely continuing as normal. There are invoices to send, schools to pick children up from, plans to make for the summer. The ordinary infrastructure of a life keeps running. And at the same time — not instead, and not sequentially — multiple systems are visibly unravelling. Economic, ecological, institutional, social. Each intersecting with the others in ways that amplify rather than cancel. The term that keeps appearing in the literature is *metacrisis*: not a collection of separate crises happening to arrive at the same time, but the compounding effect of their intersection, where the failure of one system undermines the capacity of others to absorb it.

Most of us are navigating all of this at once, all the time, without necessarily being able to put it into words. This isn't denial exactly, and it isn't compartmentalisation. It's more that the cognitive architecture most of us unconsciously rely on doesn't have room to hold all of this simultaneously — the meeting that needs preparing for and the backdrop against which it's happening. So we move between them. Attending to the ordinary. Being caught by the larger. Returning to the ordinary again. The dissonance isn't between knowing and not-knowing. It's between two things that are both fully real and won't resolve into a single coherent picture.

That's part of what makes this particular form of tiredness hard to name. It's not the tiredness of overwork, or of sustained difficulty, or even of grief — though it can contain all of those. It's partly the tiredness of holding two things at once, without a frame large enough to contain both, for longer than anyone was prepared for.

You see this strain in the decision a couple makes together about where to live — careful, well-considered, made in good faith — that still doesn't quite settle, because the ground kept shifting while they were making it (I'm in one of those couples.) In the plan a group of friends put together, with real intention, that kept needing revision, not because anyone had misjudged anything, but because the conditions it was built around weren't standing still.

This is where the work I've been exploring under the [Beyond the Machine](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/category/beyond-hierarchy?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) banner keeps arriving at the same question. The assumption that organisations are things to be engineered and optimised for predictable conditions — what I'd call the machine paradigm — isn't failing because it's been badly applied. It's meeting conditions it simply wasn't built for. And the approaches that keep emerging as more adequate — distributed authority, relational depth, developmental capacity — are starting to look less like progressive design preferences and more like practical necessities.

> The resilience frameworks most of us inherited, personally and collectively, were built on a particular set of assumptions. That disruptions are temporary. That systems return to equilibrium once the disturbance passes. That the task is recovery: absorb the shock, find your footing, continue. Those frameworks weren't wrong. They matched the conditions they were built for. But when disruptions stop being discrete events and become something more like a continuous condition — when the equilibrium you're trying to return to never quite comes back — recovery starts asking you to do something it wasn't designed for.

I know people who've invested seriously in their own inner work, who know how to tend their psychological landscape, and who are finding that individual practice doesn't quite reach what they're up against. I know teams that are skilled at navigating difficulty together, and are finding the difficulty has taken on a quality that their team skills don't quite address. Someone put it to me recently as "trying to build shelter in the right place, but not quite being sure we've found the right place yet." The shelter is good. The location question keeps returning.

The skills aren't wrong. The map is missing some territory.

And to locate this in context: the conversation about what resilience means in conditions of structural rather than temporary disruption has been developing for some time — in Joanna Macy's decades of work on facing overwhelming crisis without collapsing into despair,¹ in Jem Bendell's Deep Adaptation framework,² and in the social-ecological systems research that has shaped how we understand nested living systems and how they absorb shocks.³ What follows tries to hold together what these (and others) have each been pointing at. It isn't a replacement for any of them.

When the maps run out, the instinct is to find a better one — a framework that works where the previous ones haven't. Sometimes that's exactly the right move. But sometimes what's being asked is something prior to that: a genuine reckoning with the fact that what's changed isn't something a new framework resolves. It's the conditions within which any framework operates.

Which is where the idea of a **threshold** becomes useful — not as a metaphor for hardship, but as a description of a particular kind of moment.

> A threshold is where the stability that sustained the previous way of operating is gone, and forward movement requires accepting that the future will be different to the past. Not worse, necessarily. Different enough that the old maps stop serving as guides and start functioning as distractions.

The threshold isn't the disruption itself. It's the recognition that the disruption is structural rather than temporary — that what's gone isn't coming back, and something new needs to be built rather than the previous stability restored. That recognition is uncomfortable. It's also what makes movement possible.

## A different kind of map

The Resilience Egg is a way to understand where those thresholds are currently presenting — at each layer of resilience, across many of our lives at once.

![The Resilience Egg](https://assets.cdn.filesafe.space/fAFGvNWRkCh0yJKFlyY1/media/69fadcd4d38dd61887291179.png "The Resilience Egg")

The name is deliberate. An egg isn't only a container. It's fertile and generative. These layers don't exist only to protect what's inside them; they create the conditions for something new to emerge. The question the Resilience Egg keeps opening isn't only *how do we hold?* It's *what becomes possible when we're held by something larger than ourselves?*

Five layers, nested: each one containing and depending on the others. At the centre, the personal — emotional and psychological. Moving outward: the group or team, then community, then the ecological, and at the outermost layer something that [Justine Corrie](http://www.justinecorrie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (my wife and partner in this work) and I call the transpersonal — the resources of ancestry, archetype, ritual, and the kinds of knowing that don't belong to the individual alone.

Each layer gets its own article in this series. But before we go there: the most common gap in resilience work isn't that any single layer is weak. It's that effort concentrates in one layer while the others remain unattended. A team with genuine trust and psychological safety can still find itself overwhelmed — not because the relational work has failed, but because what's arriving from outside has exceeded what good internal process can navigate alone. A person with a serious inner practice can come back from the practice and find the same unsteadiness they left — not because the practice is wrong, but because what it's being asked to hold has outgrown what any single layer can carry.

These layers don't operate in isolation. A gap in community resilience creates a drain on group resilience. A depleted relationship with the ecological world erodes the sense of meaning that makes personal resilience sustainable over time. And the reverse: strength at one layer opens resources in the others.

The Resilience Egg isn't a model to master. Its job is simpler — to help you sense where support is needed, where strength might already be living that you haven't yet named, and what becomes possible when these layers are tended together rather than one at a time.

## Before the next piece- three questions

Of the five layers — personal, group, community, ecological, transpersonal — which one feels most like home? Where do you naturally orient when things get hard?

And which feels furthest from where you are right now? Not the most intellectually unfamiliar. The one where, if you're honest, you sense the largest gap between what's needed and what's actually available.

And a third question, perhaps the most useful one: where do you sense a threshold? Not just a gap or a difficulty, but the specific feeling that the previous stability in this layer isn't coming back in the same form — that forward movement here requires accepting that, rather than working toward restoration.

Wherever that noticing lands, that's usually where the important work begins. You don't need to do anything with it yet. Just notice. We'll come back to it.

---

### *Next week: what resilience has been carrying — and what it might be leaving out.*

*This series connects to something we'll be working with in practice — across ten days, in community, on 107 acres in northern Sweden — this summer. If you want to see what the full Resilience Egg looks like as lived experience rather than theory, find out more at* [*Meeting at the Threshold*](https://www.bjarkan.org/meetingatthethreshold?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

---

## References and further reading

\- ¹ Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, *Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're In with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power* (revised edition, 2022); Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown, *Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects* (2014). Joanna Macy died in July 2025 at the age of 96\. The Work That Reconnects continues at [workthatreconnects.org](http://workthatreconnects.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- ² Jem Bendell, *Breaking Together: A Freedom-Loving Response to Collapse* (2023). The Deep Adaptation framework, first introduced in 2018, has evolved through several iterations and is now developed as the 6Rs. [https://jembendell.com](https://jembendell.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- ³ The Resilience Alliance and the social-ecological systems lineage — foundational work on nested adaptive cycles (panarchy), and the distinction between robustness, adaptability, and transformability as different kinds of resilience capacity [https://resalliance.org](https://resalliance.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- The Transition Movement — community-scale relocalisation and the inner and cultural dimensions of resilience work, founded by Rob Hopkins and others [https://transitionnetwork.org](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- Global Ecovillage Network, *Ecovillage Resilience +2.5°* — participatory research with 20 communities across 18 countries exploring resilience, adaptation and transformation (completed 2024). Now evolving into the Keystone Communities project, working with 85 practitioners across 49 communities in 28 countries. [https://ecovillage.org](https://ecovillage.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, *Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism* (2021). [https://decolonialfutures.net](https://decolonialfutures.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- Bayo Akomolafe, *These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home* (2017), and the Emergence Network. [https://bayoakomolafe.net](https://bayoakomolafe.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- Post Carbon Institute — *The Community Resilience Reader* and the *Six Foundations for Building Community Resilience*. [https://resilience.org](https://resilience.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\- Leading Through Storms — practitioner work on leadership in conditions of polycrisis. [https://leadingthroughstorms.org](https://leadingthroughstorms.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[****Nick Osborne**](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

This article was originally posted on [Beyond the Machine](https://thebeyondthemachineproject.substack.com/), Nick Osborne's blog exploring what it takes to move teams, groups, communities, organisations — and ourselves — beyond the machine-paradigm thinking that built the world we're now trying to navigate. You can follow Nick there for writing that sits at the intersection of organisational transformation, adult development, and civilisational transition. Nick is the founder of [Evolving Organisation](https://evolvingorganisation.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and one of ten Holacracy Master Coaches worldwide, with 30 years of practitioner experience working inside living systems. This article is part of a series drawing on the work of the [Bjärkan Resilience Project](https://www.bjarkan.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in northern Sweden — a 107-acre land-based community and resilience practice that he co-founded in Jämtland with his wife and project partner [Justine Corrie](http://www.justinecorrie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

If this resonates, subscribe for his monthly articles and practices to help you move beyond the machine.

[Learn more ](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

[](https://evolvingorganisation.co/blog/author/67ef95a97f59f60a0732b66b?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### April 2026: Day of Transition Practise!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/april-2026-day-of-transition-practise/
Last updated: 2026-04-16T09:12:14.000Z
Dear friends,  
As a distributed global movement, touchpoints throughout the year are essential for deepening connection, building solidarity, and sharing the rich learnings emerging across our diverse communities, bridging the local and the global.

The [**Day of Transition Practise**](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (DoTP), taking place next **Friday April 24 2026**, is one such moment: a **24-hour gathering designed to welcome participation across time zones**, wherever you are. A moment where we show the world that community-led action is essential infrastructure. You are welcome to come to one session or the whole day. The programme includes **open cafés** for connection throughout the day, **interactive workshops** (including an imagination session with Filipa Pimentel and Rob Hopkins, and a narrative hacking workshop led by Esther Molina and the Rhizome Fellowship team), as well as **panels showcasing inspiring work** happening in communities worldwide. This **free event** is **open to all**, and we warmly invite you to join us in this shared space of learning, celebration and collective emergence.

The rest of this e-news edition is full of things to get involved with, stories from the movement, and a few opportunities worth knowing about. As always, we'd love to hear what's happening where you are. Meet us at [Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- In around 10 days we meet for a whole day of togetherness, shared practices, talks and inspiration! [Here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the full **programme and registration** for the **Day of Transition Practice** on **Friday, 24 April 2026**. Bookmark the sessions you'd like to attend and join us!

[Day of Transition Practise 2026 Programme & RegistrationsJoin us in a very special day when Transitioners all around the world come together to share and learn from each other!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-6.png)Practising TransitionElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/banner-DoTP-4-.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- You are warmly invited to join us this May, under the light of the **Full Moon**, to pause and reconnect in a shared space of collective healing and awareness. **Friday, May 1st, 15:00 – 16:30 UTC, in English & Spanish** with live interpretation.

[Holding the Moment Together: A Full Moon Invitation to Collective ConsciousnessAt a time when much is unraveling and much is being reimagined, you are warmly invited to join us this May, under the light of the Full Moon, to pause together, and to reconnect in a shared space of collective healing and awareness. Friday, May 1st, 15:00 – 16:30![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-16.png)Cultural Transformation CircleTheresa Fend![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/mikhail-benitez-wX1EFpC6v9Y-unsplash.jpg)](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/full-moon-may/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Useful practice for navigating life (gesturing all around): **Psycho-Social Resilience: Nervous System Regulation for Organising and Collective Work** on **Thursday, May 14th, 16:00 - 17:30 UTC**.

[Psycho-Social Resilience: Nervous System Regulation for Organising and Collective WorkThis practice offers a simple, embodied way to understand and navigate stress in these contexts. By recognising the signals in ourselves and in others, we can begin to bring more awareness, choice and shared language to how we respond under pressure.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-12.png)Practising TransitionIlaj![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/ilya-semenov-sdvCRUbhdHc-unsplash.jpg)](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/psycho-social-resilience-nervous-system-regulation-for-organising-and-collective-work/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/4.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

[Transform a Community: Help Bring Transition Training to Uganda | TRANSITION NETWORK (Powered by Donorbox)Join us in empowering local changemakers through a week-long Transition Launch Training at the Butambala Permaculture Learning Center (BPLC) this June. Your donation will provide critical resources, tools and expert guidance for people who are alr…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon-11.ico)TRANSITION NETWORK (Powered by Donorbox)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/L7uijt2vQOYSq9uwLBQS)](https://donorbox.org/transform-a-community-help-bring-transition-training-to-uganda?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Help us support](https://donorbox.org/transform-a-community-help-bring-transition-training-to-uganda?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) local changemakers in Uganda through a week-long [Transition Launch Training](https://training.transitionnetwork.org/our-trainings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) this June - every little helps!

[Pathways to local economic system changeIf we’re working for a ‘post growth’ economics, that will entail actual people turning ideas into actually existing enterprises and institutions. How can we create the conditions for new economic actors, models and relationships to emerge?![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-38.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterJay Tompt![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/5f2a7931-4da5-4627-8e6b-80a5ed602ada_2514x832.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/pathways-to-local-economic-system-change/)

[Just Transition Workshops Coming UPYou’re warmly invited to be part of our upcoming workshop series, exploring the question “Who are we?” — and how deeper self‑understanding can help build collective strength and shared power. These workshops offer a chance to meet, learn alongside, and be guided by members of Transition Together’s Just![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/ourfuture.jpeg)Transition TogetherSam![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/JT-events-newsletter-image.png)](https://news.transitiontogether.org.uk/just-transition-workshops-coming-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[International Premiere of the short film “In The Making” made by the Youth Circle UKWelcoming you to the international screening of ‘In The Making’, about young people across the UK who are navigating their own unique paths and driving social change.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-37.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/youth-circle-uk.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/international-premiere-of-the-short-film-in-the-making-made-by-the-youth-circle-uk/)

[Collab Jovem at Humanaterra, BrazilCollab Jovem by Transition Brasil - a living experience of Transition in action![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-39.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-08-at-19.51.06--2--1.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/collab-jovem-at-humanaterra-brazil/)

[Sustainable Chipping Norton is spreading the wave of Hope!A couple days ago @Cara Hedges and Kari Beardshell hosted a beautiful event. With almost 40 people atttending, groups like Chipping Norton Green Gym, Enstone Eco, ENCON, People Planet Pint, Climate Psychology Alliance, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Sustainable Kirtlington, Sustainable Charlbury and people involved in Citizen Science, River Action,![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-40.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Sustainable-Chipping-Norton-Cara-Hedges-20260324_183325.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/sustainable-chipping-norton-is-spreading-the-wave-of-hope/)

[Voices from Abya Yala: What Water RemembersYemanjá, Capoeira and Living Memory in Brazil Every February in Brazil, many people dressed in white walk toward the sea. They carry flowers, songs and baskets. Celebrating and showing respect towards Water as a Living Being.. The celebration is for Mãe Yemanjá, or Mother Yemanjá, the Mother of the Waters![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-17.png)Cultural Transformation CircleSebastian Pibi![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Bildschirmfoto-2026-04-06-um-19.27.49.png)](https://culture.transitionnetwork.org/water-remembers/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Annaïg bringing change to Plabannec, FranceThe exciting story of how Plabennec en Transition organised around local elections as a way of bringing change.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-41.png)Transition Network News & NewsletterRob Hopkins![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/1775718975670.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/annaig-bringing-change-to-plabannec-france/)

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

**Check out the Community Waves calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/1.png) 

## Resources

[Just Transition Cards - Transition Network ResourcesThese Just Transition cards are an open source, emerging collection of ideas and thoughts. They encompass marginalised groups’ ideas around inclusion and why![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon.png.pagespeed.ce.0p-hi9blHP-1.png)Transition Network Resources![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Just-Transition-Cards-01.png)](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resource/just-transition-cards/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Great Movies for OrganizersView Books View Podcasts Ready for a movie night that feeds your soul? We’ve curated a collection of great movement movies for you, friends and family. Where to watch information is only included if there is a unique unusual place to watch or if it is available free. Most movies are available on one of several paid streaming platforms, but access may vary based on your location and access may change as platforms update their collections. Some films are streaming free on Kanopy in the U.S. (a place to watch movies free with a library card). Some are not currently available in some countries (e.g. the U.S.) but you can access with a VPN routed through another country. This \[…\]![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-logoSMT-270x270.png)Social Movement Technologies![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Movies-1-1.png)](https://socialmovementtechnologies.org/movies/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- Climate Pledge & The National Geographic Society [invite applications](https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/grants-and-investments/rfp-the-climate-pledge/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from **storytellers creating projects around climate resilience and solutions**, with lived experience within the communities their stories centre. Up to 100.000$. Deadline: **25 May 2026.**
- **Youth Training**. Young people (age 16-25) can apply for the [World Literacy Foundation’s Youth Ambassador Programme](https://worldliteracyfoundation.org/ambassador-program/ ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), to gain the knowledge and skills to advocate for literacy and social impact in their communities and beyond. Deadline **12 May 2026**.
- [Giving Joy welcomes applications](https://givingjoygrants.org/grant-application?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from non-profits and NGOs focused on supporting **women, girls and families**. Deadline: **30 April 2026**.
- [Dovetail Impact Foundation Acceleration Programme](https://dovetailimpact.org/acceleration-program ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). A structured **coaching and capacity building programme for early-stage, locally-led African organisations** including support with communications, fundraising, evaluation, and scaling. Deadline: **28 April 2026.**
- One more day to apply! [**Rhizome: Pathways for Regenerative Futures**](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a nine-month journey designed to equip you with tools for narrative-led systems change. Deadline: **16 April 2026**.

**Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners?** 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **May** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **3o April, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

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****Songs worth sharing:** [****Liberdade**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP0RWm4WVbg&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **by Sérgio Godinho**  
Só há liberdade a sério quando houver | A paz, o pão, habitação, saúde, educação,  
Só há liberdade a sério quando houver | Liberdade de mudar e decidir.  
**There is only true freedom when there is | Peace, bread, housing, health, education,*  
**There is only true freedom when there is | Freedom to change and decide* **.**

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Annaïg bringing change to Plabannec, France
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/annaig-bringing-change-to-plabannec-france/
Last updated: 2026-04-15T10:01:32.000Z
Plabennec is a small town in the north west of France. Two years ago, a young woman called [**Annaïg Plassard**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna%C3%AFg-plassard-154463326/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), originally from Plabennec but who had spent the previous few years living in Nantes, came to visit me in Totnes. She was inspired by my time travel work, and by Transition, and was making a film for French TV about moving back to Plabennec to initiate a Transition initiative. The resultant film, ‘[Retour a Plabennec](https://www.vivement-lundi.com/film/retour-a-plabennec/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ was shown last year and is beautiful.  
  
In it, Annaïg rides through the town, in full time traveller consume, holding a sign reading ‘I’ve been to the future. We won’ (in French). One of the results of the film was the forming of an active Transition group, Plabennec en Transition.  
  
In 2025, after the first round of Parliamentary elections which showed the far right in the lead, to which left wing parties, for the first time since the 1930s, responded by coming together under the banner of the ‘Front Populaire’. At a demonstration in Nantes in support of the FP, Annaïg showed up in full time traveller suit, with her sign, a photo of which appeared in many French newspapers and went viral on social media. France’s leading time traveller? I’d say so.  
  
Now Annaïg is making the sequel to ‘Retour a Plabennec’, telling the story of how Plabennec en Transition organised around local elections as a way of bringing change. I spent the day in the town, on the hottest and most beautiful day of the year so far. Annaig and I spent the morning filming a time travel sequence which I can’t wait to see. We kept getting the giggles.  
  
We visited a beautiful biodynamic farm. We met with members of Plabennec en Transition. We met with donors and supporters. We met with local councillors and elected officials. And then in the evening, the public event.  
  
We had no idea how many people would show up. In the end, the place was rammed. My interpreter was the brilliant Xavier Combe, who I have worked with for many years. It was such a fun evening. Everyone engaged beautifully with the activities, and there was lots of laughter as well as quiet reflection.  
At the end, someone in the audience suggested taking a group photo of everyone in the room so that, in 10 years, we’d have a record of all the people who transformed the town, and where it all started. People stayed around for ages, chatting, eating the shared buffet from that very biodynamic farm we had visited earlier, making connections.  
  
I can’t wait to see the final film, it’s going to be very powerful I think, and a story the world really needs right now. Thanks Annaïg, the film crew, Xavier Combe and everyone who joined us for the evening event.

Rob Hopkins  
[www.robhopkins.net](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/1775718981211.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/1775718978565.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/1775718980777.jpeg)

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Time travel in Plabannec, France. Credits: Rob Hopkins
### Sustainable Chipping Norton is spreading the wave of Hope!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/sustainable-chipping-norton-is-spreading-the-wave-of-hope/
Last updated: 2026-04-15T09:15:40.000Z
A couple days ago [@Cara Hedges](https://communitywaves.space/u/cara/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Kari Beardshell hosted a beautiful event. With almost 40 people atttending, groups like Chipping Norton Green Gym, Enstone Eco, ENCON, People Planet Pint, Climate Psychology Alliance, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Sustainable Kirtlington, Sustainable Charlbury and people involved in Citizen Science, River Action, and people interested in Transition, came together to watch “The Big Opportunity”, HOPE’s first episode. Deep gratitude to you all and best wishes for the coming events!

**You can also host your screening with support of Transition Network and relive the spark of hope and Transition in your area!**  
Find all the details here:

[HOST A HOPE SCREENING](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/Sustainable-Chipping-Norton-Cara-Hedges-20260324_192337.jpg)

Sustainable Chipping Norton, Credits: Cara Hedges
### Collab Jovem at Humanaterra, Brazil
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/collab-jovem-at-humanaterra-brazil/
Last updated: 2026-04-22T10:26:18.000Z
Hi global community! I felt to share with you one of our latest meaningful experiences in [Transition Brazil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)… From Thursday to Easter Sunday, we held **Collab Jovem** at Humanaterra (São Paulo) — a living experience of transition in action. 

Collab Jovem was born within the Transition Movement as a pathway to meaningfully engage youth in the transition. From this experience, [Universidade Vida](https://universidadevida.me/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) also emerged — inspired by the same principles — as a free university dedicated to reimagining education through the lens of regeneration and care for life. It was founded by **Gabriela Montenegro**, a member of the Brazil Hub, as part of this broader movement of transformation. Today, Collab Jovem is part of this ecosystem, creating immersive spaces where young people can pause, connect, and explore new ways of being in the world. 

This edition brought together 25 young participants in a carefully held environment of trust, expression, and collective learning. Over four days, we witnessed what becomes possible when youth are met with presence, care, and the freedom to be who they are. Through its approach, Universidade Vida empowers young people to actively engage with life, regenerating their territories in an intergenerational way. Its methodology is rooted in holistic territorial engagement, based on Regenerative Life Projects, and unfolds across three learning cycles: initiation, development, and deepening.

Check out the Instagram reel by [Julio Monteiro Stotz](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXE3AVnkd-h/?igsh=MTV1Mnhxdm1weHR3YQ==&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Julio Monteiro Stotz on Instagram: ”🌿 De 02 a 05 de abril, no sítio Humanaterra, realizamos nosso primeiro marco: o Festival Collab Jovem. Uma imersão na natureza, tecida com saberes ancestrais, colaboração e futuros desejáveis. Mais do que um evento, foi a criação de um espaço onde: ✨ aprender vira prazer ✨ o cuidado com a vida vira escolha ✨ e cada jovem começa a desenhar seu lugar no mundo com autonomia, propósito e alegria Isso é o que acontece quando o ambiente certo encontra o tempo certo da juventude. Durante o encontro, o Lentes em Contato ocupou esse espaço com câmeras e curiosidade. 15 jovens experimentaram formas de ver, criar e dizer — descobrindo que uma imagem pode ser muito mais do que uma lembrança.”83 likes, 17 comments - juliostotz on April 13, 2026: ”🌿 De 02 a 05 de abril, no sítio Humanaterra, realizamos nosso primeiro marco: o Festival Collab Jovem. Uma imersão na natureza, tecida com saberes ancestrais, colaboração e futuros desejáveis. Mais do que um evento, foi a criação de um espaço onde: ✨ aprender vira prazer ✨ o cuidado com a vida vira escolha ✨ e cada jovem começa a desenhar seu lugar no mundo com autonomia, propósito e alegria Isso é o que acontece quando o ambiente certo encontra o tempo certo da juventude. Durante o encontro, o Lentes em Contato ocupou esse espaço com câmeras e curiosidade. 15 jovens experimentaram formas de ver, criar e dizer — descobrindo que uma imagem pode ser muito mais do que uma lembrança.”.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/icwX0xAk0pz-1.webp)Instagram![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/670308127_18543692191068633_214919567857345972_n-1.jpg)](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXE3AVnkd-h/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[UMMA](https://ummahub.com.br/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) was also present through 8 of its members as part of the educator team. UMMA itself is an initiative born from the transition movement — a space of deep collaboration among regenerative entrepreneurs who co-create projects and businesses that care for life.What we experienced together reaffirms something essential: transition is truly a living movement, rooted in open hearts, and nurtured through the way we live, embody, and cultivate relationships and shared spaces.

Collab Jovem is one of these spaces. And it is just beginning.  
Follow our journey! [https://universidadevida.me/](https://universidadevida.me/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

**Story sent by Melissa Bivar, Transição Brasil**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-08-at-19.51.07--2-.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-08-at-19.51.07--7-.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/04/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-08-at-19.51.08--1-.jpeg)

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### International Premiere of the short film "In The Making" made by the Youth Circle UK
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/international-premiere-of-the-short-film-in-the-making-made-by-the-youth-circle-uk/
Last updated: 2026-04-02T22:21:09.000Z
Transition Together's Youth Circle are inviting you all to a screening of their short film, ‘In the Making’ on 24 April 2026, as part of the [Day of Transition Practise](https://practise.transitionnetwork.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In one hour, we will come together to see the full 22min film, and to have a talk about intergenerational connection, community building and youth power. Plan your time - the session is from 18:30 to 19:30 UTC - [check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//links.transition-space.org/youth%3AzSl6bFnpK8Mxy94i5T%5FkL5LWl-IE%5FaOOTTdxPwm2CbI&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Come along!

0:00 

/1:31 

1× 

Snippets from the first public screening of the film **In the Making* at Sibling Arts’ [****Arts Action Festival (AAF**](https://www.siblingarts.org/aaf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)[****)**](https://www.siblingarts.org/aaf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

‘In the Making' is a story about possibility and power. The film follows young people across the UK who are navigating their own unique paths and driving social change. On the 24th of April, our short film will be a springboard for communities around the world to come together and answer crucial questions: what might be possible if we supported young people to be fully resourced and turn up in social movements? How can we practice intergenerational collaboration in a way that empowers us all? How do we stoke the fire of our youth, nurture passion into action, and create leaderful communities?

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/in-the-making-2.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/in-the-making-.png)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/youth-circle-1.png)

Snippets from the film In The Making, credits: Youth Circle UK

**Where did 'In the Making' come from?**

The journey of this film has been transformational. In February 2026, we - 8 young strangers - met up at the Transition Town National Assembly in Wilmslow, Manchester. The Transition Towns movement knew they needed more young people involved, so we were offered support to attend. We spoke about what it was like to be a young person today. We spoke about the strengths and struggles of trying to make change and live by our hearts. We spoke about what the movement could do to support young people to be resourced and turn up fully.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/daniel-balla.jpg)

Daniel Balla at the screening at Arts Action Festival, UK Credits: Youth Circle UK

After the Assembly, we kept meeting up. We knew that this was just the start and that there was so much more work to be done. Having felt the power of being heard and seen at the Assembly, we decided to go out and start collecting, amplifying and storytelling other young voices from across the UK. Story by story, our film was built: ‘In the Making’.

**What next?**

The next phase of this journey will take shape as a **co-created handbook** – an invitation to deepen engagement with young voices at the heart of this moment. It will explore questions such as:

- How can Transition become a truly intergenerational movement?
- How can we grow together and make our work more accessible and inclusive for all?

Like the film, it will also name the challenges and barriers young people face as they try to show up for what they care about most. The handbook will include workshop formats, practical offerings, and next steps for Hubs ready to take this work further.

**Join us!**

Here’s to more stories, more connection, and more ways to celebrate the unstoppable energy and creativity of youth. 

If you’d like to collaborate with us, host a screening, or feed into this work, please get in touch: [youthcircle.transition@proton.me](mailto:youthcircle.transition@proton.me)

And you can book your tickets for the Day of Transition Practise session [here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/day-transition-practise/dotp2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/1-12-.png)](https://events.transitionmovement.org/day-transition-practise/dotp2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We hope to see you all very, very soon! ;)

**‍**
### Pathways to local economic system change
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/pathways-to-local-economic-system-change/
Last updated: 2026-04-02T14:24:33.000Z
***Begin where you stand***

If you were to start ‘making change’, where would you begin? Begin where you stand, many people would say. Making economic change in a place - in *your* place - can really mean something. It’s achievable, it’s tangible, it’s human scale. It’s also part of many initiatives and narratives about economic change that emphasise decentralising economic and political power, spreading ecological prosperity, and creating the conditions for effective democratic citizen participation.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VzEF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0640990-5e20-4550-afc3-dfbfa711057b_960x1049.jpeg)

My friend Lara is working for change at the neighbourhood level in São Paulo.

These times seem urgent and profound. The crises we face are real. It’s natural for attention to be directed toward big, inspiring ideas of a better world that might offer the kind of hope and understanding that matches the import of this historical moment. In this we can find relief from our anxieties and meaning for our life projects. Some of the initiatives and narratives thus inspired can take on a kind of religiosity, offering certainty, belonging, and identity, a role the church might have filled a few generations ago. This can be wonderful but problematic for a few reasons, including limiting participation to true believers, even if some of the ideas involved are otherwise worthy.

Clearly, it’s wise to engage with like-minds locally, or through trans-local or place-less networks. Engaging with people who are different and ‘not like us’ can be uncomfortable and difficult, but it’s necessary. If we’re *only* interested in engaging with people like us in ways that reinforce in-group belonging and identity, especially if disembodied via cloud-based platforms, then what kind of change are we really making?

Acting locally or regionally, or bioregionally, can be practical and focused on tangible outcomes. The practical is itself a kind of narrative. If stripped of unnecessary ideologies, practical work in a place can bring together people with diverse world views and political affiliations. If we are interested in bridging ideological divides, practical projects can create opportunities for authentic dialogue and collaboration. This isn’t a unique observation, but dialogue is the foundation for creating mutual understanding and is at least part of the antidote to the political divisions we face. Adequately addressing some of the valid economic grievances which are driving people to the extremes, demanding quick and simplistic solutions, is another.

Actually, many of the grievances that animate both right and left wing populism are very nearly the same - inequality of wealth and income; diminished status, dignity, and availability of meaningful livelihoods; exclusion from consequential economic and political decisions; immiseration of the places and communities we love; ecological and atmospheric pollution; lack of opportunities for our children to have better lives than we did. There’s plenty of evidence to overturn the political arguments that merit and university degrees would enable everyone to enjoy the benefits of an integrated globalised free-market economic system. The same with market-based ‘solutions’ to the ‘externalities’ produced by unaccountable corporations - it’s hit and miss. All of this should be common ground on which to build a more united popular political-economy from local to national scale.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0aG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea301971-e88e-4bbe-854a-796a34604863_1280x960.heic)

Somewhere in London.

The need to change at the national scale is apparent. I feel aligned with much of the discourse around eco-socialism, Degrowth, and related efforts to enthuse and empower political party formations to pick up the ideas and policy proposals that might shift the system at the roots. Of course, we must tax the wealthy much more, regulate the excesses of the financial sector and powerful corporations, fully fund health care and education, provide energy efficient and secure housing, transition the energy system, and more. These are old ideas, but relevant. What’s required, perhaps, is new thinking about how these ideas can become politically possible.

There is well-founded celebration of the successes of Ada Callau and EnComú in Barcelona and the recently elected New York mayor, Zorhan Mamdani, often described as a democratic socialist. The Green Party in the UK is now led by Zack Polanski who has picked up some of these ideas, too, and has energised the party. They now have five MPs. There are many other bright spots, promising new faces and political initiatives, but this route to systems change, at least in the UK, USA and, perhaps most other wealthy countries, may take a long time.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of practical work that can begin to make a difference in places that can bring people together, relocalise pro-social and pro-ecological economic activity, and ameliorate the concerns that fuel populist extremism. One of the powerful drivers of economic change is entrepreneurship and the innovations they can bring into being - social, organisational, financial, business model, relational, technological, and so on. They can create opportunities for meaningful livelihoods and expand our ideas about what’s possible. If we’re interested in the kinds of change represented by the various streams of, let’s say, the wider post-growth economics movement, then it will take people to put those ideas into practice, conceiving and starting up the enterprises and institutions that bring these ideas of change into tangible existence.  

***Entrepreneurial Ecosystems***

The role of the entrepreneur is important. The meaning of ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘entrepreneurism’ is shaped, in part, by culture. We should ask, what kind of entrepreneurs are called for in these times? Where do they come from? How might we create the conditions for their emergence? And not only entrepreneurs, but how can new beneficial economic actors of all kinds emerge? Cultures evolve in the context of complexity, one might argue. Culture change isn’t a design challenge that can be solved from an objective perspective, but rather one that demands participation and doing practical things in public. Imagination is important, obviously, it’s part of the human package. There is no crisis of imagination but rather a lack of visible, accessible pathways for achieving practical aims which then might inform the collective imaginary. If there are no pathways, why would anyone imagine that they could, for example, start up a ‘regenerative enterprise’ in a place?

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sME7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb317edc2-4660-4bed-9b9b-b966190c2159_960x720.heic)

Myrtle pitching her foraging enterprise a few years ago.

The historical development of Silicon Valley offers some important lessons. (This talk of entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley may be disturbing to some of my fellow travelers, but we must be willing to keep an open mind and take the learning from wherever it might be found.) The roots of Silicon Valley can be traced to the California Gold Rush of 1849\. East Coast financiers bankrolled the mining operations and the development of industrial mining technology. The resulting cluster of finance capital, steel making, and engineering expertise were then applied to ship building. At the turn of the last century the US Navy’s ‘Great White Fleet’ was built in the San Francisco Bay Area marking the beginning of the ‘military industrial complex’ there. UC Berkeley and Stanford University were part of this story, too. Government spending increased then ballooned during the world wars, giving a start to first-wave electronics and digital technology companies like Hewlett-Packard. The co-inventer of the transistor moved to the Bay Area in the 1950s to start Shockley Semiconductor, then the key innovators there left to start Fairchild Semiconductor, then several of those characters went on to start other companies and venture firms, transforming the South Bay and Santa Clara Valley into Silicon Valley. The clustering of engineering talent, organisational knowhow, finance and venture capital, research universities, and links to government funding continued. It became the growth engine for the US economy for decades and led to what we might now call the ‘technological crisis’ of cloud-based oligarchy.

During the 80s and 90s, academics and economists studied this history and the resulting phenomena of this cluster and its ecosystem. By now, it had a life of its own, so to speak. They identified key elements, such as cross-pollination of ideas, knowhow, and talent; the ‘watering holes’ and network events where people met; the roles played by the research universities who were also spinning out their own entrepreneurs and companies; the availability of funding from private individuals, venture capitalists, banks, and government agencies; incubators and readily available office and research spaces.

Emerging from these elements was a culture that valued risk taking and productive failure, collaboration alongside competition. Soon, nearly everyone knew the stories and the idea that someone could start up a world-changing technology company in their garage was accepted as common sense. It seemed anything was possible. Nearly everyone knew someone who had started a company, was about to start one, or who had invested in one. The cliché that every taxi driver and food server in Hollywood is an aspiring actor or screenwriter developed here, too. ‘Oh yeah, I’m just bartending to cover rent until we complete our angel round.’ The collective imaginary included the possibility that almost anyone could start something up because the pathways were visible and accessible.

San José and other cities played roles that enabled them to harness this juggernaut for the economic development of their places. This experience inspired industrial and redevelopment strategies in cities and regions around the world, attempting to replicate the ‘Silicon Valley miracle’, with mixed results. But this story spawned a wealth of academic literature on clusters, innovation hubs, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. This literature is useful, drawing out the lessons which might have broad applicability no matter the economic system change one wishes to develop, the business models one desires to see implemented, or relationships one hopes might be reconfigured.

Of course, we must be critical of the Silicon Valley experience and its dark history. There is plenty of academic work and investigative journalism highlighting this darkness, the long history of which includes genocide, ecological destruction, worker exploitation, surveillance, data theft, pollution, military links, oligarchy, and more. But understanding the evolutionary process through which it developed and continuously recreates itself can be abstracted for good purpose.  

***Applying the lessons***

There are other cluster examples that confirm some of these lessons. [Mondragon](https://www.mondragon-corporation.com/en/history/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a well-known case which is somewhat unique, problematic, and inspiring. It demonstrates what democratic cooperatives can achieve in a place under conditions of poverty and political oppression. It might be understood as an intentional, endogenous process which aimed at creating employment through cooperative business structures, leading eventually to a kind of pro-social conglomeration. It developed a cooperative ecosystem from within, so to speak, acknowledging the need for education, finance, entrepreneurship, and health care. It has been difficult to replicate but efforts to do so draw on some of the lessons of Silicon Valley whether they know it or not, creating incubators, networks, drawing in educational institutions and local governments, establishing pathways to finance, etc, but often these are piecemeal and without an explicit ‘entrepreneurial ecosystemic’ approach in evidence. In any case, the process is evolutionary, marked by increasing complexity, growing and diversifying knowhow, and bringing key enabling actors into productive relationship.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hiB8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb876f6bc-b355-4fc4-b447-af24a308052f_960x926.jpeg)

Seen in an Amsterdam shop window.

What might an abundant entrepreneurial ecosystem look like in a place; one that is oriented toward ecological and pro-social thinking; embraces regenerative, cooperative, convivial, pro-social, and commons models; founded on ethics, fairness, and inclusion; aims to drive the transformation toward creating meaningful, dignified livelihoods while addressing the crises of our times? The broad outlines of this picture might include:  

> • incubator and accelerator programmes that offer below market rents, easy access to experts, perhaps structured learning programmes and introductions to funders;  
>  
> • co-working hubs, coffee houses, and ‘watering holes’ where interesting people gather to work and interact;  
>  
> • ample opportunities to learn start up skills and gain sector specific knowhow through talks, workshops, courses, apprenticeships, internships  
>  
> • networks and public events that create opportunities to build relationships with a diversity of professionals, policy makers, and potential team members  
>  
> • angel investor networks and venture (post)capitalist institutions that make ‘friendly and patient’ seed and early-stage investments  
>  
> • local banks and community development financial institutions (CDFI) that offer lending for growth and working capital lines of credit  
>  
> • professionals and experts able to assist with business model development, legal and finance issues, marketing, and organisational development  
>  
> • media coverage that raises the visibility of both successful and unsuccessful ventures, the people who animate them, the opportunities to participate, the various institutions comprising the ecosystem, as well as the wider story of economic change - why it’s important, what kind of change is called for, how it is happening, who are the various actors involved, etc.  
>  
> • local and regional universities, colleges, and vocational schools that participate and offer access to knowledge, knowhow, expertise, innovation, and facilities, while shifting their procurement toward locally/regionally produced products and services  
>  
> • local and regional governments that offer tax incentives and subsidies, office and production spaces, while shifting their procurement toward locally/regionally produced products and services  
>  
> • growing cross pollination and collaboration amongst and between local and regional enterprises  
>  
> • a local and regional culture that values and encourages participation in the entrepreneurial and economic change processes underway, including the risks, successes, and failures

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!soL1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ed5cb93-6f1a-46ab-8261-0a2425232e51_1280x960.heic)

A little shop in Liége, part of Ceinture Aliment-Terre.

The above outline isn’t a formula but rather a pattern. How it might come to life in a place depends on the place and what people do. Understanding this pattern can help proponents of local or bioregional economic change think clearly about their theories of change, strategies, development roadmaps, and practical projects. There are some places where aspects of this pattern are emerging, mostly through progressive local government initiatives aiming to drive green, sustainable, and/or circular agendas. Some examples include [Amsterdam](https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/policy/sustainability/circular-economy/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Barcelona](https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/economia-social-solidaria/sites/default/files/2025-07/PIESS%5F2024-27%5FENG%5FWEB.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Freiburg](https://business.freiburg.de/en/focus-topics/environmental-economy-sustainability?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Preston](https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/1338/Community-Wealth-Building-in-action?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), among others. In some places, citizen-led initiatives have contributed to the emergence of this pattern, such as [Cienture Aliment-Terre](https://www.catl.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Liege, [Ujima Project](https://www.ujimaboston.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Boston, and [The Industrial Commons](https://www.theindustrialcommons.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Appalachia, [Torino Social Impact](https://www.torinosocialimpact.it/en/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Turin. I’ve not uncovered anyplace where this pattern has fully blossomed and the economic system of a place has been completely transformed, yet. But these examples represent a start and should be encouraged, critiqued, improved, adapted wherever it makes sense. And where this kind of thing hasn’t yet begun, perhaps now’s your opportunity.  

***The case of Totnes***

In Totnes, where I live and work, this pattern is emerging as well, imperfect and incomplete as it may be. It’s the home of the first Transition Town initiative in 2006 from which sprung several projects that contributed to this ecological, pro-social entrepreneurial ecosystem. The [Totnes Renewable Energy Society ](https://tresoc.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)emerged from an early TTT open space event and is nationally recognized as a leading innovator in the community renewable energy space. The Totnes Reconomy Project started in 2012 and began running the annual [Local Entrepreneur Forum & Community of Dragons](https://reconomycentre.org/Community-of-Dragons?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). After 14 years, it has coached 55 pitches from over 50 local, pro-social/pro-ecological, entrepreneurs, mostly in food production but also including a range of other activities like clean energy tech, trade-by-sail, and car sharing. And it has facilitated the investments of financial and non-financial support from hundreds of local citizens, creating a relational, reciprocal, and convivial system in the process. [Transition Homes CLT](https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/project-groups/transition-homes-clt?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has been developing a project to build 39 energy-efficient social housing units, expected to be completed by the end of this year. [Food in Community CIC](https://foodincommunity.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a food gleaning social enterprise project, is poised to launch a sizable food distribution hub this year, as well, that will contribute to food security in our area. [Totnes Grows Flax](https://www.liflad.co.uk/projects/totnes-grows-flax/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a new collaboration with Liflad which aims to regenerate the local fibershed and textile economy.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mtSX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc6059aee-4bdd-4a5d-adcf-5fad6735f7f5_1092x809.jpeg)

2021 Local Entrepreneur Forum at The Glade, Totnes.

[Transition Town Totnes](https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has been a productive incubator for local economy projects, but the town’s culture was already primed for supporting change having been reinvigorated by the arrival of the Elmhirsts early last century and their experiments at Dartington Hall in education, local economy, and the arts. The [School for Social Entrepreneurs](https://www.the-sse.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) operated there for a number of years. [Schumacher College](https://www.schumachercollege.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) started there in 1992 and has been an important contributor of ‘new economy’ knowledge, knowhow, ideas, entrepreneurs, as well as deeper philosophical perspectives on economics, ecology, holistic science, and consciousness.

In recent years, the local governments have been supportive of change, offering material support from time to time. The district council offers the use of office space for another project, the [Reconomy Centre](https://reconomycentre.org/the-centre?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which is a community-run co-working and incubation space, launched in 2013\. The county council offers funding for the [Apricot Centre](https://www.apricotcentre.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), supporting their regenerative agriculture educational programmes. (Apricot Centre also pitched at two of the Local Entrepreneur Forum events.) The town council has contributed, too, but with fewer tangible resources at their disposal they have been enthusiastic and encouraging supporters.

An entrepreneurial, problem-solving culture supporting new economic actors, models, and relationships has evolved alongside the development of these various elements of the ecosystem. [Rob Hopkins](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), one of the co-founders of TTT and the International Transition Network, author and speaker, has helped to elevate this story and situate it within the larger context of aligned activities elsewhere. Local publications like [Reconnect Magazine](https://reconnectonline.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have covered all the local developments, as well. Many events provide platforms for publicly sharing narratives of change, which has helped to make this kind of conversation commonplace. Anyway, it’s a small town of about 9,000 people, so the intersections of lives and conversations are many. Almost everyone knows someone in a pro-social, pro-ecological enterprise and the idea that positive change is possible seems to be widespread.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Totnes is oriented toward pro-social and pro-ecological economic change. Progressive enterprises have clustered here and regularly collaborate. Workers of various kinds cross pollinate among them and the other organisations comprising this ecosystem. The community buys their products and services, or otherwise invest themselves in the initiatives animating the evolution of this ecosystem and culture. Difficult and underfunded as this kind of work might be, there is fertile soil in this relatively middle-class place. The soil is less fertile just a few miles away.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CXQT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3ada3ddd-f1d5-4440-ae29-78791f9f77b1_1123x887.jpeg)

My Local Spark Torbay colleague, Chris, at the People’s Parkfield.

We’re trying to bring this kind of thinking and doing to Torbay, a coastal conurbation of 140,000 residents, ranking high on measures of inequality and social deprivation, and a place where extreme right-wing populist politics has a strong foothold. We started [Local Spark Torbay](https://localsparktorbay.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2019 and have since provided advice and mentoring for dozens of social entrepreneurs, organised a network, helped start up the People’s Parkfield community hub, run a number of hackathons, and have just organised our 5th Local Entrepreneur Forum & Community of Dragons event. We’ve been playing a role in the local council’s [Community Wealth Building](https://www.torbay.gov.uk/business/business-growth-and-support/community-wealth-building/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme, as well.

Through these activities, we’ve engaged with people with much different lived experiences and world views than one encounters in a place like Totnes. A few years ago, one might have characterised the local culture as doubtful that change for the better is possible, distrustful of local institutions, despairing for the future of the city’s young people. People here don’t want more ideology, just practical solutions to poverty, opportunities for young people, and a better quality of life as measured by steady incomes from ethical enterprises, public safety, affordable food, housing, and energy, clean air and healthy sea. Today, one sees more social enterprises and efforts to affect positive change. One hears more people talking about possibilities and more people are getting involved. Whether or not any of the work here will sufficiently resolve the economic drivers of right wing extremism remains an open question. We are very early in the process here, but along with a few other collaborators, like [People’s Parkfield](http://peoplesparkfield.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Torbay Communities](https://www.torbaycommunities.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [LocalMotion Torbay](https://localmotion.org.uk/torbay/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we hope to be creating the conditions for more good things to emerge, including development of the local pro-social, pro-ecological entrepreneurial ecosystem.  

***Pathways to economic change***

How does economic change happen? We have many friends in this growing movement for economic change who assert that changing the narratives will change the system. And we have many friends who assert the primacy of tangible, practical deeds. We need both in the process, obviously, but the material conditions for change toward an economic state of affairs that many of us desire - just and inclusive, ecologically wise and regenerative, socially and culturally flourishing, resilient and adaptable - must exist or it probably isn’t going to happen as we might like. Which isn’t to say change isn’t coming - it is, one way or another. Or that there aren’t good things happening - there are, the ripple effects of which may lead to unforeseeable cascades of positive change through the complex-adaptive eco-socio-political-economic system. But we don’t have to leave it to fate. We can take action, informed by an understanding of the systems and patterns that lead to intentional economic change.

Change needs to happen at every scale. If economic and political power is to be decentralised, people outside the core metropolises must experience some form of green and social prosperity which addresses poverty and inequality, creates dignified work opportunities, reverses the immiseration that people feel, and brings local ecosystems back to life. This will require new economic actors, models, and relationships in those places. The roles of pro-social, pro-ecological entrepreneurs, financiers, experts, supporters of all kinds in driving economic change are essential. A systems approach that bring them into productive relationship, along with other key actors and functions, can create pathways for assembling the nutrients to start up and grow new ventures. Local culture can be positively influenced by this practical work, inspired by the public events and stories that ensue. It can evolve to value participation in the process and remake its own shared identity. A well-developed system would create the conditions for reproducing itself, circulating the capital, amplifying and diffusing the knowhow, innovating in the wake of productive failure and outside shocks, creating livelihoods, and so on. For folks working for place-based economic change, under whatever ‘post-growth’ banner, this kind of thinking puts more tools in the conceptual toolbox and provides less-ideological language with which to engage policy makers and other powerful local economic actors.

![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BwNh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e5f2669-5ab3-4d51-8fd3-a5c7c9cee028_794x496.jpeg)

Notes from a Torbay hackathon event.

My hypothesis is that this sort of approach to economic change can help develop the good work already happening - spread it, deepen it. There are a number of places where this is in evidence. Most, perhaps all, enjoy relatively progressive or left of centre political orientations, just as in Totnes. My own agency is limited but I’ve participated in this process in Silicon Valley and in Totnes and experienced its potential. The scale in Totnes is small and local. Relatively speaking, we’re doing very well compared with towns our size, but our ecosystem is ready for more ambition and further development. A few powerful actors with greater agency could significantly add to this process. More sources of startup capital would be a logical next step, for example. If an angel investor network of high-net worth individuals emerged, or if the South West Mutual Bank were to spring back to life, one can imagine our small local economy’s shift could be amplified and accelerated.

I’m more interested in what’s possible in Torbay where the local council and college could play higher impact roles. The stakes are higher, here. The pathways for starting up new enterprises are few. This leads to my second hypothesis that this approach to economic change could begin to resolve the grievances animating the extreme right-wing populism. It will take some time, but if that can happen here, perhaps it can happen in other places, as well. I will keep you posted.

\----

**Further research and reading**

I’m interested in other examples of where place-based economic change is happening and their guiding ideas. I’m especially interested in where it has had an effect on local political leanings, left or right. My research in this area continues. If you have examples to share, please do.

I have found these articles and the book to be very useful.

- Daniel Isenberg - [How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution](https://institute.coop/sites/default/files/resources/Isenberg%20-%20How%20to%20Start%20an%20Entrepreneurial%20Revolution.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Erik Stam and Andrew van de Ven - [Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Elements](https://www.uu.nl/sites/default/files/rebo%5Fuse%5Fwp%5F2019%5F1907.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Philip Roundy, et al. - [The Emergence of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Complex Adaptive Systems Approach](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract%5Fid=3106061&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Robin Murray, Julie Caulier-Grice, Geoff Mulgan - [The Open Book of Social Innovation](https://youngfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/The-Open-Book-of-Social-Innovationg.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

**This article was originally posted on** [**Jay Tompt's Substack**](https://jtompt.substack.com/p/pathways-to-local-economic-system)**.** You can [follow](https://jtompt.substack.com/subscribe?simple=true&next=https%3A%2F%2Fjtompt.substack.com%2Fp%2Fpathways-to-local-economic-system) Jay there for essays and reportage exploring some of the ideas and work of transforming society in this century. Drawing on decades of study and experience making change, sometimes failing, sharing lessons, thinking critically, aiming to serve the common good.
### March 2026: Being part of the wider ecosystem
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/march-2026-being-wider-ecosystem/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T13:02:22.000Z
Dear friends,  
Since last year, we've been deepening collaboration in all spheres of our work. Connecting with organisations on the same path, and finding that there is so much more strength in doing things together: perspectives, ideas, more of that collective power that actual social change is going to need.

If you come to [Community Waves](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/community-waves-ethical-social-media/), our open social space, you'll see it straight away. All kinds of different groups and organisations, united by the same drive to do something meaningful for the world. People who might never have crossed paths otherwise, finding each other and getting on with it. 

That's also the spirit behind the [Living Systems Alliance](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/launch-of-the-living-systems-alliance/), which we launched last October with a number of sister organisations. This month we're opening the [Call for Pilot Regions](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/lsa-call-for-pilot-regions/), and we'd love you to have a look and spread the word. It's for worldwide bioregions which are already weaving partnerships across communities, sectors, and landscapes, which is one of the most important things we can do right now.

The rest of this edition is full of things to get involved with, stories from the movement, and a few opportunities worth knowing about. As always, we'd love to hear what's happening where you are. Meet us at [Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- **Living Systems Alliance Call for Pilot Regions worldwide —** [**applications open now**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/lsa-call-for-pilot-regions/)**:** We are inviting place-based partnerships to apply for one of up to 10 places in the Living Systems Alliance Community of Practice, which includes training, £5,000–£10,000 grants, and more. Apply before April 5th.

[Living Systems Alliance: Call for Pilot Regions worldwide — applications open nowLiving Systems Alliance: Call for Pilot Regions worldwide — applications open now! Apply before April 5th 2026![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-34.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/fellipe-ditadi-qNnqCnND8mw-unsplash.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/lsa-call-for-pilot-regions)

- Filipa and Esther had a conversation about [HOPE](https://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and are inviting you to [**organise a screening**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/) in your communities!

[The power of documentaries in supporting the work of Transitioners / O poder dos documentários no apoio ao trabalho dos Transitioners\[Filipa wrote this article in Portuguese. Please find the translated version below\] — Lembro-me do dia em que fui de Bruxelas a Paris para participar no evento ChangeNow 2025, onde o Rob (Hopkins) iria intervir — disse eu à Esther. 0:00 /0:59 1× A Esther e eu estávamos numa reunião![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-35.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Captura-de-pantalla-2026-03-10-081955.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/power-of-documentaries-poder-documentarios/)

[Host a HOPE screening & bring the wave to your communityHost your own HOPE screening event! We are thrilled to announce that Transition Network international has signed a collaboration agreement with the producers of HOPE (El Gato Verde). This partnership makes it easier than ever for Transition groups to access this inspiring documentary series and spread its powerful message. Join![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-36.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/host-a-screening-1200px-1-2.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/)

- The **Equinox** is almost here - you are warmly [invited](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/equinox-gathering/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to gather in community at a moment of profound balance, coinciding closely with **World Water Day**. **Thursday, March 19th**, 17:00 - 18:30h UTC, in English and Spanish.

[Water, Balance, and the Work of TransitionAn Equinox gathering for those navigating change, justice, and care SAVE YOUR SPOT HERE You are warmly invited to gather in community at a moment of profound balance: the Equinox, coinciding closely with World Water Day, a day that reminds us of what every human body already knows: water is![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-15.png)Cultural Transformation CircleTheresa Fend![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/matt-hardy-6ArTTluciuA-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/equinox-gathering/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Here is a great [practice](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/soup-participatory-budgeting/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for sharing, enjoying and spreading abundance in the community! Worth replicating at home. **Sharing the Pot: Exploring the SOUP Process of Participatory Budgeting**, **Thursday, 2nd April** at 15:00 - 16:30 UTC.

[Sharing the Pot: Exploring the SOUP Process of Participatory BudgetingSOUP Participatory Budgeting is a simple way for a community to come together, share food, and decide how to support local ideas that benefit people and the planet.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-11.png)Practising TransitionJez Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/nathan-dumlao-0dqLSBDEcdg-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/soup-participatory-budgeting/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The full **programme and registration** for the **Day of Transition Practice**, scheduled for **24 April 2026**, is [here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Bookmark the sessions you'd like to attend and join us for some good talks and workshops throughout the day in togetherness.

[Day of Transition Practise 2026 Programme & RegistrationsJoin us in a very special day when Transitioners all around the world come together to share and learn from each other!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-6.png)Practising TransitionElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/banner-DoTP-4-.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Join [**Community Waves**](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the open source social media space crafted with love and ethics for people involved in community-led change. It's getting cozy here, just missing you and your friends.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- \[FR\] UDN's article about the Co-decision Assemblies - political engagement of citizens:

[S’engager politiquementMunicipales, projets citoyens, comment s’impliquer![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon-1)SCIC UdN![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Capture-20d-E2-80-99e-CC-81cran-202026-03-02-20a-CC-80-2022.17.19-1.png)](https://universite-du-nous.org/en%5FGB/blog/universite-du-nous-3/s-engager-politiquement-71?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#blog%5Fcontent)

- \[EN\] Sam Rossiter (TNi) had [a talk about ethical IT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKW2QbmlevE&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with Angel Matilla (GEN Europe) and Dominik Jais (European Permaculture Network).
- \[FR\] We're thrilled to share something we're really proud of: Réseau Transition Belgium and Réseau Transition Hauts-de-France (Northern France) have joined forces on a cross-border project called CASTOR! Find out [more](https://www.reseautransition.be/projet-castor-transfrontalier-2025-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) here (in French).
- \[ES\] [Llamado de la Montaña / Colombia](https://www.facebook.com/llamadodelamontania): Cómo se construyen 20 años de resiliencia? En la Ecosíntesis recorrimos nuestros caminos para destilar la esencia de nuestras comunidades. No solo celebramos éxitos; compostamos los errores para nutrir el futuro. Agradeciendo cada encuentro que con el poder del amor nos enseña como seguir tejiendo comunidad, apoyo mutuo, sanación de la tierra y de la gente, economías equitativas, sociedades justas y en armonía con los ciclos naturales. Vamos caminando junt@s para conTRIBUir a manifestar muchos mundos posibles en abundancia, belleza, alegría y buen vivir.
- \[EN\] **Scottish Communities Climate Action Network: Countering Misinformation online workshops** on **Tuesday 24th March** 2026\. Register [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breakfast-time-workshop-countering-misinformation-tickets-1980417738768?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunchtime-workshop-countering-misinformation-tickets-1984772668480?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- The **University of St Andrew’s Week of Sustainability** will run from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 March 2026\. Guided walks, specialist talks, panel discussions, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and [more](https://www.facebook.com/UStASustainable)!
- **Transition stories!** To share your amazing work, we’re creating a series of **short Reels** that showcase local Transition stories. [Here’s how you can take part](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HeHyp6aF9k5PvFfr2n3vCooaqgL7vEu0qEE1VcJA8Aw/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It’s a simple action with a great impact. Your videos help us tell a shared story that **Transition is already happening**, everywhere, in countless inspiring forms.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

We started organising the [**Day of Transition Practise**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2024\. Since then, we enjoyed the connections and synergies amongst the speakers and participants throughout the sessions. Plus all the heartful work of the interpreters, language weavers, social media DoTP reporters, and the organising team. Click below to find a reminder of the previous years programmes and the session recordings.

- [Recordings](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2025-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from DoTP 2025
- [Recordings](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/a-great-day-of-transition-practise/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from DoTP 2024

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- [**Educating for the Polycrisis**](https://www.schumachercollege.org/educating-for-the-poly-crisis?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), The Schumacher Wild Experiments - Part Two. 24th March 11:30am - 1:30pm GMT
- 22-25 May 2026, short course in [**Radical Love**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fb10rDWlbc2bGvLCx8Tjq6dq6fg2cbC1/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with Satish Kumar in Spain - a beginning of collaboration for establishing Schumacher Spain, **Escuela**  
**Schumacher**.
- Moving beyond extractive measurement: introducing the Regenerative Evaluation Living Paper. Jannik Kaiser is inviting you to join the [**Regenerative Evaluation Living Paper launch**](https://eveeno.com/regenerative-evaluation-living-paper?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on March 24th 3pm CET.
- 14-17th April 2026\. [Climate Camp](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionDundee/posts/pfbid02RuvngV6zbucP4ZeJDSs4EuZ4bKt7UiEFezpweAagCmZ4bJxkVZyaSuwTzpcjCgWml?rdid=wVUbTgypaXqYscdo#) for young people aged 10-14, organised by Transition Dundee. Zines, embroidery, screen printing and more.
- [**Rhizome 2026 Fellowship Call**](https://youtu.be/wuueAGQTKNA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for participants is open! Are you a narrative practitioner, artist, journalist, storyteller, or activist working at the intersection of culture change & regenerative solutions? The narratives we hold, hold the world — and it's time to transform them into systems. Rhizome Fellowship is a nine-month journey designed to equip you with tools for narrative-led systems change. [Apply](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) here.
- **Global** [**FILM Premiere of Katô**](https://theeternalsong.org/kato-register/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)[**: Dreams of Dark Earth**](https://theeternalsong.org/kato-register/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Part of the Wisdom of the Ancestors documentary series, this film follows Indigenous leaders in the Amazon as they defend their ancestral territory and culture from illegal mining, logging, and colonization.
- [**Regenerative Fund for Nature**:](https://www.kering.com/en/sustainability/safeguarding-the-planet/regenerative-fund-for-nature?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Offers funding of between £100,000 and £500,000 over three years to support projects that help farming groups and organisations try out and grow farming methods that work with nature. Deadline: 30th April 2026.

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **April** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **31 March, 2026\.** 

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Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Living Systems Alliance: Call for Pilot Regions worldwide — applications open now
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/lsa-call-for-pilot-regions/
Last updated: 2026-03-12T12:45:55.000Z
The [**Living Systems Alliance**](https://transitionnetwork.org/the-living-systems-alliance/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has officially launched — a new collaboration bringing together **Transition Network International, The Biomimicry Institute, Global Ecovillage Network, Kincentric Leadership, and the Permaculture Association** to co-learn and co-design together across our movements and practitioners, supporting communities and regions to **design and decide in partnership with nature**.

### **Call for Pilot Regions worldwide — applications open now**

We’re now inviting **pilot regions** to apply to join this rare, supported co-learning and design-pilot journey. If your region is already weaving partnerships across communities, sectors, and landscapes — or is ready to take that next step — this is a **wonderful opportunity** to help shape the toolkit, learn alongside other pioneers, and implement a local pilot in collaboration with your wider ecosystem. 

[Apply before April 5th 2026!](https://coda.io/d/The-Living-Systems-Alliance%5FdZl1M3el0U8/Call-for-Pilot-Regions%5FsutK1rvE?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### **Two upcoming Q&A sessions**

q&a sessions 

We’re hosting ****two online Question and Answer sessions** soon — a friendly space to hear more, ask questions, and explore whether applying is right for your region. 

****March 17th, 9am UTC**   
[The event in your timezone](https://24timezones.com/event?l=tzutc&st=20260317T0900&txt=Call%20for%20Pilot%20Regions%20Q&A1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
[Zoom link for attending](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87645540543?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  

****March 23rd, 3pm UTC**   
[The event in your timezone](https://24timezones.com/event?l=tzutc&st=20260323T1500&txt=Call%20for%20Pilot%20Regions%20Q&A2&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
[Zoom link for attending](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87567357684?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Reminder:** Don’t leave it too late — if you’re curious, **come to a Q&A.**   
The call for applications closes on **April 5th 2026**. 

**Key links**

- Project overview: [https://transitionnetwork.org/the-living-systems-alliance/](https://transitionnetwork.org/the-living-systems-alliance/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Pilot regions call](https://coda.io/d/The-Living-Systems-Alliance%5FdZl1M3el0U8/Call-for-Pilot-Regions%5FsutK1rvE?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I you can’t make it to one of the Q&A sessions and have questions, please reach out to lsa@transitionnetwork.org to learn more!

[Apply here](https://coda.io/d/The-Living-Systems-Alliance%5FdZl1M3el0U8/Call-for-Pilot-Regions%5FsutK1rvE?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Host a HOPE screening & bring the wave to your community
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/
Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:48:34.000Z
**Host your own HOPE screening event!**

We are thrilled to announce that Transition Network international has signed a collaboration agreement with the producers of HOPE ([El Gato Verde](https://elgatoverdeproducciones.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). This partnership makes it easier than ever for Transition groups to access this inspiring documentary series and spread its powerful message. Join us and host a screening in your community!

Find all the details and relevant links below. 

### **What is HOPE?**

[HOPE](https://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a documentary series rooted in active optimism. It amplifies the stories of communities worldwide who are regenerating the planet and building a more just future. Filmed across 17 countries on 4 continents, it gathers over 40 solutions already having a positive impact on Earth.

Launched in 2025, the series has been a huge success. Transition Network is proud to be a supporter and part of the [Regeneration Alliance](https://oleadaporlaregeneracion.es/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that emerged from this project.

Watch the Trailer of HOPE

### **The wave is growing**

The HOPE series is already creating ripples of change:

- **Across the Transition Movement**: In October, we hosted an online screening with co-director Javier Peña, Filipa Pimentel, and Rob Hopkins. Over 200 people registered, and the feedback was overwhelming.  
"I was really glad I managed to be part of the Hope Screening... A few of us from Sustainable Chipping Norton would like to host the whole series of Hope films. We felt it would be a good way of drawing people together, generating discussions, lifting spirits, connecting people with the energy to take forward projects and ideas" - Cara Hedges, Sustainable Chipping Norton.  
[Read more about the event here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-wave-of-hope/):

[A Wave of Hope: the Global Community Gathers to Reimagine and Build the FutureA conversation that will recharge your “hope battery” and leave you ready to act.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-31.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/hope-screening--Presentaci--n---1--1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-wave-of-hope/)

- **Influencing Decision-Makers**: On December 3rd, 2025, HOPE was screened at the European Parliament. Filipa Pimentel helped host a side event, bringing the power of community-led change to wider decision-making spaces.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/hope-eu-parliament-1765021479418-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/HOPE-EuropeanParliament6--1--1.jpeg)

HOPE at the European Parliament, December 3rd, 2025

- **Spreading Across the Globe**: Groups are already organising screenings all over the world.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/image-1.png)

Map of screenings image provided by ElGatoVerde

- **A Proven Tool for Transition**: Film nights are a fantastic way to engage your community. As Rakesh Rootsman Rak shares:"Organizing a screening of a chosen film for a specific local community can be a great starting point to guide people interested in Transition and generate enthusiasm and engagement".

[Film Nights to (re)Launch TransitionHosting a curated film night in a specific local community can be a great starting point to orient people who want to get involved with Transition and generate excitement and engagement within their community![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-9.png)Practising TransitionRakesh Rootsman Rak![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/filmnights-featured-img-2.jpeg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/film-nights-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### **The HOPE episodes: At a glance**

1. The Big Opportunity: An introduction to climate change and hope. Featuring Paul Hawken.
2. The Power of Two Words (What If): Regeneration and agriculture. Featuring Rob Hopkins and the Liège Food Belt.
3. Metamorphosis: Regenerating Earth and redesigning the economy. Featuring Kate Raworth.
4. Innovation: How the invisible can transform our future. Featuring Itziar Irakuri.
5. Energy Transition: Featuring Bertrand Piccard.
6. The Secret Ingredient: Ancestral knowledge and social justice. Featuring Nemonte Nenquimo and Christiana Figueres.

## **An invitation: Join the Wave of HOPE**

Many of you have expressed interest in bringing this powerful series to your local community. Now, thanks to our agreement with the producers, we can offer Transition groups special conditions to do just that.

We believe HOPE is a great resource for sparking conversations, building connections, and experiencing hope together in challenging times. Please review the options below and apply to host a screening!

### **Details & conditions for hosting a screening**

The conditions depend on your venue and budget. Please choose the option that fits you best:

**Option A:** **Screen in Your Local Community** (Non-Commercial, No Entrance Fee). This option is for screenings in local halls, community centres, or homes where you are not charging an entrance fee (though you may pass a hat to cover costs). You have two paths:

1. **For groups and hubs with NO budget**: Apply for one of 10 free screening spots – **UPDATE: the grants have been already assigned to the groups that applied. If you're still interested in hosting a screening, please read #2\. If you'd like to host a screening but have no budget to cover it, please email us at comms@transitionnetwork.org**  
  - Fill in the application form below by April 12, 2026.
  - Spots are limited and awarded at Transition Network's discretion based on factors like geographic diversity, audience reach, and commitment to community building.
  - [*Apply here*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj4VrlVPQxsN3fHP3NbklfGzI-Amah126stt0gDwH3Xev69g/viewform?usp=dialog&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. **For groups and hubs with a budget:** Host with a discounted screening fee for the Transition Network family.
  - Groups in Europe, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea: €100 per episode, or €250 for the entire series (+ taxes).
  - Groups in all other countries: €50 per episode, or €125 for the entire series (+ taxes).
  - Payment is due in the week your first screening takes place.
  - [*Fill in this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMmWIGNeZNcX3S3LP-zHEakagK4iU8t1gAV87ame2M8bcOXg/viewform?usp=header&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**For both budget options, you will receive:**

- Password-protected access to your chosen episode(s).
- Promotional materials (posters, invitations, short videos, trailers).
- A PDF guide to help facilitate conversations after the event.

**Option B: Screen in a Cinema or Public Venue** (With entrance fee). If you plan to hold a larger, public event and charge an entrance fee, please email us at comms@transitionnetwork.org to discuss a custom license.

**Option C: Watch on Your Own or at Home**

- Globally: You can rent or buy episodes on Vimeo/VHX with a special discount. Go to [HOPE Series VHX Page](https://hopetheseries.vhx.tv/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and use code HOPEISACTION.
- In Spain: You can watch episodes for free via RTVE.Play or Movistar+.

### **All groups hosting a screening agree to:**

- Use all materials responsibly and confidentially, only for the purposes of the screening events.
- Share photos/videos from your event.
- Report the number of participants.
- Share feedback, quotes, and reflections from your team and audience.

### **Ready to host? Apply here!**

- I do NOT have the budget to cover screening costs. (Apply by April 12, 2026)

[Apply for a Fee-Free Screening Spot](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj4VrlVPQxsN3fHP3NbklfGzI-Amah126stt0gDwH3Xev69g/viewform?usp=dialog&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- I DO have the budget to cover screening costs.

[I Want to Host a HOPE Screening Event!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMmWIGNeZNcX3S3LP-zHEakagK4iU8t1gAV87ame2M8bcOXg/viewform?usp=dialog&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Reach out to comms@transitionnetwork.org** (write 'HOPE screening' as email subject) **if you have questions or need support.** 

If you want to know more about the collaboration with HOPE and El Gato Verde, and find more inspiration on the power of films to ignite change in your communities, [check out this blog from Filipa and Esther](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/power-of-documentaries-poder-documentarios/).

**We are looking forward to seeing how this unstoppable wave of HOPE expands through Transition!**

Thank you for making this real.
### The power of documentaries in supporting the work of Transitioners / O poder dos documentários no apoio ao trabalho dos Transitioners
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/power-of-documentaries-poder-documentarios/
Last updated: 2026-03-11T10:29:29.000Z
*\[Filipa wrote this article in Portuguese. Please find the translated version below\]*

— Lembro-me do dia em que fui de Bruxelas a Paris para participar no evento [*ChangeNow* ](https://www.changenow.world/join-changenow-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)2025, onde o Rob (Hopkins) iria intervir — disse eu à Esther. 

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Maeve Campbell apresentando Javier Peña e Rob Hopkins após a exibição do capítulo 2 na Change Now Summit, em Paris.

A Esther e eu estávamos numa reunião online para explorarmos a colaboração entre a Transition Network Internacional e os produtores do novo documentário [*HOPE!*](https://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *(*[*ElGatoVerde*](https://elgatoverdeproducciones.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). Eu continuei:

— Tínhamos combinado encontrar-nos sem especificar onde nem quando, e foi uma surpresa encontrarmo-nos mesmo no patamar inferior das escadas do metro que nos levaria à *Avenue des Champs-Élysées*, pertinho do *Grand Palais*. Assim que começámos a subir, olhei para cima e vi um homem parado, a olhar para nós. Quando o Rob olhou para ele, o rosto daquele homem grande e barbudo iluminou-se num sorriso rasgado e, com os dedos, formou um coração. A celebração que ainda estava viva pela surpresa do nosso encontro ampliou-se para incluir aquele homem desconhecido. Que momento tão bonito.

— Reconheceu o Rob? — perguntou Esther, de olhos muito abertos, numa expressão entre o espanto e a diversão. — Acontece muito o Rob ser reconhecido assim, fora de Inglaterra?

— Sim! — respondi — Acontece muito em França, na Bélgica e noutros países francófonos. Assisti muitas vezes a este fenómeno depois de o Rob se ter tornado uma celebridade com o sucesso incrível do documentário [*DEMAIN*](https://www.youtube.com/@demainlefilm/videos?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), que estreou durante a [COP21, em 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?si=Kq4qeY-YV5gDIRgB&t=528&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Sabias que ganhou um César e teve mais bilheteira do que o *Star Wars* em França?

Demain e Transição na COP21\. «8 dias na COP21» é o trabalho do cineasta Emilio Mula, que viajou para Paris com Rob Hopkins e a equipa da Transição

— Sim, lembro-me de ler sobre isso — disse Esther — e que teve um impacto enorme no Movimento de Transição nesses territórios francófonos: só na Bélgica, o número de grupos locais triplicou no ano que se seguiu ao lançamento do filme. É impressionante o poder que um documentário de qualidade pode ter no apoio ao trabalho que fazemos no terreno.

— Pode ser mesmo muito transformador um documentário deste tipo. — eu concordei — A Transition Network lançou alguns documentários com esse propósito: o [*Transition 2.0*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFQFBmq7X84&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (2012), por exemplo, foi muito utilizado no terreno pelos grupos locais. Ainda hoje o dou como exemplo do poder da ação coletiva: o filme é um agregado de imagens recolhidas em todo o mundo pelas Iniciativas de Transição, de forma descentralizada, e reunidas depois numa narrativa unificada. O documentário tem legendas em 25 idiomas — também esse foi um trabalho colaborativo, feito por membros do movimento espalhados pelo mundo, de forma voluntária. Importante também tem sido o documentário de Agustí Corominas e Juan Del Río (Transição Espanha) — [*ALTERNATIVAS*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v%5FSIQjyqZ2U&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) — agora disponível para todos verem em espanhol, com legendas em inglês, alemão, italiano e português.

— Lembrei-me agora que o Rakesh (Rakesh Rootsman Rack) contribuiu para o projeto das [Práticas de Transição](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Practising Transition) da TNi — “[Noites de Cinema para (re)lançar a Transição](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/film-nights-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)”. Sabias? — perguntou Esther.

[Film Nights to (re)Launch TransitionHosting a curated film night in a specific local community can be a great starting point to orient people who want to get involved with Transition and generate excitement and engagement within their community![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-7.png)Practising TransitionRakesh Rootsman Rak![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/filmnights-featured-img.jpeg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/film-nights-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Depois de nos deixarmos levar pelos meandros da conversa e pelos muitos recursos existentes na internet, combinámos regressar ao assunto que era o foco da nossa reunião: o documentário *HOPE!*.

— Como dizia antes, Esther, fui ao evento *ChangeNow*, em Paris, e foi lá que assisti à exibição do episódio 2 do documentário. Tive a mesma intuição de potencial que tive com o documentário *DEMAIN*. O Rob Hopkins, uma das figuras principais deste episódio, e o realizador Javier Peña formaram um painel de discussão logo depois da exibição e responderam a perguntas do público. A sala estava cheia e sentia-se o entusiasmo geral. Foi logo depois que o Javier e eu começámos a imaginar como poderíamos colaborar - a equipa do documentário e a Transition Network Internacional.

— Percebo o entusiasmo que deve ter sido — disse Esther. — Entretanto, vi todos os episódios na *TVE* (a televisão pública espanhola). Fiquei muito emocionada com todos eles. Tem sido um grande sucesso em Espanha, com uma onda de interesse no tema da regeneração, na narrativa de que ainda há esperança e de que estamos a tempo. Todo o documentário é como uma viagem transformadora, guiada por Javier Peña, para conhecer um outro lado das alterações climáticas, com especialistas em ambiente de todo o mundo, filmado em 17 países e mostrando soluções reais para travar a crise ecológica global.

— Desde Paris, já fizemos várias coisas em conjunto: em outubro do ano passado, a TNi organizou uma [sessão online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0sJDofy-ac&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) de exibição do episódio 2 — “O Poder de Duas Palavras” — com uma conversa com o Rob Hopkins e o Javier Peña; e, em novembro, co-organizei e facilitei uma sessão em Bruxelas, quando vieram apresentar o documentário ao Parlamento Europeu.

Gravação da conversa que tivemos durante a exibição internacional online do episódio 2 de HOPE, no final de 2025

— Exato. E foi precisamente depois da sessão online, em outubro, na qual tivemos mais de 200 inscrições, que muitos participantes nos perguntaram como poderiam organizar exibições da série documental nas suas comunidades locais. É nisso que temos de trabalhar, Filipa — como organizamos isso? Como continuamos esta colaboração tão boa com os produtores da Gato Verde?

Continuámos a reunião explorando possibilidades e construindo sobre experiências passadas, tanto do lado da TNi como da nossa experiência pessoal enquanto membros de iniciativas locais. Reunimos várias vezes com os representantes do *HOPE!*, tecendo uma relação de colaboração comovente entre as duas equipas. Estamos agora preparadas, eu e a Esther, para partilhar:

**A todos os membros desta família da Transição que queiram juntar-se a esta ONDA DE ESPERANÇA maravilhosa, organizando uma exibição desta série documental ou parte dela nas vossas comunidades, convidamos-vos a explorar todas a possibilidades e condições para o fazer: pensamos que** [**aqui**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/) **poderão encontrar tudo o que precisam.**

[Host a HOPE screening & bring the wave to your communityHost your own HOPE screening event! We are thrilled to announce that Transition Network international has signed a collaboration agreement with the producers of HOPE (El Gato Verde). This partnership makes it easier than ever for Transition groups to access this inspiring documentary series and spread its powerful message. Join![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-32.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/host-a-screening-1200px-1.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/)

Deem-nos notícias!

## Translated version

— I remember the day I went from Brussels to Paris to attend the [ChangeNow](https://www.changenow.world/join-changenow-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 2025 event, where Rob (Hopkins) was going to speak — I told Esther.

0:00 

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**Maeve Campbell introducing Javier Peña and Rob Hopkins after the screening of chapter 2 at Change Now Summit in Paris*

Esther and I had met online to explore collaboration between the Transition Network International and the producers of the new documentary [*HOPE!*](https://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) ([GatoVerde](https://elgatoverdeproducciones.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). I continued:

— We had arranged to meet without specifying where or when, and it was a surprise to find ourselves on the lower landing of the metro stairs that would take us to the *Avenue des Champs-Élysées*, right by the *Grand Palais*. As we started going up, I looked up and saw a man standing there, looking at us. When Rob looked at him, that big, bearded man's face lit up in a broad smile, and with his fingers, he formed a heart. The celebration still alive from the surprise of our encounter expanded to include that unknown man. What a beautiful moment.

— Did he recognize Rob? — asked Esther, her eyes wide, in an expression somewhere between astonishment and amusement. — Does Rob get recognized like this often, outside England?

— Yes! — I replied. — It happens a lot in France, Belgium, and other French-speaking countries. I've witnessed this phenomenon many times since Rob became a celebrity with the incredible success of the documentary *TOMORROW* ([*DEMAIN*](https://www.youtube.com/@demainlefilm/videos?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), which premiered during [COP21, in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?si=Kq4qeY-YV5gDIRgB&t=528&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Did you know it won a Cesar Award and had higher box office numbers than Star Wars in France?

Demain and Transition at COP21\. '8 days @ COP21' is the work of filmmaker Emilio Mula who, traveled to to Paris with Rob Hopkins and the Transition team.

— Yes, I remember reading about that — said Esther — and that it had a huge impact on the Transition Movement in those French-speaking territories: in Belgium alone, the number of local groups tripled in the year following the film's release. It's impressive the power a quality documentary can have in supporting the work we do on the ground.

— A documentary like this can indeed be very transformative — I agreed. — Transition Network released some documentaries for that purpose: [*Transition 2.0*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFQFBmq7X84&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (2012), for example, was widely used on the ground by local groups. I still cite it as an example of the power of collective action: the film is an aggregate of footage gathered worldwide by Transition initiatives, in a decentralized way, and then brought together into a unified narrative. The documentary has subtitles in 25 languages — that was also a collaborative effort, done by movement members around the world, on a voluntary basis. Also important has been the documentary by Agustí Corominas and Juan Del Río (Transition Spain) — [*ALTERNATIVAS*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v%5FSIQjyqZ2U&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)— now available for everyone to watch in Spanish, with subtitles in English, German, Italian, and Portuguese.

— It just occurred to me that Rakesh (Rakesh Rootsman Rak) contributed to the TNi project "[Practising Transition](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)" with "[Film Nights to (re)launch Transition](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/film-nights-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)". Did you know? — asked Esther.

[Film Nights to (re)Launch TransitionHosting a curated film night in a specific local community can be a great starting point to orient people who want to get involved with Transition and generate excitement and engagement within their community![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-8.png)Practising TransitionRakesh Rootsman Rak![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/filmnights-featured-img-1.jpeg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/film-nights-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

After letting ourselves get carried away by the intricacies of the conversation and the many resources available on the internet, we agreed to return to the subject that was the focus of our meeting — the documentary *HOPE!*.

— As I was saying before, Esther, I went to the ChangeNow event in Paris, and that's where I watched the screening of episode 2 of the documentary. I had the same intuition of potential that I had with the documentary *TOMORROW*. Rob Hopkins, one of the main figures in this episode, and the director Javier Peña formed a discussion panel right after the screening and answered questions from the audience. The room was full and you could feel the general excitement. It was right after that Javier and I started imagining how we could collaborate — the documentary team and Transition Network International.

— I understand the excitement it must have been — said Esther. — Meanwhile, I watched all the episodes on TVE (the Spanish public television). I was very moved by all of them. It has been a great success in Spain — a wave of interest in the theme of regeneration, in the narrative that there is still hope and that we are in time. The whole documentary is like a transformative journey, guided by Javier Peña, to discover another side of climate change, with environmental experts from around the world, filmed in 17 countries and showing real solutions to halt the global ecological crisis.

— Since Paris, we've done several things together: last October, [TNi organised an online screening session of episode 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0sJDofy-ac&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) — "The Power of Two Words" — with a conversation with Rob Hopkins and Javier Peña; and in November, I co-organized and facilitated a session in Brussels, when they came to present the documentary to the European Parliament.

Recording of the conversation we had during the online international screening of HOPE episode 2, at the end of 2025

— Exactly. And it was precisely after the online session in October, which had over 200 registrations, that many participants asked us how they could organize screenings of the documentary series in their local communities. That's what we need to work on, Filipa — how do we organize that? How do we continue this wonderful collaboration with the producers from Gato Verde?

We continued the meeting exploring possibilities and building on past experiences, both from TNi's side and from our personal experience as members of local initiatives. We met several times with the HOPE! representatives, weaving a touching collaborative relationship between the two teams. Esther and I are now prepared to share with anyone who wants to bring this documentary series to their communities.

We think you might find everything you need [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/):

[Host a HOPE screening & bring the wave to your communityHost your own HOPE screening event! We are thrilled to announce that Transition Network international has signed a collaboration agreement with the producers of HOPE (El Gato Verde). This partnership makes it easier than ever for Transition groups to access this inspiring documentary series and spread its powerful message. Join![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-33.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/host-a-screening-1200px-1-1.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/host-a-hope-screening/)

Let us know how it goes!
### Seasonal Gatherings: Join a Year of Connection and Ceremony
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seasonal-gatherings/
Last updated: 2026-02-25T10:49:36.000Z
Pause, reflect, and connect with community as we mark the Earth's natural rhythms.

Throughout the year, we invite you to **a series of online gatherings timed to the Earth's great transitions**, from Equinox to Solstice, and from Full Moon to New Moon. These are moments to step out of the daily rush and reconnect with the larger cycles that hold us all.

[Register here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/inner/gath-encue-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Together, we will explore the inner and cultural shifts unfolding in our lives and communities. Rooted in seasonal traditions and guided by the wisdom of elders, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and practitioners from diverse lineages, each gathering creates **a container for deep listening, ceremony, and a shared commitment to justice, care, and regeneration**.

While each date has its own unique theme, the spirit remains the same: to come together in community, honor the thresholds we are crossing, tend to what is changing, and remember what truly sustains us.

### **The 2026 Gatherings and Themes**

****March 19th (Equinox & World Water Day) · Water, Balance, and the Work of Transition**  
Thursday · 17:00 – 18:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//tinyurl.com/waterequinox19mar%3AilCXqSodx%5F1cV7oOtRCjb%5FaToJwfGP%5Fpvn7cNCrp5Do&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).  
  
****May 1st (Full Moon) · Raising Collective Consciousness**  
Friday · 15:00 – 16:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//tinyurl.com/collectiveawaren1may%3AfPXqAi2fF6pNWgzwMJNVEvsTEDZnVtMD0S9gPnq%5Fy7c&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).  
  
****June 18th (Solstice & South New Year) · New Year for the Global South**  
Thursday · 19:00 – 20:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//tinyurl.com/surglobal18jun%3ATm0CJabEYoOChmobEOXOmOY6AbukA07DM%5F65qLaN05s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).  
  
****September 24th (Equinox) · Returning to Balance**  
Thursday · 13:00 – 14:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=%20https%3A//tinyurl.com/equilib24sep%3AQ06nYrbOTKPWz8mgY7Zcs1Uqtep27OWCy9YPco213Qw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).  
  
****November 10th (New Moon) · Collective Healing**  
Tuesday · 17:00 – 18:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//tinyurl.com/sanacolect10nov%3ABaWCh1IoXoVxtQvftREQ1Iu24jFnMDHDVFoQAnfTzB0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).  
**This gathering coincides with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and International Week of Science and Peace (Nov 9–15).*  
  
****December 17th (Solstice) · Celebrating Turning Points**  
Thursday · 15:00 – 16:30 UTC. [Check your local time here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//tinyurl.com/turningp17dic%3AKVevrBWtr4SQ1wyIHB0jWt-3nskVXWcNBr8FF04hhF0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

### **Join Us**

You are warmly invited to **attend any or all** of these gatherings. It’s **a chance to reconnect** with the rhythms of the Earth, with one another, and with the deeper currents guiding our collective future.

Once registered, you'll receive a **confirmation email** with all the zoom links and a reminder of the dates and times.

We will also email you a **reminder** around a day before each of the events, and 10 min before opening the Zoom doors with the link for you to have it handy.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/02/Seasonal-Gatherings-2026-banner-for-Pretix-v2-1.jpg) 

#### 

[Register here](https://events.transitionmovement.org/inner/gath-encue-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

### **Accessibility & Language**

All events will be interpreted in Spanish and English. We may offer additional languages and will announce them closer to the date.

### **A Gift Economy Offering**

These gatherings are offered in the spirit of a gift economy to remain accessible to all. You are welcome to join freely. If you feel called to support this work, you can make a [one-time or recurring contribution](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=https%3A//opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle/contribute/supporting-member-45962/checkout%3Finterval%3Dmonth%26amp%3Bamount%3D5%26amp%3BcontributeAs%3Dme%3AjMgC0FpfD5bp6C63SEdHd07yxa94JL9lsQo-z3%5FRUrQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Your generosity helps us fairly compensate our guest speakers and interpreters.

You can find more information at [inner.transitionmovement.org](https://events.transitionmovement.org/redirect/?url=http%3A//inner.transitionmovement.org%3A8STBCCKkX0D9GMzMTkxJaa0ySN9GOgs1efVjnzhj9mI&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

See you soon!

  
*Cultural Transformation hosting team*,  
part of Transition Network international
### February 2026: Seeds of hope and abundance
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/february-2026-seeds-of-hope-and-abundance/
Last updated: 2026-02-20T18:48:20.000Z
Dear Transitioners,  
We bring seeds this February, packed in a challenge: learning to see life with new eyes and recognizing our inter-dependencies, acting consciously, and building bridges between different kinds of knowledge, territories, and lived experiences. From the stories of **Abya Yala** to the just published **Programme of the Day of Transition Practise**, we look into the many different ways in which your groups and communities thrive. For some of you, there is a small support to help you start your action - it's inspiring to go through the results from the **SeedFunding** campaign and see what groups and hubs are up to. 

Feeling like knowing more? Do dive in the content of this month's newsletter, and do share your own stories of hope and abundance. We would love to meet you on [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! Below is also a **user-friendly guide** on how to join and connect.   
With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- The full programme and the registration for the **Day of Transition Practice**, scheduled for **24 April 2026**, is [here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! Bookmark the sessions you'd like to attend and join us for some good talks and workshops throughout the 24hrs of togetherness.

[Day of Transition Practise 2026 Programme & RegistrationsJoin us in a very special day when Transitioners all around the world come together to share and learn from each other!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-6.png)Practising TransitionElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/banner-DoTP-4-.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2026-full-programme/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The results from the [**SeedFunding**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seed-funding-local-groups-2025/) campaign are in - it's amazing to see what some of the hubs and groups around the world are going to work on this year.

[Planting seeds for abundanceThe results from the Seed Funding campaign 2025-2026![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-29.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/cafe-reparaci--n---Transici--n-Mexico.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/planting-seeds-for-abundance)

- If you missed the **Work that Reconnects** conversation with Don, Anahi and Martina, you can see the recording [here](https://workthatreconnects.org/resources/integrated-changemaking-webinar/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Here is the Calendar of **Seasonal Gatherings** happening online, so you can book in advance caring spaces for Connection and Ceremony. Pause, reflect, and connect with community as we mark the Earth's natural rhythms.

[Seasonal Gatherings: Join a Year of Connection and CeremonyThu, March 19, 2026![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon.332c189bb6df.png)Seasonal Gatherings: Join a Year of Connection and Ceremony![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/351eae5669f22a0fef9089a2f5140a8a.5000x1200.jpeg)](https://events.transitionmovement.org/inner/gath-encue-2026/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- It's becoming really cozy here at the [**Community Waves**](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- the open source social media space crafted with love and ethics for people involved in community-led change. Do join and invite your friends and community members as well - there is space for everyone on this path. Here is a bit of info on what it is and how to join in.

[Community Waves: the free, ethical, social media for changemakersReady to expand your ripple waves of connection and regeneration? We are thrilled to invite you to Community Waves, our alternative social media platform! Tired of big tech companies undermining our digital well-being, nasty algorithms, and persistent ads? So were we. That’s why we’ve been building this new, open-source platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-28.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/waves-featured.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/community-waves-ethical-social-media/)

- If you'd like to remind yourself about the Transition model, read on.

[Transition as a Social TechnologyAfter nearly two decades deeply engaged in this field, the organizing model developed by the international Transition Towns Movement is still the most holistic, accessible, and effective social technology I’ve found for cultivating more resilient, equitable, sustainable, and regenerative local communities from the bottom up. Based on the experience![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-30.png)Transition NewsDon Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Illustration-31.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-as-a-social-technology/)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- \[ES\] Very inspiring sharing from **Abya Yala** \- compartiendo sabiduría desde la Sierra Nevada de Colombia: cuatro pueblos y una lección de ayer para el hoy.*(Sharing wisdom from the Sierra Nevada of Colombia: four villages and a lesson from yesterday for today.)*

[Voices from Abya YalaCompartiendo sabiduría desde la Sierra Nevada de Colombia: cuatro pueblos y una lección de ayer para el hoy. Caminando la visión de honrar a los Pueblos Originarios de todo el planeta, junto a las voces vivas hoy en el Sur Global, el l Círculo de Transformación Cultural da inicio con![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-13.png)Cultural Transformation CircleSebastian Pibi![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Bildschirmfoto-2026-02-03-um-16.58.35.png)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/abya-yala/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- \[FR\] La Deep Democracy ou **Démocratie Profonde** est un outil précieux **en médiation et en gestion d’équipe**. Elle offre un nouveau type de perspectives sur l’individu et le groupe.[ **Apprenez à utiliser cet outil indispensable lors de la formation Démocratie Profonde**](https://www.reseautransition.be/event/formation-democratie-profonde-12-13-mars-2026-bruxelles/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **les 12 et 13 mars à Bruxelles.**
- \[EN\] Do you like soup? If you are around Polmont early March, here is an event not to be missed! [Polmont SOUP](https://pch-community-events-blogs.blogspot.com/2026/01/polmontsoup-event.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a way of promoting, raising funds, and celebrating great ideas to build a bigger, better, stronger, supportive community. We will come together and enjoy a hot bowl of soup, some entertainment and help a community idea blossom.
- \[PT\] Transition Brasil shares their journey to life-affirming economy: [A Jornada das Economias que afirmam a Vida](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRI3bm2jLrc/?img%5Findex=7&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They will also have a Butterfly Talk session during the Day of Transition Practise on 24 April.
- \[EN\] [centreforlocalprosperity](https://www.instagram.com/centreforlocalprosperity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) invites you to a webinar to learn about Transition Towns! Thursday February 26th, 12-1pm ADT, info and registration [here](https://www.instagram.com/centreforlocalprosperity/p/DUiyFsEkVhh/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- \[EN\] Transition Together's Youth Circle are bringing their short film, **‘In the Making’** to Totnes. This evening of intergenerational connection, community building and youth power [will take place](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-making-tickets-1981194450935?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the Totnes Civic Hall on Thursday 12th March 6-9pm.
- **Citizens for Ecological Living and Learning** (CELL) from Luxembourg have a new web home. It's dashing and inviting, it's [here](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): in English, German and French.
- **Transition stories!** To share your amazing work, we’re creating a series of **short Reels** that showcase local Transition stories. [Here’s how you can take part](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HeHyp6aF9k5PvFfr2n3vCooaqgL7vEu0qEE1VcJA8Aw/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It’s simple action, with a great impact - Your videos help us tell a shared story that **Transition is already happening**, everywhere, in countless inspiring forms.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

- A beautiful interview with Rob Hopkins on [We Are The ReGeneration](https://re-generation.cc/en/longread/rob-hopkins/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). What if the transition we need starts with imagination?
- Planning a community gathering? Here is a guide on community visioning, [The Future We Want](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/the-future-we-want-guide-to-community-visioning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). This guide is designed to help groups and communities open up their imagination and start exploring what a better future could look like in their context. It helps to build a shared vision of what’s possible, a vital starting point to exploring how we can work together to make it a reality.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Community Waves x Re-Imagining Education Conference Collaboration:** We’re delighted to share that **Community Waves** will host a dedicated space for participants of this year’s [Re-Imagining Education Conference](https://re-imagining.education/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Feb 26 – March 1 2026). This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to ethical digital infrastructure, decolonisation, mutual support, and transformative learning.
- Reflecting on the **Random Acts of Kindness Week** \- February 14–20, a dedicated time to highlight the power of everyday kindness and the impact of small, intentional actions. Here is a challenge - embracing those simple acts of care, generosity, and connection beyond this week, for creating meaningful change in our lives and the world. [https://kindness.org/](https://kindness.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Join the "Choose Our Future" competition, a groundbreaking initiative at the intersection of sustainability science, futures thinking, and creative storytelling. [Imagine 2050: What will our story be?](https://www.chooseourfuture.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- How can deeper ecological awareness inform the way we live and work? [Restoring Your Ecological Awareness](https://biomimicry.org/asknature-learning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a training organized by the The Biomimicry Institute, offers a practical approach to reconnecting with nature and learning from living systems. Facilitated by our co-Lead Deborah Benham, PhD. Designed for practitioners, educators, designers, and changemakers.
- Funding for youth groups: The [Youth Climate Justice Fund](https://ycjf.org/how-to-apply?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provides funding to emerging youth-led climate justice and socio-environmental groups through a participatory decision-making process.

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **March** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **28 February, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/02/transition-japan.jpg)

Exploration of Transition Credits: Transition Japan

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Planting seeds for abundance
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/planting-seeds-for-abundance/
Last updated: 2026-02-18T11:57:45.000Z
**the results from the Seed Funding campaign**

​​For quite some time, our team at Transition Network international has recognized how important seed funding and grant distribution are for the movement - we heard so many fantastic stories about how even a small amount of money can make a huge difference on the ground. 

THIS IS IT! This year, we prioritised the exploration of launching Seed Funding, designing the needed processes using shared governance, and providing grants that support the work of Transition Territories, Hubs and local groups.

This is not the first time Transition Network International has organised the distribution of seed funding — we run rounds of seed-funding for Transition Hubs for 6 years - from 2014 to 2020, as well as a UK focused seed-funding in 2024\. However, this year it is the first time we launched this kind of grant to local groups at international level. 

This year, the total amount available for seed funding was smaller than in previous cycles (£15,000 for local groups and £15,000 for Hubs). It was a conscious decision to do it anyway, believing that this is just the beginning of reinstating international grants, and we are actively working toward greater abundance in the future.

**We have news:** The call for applications closed in December 2025, and the decision-making team in TNi made a decision by the end of January 2026\. And what a challenging and beautiful decision it was - It has been wonderful to continue to see the Transition Movement dreaming of new projects, energising our transition community, and it was so difficult not to grant the requested funds to all of them.

This round, we received: 

- 52 applications from local groups from all over the world
- 18 applications from Transition Hubs and Territories

**See below - I am sharing with you the successful applicants, celebrating them all!**

### Hubs and Territories:

| Hub                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Title of the project                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Abya Yala](https://www.instagram.com/transicionabyayala/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Territory - South and Central America)                                                                                                                                              | Council of Visions “Weaving collective wisdom around conflict transformation to seed a culture of peace” \| Consejo de Visiones “Tejiendo Sabiduría colectiva en torno a la transformación del conflicto para sembrar una Cultura de Paz” |
| Belgium - [Reseau Transition.be](http://transition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                                         | La Roue de la Mobilisation                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| Brazil - [Transição Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                                      | Redesign Transition Training for South America                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Colombia - [Transición Colombia](https://www.transicioncolombia.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                           | Plataforma Viva Transición Colombia - Fase Piloto                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Finland - [Jalotus - Kestävän elämän liike](https://www.jalotus.fi/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                            | Scaling transition streets with neighbourhood associations in Finland                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Germanophone (Territory)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | Transition Dach Conference 2026 in Frankfurt September 18th-20th                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Germany - [Transition Netzwerk e.V.](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                   | New Website for the German Hug                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Japan - [トランジション・ジャパン](https://transitionjapan.net/?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnTJqaaPUnFQZkdMxfsoJeHxsTYVH4bdyZ3AItc7dzaX7ckhINe9hgs1iP5xg%5Faem%5FiCUDOrXUxAVGVUyPbppbKA) | Transition ASIA symposium 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| London - [London Transition Hub](https://www.facebook.com/groups/transitionsoutheast/)                                                                                                                                                                                         | Convening and communicating for change                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Mexico - [Transición México](https://transicionmexico.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                                     | Micelio Colaborativo Hub México. Diagnóstico de Iniciativas para la Transición.                                                                                                                                                           |
| Paris - [Paris Ile-de-France](https://transitionparisidf.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                                   | National Internet site EnTransition.fr maintenance                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| South Ouest France - [Sud Ouest France en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/kesako-on-vous-explique/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                | “Communication Survival Kit for Hubs”                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Spain - [Red de Transición de España](https://www.reddetransicion.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                                                                                                                         | Strengthening the Spanish Transition Hub and Open Release of the Transition Movement Guide                                                                                                                                                |

### Local Groups:

| Name                                                                                                                                                                      | Country   | Title of Project                                                                                            |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [PermoAfrica Training Center – Transition Homa Bay](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/permoafrica-training-centre/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                 | Kenya     | Permaculture Resilience Gardens: Youth and Community Empowerment in Homa Bay                                |
| [Programa Permanente Ecobairro \| Ecobairro Vila Mariana](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/ecobairro-permanent-program/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)           | Brazil    | Vila Mariana District Climate Action Plan: an opportunity to build local community capacities and practices |
| [Coexist](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/coexist/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                               | UK        | Co-creating a Community Kitchen for Food Sovereignty                                                        |
| [Sustainable Bude CIC (formerly Transition Bude CIC)](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/chipping-norton/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                           | UK        | Bude Community Larder                                                                                       |
| [Golden Ears Transition Initiative](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/golden-ears-transition-initiative/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                           | Canada    | Alouette Growers Online Farm Market                                                                         |
| [Transition Granja Viana](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/granja-viana/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                          | Brazil    | Youth Collab feat DPV (Life Regenerative Life Projects Design). Educating Territory: Osasco, Granja Viana.  |
| [Rethink Red Deer](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/rethink-red-deer/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                             | Canada    | Brownfields to Green Fields                                                                                 |
| [Transition Town - All St. Anthony Park (TT-ASAP)](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/transition-town-all-st-anthony-park/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)          | US        | Fresh Air Wheels - St. Anthony Park eBike Library                                                           |
| [Transition Bridgetown Inc](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/bridgetown/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                          | Australia | Repair Cafe for Bridgetown                                                                                  |
| [Iniciativa de Transição de Linda-a-Velha (ITLaV)](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/linda-a-velha-em-transicao/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                   | Portugal  | Oficina de costura (sewing workshop)                                                                        |
| [Permakultura Dalmacija](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/permakultura-dalmacija/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                 | Croatia   | Culture of Diversity - Preserving Biodiversity Through Community                                            |
| [Transition Homes for Peace & Environment (T'Home 4PEnv)](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/transition-home-for-peace-environment/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | Kenya     | Transition Town Machakos, Training and Launch Project                                                       |
| [Boissy Environnement et Transition](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/val-de-marne-en-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                 | France    | Forest talk on safe wild foraging                                                                           |
| [Transition Town Frankfurt e.V.](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/frankfurt-am-main/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                              | Germany   | Transition Dach Conference 2026 in Frankfurt September 18th-20th                                            |
| [Rukayün](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/group/somospaz/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)                                                                              | Chile     | On the Way to School \| Rumbo a la Escuela                                                                  |

We truly hope this is just the beginning! Now, there is a **space** where you can be an active part of this beautiful community - where we can support and care for one another, and where we can all inspire and be inspired by the stories of these and other groups from all over the world, contributing for the change we need. So, I invite you **to stay connected** with other Transition groups, Hubs and TN through our [Community Waves platform](https://communitywaves.space/s/welcome-space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and other shared spaces.
### Community Waves: the free, ethical, social media for changemakers
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/community-waves-ethical-social-media/
Last updated: 2026-03-12T09:56:48.000Z
Ready to expand your ripple waves of connection and regeneration? We are thrilled to invite you to Community Waves, our alternative social media platform!

Tired of big tech companies undermining our digital well-being, nasty algorithms, and persistent ads? So were we. That's why we've been building this new, open-source platform – a space owned by the community, for the community. 

****Community Waves is a dedicated free, ethical online space for those involved in community-led change to connect, organise, and learn**. It emerged from real needs and desires from the Transition community and now it’s open to changemakers all over the world.

Hosted by Transition Network international (TNi), Community Waves offers some **key features and benefits**:

- It uses open source software (built with HumHub)
- It is powered by green energy
- Adverts-free
- No nasty algorithms in the house
- Not owned by questionable tech billionaires or big corporations
- User-friendly and responsive
- Network building: follow, connect and message other users
- You can write or read in your preferred language simultaneously thanks to an automated translations plug-in. No more language barriers!
- Public and private spaces, organised by topics and community type
- Supported by actual humans – got an issue or a question? Sam, Pame or Dan are around to help
- Improving as we go – your feedback is actually considered and it helps improving the platform and its tools

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/02/1.jpg)

This alternative social media platform is easy to use, with accessibility features built-in, and has a similar look and feel to Facebook. There’s a direct messaging feature, a shared calendar, a members map, and more! 

You won’t find algorithm-driven feeds, but an intentional space for the community to cultivate depth of connection. 

Lately, our space has been buzzing with real conversations. Members are sharing project updates, workshopping challenges, and celebrating wins together. The discussions have been wide-ranging: we've explored facilitation techniques and educational approaches, dug into regenerative ways of communicating across organizations, and shared local strategies for responding to the rise of violent groups in our communities. And of course, we're collectively making sense of AI and what it means for our work today.

### **Log in from browser or phone**

Log in to Community Waves from your browser [here](http://hub.transition-space.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or download the app on your phone:

**How to access Community Waves from phone app:**

1. Download the HumHub app:
- [Click here if you’re using an Android phone](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.humhub.app&hl&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Click here if you’re using an Iphone](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/humhub/id6446092274?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
1. Enter the URL (communitywaves.org) and log in following the steps. [Check out this guide for details](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/community-waves-humhub/page/apps-for-mobile?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) if needed.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/02/data-src-image-cdc34e2b-a2ee-495e-ab53-1982e0d461c6.png)

Screenshot of the HumHub app on the Google Play store

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/02/data-src-image-757c6132-f499-4d4d-a8cb-0d37509badf7.png)

Screnshot of the HumHub app for Mac

### **A bit of context**

The first seeds of Waves were planted a while ago, and after a lot of research and testing we launched it officially by the end of 2025\. You can watch the recording of the [Choosing Ethical Technology](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/choosing-ethical-technology/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for more context here: 

Choosing Ethical Technology webinar facilitated by Sam Rossiter and Esther Molina, part of TNi Comms team

[Choosing Ethical TechnologyWorking with ethical technology is about aligning our digital lives with our values. Choosing tools that nurture community, protect wellbeing, and serve the regenerative futures we’re building together.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-5.png)Practising TransitionSam Rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/20250301_153420---Matija---ukelj.jpg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/choosing-ethical-technology/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Waves is open and offered for free to every user, independently of their organisation. 

There is a simple [Terms and Community agreement page](https://communitywaves.space/legal/page/view?pageKey=terms&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) available as user safety and participation guidelines. 

We’re working now on a collective project for interoperability so this doesn’t become an echo chamber. Stay tuned for more. 

**If you are part of the Transition movement or a member of a sister organisation and your intention is to host a space in Waves**, you’ll be able to use a specific link to bring your members to it once ready. Please check out our [Waves slide deck here](https://www.canva.com/design/DAHAejMI2zY/keCryklKVYn9Lsl97Lmp2w/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAHAejMI2zY&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=link2&utm%5Fsource=uniquelinks&utlId=h5d0dde4657) and contact our team via [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) 

🌊 Ready to make some waves?

[Click here to join Community Waves today!](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Join hundreds of community workers, activists, and volunteers who are already expanding their ripple waves of connection and regeneration.**
### January 2026: Finding Healthy Rhythms
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/january-2026-finding-healthy-rhythms/
Last updated: 2026-01-31T21:58:09.000Z
What are healthy rhythms for making change within ourselves, our teams, and the wider systems we’re part of? This question has been alive within the TNI team over the past year, both individually and collectively. We’ve taken steps toward **healthier ways of working together** by holding regular team wellbeing meetings, creating informal spaces for peer connection, experimenting with a Reading and Learning week, and continuing to cultivate a culture where people feel safe to offer honest feedback and ask for support. We are not perfect, rather, we are a work in progress. As we move into 2026, we remain committed to learning our way toward more sustainable team rhythms.

In a recent check-in, team members also shared how they’re exploring healthier rhythms in their personal lives: eating more nourishing food, returning to slower forms of learning through magazines and regular reading, setting boundaries around email, moving their bodies more, and consuming less bombastic media. Working closely together, we can clearly see how intertwined the personal and the collective truly are. Our small team is a microcosm of wider change, and this lived experience echoes what Jill Kubit’s [research](https://rapidtransition.org/resources/individual-behaviour-and-system-change-how-they-are-connected/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) highlights, ***that individual actions influence others and help create the conditions for broader social and political transformation.***

Are there any healthy rhythms you are stepping into this year? We would love to hear. If you feel inspired, feel free to share on [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! 

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- We are almost there! The full programme and the registration for the **Day of Transition Practice**, scheduled for 24 April 2026, will be with you **next week** \- stay tuned!
- Work that Reconnects is hosting a conversation with Don, Anahi and Martina - three Transition Movement leaders working at the intersection of inner and outer transformation. February 4, 2026 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PST. Register [here](https://workthatreconnects.org/event/integrated-changemaking-a-conversation-with-the-international-transition-towns-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- If you haven't until now, check out [**Community Waves**](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- the open source social media space crafted with love and ethics for people involved in community-led change. Do join and invite your friends and community members as well - there is space for everyone on this path.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- \[FR\] This year the [Rimouskoise Week of the Environment](https://semainerimouskoise.wixsite.com/2026?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) sees things in a big way: it's not just one week, but 10 days of activities on the theme **1, 2, 3...ACTION!**, from February 8 to 17, 2026\.
- \[PT\] From **Pedro Macedo**, Portugal: "Caros amigos, quero celebrar convosco a publicação do meu [livro sobre política e transição](https://www.atlanticbookshop.pt/nao-ficcao/um-mundo-sem-politicos-uma-proposta-democratica-para-depois-do-colapso?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), em que partilho a experiência de 30 anos em prol da sustentabilidade, e a esperança num futuro melhor."
- \[Croatia\] Days of Permaculture and Transition - **Dani permakulture i tranzicije, 7-8.2.2026**. Full programme [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gzGdIL3CT74f6bfWKhCVl-C25kgH6BrE2nn0L28zo3k/edit?tab=t.0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- \[UK\] [Climate Cafe Listening Circles](https://cornwallclimateactionnetwork.earth/wellbeing/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Cornwall: check out the updated calendar and join in if around the region.
- \[Sweden\] A long term project is starting, called **Close to food**. It will explore what an alternative, crowded food system can look like. Check out this [page](https://www.omstallning.net/naramaten?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for info on events/webinars/workshops.
- \[AUS\] **Bendigo Sustainability Festival 2026**: Sunday 29 March 2026\. The Bendigo Sustainability Festival will return in 2026 to inspire, connect, and empower our community toward meaningful environmental action. Interested in being part of it? More info [here](https://www.bsg.org.au/bsf-2026?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Rob's podcast is continuing! In his words: "Yes, it's back! My much-loved podcast **'From What If to What Next'** is back in your life, for a series of monthly deep dives into the radical imagination with some of the greatest time travellers, imagination provocateurs, artists and activists out there. We [start](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on Monday morning, with Episode 101, starring the brilliant **Rasheedah Phillips** of **Black Quantum Futurism**. It will eventually appear 'everywhere you get your podcasts', but get it the second it's released by subscribing. It's only £3 a month, and it really helps with all the other stuff I do. Oh, and while I have your attention, don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter, **the Time Traveller's Gazette**. It's completely free. Just go to [robhopkins.net](http://robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and pop your email address in the 'Email Newsletter' box. ❤️"
- People of Transition: This month **Hanyun** talked to **Yvonne Omatseye** in Nigeria - worth checking out! And get in touch with us if you'd like to be featured next. :)

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

- You might find helpful this Guide - Burnout to balance: doing and being.

[Burnout to Balance: Doing and Being - Transition Network ResourcesBurnout is common to many social change movements, showing up similarly on all levels – for individuals, groups, and the planet. The Transition movement aims to address planetary depletion, what some view as burnout on a large scale – human systems that deplete resources, not allowing enough time for natural systems to replenish and revitalise. Any system, group, or individual that uses its resources faster than they can replenish will steadily deplete them. Burnout can result from consistent depletion over a long time, with many naturally restorative processes disrupted. Typically some kind of intervention or change is required to restore a more self-nourishing balance.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon.png.pagespeed.ce.0p-hi9blHP.png)Transition Network ResourcesRoot Cuthbertson (2020)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/books-background-2.jpg)](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/burnout-to-balance-doing-being/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Meg-John Barker's zine **Staying With Our Feelings** is all about why it’s important to cultivate the capacity to stay with our feelings, and how we can go about doing that. Hopefully working through the zine will help you to figure out your own emotional landscape.

[Zines - Rewriting The RulesThis page includes all of my free published zines, on topics like self-care, staying with feelings, queer relationships, social mindfulness, gender, and plural selves![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-icon-144x144-1.png)Rewriting The Rules![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5939-scaled-1.jpg)](https://www.rewriting-the-rules.com/zines/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#1473332449127-6921a7d5-a5fc)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- Save the dates: **Re-Imagining Education Conference**, 5th Edition is taking place between **February 26 - March 1, 2026**. You can [register for the conference here](https://wqohdmid.paperform.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our Youth Engagement role, Elizabeta Z. Jovanovska, will participate at the Conference in a panel called **Nurturing the Next Generation: Uplifting Youth Leadership**. Saturday 12:00 UTC.
- UK: Workers.coop is launching [*Own The Future*](https://www.workers.coop/own-the-future-our-first-co-op-support-programme-starting-in-march/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), its first co-op support programme for workers leading the transition to a new economy.
- 2026[ Sakharov Fellowship](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sakharovprize/es/fellowship/supporting-defenders?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme 7-20 June 2026 - call for applications closes 15 February 2026.
- [Freedom From Fees-3.0](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKgtzzpIgQd6sLVnFnoeDkGF9cTJebmf1LD5oVGwxKsT3CqQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- Permaculture Design Course (PDC), facilitated by **Teaching Where it Matters**, a social enterprise from India. The core philosophy and vision of the organization is to make permaculture education, Design, and mentoring accessible to remote and marginal communities. The course will be delivered online over three months, from **Feb 21st-May 17th 2026.**
- FITO Network has a [Call for Stewards](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ivUxYqZj6HKr7C15dU9pVdNM9GOiFIbEf1qr8uXCxgI/edit?tab=t.0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): They are looking for Stewards to spark their new Fix-it Stations, which are four 90-minute, playful deep-dives into the real challenges we face as network leaders.
- Join Emma Gorbutt and Hattie Duke for this free [Mother Nature Self Care Workshop](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/VlZNwWnFTguiPnRn1-apIw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/registration). How we can bring circles of support into our lives as women, as mothers, as beings on a journey of self discovery.

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Easy! Just send your text, photos and/or links to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). For the **March** e-news, the deadline for submissions is **28 February, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

****POETRY FOR JANUARY**  
[https://adriennemareebrown.net/2021/07/27/this-is-the-only-moment-species-love-poetry/](https://adriennemareebrown.net/2021/07/27/this-is-the-only-moment-species-love-poetry/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Transition as a Social Technology
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-as-a-social-technology/
Last updated: 2026-01-21T22:36:18.000Z
After nearly two decades deeply engaged in this field, the organizing model developed by the international Transition Towns Movement is still the most holistic, accessible, and effective social technology I’ve found for cultivating more resilient, equitable, sustainable, and regenerative local communities from the bottom up. Based on the experience of thousands of Transition groups worldwide, it’s an open-source methodology that anyone can pick up, use, and adapt to their community’s needs, interests, opportunities, and culture, regardless of whether or not they consider themselves part of the Transition Movement.

As I’ve come to understand it, there are two primary dimensions of this model. One is the **Seven Essential Ingredients of Transition,** which point out the most important aspects of changemaking we need to pay attention to at every stage of the process. The other is the **Five Stages of Transition**, which describe how these Ingredients typically evolve over time.

While several different versions of the Essential Ingredients have been proposed over the years, below is the version I used for my book, [*The Regeneration Handbook*](https://newsociety.com/book/the-regeneration-handbook/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)[:](https://newsociety.com/book/the-regeneration-handbook/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) [*Transform Yourself to Transform the World*](https://newsociety.com/book/the-regeneration-handbook/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (2024), as well as the [self-directed, online Transition Launch Training](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+1+1/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I recently produced with a dozen experienced Transition Trainers from around the world:

1. **Context:** Understanding the most important challenges we’re currently facing and how they’re all interconnected as part of an unprecedented global environmental, economic, and social polycrisis.
2. **Vision:** Imagining a better future beyond the Great Unraveling of the Industrial Growth Society and identifying key strategies that will help us get there.
3. **Inner Transition:** Engaging in the inner work we need to do to become the leaders we need to be.
4. **Healthy Groups:** Learning valuable practices and processes for effective collaboration and conflict transformation.
5. **Community Engagement:** Establishing a base of support and reaching out beyond the choir to build a movement big enough to matter.
6. **Practical Projects:** Implementing innovative solutions that produce tangible benefits, generate credible hope, and shift entire systems towards regeneration.
7. **Part of a Movement:** Banding together with other local initiatives to affect change at regional, national, and international levels.

![Article content](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQFh8z7r8fGYlA/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/B4EZvYxiTyHEAQ-/0/1768868423467?e=1770854400&v=beta&t=kjJ1uLEwFrcLXF-imaeT-CsGmGrVTKn6IH2jskw3ogQ)

Seven Essential Ingredients for Transition - The Regeneration Handbook (Credits: Don Hall)

The Five Stages were initially articulated by Transition Movement co-founder Rob Hopkins in his 2011 book, [*The Transition Companion: Making Your Community More Resilient in Uncertain Times*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12964373-the-transition-companion?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Below are brief summaries of each these stages, based on my *Regeneration Handbook*:

1. **Starting Out:** Forming an “initiating group,” providing education about both challenges and solutions, building a base of support, and exploring what your community’s greatest needs, interests, and opportunities are.
2. **Deepening:** Becoming a formal organization and beginning to establish impactful practical projects that deliver tangible benefits and demonstrate that even bigger change is possible.
3. **Connecting:** Reaching beyond the early adopters to meaningfully engage local businesses, governments, media outlets, funders, and major cultural institutions, weaving them all together into a larger movement.
4. **Building:** Expanding organizational capacity and implementing larger systems-changing strategies.
5. **Daring to Dream:** Actually transitioning your community as a whole and working with other communities around the world to bend the long arc of history towards regeneration.

Remarkably, the Five Stages show how a group can start with no prior experience and minimal resources and end up changing the world. By cross-referencing them with the Seven Essential Ingredients, we can create an even more detailed map of Transition-style organizing than either of them offers alone.

Of course, there’s much more to learn about this important social technology, so if you’re interested in diving deeper, I’d suggest checking out our [evergreen Transition Launch Training](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which you can now take for free at any time in 70 languages. Because it’s an introductory course, Launch mainly focuses on the Starting Out and Deepening stages, but stay tuned for Transition Thrive, which expands beyond them into Connecting and Building.
### December 2025: Rhizoming
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/december-2025-rhizoming/
Last updated: 2025-12-16T15:34:44.000Z
Dear friends,

We've been rhizoming this year. Like rhizomes spreading underground, we've been growing connections that might not always be visible but strengthen our entire ecosystem. We've learned that the way through the challenges is in togetherness and nourishing each other in community. 

Check out the news about narrative hacking, the Culture Transformation game, the peacebuilding activities in Australia, the Book Club in Germany, save the date for the Day of Transition Practise 2026... and join us in sharing your community stories on [Waves](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- together we're building an unstoppable movement!

See you next Friday at the Seasonal Gathering! As we gather to close this chapter, let's carry forward the wisdom we've grown together into the new year.

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/3-1.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- What could happen when a Transitioner embarks on a **narrative hacking journey**? Find out about Esther Molina's (TNi Comms Lead) adventures and the very special project we've been involved in this year:

[Rhizomatic adventuresA glimpse of Esther’s adventures on narrative-led systems change and culture hacking experiments.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-27.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/signal-2025-09-21-203142.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/rhizomatic-adventures/)

- The **Cultural Transformation Game** invites us to explore the cultures we have inherited and the ones we dream of as we work to change our worlds. Read on here:

[Can a Game Help Us Transform Culture?Born from a road trip through the wilds of Scotland and rooted in deep work on decolonisation, healing and trust-building, the Cultural Transformation Game invites us to explore the cultures we have inherited and the ones we dream of as we work to change our worlds.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-12.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/meggyn-pomerleau-hAYy2mFLjS8-unsplash.jpg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/inner-cultural-transformation-game/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- We are coming together for an open **Seasonal Celebration** \- **19 December** 2025 at **19:00 UTC** \- join us to say hi and to share the togetherness 😄

[Celebrating humanity-nature cyclesYou are warmly invited to the Seasonal Gathering on December 19th, a moment to pause together and honor a rhythm that humans across the world have shared through time: the turning of the seasons. Join this seasonal gathering to celebrate human-nature cycles, connect with people from around the world, and![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-24.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/noura-haddad-RkpkaoIrgV8-unsplash.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebrating-humanity-nature-cycles/)

- **Tech in Transition series** closure and reflection by Dan Rudolph (TNi Practising Transition Lead and Core Circle co-lead):

[4 Ways to Cultivate a More Mindful (and Ethical) Relationship with Technology4 Ways to Cultivate a More Mindful (and Ethical) Relationship with Technology![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-25.png)Transition NewsDaniel Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Assembly-2025-Credit-Mouse-About-Town--272--1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/4-ways-to-cultivate-a-more-mindful-and-ethical-relationship-with-technology/)

- SAVE THE DATE: **Friday, 24 April 2026**, for the **Day of Transition Practise 2026**! We are currently preparing the programme and will share it in January's newsletter. Stay tuned for some really inspiring sessions! If you’d like to receive updates directly about **DoTP** and other invitations from [Practising Transition](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), you can join the Practising Transition newsletter [here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/portal/signup).

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/save-the-day-dotp-2026.png)

- [**Join Community Waves**](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**!** The open source social media space crafted with love and ethics for people involved in community-led change.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- **Transition in Germany**: 17 December 2025: "Favourite Book 2025" - Book Club and End of Year Celebration; 28 January 2026: Funding opportunities for Transition initiatives. [Check the details here](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/newsletter/tolles-programm-fuer-netzwerk-calls-steht-herzliche-einladung?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Transition Margaret River (Australia)** has a beautiful dedication to Peace and a homage to Joanna Macy. Check it out:

[Active hope for a more peaceful worldTransition Margaret River in Australia has had a strong focus this year on peace and active hope. “Active Hope is different from being hopeful. It is a way of engaging with the world that shapes our choices and actions - to support the future we hope for. And it helps![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-26.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/choir-3.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/active-hope-for-a-more-peaceful-world/)

- Shannon Dobbs from **the Fellowship of Living Systems** has sent his thoughts on the importance of Bioregional coordination.

[?? Your Permaculture Paradise is Fed by the Same Broken System You Left Behind - Fellowship of Living SystemsWhy Intentional Communities Celebrating “Best Possible” While Ignoring Bioregional Coordination Are Just Cosplaying Regeneration![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/fab-icon.png)the Fellowship of Living SystemsShannon Dobbs![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Intentional-Community-Fallacy.png)](https://livingsys.org/systems-thinking/permaculture-paradise/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Shaun Chamberlin, the author of [*The Transition Timeline*](https://www.darkoptimism.org/books/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#TheTransitionTimeline) (2009!) is inviting you to join his course **Surviving the Future: The Deeper Dive** on a 'pay what feels right' basis, starting **January 5th, 2026**. Check it out here:

[Surviving the Future: The Deeper DiveFor those seeking insights and allies to help themselves and their localities through profound change. The Deeper Dive is an opportunity to slow down, pull back, and explore responses as part of a small global community, alongside…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-6.png)Surviving the Future![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Firetree-scaled.webp)](https://survivingthefuture.darkoptimism.org/thedeeperdive/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

- Alex Urbieta from Mexico would like to share a "**Collective Imagination for Local Possible Futures Toolkit**" - with the [intention](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WJyghX8%5FgY&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that it will serve us to co-create communities of practice, *"islands of coherence of collective imagination for local possible futures".* Here is a [link with the introduction](https://drive.proton.me/urls/GQ3VHVWS2W?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#jcKF0jrlRkF3) of the Toolkit, if you want to explore more about it, you can download the whole "Backpack" at [www.imaginacioncolectiva.org](http://www.imaginacioncolectiva.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in the section **Ego-Eco.**
- [FITO](https://www.fito.network/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Network have developed a **Network Weaver Game!** It starts with a playful self-reflection on your teams' current network leadership skills and identifies areas to improve them. Then it supports people and the network to set up learning plans to deepen the skills that have been identified. Here are the [self-reflection tool](https://client.playverto.com/network-weaver-game/public?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [self study guide](https://www.network-weaver-game.com/%5Ffiles/ugd/cc253e%5Fea0a46e9ce4541498bbc7506ee1afa26.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with lots of resources.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- The **CatchLight Global Fellowship** supports creative leaders who want to cultivate significant audience engagement through inventive distribution methods that will increase the impact of their work. Deadline is **18 December 2025**. Apply [here](https://www.catchlight.io/global?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) Research Grants**: Support for research projects on structural transformation and growth in low and middle-income countries — addressing gender, climate change, inequality and inclusion. Apply [here](https://steg.cepr.org/call-for-proposals/tenth-call-proposals-steg-small-research-grants?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) before **6 January 2026**.
- The **Prince Claus Fund Seed Award** is a €5k prize given to emerging artists, who produce socially and politically engaged work in contexts where cultural expression is repressed. Apply [here](https://princeclausfund.nl/awards-and-programmes/seed-award/2026-call-for-applications?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) before **8 January 2026**.
- Join **YouthxYouth**’s 6th and FINAL Learning Festival. **January 22–24, 2026**, register [here](https://wgbap.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjQxMTYxLFwibFwiOjE3Mjc3OTMyNTY3NTgwMDE0OSxcInJcIjoxNzI3NzkzMzk4OTg2ODQ0NDF9IiwicyI6IjVjYjNmZDNlY2Y2YzUxMjAifQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- The **Regenerative Communities Fund** (RCF) is announcing its Third Call for Proposals. This call will select 50 Pathfinder Communities from across Croatia, Finland, France, Portugal, and Spain working on climate action, regeneration, or just transition. Apply [here](https://ecolise.eu/how-we-do-it/regenerative-communities-fund/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) before **26 January 2026**.
- Nominations are open for the [**Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity**](https://gulbenkian.pt/en/the-foundation/gulbenkian-prize-for-humanity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! Nominate an outstanding person, organisation or group to receive the Prize before **30 January 2026**.
- Apply for the **Earth Prize annual competition** ($100,000) addressed at students between ages 13-19, developing projects with potential to address environmental issues. Registration is open until **31 January 2026**. Read more about this opportunity [here](https://d11-qx04.na1.hubspotlinksstarter.com/Ctc/2M+113/d11-qx04/VWYJw71k4P-sW8KJt4f7drzpDW5n2k0f5GR9lcN1qZLrW3m2nnW7lCdLW6lZ3m9W35hbF72Qw2R2W99GPhN2BHdJSW2-f96p4dmgPYW5%5FS-Qj8s6mgVVmJjhT5MRjWJW5P4zh56Rdp%5FbW1t8JGT5kXq7fW11Xw1W7Wz-JZW2FrqR26KBN0KW6NGc8z4fF0qDW1lkVDR5j%5F08TW8lVDSS70cL7LW4G5NTW8P7vKCW5GJ8kR8rY2scW2PTxzD741QR1W23hB-76tvcb-W6PK8154fSYgHW6l62HQ94xF%5FQW3qH4sn56Mpt9N4RBKD6Ynt7cW7mL51h4X6spLW5-79n82l060hVPk%5FNH3bHRQ7N93RzrF6GHljf6wgr3F04?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the January e-news, the deadline for submissions is **7 January, 2026\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive at [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

****TNi team wishes you HOPE and awesomeness for 2026! Have a wonderful regenerative seasons break!**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/TNi-team-hopes-for-2026.png)

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Rhizomatic adventures
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/rhizomatic-adventures/
Last updated: 2025-12-16T12:59:02.000Z
It’s been three months since I came back from a threshold trip and I’m still integrating all these experiences and relationships that touched my heart, head and hands so deeply. I’ve started referring to these as my ‘rhizomatic adventures’, but they’re not just mine, you’re part of these too, dearest Transitioners.

It all started around two years ago, when a former colleague told me about Narrative Hacking and the [Culture Hack Labs](https://www.culturehack.io/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (CHL) methodology. I felt impressed by their work and promising approach, and we started learning and experimenting in a light way, opening the space to anyone interested through the Transition Platform – what we call now Waves or [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

In April this year, CHL offered two free workshops to explore narrative-led systems change and culture Hacking. I attended the sessions on behalf of TNi and was impressed by the thoughtfulness, the curated methodology and the depth I could perceive in the team on a human level. During these sessions they talked about **Pathways to Regenerative Futures** and launched a call for the[**Rhizome Fellowship**](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an 8-month program that included mentorship, training, and collaborative support to develop narrative hacking projects with impactful interventions.

And you know what? We decided to let that go – at first. We were concerned with capacity and the amount of extra time it would require to be fully present and involved in the process if we were selected. But the next morning, when I woke up, all I could hear inside my head was ‘we would get it, we could win a seat at the fellowship’. I noticed my heart had already embarked on the journey without the agreement of the mind. So I talked again with some colleagues and we started preparing a proposal to submit. Days later, I was invited to a selection interview that I attended online from Madrid in the midst of a heatwave. And we were luckily gifted with one of the few spots available. I’d like to thank my colleague Deborah Benham, who has been a great companion in this journey through the rabbit hole, and the rest of the team for trusting us in this endeavour.

I enrolled in this, thinking we would learn a powerful tool to support the transformation of the world towards justice and diversity by hacking some of the existing (damaging) narratives. And we did. But I wasn't expecting for the process to also hack me.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/IMG_20250917_104809.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/signal-2025-09-19-141813_003.jpeg)

On the left, Luna safeguarding my narrative hacking notes. The photo is mine. / On the right, that’s me presenting about TNi and our hack process, after three nights of almost no sleep. Photo by Laura Sosa Micheli - thank you!

The ways in which I think about communications and narratives, my role as a communicator and the role of TNi in the wider ecosystem of change, the rhizomatic connections between different organisations and agents of change, the possibilities for real tangible impactful change… it has all evolved and expanded. 

I partially captured this feeling in a meme I shared with the cohort a few days ago: a frame from the film Matrix Reloaded, the activists underground, organising in ways some wouldn’t dare to imagine, to challenge the machine, to change the status quo and bring Life back to the surface. Goosebumps. That’s what I felt when I was inside the [*Maloca*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maloca?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), surrounded by the Rhizome fellows and the CHL team last September. 

![POV: You're at a Rhizome fellowshhip gathering + frame of Zion in Matrix film](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/data-src-image-1733c2c1-13eb-4c8e-9157-8507db1888e2.jpeg)

The meme I created capturing the vibes I experienced at the in-person gathering

The Fellowship included an (intense!) in-person gathering in Costa Rica. I arrived there feeling exhausted, with jet-lag messing with me, and left touched and changed. I will be forever grateful for all that we’ve been able to learn and apply, but also for the connections, the presence, wisdom, authenticity, fierce joy, vulnerability and care from everybody. I bow towards the humble and mastery ways of showing up, the balance between mind - body - spirit - land, the walking the talk. And the embodied stories, struggles and Love. 

There was something so powerful in bringing together people from all over the world with different backgrounds, traditions and lived experiences. Have a peek at the incredible work the fellows have been developing – [here](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). ‘Small people doing small things’ that are already transforming their lives and those of many around them and beyond.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/IMG_20250917_151319.jpg)

Visiting the Mother Tree in the rainforest. Photo by Esther Molina

Allright, hold on, I know what you’re thinking: yes, that sounds so good but, what did you actually learn through this fellowship and what does it have to do with Transitioners? 

Stay with me, I might be able to explain with a simplified metaphor: 

Imagine a room. Or a playground. Or a field. Imagine a specific delimited physical space. Now bring in 6 people. Two of them are talking loudly, all they say can be heard by the rest, and they’re taking up around three quarters of the space. Their approach is individualistic and their aim is to keep things as they are. We can label these as belonging to ‘Hegemonic narrative communities’. 

There are other two on the other side of the spectrum. Focused on systemic regeneration, collective and plurality, they embody change beyond words. Their impact is deep and holds huge potential for change and transformation, although they’re barely seen or heard by most of the people in the room. Let’s label these as ‘Alternative narrative communities’. 

Then, the last two people are very good at listening and talking to almost everyone else in the room, using different ways of expressing. They are the leverage point for change, holding technical practical solutions to connect the status quo with the alternative. They move around, and what they’re sharing is heard by a fraction of the other two groups and can connect people across different groups. These can be labelled as ‘Catalytic narrative communities’. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/data-src-image-b5a4782e-29f6-48fb-a1c0-7b2bd34b5da3.png)

Narrative communities simplified graphic

Through our research, we’ve identified the following narrative communities around the topic of Climate solutions and Transition(s):

- Hegemonic: Market Tech Solutionism (Techno-optimism), Incremental Transition (Corporate sustainability)
- Catalytic: Regenerative/Speculative Futures (incl. Solarpunk, Afrofuturism), Just Transitions
- Alternative: Solidarity Economies, Indigenous-Ecological Wisdoms

And we’ve mapped them following the justice-ontology framework, to understand them better and find the sweet spot for change:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/data-src-image-b421f5c9-9e75-42cf-8a70-821c076e16a9.png)

Simplified justice-ontology diagram

This has enabled us to identify where to go to co-create and start the hack in order to create a deep transformative impact. But I'll tell you more about that soon. 

But why working on/through narrative-led systemic change? 

Because narratives are ways we socially interpret reality and make sense of the world. Narratives shape our beliefs, guide our actions and decisions, and bring meaning to everyday reality. We use them as maps to navigate reality – they simplify, highlight, and frame certain aspects of reality while obscuring others. Through this, narratives provide the justification and basis for our actions in the world. Much of this happens on an unconscious level. Narratives also shape systems, and there’s something really interesting about them: they can be hacked. Implementing a hack on a specific narrative can generate a ripple effect and transform a system. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/IMG_20250920_123325.jpg)

The closing ceremony, seeds and prayers back to the waters. Photo by Esther Molina

So, you see, we’ve been learning and experimenting with tools to map the different discourses, underlying worldviews and narrative communities, to distill where the potential for transformation lies, and to find out ways to insert a small ‘hack’, a glitch in the matrix, that can become alive and spread around in ripple waves of change towards regeneration. 

How does that land on the Transition movement?

We’ve been designing a narrative hack and will publish our documentation in the coming year. We’ve also started testing some prototypes. The departure point is the Transition movement and our positioning in the narrative space. We would love to share this methodology with communicators, storytellers and changemakers involved in Transition so this is available to many more and the waves of transformation and regeneration keep expanding deeper and further. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/signal-2025-09-21-203125.jpeg)

Some of the Rhizome Fellowship participants in the closing ceremony. Love you guys.

Does that sound relevant to you in any way? Would you like to learn more about this methodology and ways of implementing it? Then, I share with you two invitations: Watch the open session ‘[Culture Hack & Narratives for Systems Change](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVpOpe1flBM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, and go to the [Communicating Transition space](https://communitywaves.space/s/communicating-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Community Waves and let me know what you feel-think. I’d love to hear from you!

🐺The way through is together, 

*Esther*
### Active hope for a more peaceful world
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/active-hope-for-a-more-peaceful-world/
Last updated: 2025-12-15T14:59:25.000Z
[Transition Margaret River](https://transitionaustralia.net/group/transition-margaret-river/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Australia has had a strong focus this year on peace and active hope. 

> “Active Hope is different from being hopeful. It is a way of engaging with the world that shapes our choices and actions - to support the future we hope for. And it helps us to overcome feelings of powerlessness or overwhelm which can block us from action.” (Joanna Macy)

We recently held an event **Active hope for a more peaceful world** in partnership with the Medical Association for Prevention of War. The Theme **Pollinating the seeds of Peace** carried through presentations and workshops. At that event, our Shire President announced that she is a member of Mayors for Peace. We’re keen on involvement with local arts and creative groups - one highlight of the event was the **Witchy Choir** singing peace songs, including one specially written by local singer-songwriter [**Anu Grace**](https://www.anugrace.com/the-witchy-choir?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to commemorate Joanna Macy.  
  
As an outcome of Active Hope, we are planning a special event by Transition Margaret River in partnership with local Wild Bilya Playback Theatre. This aims to bring together young people, including local **Parents for Climate**, with older folk to share stories.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/Workshop-1-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/Stephen-and-Oceana.jpeg)

Workshop group deep in discussion at Fair Harvest Permaculture Farm (photo Karen Majer) Speakers Oceana and Stephen (photo Karen Majer)

Other current projects include fostering **Peace Poles** in our community. Peace  
Poles are recognized as the most prominent international symbol and monument to peace. They remind us to think, speak and act in the spirit of peace and harmony. The first pole will be unveiled with a ceremony at the local Uniting Church in December. 

Our peace events over the years have a [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/p/Margaret-River-Peace-Weekend-100075515754895/).

Wishing peace for all transition communities everywhere,   
**Karen Majer** 
**Transition Margaret River**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/12/Polinators-for-Peace.jpg)

Pollinators for Peace
### 4 Ways to Cultivate a More Mindful (and Ethical) Relationship with Technology
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/4-ways-to-cultivate-a-more-mindful-and-ethical-relationship-with-technology/
Last updated: 2025-12-15T11:59:50.000Z
*Reflections from the Tech in Transition Series by* [*Daniel Rudolph*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-rudolph-79551b88/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*, TNi's Network Coordinator*

Technology touches every part of our lives: from how we connect with our neighbors (both human and non-human), to how we organize for change. Yet in recent years, many of us in the Transition movement and beyond have felt a growing tension in relation to tech usage and culture change.

This tension and curiosity is what guided the [*Tech in Transition*](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) series, a multi-part, collective exploration of the intersection between technology, ecology, health, and community. Across several sessions we explored this question: **What does ethical, regenerative technology look like in practice?**

What became clear to me in the last Collective Wisdom session is that there isn’t one *right* answer for individuals to respond to this conundrum. It isn’t a binary. Some people choose to opt out completely (leaving platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp) while others use imperfect or unethical tools to share regenerative perspectives and offerings, and others, something in between. The real work is in finding the bridges between these approaches, and at the same time building pathways toward more ethical technologies. And this bridging mindset extends far beyond tech; it shows up in how we relate to education, the economy, politics, and so much more.

As we wrapped up the series, we wanted to share the learnings and inspiration that emerged not just from the webinars and guest teachers, but also from the community participation that made the series feel alive.

For me personally, the impacts were both subtle and tangible:

- After [Jay Vidyarthi's session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FiHKmqdc%5Fw&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnFHoUbZPlUidWFeKdkMEN4&index=6&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on our psychological relationship with tech, I bought a non-digital alarm clock, a small but meaningful shift. Now I wake up to the sound of birds instead of a phone, and my mornings feel noticeably more peaceful.
- From [Teresa Posakony’s session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l22udNvuTm8&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnFHoUbZPlUidWFeKdkMEN4&index=4&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on posture and the nervous system, I’ve become more attentive to how people (including myself) physically relate to their devices. Raising my phone to eye level instead of curling down into my lap has been one simple behavior change I am committed to.
- The [ethical technology](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXYKyCfDyo&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnFHoUbZPlUidWFeKdkMEN4&index=2&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) session and [closing panel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejxcd-ISEow&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnFHoUbZPlUidWFeKdkMEN4&index=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) inspired subtle changes as well as tangible ones including using BigBlueButton more as a video-conferencing alternative for my TNi work and engaging more on Community Waves.

More broadly, below are 4 key themes that came through the series.

### 1\. Technology Reflects Our Values

One of the first lessons to emerge was that **technology is never neutral**. Every app or device carries assumptions about how people should connect, behave, and relate to the world.

For those in the Transition (and similar community-led) movement(s), who believe that resilient, local communities are the foundation of a thriving future, this means our digital tools should reflect our core values of connection, cooperation, and sufficiency.

That might look like:

- Choosing platforms that prioritize user privacy and data sovereignty
- Supporting open-source and community-built software
- Valuing transparency and accessibility over sleek convenience

### 2\. Slow Tech and Presence Matter

“Slow tech” surfaced again and again during the series. It doesn’t mean abandoning devices, rather it means **using them with more awareness**.

Much like slow food invites us to savor each bite, slow tech invites us to notice our digital habits:

- Do we reach for our phones out of curiosity or compulsion?
- Do our online meetings nourish or deplete us?
- Are we sitting in ways that let oxygen and blood actually reach our brains?

Sometimes the smallest physical adjustments, like lifting the phone instead of bending our necks, help restore clarity and ease. Similarly, psychologically, small shifts can enable a transformation from unconscious guilt and shame, to increased curiosity, joy and forming more healthy habits.

### 3\. Data as a Commons, Not a Commodity

Another powerful thread was the idea that **data is a shared resource**, not a private asset to be harvested.

In a regenerative paradigm, data should be governed like a commons: collectively held, transparently managed, and used for the benefit of all.

Imagine:

- Community energy projects sharing open data to improve local resilience
- Neighborhoods mapping their own capacities in ways that protect privacy
- Platforms designed to serve members, not advertisers

Ethical technology isn’t a dream, it’s already being prototyped by Transitioners around the world (check out [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as an example).

### 4\. Collective Imagination Is Our Most Powerful Technology

Perhaps the deepest insight from the series was this: **the most transformative technologies aren’t digital, they’re relational.**

Transitioners have long worked with the developing social technologies and technologies of the heart: imagination practice, ritual, story, listening, play. These soft technologies are what enable trust, collaboration, and creativity.

In an age of AI and automation, remembering the value of human imagination is radical.

As one speaker said, *“If we can imagine systems that heal, we can build them.”*

### A Call to Reflect and Reimagine

The need for this re-imagining is growing.

As Angel Matilla shared in the closing panel, we now generate around 180 zettabytes of data globally (90% created in just the past two years!). This digital footprint is increasing exponentially and comes with significant environmental, as well as cultural, costs.

Data centres already consume over 1.5% of global electricity and vast amounts of water for cooling, placing increasing pressure on ecosystems as digital demand continues to rise. Furthermore, they produce hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO₂ each year, contributing significantly to global carbon emissions.

If you are an individual or part of a group grappling with these questions, here are three invitations:

**Watch the Series.** [**https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Join the Conversation.** We have created an ethical alternative to Facebook for regenerative changemakers: [Community Waves](https://communitywaves.space/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Ad-free, data protection, elements that can enable communities of practice to emerge.

**Reflect Locally and on an Individual level.**

Ask:

- How does technology shape your relationships?
- Are the tools you use aligned with your values?
- What small changes would bring more care or sovereignty to your digital practices?

Every email, online meeting, or platform choice is part of a bigger ecosystem. Change is not easy, and in some contexts, not possible or practical.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

For 2026, we’re planning a series of webinars organized around a different, but interconnected, theme - **Learning from and Designing with Nature** \- with each session bringing a unique perspective that fits within the Transition characteristic and Apply Living Systems Design, which basis is; *We understand the principles of living systems. We work with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems. Re-imagining and rebuilding economies, education, health, food/farming and more.* You can stay updated about this through [joining the Transition newsletter](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
### Celebrating humanity-nature cycles
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebrating-humanity-nature-cycles/
Last updated: 2025-12-03T18:08:29.000Z
**You are warmly invited to the Seasonal Gathering on December 19th, a moment to pause together and honor a rhythm that humans across the world have shared through time: the turning of the seasons.** 

Join this seasonal gathering to celebrate human-nature cycles, connect with people from around the world, and honour diversity in unity in this turning point.

[Register here](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc--hqT8sH9ZQx5we4UdrRo8j7Bbf-gwh?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org#/registration)

For generations and across cultures, solstices have been moments to notice light shifting, cycles changing, and communities gathering. Many of the most important cultural heritage sites of the world are connected to the sun’s journey. 

Today, our movement spans both hemispheres, and this turning holds very different meanings depending on where we stand. While the North begins its descent into winter and the South steps into summer, our energies naturally diverge, some of us slowing and reflecting, others rising into activity and expansion.

In this gathering, we honor our diversity in how we celebrate, sensemake, embody activism, work, resist, and adapt. In uncertain times, we need different ways of thinking, sensing, doing and being. By caring for our differences, we invite the wisdom of the collective to flourish, and with it, our shared resilience.

We’ll hear from three representatives sharing their perspectives and traditions: 

• **Caribbean reparation perspectives with Renee Campbell (Grenada, Caribbean)** 

• **A glimpse into the Druid tradition with Debora Benham (UK)** 

• **Mapuche Culture sharing and Nguillatún with Daniela Zapata and José Luis Neguiman (South of Abya Yala)**

After the sharings, we’ll have time in small breakouts to meet one another, listen, and connect across our global community.

[Join the gathering](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc--hqT8sH9ZQx5we4UdrRo8j7Bbf-gwh?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org#/registration)

## **Meet the speakers**

**Daniela Zapata and José Luis Neguiman**

![Portrait of Daniela Zapata and José Luis Neguiman](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/content/images/2025/12/Bildschirmfoto-2025-12-01-um-16.11.14.png)

Daniela Zapata and José Luis Neguiman are a couple belonging to the José Calcumil Carillanca Mapuche Indigenous Community on Lake Maihue, in southern Abya Yala. They are young Mapuche leaders who are active in various social areas, including promoting environmental protection and care.

**Renee Campbell** 

![Portrait of Renee Campbell](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/content/images/2025/12/Bildschirmfoto-2025-12-01-um-16.10.59.png)

Renee Campbell is a Grenadian Jamaican. She is a project manager for child protection authority, National Youth Ambassador, and engaged with several community groups. She is advocating for reparations as a means of liberation, freedom and vindication, or resetting the clock. 

**Deborah Benham**

![](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/content/images/2025/12/Bildschirmfoto-2025-12-01-um-16.11.24.png)

Deborah Benham is one of the co-lead links for Transition Network international, involved in collaborative culture and conflict resilience development, exploring and helping to share the principles and practices that create positive change. Deborah’s background as a marine ecologist, wildlife guide and trainer, Gaia Education trainer, systems level biomimicry educator, and deep nature connection practitioner, mean that she is always looking for ways to incorporate the genius of nature into Transition’s work. 

## **Register Now**

This Seasonal Gathering, **Celebrating humanity-nature cycles,** is taking place on **December 19th**, **19:00 - 20:30h UTC**. Please check your local time [here](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Seasonal+Gathering&iso=20251219T19&p1=1440&ah=1&am=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

You can register for the event here:

[Save your free spot](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc--hqT8sH9ZQx5we4UdrRo8j7Bbf-gwh?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org#/registration)

## **Support our work**

This event is offered in the spirit of gift economy to be accessible to as many people as possible. You can join for free and we also welcome support for our work via [donations](https://transitionnetwork.org/support/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

![](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/content/images/2025/12/data-src-image-bc8f18e4-3dae-4f3b-8238-ea5840615d09.jpeg)

**We hope you’ll join us in this moment of reflection, celebration, and collective turning, each of us bringing our own season, our own pace, our own place and style of activism in the whole.**

With love and gratitude,  
*Transition Network international*
### November 2025: Community Waves
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/november-2025-comm/
Last updated: 2025-11-10T08:38:59.000Z
Dear friends,

In a world often flooded with bad news, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Remember, you are not alone. Even the smallest action creates a ripple of impact. 

That’s why we’re excited to publicly launch **Community Waves**, our open-source social media platform. Built as a direct response to intrusive ads, algorithms, and big tech companies undermining our digital well-being, it’s a dedicated space for our community to connect, organise, and learn. 

Yes, that’s what we previously referred to as ‘the Transition platform’ and, after some improvements, we’re now opening it to all transitioners and changemakers who want to explore and benefit from it!

Ready to expand your ripple effect? **Join** [**communitywaves.space**](https://hub.transition-space.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**!**

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/3-1.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- A living alliance is growing! The [**Living Systems Alliance is here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/launch-of-the-living-systems-alliance/) \- a new collaboration between Transition Network international, The Biomimicry Institute, the Global Ecovillage Network, Kincentric Leadership, and the Permaculture Association - piloting new ways for place-based communities to design and decide in partnership with Nature.

[Launch of the Living Systems Alliance!A living alliance is growing. The Living Systems Alliance!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-23.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/20250623_173220-1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/launch-of-the-living-systems-alliance/)

- The **Tech in Transition Series** is coming to an end. Join the [**Tech, Spirit and Earth**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/technology-spirit-earth-panel/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) conversation happening on **November 12, 2025**. Find all the previous webinar recordings [here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[What Is the Relationship Between Technology, Spirit, and the Earth? (a panel discussion)This open conversation will explore how ancestral wisdom, earth-based practices, and collective awareness can guide our relationship with emerging technologies. Together, we’ll reflect on how to navigate this transition with greater integrity, balance, and care for the living world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-4.png)Practising TransitionDennise Dueñas Riveros![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/series--1920-x-1280-px---3-.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/technology-spirit-earth-panel/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- SAVE THE DATE: **Friday, 17 April 2026**, for the **Day of Transition Practise 2026**! We are currently preparing the programme and will share it in the coming month's newsletter. Stay tuned for some really inspiring sessions. If you’d like to receive updates directly about **DoTP** and other invitations from [**Practising Transition**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), you can join the Practising Transition newsletter [here](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/portal/signup).
- [**Join Community Waves**](https://communitywaves.space/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**!** The open source social media space crafted with love and ethics for people involved in community-led change.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- \[PT\][**Transition Brazil**](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): During November, we will have a Journey of events in Rio and São Paulo, about the **Life-affirming Economics**, with the presence of our dear partner Jay Tompt from Transition Totnes, Schumacher College and REconomy movement. We are firming partnership with Universities, collaborative spaces and local networks for new economics. Stay tuned for the journey!
- \[EN\] [**Beyond the Brink: Imagining the Possible in a World Unraveling**](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-09-29/beyond-the-brink-imagining-the-possible-in-a-world-unraveling/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), online event, 13 November, with Rob Hopkins and Jacqueline Patterson.
- \[FR\] Via [**Réseau Transition.be**](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): From November 10 to 16, discover how solidarity finance works and what its beneficial effects are for society and the planet with [**Financité**](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1156036329976429&set=pcb.1156036413309754).
- **Congratulations**! The [**University of St Andrews** won a prestigious EUAC **Green Gown award**](https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/st-andrews-nature-networks-project-wins-2025-green-gown-award/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Birmingham last night in the Nature Positive category for their St Andrews Nature Networks project. The award recognises the collaborative efforts of landowners, volunteers and organisations, like Transition, working to support biodiversity in and around St Andrews. Well done all!

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

Here are some practical ‘how-to guides’ to help you with REconomy work. They focus on running events, starting an enterprise and resourcing your activities. 

- Full guide made by Transition Brasil (in Portuguese and English):  
[https://reconomybrasil.eco.br/reconomycanvas/](https://reconomybrasil.eco.br/reconomycanvas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- How To Guides created by REconomy UK:  
[Events Toolkit for Transition Initiatives](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801095208/http://reconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/REconomy-Event-Toolkit-Final-May-2015.pdf)  
[Transition Enterprise Handbook](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801095208/http://reconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Transition%5FEnterprise%5FHandbook%5FFINAL-v2.pdf)  
[Transition Core Resourcing](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801095208/http://reconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Transition-Core-Resourcing-FINAL.pdf)  
[How to do a Local Economic Blueprint](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801095208/http://reconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/How-to-Do-a-Local-Economic-Blueprint-FInal.pdf)  
[Five Steps to REconomy](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801095208/http://reconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/REconomy-5-stepsPresentation.ppt)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Join the World Food Forum Youth Policy Board:** Have you been interested in ensuring that youth perspectives are impacting food system solutions worldwide? The [Youth Policy Board](https://d11-qx04.na1.hubspotlinksstarter.com/Ctc/2M+113/d11-qx04/MXg6Gz7WVlPW5wr6GY1G1TFCW4CCSrm5Fyf%5FsN39GZCP3m2nnW7lCdLW6lZ3ljW5fQCTG3L7WyYW7GtZPZ71639wW69xbKn9bzw%5FdW1T7BG94wbVy4W8ZH7zL3yTT6NN4j%5Fyqm9RBD7W8RqCjp1ngKPGW4hJW1V2GKnFSW79Wg4t55t6fnW2xl2wc1RxR0HN60k6DJSM4H4W9b6%5FBM3f6S98W7pnZKn6vsNB6W99rfHm8V8vWFW4ctJnh2cPnnVW1hvy1V4cXc1SW1Lx%5FyP7P7ncGW7q56Gl53JLyvW4GyFW%5F9cdWHWW73D4GF3xfClnW9b2l0887fz1-W2X8LSJ5Lnh2wW3tPBKb6gfTm3W67PqZx8bxR1jdr7MR004?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (YPB) is a youth-led governance body that guides the WFF's Youth Assembly, amplifying young voices in shaping global agrifood systems and policy advocacy. You can submit your application by **23 November 2025 23:59 CET**.
- **Project Drawdown is hiring** for three roles: [one on their science team](https://drawdown.org/careers/research-fellow-1?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), conducting cutting-edge climate solutions research, and [two on their](https://projectdrawdown.cmail20.com/t/d-l-gjtldhl-idthukjln-f/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) [strategic partnerships team](https://projectdrawdown.cmail20.com/t/d-l-gjtldhl-idthukjln-z/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), building the partnerships that put those solutions into action.
- **Apply for the** [**MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards**](https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/en/awards-aids/awards/awards-fundacion-mapfre-innovation-social/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). If your initiative provides innovative solutions in well-being, social inclusion, or demographic transformation in Latin America, United States and Europe, you have the chance of winning €10,000-100,000\. Deadline is December 15, 2025\. Details [here](https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/en/awards-aids/awards/awards-fundacion-mapfre-innovation-social/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [**The Impact Collaborative**](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/impact-collaborative-model?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): A new nonprofit alliance model shows how previously siloed organizations can collaborate to scale services while retaining autonomy.

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the December e-news, the deadline for submissions is **November 30, 2025\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Community Waves**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **space and win a book by Jay Vidyarthi!** 

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

WHAT IF question of the month, by our partners [YouthxYouth](https://www.youthxyouth.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):  
****"What if world-building was in all our curriculums?"**

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Seed funding for Local Groups is available now
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seed-funding-local-groups-2025/
Last updated: 2025-11-26T15:16:58.000Z
Dear Transitioners in Local Groups, 

We know that you are doing fantastic work in responding to the challenges of the climate crisis, social injustice, and inequality. We also recognise that there are very real capacity and resource needs involved in carrying out this vital work.

This year, **Transition Network International is issuing its first seed funding call dedicated to local groups worldwide**. From 2014 to 2020, all international seed funding opportunities were limited to official Transition Hubs.

We heard many inspiring stories about how even a small amount of funding can make a huge difference. From the feedback and reports we received, we believe this support helps grow the capacity of Transition groups, strengthen the movement in different countries, and encourage the sharing of learning across our network.

We want to use this opportunity as an experiment. We know that the amount of money available this year is small, but it still feels valuable to share it with local groups around the world. We see this as a chance to experience the process in a light, reflective way — one that we hope will pave the way for more abundant regranting opportunities in the future.

## **What we are offering** 

🌱 ****Local Groups micro-grants 100 GBP - 500 GBP**  
To cover small project costs such as facilitator fees, a zoom account, tools or travel.  
🌱 ****Local Groups Full Grants 500 - 1500 GBP**  
To support you to set up a new project, cover core staff costs or launch a community led social enterprise. 

This Seed funding is for **Transition Groups registered with Transition Network International or with their Transition Hub**. 

If you are a member of a Transition Hub looking for Seed Funds, please go to the ‘Transition Hubs Group’ Community Waves space (previously named Transition Platform), there is a specific call open for you. 

## All the information you need to apply

We understand how these processes can be complicated sometimes. We tried to make this application process as simple and easy as possible, using a short online form. Groups can make more than one application and can apply for more than one type of grant. 

### Details of the Local Groups' Seed Funding Round

| AmountAllocated | Description                                           | Phasing                                                                   | Notes                                                                                                                                                    |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Up to £15.000   | Local Groups Seed-funding Grants - funding round 2025 | Released: 7 November 2025Deadline for applications: 20 December 20:00 UTC | [Application form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeawgxSL1ENWpDAvcuus%5F5AgMUfmm-pGY6g7Bc6Rhhlhr3nyA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) |

[Apply here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeawgxSL1ENWpDAvcuus%5F5AgMUfmm-pGY6g7Bc6Rhhlhr3nyA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### **Criteria for funding decisions**

- **Eligibility**  
To be eligible for a Seed Funding grant you first need to be **registered as an initiative** on the [Transition Network International website](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), or in a Transition Hub website (if there is one in your territory) , with up-to-date information (inc. functioning email, website, link to social media profiles if existing, etc), **for at least 5 weeks prior to the end of the application deadline.** This is a simple gateway to tell us that you understand and practice Transition Principles in your work.
- **Timescale**  
Applications will be open between **7 November 2025 and 20 December 2025** (closing at 20:00 UTC).  
Groups are asked to **complete the projects by 1 February 2027** with a report.
- **Criteria for scoring funding decisions**  
We’ll take account of the following criteria and weighting when allocating funds:

| Criteria for Seed Funding round Spring 2025/26                                                                                                                                                                                                              | Weighting | Maximum Score |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ------------- |
| How long has the group been in existence and registered? Is their map registration info complete and up to date?                                                                                                                                            | 2         | 20            |
| How has this group engaged with their hub or the wider movement?                                                                                                                                                                                            | 2         | 20            |
| How strong the project idea is in EITHERStrengthening local resilience and regeneration; orPiloting an innovative idea for a meaningful and impactful change                                                                                                | 5         | 50            |
| How well is the project idea adapted to the place/context in developing local resilience/regeneration.                                                                                                                                                      | 4         | 40            |
| Capacity of the local group to successfully do the project (Demonstrate the people involved, with time? Skills and enthusiasm? Not a clash with other priorities or commitments)                                                                            | 4         | 40            |
| How well the project engages relevant people in co-creation, collaboration or collective inspiration.                                                                                                                                                       | 3         | 30            |
| Does the project have a balance between Head, Heart and Hands?                                                                                                                                                                                              | 3         | 30            |
| How aligned this project is with the [principles/values](https://transitionnetwork.org/about/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [characteristics](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) of Transition? | 3         | 30            |
| How well will the project share learnings and peer-support with other local groups/movement?                                                                                                                                                                | 3         | 30            |
| Total maximum weighted score                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |           | 290           |

**EXTRA CRITERION**: the decision-making team will try to ensure a balanced and fair distribution of the Seed Funding - both geographical and the diversity of areas of work. 

### **Funding round 2025 - deadlines, timings, how and when to apply and report**

🟡 **07 November 2025**: TNi launches information to all hubs and registered local Groups with links to the [**Application form**](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/apply-for-seedfunding/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

🟡 **20 December 2025 (20:00 UTC): Deadline for applications**. We will contact you with questions about your application as needed. 

🟡 We aim to have a **decision** of the distribution of the grants by **Friday, January 30th 2026.**

- If the funding request has been **unsuccessful**, we’ll notify you by email.
- If it has been **successful**:
  - we will send a grant offer letter document confirming the funding and its purpose
  - you accept the conditions of the grant and give us up-to-date instructions on how to transfer the money
  - we transfer the money as per instructions

🟡 **February 2026 - Start of the project**

🟡 **February 2027 - End of the project**   
We will request a short report on the work done by **February 1st 2027**.

### Regarding travel costs

Regarding travel, we’ll always encourage you to take the lower carbon options, and we’ll leave it to your own discretion as to which option you choose.

[Apply here to Transition Groups Seed Funding](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/apply-for-seedfunding/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## Any issues?

Contact Filipa ([filipapimentel@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:filipapimentel@transitionnetwork.org)) anytime to discuss, if you have any questions.
### Launch of the Living Systems Alliance!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/launch-of-the-living-systems-alliance/
Last updated: 2025-11-07T15:30:17.000Z
Around the world, communities are rediscovering how to live and lead in kinship with the living Earth and in ways that honours the intelligence of nature. In a time of accelerating disruption, these initiatives are more vital than ever, as a living proof of how people, places, and the wider community of life can lead transformation together.

The **Living Systems Alliance (LSA)** has formed to strengthen those connections: a partnership between [**Transition Network International**](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [**Biomimicry Institute**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/october-2025-learnings/), the [**Global Ecovillage Network**](https://ecovillage.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [**Kincentric Leadership**](https://www.kincentricleadership.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [**Permaculture Association**](https://www.permaculture.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), dedicated to accelerating nature-centric decision-making and design.

We came together to start cultivating pathways for communities and regions to design and decide as and with nature, weaving place-based action into a living fabric of wider transformation where many kinds of beings shape the future together.

Over the next two years, the LSA will: 

- **Cocreate a toolkit** — accessible practices for nature-centric design, decision-making, and governance for place-based partnerships and global networks
- **Work with 8–10 regional partnerships** to pilot and deepen these approaches, supporting place-based communities to act as catalysts of regeneration, resilience, and transformation.
- **Grow a global community of practice** linking people, places, and movements that are bringing life’s intelligence into policy, planning, and everyday decisions.
- **Gather and share stories of humans as keystone species**, highlighting real examples of communities working in deep alignment with nature to regenerate the living systems they belong to.

🌿 [Stay connected](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) as the Alliance unfolds to follow the journey.

Transition Network International · Biomimicry Institute · Global Ecovillage Network · Kincentric Leadership · Permaculture Association
### October 2025: Learnings
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/october-2025-learnings/
Last updated: 2025-10-15T19:52:23.000Z
Hello friends,

Diving into Transition can feel both beautifully simple and surprisingly complex. You start with a powerful idea, and soon discover a world of possibilities — and questions.

- How do we communicate in a way that truly connects?
- How do we build groups where collective genius can flourish?
- How do we turn our boldest ideas into tangible, scalable projects?

The good news? You don't have to figure it all out alone. For 19 years, the global Transition movement has been gathering the answers. We've distilled the best tools, resources, and proven strategies into powerful tools:

- The[**Practising Transition campaign**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): A focused journey into actionable skills.
- Our[**New Resources Library**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): A curated collection of our most effective tools.
- **NEW! The** [**Evergreen Online Training**](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+1+1/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**:** Learn at your own pace, anytime, anywhere.

Find all this collective knowledge now more accessible than ever. 

We'd love to hear what excites you most. Your feedback ensures we're providing the best possible support for this incredible movement.

With love,  
The Transition Network international team 🌱

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/3-1.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- This month we are celebrating the launch of Transition Network international’s first-ever “evergreen” course, [Transition Launch Training](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/evergreening-transition-training/)! For more info and how to enroll:

[Evergreening Transition TrainingDear friends and fellow Transitioners, I hope you’ll join me today in celebrating the launch of Transition Network International’s first-ever “evergreen” course, Transition Launch Training! This self-paced and self-directed online version of our most popular training is now available for anyone, anywhere, to take for free at any![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-21.png)Transition NewsDon Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/launchvisual-1-1.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/evergreening-transition-training)

- We had a really great time collectively watching **HOPE Episode 2: The Power of Two Words** and connecting to Javier, Filipa and Rob last Monday. Watch the recording [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-wave-of-hope/):

[A Wave of Hope: the Global Community Gathers to Reimagine and Build the FutureA conversation that will recharge your “hope battery” and leave you ready to act.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-15.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/hope-screening--Presentaci--n---1-.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-wave-of-hope/?lng=en)

- [**Tech in Transition**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) coming next! In November, **Sam Rossiter** and **Esther Molina** will share perspectives and practical tools relating to ethical technologies, followed by a closing panel with **Shai Tubali**, **Wakanyi Hoffman**,and **Denise ‘Kuku’ Dueñas** on the spiritual and environmental impacts of technology.
- If you have peeked at this story collector in the past months, but forgot to add your community / activity / project story, **there is still time to do it!** – get your friends and neighbours, and all of you share your own take on your actions. It can be in any language or format (written or audio), through the [Sensemaker](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) collector. **The more stories we gather, the more patterns emerge, and the better the collective learnings.** Get ready and click [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change), you'll get access to the data!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- In August 2025, Shunro Yoshida and Mikae Koyama from **Transition Japan** visited Hong Kong and China. Read about their journey [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-transition-journey-to-hong-kong-and-china/):

[My Transition journey to Hong Kong and ChinaShunro Yoshida’s photo blog from his Transition Journey to Hong Kong and China in August 2025![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-14.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/21.group-1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/my-transition-journey-to-hong-kong-and-china/?lng=en)

- (In Portuguese) The Community School in Linda-a-Velha in **Portugal** is celebrating 10 years of existence! [Here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/da-escola-para-a-comunidade/) is their story.

[Da Escola Para a ComunidadeFernando Oliveira e Tiago Reis a celebrar a Quinta Urbana e Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha, Portugal![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-16.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/OFICINAS-04-1.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/da-escola-para-a-comunidade/)

- **Shambala**: What's next for the Shambhala node and the larger alliance circle? Incredible energy and vibrant events, find out what's happening:

[¿Qué se viene en Nodo Shambhala y en el gran círculo de las alianzas? · SomosPaz«La doctrina de la no violencia (ahimsa) sugiere la existencia de una verdad omnipresente e indestructible de la cual emerge la experiencia de vida que, desde la perspectiva ecológico-integral, es develada a través …![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-somospaz.favicon-270x270-1.png)SomosPazActivista![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Rep-circular.png)](https://www.somospaz.org/2025/10/13/que-se-viene-en-nodo-shambhala-y-en-el-gran-circulo-de-las-alianzas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- (in Portuguese) - Filipa Pimentel's Imagination Workshop in Porto:

[Nova Comunidade da IMAGINAÇÃO em Portugal(English below) A Susana e eu começámos o dia cedinho, sentadas nos sofás com vista sobre o mar — uma vista do tamanho da parede inteira — a preparar o workshop do dia seguinte. Atrás de nós, todo um aparato de câmaras apontadas às nossas costas provocava a perplexidade de quem passava![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-17.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/54713857524_19bf2efbe9_b.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/nova-comunidade-da-imaginacao-em-portugal)

- (in Spanish) [**Autonomías Season Two**](https://pod.link/1699631273/episode/OGQ4ZDI4MjYtYzkzOC00MzIzLTg5NGItY2M2ZjlmY2ZmNTFl?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is out! Autonomías is a podcast that documents the rise of self-organization across Latin America as a response to today’s crises. Produced by our Community Weaver, **Pamela Carmona**, this new season begins with the story of those preserving native maiz seeds in Mexico City, sowing a future less dependent on industrial agriculture.
- [**Watch the latest People of Transition episode**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHafme1duaQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): Hanyun interviewed **Irena Borovina** (Croatia). Tune in to hear Irena’s reflections on courage, playfulness, and community, and why doing what makes you happy might just be the most radical act of all:

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) 

## Resources

- We have bunch of [**new resources**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on our Resources site! Check them out and find what speaks to you most. And also feel inspired to share your own.
- A great playlist exploring [**Self Organisation beyond hierarchy**](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhlPMmXkjsPvMGxol%5FFEVlQN&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), by the The Beyond Hierarchy Project.
- Katy Momo writes about [**Personal and Collective collapse**](https://katymomofox.substack.com/p/personal-and-collective-collapse) of activists, and how to address them.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1-1.png) 

## Calendar

**Check out the calendar and add your Transition events** [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Opportunities

- Europe based: [**ECOPRISE course**](https://gen-europe.org/join-the-free-ecoprise-course-learn-to-build-a-thriving-sustainable-business/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **for social entrepreneurs**. Participants need to be based in Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Lithuania, Greece or Cyprus.
- The European Community Organizing Network hosts the event: "[**Organizing for democracy – Responding to the rise of authoritarianism and the far right**](https://ecolise.eu/event/organizing-for-democracy-responding-to-the-rise-of-authoritarianism-and-the-far-right/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)". October 17 2025, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm CEST.
- [**RadHR Soapbox: What does 'socially-just pay' actually mean?**](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/radhr-soapbox-what-does-socially-just-pay-actually-mean-tickets-1552838665249?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Free online event, Thursday, October 23 2025 · 6 - 8pm WEST
- The Democracy at Work Fund welcomes applications from [**frontline workers’ organisations supporting labour rights**](https://www.democracyatworkfund.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with a focus on leadership by women and underrepresented groups (in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil). Deadline is 27 October 2025.
- [**Climate Psychology Alliance is hiring**](https://climatepsychologyalliance.org/index.php/component/content/article/were-hiring-four-part-time-paid-positions-and-one-voluntary-position?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): four part-time positions and one volunteering. Closing date 31 October 2025
- Apply for a[**Climate Storytelling Fellowship**](https://blcklst.com/programs/2026-nrdc-climate-storytelling-fellowship?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.** Writers will each receive a $20,000 grant and will be mentored by a professional screenwriter with an interest in climate storytelling. Applications open until 28 November, 2025\. More info on how to apply [here](https://blcklst.com/programs/2026-nrdc-climate-storytelling-fellowship?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2-2.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the November e-news, the deadline for submissions is **October 31\.** 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and win a book by Jay Vidyarthi!** 

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners 💚

Quote of the month from Transition Margaret River:   
**“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."*  
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Evergreening Transition Training
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/evergreening-transition-training/
Last updated: 2025-10-15T14:31:45.000Z
Dear friends and fellow Transitioners, I hope you’ll join me today in celebrating the launch of Transition Network International’s **first-ever “evergreen” course**, [Transition Launch Training](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+1+1/about?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)! This self-paced and self-directed online version of our most popular training is now available for anyone, anywhere, to take for free at any time. It’s the product of 12 experienced Transition Trainers working together across nine countries and three continents over the past eight months, and having coordinated its development, I’m really proud of how it turned out.

The curriculum is broadly organized into eight sessions based on the Seven Essential Ingredients of Transition (**Context, Vision, Inner Transition, Healthy Groups, Community Engagement, Practical Projects,** and **Part of a Movement**), plus an Introduction. Each session features an introductory video presentation, links to related resources, interactive discussion forums, and activities you can do on your own or with a group. Although its 55 modules might seem overwhelming at first glance, you’re welcome to engage with as few or as many as you like.

While this course is currently available only in English, our tech team is working hard to make it fully translatable into many more languages in the coming weeks. My hope is that this evergreen version of Transition Launch will eventually reach tens of thousands of regenerative activists around the world and spark hundreds of new initiatives. I believe it has the power to inspire those who are new to Transition, refresh those who could use a refresher, and encourage those who have been sitting on the sidelines to get in the game.

If this experiment proves successful, it has the potential to lead to the development of an online library with dozens of evergreen trainings. Over the past 19 years, [many brilliant courses and workshops have been created](https://training.transitionnetwork.org/our-trainings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to offer best practices, replicable examples, and valuable tools, skills, and resources related to various aspects of Transition. However, they haven’t always been widely accessible. Most are only available in some places, at some times, in some languages. By adapting more and more of these trainings into an evergreen format, we can spread this knowledge further and wider than ever before.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/diagram-launch.png)

This isn’t to say that in-person and guided online trainings aren’t important. In fact, they tend to more enjoyable and impactful than evergreen courses, and will continue to be offered by our [community of internationally-certified trainers](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/trainers/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and many [regional and national Transition hubs](https://maps.transitionnetwork.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Nevertheless, developing a library of evergreen trainings has many potential benefits and is something Transition Network is uniquely positioned to do. I even suspect these evergreen trainings will generate more demand for in-person and guided online courses, as more people in more places experience just how much Transition Training has to offer.

When I shared this vision with a friend recently on a hike in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado where I live, he cautioned that “the era of the grand plan is over.” Personally, I believe we can still do big things and that we need to dream bigger. If you’d like to support this vision, please [take the course yourself](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+1+1/about?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), give us your feedback, spread the word, and [make a donation](https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/28430?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#!/DonationDetails) to help fund the future of Transition Training. If you haven’t already, I also recommend signing up for the [Transition Network’s monthly newsletter](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/?lng=en). More is coming soon, and you won’t want to miss it!

In Community,  
Don Hall

[Enroll the Transition Launch course](https://courses.transitionnetwork.org/courses/course-v1:transitionnetwork+1+1/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Da Escola Para a Comunidade
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/da-escola-para-a-comunidade/
Last updated: 2025-10-15T11:11:46.000Z
**Quinta Urbana e Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha, Portugal**

**Foi em 2011 que nasceu uma primeira versão desde projeto elaborado pela Associação de Pais da Escola Armando Guerreiro e Jardim de Infância José Martins, que pretendida dar continuidade a uma pequena horta pedagógica. A ideia era continuar a assegurar a mesma a oferta educativa a crianças e alunos mais velhos num espaço equivalente, mas o projeto cresceu.**

Em 2012, e a mesma Associação de Pais, positivamente contaminada pelo envolvimento da **Iniciativa de Transição** e do **Centro Comunitário de Linda-a-Velha**, reformula o projeto, abrindo-o à comunidade: um espaço multidisciplinar e polivalente, um ponto de encontro entre a Escola e a Comunidade local, onde coexistem hortas pedagógicas com hortas urbanas, e um conjunto de espaços comuns para serem cuidados pela comunidade. A proposta, à época designada como Quinta Urbana Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha, é submetida na primeira edição do Orçamento Participativo de Oeiras, sai vencedora, e é considerada pelos serviços e executivo camarário como apta para implementação.

É em 2015 (ano zero deste projeto) que é lançada a primeira pedra da 2ª Fase: a comunidade local coloca “mãos à obra” e organiza uma grande ação para implementar o Pomar Comunitário, com a plantação de 60 árvores de fruto, com 14 espécies diferentes: a ideia era garantir fruta diferente ao longo de todo o ano. No ano seguinte, 2016, a comunidade local volta para o terreno, desta vez para a implantação do Bosquete Mediterrânico. Em ambas as iniciativas, o suporte financeiro foi conseguido através de um programa de apadrinhamento de árvores por parte da comunidade local. Nestes anos multiplicaram-se as iniciativas e envolvendo escolas (do sector público e privado), agrupamentos de escuteiros, associações e comunidade local, através de ajudadas e atividades de educação/ sensibilização ambiental, totalizando cerca de 1400 participantes.

Foi em 2018 que terminaram as obras da 1ª Fase, e em julho deste ano são entregues as chaves aos hortelões que passaram também a usufruir deste espaço. Foi neste ano também que se realizou a 1ª Desfolhada Tradicional na eira da Quinta.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/DESFOLHADA-03.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/DESFOLHADA-02.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/DESFOLHADA-01.jpeg)

Desfolhada Tradicional, Linda‐a‐Velha, Credit: Fernando Oliveira

**10 Anos de Atividade**

Prosseguindo o seu propósito e missão, a Quinta Urbana a Pedagógica continuará a ser elemento estruturante na comunidade, atuando em diversos eixos:

- **Viver O Campo Na Cidade** \- Possibilidade de experienciar a agricultura e as tradições rurais num ambiente urbano.
- **Educar Para A Sustentabilidade** \- A Quinta como espaço de referência na educação ambiental para um desenvolvimento sustentável.
- **Espaço De Aprendizagens Intergeracionais** \- Partilha com os mais novos de experiências e saberes do mundo rural, da qual os mais velhos são detentores.
- **Cidadania Ativa** \- A Quinta como espaço de cidadania participativa.  
**Investigação e Desenvolvimento** \- Projetos com instituições académicas de referência.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/AJUDADA-2015-00.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/AJUDADA-2015-02.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/AJUDADA-2015-01.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/AJUDADA-2015-03.jpeg)

Ajudada, Linda‐a‐Velha, Credit: Fernando Oliveira

Em articulação com escolas, associações locais e outras instituições da comunidade, continuará a implementar atividades regulares de dinamização, como por exemplo sementeiras, plantações e colheitas, baseadas nos seguintes princípios:  
**Conhecer as Diferentes Árvores de Fruto** \- promover o consumo de fruta da época, através de visitas ao Pomar Comunitário.  
**Descobrir a Importância da Polinização** \- Abordar questões relacionadas com a polinização e importância dos agentes polinizadores.  
**Identificar a Flora Autóctone** \- Conhecer a Península Ibérica e distinguir os povoamentos florestais simples dos complexos.  
**Promover a Conservação do Solo** \- Praticar culturas anuais, explorando temas de erosão, conservação do solo e princípios de Permacultura e Agroecologia.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/HORTAS-01.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/MANDALA-02.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/MANDALA-01.jpeg)

Hortas, Linda‐a‐Velha, Credit: Fernando Oliveira

**Explorar a Coleção Botânica** \- Conhecer várias espécies de plantas carnudas; estudar plantas medicinais e as suas utilizações; distinguir espécies autóctones (insular e continental) das exóticas e invasoras.  
**Aprender Sobre Agricultura Biodinâmica** \- Observar culturas anuais; introduzir princípios da Agricultura Biodinâmica no Espaço Mandala.  
**Observar e Desfrutar a Paisagem** \- Utilizar o Miradouro, ponto mais alto da Quinta, para lazer e contemplação das várias unidades de paisagem: meio urbano, rural, florestal, fluvial e marítimo.  
**Incentivar uma Alimentação Saudável** \- reforçar práticas agrícolas e educativas ligadas à alimentação equilibrada.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/OFICINAS-05.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/OFICINAS-02-1.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/OFICINAS-03.jpeg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/OFICINAS-01.jpeg)

Oficinas, Linda‐a‐Velha, Credit: Fernando Oliveira

**PARCERIAS**  
São extensas as parcerias estabelecidas ao longo destes anos, nomeadamente a Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária, a Escola Profissional D. Dinis (Escola Agrícola da Paiã), o Agrupamento de Escuteiros 626 de Linda-a-Velha, o **Centro Comunitário de Linda-a-Velha**, e também o **Projeto Dinâmica Sénior da União de Freguesias**. O projeto conta ainda com uma rede de voluntários da comunidade.

**DESAFIOS**  
Não obstante o trabalho desenvolvido ao longo de mais de uma década, e o reconhecimento deste projeto como uma mais-valia para a comunidade onde se encontra, a Quinta tem pela frente um dos maiores desafios, que é o de garantir a sua continuidade no território onde se encontra. Estando prevista a construção no mesmo local do novo polo escolar de Linda-a-Velha, foram encetadas conversações com a Autarquia, tendo em vista a continuidade da Quinta Urbana Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha, por forma a assegurar os múltiplos projetos pedagógicos e comunitários que nela ocorrem. Tudo para garantir que a Quinta Urbana e Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha cumpre o seu propósito: crescer com a comunidade, hoje e no futuro.

**Fernando Oliveira e Tiago Reis** 
**Quinta Urbana e Pedagógica de Linda-a-Velha, Portugal**
### A Wave of Hope: the Global Community Gathers to Reimagine and Build the Future
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-wave-of-hope/
Last updated: 2025-10-14T19:41:33.000Z
On Monday 13 October 2025, a powerful wave of hope, connection, and stubborn optimism swept across the globe as people gathered online for the international screening and forum of [HOPE: The Series](https://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The event, focused on Episode 2: "The Power of Two Words," featured a vibrant discussion with Javier Peña (founder of HOPE), Filipa Pimentel (member of TNi), and Rob Hopkins (co-founder of the Transition Movement, and featured on the episode), igniting a conversation about how to cultivate hope and drive tangible change in a world facing complex challenges.

The session was a digital campfire where a global community shared stories, fears, and their sources of resilience.

Watch the recording of the conversation that followed the screening

#### **The fuel of hope: from local gardens to political fire**

After watching the episode, the event kicked off with a simple but profound question: **What gives you hope today?**

The answers, flowing from both the panel and the lively Zoom chat, painted a mosaic of inspiration:

- **Javier Peña,** found hope in the "army of pioneers" demonstrating regenerative solutions and the latest science showing we can cool regions and fix the water cycle "not in decades, but in years."
- **Filipa Pimentel** pointed to the "resonant energy" of shared purpose and the power of stories that show "the future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed."
- **Rob Hopkins** highlighted the re-emergence of hope in politics, celebrating the new UK Green Party leader Zac Polanski for "talking about hope and reimagining things" which has "caught fire with people... especially young people."

The audience’s chat was a torrent of hope-filled testimony. Participants shared hope in "collaboration, community," "my teenage son's resilience," "the feeling of belonging to this movement," and the "huge inner shifts in humans." Mads, from Denmark, beautifully likened the gathering to a "fungi-network," with "ideas and hope flowing both ways."

This collective exercise set the tone for a deep dive into the mechanics of hope and action.

#### **From what is to what if: the ingredients for change**

The panel explored what makes transition initiatives and projects, in a broader sense, successful. Javier identified courage, stubborn optimism and persistence as the common thread among pioneers who move mountains. Rob expanded on this, distinguishing between passive hope and active hope, which he called "an axe you break down doors with in an emergency". He argued that fascism feeds on hopelessness, and the antidote is "telling compelling, thrilling, delicious stories about how the future could be", ones people can connect with.

When asked about Transition's unique role in the climate action landscape, Filipa emphasized its holistic, "mycelial" nature. "It is difficult to draw a membrane around the movement," she said, highlighting its power as a global lab of connected communities creating diverse, practical stories of change. She stressed the importance of active hope, empathy, and a crucial ingredient: If it's not fun, it's not transition.

#### **Making the alternative irresistible**

A central theme was how to make regenerative alternatives feel not just inspiring, but viable and necessary. The panel agreed on a multi-pronged approach:

1. **Paint a compelling vision:** Javier urged the need to "draw a clear vision of the future we can actually achieve," moving beyond abstract ideas to concrete, win-win solutions that dissolve polarization.
2. **Connect the dots:** Rob advocated for a holistic policy approach, where cycling infrastructure or local currencies are seen as part of a "citywide mental health strategy" instead of isolated actions. He championed the need to "help people fall in love with the future" and "cultivate longing," learning from and engaging with artists and poets.
3. **Build a mycelial network:** Filipa called for changing the perception of reality by telling interconnected stories at all levels. "We need to learn how to connect as mycelium... to support each other like that", making stories of hope feel "normal and possible."

#### **Answering the call: the audience weighs in**

The Q&A session revealed the pressing concerns and insights of the global community.

- **On rebuilding imagination:** When asked how to rebuild imaginative "muscles" in target-driven workplaces, Rob pointed to the work of **Moral Imaginations** and the **UN Global Pulse**, emphasizing that "imagination needs space." Filipa shared her success in embedding creative processes into organizations and schools, proving that imagination is "super productive".
- **On beating the algorithms:** Javier shared his secret to reaching over a billion views: use plain, non-divisive language, focus on tangible benefits, and showcase positive examples. This approach, he said, bypasses ideological barriers and generates widespread excitement.
- **On local vs. political action:** In a heartfelt exchange, participants wondered if local action was enough. Rob and Filipa powerfully argued for a "yes, and" approach. "We have to go where our energy feels drawn," said Rob, noting that a local project in Liège has now inspired six other cities. Changemakers are needed on all levels and spheres of action!

Filipa then brought the house down with a stunning story of applying Transition principles to EU lobbying. Years ago, she organized a two-day immersion for EU officials in local transition initiatives. The result? "the translators came to me to ask what happened here, because half of the members were crying". One conservative employer representative concluded "It is really small... but it might be the only thing that works". This human-centered "unlobbying" led to the Transition Network being invited back as trusted advisors, not just lobbyists.

#### **A charge to carry forward**

As the event closed, the feeling was not one of an ending, but a beginning. The chat filled with heartfelt thanks, with participant Leonie capturing the mood perfectly: "Hope battery recharged."

The event made it clear that the revolution of hope is not a single event but a continuous, connected effort. It’s fueled by the courage to ask "What if?", the persistence to start small, and the wisdom to connect like mycelium, weaving a global tapestry of regeneration that is already underway.

**The conversation continues on the Transition Platform, we want to hear your voice!** [**Join the Platform here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**To watch the full HOPE Series visit** [**hopelaserie.com**](http://hopelaserie.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*\*We have used AI responsibly to craft this article.*
### Our Transition journey to Hong Kong and China
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-transition-journey-to-hong-kong-and-china/
Last updated: 2025-12-12T15:06:17.000Z
**A photo reportage of Mikae Koyama and Shunro Yoshida, representatives of** [**Transition Japan**](https://transitionjapan.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## The Journey Begins

It all started when our Partner [Partnerships for Community of Development (**PCD**)](https://www.pcd.org.hk/en?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) read [Hidetake Enomoto's book](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-in-japan/) “If we Change ourselves, the Town Changes, If the Town Changes, the World will Change”, originally published in Traditional Chinese two years ago and then in Simplified Chinese in mainland China last year. They wanted to learn more about Japan's Transition movement. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/1book.jpg)

Hidetake Enomoto's book in Chinese. Credit Shunro Yoshida

Last year, about ten people, including staff of PCD, came to Fujino, Japan. They began Transition training, observed Japanese citizen movements, and deepened their exchange with us. When I first heard about this, I remember thinking, “Huh?! Seriously?!” I was surprised and excited at the same time.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/2.group-2.jpg)

PCD in Fujino, Japan 2024\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### The Purpose of our journey this year

We embarked on this journey of visiting Hong Kong and China, to share Japan's 17 years of Transition experience, and help the groups in China develop their own Transition movement or provide reference for its civic movements. Our personal goal was also to learn from China's civic movements and help Japan and China build strong, grassroots-level peace connections.

### August 19, 2025, arriving to Hong Kong

We visited the [Partnerships for Community Development (PCD)](https://www.pcd.org.hk/en?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Office.  

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/4pcd-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/3.pcd-1.jpg)

Mikae Koyama and Shunro Yoshida visiting PCD in Hong Kong, August 2025

### Hong Kong Workshop Day 1 and 2

What we did:

- Pairing up for an interview exercise to get to know each other
- Explanation of Worldview and Visioning
- Transition Timeline Exercise
- Open Space Technology Workshop

**Visit to Tin Shui Wai Community Development Network (Neighbourwoods Community Garden)**  
Members of Neighbourwoods are mostly from Tin Shui Wai, a community where many families are relatively low-income migrants from mainland China, forming working groups. The organisation rented the Government land to build this community garden. In terms of funding, they received funding from a few corporate foundations for this project.

- Introduction of Japanese food and agriculture education examples to about 30 participants.
- Hong Kong million dollar night view
- Breakfast with Idy at Green Hub

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/11.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/10.night-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/9.methods-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/7.presentation-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/6.postits-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/5.exercise-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/12.idy.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/13.breakfast.jpg)

Hong Kong Workshop Day 1 and 2, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### Hong Kong Day 3, August 22 2025

Visit to [School of Everyday Life](https://everydaylife.org.hk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Buddhist learning and exchange center). They also use local currency, and participants cook meals, offer laughter yoga, and provide various events. The photo shows a scene from meal preparation where they were making rice cakes.

- Explanation of the Worldview and Actual Impact of Local Currency
- Community Economy Presentation

During our stay in Hong Kong this time, we stayed at a place called **Green Hub**, which was a facility that served as police headquarters during the British colonial era. It's located on a small hill, surrounded by greenery, and is a very pleasant place. It seemed like **Satish Kumar** and **Naresh Giangrande** were also there. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/14.visit.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/15.group.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/16.presentation.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/19.locked.jpg)

Hong Kong Day 3, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### Hong Kong Day 4, August 23

- Explanation and Case Studies of Japan's Transition Town Movement

### The event on our final day in Hong Kong

This time it was open to the public, and people involved with Kaduri Farm and those participating in the PCD event came. We heard from participants that Hong Kong also lacks land for farming and that it's difficult to rent space for civic activities, but we discussed how each group manages to find creative ways to carry out their activities.

We were also just having Fun! A Big Bite of a vegetarian hamburger!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/23.presentation-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/24.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/22.exercise-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/26.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/28.burger-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/27.burger-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/25.fun-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/29.food-1.jpg)

 Final day in Hong Kong, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### Moving from Hong Kong to Chengdu

Cityscape of Chengdu. Chengdu is a suburban-style city located within Sichuan Province, apparently a popular destination in China recently. For a Chinese city, it has a relaxed atmosphere, with vibrant civic activities and community life. It's famous for pandas and Sichuan cuisine.

### August 25: Observing Community Activities in Chengdu

[**Dongfang Yijing Residential Community**](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-ra%5FUbiXTQQBGMG3T397uw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**:** We visited this apartment community in Chengdu, home to 204 households, which has practiced self-governance for 19 years. We went to hear about their initiative to cut ties with management, cleaning, and security companies, taking over management and cleaning themselves. Management fees collected from residents funded volunteers who transformed shared spaces into beautiful biotopes and gardens. Through various connections, they obtained scrap materials, processed them for reuse, and gradually became skilled enough to even sell their creations. Funds previously paid to management companies were redirected to their activities, generating profits. Recently, they consistently operate in the black and return surplus funds to residents—a truly remarkable initiative.

### August 26, Chengdu

Visit to a [**Wang Cheng Family Farm**](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-ra%5FUbiXTQQBGMG3T397uw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in **Anlong Village**.   
This Family Farm is operated by Wang Cheng and his family. The research team of Sichuan University partnered with Wang Chang family for the soil and agriculture practice research.   
This was a unique farm run by a professor from Sichuan University who studies the relationship between microorganisms and soil while growing crops. Though many farms once existed in this village, government policies led most farmers to relocate to cities. This farm is one of only four remaining. Here, a couple, volunteers, and a Sichuan University professor cultivate crops and deliver produce to members in Chengdu's urban areas who have signed contracts. Sichuan is famous for doubanjiang (chili bean paste), and this farm also produces and sells organic doubanjiang.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/32.farm-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/34.farm-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/36.farm.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/30.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/33.farm-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/31.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/35.farm.jpg)

Chengdu, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### August 27-29: Transition Workshop at Siji Shuiquan Nature School

**1st day Program:**

- My Story workshop
- The work that reconnects
- Mirror walk
- Inner Transition
- Visioning: Timeline workshop

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/38.exercise.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/39.exercise.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/37.exercise.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/40.outside.jpg)

Transition Workshop at Mountain Nature School, China, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

**2nd day Program:**

- Why local currency
- World view of local currency
- Fujino and Minami Aso’s local currency
- 'Give you give me' game (Local currency game)
- Group activity from 'give you give me' game

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/41.exercise-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/42.exercise-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/44.group-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/43.outside-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/45.eating-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/46.food-1.jpg)

Transition Workshop at Siji Shuiquan Nature School, China, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

**3rd day Program:**

- Open Space Technology workshop

My offering: Making Japanese noodle for everyone   
Mikae’s entertainment: Serving Macha green tea for everyone during OST

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/49.presentation-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/50.presentation-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/47.food-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/48.food-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/51.group-1.jpg)

Transition Workshop at Siji Shuiquan Nature School, China, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### Last Day in Chengdu

Transition Information Session at a Wonderful Bookstore:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/53.bookstore.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/52.bookstore.jpg)

Transition Information Session, Chengdu, China, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### Good Bye Chengdu!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/10/54.bye.jpg)

Chengdu, China, August 2025\. Credit Shunro Yoshida

### What we learned from this trip

- We met very good citizen’s movement of climate change and environmental groups.
- Chinese people are interested in the Transition movement in Japan, and they seem to have familiarity with Japan’s Transition movement.
- What we tried to deliver was Transition culture which we cultivated in Japan for the last 17 years.
- There are more commonalities than differences between Japanese and Chinese civic movements.
- Although it is not easy to have citizen’s movement in China and Hong Kong, they are doing it in a straight forward way and very patiently, which I respect the most.
- I think we are building good relationship with Chinese citizen’s movement groups and we want to keep it going.
- The Transition book which [Hide Enomoto wrote published in Chinese](https://pcd.org.hk/en/content/transition-town-japan-community-action-research-connecting-individuals-world-published-0?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a very big impact for Chinese speaking countries.

**Shunro Yoshida** 
**Mikae Koyama**  
[**Transition Japan**](https://transitionjapan.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### September 2025: Rewiring our connection with technology
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/september-2025-rewiring-our-connection-with-technology/
Last updated: 2025-09-16T12:05:08.000Z
****Hello friends,**  
This September, we have launched a three-month series called [****Tech in Transition**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We are exploring how to use digital tools in ways that sustain our bodies, nourish our spirits, and support positive transformation in the world. We’re also aligning this series with the launch of [****our new digital platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/user/registration/by-link?token=i6xp0fuc-f8B%5FI&spaceId=30&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a new ethical digital space designed by TNi and open to people interested and actively participating in the wider change-making and Transition ecosystem.   
  
To celebrate, ****we’ll be raffling seven copies of the book 'Reclaim Your Mind: Seven Strategies to Use Tech Mindfully'** by [****Jay Vidyarthi**](https://www.jayvidyarthi.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Anyone who joins or posts on the Platform between September and December 2025, will be automatically entered.  
  
We hope those and other offerings this month bring you inspiration, practical tools, and a sense of shared community. Thank you for being with us in these fascinating and strange times!   
  
With love,   
The Transition Network international team 🌱

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****What's buzzing at TNi?**

**Monday, 13 October 2025** 

- **16:00 - 18:00 UTC**: Join us to experience HOPE, the newly released series rooted in active optimism, amplifying the stories of communities worldwide who are regenerating the planet and building a more just future.

[A Global Gathering of Hope and Regeneration: Screening & ForumJoin us to experience HOPE, the newly released series rooted in active optimism, amplifying the stories of communities worldwide who are regenerating the planet and building a more just future.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-12.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/hope-screening-featured-1920-x-1280-px.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hope-screening-forum/)

- **19:00 - 20:30h UTC: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY** · Honoring our lineages and ancestral lines. Register [here](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bUz2durSQHGCE3UcqwVhbw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for the online gathering.

[Indigenous People’s DayJoin us on Monday, October 13th for a mindful, heart-centered gathering in recognition of Indigenous People’s Day: a space to honor our lineages and ancestral lines, the diverse histories, stories, and wisdom of Indigenous communities across the globe. Event Details \* 🗓 Monday, October 13th \* ⏰ 19:00–20:30 UTC \* 📍 Online![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-10.png)Cultural Transformation CircleTheresa Fend![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/le-tan-OLuTnePDR14-unsplash-3.jpg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/indigenous-peoples-day/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- [**Tech in Transition**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) series opened on September 5 with **Jay Vidyarthi**, author of *Reclaim Your Mind*. On October 6, **Teresa Posakony** will guide us in simple practices to keep our posture, spine, and nervous system healthy while engaging with tech. In November, **Sam Rossiter** and **Esther Molina** will share perspectives and practical tools relating to ethical technologies, followed by a closing panel with **Shai Tubali**, **Wakanyi Hoffman**,and **Denise ‘Kuku’ Dueñas** on the spiritual and environmental impacts of technology.

[Tech in Transition: Navigating Technology with Awareness and IntegrityTech in Transition is a series of interactive webinars running through September-November 2025 designed to explore how to harness the power of technology in service of well-being, justice and connection.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-3.png)Practising TransitionDan Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tech-in-transition-series-featured-img.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Nuggets of Wisdom next events:
  - Sept 25: **Presence & Mindfulness** with Seba Halperin & Zaida Amaral 2:00PM (Brazil) and 5:00 pm UTC **in Portuguese**
  - Oct 8 (Wednesday): **Sensemaker** with Theresa Fend & Deborah Benham, 3:30pm UK time and 2:30 PM UTC **in English**

[Nuggets of Wisdom Live Series📩 Invitation to join us for our first Instagram Live — “Nuggets of Wisdom - Building collective resilience” We want to invite you to a space to build collective wisdom & resilience grounded in a practical way. To fly high in inspiration, possibilities, theories and traditions… and then to ground into concrete tools![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-11.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Nuggets-1.jpeg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/nuggets-of-wisdom-live-series/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- If you have peeked at this story collector in the past months, but forgot to add your community / activity / project story, **September is the super right time for it!** \- get your friends and neighbours, and all of you share your own take on your actions. It can be in any language or format (written or audio), through the [Sensemaker](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) collector. The more stories we gather, the more patterns emerge. **The more stories we gather, the more patterns emerge.** Get the story and the cookies ready, and click [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change).

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****Heartbeat of the Movement**

- Find out about the results of the 2025 consultation on Territories, Hubs and local groups work areas for Seed Funding and Grant making:

[Work Areas for Seed Funding and Grant Making: Results from the Movement ConsultationFind out about the results of the 2025 consultation on Territories, Hubs and local groups work areas for Seed Funding and Grant making![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-13.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/curated-lifestyle-_--_7oJsPXY-unsplash.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/work-areas-for-seed-funding-results)

- Land Justice in Scotland - Just Walk 2025 from Skye to Glasgow kicks off this Tuesday! We’ll wander through stunning landscapes, swap stories, and build a travelling village of kindness, care, and a little bit of adventure. [Come along](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D1qKncI0B66ocyFz7EIYMdM3U7MSUNg7wpl%5FBdGfkYs/edit?tab=t.0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#heading=h.svphcor97uxa)!
- Have you thought about growing native plants from seed but didn't know where to start? Check out the **Blooming Boulevards**' webinar on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 10-11 am (DST). Expert propogator **Jeanne McRight** will show us how easy it can be to go from seed to thriving plants. Register [here](https://www.bloomingboulevards.org/service-page/growing-native-plants-from-seed-2?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- The filmmaker **Mattias Olsson** (Transition Sweden) and **Campfire Stories** have released [the Imprint | Full Documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IQV1z%5FkgY&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- a personal and poetic investigation into what it means to be fully human in the age of the Anthropocene. Watch here:

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****Resources**

- [**Permacomputing**](https://permacomputing.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regenerativity in computer and network technology inspired by permaculture.
- Youth Guide on responsible tech: [https://www.humanetech.com/youth/teaching-for-humane-technology](https://www.humanetech.com/youth/teaching-for-humane-technology?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Why Humane Technology is More Important Than Ever \~ mindful.technologyWhat is humane technology and why is it needed? Are humane alternatives already available? How can you get involved in the humane tech movement?![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-4.png)mindful.technologyJames Milin-Ashmore![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/humane-tech-important-1.jpg)](https://mindful.technology/humane-technology-important/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****Calendar**

**Add your Transition events** to the calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****Opportunities**

- [**Living Connection 1st**](https://www.livingconnection1st.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) starts with four webinars (every 3rd Wednesday of the month) hosted by **Root Cuthbertson**. Registration info, topics and support entry fee in the link below:

[Village Building Monthly Webinars![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/594046-2Fcustom_site_themes-2Fid-2FoQYirWKSQi2jyTOz7cnv_68048606-938D-4DB2-813F-C6B29BD87C70_1_201_a.jpeg)Connection 1st![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot_2025-08-26_at_09.01.49.png)](https://www.livingconnection1st.net/pages/village-building-monthly-webinars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Via PachaMama Alliance: A reminder that the **Global Day of Listening** is happening on Sunday! We invite you join us—to pause deeply, together and individually, and listen: To the Earth. To one another. To what life is calling us toward. Learn more [here](https://landing.pachamama.org/day-of-listening-2025?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [Womankind Worldwide](https://www.linkedin.com/company/womankind-worldwide/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) launched a new call for applications for the Her Voice Fund (HVF) – a funding opportunity designed to strengthen the voices and influence of women’s rights organisations and feminist activists in the Global South. Deadline to apply: Thursday, 25th September 2025\. Apply [here](https://lnkd.in/dTNh-XvX?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Cisco is inviting non-profits & NGOs worldwide to [apply](https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/about/purpose/social-impact/investments/global-impact-cash-grants.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for funding that scales tech-enabled solutions tackling urgent social challenges.
- [SoilTribes](https://soiltribes.eu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has launched an [Open Call to support initiatives led my multi-actor teams](https://soiltribes.eu/grants/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) promoting Soil Literacy at the intersection of arts, science and society.  
**Funding:** Grants for small (25.000€), medium (50.000€) and large (100.000€) projects. **Eligibility:** Public & Private legal entities established in Member States of the European Union and its Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) or [Associated Countries to Horizon Europe](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation%5Fhorizon-euratom%5Fen.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **Deadline:** 10 October 2025

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

![CTA Image](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/TNi-black-graphic-logo.png) 

****Stay connected!**

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the October e-news, the deadline for submissions is S**eptember 30 2025**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and win a book by Jay Vidyarthi!** 

[Click HERE](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/tech-transition/?ref=practise.transitionmovement.org) to Join the Transition Platform from your browser.   
  
Once you've created your profile and Transition ID verification details, you can [click HERE](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.humhub.app&ref=practise.transitionmovement.org) to download the Humhub app to enter the Transition Platform from your smartphone. Then, add the following URL when requested: hub.transition-space.org and sign in using your your Transition ID credentials.   
Trouble signing up? Email the comms team at comms@transitionnetwork.org

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

Someone forwarded you this email? Then [subscribe yourself here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) to receive further Transition Newsletter publications.

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners <3

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### A Global Gathering of Hope and Regeneration: Screening & Forum
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hope-screening-forum/
Last updated: 2025-09-11T14:31:07.000Z
**Can you feel it? The wave of Hope is coming!** Join us on October 13thfor the international screening of “The Power of Two Words”, the second episode of HOPE The Series, featuring the Transition movement as a key agent for change and regeneration. 

This will be a **multilingual event**: English, Spanish and French are confirmed so far. Read below for more information.

Date: **Monday, 13 October, 2025**

Time: **16:00 - 18:00 UTC** ([Check your local time here](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=A+Global+Gathering+of+Hope+and+Regeneration%3A+Film+Screening+%26+Forum&iso=20251013T16&p1=1440&ah=2&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) 

Where? **Online, on Zoom** (Interpretation channels will be enabled)

[REGISTER HERE ](https://events.transitionmovement.org/TNI/hope/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

[**HOPE**](https://hopelaserie.com/en/home-en/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a series of **6** episodes, filmed across **17** countries in **4** continents, gathering and documenting more than **40** solutions that are already having a positive impact on Earth. 

The aim of the team, led by Javier Peña, has been to **bring together communities, citizens, scientists and experts to connect different perspectives and build towards a sustainable and just future that spark hope and action**. 

Watch HOPE trailer

From the regeneration of the soil, to social justice and ancestral knowledge, through energy transitions, economy redesign and innovation, HOPE is a multifaceted journey with special guests and guides like Jane Goodall, Paul Hawken, Kate Raworth, Norah Magero, Marc J. Jacobson, Nemonte Nenquimo, Christiana Figueres, Rob Hopkins… and many more voices of everyday people daring to dream and creating a profound impact through their communities.

## Join the conversation!

On **Monday, October 13th 2025** we will gather to watch, listen, feel and share about hope, possibility and regeneration in our communities and the world.

[REGISTER HERE](https://events.transitionmovement.org/TNI/hope?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We have chosen episode 2, where Rob Hopkins guides us through some key achievements and examples of regeneration:

- Ernest Mas, the farmer who swapped pesticides for flowers and managed to produce more by regenerating the soil.
- The secret network of the soil – with Toby Kiers, exploring the fascinating cosmos that exists underground and its implications for the climate and agriculture.
- The power of the people – the child-led mobilisation that transformed Amsterdam into a cycling and pedestrian paradise in the 1970s, with one of its protagonists, Maartje van Putten.
- The emergence of the Transition movement, through its protagonists in Liège, who have revolutionised the city's food supply.
- The transformation to recover the soul of cities, led by Paris

 After the screening, we will hear from the exquisite panel and open the Q&A session with participants. 

![Join the conversation with Javier Peña (HOPE), Filipa Pimentel (TNi), Rob Hopkins (TN co-founder), Esther Molina (TNi)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/hope-screening-panel--1920-x-1280-px-.png)

**Javier Peña** is Founder of Hope, a communication project focused on regeneration with over one billion views, creator of the documentary series “Hope: We Still Have Time” featuring regenerative solutions from 19 countries, and co-founder of The Regeneration Alliance, with Paul Hawken.

**Filipa Pimentel** has been a core team member of Transition Network international since 2011, exploring with people all over the world how to develop the social infrastructure and collaborative culture needed for a global movement for social change. She currently holds the roles of Governance, Collaborations and Engagement Lead Link, and is an accredited facilitator in sociocracy ([Sociocracy for All](https://www.sociocracyforall.org/?ref=practise.transitionmovement.org)) and shared-governance ([Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/en%5FGB/?ref=practise.transitionmovement.org)).

**Rob Hopkins** is the co-founder of [Transition Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) international and of [Transition Town Totnes](https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and author of several books including ‘The Transition Handbook‘, ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’. He has spoken at TED Global and TEDx events, and appears in the French film phenomenon ‘Demain’. He holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth as well as 2 Honoris Causas, and hosted 100 episodes of his podcast ‘From What If to What Next’. He was made an Honorary Citizen of Liège in Belgium (2022), and his collaborative music project with artist Mr Kit, ‘[Field Recordings from the Future](https://www.robhopkins.net/field-recordings-from-the-future/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ was released in May 2025, the same time as his new book ‘[How to Fall in Love with the Future’](https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Esther Molina** will be hosting this session. She is a communicator, facilitator and researcher involved in Transition at the local (León, Spain) and international scale as Transition Network international’s Communications Lead Link and member of the Wellbeing team. Esther holds a PhD in Heritage, Culture and Philosophy, is a Regenerators Academy alumni, and has published some research and thoughts about human and non-human nature relationships. Passionate about ecosystemic approaches and inner-led community change, loves creative writing and expressive dance. 

**Pamela Carmona** will handle the technical side of the session. She is Transition Network international's Community Weaver, focusing on social media and online engagement. Pamela is also an audio producer and content creator. 

## Every change begins with two words

What if there were another way to produce our food that would allow us to better manage water and natural resources while reducing emissions? What if there were another way to design our cities, to climate-control our homes? What if we came together to watch this episode and shared about it...? 

Watch Ep.2 trailer

Climate change is not only an environmental challenge, but also a call to reimagine the way we live. In this episode, we discover how two words, ‘What if?’, can help us design the world we want and trigger surprising transformations in different parts of the world. From farmers replacing pesticides with flowers to regenerate the soil and protect pollinators, to cities redesigning their streets to give them back to the people, imagination is proving to be one of the most powerful tools for solving the climate crisis. Accompanied by figures such as Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Towns movement, and scientists such as Toby Kiers, who studies underground soil life, we travel to Liège, Amsterdam and Paris, among other places, to learn about stories of innovation and courage.

The event will be held **in English with live interpretation to Spanish and French**. If you’d like to support interpretation to another language, please contact us at [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) 

### Ready to be part of the wave?

Register for free and share across your networks! 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/hope-screening--1920-x-1280-px--1.png) 

#### 

[REGISTER HERE](https://events.transitionmovement.org/TNI/hope/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

---

### Hungry for more? 

Our friends of the Inner and Culture Transition Circle will be holding an Indigenous People’s Day celebration an hour after this event closes (October 13, at 19:00 UTC) – that’s another amazing opportunity for embracing change and regeneration starting within. 

[Indigenous People’s DayJoin us on Monday, October 13th for a mindful, heart-centered gathering in recognition of Indigenous People’s Day: a space to honor our lineages and ancestral lines, the diverse histories, stories, and wisdom of Indigenous communities across the globe. Event Details \* 🗓 Monday, October 13th \* ⏰ 19:00–20:30 UTC \* 📍 Online![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-8.png)Cultural Transformation CircleTheresa Fend![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/le-tan-OLuTnePDR14-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/indigenous-peoples-day/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Work Areas for Seed Funding and Grant Making: Results from the Movement Consultation
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/work-areas-for-seed-funding-results/
Last updated: 2025-09-11T12:07:52.000Z
This report was written by Filipa Pimentel (Engagement Lead Link) and Tanya Medukha (Fundraising role) on July 2025\. 

---

## Introduction

​​For quite some time, members of Transition Network international (TNi) have recognized **how important seed funding and grant distribution are for Transition Hubs and local groups**. This became especially clear during the recent Hubs' self-assessment process, where many groups reminded us how impactful the last round of seed funding had been for them a few years ago. Some were so eager to get started that they pitched their current work during the consultation process.

**This year, TNi prioritized the exploration of relaunching Seed Funding** and to provide grants that support the work of both Transition Hubs and, potentially, local groups.

As a first step —because we need to understand what kinds of work need to be resourced on the ground— we invited people to fill out [a short form](https://forms.gle/X1LXbcxUH2cTbptj6?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which was closed at the end of May 2025.

Now, it's time to share what we've learned from your responses. Thank you, everyone who contributed!

## Who contributed

A total of **69 responses were received**, 50 of which were from local groups/projects, and the rest came from people self-identifying as part of Hubs and Territories. 

The following official Transition Hubs/emergent Hub responded to the form: Australia, Belgium (francophone), Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Finland, London, Mexico, Paris and Shambhala. Abya Yala contributed as an official Territory. A couple of those self-identified Hubs or Territories are not listed as official, in the Hubs Group/TNi. In some cases, a group, a hub or a territory contributed with more than one response. 

![Number of contributions per country or region of origin graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/number-of-contributions-seedfunding.png)

Data in text for accessibility: Croatia 3, Mexico 2, Chile 4, Brazil 10, Abya yala 2, Portugal 2, Finalnd 2, UK 12, Belgium 2, Sweden 1, New Zealand 2, Kenya 2, Switzerland 1, Spain 5, France 2, US 6, Hungary 2, Australia 1, Colombia 2, Italy 3, Argentina 1, Peru 1

### Key observations: 

- We’re **celebrating** the fact that, for the first time, we received feedback from local groups in Kenya and Peru.
- The **higher number of responses** from groups in the **UK** may be due to the high density of local groups in the territory, as well as the Transition Together project, which distributed a substantial amount of seed funding using a similar process. The second-highest number of responses came from **Brazil**, showcasing a strong connection that Brazilian Hub maintains with the local groups.
- Adding up all contributions from Central and South America (covered by the **Abya Yala Territory**)—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru—we received a total of 22 responses.
- The **European continent** contributed 30 responses. It’s interesting to note that this number is not proportional to the higher density of local groups in Europe.

## Activity areas 

In the form we asked contributors to look at a list of categories and share with us:

- The ones that were **relevant in their context** (projects areas that they might want to explore through seed-funding),
- and/or **work that is already being done or emerging** in their groups that they would want to **continue to work on**.

Below you will find the graphics with the results, as well as the text and data below each of them, so they translate to your language and are more accessible. 

![Food & Land Stewardship graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/1.png)

**Food & Land Stewardship:**

- Urban & Community Agriculture = 48
- Sustainable Food Systems = 38
- Food circularity & Waste = 34
- Regenerative Land Practices for Growing Food = 43
- None of these = 12

![Ecosystem & Climate Resilience graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/2.png)

**Ecosystem & Climate Resilience**

- Climate Action, Mitigation, Adaptation = 40
- Conservation & Biodiversity = 49
- Nature-Based Solutions = 41
- Disaster Resilience & Relief = 20
- Pollution Clean up & Waste Reduction = 24
- Rewilding & Ecological Restoration = 34
- None of these = 6

![Community, Culture & Equity graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/3.png)

**Community, Culture & Equity**

- Collective Visioning = 53
- Health & Wellbeing = 46
- Lifelong Learning & Education = 54
- Culture & Celebrations = 52
- Equity & Inclusion = 36
- Circular Economy & Resource Sharing = 51
- Justice & Advocacy = 21
- Storytelling & Creative Expression = 40
- Visual & Performing Arts = 34
- Women's Leadership & Empowerment= 31
- Youth, Leadership, Engagement, Education = 39
- None of these = 0

![Energy & Economic Transformation graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/4.png)

**Energy & Economic Transformation**

- Innovative Alternative Energy Solutions = 18
- Local & Community Power = 23
- Energy Access & Distribution = 13
- Regenerative Economies & Ethical Business = 33
- Eco-friendly Mobility & Transport = 22
- None of these = 17

![Top categories graphic](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/5.png)

**Top categories**

- Urban & Community Agriculture = 48
- Sustainable Foods Systems = 38
- Conservation & Biodiversity = 49
- Climate Action, Mitigation, Adaptation = 40
- Collective Visioning = 53
- Health & Wellbeing = 46
- Lifelong Learning & Education = 54
- Storytelling & Creative Expression = 40
- Circular Economy & Resource Sharing = 51
- Regenerative Economies & Ethical Business = 33

## 3 key areas

Additionally to the previous graphics, we asked participants to name the **3 areas of their work most important for them**. We clustered words with similar meanings and generated the following word cloud: 

![A leaf-shaped graphic with several words including: Community weaving, equity, inclusion, education, regeneration, culture, justice advocacy, sharing skills resources knowledge, biodiversity, communication, innovation, collaboration, governance, art and creativity, Inner Transition, agriculture, health and wellbeing, waste reduction and composting, forests, youth, resilience, economy, energy, water, facilitation and training, and more](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/09/data-src-image-c95708f6-0564-43ce-8cb0-ab45f18b76e5.png)

## Missing categories

We asked the participants to identify missing categories and received the following:

**Hubs/Territories** 

- Organisational strategy
- Governance
- Communications/ Mapping/ Storytelling/ Networking
- Resources/ Training/ Mentorship
- Awareness raising

**Local Initiatives/projects** 

- Local currency
- Spiritual well being
- Land rights
- Water conservation/ rainwater utilization
- Awareness raising/ advocacy
- Local government/ public policy

From feedback collected and from observing how participants responded to the questions of the form, it is clear that the **nature of the work done by Territories and Hubs is different from the work done by local groups/projects**. This feedback will be taken into consideration in the design of the future Seed funding and grants design processes. 

> *“I don't quite understand the categories, which seem to me to focus on Transition project actions and not Transition hubs (...) The actions they (Hubs) take are mainly about federating and networking, support (coaching, training, creation of thematic resources), inspiring communication, and carrying the voice of the movement (...)”*  
>  
> Josué Dusolier (Hub in francophone Belgium)

## What now?

Now the TNi team (Engagement circle and Fundraiser) will be working on designing a Seed funding / Grants process proposal. 

You will hear about that once it is ready 🙂 — Very like around mid-October 2025\. 

We stay in touch!
### Nova Comunidade da IMAGINAÇÃO em Portugal
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/nova-comunidade-da-imaginacao-em-portugal/
Last updated: 2025-08-19T17:30:22.000Z
(English below)

A Susana e eu começámos o dia cedinho, sentadas nos sofás com vista sobre o mar — uma vista do tamanho da parede inteira — a preparar o workshop do dia seguinte. Atrás de nós, todo um aparato de câmaras apontadas às nossas costas provocava a perplexidade de quem passava no 2.º piso do Edifício Transparente, a caminho dos seus escritórios no *Workin Porto*.

O Rob Hopkins, um par de meses antes, tinha-me mandado uma mensagem para me mostrar um [*trailer*](https://vimeo.com/1069567768?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) de um documentário sobre Imaginação. Contou-me da gentileza e da qualidade profissional dos três jovens que agora nos filmavam em Portugal - “estão a preparar-se para os festivais de outono”, disse-me, “mas precisam de imagens do workshop ‘Como se apaixonar pelo futuro?’ e preferem que não seja eu a facilitar, para evitar que se passe a ideia que só eu o posso fazer”. 

Não me surpreendeu que o Rob pensasse em mim: em outubro passado, fizemos juntos uma digressão de norte a sul de Portugal. O exercício foi tão intenso, repetido e prolongado que terminou comigo, em exaustão, a repetir aos meus mais próximos que, se me ouvissem a voltar a ter semelhante ideia, me amarrassem. Hei de ter merecido o diploma (imaginário) que o Rob me mandou depois - e não me parece que o meu programa de aprendizagem pudesse ter sido mais completo. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/08/54713662856_fd3db9c380_c-1.jpg)

Awarded by Rob Hopkins

### **Abrir portas**

Entretanto, deixem-me dizer-vos: a digressão, que se seguiu à publicação do livro do Rob, agora traduzido em português, teve um impacto importante por onde passámos e em mim própria (de acordo com a minha própria bitola, está claro). Aprendi muito e comecei processos de reflexão importantes. 

A minha querida amiga Sara Rocha e eu escrevemos um relatório informado por dados recolhidos um mês e meio após a digressão, através de um formulário enviado aos participantes de quatro dos eventos organizados. Faço um resumo desse relatório [neste documento](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sMdv1vwN-mcXIhb1EMUBQccuLFMqBLpN0OmD4jhQM8o/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) que partilho convosco, caso tenham interesse. O Rob também escreveu sobre a digressão, [aqui](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-tour-in-portugal/).

Dos meus processos de reflexão, um destaca-se: o da importância da língua materna nos processos de transformação regenerativa, como é este que o Rob propõe, neste trabalho sobre a importância da imaginação em processos de mudança - vou escrever sobre isto um dia destes. 

Desta vez o abrir de portas foi fácil. Senti claramente uma evolução: um maior interesse de quem não participou na digressão, mas ouviu falar dela; e de quem participou, o entusiasmo de partilhar a experiência com outras pessoas. Com a Susana Caires e a Liliana a ampliar a informação e a inspirar as pessoas do norte e centro de Portugal, esgotámos facilmente os lugares das duas sessões que facilitei - no sábado, para jovens futuros líderes e agentes de mudança (25 participantes, a partir dos 14 anos), e domingo para um público mais geral (outros 25).

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/08/54712830172_83144aa789_b.jpg)

### **Viajante do tempo, a solo, pela primeira vez**

Quando começámos, apresentei o [Guillaume](https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaume-sanchez-623742177/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), o [Max](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-fawcett-501847163/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e o [Charlie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-whitmore-a681b5a6/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), arrumadinhos num canto da sala com as câmaras ainda a apontar para o chão. Surpreendeu-me que ninguém se opusesse a ser filmado e surpreendeu-me também o conforto de todos, mesmo com câmaras a filmar a uma distância bem para lá da linha invisível do "espaço pessoal", num workshop interativo que coloca todos os participantes em situações de envolvimento ativo.

Eu estava preparada para as reações dos participantes assim que lançasse os diapositivos: caras confusas, intrigadas e muito divertidas. As expressões evoluíram à medida que fui mostrando as fotografias das viagens no tempo - parte do programa secreto com base na poderosa tecnologia quântica desenvolvida pelo Rob por baixo do castelo de Totnes, em Inglaterra.

Contei-lhes que eu integrei o grupo de investigação/viajantes do tempo em outubro de 2024 e mostrava-lhes agora as provas das viagens a 2030, feitas durante a nossa passagem pelo Porto, na digressão. Mas atenção: não foi um 2030 qualquer! Todo o trabalho de investigação focou-se no desenvolvimento de uma máquina do tempo, agora em versão portátil, sintonizada para aquele 2030 (ou aqueles, porque as possibilidades são infinitas) que resultou de termos feito tudo o necessário para que, de facto, se tenha reduzido as emissões de CO₂ a 50%, como acordado há dez anos, em Paris. 

E melhor: consegui - agora sem a supervisão do Rob - levar os participantes todos a visitar um desses 2030 e convidá-los a usar todos os sentidos nessa experiência! (Agucei-vos a curiosidade? Faço votos que participem num destes workshops, num futuro próximo!)

### **“E SE…”**

Depois de cada um dos dois dias, cheios de histórias, de conversas profundas, de atividades interativas, multisensoriais, em sala e na praia mesmo em frente do Edifício Transparente, despedi-me de cada um dos participantes num abraço emocionado, após termos fechado um círculo de partilha de esperança no poder e potencial das nossas perguntas: 

**“E SE….?”**

Agora, está a nascer uma comunidade de prática sobre a Imaginação (com jovens entusiasmados) e uma vontade muito grande de ter o Rob outra vez em Portugal, assim que traduzamos o novo livro dele. **Enfim, amarrem-me que eu já estou cheia de ideias! Ou não…** 

**Agradecimentos:** 

Ao [Rob](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a ele se deve isto tudo. 

À equipa - Guillaume, Max e Charlie, à Susana Caires (essa força da natureza), à Vanessa e ao *Workin Porto*, à Lili e a todos os participantes de todas as idades, ao Bitocas, à Susana, ao Humberto, ao João e a Inês. 

---

# New IMAGINAÇÃO Community in Portugal  

Susana and I started the day early, sitting on the sofas overlooking the sea—a view that took up the entire wall—preparing for the next day's workshop. Behind us, a whole array of cameras pointed at our backs caused perplexity among those passing by in the second floor of the Edifício Transparente, on their way to their offices at *Workin Porto*.

A couple of months earlier, Rob Hopkins had sent me a message to show me a [trailer](https://vimeo.com/1069567768?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for a documentary about Imagination. He told me about the kindness and professional quality of the three young men who were now filming us in Portugal — “they're getting ready for the film festivals in the fall,” he told me, “but they need footage of the workshop ‘How to fall in love with the future?’, and they'd rather I didn't facilitate it, to avoid giving the impression that I'm the only one who can do it.” 

I wasn't surprised that Rob thought of me: last October, we toured together from north to south Portugal. The exercise was so intense, repetitive, and prolonged that it ended with me, exhausted, repeating to my closest friends that if they heard me have a similar idea again, they should tie me up. I must have deserved the (imaginary) diploma that Rob sent me afterwards—and I don't think my learning program could have been more complete. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/08/54712756857_68e1822055_b-2.jpg)

Imagination workshop, Porto, Portugal (August 2025) Credits Filipa Pimentel

## Opening doors

By the way, let me tell you: the tour that followed the publication of Rob's book, now translated into Portuguese, had a significant impact wherever we went and on me personally (according to my own standards, of course). I learned a lot and I began important processes of reflection. 

My dear friend Sara Rocha and I wrote a report based on data collected a month and a half after the tour, using a form sent to participants at four of the events organized. I summarize that report in [this document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sMdv1vwN-mcXIhb1EMUBQccuLFMqBLpN0OmD4jhQM8o/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which I am sharing with you in case you are interested. Rob also wrote about the tour [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-tour-in-portugal/).

Of my reflection processes, one stands out: the importance of the mother tongue in regenerative transformation processes, as Rob proposes in this work on the importance of imagination in processes of change—I will write about this one of these days. 

This time, opening doors was easy. I clearly felt a change: greater interest from those who did not participate in the tour but heard about it; and from those who did participate, enthusiasm for sharing the experience with others. With Susana Caires and Liliana spreading the word and inspiring people in northern and central Portugal, we easily filled the seats for the two sessions I facilitated—on Saturday, for young future leaders and agents of change (25 participants, ages 14 and up), and on Sunday for a more general audience (another 25).

## Time traveler, solo, for the first time

When we started, I introduced [Guillaume](https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaume-sanchez-623742177/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Max](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-fawcett-501847163/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Charlie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-whitmore-a681b5a6/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), tucked away in a corner of the room with their cameras still pointing at the floor. I was surprised that no one objected to being filmed, and I was also surprised by how comfortable everyone was, even with cameras filming from a distance well beyond the invisible line of the “personal space,” in an interactive workshop that puts all participants in situations of active engagement.

I was prepared for the participants' reactions as soon as I launched the slides: confused, intrigued, and very amused faces. Their expressions evolved as I showed them the photographs of the time travels—part of the secret program based on the powerful quantum technology developed by Rob beneath the Totnes Castle, in England.

I told them that I joined the research/time travel team in October 2024 and was now showing them evidence of our trips to 2030, made during our tour stop in Porto. But beware: it wasn't just any 2030! All the research work focused on developing a time machine, now in a portable version, tuned to that 2030 (or those, because the possibilities are endless) that resulted from us doing everything necessary to actually reduce CO₂ emissions by 50%, as agreed ten years ago in Paris. 

And better still: I managed—now without Rob's supervision—to take all the participants to visit one of those 2030s and invite them to use all their senses in this experience! (Have I piqued your curiosity? I hope you will participate in one of these workshops in the near future!)

## “WHAT IF…”

After two days filled with stories, deep conversations, interactive, multisensory activities, both indoors and on the beach right in front of the Transparent Building, I said goodbye to each of the participants with an emotional hug, after we had closed a circle of sharing hope in the power and potential of our questions: 

“WHAT IF…?”

Now, a community of practice on Imagination is emerging (with enthusiastic young people) and a great desire to have Rob back in Portugal as soon as we translate his new book. Anyway, tie me down because I'm already full of ideas! Or not... 

**Acknowledgments:** 

To [Rob](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), to whom we owe all this. 

To the team—Guillaume, Max, and Charlie; to Susana Caires (that force of nature!); to Vanessa and *Workin Porto*; to Lili and all the participants of all ages; to Bitocas, Susana, Humberto, João, and Inês.

**Filipa Pimentel**
### August 2025: Our relationship with Time
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/august-2025-our-relationship-with-time/
Last updated: 2025-08-15T16:51:30.000Z
**Hello dear you.**  
We are taking time to rest these weeks, so we can return in September refreshed and with full batteries to keep supporting the Movement. Rest is part of the work, as change needs stillness as much as action. And yet there is still lots to share.

Time, as an idea and as a lived experience, is showing up strongly in our circles right now. The Cultural Transformation Circle is exploring our human relationship with time, on their blog and in live conversations on Instagram. Our Time Traveling community is expanding too, with Filipa Pimentel taking a group of youth in Porto on a journey to the future - more about it soon. *How do we build a time to long for?* That’s the theme of the upcoming Swedish Convergence (links below). And we’re also looking back - beginning to reflect on the 20 years of Transition so far. More to come.

For now—  
may the shift in season bring you moments to pause, listen, and sense what your next unfolding might be.

Taking a breath,   
The Transition Network international team 🌱 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- We are starting YouthxYouth weavership residencies in August - read on.

[Youth Weavers residenciesFor the next six months, our team at Transition Network International will be enriched by the vibrant presence of two Youth Weavers-in-Residence. This opportunity comes through an exciting partnership with YouthxYouth (YxY)—a global youth-led, adult-supported movement dedicated to the reimagination and transformation of education for collective liberation. YxY’s![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-10.png)Transition NewsElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/georg-arthur-pflueger-iDO2IbbR-2c-unsplash.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/youth-weavers-residencies/)

- Are you part of the comms team in your group or hub? Here is something for you - become part of the Transition Communicators group:

[Let’s weave a stronger communication network across Transition!Are you excited to co-create a simple, slow, and healthy communication structure for the movement?![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-9.png)Transition NewsEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1573500850819-a68f2ae1bf67)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-communicators-call/)

Tech in Transition coming soon - stay tuned!

[Tech in Transition: Upcoming Series + Guided MeditationA Practising Transition special series is coming soon: Tech in Transition (+ bonus!)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-2.png)Practising TransitionDan Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1586996292898-71f4036c4e07)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tech-in-transition-guided-meditation/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The Cultural Transformation Circle has been reflecting on human relationship with time. They also launched Nuggets of Wisdom (Lives) on 13th August, with the topic **Back to natural time** (in Spanish). The next session is on 29th August 2025.

[Back to Natural TimeWhat if time was not hours to be filled, but a river of life to be felt? 🤗Hey! We’re now connecting with our community on Instagram. Come join us there! In a world where clocks and calendars mark workdays, holidays and financial cycles, something profound has been lost. Our relationship![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-5.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1503416997304-7f8bf166c121)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/back-to-natural-time/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Meet one of the Voices of Transition, Teddy Katono from Kenya, a grassroots changemaker helping communities adapt to a changing climate. He trains young people and fishing communities in climate-smart kitchen gardening, restores ecosystems with indigenous trees, and builds resilience against environmental degradation. Interviewed by Sari Escribano from [Guerilla Media Collective](https://www.guerrillamedia.coop/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Have 20 minutes you'd like to do something with?** \- share your community story, in any language or format (written or audio), through the [Sensemaker](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) collector. The more stories we gather, the more patterns emerge. Get the story and the coffee ready, and click [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change).

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-7.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1--3.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- **\[FR\]** [Invitation](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ddv5vsWz67jf0OAZI91fXfdQEG0nVRwJGt09gjztIWA/edit?tab=t.0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for the **Université d’été des collectifs de transition** – 30 et 31 août 2025 – Gers. More info [here](https://entransition.fr/agenda/universite-dete-des-collectifs-de-transition-30-et-31-aout-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **\[SE\]** Register for the Convergence & Conference in Härnösand - **How do we build a time to long for?** 3-5 October 2025

[Omställningskonferens Härnösand 2025Den årliga konferensen kommer nu till Härnösand med temat Hur bygger vi en samtid att längta till? Konferensen blir en möjlighet att lära sig mer om omstäl![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/mstile-310x310.png)Studiefrämjandet![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/omstallningsbild_highres-257631c5b541914bd8958dec324d3e29f4594.jpg)](https://www.studieframjandet.se/omstallningskonferens?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- **\[PT\]** [Re-Design contest of ideas](https://www.quintaoficina.pt/index.php/6o-calcada-a-portuguesa/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for “Portuguese Pavement” in a rural environment by the Quinta Oficina Association: **Vamos inventar um desenho para o chão do largo comunitário!**
- **\[EN\]** The Oral History Project has a new website:

[The International Oral History of the Transition MovementThe International Oral History of the Transition Movement: Project born at an Oral History Society (OHS) conference two years ago returns to showcase its findings. Voices from the Transition Movement Whose Voices’, OHS Conference 2025 6 – 7 June 2025 at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Since 2023 when the idea![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-11.png)Transition NewsTransition Network international![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/20250607_111650.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-international-oral-history-of-the-transition-movement/?lng=en)

- **\[DE\]** Transition Town Hannover invites you to [a series of events](https://www.instagram.com/p/DNDZvQNCK3B/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for the late summer in the neighbourhood garden - beziehungsweise baulücke!

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

This month, Hanyun has been talking to **Jean Paul Grange** from **France** \- check out their conversation here and learn something about Jean Paul and his community. 

Do you follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? See the [interviews on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnznT0wT0JNXaVqVWDyXGlJ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [posts on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/People%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for some heartwarming inspiration. And do send some online love and [reach out](mailto:ourstories@transitionnetwork.org) with your story as well!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

[Self-Care: Mental guide - Transition Network Resources20+ minutes to clutter clear. Clearing overcrowded spaces can be beneficial in many ways. Focus on personal spaces: your room, car, handbag, pockets, desk, workspace, and so on. Or try some cleaning and home-care: refresh your bedding, remove dust, sweep the floor, etc. ‘Clearing the cobwebs’ can be both literal and mental.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-2.png)Transition Network ResourcesRoot Cuthbertson (2020)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/books-background-1.jpg)](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/self-care-mental-guide/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

**Add your Transition events** to the calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- [Starter Culture](https://starterculture.net/storytelling-as-inner-led-cultural-change/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): The wild Eros of Be-Longing The White Snake: an old european story of true power. Wednesday, August 20, 2025, **12:30-14:30 EST/ 18:30-20:30 GMT**/ **19:30-21:30 CET**
- **Draw the Line** is a global protest against inequalities, tyranny, destruction, genocide, and chaos, fighting for rights, jobs, justice, democracy, and a fulfilling life on a safe planet. [15-21 September 2025 - rise up to draw the line](https://thisworldisours.org/drawtheline/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!
- **Permaculture Institute of North America** invites you to their annual design contest, on theme: Biochar Solutions.[2025 Permaculture Design Contest](https://pina.in/design%5F2025-pina-design-contest?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Submission Period: August 15 thru October 15, 2025.
- Applications are now open for the new [Trees on Farms Incubator program](https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/incubator-program?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Tree planting advisors, facilitators and forestry service providers can apply for grants of up to $50,000 to support groups of landholders to design and plan tree planting projects on their farms.
- [Cultivating Climate Transformations](https://schoolofsystemchange.org/courses/cultivating-climate-transformation/2025?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- 6 months course by the School of Systems Change - apply by 17 August 2025\.

[Seed Gathering 2025: Tickets now on sale – Seed Sovereignty![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1.png)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/logo.svg)](https://www.seedsovereignty.info/seed-gathering-2025-tickets-now-on-sale/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Arts for regeneration - Hope!Lanzamos el concurso internacional Arts for Regeneration! e invitamos a todo el mundo a crear para ayudar en la regeneración del planeta.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-HOPE-LOGO-500x280-2-192x192.png)Hope!JuanCarlos![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Arts-for-regeneration-cartel-ESP-011025.jpg)](https://hoperevolution.earth/alianza-por-la-regeneracion-2-2-2-3/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the September e-news, the deadline for submissions is **August 31**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners!

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### The International Oral History of the Transition Movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-international-oral-history-of-the-transition-movement/
Last updated: 2025-08-14T16:42:51.000Z
**The International Oral History of the Transition Movement:** Project born at an Oral History Society (OHS) conference two years ago returns to showcase its findings.

## ****Voices from the Transition Movement**

****Whose Voices’, OHS Conference 2025**  
****6 – 7 June 2025 at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow**

Since 2023 when [the idea for this collaborative project](https://www.ohs.org.uk/general-interest/born-at-an-ohs-conference-an-international-oral-history-project/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) was first discussed at the OHS conference, members of the [OHS Environment and Climate Crisis Special Interest Group](https://www.ohs.org.uk/environment/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (ECC-SIG) have been recording the experiences of volunteers involved in the Transition Towns movement in 3 countries.

Two years, 18 online meetings, over 40 audio and video oral history interviews, a collection of stunning photographs and one shining new website later, we were back at the OHS conference, this time in Glasgow, to share the results of our joint efforts. 

Speaking on behalf of project partners who could not attend the conference, we presented the achievements of the teams in Appalachia, USA (Jessica Taylor and Serai’ya Crawley), South West France (Simona Tobia and Andrew Milne), and Wellington, UK (Anita Roy and Anita Corbin). It was also a great opportunity to launch [the new website](https://oralhistory.vt.domains/transition-towns/index?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which brings together all the material collected so far.

Our presentation started with an introduction to the global Transition Towns Movement and our project’s aim to document the voices of its grassroots activists ‘doing the everyday work of change by volunteering’. Photographs, audio clips and video helped illustrate the common themes emerging from the interviews, while also highlighting the different challenges the teams faced that were specific to their local contexts. The video from the USA team explained the making of the joint website, supported by their university, Virginia Tech.

We received a very positive response from an engaged audience and the lively Q&A session raised several interesting issues which could form future conversations at ECC-SIG meetings. An audience member drew our attention to a collection of interviews on transition activities in SW England and offered to connect us with the group and other regional researchers working in this field.

Post conference, we continue to receive interest in the project and favourable comments about the website. This is very encouraging and supports our aspiration to expand the project to include more partners.

**Rib Davis and Padmini Broomfield**

**Oral History Society ECC-SIG (Environment and Climate Change Special Interest Group)**

[https://oralhistory.vt.domains/transition-towns/index](https://oralhistory.vt.domains/transition-towns/index?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Youth Weavers residencies
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/youth-weavers-residencies/
Last updated: 2025-08-12T13:13:14.000Z
For the next six months, our team at Transition Network International will be enriched by the vibrant presence of two **Youth Weavers-in-Residence**. This opportunity comes through an exciting partnership with [YouthxYouth](https://www.youthxyouth.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (YxY)—a global youth-led, adult-supported movement dedicated to the **reimagination and transformation of education** for collective liberation.

YxY’s mission is to accelerate the process of young people influencing, designing, and transforming their learning experiences and education systems. Through their programs, they cultivate a new generation of youth leaders who take an active role in redefining what education looks like and how it serves their communities.

### What is the YxY Weavership?

The **YxY Weavership** is a 10-month capacity-building fellowship for youth community organizers who are "weaving" local and global communities in service of educational transformation. Weavers engage in deep learning, storytelling, and collaboration to co-create life-affirming futures in and through education.

The program was developed in partnership with [The Weaving Lab](https://weavinglab.org/what-is-weaving/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a globally renowned community of practice founded by leading social entrepreneurs committed to systems change. It reflects a deep commitment to reimagining leadership through relationships, care, and community-centered transformation.

### Meet Our Weavers-in-Residence

Over the next several months, two Weavers from YxY’s 2025 cohort will be embedded within TNi. These young leaders bring their vision, lived experience, and transformative energy into the heart of our work, supporting mutual learning, community storytelling, and systems transformation.

**Renee Campbell** from Grenada, West Indies is a vibrant and enthusiastic social innovator. Her love for community, social development and equality fuels her many passions, commitments and future aspirations of diplomacy. 

**Fátima D. Gigante** is a multidisciplinary young professional from Spain, currently living in a small village in northern Portugal, working at the intersection of people and nature — exploring, understanding, and promoting pathways for the conservation, protection, and restoration of nature. She has extensive experience working with young people and women leading in the environmental space, strengthening their skills, knowledge, and leadership to create lasting impact.

I’m honored to serve as their **Residency Uplifter**. It’s similar to mentoring, but with the understanding that learning moves in both directions. My role is to meet Renee and Fátima where they are, help them spot opportunities to grow, offer guidance when it’s useful, and make space for their ideas and goals to develop. I’m also looking forward to learning from their perspectives and experiences as we work together.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/08/earth-eyes-by-Amanda-Gorman.jpg)

Poem by Amanda Gorman, youth activist and poet, originally printed in her collection of poems, **Call Us What We Carry*

### A Shared Commitment to Intergenerational Power-Sharing

This partnership sits within a broader ecosystem of education transformation. Leading up to and during [UNGA78](https://press.un.org/en/unga78?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), YouthxYouth worked with partners **Salzburg Global Seminar** and **Big Change**, alongside many other organizations—to co-author a guide titled ['Uniting Generations and Sharing Power to Transform Education’](https://neweducationstory.big-change.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Uniting-Generations-and-Sharing-Power-to-Transform-Education%5F2023.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

Here are some of the guiding principles for intergenerational collaboration that emerged from this research - and they encourage reading the full report for more best practices in organizing intergenerational convenings:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/08/igl.png)

Intergenerational collaboration and leadership guiding principles

### Looking Ahead

We are honored to be part of this journey with YxY and with Renee and Fátima. Their presence will bring fresh insight and will raise important questions regarding youth in the Transition movement. It will also introduce new creative approaches to how we do our work. We expect their contributions to challenge assumptions and support ongoing learning in Transition around intergenerational learning and change.

Stay tuned for updates on their work with us, and for opportunities to engage with the learning and insights that emerge from this Weavership. And if you'd like to get involved in our exploration of how Transition can support the new generations, send us your thoughts and ideas at [youth@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:youth@transitionnetwork.org).
### Let’s weave a stronger communication network across Transition!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-communicators-call/
Last updated: 2025-07-30T10:11:37.000Z
Are you involved in communication tasks or roles within your Transition group? 

Do you want to help create smooth, multi-directional flows of information?

**Let’s join forces and make it happen!**

### **The Vision: A Transition Communicators Group**

Inspired by your requests, ideas, and shared visions for vibrant connections, the Communication and Engagement TNi circles —with support from hub representatives— are excited to propose the formation of a **Transition Communicators Group**!

#### **What’s the Idea?**

A small, dynamic group dedicated to **sharing and amplifying information** about Transition activities worldwide in a **simple, organised, and low-meeting** way.

- We’ll start with one **initial organising call**, then keep meetings minimal (2-3 per year).
- Focused on **action, not bureaucracy**. Exchanging news, stories, and opportunities efficiently.

### **Why this matters**

So many inspiring **Transition projects, events, and breakthroughs** happen every day, and yet too often they go unnoticed. This means missed connections, learning, and inspiration across the movement.

Together, we can:

✅ **Celebrate and amplify** Transition efforts globally.

✅ **Improve communication flows** between hubs, territories, groups, and beyond.

✅ **Support Language Weavers** to ensure materials are accessible in multiple languages.

✅ **Strengthen belonging** — reminding us all we’re part of something bigger, especially in tough times.

### **Who’s Invited?**

We’re calling for:

- **1 representative per hub**
- **1 comms-focused member from unrepresented bioregions/ territories**
- **Language Weavers** group members
- **TNi Comms roles** (Comms Lead Link & Community Weaver)
- **1 Engagement Circle** representative
- **Comms 'Pollinators'** (journalists, networkers, or weavers not tied to a specific hub)

![a wall covered in lots of colorful graffiti](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1634146848049-6ab8727bd172?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDEzN3x8ZW52ZWxvcGVzfGVufDB8fHx8MTc1MzcyNTY0N3ww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000)

Photo by [Matthew Peterson](https://unsplash.com/@machpe?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit)

### **How & When?**

If you’re excited to **co-create a simple, slow, and healthy communication structure**, join us!

📅 **Starting September 2025** — let’s experiment and grow together.

✍️ Add your details [here](https://forms.gle/9chfAvH1FjsKcqLZ7?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to get involved: 

[I'm interested!](https://forms.gle/9chfAvH1FjsKcqLZ7?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Note: Currently, this is a volunteer-led initiative. We’re actively seeking funding to compensate time for key meetings.

**Questions or ideas?** Reach out at [comms@transitionnetwork.org](https://mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Let’s weave a stronger, more connected Transition community together!
### July 2025: Trusting the Spiral
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/july-2025-trusting-the-spiral/
Last updated: 2025-07-28T17:12:52.000Z
We've been recently in contact with the friends from the Work That Reconnects Network for a beautiful partnership that's just beginning. At the same time, our beloved Joanna Macy has also entered into her final days\*. Sending love to her and all of you who, in one way or another, keep the Spiral journey alive by cultivating Active Hope in your life. 

> Active hope is not wishful thinking.  
> Active hope is now waiting to be rescued   
> by the Lone Ranger or by some savior.  
> Active hope is waking up to the beauty of life and   
> on whose behalf we can act.   
> We belong to this world.   
> The web of life is calling us forth at this time.  
> We’ve come a long way and are here to play our part.  
> With active hope, we realize that there are adventures in store,   
> strengths to discover, and comrades to link arms with.  
> Active hope is a readiness to engage.  
> Active hope is a readiness to discover the strengths in ourselves   
> and in others;  
> a readiness to discover the reasons for hope   
> and the occasions for love.  
> A readiness to discover the size and strength of our hearts,  
> our quickness of mind,our steadiness of purpose,  
> our own authority, our love for life,  
> the liveliness of our curiosity, the unsuspected deep well of patience and diligence,  
> the keenness of our senses, and our capacity to lead.  
> None of these can be discovered in an armchair or without risk.

*Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone -* [Active Hope](https://www.activehope.info/the-book?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

In gratitude and loving active hope,   
The Transition Network international team 🌱 

\* *P.S*. Joanna Macy passed away on July 19th, 2025, a day after we sent out the newsletter. Find here the [In Memoriam](https://workthatreconnects.org/joanna-macy-in-memoriam/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) page with memorial events registration, videos, resources and a space to offer your condolences.

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- It's now official! **Transition Network international has a new visual identity**. Check it out – simplified Brand Guidelines included.

[Our Rebranding JourneySharing an exciting milestone with you all: The refreshed TNi brand!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-6.png)Transition NewsElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/logo-image-2-.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-rebranding-journey/)

- Coming **events and projects at the Cultural Transformation** Circle:

[CTC news! Shifting our way of connecting with youNew events coming up, project updates and more!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-4.png)Cultural Transformation CircleInner Transition & Cultural Transformation Circle![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/alan-de-la-cruz-3irPFKfB0o0-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/ctc-news-shifting-connecting/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- SAVE THE DATE! We'll be hosting an **international live screening of** [**HOPE The Series**](https://hopelaserie.com/en/home-en/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) episode with especial guests on **Friday September 5th** \- registration links coming soon!
- **Share your story of change** –in any language or format– through [Sensemaker](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You’ll be part of a powerful collective action and will have access to the data. Our stories and data amplify impact, inspire change, and showcase the movement’s reach. Discover more [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change).

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-7.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1--3.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- **Celebrating two new official hubs!** [Transición Colombia](https://www.transicioncolombia.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Cornwall Climate Action Network](https://www.facebook.com/CornwallClimateActionNetwork?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZVQYy29w-lNPn624k3B-DUhAMNel2lj03kdY385Nukv3OUt8nbslweJXJ3QnoopQwcltU36PGJjPVb5RRnLrjau0X6baMVEB3wi%5FinnPlCwsIsmCEaJg%5FSd5phDcxgL8xX7e1ZzoTIJldgfuypsjL-BqNkTMp9o94RrBPX08eDAGQ&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-]K-y-R) in the UK. Welcome to the network! We're so glad you're here.
- New **Voices of Transition podcast episode** with Anahí Martínez Encinas from Mexico:
- **Transition Town Totness** –the very first Transition group– celebrated their **20-year anniversary**. Richard Couldrey shared his adventures [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebration-logbook-rich-journey-transition-town-totness-20-anniversary/).
- **Canada**: tons of things happening at the[**Village Vancouver**](https://www.facebook.com/villagevancouver)! They are also welcoming volunteers – gardeners, seed librarians, photographers and social media weaver. Check out the actions [this week](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1149899350496342&set=a.552471983572418) and join their vibrant group.
- **Mexico**: '[**Transition Cities and Towns: creative, community-based solutions to face systemic collapse**](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=755407220210909&set=a.195358039549166)'. A talk and gathering around Transition is happening in Tepotzlan, July 17th 2025.
- **Wellington New Zealand is celebrating** [**Wellingtons Waterways**](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1140516808111581&set=a.620006766829257) this weekend (19 July 2025). An afternoon of talks and film connecting local and global people and ideas about rivers. How art meets science in the water!
- **Australia:** [**Let's Talk Social Enterprise**](https://events.humanitix.com/let-s-talk-social-enterprise-margaret-river-lunchtime-session?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Margaret River Lunchtime Session on the 24th of July 2025.
- **Germany**:Check out Frank Braun explaining the [**Transition Movement in 66 seconds**](https://www.facebook.com/reel/24098728886455122)! Also, don't miss the coming gatherings! All the info [here](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [Green Tools TECH](https://www.greentools.tech/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a European based startup run by Bruno Motik, permaculture designer and a maker from Croatia on a mission to develop technology that supports regenerative farmers, organic growers, gardeners, permaculturists and other people who devoted their life to sustainable land practices. Now also in [the UK](https://reagtools.co.uk/collections/green-tools-tech?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!
- **Belgium**: Reseau Transition is starting a monthly newsletter, sign up [here](https://www.reseautransition.be/sabonner-a-nos-newsletters/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR5J3NA%5F9tjcZWkOXvBvUne8FroOLI0Wx7ccuwqBUAcoafsehPwdCDUYWURuWg%5Faem%5F1MbYIoqZv-Jyru6Ce5oNdQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

- [**Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower**](https://onbeing.org/poetry/let-this-darkness-be-a-bell-tower/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), by Rainer Maria Rilke – translated and read by Joanna Macy (On Being)
- Practising Transition in 10min with Anahí Bea Pacheco: [**Safety signalling to our nervous system**](https://youtu.be/ZiOG2zcb2Es?feature=shared&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

**Add your Transition events** to the calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Thrutopia Magazine** [**Bending the Arc**](https://bendingthearcmagazine.substack.com/) is accepting [submissions](https://bendingthearcmagazine.substack.com/p/submissions) until July 31st.
- **Africa Impact Fundraising Grant** is open for proposals. Their aim is to empower African NGOs, community-based organisations and social enterprises to address the pressing need for funding and fundraising expertise. Apply to receive up to USD 5,000 in matching funds. Informative session is happening on July 27th, and the deadline for submissions is July 31st, 2025\. Details [here](https://www.newafricafund.org/aifgrants?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- The **Art on Climate International Illustration Competition** invites talented illustrators and video creators **to create artworks centered on the theme of climate change**. It serves as a platform for sharing innovative ideas and practical solutions to address this global challenge, inspiring the public to take proactive steps in their daily lives to combat climate change. The deadline to submit for the competition isJuly 31st, 2025.Learn more about this and how to apply [here](https://www.artonclimate.com/?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz-9PpNIrMEcIawhwOA3crT98EOzIvFzu5Ponkk5kECJ5iWytsGC9BECc5zhBq2YDSyZn7BA5M%5F2n9GLTrpimSj1tPDQ8jQ&%5Fhsmi=370669997&utm%5Fcontent=370669997&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail).
- If you're involved in a group or organisation undertaking suitable small-scale development projects in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania or Uganda, the **Direct Aid Program** provides financial assistance. Deadline is July 31st, 2025\. More info and applications [here](https://kenya.highcommission.gov.au/nair/dap.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Lululemon's **Here to Be grant program** is officially open, and they’re investing in community-led organizations that advance **mental, physical, and social wellbeing** through movement, mindfulness, and advocacy. Deadline is August 1st, 2025\. Details and applications [here](https://grants.lululemon.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Apply for the **Youth Solidarity Fund**. Addressed at Youth-led projects that advance intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and are aligned with the mandate and mission of UNAOC. Value: USD 25,000 (seed funding). Deadline is August 15th, 2025\. Find out more and apply [here](https://apply.unaoc.org/youthsolidarityfund?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Youth-led organisations advancing climate solutions can apply to the **Emerging Climate Champions Award** (Issued by Enlight Foundation and The Patchwork Collective). Deadline is August 15th, 2025\. Find all details [here](https://climate.leverforchange.org/submit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Submit for the Photography 4 Humanity Global prize,** a photo contest that promotes climate justice. Thewinner will receive USD 5,000\. Learn more about the competition [here](https://www.photography4humanity.com/2025-global-prize?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz-9F-TtPSNstobeKaPKFkvG4W8XRj0aKGyG9YrHjEI7C2kZVjRZ5eLJL9qPIfDXfWZAqX4nmmj6QjgcbbEly23pT9jbrOg&%5Fhsmi=370669997&utm%5Fcontent=370669997&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail). The deadline to submit is August 5th, 2025\.
- Are you part of an inspiring, community-led initiative in Croatia, Finland, France, Portugal, or Spain? The **Regenerative Communities Fund** will launch its Second Call for Proposals next week! Applications open on 21 July and close on 30 September 2025\. Learn [more](https://ecolise.eu/regenerative-communities-fund-national-hubs-announcement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- Registrations open for the **Swedish Biodiversity Symposium**, 21 - 23 October 2025\. An interdisciplinary conference where experts and stakeholders in biodiversity come together to promote positive developments in the field. More info [here](https://swedishbiodiversitysymposium.se/registrering?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For the August e-news, the deadline for submissions is **July 27th**. For September issue the deadline is **August 31st**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We're looking forward to hearing from you all, amazing people. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### A celebration logbook: Rich's journey towards Transition Town Totness 20-year anniversary
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebration-logbook-rich-journey-transition-town-totness-20-anniversary/
Last updated: 2025-07-17T22:14:44.000Z
Richard Couldrey, [Transition Together](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Lead and member of [Transition Town Tooting](https://www.transitiontooting.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [Transition London Hub](https://www.facebook.com/groups/transitionsoutheast/), shared about his journey towards Transition Town Totness 20-year anniversary. Have a sense of what he experienced and the amazing people he met through his words and pictures. 

**June 15, 2025**

**Part 1: The Journey begins** 

Well, I have a great week coming up…. A trip to Bristol for a precious in-person day with [El Herndlhofer](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/elherndlhofer/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Daniel Balla](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/danielballa/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Sam Rossiter](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/samuk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) AND a lovely leaving do for [Michael Thomas](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/michaelthomas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

Followed by a trip to Totnes to hang with [Amanda Jones](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/ttokeamanda/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Guy Erlacher-Downing](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/guyerlacherdowning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And Tilly from TT Liverpool and [Rob Hopkins](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) AND all the Transition Town Totnes crew at their 20th birthday! It's going to be awesome telling them all about the amazing work going on across the UK in my mini-talk!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250616_164121.jpg)

What are you folks up to? What's exciting you this week #timetogetheristimewellspent

**June 17, 2025**

First leg done! Beautiful ride through London to Paddington and onto the train, time for some more prep work for tonight's Wales and England Working Group meeting up online. See you there?

Ah just leaving Bristol after a fanatastic few days. This arriving into the station photo is a bit of a tradition with Mike Thomas!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250617_160851.jpg)

I’m not great at thinking to take pictures… So here’s a random selection - 4 of 5 spoons. From left ot right, coffee, tea, dessert, soup. Number 5 is even smaller! And is a salt spoon! Spoons were brought out on arrival at my best friend’s house, doing the important things first! Such a lovely set.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG-20250617-WA0018--1-.jpeg)

**June 20, 2025**

I have the pleasure of connecting with you all online in the Second Wales and England Working Group (WEWG) meeting - It was fantastic to begin to explore working groups (circles and sub-circles) to invite people to step into their agency and collaborate on this grand experiment. We now have an established Just Transition Circle and Youth Circle as well as emerging Mission and Operations Circle (a bit of a mash up, to begin), Communications Circle, Income Generation Circle and Events Circle. Scratch proposals will start to go up in the WEWG space for us to co-create the purpose for each circle before we test for consent in the next WEWG meeting.  
  
For me, its a really big moment and exciting to think about a greater diversity of voice in the ideas creation - we still have a long way to go, but this feels like an important first step.

On Wednesday evening, I met with the Bridging Circle for dinner at the lovely Gardens of Easton. [Daniel Balla](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/danielballa/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) brought his gorgoeus baby, Corin and we talked about lots of things aside from work!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250618_210259.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250618_210414.jpg)

And then a brilliant day together with the Bridgers, a precious in-person day in the home of the [Bristol Climate Choir](https://climatechoirmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Cotham. It was so important to connect and create conversation space for supporting you all over the next 3 months to the end of Transition Together’s current funding.  
  
We spent time speaking into Geographical Networks, supporting the WEWG process and a draft agenda for our next meeting. The Geographical Networks conversation was awesome. Not only recognising networks within Wales and England that are already doing the vital connection work, but also thinking about recognising and supporting geographical identities such as Wales and Northern Ireland and inviting conversations about what support could look like for those countries now.  
  
Also the London Hub – a recognised Hub on the International scene which has been active for years connecting London based groups to share, support and build a bigger picture of change making across the capital. Alongside is an emerging Hub in Cornwall, currently applying to register with the International scene as a full Hub. Two very different contexts and two strong connections with the 20+ Hubs on the International scene. At the WEWG meeting on Tuesday, [Nick Drew](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/nickdrew/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) raised a great question about the relationship between groups, geographical networks and nation-scale organising - a question which will be fantastic to explore in the coming weeks and months.  
  
And there are other, current County-sized networks we have a lot to learn from, including CAGOxfordshire, supporting both Transition Groups and other grassroots community activists.  
  
We definitely felt the limits of our current resources and think important work can be done acknowledging and helping to develop more relational geographical networks. Of course, this builds on the work of the Network Weavers report which identified the value of regional networks in supporting groups and creating relationships of trust, much more challenging if we only operate at the nation-scale.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/In-person-Agenda-Setting.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/WEWG-Meeting--3.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/Geographical-Networks.jpg)

And finally yesterday, off to dinner to celebrate [Michael Thomas](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/michaelthomas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as he prepares to leave Transition Network after 12 years! He really was integral in building the funding applications to support groups in the UK through Transition: Bounce Forward and Transition Together. We celebrated his sense of humour, integrity and his ability to hold the strategic alongside what is useful for groups.  
  
What a gorgeous few days in a fantastic city! Now, I’m off to Totnes to join in the 20 year celebrations for the “O.G.” Transition Town Totnes. I’ll be speaking on Saturday about all your work alongside the learnings of Transition Together in order to give a national context to what will be a rich celebration of a thriving group.  
  
More to follow…

**June 21, 2025**

Currently live! At Transition Town Totnes’ 20th anniversary marketplace of wonderful projects!

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_120224.jpg)

**June 25, 2025**

Well that was a fab trip to Totnes! Arriving from Bristol by train was just gorgeous, travelling from Exeter to Newton Abbot, the train skirts the coastline up the mouth of the River Eve and round through Dawlish. It’s trips like this that make train rides ok.  
  
I’ve been to Totnes a few times now, so on arrival, it was straight down the River Dart for a lunch in the sun and switching from the Big City to this very special small town. I was also immediately reminded of the hills in Devon… As someone who most often rides in the flat parts of London, by gum those hills were steep! Perfect for e-bikes, I’d say.  
  
**Friday evening** was all about the history of TTTotnes, but not in a linear, history documentary type of way. More a collective re-collection, principally from Rob, Naresh and Hilary who were asked to give us a sense of the early days, with props! I was struck by how interwoven Inner transition was from the beginning, the roll of mischief in early promotions (and winding up Newton Abbot) and the timing - Naresh reminded us that the internet was just getting started in 2005 - Facebook hadn't really got started yet (imagine that) and the idea of sharing and commenting on documents or idea online was completely new. The way Transition evolved was totally in tune with that.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250620_185833.jpg)

And there they are, Naresh, Hilary and Rob, with Toni the Facilitator and a Transitioner all the way from Oz… Them that started it all back in 2005\. Awesome people.

All three of them talked about one key aspect that we know and love today (and need reminding of…) that this is a grassroots movement whose intellectual property is owned by the commons. Take the idea and run with it, so long as you tell your stories back to the movement for the greater currents of development, you’re good to go. 

In a sense, these three were there at the beginning, they are the founders, but so is the voice of everyone who experimented with the idea early on and continue to do so now. We are doing that in active dialogue with the founders, evolving the Transition approach as we go.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250620_165918.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250620_181141.jpg)

[El Herndlhofer](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/elherndlhofer/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and I in the Transition Town Totnes office! So cool spending time with them over the week! And the wonderful [Guy Erlacher-Downing](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/guyerlacherdowning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) ! Transition Town Totnes Coordinator!

0:00 

/0:15 

1× 

The EPIC timeline of Transition Town Totnes! All the way to 2030…

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250620_185544.jpg)

Guy speaks at TTT celebration

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250620_181042.jpg)

LOVE this fruit and nut tree map - part of an early bit of mischief when Totnes claimed to be the Fruit and Nut Tree Capital of the Country.

Part 2 of the Totnes adventure coming soon…

**July 4, 2025**

**Part 2: Saturday**  
  
Over breakfast on Saturday I thought back to the story of TTTotnes and felt pretty grounded in the contribution I can make to this scene. Naresh, Hilary and Rob spoke with inspiration of course, but also with humility and invention, play and imagination about those early days and I was minded to think of those qualities and how they enable us all to find where we become “agents for change” as Kevin Anderson put it.  
  
After a hearty breakfast and rummage at Drift Records (finally got myself a copy of Love’s album “Forever Changes”, such an inspiration to so many Scouse bands like Shack, The Coral and The La’s) I stepped into the generous Civic Centre and a hive of activity setting up countless stalls about the numerous projects TTTotnes are supporting right now (see pics below).  
  
Down the end, there we were, the vagabonds from beyond the Town’s boundaries - Tilly from [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Amanda Jones](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/ttokeamanda/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and friend (Shucks, I’ve forgotten his name, sorry Amanda!) from [Transition Okehampton](https://www.okehampton.org/page/en/index/?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3N1ZWRhdGUiOjE3MTYzMTUxOTMsInVzZXJuYW1lIjoiZ3Vlc3QiLCJleHBpcmF0aW9uIjoxNzE2MzIyMzkzLCJpc3N1ZXIiOiJjbGlxb24ubmV0In0.-Ql52SDebmNZed4JszmxUxGNe5-RERPUoBUwPMUe0C0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and me, repping Transition Together.  
  
I was delighted to represent your work, everyone, and the work of the Transition Together team, particularly to stretch the view from this wonderful town to across the UK. I had a bunch of fliers and a map with a question - “There are 270 Transition Towns in the UK, can you name any?” All I can say is, we got there in the end… but it was a slow start! Community Activists are so busy building the future where they are (find where you feel you belong and dig in), it is difficult to make space for relational connections elsewhere, and Totnes was no stranger to this feeling, generally.  
  
All the more reason to keep building strong networks to see the mutual benefits of connecting with others - the system we live in is set up as one of scarcity, designed to separate and individualise, to keep time for community breathing slight and oftentimes exclusive. It’s my belief that a key part of our work is to connect, share, learn, support and actively paint the most beautiful picture of community - an easy task once we see and hear each other. Creating space for that connection is vital. Finding the right balance between local being and doing with network building is something that motivates me and something I’d invite us all to embrace in our own ways to create a set of arteries for our activism to flow. In that flow, we can find our edges, our strengths, our blindspots, our discomfort, our moments in the spotlight and moments to lay down the beat for others, our chance to play in equity, my voice with yours. And if we work into that, down the line, we might just turn around to see what we have created - a polyrythmic movement for change.  
  
It was wonderful to spend time with [Amanda Jones](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/ttokeamanda/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) , Tilly, [El Herndlhofer](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/elherndlhofer/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Guy Erlacher-Downing](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/guyerlacherdowning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Emma, Rob, Naresh, Jay and make new friends. The day filled me up, these places we gather is where the actions at.  
  
And then – to cool down, it had been a hot day and I was looking forward to seeing Rob’s new show “[Field Recordings from the future](https://www.fieldrecordingsfromthefuture.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)” in the evening, so I disappeared for a bit to cool down.

Here come the photos…

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_151222.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_120226.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_112950.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_154954.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/Love.jpg)

(1) The wonderful TTTotnes trustee Sienna - hats off to you, you knew loads to Transiton Towns outside Totnes! | (2) Ta-dah! Tilly and me in our shared Liverpool / UK stall… | (3) The magical Transition Town Okehampton! | (4) My half table stall! | (5) Love Forever Changes record

And now for the market stalls tour… Breathtaking what [Guy Erlacher-Downing](https://vive.transitiontogether.org.uk/u/guyerlacherdowning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the TTTotnes crew are up to:

0:00 

/2:28 

1× 

TTTotness market stalls video tour

**July 4, 2025**

**Part 3: Field Recordings from the Future**  
Saturday evening, I was super excited to go see my friend Rob Hopkin’s show, [Field Recordings from the Future](https://www.fieldrecordingsfromthefuture.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). I couldn't wait, honestly, having heard the idea from early sketches to this wonderful flowering of not only a theatre show, but a new book ('[How to fall in love with the future](https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)') and an album to boot! Rob is really one of the coolest people I know and both he and I are vinyl lovers. Truly bucket list stuff to make a record, a real spinning record.

[My New BookIt’s out! The long-awaited follow-up to ‘From What Is to What If’. In the UK you can either order via our Crowdfunder, your local independent bookshop, or via Bookshop.org. In the…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-3.png)Rob Hopkins![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/HowtoFallinLovewiththeFuture_cover_v2_lores-737x1100.jpg)](https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The show transports us to the future, 2030, to witness the future in which we won - after doing all that we could possibly do from now for the next 5 years, the show gives evidence from that future to inspire us now to keep going - its kinda like your older self speaking to, saying, “keep going, you’re on the right track, I know its difficult, but you’ll get there”… And the whole thing is played out with humour, beautiful video by Arlo and live video editor Tim, exceptional, textural, picture forming music by Mr Kit and Rob’s gentle playful hosting between the visual songs.

[The ‘Field Recordings from the Future’ Crowdfunder is now open!I’m delighted to announce the launch of the Crowdfunder for our Field Recordings from the Future project. The link to the Crowdfunder is here. Every penny raised will enable us to roll out ti…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-2.png)Rob HopkinsName \*![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/FRFTF_03.jpg)](https://www.robhopkins.net/2025/05/12/the-field-recordings-from-the-future-crowdfunder-is-now-open/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Each piece tells a particular story - from “The Beaver Ponds” - a rollout of beaver releases that trigger an explosion of biodiversity, natural and effective flood mitigation and deep nature connection of these awesome creatures to “Bicycle Rich Hour” full of whirr and click to “A Regenerative Farm” painting the picture of a food future where humans don’t get out the way of nature but deeply welcome our place as part of nature and of ecosystem engineers in natures recovery.  
  
The show doesn't hold back. I cried at the site of “Warm Welcome” which showed us the cultural richness of a world without borders. Pure love. The feeling is dreamy, of a future so close you can touch it, but you know how big a step it is to get there, near but far, so much to release in our present from so much in our past to spring forward to this future. And this was only 8 tracks, 8 stories, a mere snippet of what is to unfold.  
  
Shows like this, I believe, are vital for us to re-energise, to lighten our burden of truth and help us to dance with the challenges of our work, to move, to exercise our expression, they show us the future is already here and it just needs our bellows to burst it into an life. I have a feeling the show will be I high demand from Rob’s speaker circuit. May it play out from the conference halls of COP30 to the village halls near you.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250622_100925.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/IMG_20250621_194951.jpg)

And that was it, off home.

*Richard*
### Our Rebranding Journey
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/our-rebranding-journey/
Last updated: 2026-06-04T14:27:37.000Z
Dear Transitioners, partners, and friends,

We are happy to share the next chapter of our journey with you: a refreshed brand identity for [**Transition Network international**](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (TNi). This rebranding marks a meaningful evolution of our visual and narrative identity, reflecting the growth and inter-connectedness of the global Transition Movement while honoring our roots.

### Why a Rebrand?

Since its beginning in 2005 (!), the Transition movement has blossomed into a vibrant, decentralized network of communities worldwide. As the movement evolved, so did our role as a supporting organisation – you'll remember [this article we shared about the governance evolution](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebrating-the-change-working-better-alongside-you/) a while ago. The rebranding aligns our identity with this new phase, celebrating our history and embracing the dynamic, relational, and grassroots spirit of Transition.

### Key Elements of the Rebrand

##### Logo Evolution

- Our new logo transforms the original seedling into a symbol of mycelial networks, deep roots, and interconnected growth. It represents TNi’s role as a nourishing force for local hubs, territories and groups, bridging grassroots action with global wisdom.
- The design integrates earth and sky motifs, reflecting groundedness and expansive vision.

![Old logo (Transition Network.org with the seedling) at the left, new logo (seedlings evolving with micelial roots and a small sun on top surrounded by a circle) on the right](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/tni-logo-evolution-3-.png)

##### Color Palette:

A vibrant yet earthy palette blends teal (honoring our legacy), night sky blue, sunset orange, and floral white – evoking trust, warmth, and possibility.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/06/colours-tni.png)

##### Tone & Voice:

- Casual, confident, and visionary: Our communications aim to embody the warmth of community, the urgency of transformation, and the joy of collective imagination.
- Tagline: ***“A movement of communities coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world”***

##### Brand Essence:

- Keywords: *Resilient, caring, playful, emergent, diverse*.
- Hashtags: #TransitionMovement #ReimagineTogether, #CommunityPower.

### Behind the Process

This rebrand was co-created through workshops with Transitioners and team members worldwide, facilitated by [re:storied](http://www.restoried.earth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regenerative communications organisation we enjoyed working with – thank you folks! We explored:

- The Communications Ecology of TNi
- Ways of being, sensing, and relating within Transition.
- The movement’s “dream”: *Every person joining a caring community where they belong and thrive*.
- Our role: *Nourishing, connecting, and enabling community-led transitions*.

### Which logos and colours, and how to use them? 

Find here the simplified Brand Guidelines, with endorsement information for hubs and groups that wish to use the updated branding. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/07/Captura-de-pantalla-2025-07-17-202836.png) 

#### 

[Check out the TNi Brand Guidelines](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGrjc-IE2M/LpvKdq9G8tRZbeFutV4w2A/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

### Specifically for Hubs and Groups 

If your Transition Group or Hub is officially registered, you’re welcome to use the Transition Network International logo and branding, as long as you follow the guidelines in the Licence Agreement below.

[Licence Agreement](https://agreements.transition-space.org/d/m4wUw6vmZWthsk6Ka0-IA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### What else is new?

- You might have checked out the new website [www.transitionnetwork.org](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- The various working circles and projects will slow but steadily transform accordingly through the coming months.
- There is also a great new space to come together with other Transitioners: we call it the [Transition Platform](https://hub.transition-space.org/dashboard?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – come and connect with fellow changemakers.
- And for easiest way to keep in the loop, you can subscribe to our [revamped newsletter](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/tag/transition-network-newsletters).

### We Want to Hear From You!

This rebrand is a living process, rooted in our collective stories and feedback loops. Send us a line or two: 

- How does the new identity resonate with your Transition work?
- What would make these resources more useful for your community? Email us at [comms@transitionnetwork.org](https://mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or join the conversation on the [Communicating Transition space](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/communicating-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on the Transition Platform.

### Thank you! 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this process. Your creativity and commitment remind us daily why Transition matters. We’re collectively manifesting a growing movement that reimagines and rebuilds the world one action at a time. 

In solidarity and with imagination,  
The TNi Team
### June 2025: Holding Each Other Close in Challenging Times
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/june-2025-holding-each-other-close/
Last updated: 2025-07-02T11:04:15.000Z
In Transition, we know how to imagine, play, and create – skills that are vital for building kinder, more vibrant futures. Yet right now, holding space for joy and possibility can feel heavy, too. For communities facing relentless violence and injustice –from Gaza to Congo, the whole Abya Yala and beyond– the weight is unimaginable. And for all of us, the constant drumbeat of news about human, animal and planetary suffering can make hope feel like a radical act.

But this is precisely why we *keep showing up*.

Across our network, we’re weaving alliances stronger than ever: seeding the **Living Systems Alliance** with[The Biomimicry Institute](https://biomimicry.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [The Permaculture Association](https://www.permaculture.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Global Ecovillage Network](https://ecovillage.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Kincentric Leadership](https://www.kincentricleadership.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org); collaborating with Ecolise on *Slow Comms;* reimagining the Transition Platform with aligned organisations, and celebrating our team’s spot in **Culture Hack Labs’ Rhizome Fellowship** to hack oppressive narratives together. These are not just projects, they’re lifelines. In fractured times, we choose to lift each other up, to plant seeds of care even when the soil feels rocky.

Transition is about community and *solidarity*. It’s remembering that every small act of connection, from a shared meal to a bold campaign, stitches the fabric of a world where no one is left behind.

In gratitude and fierce active hope,   
The Transition Network international team 🌱 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- **Calling all changemakers!** Tell your story of change –in any language or format– through Sensemaker’s [**Community Research Project**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/). You’ll be part of a powerful collective action and have access to the data. Our stories and data amplify impact, inspire change, and showcase the movement’s reach. **Discover more** [**here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change)**!**

Animation created by the talented graphic motion designer [Emagine](https://www.emagineit.ca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org "https://www.emagineit.ca/"). Track "Voetsek" by Pickle Juice ([https://slipstreammusic.com](https://slipstreammusic.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))

- **The New Resources site is live**! Bringing together practical guides, creative tools, and inspiring materials for all. And you're also invited to upload yours! Check it out [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/new-resources-space/).

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/06/resources-screen-grab-1.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/new-resources-space/)

- **Join and celebrate the Solstice on Friday June 20th** with the Cultural Transformation Circle. An online gathering to celebrate Nature and togetherness in a space curated with love. All details [here](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/celebrating-solstice-june-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Celebrating the Solstice and Reconnecting with Nature on June 20th, 2025Join us on June 205th for a global gathering to celebrate Nature and togetherness!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-2.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1474123685650-afa16479e04b)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/celebrating-solstice-june-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Discover the **Living Systems Alliance**, a new partnership stewarded by [Transition Network international](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [The Biomimicry Institute](https://biomimicry.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [The Permaculture Association](https://www.permaculture.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Global Ecovillage Network](https://ecovillage.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Kincentric Leadership](https://www.kincentricleadership.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) officially launching in October 2025, with a special event on June 23rd as part of the London Climate Action Week.

[The Living Systems Alliance: Developing nature-centric design & governanceJoin us as we explore how nature’s principles can guide us in creating thriving, resilient and regenerative communities, ecosystems…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/safari-pinned-tab.svg)Eventbrite![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/logo.20250610-192511)](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-living-systems-alliance-developing-nature-centric-design-governance-tickets-1407721776729?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- Meet Sandile Fanana (South Africa), one of the Voices of Transition - [Podcast episode here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMB7JZNwZSs&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- \[Australia\] Meet and join the [Seed Saving Coalition Australia](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionAustraliaHub/posts/pfbid02qhWx88RPv1j63UxhsnbgUpDYyGbMh7NjgVnXLmUQT1R4o8JpQLAp8NjUPFAKgWHTl )
- \[Japan\] [Local currency festival at Nishihara Village Fuwari](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=24292331240355985&set=a.172874696061643 ), 22 June 2025
- \[France\] [Repair café à Wasquehal](https://www.facebook.com/groups/602452054443950/?multi%5Fpermalinks=1450040569685090¬if%5Fid=1750160569285763¬if%5Ft=group%5Factivity&ref=notif), Réseau des collectifs citoyens en transition, Hauts de France, 5 July 2025
- \[Portugal\] Re.Rural Ecosystem Gathering in Portugal, 20-28 September 2025\. [Infopack here](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGprgCPkQk/EayEEJe2iChtxSj6Y8oL%5Fg/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAGprgCPkQk&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=link2&utm%5Fsource=uniquelinks&utlId=h442cbc925e). Applications [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJFZW-mXCM3zGCyJPb2ynHpgK8xjzswQZISC3F4VO4kMDHgA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (until 6 July 2025). Check out the inspiring [Caravana video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKhwDWHNdjA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)!
- \[France\] [La Vallée du Gapeau en Transition organises a wild plants festival](https://www.facebook.com/events/1055901946507006/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%2229%22%2C%22ref%5Fnotif%5Ftype%22%3A%22plan%5Fuser%5Finvited%22%2C%22action%5Fhistory%22%3A%22null%22%7D¬if%5Fid=1750324919786428¬if%5Ft=plan%5Fuser%5Finvited&ref=notif) with art, traditional knowledge, local producers, and more! 26-27 July 2025

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

This time, Hanyun had the pleasure to interview **Mary Stringer**. She shared her story of championing grassroots action through **Transition Australia** and talked about projects like climate choirs and local hubs embodying the philosophy of resilience and "active hope”, showing how small, collective actions can make a difference. Enjoy!

[Watch the full interview](https://youtu.be/iJgwKNXrnUo?si=%5Fwq9ZG-HH8RsIdlQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

 Check all the [interviews on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnznT0wT0JNXaVqVWDyXGlJ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for some heartwarming inspiration. And do send some love and [reach out](mailto:ourstories@transitionnetwork.org) with your story as well!

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

- [**Effective Collaboration for Social Change**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/effective-collaboration-for-social-change/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (videos and + resources)
- [**Mutual Aid 101 Toolkit**](https://www.shareable.net/mutual-aid-101-toolkit-pdf/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (pdf)
- [**Transition Trainers' Handbook 2025**](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqV7KZS-s/nfzRz8yFT8klNUBDpuyrTA/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#1)(other languages will be available soon)
- [**Networks and Partnerships**](https://archive.transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/starting-transition/7-essential-ingredients/networks-and-partnerships/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)Transitioningredient

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

- [23 June 2025 · The Living Systems Alliance at the London Climate Awareness Week](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-living-systems-alliance-developing-nature-centric-design-governance-tickets-1407721776729?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [1 July 2025 · Tending the Roots - Practising Transition Webinar](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/tending-the-roots/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [6 July 2025 · London Permaculture Festival](https://londonpermaculturefestival.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [15 July 2025 · Collective Wisdom Session: Reflection & Inquiry Practices](https://events.transitionmovement.org/practise/cws-reflection/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Add your Transition events** to the calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They'll be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://knowledge.transition-space.org/books/platform-humhub/page/calendars?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- [**Apply to the Zayed Sustainability Prize**](https://entry.zayedsustainabilityprize.com/ZSPHome?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Open to **worldwide nonprofits** and businesses. Submissions open until 23 June 2025\.
- Young leaders (18-30) in fields relating to the **health and protection of women and girls in Africa, Asia and the Middle East** may apply for the[**Hauwa Ojeifo Scholarship**](https://www.oneyoungworld.com/scholarships/hauwa-ojeifo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for mentorship and the opportunity to gain funding. Due date is 29 June 2025\.
- The **Earth Rising Foundation** invites [applications from grassroots projects promoting **youth activism, Indigenous voices and climate action**](https://earthrisingfoundation.org/apply?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz-9xYWxJblDibEzS1BneEfXumeDWk-bM0A30zBUDqTgoBmU-fqfFS7fgEj9tRr9PgncJ1B-uXo0WUi55iSoPMqbiNYNkmA&%5Fhsmi=365162530&utm%5Fcontent=365162530&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail). Apply before 30 June 2025\.
- The **WWF** invites expressions of interest from [**on-the-ground projects supporting global biodiversity and conservation**](https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/wwf-gef-expressions-of-interest?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Selected countries list is [here](https://www.thegef.org/projects-operations/recipient-countries?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Last day to apply is 30 June 2025.
- **JA Europe seeks proposals** from EU organisations working to [**engage young people in activism**](https://jaeurope.org/tenders/pulse-z-third-party-support-call-for-proposals/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) through journalism and content creation. Apply before 4 July 2025.
- The Women & Gender Constituency (WGC) seeks applications from **women-led organisations** [**building gender equality and climate resilience**](https://gender-just-climate-solutions-2025.selecteev.io/apply?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) through their work. Receiving applications until 13 July 2025.
- Submit for the[**Photography 4 Humanity Global prize**](https://www.photography4humanity.com/2025-global-prize?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz--xLhdpcGku0N5VujrqIn3OB3TEKTixab0wPlb8NuBwvW0nHNbLp-J0FTlh5rt%5F9VjndCcsON9WDA-GCMQ1XgXXei6xHQ&%5Fhsmi=365162530&utm%5Fcontent=365162530&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail)**,** a contest that promotes **climate justice**, looking for **images that show people impacted by the escalating climate crisis**. Entries accepted until 5 August 2025\.

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-3.png) 

## Greetings from the Future

Rob Hopkins unwraps 'How to Fall in Love with the Future new book

**Rob Hopkins' Time Traveller's Guide to Changing the World has just seen the light for the fist time.** The new manual for facilitators, trainers and changemakers on the art of Imagination for a greater good is available now!  
Find out more [about the book here](https://www.robhopkins.net/2025/03/07/drumroll-big-reveal-its-the-cover-for-my-new-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and discover the [Field Recordings from the Future here](https://www.fieldrecordingsfromthefuture.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

**What is your own message to humanity from 2050?** Send an artistic expression (drawing, short clip, collage, you name it!) to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) with your postcard from 2050 (or the year you manage to travel to) so we can share in the Transition Newsletter upcoming issues!  
Feel free to communicate in your preferred language, and send the clip in any format or size you like. We can do the rest.  
**PS. We're preparing a special contest - the most imaginative postcards from the future we receive during this year 2025 will get some extra love!** 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For July e-news, the deadline for submissions is **June 30th**. For August issue the deadline is **July 27th**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Community Garden - Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180.png)Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d.jpg)](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

[Donate | Support Our Work - Transition NetworkIf you’d like to support our work, you can donate here. Transition Network encourage communities to come together and rebuild our world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-2.jpg)Transition Network Internationalsam rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-social-share.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We hope you felt as excited as we did while crafting this. You're all amazing. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### New Resources space!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/new-resources-space/
Last updated: 2025-06-19T12:46:10.000Z
**Welcome to the New Transition Resources**

We’re happy to introduce a fresh and growing online space designed to support everyone involved in Transition, from long-time organisers to those just starting out. **The new** [**Transition Resources site**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **brings together practical guides, creative tools, and inspiring materials to help nourish and connect the movement**.

Over the years, an incredible wealth of knowledge has emerged from local initiatives, trainings, gatherings, and collaborations. This platform is our effort to weave those insights together, making it easier to find what you need, when you need it.

### What You’ll Find

The Resources site is organised around real needs and themes that matter to Transitioners, whether you're planning a community conversation, setting up a new initiative, dreaming into the future, or navigating group dynamics. Explore sections like:

- **Starting Out** – support for new groups and first steps
- **Group Culture & Collaboration** – practices for thriving together
- **Imagination & Visioning** – tools to unlock creative thinking
- **Practical Projects** – ideas to turn vision into action
- **Climate & Social Justice** – grounding Transition in equity and solidarity

You can search by keyword, browse by theme, language, license, or simply explore what catches your eye.

⚪

****Explore now**: [resources.transitionnetwork.org](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### Co-created and Ever-Evolving

This space is not a finished library, it’s more like a community kitchen. Built from the contributions and learnings of Transition groups across the world, it will continue to grow and evolve as we share more tools, translations, and stories. If you have something you think could help others, we’d love to hear from you.

### Add Your Own Resources

If you have tools, guides, templates, stories, or other materials that could support others on their Transition journey – in any language – you’re warmly invited to contribute. **Anyone can upload resources directly to the site.** Just register, upload your file or link, and tag it with the relevant themes so others can find it easily. Most resources on the site are with a [Creative Commons license](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), but you can choose the license that suits your content. You can post something that you’ve developed locally or translated from another group, in the spirit of solidarity and sharing. Your resource could be just what someone else needs.

### Your Feedback Matters

We’d love you to try it out, bookmark it, and [let us know](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org?subject=Feedback%20on%20Transition%20Resources) what you think. What’s useful? What’s missing? What else would help you in your local work or wider collaborations?

⚪

****Check it out**: [resources.transitionnetwork.org](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### We didn't make it, and...
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/we-didnt-make-it-and/
Last updated: 2025-05-26T11:13:43.000Z
We failed. We didn’t raise enough funds for [*Engaging Youth for a Regenerative Future*](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future/) during the Big Give Green Match Funding campaign.

This [project](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) was about:

- **Creating spaces** for youth engagement, amplifying their voices and projects, and fostering deeper collaboration.
- **Conducting a baseline study** to map the needs, challenges, and opportunities for young people in Transition groups worldwide.
- **Supporting a young researcher** with a paid role to lead this work, grow their skills, and connect with youth across the movement.

It was the first step in a bigger strategy to open more doors for young people in Transition, a chance to support the groups already doing incredible work with younger generations.

### Some learnings

We shared the project widely: [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future/), on social media, and across the [Transition Platform](https://hub.transition-space.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We held a live session on [*Engaging Youth in Transition*](https://youtu.be/Ql1z72UChWY?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), but turnout was low. We asked for help spreading the word —through our team, Transition hubs, groups, and aligned organisations— but something didn’t flow. And we take it, not everything planned ends up in success.

![Three youngsters thinking and observing with interest and curiosity](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeDMuzXU0tM6JIGKAfnn7RuHLmo57TjFxwdw4CAwT_7ZB2kRpNb1xq8mJcPAsLgalZvZBze3XySjGC0MteFCtrGjsWFhy7rf9rXZ_WAQICnzuBeXaOOhWRY-hpuzq5MRfHWNstlkA?key=BsKcLJzBduseYhaiDzNJSw)

Photo: Kubra Arslaner

**Clearer messaging**

Youth are an essential part of the community. They’re vibrant, diverse, full of potential, and close to our hearts. But maybe we didn’t frame the project clearly enough. Some youth-focused groups shared the call; others didn’t, likely because they didn’t see the direct benefit. Why did some engage more than others? That’s worth exploring.

**Beneficiaries *vs* donors**

Even with solid messaging, we might have not reached the right audience. The people who benefit from a project aren’t always the ones who fund it, and we don’t yet have a strong network of supporters actively invested in youth work.

**The importance of youth in Transition**

Youth hasn’t been a central focus in the movement – it’s always been part of the wider, undefined group of Transitioners. We believe that needs to change, by exploring a youth-related approach to Transition, but shifts like this take time. So we’ll keep building.

### **Celebrating you**

Even though we fell short, there’s plenty to celebrate.

We raised nearly **40% of our target** — thank you so much! To everyone who shared the campaign, donated, or offered testimonials: your belief in this project and in young people means the world.

![A close-up of the hands of an adult and a young person moulding pottery on a potter's wheel](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeCUjJTvCX5V-cfMdyNgJ6KG4Hy8FI-BW2MJKoIE09b710jbHd3IZfa8FsoQed80n3nbdLTINSO3GS8mxY7s-mrKKB08sESNaBraevD8-Gjw94ddEARbK5zwXv4tUyb0WfD2YjkcA?key=BsKcLJzBduseYhaiDzNJSw)

Photo: Shraka Kopstein

And hey, **new collaborations** started bubbling up through this process. That’s a win!

### What’s next?

We’re taking these lessons forward. Right now, we are:

- Talking with groups and individuals who share our passion for this work.
- Reaching out to youth-focused projects to learn how we can support them *better* — what would make this project truly useful for them?
- Adjusting the plan based on feedback and new insights
- And yes, still finding the ways to fundraise to make this real!

If you’d like to share ideas, resources or to get involved, we’d love to hear from you: [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](https://mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Thank you for being part of this.   
Onward!
### May 2025: Seedlings
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/may-2025-seedlings/
Last updated: 2025-05-13T15:19:09.000Z
**What’s ready to take its first step in you?**

May brings that feeling: the kind of fresh start that comes with new shoots, and a shift in the air. In many places, the soil is waking up, and small green things are starting to grow. In others, the light is softening, harvests are being gathered, and there's a slowing down that invites reflection, like a different kind of beginning, where letting go creates space for what's next. 

It’s a reminder that beginnings don’t have to be grand or certain. They can be small, unsure, a bit messy, and still carry so much potential.

This month, we’re noticing all the new things taking root across the Transition movement: [new groups](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-launch-of-transition-town-warri-nigeria/) forming, [collaborative ideas](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/language-weaving-in-the-transition-movement/) being tested, and the quiet bravery it takes to say, “let’s try.” Whether it’s a new project or a personal turning point, the first steps can be fragile; but taken together, they hold real power.

So we’re wondering: **What are you beginning in your community? What do you want to plant, nurture, or reimagine? And what might become possible if we start small and local?**

In Community,   
The Transition Network international team 🌱

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- Find out –and maybe join?– the **Language Weavers group** to support diversity and Language Justice within the movement:

[Language Weaving in the Transition MovementLanguage Weavers for Language Justice![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-4.png)Transition NewsDaniel Rudolph![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/EN---COPY.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/language-weaving-in-the-transition-movement/)

- **Come to celebrate the** [**New Moon**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-february-27-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **on May 27th** for a global gathering to relish and manifest Collective Healing together.

[New Moon Collective Healing on May 27thJoin us on May 27 for a global gathering to celebrate the New Moon and manifest Collective Healing together!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-1.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1528074529665-982494e88f39)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-collective-healing-may-27/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- **Submit your story of change** –in any language or format– through Sensemaker’s [**Community Research Project**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/). You’ll help build a powerful resource for resilience and collective action. Our stories and data amplify impact, inspire change, and showcase the movement’s reach. **Discover more** [**here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change)**!**

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1-.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- \[EN\] **Transition Town Warri has just sprouted in Africa - celebration!** Read Don's experience there:

[The Launch of Transition Town Warri, NigeriaLast month, I had the honor and privilege of being invited to participate in the launch of Transition Town Warri. While the explicit purpose of my trip to Nigeria was simply to co-facilitate an introductory Transition Launch Training, as I’ve done many times before, it ended up being much![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-3.png)Transition NewsDon Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Innovation-Hub.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-launch-of-transition-town-warri-nigeria/)

- \[FR\] [**Carol'Or**](https://www.facebook.com/LeCarolOr?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZUZi%5FTnFYBb5g7BGSuaSbIKqFxFOghO-K5jJA88uHIB2I40-EaDFOiDylmC8QxULfp6aUMZ2Ia-IRYenlUGTYwQI4smaLQpVH4PijI9D9ZQd-fN4fVGQo%5FrALU88Q25hEep6Zk6WYwY1GbR7AtRHH80SERmCFuBsQS3TOjQit1iVYxQpZvhCJ-tQS%5FWAumHMpOfswPVl7OQkfDwv67YTABOiylPh6Gq7EIJN81kqmQkWA&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-]K-R) **is the local and citizen currency for the Charleroi region, France**. It has been circulating in the life basin of Charleroi Country and the Haute Sambre since 2019\. It exists in the form of tickets and electronic currency, and has more than 120 partners. It aims to promote local businesses, initiatives and service providers concerned about combining quality, solidarity and environmental respect. **Carol'Or participates in** **the month of local economy** organized by Financité! [Discover more and join them to support your region](https://carolor.org/index.php/vous-etes-commercant/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Nos Partenaires -Retrouvez tous les partenaires du réseau de notre monnaie locale et citoyenne du pays de Charleroi et de la Haute Sambre![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-logo-onglet-270x270.png)![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/billetsouC@r.jpg)](https://carolor.org/index.php/vous-etes-commercant/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- \[EN\] New video available! **"**[**Town Anywhere Tooting - A Future to Look Forward to**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMbzD6Qur1E&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**"**. In October 2024, a hundred people gathered in Tooting to time travel into the future. Using **immersive future scenarios, large scale model-making** and timed challenges the **Town Anywhere** process helped participants to play and practice community visioning, ideation and storytelling. Not-to-be-missed, pure inspiration:
- \[JP\] **Sustainable Soup online event featuring Ryoichi Shimizu from Ecovillage Pellan in Japan.** He'll be sharing about the ultimate eco-friendly “people's lifestyle” he's practising. [Details here](https://www.facebook.com/events/1177915817418301).

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/496939431_629232109749653_3503116212783237044_n.jpg)](https://www.facebook.com/events/1177915817418301)

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further. Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

This month, **Hanyun Xu interviewed and featured the one and only Richard Couldrey**: "... the superpower of community. There are people in places there that can resource and hold you when you need picking up, when you need a bit of time just to go, to take a break and all of that. If you’re in a relationship with your local community, the community will catch you and hold you while you’re resourcing yourself." 

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Captura-de-pantalla-2025-05-12-213119.png)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJGvSTTpP1F/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Watch the full interview](https://youtu.be/iJgwKNXrnUo?si=%5Fwq9ZG-HH8RsIdlQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Do you follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? Check the [interviews on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnznT0wT0JNXaVqVWDyXGlJ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [posts on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/People%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for some heartwarming inspiration. And do send some online love and [reach out](mailto:ourstories@transitionnetwork.org) with your story as well!

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

- [**Community visioning, The Future We Want**](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/the-future-we-want-guide-to-community-visioning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[The Future We Want - Transition Network ResourcesGuide to community visioning.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon.png)Transition Network Resources![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/books-background.jpg)](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/the-future-we-want-guide-to-community-visioning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- [**Designing a Great First Project** \- Practising Transition in 10 min series](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/designing-a-great-first-project/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Designing a Great First Project#PractisingTransitionin10min![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo-1.png)Practising TransitionDon Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-10-15-154207.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/designing-a-great-first-project/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- [Lovely infographics on **Permaculture principles** from Mirranda Burton for Milkwood.net](https://www.milkwood.net/2021/06/11/permaculture-living-course-notes/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[What is permaculture? - notes from the Permaculture Living course - Milkwood: permaculture courses, skills + storiesPermaculture Living student Mirranda Burton created these beautiful graphic notes while studying with Milkwood, to understand: ‘What is permaculture?’![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/milkwood_favicon_1.png)Milkwood: permaculture courses, skills + storiesKirsten Bradley![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Permaculture-Living-couse-what_is_permaculture.jpg)](https://www.milkwood.net/2021/06/11/permaculture-living-course-notes/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

- May 17 · [Reimagining Education for People and Planet](https://hub.transition-space.org/content/perma?id=72525&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Transition DACH)
- May 20 · [Collective Wisdom Session: Collaboration and Collective Project Planning](https://events.transitionmovement.org/practise/collab-planning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Practising Transition)
- May 24 · [DeepEcology Free Sample Class on the Work That Reconnects](https://hub.transition-space.org/content/perma?id=72448&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Community)
- May 27 · [New Moon Collective Healing](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-february-27-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Cultural Transformation)

Add your Transition events to the Transition platform calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://hub.transition-space.org/p/9?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1"). 

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Transition Network international seeks a Community Weaver** for Social Media and Virtual Platform Engagement. [**Check out the Infopack and apply before May 21 2025**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seeking-community-weaver/)**.**
- Find out about [**Rhizome**](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **Fellowship on narrative hacking** by Culture Hack Labs! Thisis an eight-month journey designed to equip you with tools and accompany you through a process of **narrative-led systems change**. Rooted in the Culture Hack Method, this fellowship provides a structured yet experimental space to **develop and prototype narrative interventions that disrupt extractive models and seed regenerative futures**. [Applications close May 16th.](https://www.culturehack.io/rhizome/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- The **Youth4Climate Call for Solutions** launches its third round of funding opportunities for young people aged 18 to 29 and youth-led entities. The Call is open to youth from 159 countries and territories covered by UNDP. Applicants to the CfS can request up to USD 30,000 in seed funding and successful applicants will also benefit from connections and visibility that may enable scaling and growth of their projects, group workshops, one-to-one mentorship, and project pitching and feedback opportunities. [Find the step by step process to apply here. The deadline is May 26](https://community.youth4climate.info/dashboard/call-solutions-2025?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz-%5FNSODQ60kRHy3qG66knHG-DDQAPnFaHVx7VlYS8oIKZSYjFVOMU08doOqM5fjZlcrugljE-YP1xIldG-aPeXTKPZCcsg&%5Fhsmi=360588644&utm%5Fcontent=360588644&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail).
- **Apply for an Earth Rising Grant.** The Earth Rising Foundation invites applications from grassroots projects promoting youth activism, Indigenous voices and climate action. They provide grants ranging from $200 to $20,000 to promote bold, bottom-up action on climate change. Applications are now open and the deadline is June 30th. [Learn more about this grant opportunity and how to apply here](https://earthrisingfoundation.org/apply?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz-%5FVb8J5acbTjhghU2umKOvqhXe5BqJPaWR6w2p1BqAn4HoeFXyLMX0zlftlDPnEaHiJry9AyuQycLAphvvPOoBTHKcErA&%5Fhsmi=360588644&utm%5Fcontent=360588644&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail).
- From our partners [YouthxYouth](https://www.youthxyouth.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): **Initiations into Adulthood** with **Gabriela Fagundes Moreira**. In collaboration with Gabriela, YxY will be offering three open community-style processes through which a person becomes capable of taking on higher levels of responsibility. When a person authentically steps into their path toward adulthood, they shift from absorbing and consuming to creating, proposing, sourcing. (**May 22nd**; **June 18th**; and **July 14th** at 7am UTC). **Register for those sessions** [**here**](https://airtable.com/appYm9UwzGZxELiYA/shrAGjpqwOP64D7QD?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-3.png) 

## Greetings from the Future

**Field Recordings From the Future** just launched a CrowdFunder! Will you support this endeavour to shift the direction of humanity using the power of imagination? Join Rob Hopkins and Mr. Kit! 

**What is your own message to humanity from 2050?** Send an artistic expression (drawing, short clip, collage, you name it!) to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) with your postcard from 2050 (or the year you manage to travel to) so we can share in the Transition Newsletter upcoming issues!  
Feel free to communicate in your preferred language, and send the clip in any format or size you like. We can do the rest.  
**PS. We're preparing a special contest - the most imaginative postcards from the future we receive during this year 2025 will get some love!** 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For June e-news, the deadline for submissions is **May 30th**. For July issue the deadline is **June 25th**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Community Garden - Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180.png)Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d.jpg)](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

[Donate | Support Our Work - Transition NetworkIf you’d like to support our work, you can donate here. Transition Network encourage communities to come together and rebuild our world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-2.jpg)Transition Network Internationalsam rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-social-share.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We hope you felt as excited as we did while crafting this. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### The Launch of Transition Town Warri, Nigeria
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-launch-of-transition-town-warri-nigeria/
Last updated: 2025-05-12T19:03:18.000Z
Last month, I had the honor and privilege of being invited to participate in the launch of Transition Town Warri. While the explicit purpose of my trip to Nigeria was simply to co-facilitate an introductory Transition Launch Training, as I’ve done many times before, it ended up being much more than that. For me, it was an intensely challenging but hugely transformational and deeply hopeful experience I’ll never forget.

I was invited by Yvonne Omatseye, who I first met in 2023 when she joined an online Train the Trainers course I coordinated for [Transition Network international](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) called [Transition Facilitators Training](https://learn.perma.earth/courses/transition-facilitators-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As we stayed in touch afterwards, I learned that she had written her master’s thesis on Transition Towns in England, was working with youth in her hometown to establish community gardens, and wanted to help spread the Transition Movement not only in her part of Nigeria, but possibly throughout the African continent.

I knew right away this was something I wanted to support in my role as Training Coordinator – at that time, there were no internationally-certified Transition Trainers from Africa, and, as far as I could tell, no Transition Trainings had ever taken place there – but I also knew I needed to tread carefully. An important tenet of the Transition Movement has always been that Transition groups and hubs emerge organically from the bottom up and are governed entirely by the people who live there, who adapt the Transition approach to their local culture and conditions. Transition Network exists to support, not drive, any expansion.

Nevertheless, this was an opportunity to spread Transition authentically, in accordance with our values. In my work with Transition Sarasota, Transition US, and now Transition Network international, I’ve always looked for the bridge builders, those exceptional people who have the ability to bridge multiple worlds. It was clear from the start that Yvonne is not only a bridge builder, but one with the passion, leadership skills, and charismatic personality to potentially help spark a movement. 

When Transition Network gave her a £3,500 grant to host and facilitate her first training, I assumed Yvonne would work with a trainer from Southern Europe or someone much closer to Nigeria than I was in Boulder, Colorado. However, when I proposed a few options, she said wanted me to come instead. Since I try to fly as little as possible because of concerns about global warming, I countered with the suggestion that she recruit someone from her local community to co-facilitate and I would coach them over Zoom. But Yvonne didn't want that either. She said she wanted somebody with a lot of experience in Transition and I was the only person she knew and trusted. Eventually, I relented, and we started to plan my visit.

### **On the Ground in Nigeria**

After some scheduling delays, I flew from Atlanta, Georgia to Lagos on March 24th. Since we had to pass through Lagos on our way to Warri, Yvonne had arranged a workshop the following day with a local organization stewarded by the [Kabzeel Group](https://kabzeelgroup.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) called the Greenland Permaculture Association. It came as no big surprise to me that none of the 25 participants (except for the main organizer) had ever heard of Transition Towns, but because Transition had been founded by a Permaculture teacher and was based on Permaculture principles, there was an instant connection. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Lagos-Workshop.jpg)

**One of the breakout groups at the workshop in Lagos. Photo courtesy of Bomi-Daniels Folasiji*

I explained that Transition could be thought of as “community-scale Permaculture,” introduced the basic Transition model, and facilitated a discussion about how [David Holmgren’s 12 Permaculture principles](https://permacultureprinciples.com/permaculture-principles?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) might be applied to community-scale projects. Then, participants broke into small groups to design projects using those principles. Delivered Shark-Tank style towards the end of the workshop, the final presentations turned out great. I was particularly intrigued by one proposal to build a zero-energy, charcoal-based refrigeration system for a co-op of local farmers. Although I didn’t have money to invest, all the courageous presenters received a copy of my [*Regeneration Handbook*](https://newsociety.com/book/the-regeneration-handbook?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

The next day, Yvonne and I traveled from Lagos to Warri via Benin City. It was a somewhat harrowing drive during which we got pulled over twice by government authorities and chased by paramilitary, but we finally arrived in one piece. I settled into my hotel to rest and finish editing my slide deck, while Yvonne visited with her mother and daughter and continued working on other preparations for the training.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Training-Sign.jpg)

**Banner outside the Blossom Event Center in Warri, where the training took place. Photo courtesy of Yvonne Omatseye*

The training was scheduled to begin a day and a half later. Although we ended up starting a few hours late, nobody seemed to mind, and the more than 50 participants who showed up were warmly welcoming and attentive. I presented on the [Seven Essential Ingredients of Transition](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/the-essential-guide-to-doing-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [Eight Transition Principles](https://transitionnetwork.org/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and we discussed the biggest issues their community was currently facing as well as the visions they held for their community’s future. Towards the end of the day, Yvonne invited participants to self-organize into smaller groups by neighborhood and elect “chiefs” to help facilitate the development of practical projects.

Right after we closed on that first day, I was told the King was ready to meet with us! Yvonne had secured an audience with the Olu of Warri through her work with the [Royal Iwere Foundation](https://rif.ng/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which is funded by the Warri Royal Family. Around a dozen core team members came out that evening to meet the monarch and represent Transition Town Warri. When he walked into the ornate throne room at his personal residence, I have to say I thought the Olu looked a bit like the British actor Idris Elba.

We were told before he arrived that he had had a long day, and he started off by checking his phone while sitting on a high throne. However, as Transition Town Warri team members spoke about the benefits of building local community resilience and furthering local economic development using local resources and solutions, he looked up and paid attention. Towards the end, he said he was very interested in what was happening with Transition Town Warri and would be looking forward to progress reports. The whole thing only took about 15 minutes, but it was quite the experience. [Our meeting even ended up making the news.](https://newsspecng.com/2025/04/01/breaking-olu-of-warri-tasks-transition-town-warri-on-community-revitalization/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Yvonne-Speaking.jpg)

**Yvonne speaking to the Olu of Warri during a meeting at his private residence. Photo courtesy of Yvonne Omatseye*

The second day of the training started even later than the first and was focused primarily on the continuation of project planning in neighborhood groups. While this was different than any other training I had facilitated before, I trusted Yvonne knew what she was doing, and this paid off (big time) a day later. After three days of developing these projects, the neighborhood groups and their chiefs were more than ready to present their work to a much larger audience the following evening.

For the third and final day of the training, Yvonne had rented a large hall for a celebratory dinner. She hired a DJ, enlisted volunteers to cook, and invited representatives from local and state government to attend. Everyone dressed in their finest. The head of the Delta State environmental office and an assistant to the Warri South local government chairman both gave speeches. However, the main attraction was the project presentations.

They were all excellent. There was one on using black soldier flies to produce compost and animal feed from food waste, another on generating cooking fuel and electricity from biogas digesters, and another on creating fire and flood-resistant building materials from sand and waste plastic. Some of these proposals were approaching full-fledged business plans with well-defined phases for rolling them out, how much investment would be needed at each stage, how many people would be employed, and how much revenue would ultimately be generated. Over the past 15 years of being a Transition Trainer, I’ve never seen such impressive practical outcomes come directly out of a training.

On my last day in the area, Transition Town Warri core team member Henry Erikowa drove me down to the coast to visit [Falcorp Mangrove Park](https://cmadi.org/falcorp-mangrove-park?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which he had founded as an ecological preserve and educational center years earlier. I was surprised at first to see a lot of familiar faces from the training, but soon learned that many were Henry’s helpers and employees. After encountering a 20-foot alligator and feeding a baboon, walking across a treacherous pathway over the swamp, and tasting cashew fruit for the first time, we came to a fence with a sign that was veiled by a piece of cardboard. Henry asked me to do the honors of removing the cardboard to reveal a sign that read: “Transition Town Warri Innovation Hub.” Everyone cheered and took photos.

This was the perfect ending to the trip for me. I felt incredibly grateful to see where the practical projects that were presented the night before will be prototyped before being moved out into the wider community. Although Transition Town Warri (like every Transition group) is sure to face challenges in the future, they are off to a great start with a strong, committed leadership team, many enthusiastic participants, and a physical location from which to launch their regenerative projects. As I wrote in the guest book before we drove back to the city: “Long live Transition Town Warri and the Innovation Hub!”

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Raised-Hands.jpg)

**Participants in the first-ever Transition Training on the African continent. Photo courtesy of Yvonne Omatseye*

### **Closing Reflections**

This was a challenging trip for me personally: the heat was unrelenting, I was half-sick for about four days with food poisoning, and I never quite felt like I knew what I was doing. Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly worth it. I learned a ton about cultural differences, humility, trust, patience, and the importance of open, straightforward communication. I also made a bunch of new friends with people I deeply respect and admire.

That doesn't mean, however, that I’ll be traveling back to Africa anytime soon. While I would go again in a heartbeat if I felt my presence would make a real difference, I think it's in their capable hands now. They have everything they need to adapt the Transition model to African soil and spread this movement (if they want) throughout the continent themselves. Transition Network will continue to support, but not steer, this unfolding process.

In just the few weeks since I’ve been back, Yvonne has let me know that [Transition Town Warri](https://www.instagram.com/transitiontownwarri?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is continuing to meet and Transition activity is starting to bubble up in East Africa as well. Joseph Kathuku from Kenya, who was introduced to me by a colleague at Transition Network and participated in the training in Warri, is already planning a training for later in the year in his hometown of Machakos. We’re also currently working together on a presentation about Transition Towns for a [Permaculture Design Course in Uganda](https://permacultureuganda.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that’s starting later this month.

What will ultimately happen is uncertain, but this experience makes me wonder about other places where the Transition Movement hasn't really landed yet – such as India, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. While remaining true to our values, isn’t there something we can do to at least make it known that Transition exists? One thing we can definitely do is to look for the bridge builders like Yvonne and Joseph. People like them don’t come along every day, but when they do, we should make sure to recognize and support them.

---

**Don Hall** is the Training Coordinator for Transition Network and is the author of *The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World* (New Society Publishers, 2024). For more information about Don and *The Regeneration Handbook*, you can visit his website at [https://evolutionarychange.org](https://evolutionarychange.org/?ref=practise.transitionmovement.org).
### Language Weaving in the Transition Movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/language-weaving-in-the-transition-movement/
Last updated: 2025-07-16T14:02:45.000Z
## A Little Collaboration Goes a Long Way 

Dan Rudolph shares about the Language Weavers

One of the core principles of both permaculture and resilience is **diversity**—and not only in ecosystems, but among people. That includes differences in cultural backgrounds, cosmologies, skill sets, generations, spiritual paths, and so much more. When we bring these varied threads together, we weave a much stronger, more resilient fabric than any of us could create alone.

Being part of a global movement like Transition brings incredible joy and richness. But with that beauty comes complexity - and yes, sometimes real challenges, especially when it comes to language.

That’s where ***Language Weavers*** come in.

This working group formed to develop processes for more fluid and inclusive collaboration with different language communities across the Transition movement—particularly through translation and interpretation. 

****The goal?** To help important information like event invitations, funding opportunities, job openings, and updates to flow more freely in the different language communities present/active in the movement and to make live events more accessible for more language communities.

### **From Centralized to Decentralized, Coordinated, Collaboration**

In the past, we’ve tried a variety of approaches. Still we have not found a process or a system that has really worked (i.e. hiring a specific language interpreter for a specific event, only to find that no one from that group showed up!), and quite frankly is not sustainable, equitable (equal access to all language groups) or relational.

Now, we’re experimenting with something more collaborative and decentralized. The new process invites language groups, regardless of size, to engage meaningfully with the movement. Whether it's a small Indigenous language community or a large regional one, every voice matters. **Every group that is interested and willing to collaborate, deserves access to the information and updates as well as to join events and listen in their mother tongue.**

### **What is Already Working**

Across the Transition Network, we’ve already taken some exciting steps towards *language justice*:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-06-at-12.37.50-PM.png)

Slide from a [Dragon Dreaming Workshop](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/dragon-dreaming-methodology/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) with Lizandra Barbuto

- Sessions and workshops have been hosted in multiple languages, featuring diverse voices.
- Our website can be automatically translated into many languages.
- The [**Cultural Transformation Circle**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/offerings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is held by a multilingual team enabling sessions and talking circles to happen in many languages.
- The [**Community Research Project**](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which gathers stories from across the movement, is available in multiple languages.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/05/front-page-tn.org.png)

the current front page of [transitionnetwork.org](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

These are achievements worth celebrating. And yet, we know there’s still much more to do.

### **Where We’re Headed—and How You Can Help**

One piece of learning that came for me from a conversation with [Filipa Pimentel](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/author/filipa/) was that the original purpose of the Hubs group (and the [Transionese](https://archive.transitionnetwork.org/news/news-from-the-world-of-transitionese/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project back in 2018) was to support with language translation. Given where we are at now, this was both surprising AND made total sense. It's clear that just a little coordination and a few hours of volunteering can create a big difference.

Here’s a real example: in the French-speaking community, there are hubs and groups across numerous countries. Rather than each one translating every update individually, what if just one volunteer (from the entire French language community) per month gave three or four hours of translation support? That alone would enable content that is accessible to the entire French-speaking community.

**If each Hub contributes even a small amount of time, just 3-4 hours, twice or thrice a year, we can make this work.** Not only will information flow more freely *into* these communities, but updates and invitations can also flow *outward*—from local groups to Transition Network International, which would create more visibility, more celebration, and deeper impact for everyone.

### **Here’s How to Join In**

We’ve designed a simple, transparent process—outlined in a short presentation and organized in a shared spreadsheet:

- **Step 1**: **Check out the** [**presentation**](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGl4U-hQFw/Z-syY5qfJ2lZRZFEaVsfhA/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to understand the process and intention.
- **Step 2**: [**Sign up**](mailto:danrudolph@transitionnetwork.org?subject=sign-up%20as%20a%20Language%20Weaver) **as a Language Weaver** for one or more months,
- Or, [**volunteer**](mailto:danrudolph@transitionnetwork.org?subject=sign-up%20as%20a%20Volunteer%20Interpreter) **to interpret** an upcoming event.

Once you’ve signed up, someone from our coordinating team will reach out and welcome you into the working space. You’ll be notified when translation is needed. You can use automated tools for the first pass, then clean up the grammar and syntax, and finally send it to the community’s engagement channel.

### **An Invitation for This Moment**

We are living in a time that calls for deeper collaboration—between people, across cultures, and among those committed to regeneration and justice.

If you feel called to contribute, this is your invitation. A few hours of your time, could enable an entire language community access to information in their mother tongue. 

A little support can really make a big difference! In this meeting we are going to share the process and how you can ‘do a little’ to serve ‘the whole’.

Check out the [presentation](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGl4U-hQFw/Z-syY5qfJ2lZRZFEaVsfhA/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and, as always, [let us know](mailto:danrudolph@transitionnetwork.org) if you have any questions. 

In community,   
**Dan and the Language Weavers**
### Seeking a Community Weaver!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seeking-community-weaver/
Last updated: 2025-05-01T10:31:03.000Z
**Join the Transition Network international team as an online Community weaver!**

> Are you passionate about community-led change, climate justice, and social equity?  
>  
> Dou you believe in the power of stories to inspire action and nurture transformation in a time of global transition?  
>  
> Are you ready to bring your creativity, digital skills and heart into a role that supports people and communities around the world working for a just and regenerative future?

Transition Network international is **looking for a** **part-time Community Weaver to help us deepen our connection with a diverse audience and strengthen our online presence** across platforms including Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and HumHub.

We’re a small, values-driven team supporting an international movement of communities building local resilience in the face of global challenges like climate change, inequality and disconnection. Our communications workis about more than just reach or likes –it’s about **weaving connection, amplifying diverse voices and showing that another way is not only possible, it’s already happening**.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/Liverpool-gathering-network-exercise-cropped-1024x743.jpg)

Liverpool gathering. Photo by Transition Together

This role will involve a balance of creative content creation, responsive community engagement and strategic sensing-thinking. **You'll be working closely with our communications team to co-create campaigns, develop engaging content and apply the latest best practices in social media**. If you’re someone who loves translating complexity into clarity, speaks from the heart, and would like to bring ethical practises to this evolving world of digital storytelling, this could be a great fit.

### **We’re looking for someone who:**

🌿 Is proactive, organised and creative.  
📱 Has experience managing social media platforms (ideally with tools like Hootsuite or Canva).  
💬 Understands how to build authentic relationships online.  
🎥 Can help us create and curate visual and video content.  
🗣️ Can communicate in English and one or more other languages.  
💛 Is aligned with the values and spirit of the Transition movement, especially around Just Transition, inclusion and accessibility.

This is a **paid, part-time and fully remote position**. We welcome applicants from all locations and backgrounds and we’re especially keen to hear from those who bring perspectives and lived experiences currently underrepresented in our team and movement.

You do not need to meet *all* the requirements – what matters most is your willingness to keep learning, collaborate and contribute to a movement that’s reimagining the world from the ground up.

###   **How to apply:**

🔎 Check out the Recruitment Pack: 

[Community Weaver Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ip3X%5F77QYKvoZ52FcWrhUO6-w2fyUvdxLUj52yyHRDo/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**📥**Application is by brief form:

[Submit your application here](https://tally.so/r/wLoX61?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Deadline for applications: May 21st, 2025,** [**20h UTC**](https://time.is/UTC?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **(Universal Time Coordinated)**

If this sparks something in you, if you feel excited – we warmly encourage you to apply. Your voice and vision are needed!

If you need support, please email [recruitment@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:recruitment@transitionnetwork.org) 

Looking forward to receiving your application, 

*Esther Molina - Communications Lead Link* 
*Amber Ponton - HR / Admin & Compliance*
### 🌱72 hours left: Your Gift doubles for Youth in Transition!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/your-gift-doubles-for-youth-in-transition/
Last updated: 2025-04-25T12:56:39.000Z
> **"**We often talk and read a lot about the climate crisis in the news and in the classroom, but this is a place where you can be part of the changes you want to see in the future. This is something bigger than yourself, actions are taken and real changes are happening."  
> — Hanyun, 24, China | Empowered volunteer at [People of Transition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seqgSj6iIVg&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/IMG_8137-Hanyun.jpg)

Hanyun Xu - Check out the project she's leading: [People of Transition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seqgSj6iIVg&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Young people like Hanyun are stepping up in Transition groups and projects worldwide—bringing bold ideas, urgency, and a hunger to act on climate and social justice. **But too often, they’re unseen.** 

### **We have just 72 hours** left in our Match Funding Campaign, and we’re still £3,400 short of our £4,000 match funding goal. **Every £1 you give before April 29 becomes £2**, directly funding:

✅ **A youth-led global mapping** to find and connect young Transitioners.  
✅ **Training + mentorship + paid work** for a young researcher (because peer-led work sticks).  
✅ **Spaces where generations collaborate**—not just coexist.

### **Why this matters, in their words:**

> *"Real change requires intergenerational collaboration. It’s not about stepping aside—it’s about meeting in the middle, learning from each other, and co-creating something stronger together."*  
> — Youth Caucus

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/Assembly-2025-youth-Caucus-Credit-Mouse-About-Town-.jpg)

Youth Caucus at Transition Assembly 2025 . Photo credits: Mouse About Town

### **Your donation fuels this bridge-building:**

- **£6,200** → Empowers a young researcher for 3 months paid role.
- **£1,600** → Covers tools, staff support, and outreach.

👉 **Donate now**

****Every £ gets doubled!**   
So £1 becomes £2, £10 becomes £20, £25 becomes £50, and so on!   
****Match ends April 29 - don't miss that out!**

[Donate now! ](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) 

👉 **Share:** 

[Engaging Youth for a Regenerative FutureWhen we picture the Transition movement, the faces we often imagine are those of middle-aged or older changemakers. And yet, a quiet shift is happening. The majority of recent visitors to the Transition Network website are between 18 and 35 years old. Young people are present in Transition groups—they![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192-2.png)Transition NewsElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/collab-jovem-1-1.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future/)

> *They’re not just the future—they’re building it here,* right *now*

**P.S.** If you’ve already given, **thank you**! Time is critical. Forward this to one friend who believes in intergenerational change. Together, we’ll make sure youth aren’t just heard—they’re *leading*.

In solidarity,  
Elizabeta Z. Jovanovska and Esther Molina  
*Transition Network international*
### April 2025: Being Earth
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/april-2025-being-earth/
Last updated: 2025-04-21T19:03:16.000Z
Dear friends, 

This month’s update is brimming with news, fresh content, and ways to connect among ourselves.

> *Earth is our larger flesh* – David Abraham

As Earth Day approaches, here's an invitation to pause and contemplate: How does she feel when we celebrate her and recognize ourselves as part of her? Joanna Macy reminds us to see with new eyes: Earth as a living organism, humans as an integral part of Nature. Indigenous wisdom and ancestral cosmovisions offer profound embodied insights. Practices like the Deep Time Walk can provide transformative experiences on that journey. What do you think-feel? 

In community,  
*Transition Network International team* 
  
*\*NOTE: We're working to have translations available to a wide range of languages, these will be available soon, thanks for your understanding.* 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- The **Day of Transition Practise 2025** was incredible! Find and enjoy the **recordings of the sessions** [**here**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2025-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Recordings available! Day of Transition Practise 2025Enjoy the recordings of the Day of Transition Practise 2025![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Square-transparent-logo.png)Practising TransitionEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tim-mossholder-3qglmiP1HK0-unsplash-edit.jpg)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2025-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Big news! Between **April 22nd and 29th we’ll be raising funds for Youth in Transition**. [Check out the campaign and **join us on April 23rd** for a conversation on Engaging Youth in Transition](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future):

[Engaging Youth for a Regenerative FutureWhen we picture the Transition movement, the faces we often imagine are those of middle-aged or older changemakers. And yet, a quiet shift is happening. The majority of recent visitors to the Transition Network website are between 18 and 35 years old. Young people are present in Transition groups—they![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/web-app-manifest-192x192.png)Transition NewsElizabeta Z Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/collab-jovem-1.jpeg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future)

- **Join us on May 27th** for a global gathering to celebrate the [**New Moon**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-february-27-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and manifest Collective Healing together.

[New Moon Collective Healing on May 27thJoin us on May 27 for a global gathering to celebrate the New Moon and manifest Collective Healing together!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird-1.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1528074529665-982494e88f39)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-collective-healing-may-27/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- **Every story matters.** By sharing yours –in any language or format– through Sensemaker’s [**Community Research Project**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/), you’ll help build a powerful resource for resilience and collective action. Together, our stories and data amplify impact, inspire change, and showcase the movement’s reach. **Join in and discover more** [**here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change)**!**

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1-.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- Feel the Heartbeat of the Movement with our friends of AbyaYala: Gabriela Montenegro (Brazil), Silvana Jakubiak (Argentina), Edgar Gainko Ruiz (Mexico):
- Read the [Letter to Transition groups from the Transition Together Network Weavers](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/a-letter-to-transition-groups-from-the-network-weavers/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Discover the project [Tempo de plantar (Time to Plant)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/tempo-de-plantar-time-to-plant-brasilia/) held by Transition Brasil friends - a regenerative movement that encourages people to plant trees during rains season.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further! Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

Hanyun Xu shared about **People of Transition** during the Day of Transition Practice – hear about her experience so far and ways of engaging: 

Do you follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? Check the [interviews on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnznT0wT0JNXaVqVWDyXGlJ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [posts on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/People%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for some heartwarming inspiration. And do send some online love and reach out with your story as well!

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

**Nature**

- [Nature Connection](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/nature-connection/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Self Care: Nature](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/self-care-nature/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Deep Time Walk practice](https://www.deeptimewalk.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Youth**

- [Challenges, Opportunities and Ideas for the Youth - Youth Caucus ](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/challenges-opportunities-and-ideas-for-the-youth-caucus/  ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [Engaging Young People: Suggestions from the Youth Caucus ](https://resources.transitionnetwork.org/resources/suggestions-on-engagement-presented-by-the-youth-caucus/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

- [April 15th · Collective Wisdom Session: Collaborations](https://events.transitionmovement.org/practise/collaborations/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [April 22nd to 29th · Big Give Match Funding campaign: Engaging Youth for a Regenerative Future](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?c=23598&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [April 23rd · Engaging Youth in Transition session](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future/)
- [May 6th · Dragon Dreaming Method - Practising Transition webinar](https://events.transitionmovement.org/practise/dragondreaming/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [May 27th · New Moon Collective Healing - Cultural Transformation event](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/new-moon-february-27-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Add your Transition events to the Transition platform calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://hub.transition-space.org/p/9?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1").

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Transition Network international needs a Community Weaver (Social Media and Community Engagement role)**. Infopack will be published very soon at [TNi's website](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Latest News) and on Social Media profiles!
- [**Apply for the Youth for Climate Action Awards**](https://www.icpac.net/news/youth-for-climate-action-campaign-and-awards/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(people of age under 35). Submissions open until April 30, 2025.
- **Climate Psychology Alliance is seeking a** [**temporary Comms coordinator**](https://climatepsychologyalliance.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1d893dfa4aa7ae069597fe9c5&id=417cbfe3b6&e=e156783dc3&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to start on May 1, 2025\.
- Join Morag Gamble, founder of the Permaculture Education Institute, for the online [**International Permaculture Festival of Wild Ideas**](https://permacultureeducationinstitute.org/permaculture-festival-wild-ideas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), May 3-11, 2025.
- [**Ananda Festival of Bliss**](https://anandafestival.pt/en/home-en/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(6-10 August 2025) is looking for [volunteers](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdeolBP5xHvR%5F%5Ft%5FJfKtQs37rtcveFE0JhrQqBk8R2MsK65CA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [Actions for Change Romania](https://www.actionsforchange.ro/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) will be holding **Human Nature** **Erasmus+ Programme** on 8-16 June. Deadline is 25 April. [Apply here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciKzxZYXJ1B3YjSv7alt9b0TwfYsWxhA4n7N0E-Ob-SNx3XA/viewform?fbclid=IwY2xjawJwgstleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHsUZeIaSqCR3C6UZQcqvXCQUUQlhFBXrHGXmHN9isTS5NRKm91SqmPrQYt5c%5Faem%5F00FzdwQ900Tj9K99a4tJAQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Which other opportunities would you like to share with fellow Transitioners? 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-3.png) 

## Greetings from the Future

**What is your own message to humanity from 2050?** Send an artistic expression (drawing, short clip, collage, you name it!) to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) with your postcard from 2050 (or the year you manage to travel to) so we can share in the Transition Newsletter upcoming issues!  
Feel free to communicate in your preferred language, and send the clip in any format or size you like. We can do the rest.  
**PS. We're preparing a special contest - the most imaginative postcards from the future we receive during this year 2025 will get some love!** 

Meanwhile, enjoy Drawing the Future with James McKay - [the man who draws the future](https://www.robhopkins.net/2019/01/07/james-mckay-the-man-who-draws-the-future/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For May e-news, the deadline for submissions is **April 30th**. For June issue the deadline is May **21st**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Community Garden - Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180.png)Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d.jpg)](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

[Donate | Support Our Work - Transition NetworkIf you’d like to support our work, you can donate here. Transition Network encourage communities to come together and rebuild our world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-2.jpg)Transition Network Internationalsam rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-social-share.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We hope you felt as excited as we did while crafting this. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Tempo de plantar | Time to Plant
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/tempo-de-plantar-time-to-plant-brasilia/
Last updated: 2025-04-21T13:32:27.000Z
*This post has been written by Transition Brasil friends - thank you so much!*

The [*Tempo de Plantar* movement](https://www.instagram.com/tempodeplantar2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), led by Paulo César Araújo, a member of the Brasília Transition Towns group, is an environmental initiative aimed at fostering reforestation and sustainability across Brazil. The movement's central goal is to inspire collective action for planting trees and regenerating the environment. It has a strong focus on promoting the unconditional love and respect for all beings on Earth, emphasizing the importance of reconnecting with nature.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXefJWDRkFb1131OxEYp_EofkGKZO9aOorFnkR-rS88beE44lGWyjAfWutN46QxeKRz9ShhXuVusengFYn_w7ldmwg1GM9KRFG_ftjV0zEwf9exH9KLjNgiU9oJADtWyk3KlUw61?key=c2STcGXwnhzhGnkdqRSKaWuw)

Paulo César and his wife Glória

Through the work of the “Instituto Regenerativo Tempo de Plantar" (Time to Plant Regenerative Institute), the movement successfully advocated for the creation of the [“Lei do Dia de Plantar” (Planting Day Law)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HrgiF9EfYV56AOcddLjLqCMqr3a2v4Le/view?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabnZIrOuonw36JAQO5IA1%5FsRTGdwIfJc3yVP3xYjow399SxgUHYN6K8qLM%5Faem%5F5NQixTEejsvfQQVfxdrUkA&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which encourages the nationwide celebration of a day dedicated to planting trees. The movement envisions a future where communities across Brazil can plant 1 million trees in a single day, representing a powerful symbol of collective environmental responsibility.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcfrsyzqTcGgxBG-Gfn2zv8cwxMQtWEtwwpEMekiXQFhmY_UeLjDbFmPqdmlN6GGfr7a6r2V3yfk36sAHhMoTJtWBWMZKsxx1r0bzxtRF5YYoYalEhCJQQdwJ1oNeenLDtWgKPG?key=c2STcGXwnhzhGnkdqRSKaWuw)

Tempo de plantar in Vale das Videiras

At its core, "Tempo de Plantar" is not only about environmental restoration but also about cultivating love, solidarity, and responsibility towards nature and all life on Earth. The movement continues to inspire actions that aim for a more sustainable and compassionate world.

### Discover more:

**Tempo de Plantar Instagram account:**

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/image.png)](https://www.instagram.com/tempodeplantar2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

instagram.com/tempodeplantar2025

**Videos:**

[Movimento Regenerativo Tempo de PlantarMovimento Global para estimular o plantio de árvores e criar uma cultura de regeneração.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon_144x144.png)YouTube![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/AIdro_kgfc90AcO1-tctwfr-UoAPPxT-nNeVgApJkF8uAf8auA-s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)](https://www.youtube.com/@tempodeplantarmovimentoreg8111?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Law Project:**

[Projeto de Lei Dia de Plantar - Documentos Google.PDF![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/drive_2020q4_32dp-2.png)Google Docs![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/AKGpihbbTDcCJH96xJ8JwIoEdC6y53DnrIXy7wVrUXDVhUeMh0lK-CdeXG7fhivimal8Lmgn8aY37RHz12IqdzpCXGmqUqjsHrXglB4-s1600-rw-v1-1)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HrgiF9EfYV56AOcddLjLqCMqr3a2v4Le/view?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabnZIrOuonw36JAQO5IA1%5FsRTGdwIfJc3yVP3xYjow399SxgUHYN6K8qLM%5Faem%5F5NQixTEejsvfQQVfxdrUkA&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdo3DRqLkO5dffSUPd5cvoR0RXOgREI6uIgcjnWLYrX1cMqGPvM4DGJzdmYHCMwlvZXgOBzc49CJWOEuNHuKR9h0S-jvJU-X3YM2uGmTAHBeoiV_n_qMzaI4uzN5jI14L-89225Lg?key=c2STcGXwnhzhGnkdqRSKaWuw)
### Engaging Youth for a Regenerative Future
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/engaging-youth-for-a-regenerative-future/
Last updated: 2025-04-23T18:30:16.000Z
When we picture the Transition movement, the faces we often imagine are those of middle-aged or older changemakers. And yet, a quiet shift is happening. The majority of recent visitors to the Transition Network website are between **18 and 35 years old**. Young people *are* present in Transition groups—they are showing up, asking questions, bringing energy—but their presence isn’t always visible, nor is it always recognised.

We are planning on changing that.

👉 [Support the campaign](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) by sharing and/or donating (April 22-29, 2025)

Youth today are seeking knowledge and practical resilience skills to face the challenges of our time—climate disruption, social fragmentation, and economic uncertainty. They want to learn, connect, and build futures that feel regenerative and just. But too often, they lack the spaces, support, and opportunities to grow within movements like Transition.

We believe the next wave of Transition must be intergenerational, with young people not just included but *centred*. Their perspectives are essential for shaping the future of community resilience, and we want to ensure they are seen, heard, and supported.

That’s why we’re launching a new initiative to **map youth presence in Transition**, understand their needs and challenges, and co-create meaningful offerings that help them thrive. A young researcher will lead this work over a three-month period, with mentoring and training from our team to ensure peer-to-peer connection and impact. This process is part of our commitment to **Engaging Youth for a Regenerative Future**, supported by our current [Big Give campaign](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

By donating, you’re not just supporting a project—you’re investing in the future of the Transition movement.

## Join the conversation

To deepen this conversation, **Elizabeta Zijlstra Jovanovska** facilitated an interactive session on *Engaging Youth in Transition*. We explored questions like:

- How can we truly meet the learning needs of this new generation of Transitioners?
- What spaces are needed for youth to grow, apply Transition ideas, and lead initiatives?
- How do we shift from token involvement to genuine youth-powered transformation?

**Watch the recording:** 

Recording of Engaging Youth in Transition participatory session - April 23, 2025

**Elizabeta** is part of the Transition Network international team, serving as the Lead Link of the Learning and Practising Transition Circle. She is a Transition Trainer, youth worker and Permaculture Designer, with years of experience in creative, grassroots, and youth-led change. Elizabeta will guide us through a participatory space where we can reflect, share, and co-imagine what’s possible when young people are supported to do Transition *in their own way*.

---

👉 [Support the campaign](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000001yl3XYAQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) by sharing and/or donating (April 22-29, 2025)

---

Please reach out to comms@transitionnetwork.org if you have questions. Thank you!
### March 2025: Navigating Liminal Times
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/march-2025-newsletter-liminal-times/
Last updated: 2025-03-27T21:16:07.000Z
Dear friends, 

We are living in liminal times - threshold moments where the old ways are unraveling, yet the new has not fully emerged. From ecological tipping points to political uncertainty, from economic instability to the quiet but persistent work of community resilience, we are in a space of deep transition. These moments can feel unsettling, but they also hold immense possibility.

In times like these, doing Transition means that we don’t have to passively wait for the future to arrive—we can shape it. Across the world, people are reimagining economies, reclaiming local food systems, and rebuilding relationships with land and each other. This work has never been more vital. As we step into the unknown, let’s do it with courage, creativity, and care.

Yours in solidarity,  
*Transition Network International team*  
  
\*NOTE: We're working to have translations available to a wide range of languages, these will be available soon, thanks for your understanding. 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- Have you signed up yet?  
**Check out the 24-h** [**Programme of the Day of Transition Practise 2025**](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2025?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**,** and register for the sessions that call your name - and if you also hear your friends' names, send them an invite too 😄

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/03/ENGLISH---PROGRAMME-DoTP-2025-1--2.png)

Day of Transition Practise 2025 full programme

- [**The Community Research Project is open for your stories!**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/) **Q&A session happening on Wednesday, April the 2nd, 2025 at 4pm UTC.** We're gathering stories of change through a Community Research Project. This will provide **valuable information and resources for local groups** to learn from each other, raise awareness of their activities, support fundraising efforts, and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement. Discover more [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change), and register to the Q&A session [here](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nl01AhBnQ2iXcRrSRKFKig?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1-.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

- Rob's logbook: a month-long imagination tour through Portugal. Read [**here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-tour-in-portugal/).

[The ‘E Se’ (‘What If’) Tour in Portugal: a report by Rob HopkinsThis is a write-up of the tour we just finished around Portugal, which I hope captures how it was. It was quite an adventure! May it leave a legacy of renewed energy and momentum and some new tools and practices, as well as new connections between people. As dedicated non-flyers,![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1-5.png)Transition NewsTransition Network![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/e-se.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-tour-in-portugal/)

- The [**Cultural Transformation Circle**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/ctc/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) invites you to join a special **celebration of the Equinox** —a time to reconnect with Nature and each other— on March 22nd, 15:00h UTC. Find out more and register [here](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/equinox-reconnecting-nature-march-22nd/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Equinox: Reconnecting with Nature on Saturday March 22ndJoin us on March 22 for a global gathering to celebrate the Equinox and intentionally reconnecting with Nature together!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/logo-ITC-hummingbird.png)Cultural Transformation CircleAnahí Beatriz Pacheco![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1585267149224-fa0a2262f8eb)](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/equinox-reconnecting-nature-march-22nd/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

- Online event in German: **"Macht voll verändern"** (**Completely Changing Power) on 19 March from 6 to 8pm (CET).** At the end of 2024, Eva Stützel published a book entitled "Completely Changing Power". In this session she will introduce the essence of the book and invite participants to develop an awareness of their own power and become aware of how it affects the relationship with others. More info [here](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [**Sustainable Living Tasmania**](https://www.facebook.com/sustainableliving.tasmania?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZX4codiW6RDyalGQHa9dU5ExwNW6JV2J4J1EAslLEhBeJDBEW6M4A5puhTSgIYIMHf3fqVs06n1ZVfzWBwoGw-11WC7ogYKj9rwOOjNXr-FrNH2Ic7CaSkgFLNl2KMyepYmAHd4b0G%5F9lx9oQ6O9D3ynpldDxdCQXocjqiKqnwACw&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UC%2CP-R) · **21 March 2025**  
**CALLING ALL OF TASSIE'S CLIMATE CONSCIOUS KIDS!**  
Register now for [The BIG Day of Circular Living Ideas](https://www.facebook.com/events/779609801003108/?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZX4codiW6RDyalGQHa9dU5ExwNW6JV2J4J1EAslLEhBeJDBEW6M4A5puhTSgIYIMHf3fqVs06n1ZVfzWBwoGw-11WC7ogYKj9rwOOjNXr-FrNH2Ic7CaSkgFLNl2KMyepYmAHd4b0G%5F9lx9oQ6O9D3ynpldDxdCQXocjqiKqnwACw&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UK-R) YOUTH FORUM! This forum will kick start the Big Day because the voices of our young people are so important. Please register your interest by emailing [nel@slt.org.au](mailto:nel@slt.org.au) and share with your neighbours, friends and sporting groups.
- **ALTER NATIVAS being released!** After two years of screenings, [AlterNativas documentary](https://alternativasdocumental.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) by Transition Spain is being released to watch free. Celebratory online event ([screening](https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-lanzamiento-colectivo-de-alternativas-en-abierto-ven-a-celebrar-1261083648139?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) happening on **26 March 2025**.

**What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and spread it further! Email us at** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

Do you follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? Featured in March: **Shunro Yoshida from Transition Japan**. Check the [interviews on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhnznT0wT0JNXaVqVWDyXGlJ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [posts on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/People%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for some heartwarming inspiration. And do send some online love and reach out to Hanyun with your story as well!

[![Shunro Yoshida and Hanyun Xu on the cover of the third episode of People of Transition](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/03/Sunro-Yoshida-japan---People-of-Transition.jpeg)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DHFv5wIJTHb/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Shunro Yoshida and Hanyun Xu on the cover of the third episode of People of Transition

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

- We thought you might find useful this guide to Resilient communities from USA: [**Be Prepared: Build Inner Resilience & Build Resilient Hubs**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19%5FFN35O6Cf6%5F82Q1IhPiy%5FKCMu34VQVgdJOkeFcCRRI/edit?tab=t.0&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- “A Guide to Resilience for the New ‘20s”. (Info gathered by Aya Nagano, USA)

Also, a few other short reminders of own resilience:

- [**Circles of Control, Influence, and Concern: Where Should You Focus Your Energy?**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17KANDgdeOF0UsMsCO6Csi9cwUMyV7MwG/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [**How Flipping the Switch Leads to Resilience**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IkKW4uQIM6NZpg0Up5GjSXaD0t%5FObTm0/view?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

- March 17 · [Last call for Bioregional design scholarships](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/)
- March 19 · ["Macht voll verändern" (Completely Changing Power)](https://www.transition-initiativen.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- March 21 · [The BIG Day of Circular Living Ideas Youth Forum ](https://www.facebook.com/events/779609801003108/?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZX4codiW6RDyalGQHa9dU5ExwNW6JV2J4J1EAslLEhBeJDBEW6M4A5puhTSgIYIMHf3fqVs06n1ZVfzWBwoGw-11WC7ogYKj9rwOOjNXr-FrNH2Ic7CaSkgFLNl2KMyepYmAHd4b0G%5F9lx9oQ6O9D3ynpldDxdCQXocjqiKqnwACw&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UK-R)
- March 22 · [CTC Equinox celebration. Reconnecting with Nature](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/equinox-reconnecting-nature-march-22nd/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- March 26 · [AlterNativas documentary release](https://alternativasdocumental.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- April 2 · [Community Research Project Q&A live session](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)
- April 4 · [Day of Transition Practise 2025](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise-2025/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

You can add your Transition events to the Transition platform calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://hub.transition-space.org/p/9?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1").

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- **The Healthy Food Healthy Planet Fund:** HFHP invites civil society organisations based in Europe to participate in its open Calls to Collective Action. If interested, you can find more information [here](https://mcusercontent.com/62b05ce5ff94865f64a53bc52/files/a139eb55-e390-c5c7-cbc0-c209fb4f668c/Calls%5Fto%5FCollective%5FAction%5F2025%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- [**Storytelling**](https://climatestoryunit.org/apply/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**:** new call from **Climate Story Unit,** with funding for up to 125.000 USD.
- **Scholarships:** Are you called to meet the challenges of these times through becoming a **Bioregional designer**? We are supporting 10 people with a fully funded scholarship for this course - few more spaces available if you are fast! **The** **training starts on March 18th 2025**. [Read more on how and where to apply for the scholarship](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/).

[Bioregional design scholarships for transitioners!Check out this paid opportunity for 10 Transitioners to join the Bioregional design course.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1-1.png)Transition NewsTransition Network![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1511497584788-876760111969)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-3.png) 

## Greetings from the Future

Greetings from the Future postcard from Dan, one of TNi Core Circle lead links

- If you're curious, here is a link to the [weekly play breaks that Dan hosts every Monday](https://stitch-bottle-42c.notion.site/WEEKLY-PLAY-MIND-BREAKS-15e86bee70e4805fbd1be03e38f1c2fd?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**What is your own message to humanity from 2050?** Send a short clip to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) with your postcard from 2050 (or the year you manage to travel to) so we can share in the Transition Newsletter upcoming issues!  
Feel free to communicate in your preferred language, and send the clip in any format or size you like. We can do the rest.  
**PS. We're preparing a special contest - the most imaginative postcards from the future we receive during this year 2025 will get some love!** 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For April e-news, the deadline for submissions is **March 22nd**. For May issue the deadline is April **20th**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Community Garden - Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180.png)Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d.jpg)](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

[Donate | Support Our Work - Transition NetworkIf you’d like to support our work, you can donate here. Transition Network encourage communities to come together and rebuild our world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-2.jpg)Transition Network Internationalsam rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-social-share.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this edition of the Newsletter. We hope you felt as excited as we did while crafting this. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### The ‘E Se’ (‘What If’) Tour in Portugal: a report by Rob Hopkins
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-tour-in-portugal/
Last updated: 2025-03-13T16:48:03.000Z
This is a write-up of the tour we just finished around Portugal, which I hope captures how it was. It was quite an adventure! May it leave a legacy of renewed energy and momentum and some new tools and practices, as well as new connections between people.

As dedicated non-flyers, my wife Emma and I travelled from Plymouth on a thankfully very smooth crossing to Santander, slept incredibly well and sunbathed on the deck. Our ship arrived late into Santander, meaning we had a couple of hours to wander around, sit in a bar, visit the wonderful Mercado Del Esperanza (the Market of Hope), grab some food and then get our train to Valledolid, a train that broke down several times, finally arriving an hour late. Next day we were up early for the bus to Viseu in Portugal, on a packed BlaBlaCar bus, heading through Portugese landscapes blackened by wildfires.

**Viseu**

We were met in Viseu by Filipa Pimentel, tour organiser, Transition Network Lead Link and so much more besides, and having dropped our bags where we’re staying, set off for a walk around this beautiful town. We found a vegan restaurant for a delicious supper.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/03/viseu.webp)

Viseu

Next day we spent out in a beautiful forest outside Viseu. Story is that the land was slated to be turned into a new bypass of the town and cleared for the development of new houses, and a couple called Humberto and Susana and others mobilised to buy this gorgeous wild forest to protect it for future generations. It is now home to a home-schooling project, and a large rewilding/conservation initiative.

On that first day there, the forest was home to a day of activities, some beautiful interactive structures, including swinging bathtubs and armchairs in the trees, percussion structures and creative making spaces, food and music. It was also my first sight of the Portugese edition of ‘From What Is to What If’, entitled ‘E SE…Libertássemos a nossa Imaginação para criar o Futuro que desejamos’, the first that actually uses my drawings which is rather delightful.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/03/forest.webp)

In the evening I gave a talk in the forest, at the end of which the organisers showed a really sweet film of some of the kids from the place passing a copy of my book in a relay before then actually appearing to present me with a copy that everyone had written in and drawn on.

Next day I was to lead a workshop on ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future’. The initial signs were not auspicious. It was absolutely pouring down, rain of Biblical proportions, monsoon-like, meaning we needed to rethink on the hoof how and where this was going to happen. Water was coming in the roof and down the walls and it was all pretty wild, like designing a workshop on a ship in the middle of a hurricane at sea. But it all worked out fine.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/462444106_1996733620758656_4732428751833414336_n.jpg?resize=1100%2C825&ssl=1)

About 40 people came and we had great fun, a deep dive into the power of the radical imagination and how to harness it, why time travel is a great tool for activists, we made ‘Scents of the Future’, created collages of the future, took a wet and windy ‘Walk of What If’. Thanks to everyone who came and their resilience in sticking around until the end!

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/462285060_1996733844091967_3455360383702072383_n.jpg?resize=1100%2C1100&ssl=1)

In the evening, Emma, Filipa and I ate in a restaurant in Viseu where the owner felt the need to very loudly introduce every table to diners to the whole restaurant, to introduce his whole team, and to sing us songs in several languages, accompanying himself on the keyboard. It was all a little bit much when you’re tired and just want to eat and chat, but it was at least a story to tell our grandchildren.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/462712295_2000926223672729_3268786246155992515_n.jpg?resize=825%2C1100&ssl=1)

Emma, Filipa and I on the underground in Lisbon.

**Lisbon**

After a day off, we headed to Lisbon, and that evening Filipa and I gave a talk at Culturgest. The event was full, and a beautiful, fun and dynamic evening we had. Thanks to the quantum device we had brought with us, we were able to transform the theatre room we were in into a time portal, the first known recorded act of time travel in Lisbon’s history. A delightful audience who engaged beautifully, an evening to treasure, ended off with signing books and a delicious meal out with the organisers.

**Biovilla**

Next day we headed out by train from Lisbon to Setúbal (we are doing as much of the tour by public transport as possible) and then by taxi to the gorgeous Biovilla Sustentabilidade in the heart of the Arrábida National Park. Absolutely beautiful, a real bit of untouched Portugese wilderness. Biovilla is a sustainability centre that hosts a wide variety of trainings and courses, a demonstration centre for sustainability in practice. And the food they serve is amazing!

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Emma and I set off to climb what we called a mountain but which was really a big hill, but the view from the top was absolutely beautiful, well worth getting a bit lost on the way up. From one side we could see Setubal and the sea, on the other the land stretching out into the distance. Just beautiful.

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Next day I ran an afternoon workshop, for about 20 people, many of them from The Wave Project, an Erasmus programme for young people. In the beautiful sunshine we time travelled, played different games, dived deep into why our activism needs to help people fall in love with the future, and much more. A really special and touching day.

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Then in the evening I did a talk to a larger group which was about ‘From What Is to What If’ (a while since I did that talk!) to mark its Portuguese manifestation. Again, a really lovely evening, it feels like this work around imagination and time really touches people very deeply which is very precious to see.

**Back to Lisbon**

On Sunday 13th, we headed back to Lisbon. Filipa, Emma and I headed through the Metro to Telheiras, a suburb on the edge of the city that is home to one of the first Transition initiatives in Portugal way back when. Their story is fascinating. When doing Transition in the ‘traditional’ model began to run out of steam, they instead professionalised it, made a partnership with the local municipality and other key local organisations, and now it runs as a funded organisation that is a key part of making things happen, from community renewables pilots to an annual festival and much more besides. We were met by Luis Keel, one of the group’s founders and now its co-ordinator, who showed us round the neighbourhood and told us the project’s story.

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When we got back to the community centre where we had first met, about 40 people from the neighbourhood and different parts of Lisbon arrived for a potluck picnic and get together in the sunshine. Once appetites were satisfied and conversations had been had, most of us set off on a Critical Mass-style bike ride through the city to the venue for the afternoon’s ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future’ workshop. Our home was the basement of a community centre and food cooperative in the heart of the city.

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Subscriptions for the workshop ended up being way above what was expected, and we ended up with about 80 people crammed into a windowless basement. From such unpromising beginnings, a rather beautiful 6 hour workshop emerged, with a magical bit of time travelling, illuminated only by my pink time machine light, some gorgeous collage-making as people set out to capture the 2030s they had dreamt of, and a beautiful moment where groups doing their ‘Walk of What If’ exercise huddled in circles in the street in the evening light. Such a gorgeous and enthusiastic bunch.

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**Porto**

Next day we set off for Porto on the train (we were trying to do as much of the tour as possible by public transport, not easy in a country whose public transport could, at best, be described as ‘patchy’. That evening I was a speaker at the Universidade do Porto, in a beautiful old meeting room with a painted ceiling, in an event that was also streamed live online.

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I started, as I had in Copenhagen a few weeks before, keeping everyone out of the room and explaining to them that I had succeeded in turning the room into a time portal, and that when I let them in, they would be stepping into 2030\. It was rather lovely, and after this intro, people filed in in silence and the evening began. It was a delightful space in which to take people to the future, and we had a great Q&A at the end. It was also great to meet so many people afterwards and to sign lots of copies of ‘E Se’.

**Povoa de Varzim**

Next morning we headed off to Povoa de Varzim, about 20 minutes from Porto, to run an all-day workshop hosted by Centro do Clima, a brilliant organisation in the town run by old friend and Transition activist Pedro Macedo. Filipa and I were running an all-day workshop in the town, in a large, bright and airy room that was a welcome change from our Lisbon cave! It had been promoted with a rather lovely video in which the town filled up with ‘What If’ questions…

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We were joined by about 50 people for a deep dive into the imagination, with the best ‘Making Scents of the Future’ exercise I’ve yet been part of. Having imagined the 2030 they long for, I give them each a paper cup and ask them to make in it a cocktail of smells that best captures the future they long for. They have to give it a name like a real cocktail would have. I then mark out an area with chairs and tell them that they have been invited to a very exclusive cocktail party in a small Porto flat and that they need to get round the room and smell as many of the different offerings as possibly. I put some party music on and off they go. Such a delight to move among them all smelling all the different glimpses of the future we could still, just about, create.

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We finished at about 4, and set off into the town centre to the town’s theatre where Filipa and I were speaking that evening. The idea was that I speak first about the Transition approach to local economies, after which Sara from Centro do Clima and Filipa spoke about new economy projects in Portugal and Brazil, and I then gave an overview of ‘From What Is to What If’, it’s key elements and arguments. It was rather lovely, and the evening ended with book signings and a very nice risotto with some of the organisers, delightful conversations while Portugal ground out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Scotland on the TV screen above our heads (TV screens seem to be an integral part of most restaurants here). After such a full day, both Filipa and I were so so tired! Quite a marathon.

Next morning I did an interview with one of the national papers, and Emma and I went with Pedro for a tour of Povoa, visiting what will soon be the new HQ for Centro do Clima and seeing some of the sights of the town. The Camina de Santiago passes through the town, so I can now claim to have at least walked about 10m of the Santiago. Not very impressive I know, but hey. After a delicious lunch and saying farewell to Ana and Pedro, who hosted us so wonderfully, Emma and I set off for Sintra.

**Sintra**

It was time for a much-needed day off after several very full days. We were in Sintra, a gorgeous place up in the hills overlooking the sea, which when we arrived in torrential rain on Wednesday night seemed quite quiet, but by Thursday morning we could see what people means when they described Sintra as “quite touristy”. It’s been a while since I was in a place that is home to so much mass tourism, to huge coaches trying to get down narrow roads that were not designed to accommodate them.

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The Pena Palace in Sintra.

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Sintra.

The ‘historic centre’ of Sintra is beautiful but is rammed with international tourists (including us, after all “don’t rail at the traffic jam you’re in, you are the traffic jam”). We walked up the hill to visit the old Moorish castle (as in it was built by the Muslim empires that ran Spain and Portugal for about 500 years from the 700s, not as in “well this castle is very more-ish”. We then headed to the nearby extraordinary Pena Palace, a Romantic-period castle that for a while was home for the Portuguese Royal family, before the revolution. We didn’t pay to go in as the crowds were huge, but we instead walked around in the gardens and woods surrounding it, high above Sintra, just gorgeous.

**Colares**

Next stop was Colares, about two thirds of the way between Sintra and the sea. We were hosted in the village hall there, and joined by about 60 people for a 6 hour workshop on imagination that was a lot of fun. We did all the usual things, and the ‘Making Scents of the Future’ cocktail party was a joy and a delight. The workshop finished late, and after some shared food, Emma and I stayed the night with Luis and Milena in their gorgeous house in overlooking the sea.

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**Portalegre**

Saturday morning we were up early and off to Portalegre. Our intended lift had to be cancelled at the last minute when, just after we had piled all our stuff into the back, the car got a puncture. Instead we had to change into a taxi, arriving in Portalegre just in time. We were guests of Nave Mãe, a wholefood shop and space for therapies and workshops. In the garden out the back of the shop I gave a talk about ‘From What Is to What If’, the key ideas in it and some of the stories. About 40 people came, it was delightful. After a shared lunch with some of the co-ordinating team and our host, we headed off to drive to Beirã.

**Beirã**

Our venue for the afternoon’s workshop was a former railway station. The line it was on, which ran from Spain to Portugal, was closed in 2012\. In its heyday, before the removal of passport controls as part of the Schengen Agreement, it was the passport stop for people travelling for Portugal to Spain. Now one of the station buildings has been turned into a hub for environmental and social projects, and the other into a hotel and social space. Here we did a 4 hour workshop with about 30 people, trying to cram as many things into a shorter-than-usual time window, but it worked beautifully. A really creative bunch, we shared some delightful time travelling adventures and other exercises.

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In the evening, in the hotel part of the station, the last event for the day was a conversation with about 35 local activists and people from the municipality about what’s already happening and how everyone might work better together. It was very inspiring to hear about so much potential for deep transformation here, and so many people really committed to making that happen. The day’s final visit was to the nearby vegan restaurant Borboleta Verde serving ‘vegan soulfood’, for a delightful evening with some of the organising team, amazing food and an actually ‘more-ish’ local beer.

Sunday morning started with a trip on the ‘rail bike’, a really fun way of using the now unused railway lines through Beirã station. Each one seats 2 people and they mean you can pedal along the train tracks. Our host took us 8km up the derelict train lines, through olive groves, rocky landscapes, cork oaks, with views of distant villages. Just beautiful, and a good workout in the morning!

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A great way to use old train tracks. Final thing before some Sunday downtime was a visit to the Beirã market, recently revived by the community and the municipality working together, home to different local crafts and produce. Filipa and I were part of a conversation about how the wide variety of local projects and initiatives here might work together better, all rounded off with some paella and a beer. Very nice. And now an afternoon and then a day off. Much needed at this point! Deepest thanks to all our hosts and to everyone who has joined us for different events.

We had a rare day off on Monday 21st. We headed off to visit two key local towns, Castelo de Vide and Marväo. Both were medieval hilltop towns, absolutely beautiful. Marväo was the jewel of the two though, its medieval castle is the highest point in the region, and climbing to the top of the castle gives a spectacular 360° view for many miles. It was a clear sunny day and it almost felt like viewing the Earth from an aeroplane or something. Really spectacular and a very restorative day.

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The view from Marvao.

**Odemira**

Odemira is a beautiful town, the regional capital, and we arrived in the evening for a talk in a new bookshop – Mirabolante. The idea had been that the shop would be opening, even that our talk might be the opening event for the shop, but work had taken longer than planned, so the talk took place in an almost ready bookshop, also still a construction site.

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Outside the bookshop after the talk in Odemira.

About 40 people squeezed into the bookshop for a talk about ‘From What Is to What If’ followed by questions, after which we went to the home of the bookshop’s owners for a beautiful meal and some delicious local wine.

**São Luís**

Our host in São Luís was André Vizinho, an amazing activist for regenerative land use and forestry, as well as a facilitator and one of the earliest Transition activists in Portugal. His place is beautiful and we were made very welcome. Our first day there was a day off, so Emma and I headed towards the nearby coast. First stop was Praia do Malhão, a beautiful long beach on the wild Atlantic coast, one where swimming wasn’t really an option, instead being thrown around by the waves was more the offer.

Then, hunger suggesting we change locations, we headed to Vila Nova de Milfontes, a nearby town where the estuary meets the sea. A beautiful place, really unusual, where the estuary itself if dead calm but you can also see those wild Atlantic waves at the mouth of the estuary. We ate in a beautiful café on the beach and hung out there until heading back to São Luís.

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Sunset in Vila Nova de Milfontes.

Next day we were the guests of Co•Re, a new Rural Learning Centre in the middle of São Luís (the name coming from ‘CO.learning to Re.generate’), which runs a series of trainings on rural regenerative empowerment. Filipa and I were leading a day long workshop for about 45 people who were on Day 4 of a 5 day workshop on regenerative rural communities, some from the local area, and some from projects across Europe.

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In the beautiful large meeting room upstairs we ran our ‘Falling in Love with the Future’ workshop, with a beautiful time travel activity, a delightful cocktail of smells of the future and many great project ideas by the end of the day. The organisers of the training try to integrate them into the community as much as possible, to spread the benefits and impacts around as much as they can.

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That evening all the participants were invited to supper in the homes of different members of the community, and so Emma and I joined Filipa, André, imagination activist Ora who had been travelling with us and a couple of other people in the home of Rita and her two sons, for a beautiful meal, conversation and music.

São Luís is very close to the famous intentional community of Tamera, somewhere I had always wanted to visit, and it turned out the next morning I had some free time, and Liza, a colleague from Transition Network who lives near São Luís offered to give me a lift there. We had an hour being shown around by Peter Koll, one of the community’s founders. It’s a fascinating place. Just about to celebrate 30 years since its founding, Tamera is a project rooted in the exploration of peace, of free approaches to love and sexuality, and of ecological restoration. It’s on about 150 hectares of land, and they’ve done an incredible job of working with water in innovative ways.

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One of Tamera’s amazing man-made lakes.

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Inside the strawbale Assembly Hall at Tamera.

In a very dry region, they built a system of swales, of new forests, of lakes and ponds, which make sure that every drop of water on the place is captured and absorbed as much as possible. Over the years, their work has led to the replenishing of what was a depleting aquifer, with benefits felt to the land much further afield. We visited their amazing Assembly Hall, the largest strawbale structure on the Iberian peninsula, where they hold community meetings and big events. We also saw some of the ‘villages’ the residents live in, shared areas, and places people work too. Beautiful place. My deepest thanks to Peter for the tour, and to Liza for the lift there.

That afternoon, back at in São Luís at Co.Re, was a big event to which the course participants and the wider community were invited. In the courtyard at the back of the centre, about 180 people crammed in for an evening beneath the orange trees. First there was a beautiful short presentation designed to celebrate what had already happened in the village, the pioneers of community activism, in the form of the baking of an imaginary cake, the Transition town group for example bringing the eggs, another group the flour and so on, before the mix was taken indoors and an amazing cake was brought out and distributed to everyone present.

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Then Filipa and I gave a talk that went down so well, such a beautiful engaged audience, Filipa was on interpretation fire, and it was a really memorable and delightful evening. It was a little shorter than usual because I misread the time (!), but the evening had gotten very cold, and people were starting to go blue, so maybe an earlier end to the evening than planned wasn’t such a bad thing? I hope not.

The evening ended out at a nearby co-operative shop and café for an evening of food and drink and local bands and dancing, chatting with people and everybody unwinding after a very full few days. São Luís is a fascinating place, so many people there doing so many amazing things, a real epicentre of possibility I think.

**Faro**

Emma stayed on in Vila Nova de Milfontes for a few days while Filipa and I headed to Faro on the south coast. We arrived just in time to do an all-day workshop at Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Músicos in the heart of the city.

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About 25 people joined us for the final workshop of the tour, with their handfuls of What If questions at the end being a particular highlight, which when laid out together on the floor formed the basis of the best manifesto for the town that one could imagine. Our hosts were wonderful, providing participants with snacks and drinks and a delicious lunch. The day ended with a pizza with Filipa in the centre of Faro, unwinding after a very full day in the centre of this vibrant city.

**Aveiro**

For our final stop, Filipa and I travelled back up north to Aveiro, a beautiful city about three-quarters of the way up the west coast of Portugal, making a long train journey from the beautiful city of Faro to get here. On the tour’s final day, we started by heading to a local school to run a 2 hour session on imagination with 100 kids between the ages of 15 and 18\. Usually those words, “running a session for 2 hours with 15 to 18 year olds” provoke severe anxiety in me, but these were a dream.

Filipa, Ora and me ran a session that talked about why telling stories and rehearsing the future is so important. I told them we were actually time travellers from the future who have travelled back to tell them about it (I could see at this point some of them thinking “who let this nutcase in here?”) and then told them stories from the future.

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With Ora and Filipa at the school.

We played Yes, But/Yes, And which they loved. Earlier in the day Ora and I had created some imaginary Instagram posts from different points during the Transition, i.e. Taylor Swift announcing her 2029 tour of Portugal will be done via her travelling by bike (her private jet long since got rid of), Cristiano Ronaldo using his vast wealth to unlock the renewable energy revolution in Portugal, and so on. We presented Ora as being the social media archivist in our time travelling team, whose role was to collect key social media posts from those years of Transition.

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We then asked the kids to come up with 3 Instagram posts from points in the next 6 years. They loved it! They came up with all kinds of ideas and worked really well. What was also lovely was that all the teachers were sat at the back of the hall, and we watched them all doing all the exercises as well! Thanks to all the kids who came, and for accepting our eccentric time-travelling ways, and participating so fully.

Then we were off to the venue of the Planetiers conference, where I was to be the keynote speaker closing the first full day of the event. After a book signing thing, it was my turn. I had 30 minutes for my talk, a clock ticking down in front of me, and I’m delighted to say I ended dead on 30 minutes. Beautiful feedback afterwards which, after you’ve done so many versions of the same talk back to back for many weeks, it’s lovely to hear how people hearing it for the first time react to it.

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Filipa and I went to a bar to toast the end of the tour, an amazing few weeks which feels like it has really touched lots of people and will leave lasting ripples. A tour that at times felt like a marathon, and at other times like a sprint, but which also included some beautiful restorative down time in beautiful places. Final stop of the day was a restaurant where the organisers, speakers and others gathered for a meal to celebrate the event, before a walk home through the evening streets of the beautiful city of Aveiro.

I’d like to thank Emma Hopkins for being my companion on this tour, Filipa Pimentel for working so so hard to make it all happen in spite of sometimes difficult circumstances, for interpreting and facilitating and bringing her sense of playfulness to the whole thing, to Ora Atanley, Andre, Fernando and Carla, Jose and Pedro, Ana and Sara, Luis and Milena, Rafaela, José and everyone at Co.Re, Elizabeta ZJ, Peter, Carina, Humberto and Susana, Associação Quinta Oficina, and too many others to mention, as well to all the delightful people who came on workshops and to talks. Thanks to Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian for their support of parts of the tour. Thanks to the kids in the school in Aveiro for being so nice to us.

*Rob Hopkins*

---

Rob's post has originally been published on [robhopkins.net](https://www.robhopkins.net/2024/10/29/the-e-se-what-if-tour-in-portugal-a-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and is shared here with with the express permission of the author. Thank you Rob!
### Day of Transition Practise 2025 Programme
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/dotp-2025-programme/
Last updated: 2025-03-27T13:48:01.000Z
Join this unique gathering of collective wisdom, action, and transformation hosted by Transition Network International and global movement of changemakers.

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## **DoTP 2025 Programme Overview**  

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### February 2025 - Pathways to a Desired Future
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/february-2025-pathways-to-a-desired-future/
Last updated: 2025-02-21T00:39:28.000Z
## 

## Welcome dear friends!

It's here! After a few years break, and following many requests, the Transition Movement’s international Newsletter returns. In these times of increasing challenges and overwhelming news feeds, choosing to engage with stories of community-led change is a form of activism that can support your mental health and contribute to effective action.

This past year has brought big changes in [how Transition Network’s international team works alongside you](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/celebrating-the-change-working-better-alongside-you/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and supports grassroots initiatives worldwide. In this edition we reflect on the journey so far and offer some next steps and pathways. 

This month, we invite you to discover two exciting new initiatives: **People of Transition** and **Voices of Transition**, sharing diverse stories of change. Explore the live **Calendar** of worldwide learning and connection opportunities, and be sure to save the date for the **Day of Transition Practice** on April 4th. Check the featured resource that focuses on **Regeneration**, an essential skill for our groups. For a dose of imagination, dive into **Greetings from the Future** and send us your own living postcards from another time ahead (psst, surprises coming!).

Lastly, we are excited to be properly launching the Transition movement’s **Community Research Project.** This is a wonderful opportunity to share a story of positive change from your own unique perspective and in your own language, and keep weaving the movement stronger and more resilient. Share yours!

Yours in solidarity,  
*Transition Network International team*  
  
\*NOTE: We're working to have translations available to a wide range of languages, these will be available soon, thanks for your understanding. 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-4.png) 

## What's buzzing at TNi?

- **Community Research Project is Live! Q&A session happening on Thursday February 20th at 5 pm UTC.** We're gathering stories of change through a Community Research project. This will provide **valuable information and resources for local groups** to learn from each other, raise awareness of their activities, support fundraising efforts, and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement. Discover more [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change):

[Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!Share Your Stories of Community-led Change and Help Spread Resilience and Regeneration!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1.png)Transition NewsDeborah Benham![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/kevin-erdvig-k7fUP9RQj3Y-unsplash--1-.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/)

- **Day of Transition Practise: Save the Date!** We're baking the programme and it will be published soon.More info [**here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/save-the-date-day-of-transition-practice-2025/).

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/Day-of-Transition-Practise-SAVE-THE-DATE-2025-landscape-Fb-1.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/save-the-date-day-of-transition-practice-2025/)

Save the Date! Day of Transition Practise happening on Friday, 4 April 2025

- **Voices of Transition** \- [Check out some of the Voices of Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/voices-of-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), part of a training programme that enhances the public profiles of transition activists from diverse –and often underrepresented– backgrounds.

[Voices of Transition - Transition Network![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-1.jpg)Transition Network InternationalLiza Jovanovska![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Voices-of-Transition-logo-final-transparent-1.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/voices-of-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- Filipa's logbook: a journey full of candid personal and collective reflections. Read [here](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/stop-the-music-let-2025-wait/).

[Stop the music! Let the year 2025 wait...The year 2025 began without me having reached the end of the previous year. 2024 was intense in terms of personal projects. I say ‘personal’ (and not ‘individual’, mind you!) because they were projects that didn’t emerge from the context of my paid work, even though they are systemically and![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1-3.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/54189052234_802753a398_k.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/stop-the-music-let-2025-wait/)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-2.png) 

## Heartbeat of the Movement

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/assembly-feb25.jpg)

Transition Assembly Wales and England, 7th-9th February 2025

- **Wales and England, UK:** More than 200 people attended the Transition Assembly gathering during 7th-9th February 2025\. A special session has been arranged at 2-5pm on 8 March to share what went on at the Assembly, what came out of it and your chance to input into what’s next. [Register here](https://trnuk.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=54a12ae0dbc8dc98546e16d7f&id=4fe9e23359&e=425c9f5c52&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Just Transition:** A group of Transitioners are putting together aJust Transition training/impact bid tied to the EU program [Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV)](https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/cerv/wp-call/2025/call-fiche%5Fcerv-2025-citizens-civ%5Fen.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). This aims to establish a working group dedicated to building a Just Transition framework for all to use. [This document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sOR59hy1jylhRA1TZgtAtf6NgguaDe1UlkmC-nQIKVo/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is their starting point. **Want to participate?** Contact [Michael Boyle](https://hub.transition-space.org/u/michaelboyle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or [Sanna Iranta](https://hub.transition-space.org/u/sannairanta/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
- **Australia:** Did you know that some Aussie Transitioners are singers at the [**Melbourne Climate Choir**](https://climatechoirmelbourne.wordpress.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)? This is one of the beautiful songs they sing as a form of artivism in public events and performances:

> We honour the Land that we’re living on  
> We honour the Country and the Old Ones  
> We sing up Country and we sing it up strong  
> For we are all connected as one  
> We are all connected as one  
>  
> We honour the Ones who have gone before  
> We honour the wisdom of the ancient lore  
> We sing up Country and we sing it up strong  
> For we are all connected as one  
> We are all connected as one  
>  
> We honour the Earth and the Sea and Sun  
> We honour the living and the life to come  
> We sing up Country and we sing it up strong  
> For we are all connected as one  
> We are all connected as one

What's alive in your Transition group? We'd love to hear and amplify! Email us at [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/11.png) 

## People of Transition

Do you follow [Hanyun on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) yet? A wonderful person, featuring wonderful people! Do send some online love and reach out to her with your story. Featured in January: [Dora Napolitano](https://www.instagram.com/p/DEiOTUlTJZQ/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Gabriela Montenegro](https://www.instagram.com/p/DFhuQIQp%5F2w/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **Check the interviews and posts on instagram, they're full of passion and inspiration.** 

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/7-2.png) 

## Resources of the Month

**Book and talk recommendation**: [The Regeneration Handbook: A New Perspective on the Transition Towns Movement](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/the-regeneration-handbook-a-new-perspective-on-the-transition-towns-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
  
Check out the resources and watch the recording of this special Practising Transition webinar, celebrating the release of [*The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World*](https://evolutionarychange.org/book?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) by Transition Network’s Training Coordinator, **Don Hall**. 

[The Regeneration Handbook: A New Perspective on the Transition Towns MovementWatch the recording of this special Practising Transition webinar, celebrating the release of The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World by Transition Network’s Training Coordinator Don Hall! Deeply rooted in the history of the Transition Movement, The Regeneration Handbook builds on “The Five Stages of Transition” from![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/transition_network_logomark_web_onecolor_medium.png)Practising TransitionDon Hall![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/regeneration-handbook-event-banner-with-photos-ok2.png)](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/the-regeneration-handbook-a-new-perspective-on-the-transition-towns-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Check out these Practising Transition resources on the Regeneration Handbook topics and watch the webinar recording

[Reflection & Activity Guide — Evolutionary Change![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon-1.ico)Evolutionary Change0![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/Guide-Cover.jpg)](https://evolutionarychange.org/guide?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Check out this free Reflection & Activity Guide for Groups

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13.png) 

## Calendar

- [February 18th · Collective Wisdom Sharing: Building Healthy Team Dynamics (Practising Transition)](https://events.transitionmovement.org/practise/healthyteam/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [February 20th · Community Research Project Q&A](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3u8IFBDqRlCT5MwmWYLVHw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/registration)
- [February 27th · New Moon. Collective Healing (Cultural Transformation Circle)](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc--hqT8sH9ZQx5we4UdrRo8j7Bbf-gwh?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#/registration)
- [March 8th · Assemble online - celebrate, share, journey forward ](https://events.transitionmovement.org/transition-together/assemble-online/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

You can add your Transition events to the Transition platform calendar [**here**](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to be featured in the community space, as well as the upcoming e-news. Make sure to set them up as "Public". [How-to instructions here](https://hub.transition-space.org/p/9?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see "Route 1").

[Add your Transition events and activities to the calendar](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/3-5.png) 

## Opportunities

- **Fundraising support for Transition Hubs and groups**: Does your group need financial help but have no expertise or clue on how to start? We're here to support! Check the options available [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/fundraising-support-transition-hubs-groups/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Fundraising support for Transition hubs and groupsAre you part of a Transition group or hub seeking funding options to support your projects?![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-3.jpg)Transition Network InternationalEsther Molina![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/fundraising-support-Transition-hubs-groups-scaled.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/fundraising-support-transition-hubs-groups/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- **Global:** Our friends at [Applewood Permaculture Centre](https://applewoodcourses.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) are hosting 6 powerful online workshops this February. Dive into Permaculture, Cultural Emergence & Mother Nature in Action with inspiring facilitators. It’s free, it’s impactful and it’s calling your name! Sign up [here](https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/1232425/144891264763954279?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[🌿6 FREE Online Workshops - join our Learning Activation Sessions 3rd-19th Feb🌿![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/favicon-2.ico)join our Learning Activation Sessions 3rd-19th Feb🌿![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/2EtzZ087gyC2Dsm8LdL6M99XrQdjn1XmddXSn7Vv.jpg)](https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/1232425/144891264763954279?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- **Scholarships:** Are you called to meet the challenges of these times through becoming a **Bioregional designer**? We are supporting 10 people with a fully funded scholarship for this course. The **training starts on March 18th** 2025\. [Read more on how and where to apply for the scholarship](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/).

[Bioregional design scholarships for transitioners!Check out this paid opportunity for 10 Transitioners to join the Bioregional design course.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1-1.png)Transition NewsTransition Network![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1511497584788-876760111969)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/)

- **Funding for Europe-based groups:** Ecolise is looking for 5 National Hubs in 10 European countries (Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain), particularly organisations already supporting community-led initiatives, building capacities or running projects that **contribute to regeneration and a just eco-social transition based on the power of community-led action**. Each hub will receive **40,000€ for 2.5 years of implementation**. You can find more information also about the objectives, requirements, evaluation criteria and application process [**here**](https://ecolise.eu/funding-fairer-futures-regenerative-communities-fund/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[Funding Fairer Futures: Regenerative Communities Fund open now! - ECOLISEFunding Fairer Futures: calls for proposals open now! Funding Fairer Futures is an initiative dedicated to strengthening the climate movement and building capacities for an inclusive, just transformation, by ensuring that the needs and perspectives of diverse stakeholders, including often marginalised communities, are heard and reflected in climate action. We are officially launching the first…![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-ECOLISE_APPL_FB_PROFILE_ICONS-02-270x270-1.png)ECOLISEMaria Sanchez![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/TwitterBlueSky-apply-now-1-1-1.png)](https://ecolise.eu/funding-fairer-futures-regenerative-communities-fund/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/5-3.png) 

## Greetings from the Future

A postcard from 2050 sent by Esther, TNi's Comms Lead

Have you ever been to the future? Amazing, isn't it?  
Current times are so challenging and difficult to many, but we can't surrender. Now more than ever, let's keep supporting each other and daring to dream of desirable futures. Every step we take in the present times is a seedling for greater ripple waves we can't anticipate - or can we?   
  
**Send a short clip to** [**comms@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org) **with your postcard from 2050 (or the year you manage to travel to) so we can share in the Transition Newsletter upcoming issues!** 

Please feel free to communicate in your preferred language.   
You can also do the editing if you have the skills and passion for it, but don't let that stop you from submitting your entry! If that were the case, just send the raw video and we take care of the rest.  
  
**PS. We're preparing a special contest - the most imaginative postcards from the future we receive during this year 2025 will get some prizes!** 

As you know, Rob Hopkins is one of the Transitioners who loves to peek into the future. Find out how he fell in love with the Future:

Some tips on how to envision the future by Transition Australia folks - thank you so much: 

[I Have a Dream: Imagining a Better World - Transition AustraliaI walked with a group of students recently and tried a little activity. I asked them to list the dystopian futures that they could imagine. They had no problem identifying books, podcasts, news and movies from Mad Max to the Hunger Games, where a vision of societal collapse was brought forward in high definition. Then I asked them to do ... Read More![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/cropped-transition-australia-profile-270x270.jpg)Transition Australia![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/briana-tozour-hkkQbPa49UA-unsplash-scaled.jpg)](https://transitionaustralia.net/i-have-a-dream-imagining-a-better-world/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIbCU1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSJ-dGUPrQqdw8VAcfjrRumKuiSKfqKVhGCPfzxDRiFYgIqXlBQc7A7rcA%5Faem%5FuPUTQ4pKqYAHkCUJE3hGlw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/13-1.png) 

## Stay connected!

**Would you like to have some of your content featured in the next newsletter editions?** Please write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org)   
For March e-news, the deadline for submissions is **February 19th**. For April issue the deadline is **March 16th**. 

Let's keep the conversation alive on the [**Transition Platform**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[Community Garden - Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/180x180.png)Transition Platform![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/0a18f745-c8a8-4bf2-9bb8-0e67215f953d.jpg)](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/community-garden/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Connect** on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/transition%5Fnetwork%5Fint?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/transition-network.bsky.social?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transition-network-international/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TransitionTowns?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

⭐

****Someone forwarded you this email? Then** [****subscribe yourself here**](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup) **to receive further Transition Newsletter publications**

You can also [**donate**](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to support the amazing work of Transitioners:

[Donate | Support Our Work - Transition NetworkIf you’d like to support our work, you can donate here. Transition Network encourage communities to come together and rebuild our world.![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/TransitionNetwork-Favicon-Negative-2.jpg)Transition Network Internationalsam rossiter![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/tn-social-share.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/donate/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

---

Thank you so much for making it until the end of this first edition. We hope you felt as excited as we did while crafting this. Stay tuned and hands-on!
### Bioregional design scholarships for Transitioners
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bioregional-design-scholarships-for-transitioners/
Last updated: 2025-02-14T17:31:10.000Z
Learn how your Transition group or Hub can create more significant systems change, resilience and regeneration in your region, by organising and acting around holistic, integrated landscapes, and being guided by the patterns of living systems. 

We face complex and unprecedented challenges at this time in history. It can seem almost hopeless to continue our community work in the face of escalating climate disruption, loss of biodiversity and intensifying political fractures. However, many leaders in regeneration now recognise that **working at the scale of Bioregions is actually the most viable pathway towards navigating the polycrisis, restoring ecological health and creating a better future for our communities**. 

This is only one step up from community scale actions and very achievable for most Transition groups. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/bioregions-oneearth.jpg)

Image from Oneearth

The Design School for Regenerating Earth has received funding to offer a highly subsidised course to empower community led initiatives to work at bioregional levels of scale. 

**Transition Network international is offering to pay the remaining amount for ten Transitioners to take this course - so there would be no cost to you.** 

By joining the course and learning community you will become part of a planetary network focusing their design, actions, and clear intent on effectively regenerating their local area at the bioregional scale. 

Are you called to meet the challenges of these times through becoming a Bioregional designer? 

If so, email [deborahbenham@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:deborahbenham@transitionnetwork.org) to apply for a fully funded place. 

Not interested? Spread around so people around you can benefit form this, thanks! 

[Design School for Regenerating EarthThe challenges humanity and the Earth are facing now are extremely complex and unlike anything that has come before in the history of the planet. In order to regenerate the Earth at the scales needed, we must consciously and intentionally evolve humanity into a planetary species and learn to cooperate at unprecedented levels. Members of the Design School are choosing to step fully into this challenge by organizing ourselves around holistic, integrated landscapes known as bioregions, and connecting those bioregions into a planetary network with learning exchanges between them. Now is the time. Let’s do this!![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/Logo-Symbol-Only-Cropped.jpg)Design School for Regenerating Earth![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/striking-bright-earth-hdn570ju83j73b24-hdn570ju83j73b24.jpeg)](https://design-school-for-regenerating-earth.mn.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The training starts on March 18th 2025\. 

Find the programme details at [https://design-school-for-regenerating-earth.mn.co/](https://design-school-for-regenerating-earth.mn.co/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change/
Last updated: 2025-07-15T13:45:52.000Z
[Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is excited to invite your participation in a **Community Research Project** to help the diverse groups and communities doing Transition grow stronger, more effective and more impactful. We know that when we learn from each other’s experiences we can create even greater positive change together.

Animation created by the talented graphic motion designer [Emagine](https://www.emagineit.ca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org "https://www.emagineit.ca/"). Track "Voetsek" by Pickle Juice ([https://slipstreammusic.com](https://slipstreammusic.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))

We’re using an innovative tool called [**Sensemaker**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to collect stories, either written or as audio recordings, which also supports you to share your thoughts and insights about your story and what it means in regard to community led change. 

[Share your stories of change here](https://collector.sensemaker-suite.com/collector?projectID=e8923105-5b4d-42f1-a638-4d6c0ee50f4e&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Other ways in which we’re also collecting your amazing stories are the [People of Transition](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/welcome-people-of-transition-2/) and [Voices of Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/voices-of-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) projects. 

## **Why get involved?** 

Our goal is to provide **valuable information and resources for local groups to** 

- **learn best practices from each other,**
- **raise awareness of their activities,**
- **support fundraising efforts,**
- **and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement**.

By gathering and sharing these stories, we can **highlight our collective achievements** and **inspire** others through data, learning resources, articles, events, and more.

Deborah Benham shares a bit of the background and the step-by-step of this CRP and tool.

All the stories we collect and the data generated will be **accessible to everyone** in the Transition movement through a simple login. You'll find **summaries, quotes, word clouds, graphs, and more that you can use** in your own work. 

We’re particularly interested in understanding what specific **practices and conditions help foster positive change in communities**. In the collector page there are prompts to help you think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your story—what made that project or activity successful in your community?

## **How do I participate?**

**Until the end of September 2025,** the **Sensemaker collector tool will be available online in 8 languages**. 

1. Visit [sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. Choose the language of your preference
3. Share your story, whether in writing or as an audio recording –you choose what works best for you!–, then complete a few questions to add your own insights (the self ‘signification’ - or ‘meaning making’ part).

This tool is a fantastic opportunity, but we only have it for a short time. **The more stories we gather, the more valuable insights we can uncover to help our movement navigate current crises and build a more regenerative future.**

[Share your stories of change here](https://collector.sensemaker-suite.com/collector?projectID=e8923105-5b4d-42f1-a638-4d6c0ee50f4e&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**If you have questions or would like to dive deeper** into the Community Research Project and the Sensemaker tool, please email us at [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

## **Why now?**

**Transition is turning 20 soon!** As we reach this milestone we have the opportunity to reflect on the past years of experimenting, innovating, and learning from both successes and failures. **Now is a crucial time to share what we've learned and to tackle today’s escalating challenges through the wisdom of our entire community.**

From our previous [survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/what-you-told-us/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2020-2021 and countless shared stories, we know that [**Transition groups**](https://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and communities are achieving incredible things**, locally and sometimes regionally. This looks really different in each place. Every collective excels in different areas, and we want to identify and share these effective practices so that everyone can benefit.

## **Spread the news!**

**We need your help to spread the word** to as many Transitioners as possible, as well as to other community-led eco-social change groups.

*You can copy, paste and adapt this brief call out to share among your contacts and networks:*

📣

****Share Your Stories of Community-led Change!**  
Transition Network International is gathering stories of change through a Community Research project.   
  
This will provide ****valuable information and resources for local groups** to learn from each other, raise awareness of their activities, support fundraising efforts, and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement.   
  
Check this out to discover more: [https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change ](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/share-your-stories-of-community-led-change)  
  
Share your stories of change: [sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org](https://sensemaker.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
  
****Join us in this exciting project and be part of our shared journey toward resilience and regeneration!**

## **Questions?** 

#### ****Q: What are the advantages of participating in the community research project?**

A: By sharing your story and learnings in this survey, you will be helping many other amazing local groups build resilience and improve their places and communities. 

In return, you will receive all the information generated - summarised in simple and easily communicated ways. This can be used by your group to help raise awareness about the importance and impact of community-led activities, to demonstrate credibility, attract new members, and apply for funding.

#### ****Q: What exactly is Sensemaker?**

A: Sensemaker is a new generation data collection and analysis tool. [Check this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) if you’d like to know more in detail.

#### ****Q: Can I share more than one story?**

A: Yes, all the registered users can submit as many stories as you like. Thank you!

#### ****Q: Could we submit a story as a group?**

A: Each person’s experiences are different for each action and event, and we’re interested in your personal perspective and experience. So we encourage as many people in your group who would want to, to submit your stories. It might be fun to talk to each other and explore common points, differences and nuances in how you experienced these stories of change as a group.

#### ****Q: How will the data be used and who will have access to it?** 

A: We will share publicly quotes from written and audio responses, plus general and summary information from your other responses. These will be available to all participants through the Sensemaker shared data portal, in documents or other resources that we publish online, and that we share with the Transition movement or funders. Please do not share any personal or sensitive information that you would not want shared in this way. Your email and any optional demographic data provided i will be held on file and protected under GDPR rules, visible only to selected members of the sTransition Network international team. We will delete contact details and demographic data 12 months after submission. We need to hold the personal information you give us on this form to process the report and to liaise with you about your project. We are collecting this data as it is in our 'legitimate interest' to do so. Cognitive-Edge Ltd is the data processor used in this case (https://thecynefin.co/privacy-policy/). We work with them under these terms (https://thecynefin.co/sensemaker-dpa/). We will also be storing the data on our self-hosted cloud platform under these terms (https://hub.transition-space.org/legal/page/view?pageKey=privacy). Transition Network is the data controller our privacy policy is here: (https://transitionnetwork.org/privacy-policy/). For further information, or to request deletion of your data please contact privacy@transitionnetwork.org

#### ****Q: The Submit response button doesn’t seem to be working?**

A: Please make sure you’ve entered all the required values (those with a red exclamation mark). If any required question does not apply to your case, please mark the “N/A” box. 

---

[Share your stories of change here](https://collector.sensemaker-suite.com/collector?projectID=e8923105-5b4d-42f1-a638-4d6c0ee50f4e&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Do you have any other questions or concerns about sharing this? Email us at [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org) 

If you need any assistance, we have a small budget available to help cover unavoidable costs.

Thank you so much!
### The Game of Tao in portuguese
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-game-of-tao/
Last updated: 2025-05-08T11:48:42.000Z
*\*NOTE: This article comes from a previous one (*[*this one*](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/stop-the-music-let-2025-wait/)*) and it was written in Portuguese originally. You can read the original* [*here* ](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/jogo-do-tao-em-portugues/)

[Stop the music! Let the year 2025 wait...\*NOTE: This article was written in Portuguese originally. You’ll be able to read it soon here - we’re working to fix some technical issues with the translations app. Thanks for your understanding. The year 2025 began without me having reached the end of the previous year. 2024 was intense in![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/icon/600x80-1-4.png)Transition NewsFilipa Pimentel![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/thumbnail/54189052234_802753a398_k-1.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/stop-the-music-let-2025-wait/)

I remember that it was at the beginning of a bus journey from Porto to Viseu, on a cold day in November 2023, that [Raphaël](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rapha%C3%ABl-mellado-93a60110b/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) phoned me. I'd been hearing about the transformative power of the Game of Tao from key people in the context of the work I do in French-speaking environments for a long time, and when I tried to train myself to bring the game to Portugal, things didn't align easily. 

It was my dear friend Josué ([Réseau Transition.be](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) who proposed that I speak to the coordinator of the new *Académie Tao*. The phone call with Raphaël lasted the entire bus journey and was an epiphanic experience - when I hung up the phone, it was clear to me that we had made a pact of kinship and that we would support each other from then on in our personal and professional projects, even if I don't remember us saying these words out loud.

Months earlier, during the first meeting of the *Université du Nous* General Assembly (which I'm talking about [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transformacao-interna-governanca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), I connected deeply with two people: [Romain](https://www.linkedin.com/in/romainlefebvre/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- during the hours of conversation about projects, life challenges, he told me about the Game of Tao and a process underway to amplify its reach - it was from him that I learnt the story of how the game is linked to the birth of the UDN; and [Camila](https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-moreira-cb/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a Belgian-Brazilian, who, for some unknown reason, I met in an embrace overflowing with emotion, after one of the sessions of that same event, without us ever having exchanged a word before.

![Group of people playing the Game of Tao in a big tent](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300473671_5dd00849f7.jpg)

I reflect on how there are projects that begin with important encounters. They are encounters with feelings of alignment that reverberate for years and are the basis of that kinship I was telling you about above. Anyway, before I tell you about the two *Jogo do Tao* events in Portugal, let me tell you about the game:

### **What is the GAME OF TAO anyway?**

This game is classified as a **tool for collective intelligence**, for cultural change - it has the power to create processes of inner transition: **processes of individual and collective awareness and regeneration**. 

The Game of Tao is designed to support those who want to become agents of change, responding to the call for a new sense of responsible citizenship from a growing fringe of the population and proposing the idea that life is a great game, essentially collective, which revolves around ‘I’ and ‘WE’, in a complementary way.

**In this game, to help another player is to win**: the Game of Tao is the art of exchange and co-operation, where everyone undertakes to contribute their help, their human and professional experience, to the accomplishment of the missions proposed by the other players. Collaboration is the rule, competition is out of the question.

![Some posters about the goal of the game, how to be present through it and the goal](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/jogo-tao-filipa.png)

Some posters about the goal of the game, how to be present through it and the goal

The different perspectives of the other players are used to check the coherence of each participant's project through a journey through 4 worlds: the World of Earth to clarify your desire; the World of Fire to identify the fears and obstacles holding you back; the World of Water where you can find the qualities and support for your needs; and finally the World of Air, the world of rituals you need to put into practice to realise it.

## **The Game of Tao in Portugal**

After that first conversation with Raphaël, during the journey from Porto to Viseu, many other conversations followed. Soon, the dream of collaborating and bringing the game to Portugal was no longer enough. 

[*Rede Micélio*](https://micelioportugal.wordpress.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (an emerging network of change agents in Portugal, which is still informal), in partnership with[ *Académie Tao*](https://www.academietao.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), organised the first two sessions of the game in Portugal with the intention that this would be the first step in a more complete project with the aim of spreading the game throughout Portugal. The second step would be to train facilitators of the Game of Tao.

![A diverse group of people playing the Game of Tao around a table](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300726898_fb9c3abe59.jpg)

### **Tao Experience**

I rarely intend to dream big, but sometimes I overdo it. Probably because of the swelling inspiration that resulted from the conversations with Raphael, I infected a lot of people in Portugal and suddenly found myself dealing with a huge group of people who wanted to experience the Game. I also reached out to my ‘fellowship’ (just like in Lord of the Rings) who share this connection with the Tao: they, inspired and knowing that I was expected to respond to such a demand, surrounded me, supporting me, **and the ‘fellowship’ came together** in this configuration for the first time in April 2024 - Académie Tao, Transition network in francophone Belgium, [*Université du Nous*](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), *Rede Micélio*, [Transition Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), together!

Romain arrived in Viseu first. He came from Reunion Island, ill-prepared for Portugal's known '’April’s showers', a week before the event, to train Sofia and me. This ensured that there would be at least two tables playing in Portuguese. Raphäel and Josué would facilitate two more tables in English. Romain would support us during the two sessions of 3 hours each - 8 groups, each group with 5 or 6 people. 

The day of the game followed the meeting of the Rede Micélio. The forest of [*Origens*](https://www.facebook.com/projetoorigensviseu/) (one of the Transition groups/projects in Portugal) had already been prepared to welcome many people from the four corners of Portugal in the event of bad weather. A group had prepared tents, wooden houses and a caravan, hot meals and, go figure, my brotherhood of foreign men made my recipe for *pastéis de nata* (custard tarts) on the sly, using the services of a couple of accomplices who distracted me with important things that I had to see or do far away from the kitchen in the shed. 

![Romain, Filipa, Josué and the custard tarts](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300295739_572c0ab572_h.jpg)

Romain, Filipa, Josué and the custard tarts

We were prepared for bad weather, but it was a big storm that we had on the day of the event - wind, thunder, pouring rain and bone-chilling cold. This was another one of those stories I often share of the **resilience of this beautiful ‘transition’** (broad sense) community, told with humour, sharing the wonder that the participants felt: all the groups completed the processes full of depth, emotion, some of them, comically in tents falling down in the rain, in the forest of raging oaks, protecting the game boards and cards saying - ‘It's like we're on a ship, at sea! We won't abandon the ship!!!' - and Romain, wet to the bone, holding the tent as if it were the mainsail of a ship. 

The group that came to experience the Tao game was diverse, but there was a lot of convergence in what was shared with me from the participants' experience. Here are three testimonies: 

> I really enjoyed the game, in that it challenges us to establish ideas and ideals, creates a strong connection with ourselves and also between the participants, puts each person's wisdom at the service of all, is eminently reflective and generative, allowing a precious alignment of each person on their life path.   
> It's a game that is much more than that, because it puts us in the Game of Life in a union of paths with each participant. I'm looking forward to learning more.’

José Soutelinho

> I found the Tao Game to be an incredible tool. It takes us to a state of depth, of connection with the people in our group, of vulnerability, allowing us to listen and give our opinion, our feeling, with our heart.  
> It really was a transformative moment for me, to feel that energetic field where you can be body and soul at the service of the other person and take in what is being said to you - it was really marvellous. I also think that having the ‘Oracle’, at the end of the game, which helps us take action, is the icing on the cake. This is because everything we've been emotionally stirring up is given a path - there's a solution, a resolution or at least a start. I think this part is fundamental. Often we only go through the mental or emotional (in the processes) and then we don't move on to action, when we have some realisation. This game is really incredible in that respect.   
> Also, as I mentioned, I loved Raphaël's facilitation - I think he was excellent - and even though he probably didn't understand everything we were saying, because we didn't always speak English, he managed to sustain the group's energy very well and feel our emotions, always calmly and very welcomingly.  
> It was a marvellous experience that I hope to repeat. 

Rita Marques

> In Viseu I was able to discover the extent to which the Game of Tao can create a deep connection and activate the power of empathy, beyond language. I was with a warm and friendly group, in the little wooden school set in a clearing between the trees. I introduced the game in English, inviting people to express themselves in their mother tongue if they felt the need. The game allows you to explore the source of who you are, and it's easier to express it in your own language. And so it happened. I was the only one who didn't understand the words. But I could see, feel and support. It was very moving, people reached moments of deep, authentic expression and connection, with the support of the group. We were connected beyond words, to our humanity and our willingness to contribute to life.

Josué Dusoulier (facilitator)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300703505_4fd8e9a25a_h-1.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300295854_1b898882c4.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300473796_08c1debc8c_b-2.jpg)

### **Tao facilitator training**

I spent the whole summer immersed in the forest of *Origens*, just like the year before. The experience showed me how my central nervous system regulates itself when I live in a forest 24 hours a day, with my bare feet on the ground, regulating my days to the rhythms of nature. I also witness the reinvigoration of the forest itself as the *Origens* project goes about its mission of regenerating the ecosystem. It's hard to explain how **being present during this process impacts me** \- I recognise the ancient feeling of having grown up like this, with my brother and cousins, with no barriers separating us from the vegetation, the earth and the sounds of the animals. I remember that I myself was part of the greenery and the dirt. It was only at night that I washed myself of them, before going to bed. 

I arrived at the end of June prepared to work tirelessly, both in the Transition Network and in preparing the training for facilitators of the Game of Tao. With the experience of the game, it was clear that it was important to train facilitators in Portugal. There would be 12 of them. Camila, whom I embraced endlessly at the Université du Nous (UDN) general assembly, would be the trainer, representing the UDN. Sofia and I would assist in the facilitation and, above all, in the **creation of an energetic field, a space of security and connection**, following Camila's lead. The training was scheduled for July and, until then, there was much more to do than I had imagined! 

![A group of participants playing the Game of Tao outdoors](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54299183972_ded8cb0ceb_k.jpg)

I should perhaps explain that **the** **Game of Tao has existed for many years but, for a reason I don't know, it has been limited to French-speaking countries**. There are no paths already mapped out in the process of bringing the game to a new territory, with a different language, a different cultural and economic context. If there aren't, we have to invent them! Who better to pave the way than my sweet friend/sister Susana and I? I've never had as much fun working with someone as I have with her - the fewer conditions there are for us to do a job properly, the more we find it funny. In short, crazy people... I smile when I think of the work sessions, at the table under the shed, me translating instructions and the texts of the letters, Susana working on the layout and graphics, with 45ºC, internet failures, the computer with a mind of its own, texts with inconsistencies. It was **hours of despair and fits of laughter** as if we were teenagers. The work we did had to be improved later on, but in the end we were able to provide all the contents of the latest version of the game in Portuguese to the new facilitators! 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300485825_930a95612b_k-2.jpg)

The two days of **training began in a circle in a large clearing in the forest**. The 12 trainees from all over the country (and Brazil!) were joined by two teenagers. One of them, my youngest daughter. Without me intervening, after much thought, Isabel (14) asked Camila if she could take part in the games/exercises facilitated by the trainees. Little did Camila know that by giving Isabel this opportunity, she was giving us both a life experience we'll never forget. The impact was great for her (who has already borne fruit) and profound for me: watching a woman blossom, watching her express her essence and her human values, detaching herself from me, from my shadow, was contrary to the pain a mother is said to feel when it happens. The opposite. Quite the opposite. 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54300485835_07c9029b2f.jpg)

The two days of training ended in a circle in the same forest clearing. The sharing was profoundand there was a lot of resistance to our meeting ending. I remember someone saying that the experience was like a shock, a slap in the face. I remember how **we all felt connected to each other and ready to use the game as a tool for change**. And I remember how we all felt grateful and in awe of the strong, wholehearted presence of our trainer - Camila.

Thank you to Camila, Raphaël, the *Académie Tao* and the [*Fond’action UdN*](https://fondaction-udn.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

I would also like to thank Sofia (our little fairy) and the Origins Project, on behalf of all new Tao facilitators!

\*NOTE: Our strategy was to train 12 people and give them the tools to be able to implement the game in Portugal on their own, while keeping the group cohesive and continuously learning. The group continues to meet, with and without Camila's accompaniment, and some of the facilitators are listed [here](https://community.academietao.org/members-map/map/index?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **If you want to experience the game of Tao, sign up and find a facilitator near you!**
### Stop the music! Let the year 2025 wait...
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/stop-the-music-let-2025-wait/
Last updated: 2025-05-08T11:33:49.000Z
*\*NOTE: This article was written in Portuguese originally. You can read it* [*here* ](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/alto-e-para-o-baile-o-ano-2025-que-espere/)

The year 2025 began without me having reached the end of the previous year. 2024 was intense in terms of personal projects. I say ‘personal’ (and not ‘individual’, mind you!) because they were projects that didn't emerge from the context of my paid work, even though they are systemically and intimately linked to the same collective work of contributing to societal change, of ‘transition’, that I do at Transition Network international. 

I keep hearing that these projects are so fruitful and inspiring that they deserve to be written about to share with you. I failed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't close the year having fulfilled what I had committed to myself. **If the year was filled with beautiful stories, they were followed by extreme tiredness, physical and emotional fragility and, often, despair** – everything has to have time and space to be lived and the year 2024 wasn't long enough for me to live it all properly and sit down to write after everything had been processed. 

![A handmade rustic table with a laptop, a dreamcatcher, ferns and other stuff in the forest](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54187882877_9794b3a12f_k-1.jpg)

Viseu, Floresta, October 2024\. Photographer: Filipa Avila

I now sit in front of my computer, pause to watch the white winter light coming in through the window on the sloped ceiling of my living room, tuck the crochet blanket under my legs, and think: 

*Let 2025 wait!* 

I feel that what I have to tell you is like a tangle of things connected in a common context. All this stems from the fact that I've never found balance in exclusive international work - I need to connect the various scales. Rooting what I gather in my professional experience locally feeds me - rooting it in my homeland, where my culture and mother tongue live. These are **stories of experimentation and contribution to social transformative innovation** in Portugal in the context of an emerging group of change agents, still informal - the *Micélio* network. But even more importantly, they are **stories of Love - of the power of love for this kind of work and the love between those who do it, in the co-creation of a new human, collaborative, regenerative culture**. This part tends to be left out of project reports and I think that transition project reports should always include a part about what can't be measured with numbers: love, connection, integrity, inspiration, sadness, mourning... 

### **2024, in short:** 

The world is in crisis - we already know that. It's a world in search of meaning and facing **considerable challenges on all scales**. The lack of perspective, the uncertainty of tomorrow, the succession of multiple crises (ecological, economic, social and spiritual) and the fear of the unknown can push us all into defensive reflexes that are selfish, delusional and even toxic. 

I recognise these signs everywhere, but it hurts me to see the effects on the Portuguese community of changemakers, at **a time when cohesion, resilience and a collective vision are fundamental**. It was with the aim of experimenting with a different way of doing things that the[ *Micélio* network came into being](https://micelioportugal.wordpress.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/Imagination-SMALL.png)

Triangle: imagination, narrative, collective intelligence

The intervention approach within the *Micélio* network was based on 3 main points: Imagination, Collective Intelligence and new Transition Narratives, which make up a triangle around a community of initiatives: the aim was to empower a community of change in Portugal - expanding the critical mass for a healthy human culture. 

![Filipa and Rob in front of a group of people in the forest](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/02/54189032738_8e2177e222_k-1.jpg)

Filipa, Rob and people in Viseu. Portugal tour, October 2024\. Photographer: Filipa Avila

During 2024, we organised various training courses on Collective Intelligence tools, a meeting of the *Micélio* network, an experience of the Tao Game and a training course for Tao facilitators. The biggest project (the craziest, I'd say) was the whole process of publishing Rob Hopkins' latest book in Portuguese - “E Se... Libertássemos a nossa imaginação para criar o futuro que desejamos?” (original title “[From What is to What if](https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)”) and the tour that Rob and I took from the north to the south of Portugal in October. This process involved many people, so many! - and so many connections were made between them. 

And that's it. 

Of all the things that have happened this year, there are a few things to share with you. Let's do this in parts: I'll list what I write down below, OK? I'd love to know what your thoughts and questions are - don't hesitate to ask me if you have any.

1. [The Game of Tao](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-game-of-tao/)
2. ‘What If...’ Tour - Rob Hopkins and Filipa Pimentel in Portugal (forthcoming)
3. Language justice - reflections (forthcoming)

---
### Jogo do Tao em português
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/jogo-do-tao-em-portugues/
Last updated: 2025-05-08T11:45:59.000Z
Lembro-me que foi no início de uma viagem de autocarro do Porto para Viseu, num dia frio de novembro de 2023, que o [Raphaël](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rapha%C3%ABl-mellado-93a60110b/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) me telefonou. Há muito tempo que eu ouvia falar no poder transformador do Jogo do Tao por parte de pessoas-chave no contexto do trabalho que faço em meio francófono e quando procurei formar-me para trazer o jogo para Portugal, as coisas não se alinharam facilmente. Foi o meu amigo querido [Josué](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josu%C3%A9-dusoulier/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Réseau Transition.be) que propôs que eu falasse com o coordenador da nova *Académie Tao*. A chamada telefónica com o Raphaël durou toda a viagem e foi uma experiência epifânica - ao desligar o telefone, era claro para mim que tínhamos feito um pacto de irmandade e que nos apoiaríamos desde então nos nossos projetos pessoais e profissionais, mesmo que não me lembre que tenhamos proferido estas palavras em voz alta.

Meses antes, durante o primeiro encontro da Assembleia Geral da *Université du Nous* (de que falo [aqui](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transformacao-interna-governanca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) liguei-me profundamente a duas pessoas: o [Romain](https://www.linkedin.com/in/romainlefebvre/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- durante as horas de conversa sobre projetos, desafios de vida, falou-me do Jogo do Tao e de um processo em curso para amplificar o seu alcance - foi por ele que fiquei a saber da história de como o jogo está ligado à nascença da *UDN*; e a [Camila](https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-moreira-cb/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), belga-brasileira, que, por uma razão desconheço, encontrei num abraço a transbordar de emoção, depois de uma das sessões desse mesmo evento, sem nunca termos trocado uma palavra antes.

Demoro-me na reflexão de como há projetos que começam com encontros importantes. São encontros com sentimentos de alinhamento que reverberam durante anos e são basilares da tal irmandade de que vos falava ali acima. Enfim, antes de vos contar como foram os dois eventos do Jogo do Tao em Portugal, deixem-me falar-vos do jogo:

  
# Mas afinal, o que é o JOGO DO TAO?

Este jogo é classificado como uma ferramenta de inteligência coletiva, de mudança cultural - tem o poder de criar processos de transição interior: processos de consciência e de regeneração individual e coletiva. 

O Jogo do Tao foi concebido para apoiar aqueles que querem tornar-se agentes de mudança, respondendo ao apelo de um novo sentido de cidadania responsável por parte de uma franja crescente da população e propondo a ideia de que a vida é um grande jogo, essencialmente coletivo, que gira em torno do ‘EU’ e do ‘NÓS’, de forma complementar.

Neste jogo, ajudar um outro jogador é ganhar: o Jogo do Tao é a arte da troca e da cooperação, onde cada um se compromete a contribuir com a sua ajuda, a sua experiência humana e profissional, para a realização das missões propostas pelos outros jogadores. A colaboração é a regra, a competição está fora de questão.

A perspetivas diferentes dos outros jogadores são usadas para verificar a coerência do projeto de cada participante através de uma viagem por 4 mundos: o Mundo da Terra para clarificar o seu desejo; o Mundo do Fogo para identificar os medos e os obstáculos que o impedem; o Mundo da Água onde pode encontrar as qualidades e o apoio de que necessita; e finalmente o Mundo do Ar, o mundo dos rituais que precisa de pôr em prática para o realizar.

# O Jogo do Tao em Portugal

Depois daquela primeira conversa com o Raphaël, durante a viagem do Porto a Viseu, muitas outras conversas se seguiram. Rapidamente, o sonho de colaborarmos e trazer o jogo a Portugal deixou de bastar. 

A[ Rede Micélio](https://micelioportugal.wordpress.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (rede emergente de agentes de mudança em Portugal, ainda informal), numa parceria com a [*Académie Tao*](https://www.academietao.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), organizou as duas primeiras sessões do jogo em Portugal com a intenção que este fosse o primeiro passo num projecto mais completo com o objectivo de difundir o jogo no território português. O segundo passo seria a formação de facilitadores do Jogo do Tao.

## Experiência Tao

Eu raramente tenho a intenção de sonhar em grande mas às vezes excedo-me. Provavelmente por causa da inspiração inchada que resultou das conversas com o Raphael, contaminei muita gente em Portugal e, de repente, vi-me a braços com um grupo enorme de pessoas que demandava viver a experiência do Jogo. Contaminei também a minha irmandade que tem em comum esta ligação com o Tao: eles, inspirados, e sabendo que se esperava de mim responder a tal demanda, rodearam-me, apoiando-me, e a irmandade reuniu-se nesta configuração, pela primeira vez, em abril de 2024 - *Académie Tao*, [Rede de Transição Bélgica Francófona](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [*Université du Nous*](https://universite-du-nous.org/en%5FGB/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rede Micélio, [Transição Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), juntos!

O Romain chegou primeiro a Viseu. Veio da Ilha da Reunião mal preparado para o ‘abril águas-mil’ de Portugal, uma semana antes do evento, para formar a Sofia e eu. Assim garantimos que haveria pelo menos 2 mesas a jogar em português. O Raphäel e o Josué facilitariam mais duas mesas em inglês. O Romain dar-nos-ia apoio durante as duas sessões de 3 horas, cada uma - 8 grupos, cada grupo com 5 ou 6 pessoas. 

O dia do jogo seguiu-se ao encontro da RedeMicélio. A floresta do ‘[Origens’](https://www.facebook.com/projetoorigensviseu/) (um dos grupos/projetos de Transição de Portugal) já se tinha preparado para acolher muita gente, que viria dos quatro cantos de Portugal, em caso de mau tempo. Um grupo preparou tendas, as casinhas de madeira e uma caravana, refeições quentes e, imagine-se, a minha irmandade de homens estrangeiros fizeram a minha receita de pastéis de nata, às escondidas, acorrendo aos serviços de um par de cúmplices que me distraíam com coisas importantes que eu tinha que ver ou fazer muito longe da cozinha do telheiro. 

Estávamos preparados para o mau tempo mas foi uma grande tempestade que tivemos no dia do evento - vento, trovoada, chuva a cântaros e um frio que feria os ossos. Esta foi mais uma daquelas histórias que eu costumo partilhar de resiliência desta linda comunidade de ‘transição’ (sentido lato), contada com humor, partilhando o maravilhamento que os participantes sentiram: todos os grupos completaram os processos cheios de profundidade, emoção, alguns deles, comicamente em tendas a cair, debaixo de chuva, na floresta de carvalhos em fúria, a proteger os tabuleiros e cartas do jogo dizendo - ‘É como se estivéssemos num navio, no mar! Não abandonaremos o barco!!!’ - e o Romain, molhado até aos ossos, a segurar a tenda como se da vela mestra de uma nau se tratasse. 

O grupo que veio experimentar o jogo do Tao foi diverso mas houve muita convergência naquilo que me foi partilhado, da experiência dos participantes. Deixo-vos aqui três testemunhos: 

''Gostei muito do jogo, na medida em que nos desafia a estabelecer ideias e ideais, cria forte conexão a nós próprios e também entre os participantes, coloca a sabedoria de cada um ao serviço de todos, é eminentemente reflexivo e generativo, permitindo um alinhamento precioso de cada um no seu Caminho de vida. 

um jogo que é muito mais que isso pois coloca-nos no Jogo da Vida em união de caminhos com cada participante. A aprofundar e com gosto estou disponível a aprender mais.”

José Soutelinho

[Audio do testemunho de Rita Marques](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14yQqi02C%5FcatvfgDbQgnUNtx1HXsDs9%5F/view?usp=share%5Flink&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

“Em Viseu, pude descobrir até que ponto o Jogo do Tao pode criar uma ligação profunda e ativar o poder da empatia, para além da língua. Estive com um grupo caloroso e amigável, numa pequena escola de madeira situada numa clareira entre as árvores. Apresentei o jogo em inglês, convidando as pessoas a exprimirem-se na sua língua materna, se assim o entendessem. O jogo permite-nos explorar a essência de quem somos, e é mais fácil expressá-lo na nossa própria língua. E foi o que aconteceu. Eu era o único que não entendia as palavras. Mas conseguia ver, sentir e apoiar. Foi muito comovente, as pessoas atingiram momentos de expressão e ligação profundos e autênticos, com o apoio do grupo. Ficámos ligados para além das palavras, à nossa humanidade e à nossa vontade de contribuir para a vida.”

Josué Dusoulier (facilitador)

## Formação de facilitadores Tao

Passei o verão todo imersa na floresta do Origens, como no ano anterior. A experiência mostrou-me como o meu sistema nervoso central se regula quando eu vivo numa floresta 24 horas por dia, de pés nus na terra, a pautar os meus dias com os ritmos da natureza. Assisto também ao revigorar da própria floresta à medida que o projeto Origens faz a sua missão de regeneração do ecossistema. É difícil explicar como estar presente durante esse processo me impacta - reconheço o sentimento antigo de ter crescido assim, com o meu irmão e com os meus primos, sem barreiras que nos separasse do verde, da terra, e dos sons dos bichos. Lembro-me de que eu própria fazia parte do verde e da terra. Só à noite me lavava deles, para me deitar. 

Cheguei no fim de junho preparada para trabalhar sem descanso, tanto na Transition Network como na preparação da formação de facilitadores do Jogo do Tao. Com a experiência do jogo, era bem claro que era importante formarmos facilitadores em Portugal. Seriam 12\. A Camila, quem eu abracei infinitamente na assembleia geral da *Université du Nous (UDN)*, seria a formadora, em representação da *UDN*. Eu e a Sofia faríamos a assistência na facilitação e sobretudo, na criação de um campo energético, de segurança e de conexão, seguindo a liderança da Camila. A formação estava marcada para Julho e, até lá, havia muito mais para fazer do que eu tinha imaginado! 

Convém talvez explicar que o Jogo do Tao existe há muitos anos mas, por uma razão que desconheço, tem estado limitado à francofonia. Não há caminhos já traçados no processo de trazer o jogo para um novo território, com uma língua, um contexto cultural e económico diferentes. Ora, não havendo, há que inventar! Quem melhor para abrir caminhos do que a minha doce amiga/irmã Susana e eu? Nunca me diverti tanto a trabalhar com alguém como com ela - quanto menos condições se reúnem para fazermos um trabalho como deve ser, mais lhe achamos graça. Enfim, gente louca… Sorrio quando penso nas sessões de trabalho, na mesa debaixo do telheiro, eu a traduzir instruções e os textos das cartas, a Susana a trabalhar na paginação e na parte gráfica, com 45ºC, falhas de internet, o computador com vontade própria, textos com inconsistências. Foram horas de desespero e de ataques de riso como se de adolescentes nos tratássemos. O trabalho que fizemos ainda teve que ser melhorado mais tarde mas, no fim, pudemos fornecer todos os conteúdos da última versão do jogo em português aos novos facilitadores! 

Os dois dias de formação começaram num círculo, na grande clareira da floresta. Aos 12 formandos vindos de norte a sul do país (e do Brasil!), juntaram-se dois adolescentes. Um deles, a minha filha mais nova. Sem que eu interviesse, depois de muito refletir, a Isabel (14 anos) pediu à Camila se podia participar nos jogos/exercícios de facilitação dos formandos. Mal sabia a Camila que, dando esta oportunidade à Isabel, nos proporcionou às duas uma experiência de vida que nunca vamos esquecer. O impacto foi grande para ela (que já deu frutos) e profundo para mim: assistir ao desabrochar de uma jovem mulher, assistir à expressão da sua essência e dos seus valores humanos, descolando-se de mim, da minha sombra, foi contrário à dor que se diz que uma mãe sente quando acontece. O contrário. Mesmo. 

Os dois dias de formação acabaram num círculo, na mesma clareira da floresta. As partilhas foram profundas e houve muita resistência a que o nosso encontro se terminasse. Lembro-me que alguém disse que a experiência foi como um choque, uma estalada na cara. Lembro-me como todos nos sentimos ligados uns aos outros e prontos para usar o jogo como ferramenta de mudança. E lembro-me de como todos nós nos sentimos gratos e em admiração pela presença forte, íntegra, da nossa formadora - Camila.

Obrigada à Camila, ao Raphaël, à *Académie Tao* et ao [*Fond’action UdN*](https://fondaction-udn.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). 

Também agradeço, da parte de todos os novos facilitadores e facilitadoras, à Sofia (a nossa fadinha) e ao Projeto Origens!

  
NOTA: A nossa estratégia foi formar 12 pessoas e dar-lhes ferramentas para elas poderem ser autónomas a implantar o jogo em Portugal, mantendo o grupo coeso, em aprendizagem contínua. O grupo continua a encontrar-se, com e sem o acompanhamento da Camila, e uma parte dos facilitadores estão listados [aqui](https://community.academietao.org/members-map/map/index?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Se tiverem vontade de viver o jogo do Tao, inscrevam-se e procurem um facilitador perto de vocês!
### Alto e pára o baile! O ano 2025 que espere…
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/alto-e-para-o-baile-o-ano-2025-que-espere/
Last updated: 2025-05-08T11:28:45.000Z
O ano de 2025 começou, sem que eu tivesse chegado ao fim do ano anterior. 2024 foi intenso em projetos pessoais. Digo ‘pessoais’ (e não ‘individuais’, atenção!) porque foram projetos que não emergiram do contexto do meu trabalho remunerado, ainda que estejam sistemicamente e intimamente ligados com o mesmo trabalho coletivo de contribuição para a mudança societal, de ‘transição’, que faço na Transition Network. 

Vou ouvindo que estes projetos são tão profícuos e inspiradores que mereciam que eu fosse escrevendo sobre eles para partilhar convosco. Falhei. Não consegui, por mais que tentasse, fechar o ano tendo cumprido com o que me comprometi comigo própria. Se o ano foi recheado de histórias lindas, seguiram-lhes o cansaço extremo, a fragilidade física e emocional e, muitas vezes, o desespero - tudo tem que ter tempo e espaço para ser vivido e o ano 2024 não foi longo o suficiente para viver tudo isto como deve ser e sentar-me a escrever, depois de tudo processar. 

Sento-me agora em frente ao computador, marco uma pausa para observar a luz branca de inverno a entrar pela janela do teto esconso da minha sala, entalo a manta de crochet debaixo das pernas, e penso: 

- 2025 que espere!...

Sinto que o que eu tenho para vos contar é como um emaranhado de coisas ligadas num contexto comum. Tudo isto brota do facto de que nunca encontrei equilíbrio no trabalho internacional exclusivo - preciso de ligar as várias escalas. Enraizar localmente o que vou recolhendo na minha experiência profissional alimenta-me - enraizar na minha terra, onde a minha cultura e a minha língua materna vivem. São histórias de experimentação e de contribuição para a inovação transformativa social em Portugal no contexto de um grupo emergente de agentes de mudança, ainda informal - a rede Micélio. Mas, ainda mais importante, são histórias de Amor - do poder do amor por este tipo de trabalho e do amor entre quem o faz, na co-criação de uma nova cultura humana, colaborativa, regenerativa. Esta parte tende a ficar de fora dos relatórios de projeto e eu penso que relatórios de projetos de transição deveriam incluir sempre uma parte sobre o que não se pode medir com números: o amor, a conexão, a integridade, a inspiração, a tristeza, o luto… 

**2024, em suma:** 

O mundo está em crise - já se sabe. É um mundo em busca de sentido e que enfrenta desafios consideráveis a todas as escalas. A falta de perspetiva, a incerteza do amanhã, a sucessão de múltiplas crises (ecológicas, económicas, sociais e espirituais) e o medo do desconhecido podem empurrar-nos a todos para reflexos de defesa que são egoístas, ilusórios e até tóxicos. 

Reconheço estes sinais por toda a parte mas doi-me ver os efeitos na comunidade portuguesa de agentes de mudança, num momento em que a coesão, a resiliência e uma visão coletiva são fundamentais. Foi com o propósito de experimentar uma forma de fazer diferente que a rede Micélio surgiu. 

A abordagem de intervenção no âmbito do rede do Micélio assentou em 3 pontos principais: Imaginação, Inteligência Coletiva e novas Narrativas de Transição, que compõem um triângulo em torno de uma comunidade de iniciativas: o objetivo foi o de capacitar uma comunidade de mudança em Portugal – ampliando a massa crítica para uma cultura humana saudável. 

Durante o ano de 2024, organizámos várias formações de ferramentas de Inteligência Coletiva, houve um encontro da rede Micélio, uma experiência do Jogo do Tao e a uma formação de facilitadores Tao. O projeto maior (a loucura maior, diria eu) foi todo o processo da publicação do último livro do Rob Hopkins em português - ‘E Se… Libertássemos a nossa imaginação para criar o futuro que desejamos?’ (título original ‘From What is to What if’) e a digressão que o Rob e eu fizemos de norte a sul de Portugal, no mês de outubro. Este processo envolveu muitas pessoas, tantas! - e tantas foram também as ligações tecidas entre elas. 

E pronto. 

Destas coisas que aconteceram durante este ano, há algumas coisas a partilhar convosco. Ora façamos isto por partes: vou listar aqui em baixo o que eu vou escrevendo, ok? Gostava de saber quais são as vossas reflexões e as vossas questões - não deixem de me interpelar se tiverem algumas.

1. [Jogo do Tao ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eOMXXHiAP8otl-RIsSCaL8hnr0HgFqjvri5s3GJqr5Y/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. Digressão ‘E Se…’ - Rob Hopkins e Filipa Pimentel em Portugal
3. Justiça linguística - reflexões
### Save the Date! Day of Transition Practice 2025
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/save-the-date-day-of-transition-practice-2025/
Last updated: 2025-01-31T16:03:56.000Z
*No ordinary day.* 
*No typical conference.* 
*This is our movement in motion.* 

Mark your calendars, everyone - **Friday, April 4, 2025** is the day we come together, for the second time, to celebrate, connect, and co-create our shared future. From Australia to Colombia, 24 hours live, we are preparing some really awesome sessions that will weave together stories of transformation, interactive co-creation workshops, and spaces for deep connection. 

A small seedling of an idea took root [last year](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/day-of-transition-practise-recordings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and unfolded into something beautiful. This year, we go deeper - into the stories, strategies, and systems that make community-led change possible, together with an exceptional collage of activists, visionaries and change agents. **We promise you a vibrant online exchange of stories, voices, and actions woven across a single day of possibility.**

📆

****Save the date: Friday, April 4, 2025**

Get ready for:

⭐ Stories of transformation  
⭐ Connection across time zones  
⭐ Practices for community resilience  
⭐ Fresh perspectives on what's possible

We will be talking about **Transition Streets**, **imagining the future** with Ora Wand, learning about **Biomimicry**, exploring **Sociocracy**, voyaging in **storyspace** with Mama D, hearing about the **Voices of Transition**, **drawing the future** with James McKay, playing the **Cultural Transformation Game**, listening to the **Heartbeat of the Movement**, sitting around the fire… and plenty **more!**

**Stay tuned for the full program!**

See you there,  
**🌱** Transition Network international team
### Cultivating Just Transition: reflections on a learning journey
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/cultivating-just-transition-reflections-on-a-learning-journey/
Last updated: 2025-02-12T10:46:09.000Z
# 

Author El Herndlhofer   
First posted on [Transition Together](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/cultivating-just-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  

In an earlier blog, the team’s first Just Transition Lead, Rona, [offered a definition of Just Transition](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/putting-justice-at-the-heart-of-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as a set of principles and practices that work towards a future where justice, care and equity are prioritised alongside climate, ecological and environmental regeneration. 

Transition Together launched a Just Transition online learning journey in April with a cohort of seed-funded Transition groups, to collectively explore what this really means and how we can make this come alive in the projects and work we do. When I, El, joined the team in August, Rona passed on to me the task of holding these monthly spaces to dive into how we Cultivate Just Transition, and I have deeply appreciated this opportunity to continue my own learning and growth alongside you.

The series aimed to support groups in thinking, discussing and actioning social justice; at grassroot community levels, and within wider structural contexts. We wanted to share and cultivate more awareness of the [very different impacts current crises have on different communities](https://www.thinknpc.org/influencing/everyones-environment/our-publications/visual-summaries/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and individuals marginalised by systems of harm. It sought to grow confidence, and share more of the tools and knowledge needed to ask important questions, to spark the challenging conversations within our groups and with partners, to help us pay attention to our power and privilege, and orient our Transition efforts more fully towards equity, justice and care. 

Over the seven months, we welcomed a number of contributors who offered their wisdom from different areas of activism. Practice circles followed these thought-provoking talks and invited participants to apply what they were learning to their own contexts; to support and to learn from each other.

Our starting point was to understand [Just Transition](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FfLOQf7wtME&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as part of an ecology of international movements and efforts, with origins in US Labour and Environmental Justice movements. Clara Paillard, a member of Unite the Union and the co-founder of Unite Grassroot Climate Justice Caucus, built upon this in her [session on Trade Unions](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO8jifudMvI&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Clara shared that Just Transition means standing in solidarity with workers. Climate, environmental or ecological justice is only possible with a fair and funded transition for all workers into regenerative jobs. 

[Disability and Climate Justice activist Emma Geen joined the group](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03JJx4pO4QU&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5Flhkjlpa2YN07k9fWKUP2oJbl&index=2&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in May. Emma shared how Disabled individuals are more impacted by climate chaos, and how often, measures to adapt often create additional barriers because Disabled experiences are excluded from decision making processes that concern them. She emphasised that Disabled people “have to be given a seat at the table at every stage of the process” in efforts to meaningfully respond to the climate crisis. 

Yet this could be a huge opportunity for generative collaboration between movements, Emma reflected: Disability and environmental movements are working towards common goals of re-organising our society, which offers the biggest opportunity to make society accessible in our lifetimes.

Some participants said Emma’s session had already influenced their groups’ decisions, by prioritising questions of accessibility at the heart of all planning considerations for event venues, food and travel. Another group shared about their recent focus on building wheelchair accessible planters, and ensuring that their events include tasks for all ages and abilities to participate – “so there’s something for everyone”.

![](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/intro-to-climate-justice-YFOES-cover.png)

The fourth session in the series, I offered some [reflections on Climate Justice and Global Just Transition](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGPUr0pKJM/qNixZzXAZOL45ahRVYZBZw/watch?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)[,](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGPUr0pKJM/qNixZzXAZOL45ahRVYZBZw/watch?utm%5Fcontent=DAGPUr0pKJM&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=link&utm%5Fsource=editor) as inspired by [this amazing zine from Scotland Friends of the Earth](http://foe.scot/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/YFoES-Booklet-%E2%80%94-A5%5FSpreads-For-Digital-View.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). While organising at the grassroots, the call is to “act local, and think global”.

[Sustainable Starts](https://www.instagram.com/sustainablestarts/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) participated in the series, and really brought that dance across scale to life for me in their reflections. Speaking about their seed-funded project, Liverpool Children’s Clothes Swaps, Gillian shared how “we’re encouraging people not to buy new clothes, and that does affect those within in the fashion industry. So we’re having a look now at how we can make connections with those within the fashion industry to look at slowing down that fashion process rather than them carrying on with it and us trying to battle against it.” 

This feels to me a great example of starting the process of examining impacts of localisation efforts in the context of globalisation, and seeking ways to stand in solidarity with those in the Global South impacted by industries of exploitation.

Our final contributor was Mama D. Ujuaje, a community researcher and facilitator for socially transformative justice. She shared her wisdom with us around[ themes of power and privilege](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGDgaVhKX4/G3uxI-gVy6hBy%5FY-zw%5FGYA/watch?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the responsibility we are called to when we remember ourselves as part of a living earth. She spoke of a “deep responsibility to nurture and nourish each aspect of ourselves, be that aspect human or more-than-human….We’re linked. All of us are linked up… And do you know, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So if we don’t care for each other and nourish each other, then we are actually, in effect, weakening ourselves.”

![](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tree-planting-2.png)

**Participants in Grow plant a symbolic tree at a disused site they are reimaging as a sustainable and inclusive community*

Reflecting on the series, Pauline O’Flynn noted the ways that her group, [Grow Northern Ireland](https://www.instagram.com/grow.ni/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) are always thinking about and affirming this sense of collective responsibility, and the quality of relationships and care in their work. She reflected on the impacts of the racialised violence of the riots in summer on many of the people they work with, and that stark reminder of social justice’s vital role in finding ways to care for each other in the day to day; how to build community and be together.

Rakesh from [the London Hub ](https://www.facebook.com/groups/transitionsoutheast/)shared the limitations of the series for him due to the whiteness of its facilitation. His long-term engagement with social justice issues rooted in lived-experience meant that nothing offered by the series was new information for him. Rakesh’s reflections offer a reminder of the vital role of collaboration across difference in creating learning spaces that don’t just meet the needs of the dominant experience present.

I’m sitting with ongoing reflections around what most caring and responsible practices look like when sharing learnings on social justice issues… I’m holding care around expectations or placing extra burden on folks most impacted by the issues being explored to educate everyone else. Meanwhile I’m so aware of the risks of offering theoretical explorations in ways that might diminish the lived experience already in the space.

![](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-17-at-10.33.25-3-1024x682.jpeg)

**El holding a workshop at a recent event on how we can organise in new ways which leave space for everyone to thrive.*

Some participants’ reflections spoke of the very first seeds planted in their cultivation of Just Transition. Others’ reflections spoke of established, vibrant and flourishing gardens, tended across dynamic networks of solidarity and care. 

The work of cultivating a Just Transition doesn’t stop here for any of us. It is by no means easy, but it is what is being asked of us all. As welcomed by many participants in the series, a monthly collective peer-led learning space will continue for the group, as we continue to learn from one another and grow into our commitments to cultivating a future where justice, care and equity are nestled at the heart.

Another emerging branch of this commitment is forming as a [Just Transition circle](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetovPl1HNONoTdNti%5FFQJ2scpPZPPsjhkeBTWuHrvlIPPs-w/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). This circle is calling together eight people from underrepresented and marginalised experiences to collaboratively lead on a Just Transition contribution at the Transition Assembly in February. I feel honoured to be facilitating this circle, cherishing the gift of hearing from lived experiences different to my own. The circle offers a place to reflect on barriers and challenges within the movement and welcomes creative responses to them; recognising the deeply rooted presence of creative responses to challenges that bloom among many marginalised groups. I’m excited to see what unfolds in the circle, and be guided by the vital collective wisdom that can flourish when we embrace and celebrate difference. 

**Find out more:** [Looking back, looking forward on our Just Transition project](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/looking-back-looking-forward-on-our-just-transition-project/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and our [Just Transition playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5Flhkjlpa2YN07k9fWKUP2oJbl&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
### Transition Newsletter is back and refreshed!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-newsletter-is-back/
Last updated: 2025-05-07T08:45:31.000Z
Hey there, friends,

We want to take a moment to talk to you about something that’s been on our mind — and on the minds of so many of you. Over the past few months, we’ve been hearing from people all over the world about **how much we need to stay connected, share our stories, and learn from one another**. It’s clear that we’re all craving a sense of community, especially in these uncertain times.

That’s why we’ve decided to relaunch our newsletter, after years of pause. It’s not just another email in your inbox — it’s **a response to what you’ve been asking for.** It’s a space where we can come together, share what’s working and alive, and support each other as we navigate this critical moment in history.

Let’s be real: **the choices we make and the actions we take right now will shape the future**. And while it might feel like we can’t do much as individuals, we know that as communities, we’re capable of incredible things. We’ve been on this path for almost twenty years. Together we are stronger, more resilient, and able to **create ripples of change that grow into waves of transformation**.

This newsletter is a way of **staying connected and amplifying** those ripples. Every month, we’ll share inspiring stories, practical tools, upcoming events, and insights from our global network. Think of it as a shared kitchen – a place where we can gather, learn, and create something meaningful together.

![Group of people standing in a circle holding hands](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/01/54189220244_d0d3a89953_b.jpg)

Viseu, Portugal. Filipa and Rob's "E se..." (What if...) tour. October 2024

Here’s what you can expect:

### Stories of Hope & Inspiration

We’ll introduce you to people, projects, and communities making a difference around the world. These are real stories from real people — changemakers who are rolling up their sleeves and getting things done.

### Tools for Action

We’ll provide practical resources, guides, and tools to help you and your community thrive. Whether you’re looking for advice on starting a local initiative or need inspiration for your next project, we’ve got you covered.

### Events & Opportunities

We’ll keep you updated on workshops, webinars, gatherings, and other events where you can connect and learn. We’ll also share opportunities like partnerships, job openings, and ways to get more involved in the global transition movement.

### Collective Wisdom

We’ll reflect on insights and lessons learned from our global network. You’ll hear about impactful projects and hands-on initiatives that are making a difference — and maybe even find inspiration for your own work.

### A Participatory Space

This newsletter isn’t just for you — **it’s because of you**. You’re not just an audience; you’re a neighbour, a fellow transitioner, and **a co-creator of the future we’re building together.** We want this to be a space shaped by all of our voices, stories, and contributions. However small your actions might feel sometimes, they matter. Every ingredient adds flavour to the dish. Let’s celebrate the ripples we’re creating, knowing that even the smallest actions can have a profound influence.

[Sign up to the Transition Newsletter](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/#/portal/signup)

![Photo of heart-shaped cookies](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/01/monika-grabkowska-2.jpg)

Original photo by Monika Grabkowska

**Thank you for being part of this movement.** Now more than ever, let’s stay connected, stay inspired, and keep building the future we want to see. We hope to make this newsletter a vibrant, collaborative tool to help us reconnect, strengthen each other, and celebrate the incredible work happening in communities around the world.

With love and gratitude, 

*The Transition Network international team*

**P.S.** **If you have a story, project, or idea beaming in you, we’d love to hear it!** [Post in our community](https://hub.transition-space.org/user/registration/by-link?token=yixa3Y0s-NXFsC&spaceId=27&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), or write to [comms@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:comms@transitionnetwork.org). Let’s amplify the good work happening everywhere! 🌍✨ 

---
### Welcome, People of Transition!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/welcome-people-of-transition-2/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:42:43.000Z
Exciting news! Transition Network International is launching a new project, and it’s all about *you*!

### **Stories of Real People Making Real Change**

[People of Transition](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a space on **Instagram** for sharing stories from people and communities worldwide that are actively working towards a brighter, more regenerative future. Inspired by the amazing work of [Brandon Stanton](https://www.humansofnewyork.com/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we will use photos, interviews, and reflections in the hope that these stories will bring us all closer to the everyday changemakers from around the world, sparking new ideas and building resilience in our communities.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Hanyun-Xu-profile-photo-300x300.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Hanyun-Xu-profile-photo.png)

And we’re thrilled to have **Hanyun Xu** on board to help bring your stories to life. Hanyun will be the weaver behind these posts, amplifying the voices and journeys that often go untold. She’ll talk to individuals and communities connected to the Transition movement worldwide, collecting stories of resilience, creativity, and the everyday steps people take to build more regenerative, thriving lives.

Over the coming months, Hanyun will connect with inspiring folks from Transition communities worldwide, capturing the incredible projects, personal journeys, and sometimes the struggles behind their work and life.

We hope that each story will give you a glimpse into the heart of the Transition movement, through the eyes of the people who make change happen. We’d love for you to follow along, share the stories, and join us on this journey. [**People of Transition**](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is our collective window into what’s possible when people and communities come together with a shared vision for the future.

View this post on Instagram

[A post shared by Hanyun (@people\_of\_transition)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DCGzgKfJwKd/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)

**Share your stories!**

If you want to share your own journey, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to Hanyun at [ourstories@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:ourstories@transitionnetwork.org) and become part of this vibrant tapestry of people and initiatives reimagining the world.

### **Stories of Real People Making Real Change**

[People of Transition](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a space on **Instagram** for sharing stories from people and communities worldwide that are actively working towards a brighter, more regenerative future. Inspired by the amazing work of [Brandon Stanton](https://www.humansofnewyork.com/about?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we will use photos, interviews, and reflections in the hope that these stories will bring us all closer to the everyday changemakers from around the world, sparking new ideas and building resilience in our communities.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Hanyun-Xu-profile-photo-300x300.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Hanyun-Xu-profile-photo.png)

And we’re thrilled to have **Hanyun Xu** on board to help bring your stories to life. Hanyun will be the weaver behind these posts, amplifying the voices and journeys that often go untold. She’ll talk to individuals and communities connected to the Transition movement worldwide, collecting stories of resilience, creativity, and the everyday steps people take to build more regenerative, thriving lives.

Over the coming months, Hanyun will connect with inspiring folks from Transition communities worldwide, capturing the incredible projects, personal journeys, and sometimes the struggles behind their work and life.

We hope that each story will give you a glimpse into the heart of the Transition movement, through the eyes of the people who make change happen. We’d love for you to follow along, share the stories, and join us on this journey. [**People of Transition**](https://www.instagram.com/people%5Fof%5Ftransition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is our collective window into what’s possible when people and communities come together with a shared vision for the future.

View this post on Instagram

[A post shared by Hanyun (@people\_of\_transition)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DCGzgKfJwKd/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)

**Share your stories!**

If you want to share your own journey, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to Hanyun at [ourstories@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:ourstories@transitionnetwork.org) and become part of this vibrant tapestry of people and initiatives reimagining the world.
### Celebrating the Change: Working Better Alongside You
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/celebrating-the-change-working-better-alongside-you/
Last updated: 2025-04-22T13:17:02.000Z
Dearest Transition community,

We are excited to share with you a significant milestone in the ongoing evolution of your international support organisation. Over the past few months, we have been working to restructure and clarify the role we play in the movement, so we can better listen to and align with the needs and aspirations of communities applying Transition. We have recognised the need to improve the ways we work in collaboration with and alongside the wider movement, and are committed to providing more opportunities for co-learning and co-design.

In this article we will summarise the changes that have been made so far, share emerging ideas and plans regarding the role and services we offer within the movement, and suggest ways in which you can input and help shape the next steps.

### **What's New?**

For the past few years there have been two entities supporting and representing the Transition movement at the international level. These were Transition Network (a UK registered charity - with an international focus) and the Hubs Heart Circle - a group of international movement based contributors with close relationships to several Transition Hubs and local groups.

It recently became clear that having two somewhat separate teams working at the international level was leading to role confusion and a drain on energy and resources due to the need for additional meetings and internal communications. We all agreed we would much rather use this time, energy and budget in offering support activities and services outwards into the movement, so it became clear that a restructure and simplification was needed.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/TNi-simpl.-org.-diagram-v3.png)

**Simplified visual representation of the new structure. This is governance oriented so we’re not including here the various projects we are holding and working groups we are part of (e.g. Practising Transition)*

The new structure retains the benefits of the previous two-system model, while simplifying organisational and meeting structures, improving efficiency and freeing up capacity to work more closely alongside the wider movement. We have carefully combined the strengths of Transition Network (the charity) and the Hubs Heart Circle (internationally based team) to ensure we retain a legal entity that can receive and redistribute funds, while also ensuring we have an international perspective and movement representation within the team. This is not a situation of one structure being absorbed into another but rather the creation of a new 3.0 entity that was asking to be born: Transition Network *international* (TNi).

This is the current picture of Transition Network international (see simplified visual representation above) and it will likely keep evolving with changes and adaptations as we try things out, learn from doing, and listen to what you, as members of the movement, need from us.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2025/04/Theory-of-Change-v2-edit-1536x1086.png)

TNi Theory of Change

**Key aspects:**

1. **Our strategic shift: Better listening and acting on your needs.** We have heard your feedback, challenges, and aspirations, and have realigned our strategy to work more effectively alongside and in support of communities delivering Transition at the grassroots. We are excited to engage more directly with hubs and groups through projects, focus groups, community research, regranting activities and the refreshed Hubs Group that is emerging from the recent Hubs self-assessment process. We look forward to connecting more, understanding better your current challenges, needs and successes, and exploring ways in which we can best accompany and support you.
2. **A more efficient team.** We have restructured our organisation to create a more efficient and responsive team, with clearer strategic aims. This allows us to be more attentive and in service to the movement, better positioned to support the incredible work you are doing on the ground.
3. **An evolving entity: transparency and adaptability.** Transition Network international is not a static organization, we are an evolving entity. This restructuring is part of an ongoing journey to become a more effective part of the support system for the movement. We are committed to transparency, sharing the process, and celebrating our collective evolution.
4. **Fundraising for the future.** This transformation is just the beginning and we will be sharing more news in the coming months. We are actively working on new fundraising efforts and lines of enquiry to enable regranting activities such as seed grants and development grants, to directly support your work. We will continue to consult with you as we move forward, ensuring that your voices guide our direction.

### **What’s Next?**

You might have some questions now. To answer them, and to further explore these changes with you, we will hold two "Ask Us Anything" sessions scheduled across different time zones.

Watch the recording of the latest Ask Us Anything session:

In November we will be reviewing the strategic aims of Transition Network international and making more tangible plans for 2025 and beyond. We will be inviting input from the wider movement via a consultation and advice process. More information about how to participate in this will be shared in the coming months.

This is a challenging time in the world and in our communities. However we also see it as a time of great potential for the application and uptake of Transition, as we have seen many times over the amazing impact that groups and Hubs can have in their local areas. This evolution into Transition Network international is a reflection of and response to the collective intelligence, increasing relevance and ongoing creative energy of the Transition movement. We are here to serve and work alongside you, to amplify your activities and to help you receive the support and resources you need. We look forward to embarking on this next chapter together.

Stay tuned for more updates, and please do not hesitate to reach out with your thoughts, questions, or feedback. We are listening and committed to being in good service to you all.

In community and celebration,

*Deborah Benham and Esther Molina*,  
On behalf of the Transition Network international team
### Join Transition Network as a Trustee!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/join-transition-network-as-our-new-trustee/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:42:45.000Z
## We are seeking generalist Trustees and a Trustee Treasurer

Can you bring a fresh perspective, time and energy to help us to deliver on our purpose and strategy?

Transition Network is a charity registered in England and Wales that works internationally to support the Transition movement. We are looking for new Trustees and a Trustee Treasurer to join our team, and we welcome applicants from a diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences. As a Trustee you would join a groundbreaking organisation, using shared governance structures and processes.

Our trustees exercise their legal responsibilities while working within a non-hierarchical governance model which empowers all members of the team to act autonomously and to input into key decisions. Trustees and elected team members form a Purpose Circle and one Trustee rep joins multiple team members at the Core Circle level which keeps Transition Network’s organisational purpose under review and agrees our areas of strategic focus. As well as performing an oversight function, as required by the Charity Commission, trustees can undertake other roles within our structure as skills, capacity, interest and opportunity allow.

Being a Trustee is an unpaid, voluntary role.

Interested? You can find out more about Transition Network and the role of a Trustee in the [Trustee Pack 2024](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nHwI1W4JIO1kqlVxmdZOcMFomP-q%5F6IX/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the role of Treasurer in our [TN Trustee Treasurer Information Pack 2024](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cCPZL9OLRJ-42ShJnpsHgUmn2pGQb4QR/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We are accepting applications throughout November, closing date, Friday, 29 November 2024\. If you have any queries that are not covered in the pack, or would like to send us your application – drop us a line at trustee-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!
### Fundraising support for Transition hubs and groups
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/fundraising-support-transition-hubs-groups/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:42:49.000Z
Are you part of a Transition group or hub seeking funding options to support your projects?

You don’t have to start from scratch, there’s help available!

Tanya Medukha, one of the fundraising roles at Transition Network, is currently offering funding sources and writing assistance to support Transition hubs and groups in locating and applying for funding to support ongoing work.

### **What’s included**

1. A complete list of funders aligned with your project
2. Co-creation of grant applications

### **What to expect**

- Each hub or group representative who submits a funding request will receive a personalised message regarding next steps.
- Each project with a track record of delivery will receive a funding recommendation.

### **Requirements**

#### For initiatives:

- Be registered on the [Transition Groups website](https://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Be operational for at least 1 year (breaks in activity are allowed)
- Be able to clearly communicate which Transition activities the group has carried out

#### For hubs:

- Having taken part in the 2024 self-assessment process

### **Costs**

Time:

- 30 minutes to 2 hours to fill out the fundraising assistance request form.
- 1-4 hours to answer follow up questions and review funder recommendations.
- 5-20 hours per week per funding application for the collaborative application writing stage.This depends on the application deadline and will last about 1 month approximately.

Financial: A success fee not exceeding 15% of the awarded grant amount.

### **How to get started:**

1. Register on the [Transition Virtual Platform](https://hub.transition-space.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – if you haven’t done so already.
2. Join the Fundraising space by [clicking here](https://hub.transition-space.org/user/registration/by-link?token=mC173MW7TurUtt&spaceId=3&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
3. Once you’re a member of the space, fill out the Fundraising Assistance form in the left side menu. You can also access it [here](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/fundraising/survey/show/single?id=20&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
4. Receive a confirmation within a day or two and more information on what comes next.

[![Screenshot of the Fundraising space in the Transition Virtual Platform](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-09-06-133731-1024x539.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-09-06-133731.png)

### **Questions?**

Option A: leave them in the comments section below.

Option B: Ask them in the pinned post in the Fundraising channel – [here](https://hub.transition-space.org/content/perma?id=58188&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The post also gives a detailed overview of the collaborative fundraising process + an additional fundraising resource.

Thank you all so much for the amazing work you do to transform and regenerate our communities and beloved planet!
### Become a Voice of Transition!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/become-a-voice-of-transition/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T19:31:54.000Z
## We are looking for inspiring storytellers… Let the world hear your VOICE!

[Apply to become a Voice of Transition](https://tally.so/r/wM5kR0?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

0:00 

/0:00 

1× 

Are you a passionate activist striving to make a difference in the world? Do you believe in the power of community actions and have a story to share? Are you ready to inspire change and lead a socially just transition? If so, we invite you to become one of the Voices of Transition.

### About Voices of Transition

Voices of Transition is a dynamic new project that aims to amplify the voices of storytellers and changemakers from diverse backgrounds. We are looking to support people from all around the world who are passionate about imaginative and constructive storytelling, and narrative change. People with visions that embolden practical solutions, mutual care, regenerative social systems rooted in social justice and self-governance, and new economic models based on well-being, inclusivity and intersectionality.

Each of these FIVE Voices will have a chance to raise awareness about the importance of local, deep, community-led change. They will learn to amplify the positive transformations they witness in their communities. Through their interconnected knowledge and creative resilience, the Voices of Transition will narrate stories and solutions that can sustain us for the coming decades. Together, we can use our voices to co-create a fairer, freer, and more vibrant world.

If this describes **YOU**, this is your chance to share your community story, receive professional communications training, and be part of a global movement that fosters resilience, regeneration, and social justice. **We are looking for dedicated budding storytellers – speakers, podcasters and vloggers** – who can inspire others to lead self-sustainable lives and make meaningful impacts on their communities.

### Who Should Apply?

We are seeking **FIVE** individuals who:

- Are passionate about making a difference in the world with their voice and actions.
- Are involved in a community or network that can act as a catalyst or example worldwide.
- Are committed to participating in bi-monthly training, focus meetings and check-ins, for the duration of the project (seven months).
- Are eager to exchange ideas and support fellow participants through community rhythms and mutual support practices.
- Are excited about engaging in public speaking.
- Are interested in exploring how language shapes the attention focus of people.
- Are a member or a representative of a marginalised community.

### What’s in it for You?

As a Voice of Transition, you will:

### Expected impact

Through Voices of Transition you will contribute to:

The project will take place from September 2024 to March 2025.  
The application form is open from 5 August to 15 September 2024\. We will inform all applicants of the selection by mid-September 2024.

### A QUEST

**You as a Voice of Transition will have a chance to work with one of the ten** [**Transition Characteristics**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **in which you can develop your storytelling journey. We will help you by training you in your preferred media style, connecting you to a community group that does that practise, and bringing your impact story to the world.**

Do not miss this change to make an impact in the world with your Voice!

[**Apply to become a Voice of Transition**](https://tally.so/r/wM5kR0?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/white-BG-logo-300x300.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/white-BG-logo.png)

[**Apply to become a Voice of Transition**](https://tally.so/r/wM5kR0?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Collecting Stories of Community-Led Change
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:42:56.000Z
#### Be Part of Something Bigger: Share Your Stories of Community-led Change for Resilience and Regeneration!

[Share your stories of change here](https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is excited to launch a new **Community research project** to help the diverse groups and communities doing Transition, and the movement overall, grow stronger, more effective and impactful. We want to learn from each other’s experiences to create even greater positive change together.

We’re using an innovative tool called [**Sensemaker**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to collect your stories, either written or as audio recordings. This way, you can share your own thoughts and insights about your story without external interpretations.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza-2","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

*Deborah Benham introduces the Community research project (first 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why get involved?**

This is your research as well!  
Our goal is to provide **valuable information and resources for local groups to**

- **raise awareness,**
- **support fundraising efforts,**
- **and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement**.

By gathering and sharing these stories, we can **highlight our collective achievements** and **inspire** others through data, learning resources, articles, events, and more.

All the stories we collect and data generated will be **accessible to everyone** in the Transition movement through a simple login. You’ll find **summaries, quotes, word clouds, graphs, and more that you can use** in your own work.

We’re particularly interested in understanding what specific **practices and conditions help foster positive change in communities**. In the collector page there are prompts to help you think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your story—what made that project or activity successful in your community?

### **How do I participate?**

For the next **3 months, until the end of September,** the **Sensemaker collector tool will be available online in 8 languages**.

1. Visit [https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker](https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. Choose the language of your preference
3. Share your story, whether in writing or as an audio recording –you choose what works best for you!–, then complete a few questions to add your own insights (the self ‘signification’ – the meaning making part). It takes about 30-40 minutes.

This tool is a fantastic opportunity, but we only have it for a short time. **The more stories we gather, the more valuable insights we can uncover to help our movement navigate current crises and build a more regenerative future.**

### [**Share your stories of change here**](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1720123922046169&usg=AOvVaw23eKpJ63GPYO1hD1HQa-Er)

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?start=300&feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Deborah Benham goes through the details of the data collector and its process (last 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why now?**

**Transition is turning 18!** As we come of age, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past years of experimenting, innovating, and learning from both successes and failures. **Now is a crucial time to share what we’ve learned and to tackle today’s escalating challenges through the wisdom of our entire community.**

From our previous [survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/what-you-told-us/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2020-2021 and countless shared stories, we know that [**Transition groups**](https://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and communities are achieving incredible things**, locally and sometimes regionally. This looks really different in each place. Every collective excels in different areas, and we want to identify and share these effective practices so that everyone can benefit and be even more inspired.

### **Spread the news!**

**We need your help to spread the word** to as many Transitioners as possible and other community-led eco-social change groups.

**This is your research! Join us in this exciting project and be part of our shared journey toward resilience and regeneration!**

[Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is excited to launch a new **Community research project** to help the diverse groups and communities doing Transition, and the movement overall, grow stronger, more effective and impactful. We want to learn from each other’s experiences to create even greater positive change together.

We’re using an innovative tool called [**Sensemaker**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to collect your stories, either written or as audio recordings. This way, you can share your own thoughts and insights about your story without external interpretations.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza-2","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

*Deborah Benham introduces the Community research project (first 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why get involved?**

This is your research as well!  
Our goal is to provide **valuable information and resources for local groups to**

- **raise awareness,**
- **support fundraising efforts,**
- **and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement**.

By gathering and sharing these stories, we can **highlight our collective achievements** and **inspire** others through data, learning resources, articles, events, and more.

All the stories we collect and data generated will be **accessible to everyone** in the Transition movement through a simple login. You’ll find **summaries, quotes, word clouds, graphs, and more that you can use** in your own work.

We’re particularly interested in understanding what specific **practices and conditions help foster positive change in communities**. In the collector page there are prompts to help you think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your story—what made that project or activity successful in your community?

### **How do I participate?**

For the next **3 months, until the end of September,** the **Sensemaker collector tool will be available online in 8 languages**.

1. Visit [https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker](https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. Choose the language of your preference
3. Share your story, whether in writing or as an audio recording –you choose what works best for you!–, then complete a few questions to add your own insights (the self ‘signification’ – the meaning making part). It takes about 30-40 minutes.

This tool is a fantastic opportunity, but we only have it for a short time. **The more stories we gather, the more valuable insights we can uncover to help our movement navigate current crises and build a more regenerative future.**

### [**Share your stories of change here**](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1720123922046169&usg=AOvVaw23eKpJ63GPYO1hD1HQa-Er)

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?start=300&feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Deborah Benham goes through the details of the data collector and its process (last 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why now?**

**Transition is turning 18!** As we come of age, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past years of experimenting, innovating, and learning from both successes and failures. **Now is a crucial time to share what we’ve learned and to tackle today’s escalating challenges through the wisdom of our entire community.**

From our previous [survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/what-you-told-us/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2020-2021 and countless shared stories, we know that [**Transition groups**](https://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and communities are achieving incredible things**, locally and sometimes regionally. This looks really different in each place. Every collective excels in different areas, and we want to identify and share these effective practices so that everyone can benefit and be even more inspired.

### **Spread the news!**

**We need your help to spread the word** to as many Transitioners as possible and other community-led eco-social change groups.

**This is your research! Join us in this exciting project and be part of our shared journey toward resilience and regeneration!**

### Questions?

What is exactly the Sensemaker tool?  

Sensemaker is a new generation data collection and analysis tool. [Check this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) if you’d like to know more in detail.

Could we submit a story as a group?  
  
Each person’s experiences are different for each action and event, and we’re interested in your personal perspective and experience. So we encourage as many people in your group who would want to, to submit your stories. It might be fun to talk to each other and explore common points, differences and nuances in how you experienced these stories of change as a group.

The Submit response button doesn’t seem to be working?  
  
Please make sure you’ve entered all the required values. If any required question does not apply to your case, please mark the “N/A” box.

[Transition Network International](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is excited to launch a new **Community research project** to help the diverse groups and communities doing Transition, and the movement overall, grow stronger, more effective and impactful. We want to learn from each other’s experiences to create even greater positive change together.

We’re using an innovative tool called [**Sensemaker**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to collect your stories, either written or as audio recordings. This way, you can share your own thoughts and insights about your story without external interpretations.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza-2","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

*Deborah Benham introduces the Community research project (first 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why get involved?**

This is your research as well!  
Our goal is to provide **valuable information and resources for local groups to**

- **raise awareness,**
- **support fundraising efforts,**
- **and demonstrate the wide-reaching impact of our movement**.

By gathering and sharing these stories, we can **highlight our collective achievements** and **inspire** others through data, learning resources, articles, events, and more.

All the stories we collect and data generated will be **accessible to everyone** in the Transition movement through a simple login. You’ll find **summaries, quotes, word clouds, graphs, and more that you can use** in your own work.

We’re particularly interested in understanding what specific **practices and conditions help foster positive change in communities**. In the collector page there are prompts to help you think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your story—what made that project or activity successful in your community?

### **How do I participate?**

For the next **3 months, until the end of September,** the **Sensemaker collector tool will be available online in 8 languages**.

1. Visit [https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker](https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. Choose the language of your preference
3. Share your story, whether in writing or as an audio recording –you choose what works best for you!–, then complete a few questions to add your own insights (the self ‘signification’ – the meaning making part). It takes about 30-40 minutes.

This tool is a fantastic opportunity, but we only have it for a short time. **The more stories we gather, the more valuable insights we can uncover to help our movement navigate current crises and build a more regenerative future.**

### [**Share your stories of change here**](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tinyurl.com/transition-stories-sensemaker&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1720123922046169&usg=AOvVaw23eKpJ63GPYO1hD1HQa-Er)

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/collecting-stories-of-community-led-change\\/#arve-youtube-oa1vkg8cyza","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/oa1VKg8cyzA?start=300&feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Deborah Benham goes through the details of the data collector and its process (last 5 min. of the video)*

### **Why now?**

**Transition is turning 18!** As we come of age, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past years of experimenting, innovating, and learning from both successes and failures. **Now is a crucial time to share what we’ve learned and to tackle today’s escalating challenges through the wisdom of our entire community.**

From our previous [survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/what-you-told-us/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in 2020-2021 and countless shared stories, we know that [**Transition groups**](https://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **and communities are achieving incredible things**, locally and sometimes regionally. This looks really different in each place. Every collective excels in different areas, and we want to identify and share these effective practices so that everyone can benefit and be even more inspired.

### **Spread the news!**

**We need your help to spread the word** to as many Transitioners as possible and other community-led eco-social change groups.

**This is your research! Join us in this exciting project and be part of our shared journey toward resilience and regeneration!**

### Questions?

What is exactly the Sensemaker tool?  

Sensemaker is a new generation data collection and analysis tool. [Check this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6ZK8UC%5FMw&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) if you’d like to know more in detail.

Could we submit a story as a group?  
  
Each person’s experiences are different for each action and event, and we’re interested in your personal perspective and experience. So we encourage as many people in your group who would want to, to submit your stories. It might be fun to talk to each other and explore common points, differences and nuances in how you experienced these stories of change as a group.

The Submit response button doesn’t seem to be working?  
  
Please make sure you’ve entered all the required values. If any required question does not apply to your case, please mark the “N/A” box.

Do you have any other questions or concerns about sharing this? Email us at [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org)

If you need any assistance, we have a small budget available to help cover unavoidable costs.

Thank you so much!
### Ministry of Imagination Manifesto released as the world goes to the polls.
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/ministry-of-imagination-manifesto-released-as-the-world-goes-to-the-polls/
Last updated: 2026-03-23T15:56:48.000Z
> This year, 49% of the world goes to the polls in 64 countries. As Time magazine puts it, “2024 is not just AN election year.It’s perhaps THE election year”.
> 
> [Time magazine](https://time.com/6550920/world-elections-2024/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The outcomes of these elections will hugely shape the world and our future, most importantly of all is the US Presidential election which could see Donald Trump returned as President, which would unleash what [The Economist recently described](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/16/donald-trump-poses-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as “[the biggest danger to the world](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/16/donald-trump-poses-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)”. In most cases, voters are being asked to choose between deeply unimaginative manifestos, all firmly wedded to a business-as-usual economic model that is clearly and dangerously failing around the world.

The rise of the far-right around the world is profoundly troubling, underpinned as it is by dystopian visions of the future and the need for ‘strong’ leaders to protect us from those futures. But what would a Manifesto look like that was based on a positive vision of the future, one that is appropriately ambitious to the scale of the challenges the world is facing while at the same time bold, imaginative and audacious? I would argue that the failure of progressive parties and movements to set out bold visions of the future has left the space for the far right to fill, and that getting better at bringing positive futures alive in people’s imaginations is vital. As political theorist [Wendy Brown wrote recently](https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/wendy-brown-interview/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

> “We can refute the premises of these positions until the cows come home. But only a compelling vision of a less frightening and insecure future will recruit anyone to a progressive or revolutionary alternative future—or rouse apolitical citizens for the project of making that future. This vision must be seductive and exciting, and it must be embodied in seductive and exciting leadership and movements, hopefully oriented by an ethic of responsibility”.

Since 2020, the fortnightly ‘*From What If to What Next*’ podcast has invited two guests to time travel into the 2030 that resulted from our doing absolutely everything we could possibly have done, and to describe that world to the listeners. In late March 2024, I stopped the podcast at its 100th episode in order to focus on other projects, but it remains as [an amazing body of work](https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4v5SP4KTwc71DLMN7fqQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/moi.jpg?resize=1000%2C696&ssl=1)

Alongside the main episodes, Patreon subscribers also received bonus *Ministry of Imagination* podcasts, in which they were inaugurated as Ministers at the Ministry itself (part-Hundertwasser, part-Hogwarts, part-Yellow Submarine) and invited to choose 3 policies each that would rapidly accelerate our transition to a world in which those changes had happened. The result was over 600 deeply thoughtful, considered, audacious and ambitious policies covering everything from free art materials for all, to a Universal Basic Income and every company having to list all their failures as well as their successes in their annual reports.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/policies.jpg?resize=1100%2C424&ssl=1)

This year, perhaps now more than ever, we need a taste of what policymaking underpinned by the radical imagination looks like. Recognising how extraordinary and powerful this collection of possibility-infused policies from an eclectic mix of people from all around the world (including Brian Eno, Rutger Bregman and Kate Raworth – ecologists, renegade economists, artists, prison abolitionists, somatic trauma therapists, printmakers, politicians, disability activists, rewilding practitioners, prison abolitionists and so many more) I felt it was important to collect them all in one accessible place. And so ‘*The Ministry of Imagination Manifesto: an imagination-based manifesto for times that need one’* was born. We’ve painstakingly edited together all the policies, under subject headings, and the whole thing has been beautifully designed by Capella Andrean of [The Creative Bloc](http://thecreativebloc.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Please share it far and wide. Send it to any policy-makers or politicians you know. Post it anywhere you can. Don’t let the possible be constrained by the imaginative poverty of our current manifesto writers. **The sponsorship we have has covered the cost of production, but we’d also love some funds to cover creating some printed copies. If you find this inspirational and you’d like to support it, please consider [making a donation](https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=Y0ZIxod1ISOIZbe57VvlmzVZt75veYirdm-9ANjVV%5FG4cgo0rJEEp6p6fv3RdTFh298S7Tf7p5giljEk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Thanks.** As Ruha Benjamin in her 2024 book *‘Imagination: A Manifesto’* puts it:

> ““A world without prisons? *Ridiculous*. Schools that foster the genius of every child? *Impossible*. Work that doesn’t grind us to the bone? *Naïve*. A society where everyone has food, shelter, love? *In your dreams*. Exactly”

The Ministry of Imagination manifesto is supported by the good folks at Boomtown Festival, Wake the Tiger, Team Love, Bath Spa University, Moral Imaginations and Transition Network. My deepest thanks to Tamzin Pinkerton for her help with editing it, Capella Andrean, every single Minister at the Ministry of Imagination for their brilliant policy ideas, and every subscriber who made the podcast possible. Thanks.

We’d love to hear what you think of it. Do let us know in the comments.

*(reposted from [https://www.robhopkins.net/2024/04/15/ministry-of-imagination-manifesto-released-as-the-world-goes-to-the-polls/](https://www.robhopkins.net/2024/04/15/ministry-of-imagination-manifesto-released-as-the-world-goes-to-the-polls/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))*

The outcomes of these elections will hugely shape the world and our future, most importantly of all is the US Presidential election which could see Donald Trump returned as President, which would unleash what [The Economist recently described](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/16/donald-trump-poses-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) as “[the biggest danger to the world](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/16/donald-trump-poses-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)”. In most cases, voters are being asked to choose between deeply unimaginative manifestos, all firmly wedded to a business-as-usual economic model that is clearly and dangerously failing around the world.

The rise of the far-right around the world is profoundly troubling, underpinned as it is by dystopian visions of the future and the need for ‘strong’ leaders to protect us from those futures. But what would a Manifesto look like that was based on a positive vision of the future, one that is appropriately ambitious to the scale of the challenges the world is facing while at the same time bold, imaginative and audacious? I would argue that the failure of progressive parties and movements to set out bold visions of the future has left the space for the far right to fill, and that getting better at bringing positive futures alive in people’s imaginations is vital. As political theorist [Wendy Brown wrote recently](https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/wendy-brown-interview/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

> “We can refute the premises of these positions until the cows come home. But only a compelling vision of a less frightening and insecure future will recruit anyone to a progressive or revolutionary alternative future—or rouse apolitical citizens for the project of making that future. This vision must be seductive and exciting, and it must be embodied in seductive and exciting leadership and movements, hopefully oriented by an ethic of responsibility”.

Since 2020, the fortnightly ‘*From What If to What Next*’ podcast has invited two guests to time travel into the 2030 that resulted from our doing absolutely everything we could possibly have done, and to describe that world to the listeners. In late March 2024, I stopped the podcast at its 100th episode in order to focus on other projects, but it remains as [an amazing body of work](https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4v5SP4KTwc71DLMN7fqQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/moi.jpg?resize=1000%2C696&ssl=1)

Alongside the main episodes, Patreon subscribers also received bonus *Ministry of Imagination* podcasts, in which they were inaugurated as Ministers at the Ministry itself (part-Hundertwasser, part-Hogwarts, part-Yellow Submarine) and invited to choose 3 policies each that would rapidly accelerate our transition to a world in which those changes had happened. The result was over 600 deeply thoughtful, considered, audacious and ambitious policies covering everything from free art materials for all, to a Universal Basic Income and every company having to list all their failures as well as their successes in their annual reports.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/policies.jpg?resize=1100%2C424&ssl=1)

This year, perhaps now more than ever, we need a taste of what policymaking underpinned by the radical imagination looks like. Recognising how extraordinary and powerful this collection of possibility-infused policies from an eclectic mix of people from all around the world (including Brian Eno, Rutger Bregman and Kate Raworth – ecologists, renegade economists, artists, prison abolitionists, somatic trauma therapists, printmakers, politicians, disability activists, rewilding practitioners, prison abolitionists and so many more) I felt it was important to collect them all in one accessible place. And so ‘*The Ministry of Imagination Manifesto: an imagination-based manifesto for times that need one’* was born. We’ve painstakingly edited together all the policies, under subject headings, and the whole thing has been beautifully designed by Capella Andrean of [The Creative Bloc](http://thecreativebloc.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Please share it far and wide. Send it to any policy-makers or politicians you know. Post it anywhere you can. Don’t let the possible be constrained by the imaginative poverty of our current manifesto writers. **The sponsorship we have has covered the cost of production, but we’d also love some funds to cover creating some printed copies. If you find this inspirational and you’d like to support it, please consider [making a donation](https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=Y0ZIxod1ISOIZbe57VvlmzVZt75veYirdm-9ANjVV%5FG4cgo0rJEEp6p6fv3RdTFh298S7Tf7p5giljEk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Thanks.** As Ruha Benjamin in her 2024 book *‘Imagination: A Manifesto’* puts it:

> ““A world without prisons? *Ridiculous*. Schools that foster the genius of every child? *Impossible*. Work that doesn’t grind us to the bone? *Naïve*. A society where everyone has food, shelter, love? *In your dreams*. Exactly”

The Ministry of Imagination manifesto is supported by the good folks at Boomtown Festival, Wake the Tiger, Team Love, Bath Spa University, Moral Imaginations and Transition Network. My deepest thanks to Tamzin Pinkerton for her help with editing it, Capella Andrean, every single Minister at the Ministry of Imagination for their brilliant policy ideas, and every subscriber who made the podcast possible. Thanks.

We’d love to hear what you think of it. Do let us know in the comments.

*(reposted from [https://www.robhopkins.net/2024/04/15/ministry-of-imagination-manifesto-released-as-the-world-goes-to-the-polls/](https://www.robhopkins.net/2024/04/15/ministry-of-imagination-manifesto-released-as-the-world-goes-to-the-polls/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))*
### Day of Transition Practise recordings
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/day-of-transition-practise-recordings/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:43:00.000Z
## Saturday, 27 April 2024

We had a great time, and learned a lot. It was packed with insights!

Last weekend we celebrated the Day of Transition Practise. And because not everyone managed to be there we want to share with you a roundup of the recordings.

Here again is the outline of the day. Below the outline, you will find the session recordings. Digest the richness of these lessons and stories at your leisure.

Enjoy the recordings, and check out the website for other practises.

[Find and book practices](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We started in Australia to learn practical tips, tools, and lessons that can empower you to initiate similar impactful initiatives in your own community.

https://youtu.be/AHTnV7TO Australian Stories of Transition Video

From there we went to Japan to see the regenerative practices and impactful actions from two pioneering Transition initiatives: Ueda and Fujino.

https://youtu.be/HQ3ddWraW6w Transition in Japan Video

Having heard about some inspiring Transition Initiatives it was time to delve into regenerative principles and how to apply them city-wide.

https://youtu.be/AjaN05ebKug Applying Regenerative Principles at the City Level Video

Social movement work is networked work. So we continued to explore how energise networks and alliances (one of our [Transition Characteristics](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/characteristics/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)).

https://youtu.be/Ia0t609FVJA Inspiring Talks on energising networks and alliances Video

The Transition Movement is a network. What holds us together are our relationships and the stories we tell each other and the world. Here we unpacked what the Transition narrative looks like in 2024.

https://youtu.be/Bopsx6EVyPM Transition Narratives - our story in 2024 Video

With that being sorted it was time to get down to the basics. Relating to each other is essential movement work and developing the ability to listen deeply is a transformative practise for individuals and groups. Anahí showed us how.

https://youtu.be/ezBHx4hYLdE Deep Listening/Escucha Profunda Video

From there we went into a guided meditation to centre ourselves for the upcoming sessions. Draw on this whenever you are in need.

https://youtu.be/qBMJ5elVjAQ Guided Mediation Video

Meditation is not the only practise that can help us change the world around us. We alsoe explored how simple yet meaningful actions, such as sewing together, can pave the way for addressing humanity's complex challenges.

https://youtu.be/N9SdXc8mKo8 Darning the Planet Video

Having shifted the conversation towards our embodied selves it was time to get moving, together. We did that in a somatic movement session.

https://youtu.be/Jrk29zqXMuM Somatic Movement Video

To round off the day and to move with firm intentions beyond the Day of Transition we held space for Addressing Injustice. We explored efforts to address both internal and external injustices while broadening our outlook to embrace the well-being of all living beings.

https://youtu.be/O7HAPMmPpoc Addressing Injustice Video
### Voices of Transition Fundraiser. 2-for-1.
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/voices-of-transition-fundraiser-2-for-1/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:43:02.000Z
Diversifying the voices of the environmental movement will take a BIG effort. That’s why Big Give has a BIG deal for people like you. **From the 18th to the 25th of April, their Green Match Fund will double your donations to Transition Network**.

[Find out more & Donate](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002SEV9sAAH?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## About Voices of Transition

Voices of Transition is a systematic effort to diversity the voices that shape the Transition Movement at the international level. So far, a very limited number of voices have had huge influence on the way the movement thinks of itself and is perceived. In reality, however, the diversity of people doing transition in communities is incredible. *We are setting out to support some of these people to become internationally recognised Voices of Transition.*

> "I have never felt so strong, powerful and present in my story as I do now and I think that for the movement, being able to release this voice, our stories, achievements and dreams, is such a strong source of inspiration."Isabela, Brasil

We will do this by:

- Incubating a community of Voices
- Listening to the needs of Transition Voices
- Offering Training
- Providing opportunities to speak, write, promote the profiles of Transition Voices and the movement

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2-1024x313.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## How to help?

There being more **Voices of Transition is a prerequisite for a Just Transition**. How can we hope to build a thriving future for everyone, when not everyone is heard?

Thanks to the Green Match Fund you can double the impact from any donation you make between the 18th and 25th of April. To support us move towards a Just Transition...

[Find out more & Donate](https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002SEV9sAAH?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### It's happening! Day of Transition Practise
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/save-the-date-day-of-transition-practise/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:43:02.000Z
## Saturday, 27 April 2024

Dear Transitioners worldwide,

Transitioners have more than 15 years of experience in community-led change. At times, it was joyful and fun, at times it was hard going. It was *always* an opportunity to learn and grow.

To celebrate and amplify this wealth of knowledge and experience, we are thrilled to announce the **Day of Transition Practice** on April 27, 2024\. This is a chance to connect with the international community, hear from inspiring Transition groups, share how you are doing, and learn how the international movement support system can better support you.

[Find and book sessions](https://practise.transitionmovement.org/day-of-transition-practise/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

### **Join us for an uplifting showcase of Inspiration!**

**What:** Day of Transition Practice  
**When:** April 27, 2024  
**How:** Join us for a single or multiple online sessions, spread across timezones and in various languages.

### **Why Attend?**

- **Peer-to-Peer Learning:** Hear from Transitioners and Transition groups who’ve succeeded in making changes in their communities. Learn more about the practices and conditions which supported this and what they learned along the way. Explore how to apply these practices and learnings in your own context.
- **Share your story:** Join sessions where you can tell us what has been working or difficult for you, hear from others, and exchange ideas.
- **Get support:** Hear what support is available from the Transition international support system and tell us your support needs so we can get better at serving you.

This event is a unique opportunity to unite and celebrate the journey and accomplishments of Transition initiatives globally and to learn together. Let's identify what’s working, see how we can support each other, and illuminate paths towards a more regenerative and resilient future.

### The sessions

...
### Sobre 'relacionar-se': consigo mesmo, com velhos amigos e com comunidades inteiras
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/sobre-relacionar-se-consigo-mesmo-com-velhos-amigos-e-com-comunidades-inteiras/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:01.000Z
[Read English version](about:blank#onrelating)

Estou aqui a pensar como os ‘ciclos’ pautam a minha existência - toda, tanto pessoal como profissional. E se eu sinto em mim ciclos claros, curtos, como os das estações do ano do lugar do mundo onde eu cresci e como os ciclos anuais, há outros mais difíceis de reconhecer: são ciclos tão largos que só se permitem ver se o observador mantiver uma presença consciente e constante, seguindo um enfiamento temático.

Um ano terminou e outro começa e, neste período entre terminar e começar, eu limpo e arrumo a ‘casa’ - essa é a intenção. Este é um momento importante para mim e para a minha saúde mental - viro-me para dentro, reflito, tento fechar os ciclos que estão concluídos, detecto padrões que adivinham ciclos em curso e crio espaço para outros se iniciarem. É também um exercício que temo: tenho medo do processo que me obriga a sentir ao tentar encontrar sentido neste nosso mundo carregado de incoerências, trauma e dor - temo desequilibrar-me e deixar de estar em controlo do meu exercício de esperança activa. Enfim, como ainda sinto a tal esperança, concluo que o meu processo interno desta época correu bem 🙂

O tema da inclusão e da ‘narrativa’ de transição tem sido um dos mais recorrentes entre ativistas do Movimento de Transição. O Movimento de Transição é muitas vezes descrito como uma rede de aprendizagem e nunca me canso de fazer lembrar que é importante aprender com as experiências no terreno, nas iniciativas locais. Para isso, os canais entre os espaços de experimentação e os vários níveis do movimento têm que estar funcionais e abertos. Passei algum tempo a reflectir neste tema durante este meu processo de fim/começo de ano, enquanto observava um outro ciclo - um ciclo lindo de uma amizade e colaboração de Transição, que é disto que é feito um movimento - ligações humanas:

## Velhos amigos e iniciativas locais

O Benoît ([Benoît Thevard](https://www.benoit-thevard.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) é um amigo querido de muitos anos (tantos anos quantos eu tenho de Transição) por quem eu tenho uma grande admiração - activista de Transição; co-fundador membro de umas das mais antigas iniciativas de Transição de França - [Chateauneuf-sur-Loire en Transition](https://csl-transition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- e representante do Hub de Transição do ‘Loiret’, em França; autor de publicações sob o tema da transição ([aqui](https://www.benoit-thevard.fr/publications?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). É daqueles amigos que, estando muito tempo distantes, reaparecem em ciclos largos - no nosso caso, para colaborarmos em momentos-chave do trabalho de um ou do outro - este foi um desses momentos, certamente.

O Benoît co-organizou o evento ‘Transição nos Bairros prioritários a partir da abordagem narrativa’ ao concluir um projecto europeu que se inspirou numa experiência muito inspiradora de transição sistémica na [cidade de Loos-en-Gohelle](https://www.cerdd.org/Parcours-thematiques/Changement-climatique/Ressources-climat/Loos-en-Gohelle-un-demonstrateur-de-la-conduite-du-changement-vers-une-ville-durable?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a partir da qual se desenvolveu uma metodologia baseada [na abordagem narrativa](https://base.socioeco.org/docs/mer-cerdd-ok-web.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pela mão da [Fabrique des Transitions](https://www.fabriquedestransitions.net/article1%5Ffr.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) \- 8 de Dezembro, em Tours, França. Eu estive presente.

Este evento inspirou-me muito pelo que foi dito, pela forma, e pela participação inclusiva. Há muito que revisitar, reflectir, explorar e trazer à luz para que a polinização cruzada com outros projectos similares se faça, mas por agora, deixo um áudio de uma primeira conversa com o Benoît, em francês, ainda muito cansados, depois do evento e ao fecharmos o ciclo do nosso re-encontro - logo veremos como se abrirão os tais canais e os novos ciclos!

Para garantir que a partilha acontece, e se o francês não for uma língua que se encontre na vossa caixa de ferramentas, fiz uma transcrição da conversa com o Benoît, tomando alguma liberdade na edição, quando pensei que fosse necessário clarificar o que estava a ser dito:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/benoitfilipa-512x1024.jpg)

**Filipa**: Benoit,...

**Benoît**: Oui, Filipa!

**Filipa**: Então, estamos aqui sentados, no dia seguinte a um evento, em Tours (França). Conta-nos: qual era o título desse evento? Falámos de quê, nesse evento?

**Benoît**: Este foi um evento de disseminação, que marcou o fim de um projecto europeu Erasmus+ baseada na utilização da ‘abordagem narrativa’’ (mise en récits) a fim de favorecer a transição ecológica nos bairros ditos ‘prioritários’ \[i.e vulneráveis, muito desvalorizados\].

**Filipa**: Ok. E eu estive presente. Tu convidaste-me a vir a Tours, relembra-me porquê - que papel viste que eu teria, ao estar presente?

**Benoît**: Tu estiveste presente porque a Transition Network apoiou o projecto desde o seu início. A Transition Network assinou uma carta de endosso no momento da apresentação da candidatura ao Programa Erasmus+, tu e a Transition Network consideraram que este projecto era pertinente, quer dizer - trabalhar a questão da transição dos bairros prioritários. Por isso, vocês foram uma parte interessada e activa da história, logo no início do processo. Além do mais, como este é um projecto europeu, foi-nos pedido para apresentar uma lista de parceiros europeus (de fora de França) e foi assim que te convidámos - porque pensámos que seria bom e natural que estivesses connosco neste dia.

**Filipa**: Então, este evento foi como um fechar de ciclo, certo?

**Benoit**: Foi um fechar de ciclo, sim. Melhor, ao mesmo tempo, uma jornada de clausura e uma jornada de lançamento - foi, de facto, um dia pautado em 2 tempos: de manhã, um momento mais institucional com a presença de membros eleitos e representantes de entidades públicas vários os níveis (locais, regionais, nacionais), membros de associações e de organizações locais diversas e de bairros de outras cidades e, na parte da tarde, oficinas (workshops) e sobretudo dedicado à compreensão do que é a ‘abordagem narrativa’ e sobretudo permitir que outros actores do bairro compreendam e tomem parte activa nesta aventura e que seja o princípio de qualquer coisa também no bairro de Sanitas em Tours. Em conclusão, de manhã fechou-se o ciclo e, à tarde, abriu-se um novo ciclo, justamente no Bairro de Sanitas, em particular.

**Filipa**: ‘Sanitas’ - que tipo de bairro é Sanitas?

**Benoit**: Sanitas é um dos bairros populares mais pobres de França, com uma grande densidade populacional - tem mais de 8.000 habitantes, numa superfície pequena, e a particularidade é que é um bairro situado no centro da cidade de Tours, mesmo ao lado da estação de comboios - em geral, este tipo de bairros, muito grandes, encontram-se na parte exterior das cidades, ao que chamamos ‘subúrbios’. E aqui, este bairro está no centro da cidade e, sendo um bairro extremamente pobre lado-a-lado com bairros extremamente ricos. Neste bairro eu penso que são faladas mais uma centena de línguas, e é de uma diversidade cultural imensa e muitas acções, de actores sociais implicados. Enfim, por um lado, um bairro extremamente rico, em tantas perspectivas, mas onde há também alguma violência, prostituição, droga, etc, tantas vezes associadas a este tipo de bairros, em que há uma condição de vulnerabilidade e precaridade importante.

**Filipa**: E à parte de tudo a que temos acesso, porque há um documento \[e outros recursos\] que vou partilhar na nossa rede, \[onde podemos ler sobre o projecto, metodologia e o que se concluiu\], tenho uma última questão para ti: se tivesses que escolher contar-nos uma coisa que descobriste (ou que aprendeste) ao longo deste projecto, que te marcou, o que seria?

**Benoit**: Este projecto mudou a minha abordagem da ‘Transição’. Eu tinha uma perspectiva da ‘transição’. Eu tinha uma maneira de abordar o assunto com que me rodeava, ou com os outros, que era particular - eu participava em muitas conferências como orador sobre a transição energética para falar de resiliência, para falar sobre ‘cidades em transição’, com a expectativa de fazer compreender os desafios e seduzir o público usando os elementos do ‘Manual de Transição’ - da dependência ao petróleo e da resiliência local - e ao trabalhar com os membros deste bairro, dei-me conta que não podemos falar destes temas desta maneira e que, de facto, esse nem sequer é o assunto relevante: muita gente nem sequer tem automóvel, não têm um salário assegurado com a continuidade de um mês após outro, muitas vezes não têm como pagar a conta para aquecer a casa. Por isso, falar de transição ecológica \[no contexto de redução da pegada ecológica\], não tem sentido nenhum porque são pessoas que já estão num nível de vida que é extremamente baixo e que o seu impacto no nosso planeta, na nossa biosfera, é reduzido.

A coisa mais importante que eu retenho deste trabalho, é o facto de que hoje, nestas culturas, nestas populações, as condições são ‘ecológicas’ de base. Quero dizer: não é uma ecologia demonstrativa - é muitas vezes uma ecologia associada à vergonha, em que se fazem coisas por necessidade, muitas vezes uma ecologia cultural porque as pessoas trazem consigo uma cultura profunda de partilha, de ser solidário, de reciclar, de recuperar recursos, etc. Uma grande lição que tivemos é que a Transição, neste contexto, é realçar essas coisas que hoje chamamos de ‘gestos ecologistas’ e fazer o que é necessário que deixem de estar associados a uma coisa vergonhosa, que seja associada a uma identidade como objecto de orgulho, que se torne inspirador para outros e que, progressivamente, seja o novo modelo a seguir, o novo modelo dominante.

**Filipa**: Obrigada

Deixo-vos ainda, caso queiram saber sobre o projecto e sobre o tema:

- A [informação sobre o projecto](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/pt/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#pll%5Fswitcher), em várias línguas (Francês, Inglês, Portugues, Italiano)
- O [relatório de estudo](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/pt/relatorio-de-estudo/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- O [guia Metodológico](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/methodological-guide/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Francês e Inglês)

# On relating: With oneself, old friends and whole communities.

I'm thinking about how 'cycles' guide my existence - all of it, both personal and professional. And while I can feel clear, short cycles in me, like the seasons in the part of the world where I grew up and the annual cycles, there are others that are more difficult to recognise: they are such long cycles that they can only be seen if the viewer maintains a conscious and constant presence, following a thematic thread..

One year has ended and another begins and, in this period between ending and beginning, I clean and tidy the 'house' - that's the intention. This is an important time for me and for my mental health - I turn inwards, reflect, try to close the cycles that are finished, detect patterns that hint at ongoing cycles and create space for others to begin. It's also an exercise I dread: I'm afraid of the process I'm forced to feel when trying to find meaning in this world of ours full of inconsistencies, trauma and pain - I'm afraid of getting off balance and no longer being in control of my exercise of active hope. Anyway, as I still feel that hope, I conclude that my internal process this season has gone well 🙂

The theme of inclusion and the 'narrative' of transition has been one of the most recurrent among Transition Movement activists. The Transition Movement is often described as a learning network and I never tire of reminding people that it's important to learn from experiences on the ground, from local initiatives. For this to happen, the channels between the experimentation spaces and the various levels of the movement have to be functional and open. I spent some time reflecting on this theme during my end of year/beginning of year process, while observing another cycle - a beautiful cycle of Transition friendship and collaboration, which is what a movement is made of - human connections:

## Old friends and the grassroots

Benoît (Benoît Thevard) is a dear friend of many years (as many years as I have in Transition) for whom I have great admiration - Transition activist; co-founder member of one of the oldest Transition initiatives in France - Chateauneuf-sur-Loire en Transition - and representative of the 'Loiret' Transition Hub in France; author of publications on the subject of transition (here). He's one of those friends who, having been away for a long time, reappear in long cycles - in our case, to collaborate at key moments in each other's work - and this was certainly one of those moments.

Benoît co-organised the event 'Transition in Priority Neighbourhoods from the narrative approach' at the end of a European project that was inspired by a very inspiring experience of systemic transition in the city of Loos-en-Gohelle, from which a methodology based on the narrative approach was developed by Fabrique des Transitions - 8 December in Tours, France. I was there.

This event really inspired me because of what was said, the form and the inclusive participation. There's a lot to revisit, reflect on, explore and bring to light so that cross-pollination with other similar projects can take place, but for now, I'll leave you with an audio of a first conversation with Benoît, in French, still very tired, after the event and as we close the cycle of our reunion - we'll see how these channels and new cycles open up!

To make sure the sharing happens, and if French isn't a language you have in your toolbox, I've transcribed the conversation with Benoît, taking some liberties with the editing when I thought it was necessary to clarify what was being said:

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/benoitfilipa-1-512x1024.jpg)

**Filipa:** Benoit,…

**Benoît:** Oui, Filipa!

**Filipa:** So, we're sitting here the day after an event in Tours (France). Tell us: what was the title of that event? What did we talk about at the event?

**Benoît:** This was a dissemination event, which marked the end of a European Erasmus+ project based on the use of the 'narrative approach' (mise en récits) in order to favour ecological transition in so-called 'priority' \[i.e. vulnerable, very undervalued\] neighbourhoods.

**Filipa:** OK. And I was there. You invited me to Tours, remind me why - what role did you see me playing by being there?

**Benoît:** You were there because Transition Network supported the project from the start. Transition Network signed a letter of endorsement at the time of submitting the application to the Erasmus+ Programme, and you and Transition Network felt that this project was relevant, that is - to work on the issue of the transition of priority neighbourhoods. So you were an interested and active part of the story right from the start. What's more, as this is a European project, we were asked to present a list of European partners (from outside France) and that's how we invited you - because we thought it would be good and natural for you to be with us on the day.

**Filipa:** So this event was like a closing of the loop, right?

**Benoit:** It was a closing of the loop, yes. It was better, at the same time, a day of closure and a day of launch - it was, in fact, a two-day event: In the morning, a more institutional moment with the presence of elected members and representatives of public bodies at various levels (local, regional, national), members of associations and various local organisations and from neighbourhoods in other cities and, in the afternoon, workshops and above all dedicated to understanding what the 'narrative approach' is and above all allowing other actors in the neighbourhood to understand and take an active part in this adventure and for it to be the start of something in the Sanitas neighbourhood in Tours too. In conclusion, in the morning the cycle closed and in the afternoon a new cycle opened, precisely in the Sanitas neighbourhood in particular.

**Filipa:** 'Sanitas' - what kind of neighbourhood is Sanitas?

**Benoit:** Sanitas is one of the poorest working class neighbourhoods in France, with a high population density - it has more than 8,000 inhabitants, on a small surface area, and the particularity is that it is a neighbourhood located in the centre of the city of Tours, right next to the train station - in general, these types of neighbourhoods, which are very large, are found on the outside of cities, what we call 'suburbs'. And here, this neighbourhood is in the centre of the city and, being an extremely poor neighbourhood, side-by-side with extremely rich neighbourhoods. In this neighbourhood, I think more than a hundred languages are spoken, and there is an immense cultural diversity and many actions, social actors involved. On the one hand, it's an extremely wealthy neighbourhood, from so many perspectives, but there is also some violence, prostitution, drugs, etc., so often associated with this type of neighbourhood, in which there is a condition of vulnerability and precariousness.

**Filipa:** And apart from everything we have access to, because there's a document \[and other resources\] that I'm going to share on our network, \[where we can read about the project, methodology and what was achieved\], I have one last question for you: if you had to choose to tell us one thing you discovered (or learnt) during this project, that made a difference to you, what would it be?

**Benoit:** This project changed my approach to 'Transition'. I had a perspective on 'transition'. I had a particular way of approaching it - I used to go to a lot of conferences as a speaker on the energy transition to talk about resilience, to talk about 'cities in transition', with the expectation of making the challenges understood and seducing the audience using the elements of the 'Transition Handbook' - oil dependency and local resilience - and working with the members of this neighbourhood, I realised that we can't talk about these issues in this way and that, in fact, it's not even the relevant issue: Many people don't even have a car, they don't have a guaranteed salary from one month to the next, they often can't afford to pay the heating bill. So talking about ecological transition \[in the context of reducing the ecological footprint\] makes no sense at all because these are people who are already living at an extremely low standard and their impact on our planet, on our biosphere, is reduced.

The most important thing I take away from this work is the fact that today, in these cultures, in these populations, the conditions are basic 'ecological'. I mean: it's not a demonstrative ecology - it's often an ecology associated with shame, where people do things out of necessity, often a cultural ecology because people bring with them a deep culture of sharing, of solidarity, of recycling, of recovering resources, etc. A great lesson we've learnt is that the Transition, in this context, is to highlight those things that today we call 'ecological gestures' and to do what is necessary so that they are no longer associated with something shameful, that it is associated with an identity as an object of pride, that it becomes inspiring for others and that, progressively, it is the new model to follow, the new dominant model.

**Filipa:** Thank you

If you want to know more about the project and the theme, I'll leave you with some information:

- [Information about the project](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/pt/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#pll%5Fswitcher), in several languages (French, English, Portuguese, Italian)
- [The study report](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/pt/relatorio-de-estudo/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [The Methodological Guide](https://www.ecotransition-stories.eu/methodological-guide/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (French and English)
### Abrir e fechar de ciclos
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/abrir-e-fechar-de-ciclos/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:03.000Z
[Read English version](about:blank#openingandclosing)

*Bruxelas, 10 de Dezembro 2023*

É fim de domingo - lá fora, está um lusco-fusco frio e chuvoso. Sentei-me para me preparar para o dia de amanhã - uma segunda-feira corrida, recheada de trabalho intenso e complexo. Agora aqui sentada, a olhar para o ecrã do computador, dou-me conta que a preparação que sinto que tenho que fazer, tem muito mais de trabalho interior, de coração, do que trabalho operacional ou intelectual.

Amanhã, simbolicamente, um ciclo importante da minha vida no Movimento de Transição vai fechar-se, e um novo ciclo se abrirá - para mim, e para todos os outros que terão um papel mais ou menos ativo neste ecossistema da rede internacional dos Hubs de Transição.

### 12 anos de apoio internacional

Gostava de vos contar todas as histórias que carrego, as imagens, as emoções, as ligações profundas, e tudo o que aprendi nestes últimos 12 anos, mas sinto uma vertigem de tal forma forte que me sinto incapacitada para ordenar o carreirinho de palavras em frases que sintetizem o significado todo que lhes dou. Isso fica para depois. Agora quero falar-vos do momento preciso do fechar e abrir de ciclos.

Dia 11 de Julho de 2011 fui nomeada Coordenadora dos Hubs de Transição, durante a Conferência da Transition Network, em Liverpool, Reino Unido. Este foi um papel complexo mas que me deu uma posição privilegiada no acompanhamento do desenvolvimento internacional do Movimento de Transição, ao longo destes anos todos. O processo de transformação deste papel no sistema tem sido feito lentamente, já de há um par de anos até aqui: de um coordenador, foi formado um círculo, e as responsabilidades e poder desse papel foram distribuídos pelos membros desse círculo - o círculo coração dos Hubs.

Agora, chegou o momento do término deste ciclo: vejo-me agora num espaço com uma outra pessoa, de mãos dadas, num processo de transformação e de transferência: preparamos uma passagem de testemunho consciente - eu aprendo uma vez mais a lição sobre desapego e reforço a minha postura de estar ao 'serviço', na medida conveniente, medida que ainda não conheço bem. Este processo tem sido lindo, e agradeço ao Daniel esta oportunidade e esta aprendizagem, num espaço de total confiança.

### Dar as boas-vindas a Daniel

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-06-at-16.02.30-1024x325.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-06-at-16.02.30.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Amanhã**,** o **[Daniel Rudolph](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-rudolph-79551b88/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)** vai participar na primeira reunião no seu novo papel de Coordenador Operacional do Círculo Coração dos Hubs de Transição. Eu vou estar presente num papel de apoio por mais uns meses e depois continuarei as minhas funções num outro espaço do ecossistema da Transição.

Reconheço no Daniel tantas qualidades, mas talvez seja o equilíbrio entre a consciência da importância dos processos interiores (e a sua postura de integridade) e a iniciativa e eficiência nos processos operacionais que eu vejo nele que mais me impressiona.

Espero que haja muitas oportunidades e momentos espaçosos para se fazer conhecer mas, entretanto, fica assim apresentado o Daniel! Espero que o celebrem como ele merece!

## Opening and closing of cycles

*Brussels, 10th of December 2023*

It's late Sunday - outside, it's dusk, cold and rainy. I sat down to prepare for tomorrow - a busy Monday, full of intense and complex work. Sitting here now, staring at the computer screen, I realise that the preparation I feel I have to do is much more about inner work, heart work, than operational or intellectual work.

Tomorrow, symbolically, an important cycle of my life in the Transition Movement will close, and a new one will open - for me, and for all the others who will have a more or less active role in this ecosystem of the international Transition Hubs network.

### 12 years of international support

I'd love to tell you all the stories I'm carrying, the images, the emotions, the deep connections, and everything I've learnt over the last 12 years, but I'm feeling so dizzy that I'm unable to order the long list of words into sentences that synthesise all the meaning I give them. That's for later. Now I want to tell you about the precise moment when cycles close and open.

On 11 July 2011 I was appointed Transition Hub Coordinator at the Transition Network Conference in Liverpool, UK. This was a complex role, but it gave me a privileged position to accompany the international development of the Transition Movement over all these years. The process of transforming this role in the system has been going on slowly for a couple of years now: from a coordinator, a circle has been formed, and the responsibilities and power of that role have been distributed among the members of that circle - the Hubs Heart Circle.

Now, the time has come for this cycle to come to an end: I now see myself in a space with another person, holding hands, in a process of transformation and transference: we're preparing a conscious passing of the baton - I'm learning the lesson of detachment once again and reinforcing my stance of being of 'service', to the extent that it's appropriate, an extent that I don't yet know very well. This process has been beautiful, and I thank Daniel for this opportunity and this learning, in a space of total trust.

### Welcoming Daniel

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-06-at-16.02.30-1024x325.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-06-at-16.02.30.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Tomorrow, [Daniel Rudolph](https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-rudolph-79551b88/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) will take part in the first meeting in his new role as Operational Coordinator of the Heart Circle of Transition Hubs. I'll be there in a supporting role for a few more months and then I'll continue my duties in another space in the Transition ecosystem.

I recognise so many qualities in Daniel, but perhaps it's the balance between his awareness of the importance of inner processes (and his stance of integrity) and the initiative and efficiency in operational processes that I see in him that impresses me the most.

I hope there will be plenty of opportunities and moments to make himself known, but in the meantime, this is Daniel! I hope you celebrate him as he deserves!
### A new inner adventure
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-new-inner-adventure/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:04.000Z
Hi! This is Esther, facilitator and communications operational lead of the Inner Transition Circle (ITC).

**We’re so excited to share with all the Transition movement community that we’ve just launched our Inner website!**

The main purpose of the ITC is to catalyse a cultural transformation towards embodied consciousness, compassion and collaboration, aware of the systemic interdependence of all Life on Earth.

To do so, and with the conviction that transformation happens in ripples, we create, gather and share Inner Transition diverse [resources](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/inner-transition-resources/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and host [spaces](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/gatherings/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to safely share and practise, building personal and [community](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/the-community/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) resilience. And here’s where the new website plays a role in service of the Transition movement and our shared core values.

It’s been some weeks and months of work and we’re so grateful to all of you who’ve contributed in many different ways, from the more techy aspects, to your presence in gatherings, and diverse constructive feedback provided. It is a first step in a work-in-progress and we’re looking forward to hearing more from you!

## **The ITC Website**

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ITC-website-2000-%C3%97-500-px-1-1024x576.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ITC-website-2000-%C3%97-500-px-1.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

New Inner Transition Website

### **What will you find here?**

- [**Our offerings**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/gatherings?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): regular or one-time events such as Inter-Beingness (monthly) or Heart@Work coworking (weekly)... and more to come!
- [**Resources** on Inner-related topics](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/inner-transition-resources?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) like conflict transformation, meditation, personal and community resilience. In formats of inspirational articles, podcasts, music...
- [A doorway to the **Inner Transition Community of Presence and Practice**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/the-community?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), where all inner lovers gather and share thoughts, pictures, music, invitations... we're missing you there!
- [**The ITC**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/itc?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): our purpose and aims, who we are and how we work, past projects and more.
- [**Transparency**](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/donate/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org): a link to our finances and ways of supporting our work.

This is a starting point to keep building together. Translations are imperfect, but we are moving forward and any feedback is super welcome.

Also, if you'd like to see some specific resource or event added to the page, please contact us!

[Visit Inner Transition Website](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## **The ITC Newsletter(s)**

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/newsletters-286x300.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/newsletters.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Showing the two options for newsletter subscriptions

We are sending out two free e-newsletters.

💎 Weekly Inner Transition gems: weekly content to stay tuned with Inner: relevant articles, podcasts, guided meditations, practical resources to implement in your daily life…

💌 Monthly Inner Newsletter: Don't miss events invitations or featured resources from the community!

You can choose one or both by clicking the [button "Subscribe" at the homepage](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

## **New Social Media spaces**

Besides the [Inner Transition Community of Presence and Practice](https://inner.transitionmovement.org/the-community?lng=en&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we are experimenting with Social Media in our wish to connect with more Beings.

Connect with us and help us spread Inner around via

- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle)
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/inner.transition.circle/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/inner-transition-circle/?ref=inner.transitionmovement.org)

And of course, feel free to share all this information with friends, colleagues, your community... and the world.

Questions or comments? Happy to start a conversation!

In gratitude,

*Esther, on behalf of the Inner Transition Circle*
### Introducing... The Training Support Circle!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/introducing-the-training-support-circle/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:06.000Z
The Training Support Circle serves as the main governing body for the [international Transition Trainers Community of Practice](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Its responsibilities include reviewing applications to join the Community of Practice and deciding whether or not to approve them; regularly soliciting input from Community of Practice members and determining priorities for action; developing policies that support the Community of Practice as a whole; supervising and assisting the Training Coordinator; and helping to resolve conflicts among Trainers if and when they arise.

The latest iteration of this group was seated in July 2023 and has recently signed on for another six months after an initial six-month test run. Here are some words from current members describing why they joined the Training Support Circle, along with links to more information about them.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Josue.png)

[**Josué Desoulier (Belgium):**](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/josue-dusoulier/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I joined the Training Support Circle to help strengthen Transition Training practices around the world. I bring with me my curiosity, my creativity, and my desire to learn and pass on what I've learned. I also bring with me the experience of the many Transition Training courses I've created and run since 2010.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Monica.png)

[**Monica Picavêa (Brasil):**](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/monica-gomes-picavea/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I joined the Training Support Circle, because I believe it is a very good way to help the whole community of Trainers to get stronger. I have been part of this circle in the past and it is always a place of sharing, self-development, and a great opportunity to serve the Transition Movement with my skills. It is also full of really interesting people.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Shunro.png)

[**Shunro Yoshida (Japan):**](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/shunro-yoshida/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I have been Training since we started Transition in Japan in 2008\. Since then I have learned many things from Transition Training. I want to learn more from other countries that have established Training programs and contribute to the international Training Community. It is such a pleasure and honour to work with Transitioners around the world.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Liza.png)

[**Elizabeta Z Jovanovska (Portugal):**](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/elizabeta-z-jovanovska/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I enjoy being part of the Training Support Circle as this work aligns with my passion for learning, exploring, changing paradigms, connecting, sharing insights, and celebrating personal and collective growth. I love working with Trainers, in every stage of their Transition journeys, where together we uncover a broader perspective and embark on a shared voyage towards a more conscious and regenerative way of life.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Don.png)

[**Don Hall (USA):**](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/don-hall/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) As Transition Network’s Training Coordinator, I’m glad to have the support of these four skilled and experienced Trainers from around the world to develop policies and set priorities for the international Training Community. I hope that members of the wider Training Community don’t hesitate to reach out to us anytime with ideas, suggestions, questions, and feedback. We need everybody’s input and engagement to effectively do our job.
### Imperfeições e desconcertos
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/imperfeicoes-e-desconcertos/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:07.000Z
[Go to English version](about:blank#imperfectionsandconfusion)

Hoje comecei o dia a trocar mensagens com o meu irmão, ainda durante aquela primeiríssima hora do fim-de-semana que, por me abrir o espaço no tempo do crepúsculo, é frequentemente um momento que me oferece acesso a perspectivas pouco visitadas e quando começo processos de reflexão que se instalam por vários dias.

O meu irmão interessa-se por composição musical e dei comigo a tentar descrever-lhe o que seria para mim uma música que representasse 'Transição': imagino uma melodia que nos eleve, nos inspire, com ritmos que nos evocam a natureza; que exprima simplicidade mas também que nos surpreenda - que tenha um certo viés, que saia dos caminhos trilhados por hábito; sobretudo, que não seja um exemplo de 'perfeição'. Isso! Foi por me ter demorado a pensar no conceito de 'imperfeição' (e do desconforto que a imperfeição nos pode trazer) que me lembrei de um par de histórias que me surgiram um destes dias.

O meu colega Philipp integrou a equipa da Transition Network há cerca de um ano. No processo de encontrar o seu papel na equipa e a postura que convém a esse papel, o Philipp faz listas de perguntas que vai distribuindo, usando os vários canais que nos servem na comunicação. Um dia, já não sei em que canal, encontrei uma pergunta que me era destinada que me desconcertou: "Tens a certeza que nós ainda somos assim?"

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eg5-bBJjYGA

A pergunta vinha emparelhada com um [VÍDEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg5-bBJjYGA&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (ver acima) que eu conheço bem: um vídeo gravado pelo Rob Hopkins, durante um encontro dos Hubs de Transição, em 2014, em Copenhaga, Dinamarca - entrevistados pelo Rob, fomos aparecendo felizes e emocionados, mencionando a resiliência e criatividade como sendo uma característica comum de quem é ativista de Transição. Este grupo de pessoas vindas dos 4 cantos do mundo para um encontro internacional, na própria manhã do evento, encontrámo-nos à porta de um espaço que não reunia as condições mínimas nos receber. No espaço de uma hora, ocupámos um parque de estacionamento, ali numa rua ao lado; todo o grupo se ativou, montámos toda a estrutura necessária a uma conferência internacional de Hubs de Transição e lançámos o encontro de forma tão focada e inspirada como nos anos anteriores, com menos de 30 minutos de atraso.

Grande parte das imagens foram capturadas na nossa sala de reunião: o parque de estacionamento, e foi esse desvio do plano que perdurou como símbolo da resiliência dos activistas de transição durante muito tempo, para este grupo, e foi uma história contada muitas vezes, muito para além dele.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/16234821153_8c241901b8_h-1024x683.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/16234821153%5F8c241901b8%5Fh.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## Histórias de imperfeições

Lembrei-me de tantas outras histórias de imperfeições, desvios de plano e das reações inspiradas de activistas de transição mas última história que vivi, ainda hoje me faz sorrir: durante o [3º Encontro pelas Florestas - edição Ibérica](https://reflorestar.pt/epf/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (8-9 Setembro, 2023, Fafe, Portugal), organizado pela [Reflorestar Portugal](https://reflorestar.pt/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), eu aceitei facilitar uma discussão depois da exibição do fantástico e inspirador [documentário ALTER NATIVAS](https://www.reddetransicion.org/documental-alter-nativas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), de Agustí Corominas y [Juan del Río](https://www.linkedin.com/in/juandelrio1/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Rede de Transição Espanha). Nesse dia, houve atrasos e seriam talvez 22:30h quando finalmente se lançou a exibição do documentário (que tem mais de duas horas); durante esses dias choveu como se de um dilúvio se tratasse e a tenda que nos albergava vertia. Convencida que o atraso e as condições climatéricas desencorajariam a intenção do público de ficar para uma discussão, quase à 1:00 da manhã, vinha já de saída (às escuras porque, com a tempestade, não se podia mexer na electricidade) quando me chamaram. Não me passou pela cabeça dizer que não. Lá fui eu às apalpadelas, guiada pelas vozes do público que enchia a tenda, encontrei o centro, e facilitei uma discussão acesa, respondi às perguntas dos participantes inspirados, no breu total. Não faço ideia quantas pessoas estavam à minha volta e quem participou nessa conversa comigo, mas pareceu-me ser eu a única pessoa que terá duvidado que o debate fosse acontecer. E provavelmente a única pessoa que solta uma gargalhada ainda hoje, quando revivo a situação.

Para mim, os desconcertos que certas perguntas me trazem são tão férteis como os desvios do que pensei controlar. São desconfortos da mesma natureza, daqueles que me incendeiam a imaginação e a criatividade, tal como a minha querida [Isabela Menezes](https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabela-maria-gomez-de-menezes-52bb8724/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) da Transição Brasil dizia, no vídeo do encontro dos Hubs. Sei também que o Philipp intui que eu preciso deste tipo de perguntas para encontrar a essência da resposta que lhes possa dar.

Vou responder ao Philipp que histórias de resiliência, criatividade e inspiração face aos desafios que surgem, neste nosso movimento e para além dele, há milhares. Tenho a certeza. Só temos que as ouvir e contar em voz alta.

Também sei que a pergunta desconcertante do Philipp traz uma mensagem importante, especificamente dirigida às nossas equipas de apoio internacionais - interpreto-a como um apelo para que a nossa energia continue sempre a alimentar a experimentação num espaço novo, desconhecido, bem fora da nossa zona de conforto, e que fujamos da estagnação e da manutenção do *status quo*. Como eu concordo totalmente, eu diria que só temos que organizar mais encontros, lançarmo-nos em projectos que desconhecemos, sem esperar que tudo seja perfeito, e acolher momentos de tensão - os desastres acontecerão e as histórias também - afinal, somos todos ‘Transição’ :)

‘Sem desconforto não há transição!’ (Susana do projecto ‘Origens’, Viseu, Portugal)

# Imperfections and confusion

Today I started the day exchanging messages with my brother, still during that very first hour of the weekend which, because it opens up space for me in the twilight hours, is often a moment that offers me access to little-visited perspectives and when I begin processes of reflection that last for several days.

My brother is interested in musical composition and I found myself trying to describe to him what a piece of music that represents 'Transition' would be like for me: I imagine a melody that uplifts us, inspires us, with rhythms that evoke nature; that expresses simplicity but also surprises us - that has a certain bias, that goes off the beaten track; above all, that is not an example of 'perfection'. It was because I was thinking about the concept of 'imperfection' (and the discomfort that imperfection can bring us) that I remembered a couple of stories that came to me the other day.

My colleague Philipp joined the Transition Network team about a year ago. In the process of finding his role in the team and the posture that suits that role, Philipp makes lists of questions that he distributes, using the various channels that serve us in communication. One day, I don't know in which channel, I came across a question that was meant for me and which disconcerted me: "Are you sure we're still like this?"

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eg5-bBJjYGA

The question was paired with a [VIDEO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg5-bBJjYGA&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (see above) that I know well: a video recorded by Rob Hopkins during a Transition Hubs meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2014 - interviewed by Rob, we appeared happy and emotional, mentioning resilience and creativity as a common characteristic of Transition activists. This group of people had come from all four corners of the world for an international meeting, and on the morning of the event we found ourselves outside a space that didn't have the minimum conditions to welcome us. In the space of an hour, we occupied a car park in the next street; the whole group was activated, we set up all the necessary structure for an international conference of Transition Hubs and we launched the meeting as focused and inspired as in previous years, less than 30 minutes late.

Most of the images were captured in our meeting room: the car park, and it was this deviation from the plan that has endured as a symbol of transition activists' resilience for a long time, for this group, and has been a story told many times, far beyond it.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/16234821153_8c241901b8_h-1024x683.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/16234821153%5F8c241901b8%5Fh.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## Stories of imperfection

I remembered so many other stories of imperfections, deviations from the plan and the inspired reactions of transition activists, but the last story I experienced still makes me smile today: during the [3rd Meeting for Forests - Iberian edition (8-9 September 2023, Fafe, Portugal)](https://reflorestar.pt/epf/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), organised by [Reflorestar Portugal](https://reflorestar.pt/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), I agreed to facilitate a discussion after the screening of the fantastic and inspiring [documentary ALTER NATIVAS](https://www.reddetransicion.org/documental-alter-nativas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), by Agustí Corominas and [Juan del Río](https://www.linkedin.com/in/juandelrio1/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Transition Network Spain). On that day, there were delays and it was perhaps 10.30pm when the documentary (which is over two hours long) was finally shown; during those days it rained like a deluge and the tent that housed us was leaking. Convinced that the delay and the weather conditions would discourage the audience from staying for a discussion, at almost 1am I was leaving (in the dark because, with the storm, the electricity couldn't be touched) when I was called. It did not cross my mind to say no. I groped my way out, guided by the voices of the audience that filled the tent, found the centre of the room and facilitated a heated discussion, answering the questions of the inspired participants in total darkness. I have no idea how many people were around me and who took part in this conversation with me, but I seemed to be the only person who doubted that the debate would take place. And probably the only person who bursts into laughter even today when I relive the situation.

For me, the disconcertions that certain questions bring me are as fertile as the deviations from what I thought I could control. They are discomforts of the same nature, the kind that ignite my imagination and creativity, as my dear [Isabela Menezes](https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabela-maria-gomez-de-menezes-52bb8724/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from Transição Brasil said in the video of the Hubs meeting. I also know that Philipp realises that I need these kinds of questions to find the essence of the answer I can give him.

I'm going to tell Philipp that there are thousands of stories of resilience, creativity and inspiration in the face of the challenges that arise in our movement and beyond. I'm sure of it. We just have to hear them and tell them out loud.

I also know that Philipp's disconcerting question carries an important message, specifically addressed to our international support teams - I interpret it as a call for our energy to always keep fuelling experimentation in a new, unknown space, well outside our comfort zone, and to flee stagnation and the status quo. As I totally agree, I would say that we just have to organise more meetings, launch ourselves into projects we don't know about, without expecting everything to be perfect, and welcome moments of tension - disasters will happen and so will stories - after all, we are all 'Transition' :)

'Without discomfort there is no transition!' (Susana from the 'Origens' project, Viseu, Portugal)
### Transformação Interna - Governança
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transformacao-interna-governanca/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:09.000Z
[Go to English version](about:blank#englishversion)

*Eu devia ‘era’ sair destas redes sociais!* \- digo eu, tantas vezes, de manhã, quando me sento à frente do ecrã. Ainda que me sirvam como instrumento de trabalho e de conexão pessoal, tenho este hábito de me virar contra as redes sociais quando me sinto pouco inspirada, ou quando sinto o meu espaço mental encolhido.

Hoje, não foi isso que aconteceu. Eu, que passo grande parte do tempo a sentir-me inspirada por visões de futuros possíveis, tenho dificuldade em manter lembranças de momentos importantes classificadas por data, numa cadência rigorosa que me traga acesso à consciência da minha própria história (e da história de outras pessoas, importantes para mim). Esta manhã, foi uma destas redes que me devolveu à memória imagens publicadas exatamente há um ano - dia 2 de Outubro 2022: um conjunto de fotografias com imagens várias de sorrisos e de emoção profunda, todas elas sob um pano de fundo em tons de verde intenso, e de montanhas tão altas que o céu quase ficou sem representação.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/UDNpaisagem-1.jpeg)

## Convergências

Às vezes acontece-me viver determinados eventos como 'convergências' - como se aquele lugar e momento fosse o ponto onde naturalmente certos processos desembocam, ciclos se fecham e outros se abrem, onde pessoas com um propósito comum se encontram ou reencontram - num ritual cheio de significado e de emoções partilhadas, criando um marco no tempo. Este foi um destes eventos - a primeira Assembleia Geral da [*Université du Nous*](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (UdN), nas montanhas de Belledonne na Savóia, França, no [*Domaine d'Avallon*](https://www.buddha.university/campus/residentiel/le-domaine-davallon/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

A história dos meus processos e dos meus ciclos, neste contexto, começou em 2015\. Em 2015 a minha equipa da [Transition Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) iniciou um processo de reflexão sobre a nossa governança interna, questionando os nossos padrões de comportamento, conscientes ou inconscientes, em relação ao 'poder'. No contexto de quem vem culturalmente de um mundo que funciona numa lógica da ''dominação', se estamos convictos que esta lógica está na raiz da crise sistémica do paradigma em que vivemos, temos uma obrigação moral de olhar para os elementos do sistema mais próximos de nós - nós mesmos!

Em 2018 fizemos a alteração oficial da nossa governança - redesenhámos as nossas estruturas internas e adotámos novos processos de tomada de decisões - com a formação e acompanhamento da Université du Nous - com base num modelo híbrido de Sociocracia e Holacracia, personalizado. Para além de explorar e a adotar a mudança que queremos ajudar a trazer ao mundo, exploramos também como trabalhar de forma mais eficiente e resiliente face a emergência e complexidade, em inteligência colectiva, distribuindo poder, recursos, fazendo-o de forma transparente. Fazemos isso experimentando, inovando, sempre, partilhando o que aprendemos.

## "Vivi uma epifania"

A verdade é que vivi uma epifania. Este trabalho foi de tal forma transformador, que me lancei numa jornada de aprendizagem de vários modelos de governança partilhada ([*UdN*](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*, Sociocracy for All,* *Holacracia, Democracia Profunda*) e de dedicação a contribuir a esta exploração em vários papéis, dentro da minha organização e fora.

Dia 2 de Outubro de 2022 foi o último dia da primeira Assembleia Geral da UdN. Eu, como muitas outras pessoas queridas que convergiram para aquelas montanhas, fechando uns ciclos e abrindo outros, tornei-me membro cooperante da UdN e integrei um grupo de trabalho intitulado 'Escuta do Mundo'. Hoje, vejo estas fotografias e revivo a emoção que sinto por fazer parte de uma comunidade, de estar ligada, estreitamente, a pessoas que acreditam numa mudança societal justa, explorando, colaborando e partilhando o que aprendem, sempre em integridade.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

This post is part of Filipa Pimentel's regular reflections about life in the Transition Movement. Filipa connects personal experiences and reflections to the wider work the movement is doing in the world. Her roles as Lead Link of Transition Network and many years as Hubs coordinator inform her perspectives and reflections; so does the work Filipa does at local and regional levels in various places. These reflections are published in Filipa’s first language: Portuguese.

#### *A bit more about Filipa:*

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/20230710_210422-768x1024.jpg)

"I feel that the connection between transitioners is magical: there is this feeling that we belong to the same family, even if we are coming from such different parts of the world, backgrounds, cultures, experiences, languages, contexts. The openness to learn and the capacity to listen actively, the compassion and the creativity are just some of the rare qualities I see around me while working in this field."

---

## Internal Transformation - Governance

*Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator*

*I should get off these social networks!* \- I say so many times in the morning when I sit down in front of the screen. Even though they serve as a tool for work and personal connection, I have this habit of turning to social media when I feel uninspired or when I feel my mental space shrinking.

Today, that's not what happened. I, who spend much of my time feeling inspired by visions of possible futures, find it difficult to keep memories of important moments categorised by date, in a strict cadence that brings me access to awareness of my own history (and the history of other people who are important to me). This morning, it was one of these networks that brought back to mind images published exactly one year ago - on 2 October 2022: a set of photographs with various images of smiles and deep emotion, all of them against a backdrop of deep green tones and mountains so high that the sky was almost left unrepresented.

## Convergences

Sometimes I experience certain events as 'convergences' - as if that place and moment were the point where certain processes naturally end, cycles close and others open, where people with a common purpose meet or meet again - in a ritual full of meaning and shared emotions, creating a milestone in time. This was one such event - the first General Assembly of the [Université du Nous](http://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (UdN), in the mountains of Belledonne in Savoy, France, at the [Domaine d'Avallon](https://www.buddha.university/campus/residentiel/le-domaine-davallon/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The story of my processes and my cycles in this context began in 2015\. In 2015 my [Transition Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) team began a process of reflection on our internal governance, questioning our patterns of behaviour, conscious or unconscious, in relation to 'power'. In the context of those of us who come culturally from a world that operates on a logic of 'domination', if we are convinced that this logic is at the root of the systemic crisis of the paradigm in which we live, we have a moral obligation to look at the elements of the system closest to us - ourselves!

In 2018 we made the official change to our governance - we redesigned our internal structures and adopted new decision-making processes - with the training and accompaniment of Université du Nous - based on a personalised hybrid model of Sociocracy and Holacracy. As well as exploring and embracing the change we want to help bring to the world, we also explore how to work more efficiently and resiliently in the face of emergence and complexity, in collective intelligence, distributing power, resources and doing so transparently. We do this by experimenting, innovating, always sharing what we have learnt.

## "I experienced an epiphany"

The truth is that I experienced an epiphany. This work was so transformative that I embarked on a journey of learning about various models of shared governance ([UdN](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Sociocracy for All, Holacracy, Deep Democracy) and dedicating myself to contributing to this exploration in various roles, within my organisation and beyond.

2 October 2022 was the last day of the first UdN General Assembly. I, like many other dear people who converged on those mountains, closing some cycles and opening others, became a co-operating member of the UdN and joined a working group called 'Listening to the World'. Today, I look at these photographs and relive the emotion I feel of being part of a community, of being closely linked to people who believe in fair societal change, exploring, collaborating and sharing what they learn, always in integrity.
### Apply to become the Transition Hubs (HHC) Coordinator
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/apply-to-become-the-transition-hubs-hhc-coordinator/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:11.000Z
The Transition Movement is looking for a Hubs Heart Circle Operational Coordinator. This role is a very important part of our international support ecosystem. It is an opportunity to be involved in a wide range of activities, from international strategising and visioning to delivering value to the movement via coordinating delivery of key projects.

## **Basic information:**

- This is a part-time freelance role.
- 15 hours per week.
- We are looking for someone to inhabit the role for at least 2 years.
- Initially, a 1 year long contract is signed (with a mutual review at 6 months) - our intention is to extend the contract depending on securing ongoing funding.
- Start date: as soon as possible - ideally November/December 2023.
- Day rate - the Hubs Heart Circle day rates are agreed collectively according to need using a 'Cards on the Table' process - the current range is between 180 and 200 GBP per day.
- This is a remote working position and the majority of activity will take place online.
- The post-holder can be based anywhere in the world.

Find [more detailed information about the role and the Transition Movement here (application pack)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wl1Xtry13NYC5TOkL-B8QoAEqH%5FzB5at/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114678113317765462152&rtpof=true&sd=true&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We welcome applications from everyone. At the international level, we are particularly keen to increase the representation of peoples from the global south, BIPOC, working class communities, and disabled people. We are committed to actively exploring how we can make our organisation a place where people from a wide variety of backgrounds, lived experiences and with varied needs can thrive.

We will host a **Q&A session** on **12th October - 12.00 - 13.00 UTC.** Participation is optional. The video will be embedded here/on this page after the event.

Sign up for Q&A session

If you cannot attend the session, you may submit questions in advance by email. The session will be recorded to watch later. If you would like more information about this session please contact us at [hhc-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:hhc-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org).

To apply, please fill in the [**application form**](https://forms.gle/YLsS5ig26HGDFaDQA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) by 00.00/midnight (GMT/UTC) on **22nd October 2023.**

[Apply here](https://forms.gle/YLsS5ig26HGDFaDQA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an **online interview**. Interviews will be conducted in the **first half of November.**

If this application process is a barrier to you applying then please get in touch via the above email to discuss potential alternatives. Similarly if you have any questions or issues you’d like to explore before applying, please contact [hhc-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:hhc-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org).

We look forward to receiving your application.
### Building our Civic Imagination with the ‘Town Anywhere’ process
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/building-our-civic-imagination-with-the-town-anywhere-process/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:12.000Z
As community activists we know how hard it can be to envision a better future. We may have some good ideas that we are able to share but sharing those and bringing them into a coherent and shared vision for our community is a challenge. Yet, we also know that it is a critical practice if we want to build a more equitable world that functions within planetary boundaries.

Luckily, we can draw on experiences and processes from the Transition Movement. One such gem of the Transition Movement is the ‘Town Anywhere’ process. ‘Town Anywhere’ invites us to imagine and design a better future for all of us to thrive in. We (Philipp on behalf of Transition Network) have spoken to Ruth Ben-Tovim and Tim Taylor.

Ruth is one of the members of the artist team that created the Town Anywhere process about 10 years ago - Ruth specialises in designing and delivering tailor made participatory arts projects and processes in community, environmental, education and regeneration contexts. [Tim Taylor](https://www.linkedin.com/in/timtaylornz/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from [Korimako](https://korimako.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) leads the [Thriving Communities](https://thriving-communities.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) initiative, which is helping communities to create radical enough change to thrive in the 21st century, especially in SE Europe currently.

Tim and Ruth are working together to bring Town Anywhere to central Europe this September, with a session leading into Placemaking Week Europe.

## **What is "Town Anywhere"?**

Ruth: [Town Anywhere](https://thriving-communities.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Town-Anywhere-Flyer-A4-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a hands-on creative visioning process that brings potential community futures to life.

Using immersive future scenarios, large scale model-making and timed challenges the Town Anywhere process helps participants to play and practice community visioning, ideation and storytelling in a virtual, but tangible, environment.

Town anywhere is designed to help us to rebuild our civic imagination capacities, which we need for better shaping the thriving futures we are striving for.

## **How did "Town Anywhere" come about?**

Ruth: The First Town anywhere took place at the annual International Transition Network conference in London at Battersea Arts Centre ten years ago with over 300 people from all over the world taking part. Transition Network commissioned me to work with a small art, design and facilitation team including Sophy Banks, Chrissy Godfrey, Jo Hardy, Rob Hopkins, Shane Hughes and Lucy Neal to dream up[ a large-scale visioning process for the heart of the conference](https://www.transitionculture.org/2012/11/19/the-evolution-and-practice-of-the-transition-town-anywhere-activity/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

> Town Anywhere is an extraordinary exercise. It invites us to step into the future, to reimagine and rebuild the world, and to then inhabit it. One of the most magical things I've ever been part of.Rob Hopkins, Transition Network

## **Who is involved/leading this work and why are they passionate about it?**

Tim: A civic imagination crisis is blocking many of us from envisioning the future we want to strive for. At a community level we need to rebuild our collective imagination capacity, so that we can imagine a better future and design for it together. We were inspired by Rob Hopkins and Transition Network to try Town Anywhere as a process to help with this much-needed [Civic Imagination Regeneration](https://thriving-communities.org/civic-imagination-regeneration/%22%20/o%20%22https:/thriving-communities.org/civic-imagination-regeneration/%22%20/t%20%22%5Fblank?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Ruth is passionate about the power of collective and embodied creative participation to catalyse new ways of being and doing.

## **Why is Town Anywhere helpful in a transition context?**

Tim: If we can't imagine the future we want, then we can't set a course to achieve it. Without a vision the tools we can bring to bear on helping radical change processes are useless - if there is no collective story or picture of what we are striving towards we will never get there.

Ruth:Town Anywhere brings people together to imagine, build and then inhabit a positive vision of how thriving communities could be in 2030 – places where all beings can genuinely live and thrive within planetary boundaries.

By the end of the workshop, the new residents of Town Anywhere 2030s have created a physical representation of the sort of thriving town that they long to live in. Collectively shaping and inhabiting this potential future strengthens our enthusiasm and resolve to go on and make it real.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Town-Anywhere-Social-1024x1024.png)](https://townanywhere.eventbrite.co.nz/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## **Where do you want to take this work in future and how can people get in touch with you?**

Ruth: I am keen to see a lot more communities using this process. I think people need to experience it first. Tim and I have talked about a training programme to help more people to go on and use the process with their communities.

Tim: I’d love to see a lot of communities using this process to help them get better at shaping those futures stories. I would really like to try a blending of a citizens assembly approach to ensure equitable participation/representation from a community, and a Town Anywhere process to help that group shape future stories for their community that then become a key part of the community’s development strategies.

**Thank you Ruth and Tim for sharing with us about the Town Anywhere process and Thriving Communities.**

If you like to find out more about Town Anywhere please follow the links above.

Right now there is a chance to experience the process as part of the Placemaking Week Europe 2023! The event will take place in Strasbourg on the 26th of September 2023.

[Register for Strasbourg event](https://townanywhere.eventbrite.co.nz/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### New Training: Transition Facilitators
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/new-training-transition-facilitators/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:13.000Z
We are excited to announce that the first iteration of the Transition Facilitators Training is ready to launch.

## What is it?

Transition Facilitators Training is a **free, guided online course designed for existing and aspiring Transition Trainers**. It will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to facilitate transformational learning journeys based on the unique approach to change-making developed by the international Transition Towns Movement.

By the end you will be in a position to **offer Trainsition Training in your location**. This will strenghten your local movements, lead to greater impact, and enable you to make Transition a more integral part of your professional life. It is also an essential foundation for further offerings that are making in future.

![4 people in circle with Transition Facilitators Training as a logo for the work](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/logo-color-980x435-1.png)

## What will we cover?

- Key group facilitation skills and tools
- An overview of existing trainings you can teach
- Guidelines for developing additional offerings
- The pros and cons of in-person and online courses
- Best practices for organizing and marketing trainings
- How to participate in the Trainers Community of Practice
- The benefits of becoming a certified Trainer
- The history, principles, and practice of Transition

Each of the eight sessions will feature a 30-45 minute presentation recorded by a leading practitioner in the field, 1-2 hours of homework that will deepen your understanding of that week’s topic, and a 90-minute live Zoom meeting for you to ask questions of instructors, practice delivering training content, and receive feedback from your peers.

## How to join?

This course is free of charge. We suggest that you:

1. [Check out the session dates and times](https://learn.perma.earth/courses/transition-facilitators-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to ensure you are available.
2. [Get to know the topics and instructors a little.](https://learn.perma.earth/courses/transition-facilitators-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
3. Ask any remaining questions by [sending an email to Don Hall](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org) who coordinates this offering.
4. [Create an account on the Learn Platform.](https://learn.perma.earth/learn-registration/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
5. [Enrol for the course (towards the top of the page).](https://learn.perma.earth/courses/transition-facilitators-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Developing our potential for leadership
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/developing-our-potential-for-leadership/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:14.000Z
Enhancing the leadership capacity in the movement is one goal of training people in transition. The lessons, ideas and tools that have proven their effectiveness are worthwhile sharing. We are keen to get better at this and want to share with you what is on the cards ([beyond the work already well underway](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-communities-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) to develop our potential for leadership.

The priorities we have identified moving forward in the short term include:

- **Reviving the training calendar**: a central place for trainers to publish their upcoming offerings.
- **Update the training pages on the Transition Network website:** these are currently out of date.
- **Establish a file sharing system:** enabling trainers to share information resources with each other. For example, trainers could share curricula and other offerings they have developed with their peers for adaptation in different contexts.

When it comes to our medium to long term goals we can speak about widening and deepening our offerings.

## *Widening our offering*

Don, [who currently leads our training work at the international level](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), describes our efforts to widen our offering when stating that,

> “soon, I hope, we will begin to collaboratively develop new trainings together that meet the needs of the movement. This means really getting to know what those needs are and prioritizing the development of additional courses that will be most helpful. We also want to offer more trainings in both guided and self-guided online formats. I think that in-person trainings are still essential: they provide an experience that you just can't recreate online. But there are some benefits to online trainings, such as people not having to travel, a lower carbon footprint, and lower costs. We want to do that with some of our more established trainings to make them more widely available and accessible. I think it’s really important to secure funding to provide scholarships for low-income participants and communities to expand access there as well.”

All of this should make transition training accessible to more people from a wider variety of backgrounds. Another critical element to accessibility is translation and interpretation. In line with other work going on at the international level we are also aiming to make more training accessible across languages. We are sure to keep you informed about how this work unfolds.

## *Deepening our offering*

[![Picture of an open book on a bed of grass with two daisys in the foreground. At the top are the words 'Training for Transition'](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Training-for-Transition-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Training-for-Transition.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

With more people being able to access transition training, we are keen to turn our attention to the learning journeys individuals are on. Currently, the most available training is the two-day, in person, ‘Transition Launch’ course. This is a great course for getting started in Transition. However, there is so much more we could offer to deepen people’s understanding of and engagement with transition. For example, there are plenty of practices, experiences and resources around Effective Groups, Inner Transition, and Economics that we could make accessible via training. Additionally, many transition groups successfully work around food, transportation or energy and we could do much more to support groups via training on those and other topics.

All of this would enable us to accompany and support individuals and groups on their journeys into transition, beyond the launch. To support the deepening of people’s practice we are intending to deepen the training offerings available.

Now over to you. What is it you are looking for in our international training work? [You can tell us about the training you are interested in receiving](https://forms.gle/kqo3v7tzTV5g7ZFa8?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or contact us directly to comment on the work by sending an Email to: [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

—

This article is part of the Transition Training series. In June 2023 we are sharing four short pieces that make transparent where Transition Training is at; this is post 4 out of 4\. There are many forthcoming developments in Transition Training and many more opportunities to engage with our Training offerings, as participants as well as facilitators. If you are curious about what is going on check out the other posts in the series.

1. [Sources of Transition Training: a brief exploration of the origins of Transition Training and its current leadership at the international level.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. [Transition trainers - who are they? An introduction to Transition Trainers and how to find the right trainer for you.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-trainers-who-are-they/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
3. [Training communities in Transition: an explanation of the work that is underway at the international level to support Transition Trainers.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-communities-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
4. [Developing our potential for leadership: considering the way forward for Transition training at the international level](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/developing-our-potential-for-leadership/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Training communities in transition
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-communities-in-transition/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:15.000Z
The work we do at the international level exists to support transition groups and hubs wherever they are. If you cannot find help for your work locally, regionally or nationally, then we exist to support you in your endeavours.

Over the decades we built a wealth of experience and information about the kind of things that people like to be supported with when starting and running transition groups locally. Some of those things can be packaged as training and shared in a systematic way with many people. We are working to re-energise that part of our offering.

## *Transition Trainers Community of Practice*

[In a previous post we shared that Don currently leads the Training work at the international level.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) Don shared that the international Transition Trainers Community of Practice has already been re-established. “Currently, it has 60 certified trainers representing 19 different countries on four continents around the world. We've also been hosting monthly Training Conversations to facilitate peer-to-peer learning among trainers”.

These trainers are recognised at the international level ([Click here to find out who they are](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-trainers-who-are-they/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). That has been going on for quite some time but more recently we created a more flexible and inclusive set of criteria; now we got more trainers from different walks of life part of our trainers’ community.

Don goes into a bit more detail when stating that: “We've worked on making it more accessible now for people to become trainers, because we want more people to become trainers and offer more trainings around the world. So we have made the Train the Trainers course optional. There's now other pathways towards official recognition, including having worked with other related groups like The Work That Reconnects or Sociocracy or Permaculture. Those all can now qualify people as Transition Trainers, so that we can draw on those skill sets as well”.

If you are one of those people, Don encourages you to “go to [transitiongroups.org/add-trainer](http://transitiongroups.org/add-trainer?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to apply to become a trainer. There's more info there about what that requires and what that means, as well as an application form. Currently, we are reading and evaluating applications twice a year. The next one will be in July. If that's something you're interested in, please get your application in sometime this month or next month”.

## *Support for trainers*

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/21823648941_7c9b2507dc_o.jpg)

We want to ensure that the Transition Trainers get the support they need to be successful at delivering training locally and internationally. A range of things are underway that will support this to happen.

- A **Training Support Circle** is being established right now. This small group will represent the trainers community of practice and govern their work at the international level.
- A **Flexible Framework** has been created. This framework helps trainers to create new content. Version 1.0 has been shared with Trainers in the community of practice on June 9th 2023.
- We will be starting to pilot the new **Transition Facilitators Training** this September (online and in English). This is a Train the Trainers course, helping people to step into a training role within the movement. We hope to be offering this in further languages after the pilot.
- Monthly **Training conversations** are facilitated peer-to-peer learning sessions relating to Training. We explicitly offer these to the Trainers but others are welcome to join if any of the topics we cover trigger their interest. Recently, we covered diverse topics like “A Living Systems Approach to Transition”, “Creating Harmonious Teaching Environments”, and “Engaging Youth in Transition”. These two hour online sessions are free of charge and can be found on [the calendar on the Transition Platform](https://hub.transition-space.org/calendar/global/index?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.**
- **Online spaces for conversations around training** are a further offering we have. It is there you find out about our Training conversations and future topics. Additionally, it is the place for engaging with a wide variety of people and topics from across the international transition movement. Join us on the platform if you are interested. [Follow this link, click to create an account (top right corner) and login to our social network.](https://hub.transition-space.org/dashboard?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Join us on the Transition Platform](https://hub.transition-space.org/dashboard?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

—

This article is part of the Transition Training series. In June 2023 we are sharing four short pieces that make transparent where Transition Training is at; this is post 3 out of 4\. There are many forthcoming developments in Transition Training and many more opportunities to engage with our Training offerings, as participants as well as facilitators. If you are curious about what is going on check out the other posts in the series.

1. [Sources of Transition Training: a brief exploration of the origins of Transition Training and its current leadership at the international level.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. [Transition trainers - who are they? An introduction to Transition Trainers and how to find the right trainer for you.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-trainers-who-are-they/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
3. [Training communities in Transition: an explanation of the work that is underway at the international level to support Transition Trainers.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-communities-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
4. [Developing our potential for leadership: considering the way forward for Transition training at the international level](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/developing-our-potential-for-leadership/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition Network is Recruiting: Fundraising Role
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-network-is-recruiting-fundraising-role/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:16.000Z
Are you interested in joining a creative, innovative and committed team working to support the international Transition movement, amplify stories of community-led change, and nurture collaborations across difference?

Do you have skills and experience in fundraising?

Can you contribute to our development as a shared governance organisation exploring, and seeking to model, the changes we want to see in the world?

## **Fundraising Role Key Information**

**Purpose:**   
Ensure that Transition Network, and the Hubs Heart Circle and Distributed Circles (the international support system of the Transition Movement) have financial resources to fund their staff and projects

**Accountable to:**   
International support system of Transition Network, Hubs Heart Circle & Distributed Circles

**Reports to:** Co-Heart Circle Lead Links / **Member of:** Infrastructure circle

**Office location:** remote, **Work arrangements:** remote / **Contract:** permanent

**Salary:** £37,197.48\* per year on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis.

\*an approximate/equivalent amount for non UK based staff to be negotiated

**Working hours:** 3 days (22.5 hours) per week

## About the role

We are seeking to appoint someone with significant experience of fundraising for environmental and social projects, including international projects and for network organisations.

We are expanding our small team and are looking for someone with dynamism, flexibility and self-awareness. The new fundraiser will help to ensure that Transition Network has adequate financial resources to fund its staff and projects. You will coordinate and oversee fundraising either by directly writing funding applications, or by working closely with staff and contractors as they prepare applications. You will monitor and manage Transition Network’s relationships with funders, and respond to, seek out, and assess which funding opportunities to pursue.

Whilst our team is mainly UK-based at the moment we are hoping to diversify the team. We are very happy to explore employing individuals based in mainland Europe or beyond. **We encourage you to apply for the role if you feel you meet the person specification.**  

To find out more read [this Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l5vKYXKpIrxPBI4g60Qh2gki0f4FSLVv3-kdpy0TY%5FI/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The deadline for applications is **Wednesday 12 July 2023 at 00.00 midnight** **BST.**
### Transition trainers; who are they?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-trainers-who-are-they/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:19.000Z
There are those in our Transition community that are prepared to share the wealth of knowledge and experience they have developed over the years. Whilst we all share our experiences and knowledge in community there are those we consider to be elders and there are those we consider experts.

To make it easier for you to find some of these people the international Transition Trainers Community of Practice was established. Four continents and 19 different countries are represented. In total, there are 60 Trainers in the community.

## *Meet some Transition Trainers*

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/zaida.png)

Zaida is an “urbanist and environmentalist architect with a focus on personal and community sustainability” based in Brasil. They are a frequent contributor at the international level of the transition movement and have a breadth and depth of background in transition related work.   
  
[Learn more about them here.](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/zaida-amaral/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Martina is “co-founder of La Prossima Cultura, a project exploring how the intersection between systems thinking, deep ecology and facilitation can shape the new, emerging culture”. They will also facilitate the ‘Going Forth’ session in the forthcoming Transition Facilitators training (want to find out what that is? Stay tuned 😀 )  
  
[Learn more about them here.](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/martina-francesca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Martina.jpg)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nenad.png)

Nenad is a very active contributor to Transition in Europe. His “speciality is supporting teams and larger groups in turning their remote or hybrid collaboration into an effective, efficient and enjoyable experience”. However, Nenad also delivers training for communities in Croatia and beyond.  
  
[Learn more about him here.](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers/nenad-maljkovic/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

## *How to find the right trainer and training?*

There are many more trainers. Don Hall, who currently leads on the development of Transition training at the international level explains how you find the trainer and training that is right for you:

> “You can find a map of Trainers around the world at [transitiongroups.org/trainers](https://transitiongroups.org/trainers?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). If you go to [transitiongroups.org](http://transitiongroups.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and click on the Trainers tab, you can search this map by language and find a trainer that speaks your native language. You can also search by courses, which courses these trainers offer, and find detailed profiles on individual trainers, so you can get to know more about them. There's a contact form on every trainer page, so if you're looking for a training, you can reach out to those trainers individually and start a conversation about whether they'd be able to provide what you're looking for.”Don Hall, International Training Coordinator

Alternatively, [you can reach out to us by filling in this form and share your training needs and requirements](https://forms.gle/kqo3v7tzTV5g7ZFa8?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We will then endeavour to point you in the right direction or develop a training programme that you will find valuable.

—

This article is part of the Transition Training series. In June 2023 we are sharing four short pieces that make transparent where Transition Training is at; this is post 2 out of 4\. There are many forthcoming developments in Transition Training and many more opportunities to engage with our Training offerings, as participants as well as facilitators. If you are curious about what is going on check out the other posts in the series.

1. [Sources of Transition Training: a brief exploration of the origins of Transition Training and its current leadership at the international level.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. [Transition trainers - who are they? An introduction to Transition Trainers and how to find the right trainer for you.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-trainers-who-are-they/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
3. [Training communities in Transition: an explanation of the work that is underway at the international level to support Transition Trainers.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-communities-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
4. [Developing our potential for leadership: considering the way forward for Transition training at the international level](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/developing-our-potential-for-leadership/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Sources of Transition Training
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/sources-of-transition-training/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:20.000Z
In 2023 we are re-energising and re-developing the ways in which you can learn about Transition. We will be offering new courses, accessible online as well as offline, and develop the support we provide to those teaching and facilitating Transition related learning journeys. As we are very excited about this work we like to introduce you to the origins of this work.

## *Transition Training leadership*

The work we are doing on training at the international level is led by our wonderful International Training Coordinator, [Don Hall](https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-hall-9b032168?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Here is Don introducing themselves:

"For those of you who don't know me well, I'm Don Hall. I’ve been involved in the Transition Movement in a wide variety of capacities over the past 15 years. I was first involved with a statewide hub here in Colorado, then founded a local initiative in Sarasota, Florida, and have been a Transition Trainer since 2010\. I previously worked for Transition US, becoming its Executive Director, and a couple months ago, I was hired on as international Training Coordinator. I feel extremely grateful for the opportunity.

Leadership training has been a huge passion of mine and continues to be. I think it's extremely important for this movement that we share our learning with each other, that we identify best practices. Even though Transition looks different in every place, there's things that we can learn from each other, and if we can pass that on, we'll be more successful in our work. We’ll have stronger, thriving initiatives, and a stronger movement overall. So I’m happy to be serving in this capacity."

## *A tiny history of Transition Training*

As we develop the work on Transition Training we want to acknowledge all the work that came before. Don offers us a brief history.

Transition Training “was founded by Sophie Banks and Naresh Giangrande back in 2007\. The first training that they designed was aptly called Training for Transition. As other trainings were developed, it was renamed to Transition Launch. It teaches how to set up and run a Transition Initiative in your community.

They also, very early on, developed a Train the Trainers course to train other trainers to deliver Transition Launch in different places around the world. As a result, it's now been offered hundreds of times in dozens of countries, and has also been adapted into an online format.”

![Person pointing at poster with a drawn timeline.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Girl-with-Chart-Launch.jpg)

A couple of other essential courses were developed:

- Transition Talk Training, which is how to present the Transition movement and ideas to others,
- Transition Thrive, which Don describes as "the sequel to Launch. Once you've got your initiative up and running, how can you broaden, deepen, and scale it up? Transition Thrive is full of all sorts of tools to help people do that."

Beyond the above, other training has been developed. For example, about Inner Transition, REconomy, Effective Groups, and Municipalities in Transition. Starting about five years ago, Sophy and then Naresh started focusing on work outside of Transition Network. Since then, we have been working to revitalise this important aspect of the international Transition Movement. It is exciting to see this work happening and we are very happy that Don is supporting us on that journey.

If ever you like to reach out to Don please do so using training@transitionnetwork.org

\------

This article is part of the Transition Training series. In June 2023 we are sharing four short pieces that make transparent where Transition Training is at; this is post 1 out of 4\. There are many forthcoming developments in Transition Training and many more opportunities to engage with our Training offerings, as participants as well as facilitators. If you are curious about what is going on check out the other posts in the series.

1. [Sources of Transition Training: a brief exploration of the origins of Transition Training and its current leadership at the international level.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/sources-of-transition-training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
2. [Transition trainers - who are they? An introduction to Transition Trainers and how to find the right trainer for you.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-trainers-who-are-they/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
3. [Training communities in Transition: an explanation of the work that is underway at the international level to support Transition Trainers.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-communities-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
4. [Developing our potential for leadership: considering the way forward for Transition training at the international level](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/developing-our-potential-for-leadership/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Inter-beingness
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/inter-beingness/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:21.000Z
**A space for the heart to flow and express itself**

Inter-beingness is a space that welcomes and nourishes, inviting presence and the power of intention to simply receive whatever comes. We have celebrated together the power of being virtually united under the light of the sacred within all of Us. **A place where we can connect collectively with Spirit in a simple, open non-religious frame**, and encompass a way that guides us to express through words followed by a period of silence, invoking a moment of “emptiness” from not having, doing or getting somewhere, to simply “being”. How to arrive at the edge of the sea and look at the horizon, how to feel in the lap of the Mother Earth that welcomes us, how to open a vacuum in the speed of everyday life to have new horizons, inspiring homeopathic twelves.

We come together through a welcoming video, meet each other and connect from the different territories around the Earth. Then we share through the depths of silence in a 15 minutes mostly silent and briefly guided meditation. From this field of unity and intimacy **we invite a non-jugdmental mind/heart to open the Way of the Council**, a social technology to share the joys and challenges we live every day in our personal lives. We share what is alive in us at the moment, after the meditation. We close with a Tonglen practice to collectively transform any burdens felt, and jump into a check-out to help us integrate the emerging processes within. It is at this time that we feel the result of this warm and profound action, where through the experience we are having, **we realize how much hearts open and the most varied expressions of gratitude, understanding or even pain and suffering for a humanitarian cause are allowed**. Smiles, interiorizations and even tears arise.

#### Some of the topics that have inspired the Inter-beingness space are:

- What nourishes you and your community?
- How do you deal with power in your community and what makes it easier to talk about this topic safely without feeling threatened?
- How do you deal with aspects of vulnerability, and how can these moments be taken advantage of? How vulnerability can be seen and felt as a tool with the power of openness, of getting to know the new, of being open to what you want to achieve!

[![Group picture in the mist of Inter-beingness](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/may3-1-1024x663.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/may3-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We believe that in this way we are integrating ever more the theme of the subtle presence of Spirit in our actions, thus opening space for the heart to flow and express itself, becoming richer and richer in our diversity of being and Inter-being.

For participating in the next Inter-beingness event, [register here](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle/events/inter-beingness-may-26-2023-072e1e9a/contribute/inter-beingness-may-26-2023-55173?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for free.  
We also invite you to save the dates of this year’s series in your calendar.

- **May 26**
- **Jun 21**
- **Jul (No Inter-Beingness)**
- **Aug 25**
- **Sept 29**
- **Oct 27**
- **Nov 24**
- **Dec 22**

All of them from **3:00 to 4:30pm UTC.** Please check your local time here.

You are very welcome to join any session you feel called to.

Hope to meet you there!

***THANK YOU!***

*We are the Inner Transition Circle, part of Transition Network. If you have any questions or feedback please contact us at inner@transitionnetwork.org*

*Part of our work is volunteer and most of our paid work depends on donations. If you feel the call to make a ticket donation we'll be deeply grateful. If you don't or cannot afford it please don't feel any pressure. We'll be really glad to count on your presence and energy.*

*[Check out our main Open Collective page to see more ways to participate and contribute in the future!](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*

***In the meantime...***

*Stay engaged with us on the Transition Network Virtual Platform!*

*Keep the connection going, and support the growth of your Transition Movement Community of Being and Practice*
### Connecting and Transforming Culture through Inter-beingness
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/interbeingness-eventsconnecting-and-transforming-culture-through-inter-beingnessinterbeingness-events/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:22.000Z
*Inter-Beingness* is an online space where we can come together and share how it is to do the work we do, to look the destruction of our world in the face, to feel however we feel, whether that’s the ‘good’ feelings we’re ‘supposed’ to feel - or the more challenging ones we all feel some of the time.

[![Calming image of a body of water with a tiny island.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/picture_1_article-1024x683.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/picture%5F1%5Farticle-scaled.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

As we witness the unraveling of the social and ecosystems we rely on, and see the destructive processes that run much of our lives continue largely unabated in spite of our efforts, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by grief, rage or exhaustion. We can tell ourselves that if we just worked a bit longer or harder, just spoke or wrote a bit more convincingly, just came up with the right bright idea… that we could make the difference we so deeply care about. We can tell ourselves that our sadness or hopelessness is not welcome, is unattractive and should be hidden. We can tell ourselves that we have no right to feel happy, have fun or take a break when there is so much to do.

This is the heavy burden that many of us carry underneath the goodwill and good company that we share as activists. It can feel very lonely to carry it at times.

[![Calming image of a flower.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/picture_2_article-1024x768.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/picture%5F2%5Farticle-scaled.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

In the *Inter-Beingness* sessions we have created a simple process for whoever shows up to come together, get present and share some of what’s going on with us. In keeping things simple, making room for stillness, welcoming each other however we are in the moment and sharing from the heart, we are trying to model an antidote to the ways that many of us have grown up to expect our meetings and communications to be. We are trying to be the change of culture and of heart that is needed in the world.

Although it is a short session, it can feel deeply connecting and very sweet to listen from the heart to others who care and are trying to make a difference in the world. We feel it is a small but beautiful offering to those who are part of movements for change. We hope you’ll come and join us!

![Screenshot of online meeting participants illustrating the space that is being held.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/picture_article_3.jpg)

**INTER-BEINGNESS** are online gatherings taking place on Zoom every 3rd wednesday of the month. Please register [here](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle/events/inter-beingness-apr-19-2023-a99da676/contribute/inter-beingness-apr-19-2023-53592?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for free to receive the access link and more information.

Your presence is the most important contribution.

***THANK YOU!***

*We are the Inner Transition Circle, part of Transition Network. If you have any questions or feedback please contact us at[ inner@transitionnetwork.org](mailt:inner@transitionnetwork.org)*

*Part of our work is volunteer and most of our paid work depends on donations. If you feel the call to make a ticket donation we'll be deeply grateful. If you don't or cannot afford it please don't feel any pressure. We'll be really glad to count on your presence and energy.*

*Check out [our main Open Collective page](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to see more ways to participate and contribute in the future!*

***In the meantime...***

*Stay engaged with us on the Transition Network Virtual Platform!*

*Keep the connection going, and support the growth of your Transition Movement Community of Being and Practice*
### A Year of Transition Together
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/a-year-of-transition-together/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:23.000Z
## Introduction

What if… communities everywhere had the power, knowledge and opportunity to lead change, building a better world for everyone from the ground up? That’s the vision of Transition Together, a project to grow and strengthen this work for community-led action in England and Wales.

One of the goals is to explore and incubate a new hub for Transition in England and Wales. A transition hub is an organisation that is founded by and there to support transition groups that share a geographical area, a language, or some other defining characteristic. Transition Together nestles under Transition Network until such a new hub is ready to spread its wings.

Our recent journey began in 2020, when we explored how the 300 Transition groups in England and Wales, and our whole society could ‘[Bounce Forward](https://tbf.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, not back, from the pandemic. Transition Together builds on that initial phase, working for a better future, thanks to generous funding from The National Lottery Community Fund’s [Growing Great Ideas](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/second-post-copy-copy/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme. We’re partners in this funding with the Scottish Transition Hub, Scottish Communities Climate Action Network. While Transition Together is a new project, [SCCAN ](https://sccan.scot/about/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)has been supporting community-led change across Scotland for many years.

Having this security of funding is a huge opportunity for Transition groups and the Transition Network in England and Wales to work towards long term, transformational change - and there’s never been a more important time to marshall communities’ creativity, energy, care and power to rapidly reshape our world for the better and for everyone.

As we reflect back on our first full year of Transition Together, it’s important to our small staff [team](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/about/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to share what we’ve been doing with our wider family, as well as what we learned and struggled with, and how we’ll seek to move forward.

## **What have we been doing?**

Naturally, a portion of our first year’s work was spent establishing the project, bringing in skills and people, planning and working out, in dialogue with Transitioners, how best to grow and support the movement. There are few ballads or legends written about setting up new admin systems and building a website, but it has to be done.

The Transition Together [team](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/about/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is passionate about serving the movement. We mostly work part time, freeing each of us to be involved in projects in our own local communities, but leaving us stretched for time and capacity. By the end of our first year, we’ve grown to the equivalent of just four full-time staff across the project. We try to use our time wisely, to work collaboratively within and beyond the movement, to be responsive to Transitioners and to prioritise where we have most impact. Here are eight areas where we’ve made progress in year one:

1. To ground our work in the needs and challenges of Transition groups, we’ve interviewed 17 groups as part of our ongoing audit. We’d love this to be an ongoing dialogue and to hear what Transition looks like where you are. [Get in touch](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/contact/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) if you’d like to take part in 2023.
1. In response to what groups told us, we held training and skillshare sessions, including [start a group](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDL936wCow&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Grow your Group, [kickass social media](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FDcEx1%5FovmY&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5Flhk89vbmcElnZnr0odv-GXTi&index=3&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [making selfie videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDL936wCow&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), We held space to digest [COP26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWN00R8e-UM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and what it meant for community activism.
1. In May, we held the online [Together We Can](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/events/summit2022/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) summit, with 30+ sessions to nurture, build and inspire your work for community-led change. We brought practical sessions to support Transition groups’ work as well as meaty challenges on youth leadership, trauma, inclusive movements and more.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Copy-of-together-we-can-cover-2-1024x577.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Copy-of-together-we-can-cover-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Our summit highlighted the power of collective community action – because Together We Can and are achieving transformational change.*

1. One of our goals has been to build a web of support between Transitioners, connecting groups and individuals for sharing and peer-to-peer learning. In April, we launched [Vive](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/vive/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an online space to connect directly with others in your region or involved in similar projects around food, energy, transport and more. Now 470 changemakers are there from across the UK.
1. We supported a number of groups facing specific challenges, from difficult publicity to diversifying funding, recruiting new volunteers to navigating group conflict. Work for community-led change can be tough at times, and we have developed events, resources and funding to [help](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/support/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can also reach out to us, if you can’t find solutions, [here](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/contact/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
1. We launched a [seed funding programme](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/seed-funding-goes-live/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), to distribute £160,000 to Transition groups to spark new projects, build capacity and impact in their communities. Grants were transferred just before Christmas so the work can take place in 2023\. We are super excited about these transformational activities, and cannot wait to tell the stories - watch this space.
1. To ensure our movement is resilient for the future, we need a democratic structure to guide the work, and which will outlast our time bound funding and project. We embarked on a journey to explore what a Transition Hub in England and Wales could look like, and how it could represent and support the movement into the future. To co-create this journey, we established a [caretaker group](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/taking-care-of-a-vital-conversation/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) made up of people from the movement and beyond, bringing different life experiences and skills to the table. The group is preparing to invite individual Transitioners and local groups into this important dialogue in Spring 2023.
1. We grew relationships and connections with other networks working for radical change. We are animating the CTRLShift network, which aims to create spaces locally, regionally and nationally where organisations building practical and radical alternatives on the ground can collaborate, network and build partnerships with one another. In 2022, CTRLshift members set up three prototype projects in Hull, Wandsworth and Bristol, exploring new ways of collaborating on local issues, bringing in multiple voices and unlocking new funding and approaches. We continue to work closely and learn from [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://sccan.scot/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which is rolling out innovative programmes including neighbourhood Climate for Change encounters, regional hubs for climate action and hosts a storytelling collective.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ThinkDo-Climate-Action-Shop-Pop-Up14.jpg)

*Seed funding was launched and grants dispersed to more than 70 groups; a new round is being planned for 2023.*

## **What have we learnt**

Naturally, there are many things we’ve learnt along the way, and areas where we have more work to do. Here’s are some of the reflections and intentions we are carrying forward:

1. Storytelling matters - we need to amplify the big and little stories of community-led change because they inspire, challenge and give practical guidance to other groups seeking solutions. When we gave space to [Zero Guildford](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/building-community-action-through-climate-hubs/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to share how they set up their community climate hub, it was shared 50 times and led to other Transition groups exploring similar spaces in their communities.  
    
We’ve stepped up our storytelling, getting many more examples from you and making our website, [newsletter](https://trnuk.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=54a12ae0dbc8dc98546e16d7f&id=b25afd8a91&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDL936wCow&list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5Flhk5autAyBFX04-Od-tdH1CH&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/transitiontog) and [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/transitiontog?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) a tasty feast to tuck into, including bringing together action around themes like [energy](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/communities-tackling-the-energy-crisis/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [food](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/eat-grow-share-communities-building-food-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We want to diversify the stories, voices and contexts we share - and we’d love to [hear yours](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/contact/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We’ll also be exploring new ways our online platform [Vive](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/vive/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can be a place to share your experiences and struggles, and support Transition in 2023.
1. Online is great, but many people want the revitalising experience of connecting in person. So we are going to organise [regional gatherings](https://forms.gle/GSSkKmCi3kbFibv89?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in a small number of places in 2023\. We’ll keep activities online too - we know it can be more accessible and flexible for many and gives opportunities to connect across the country. We know for ourselves, time to attend workshops and events is short, no matter how interesting or useful. With that in mind, Rhiannon has spent time designing [training programmes](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) targeting the needs of Transition groups specifically. They will run from January to March. We’ll also offer a focused session on working with councils in spring 2023, thanks to our collaboration with [ECOLISE](https://www.ecolise.eu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).
1. We cannot build resilient, regenerative communities unless we address the injustice and inequality built into our current systems and society. Climate and social justice are intimately linked. Our team brings a variety of lived experience, but we understand the need to broaden and deepen our approaches and knowledge further to truly begin to engage with these issues in a meaningful way.  
    
We have sought to include a wide range of voices and perspectives in our events and seed funding process including bringing people into the design and delivery of them. In 2023, we want to expand this strand of our work to explore how and why it matters to build social justice into work for community-led change, plus support for Transitioners to ask challenging questions about how we do this meaningfully in practice.
1. There is an urgency to this work, but it can’t be rushed. How we work matters as much as what we do. Relationships matter. Burnout is real. We have begun exploring the challenge of [building sustainable livelihoods](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chAvh4sI&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) around community-led change, at the Summit and in our seed funding process, though more attention to this question is needed to build resilience on the ground in our movement.
1. Growing mycelium interconnected networks and creating impact is not only about what you can count. With the help of evaluator Tim Strasser, we’ve developed a framework to help us understand our intended impact and the process of change we’re sparking. This [3D tool](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vajKAfCgoMkn96lHYV57iskcFLjZQjGZ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104007253795477515627&rtpof=true&sd=true&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) explores how our activities are widening (reaching more and a greater diversity of people and communities), lengthening (increasing the longevity and resilience of Transition groups and projects) and deepening our understanding of what it takes to fundamentally change dominant systems and culture.
1. Change is complex, and working to build new, alternative systems within the existing systems we have is challenging. We’re working with Schumacher Institute on a guide to systems thinking at community level, to help Transition groups and others to navigate the paths to transformational change.

The Transition movement's experience of creating change, driven by communities, is needed now more than ever. It’s more impactful and sustainable than acting alone, it shows decision-makers and other communities what’s possible and it makes us active players in reimagining and rebuilding the future. We would love you to be part of this journey together and help us grow and strengthen in the year ahead.

Sign up to our newsletter [here](https://trnuk.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=54a12ae0dbc8dc98546e16d7f&id=b25afd8a91&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for news and inspiration from our project and groups. Find your [local group](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/groups/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and get involved. Join our upcoming [training](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/training/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or [events](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to deepen your understanding and work for community-led change.
### Inter-beingness: virtual circles
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/inter-beingness-virtual-circles/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:24.000Z
Inter-beingness: ***Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no-one to be***

*A virtual territory where we come together, in body and spirit, sharing how we feel and who we are as part of the great web of life*

Many of us have a longing for sustained inner peace, harmony, and equilibrium between being and becoming, stillness and doing, silence and sound, heart and mind: how through committed practices and inner actions we allow our souls to gather beyond ideas, places and identities; beyond body, emotions and thought.

In the heart of every being, lies the potential of infinite wisdom, of what is eternal and most sacred – that which is important for the evolution of the Whole. In these circles we make space to connect with who we are at the depth of our existence and allow a strengthened sense of collective purpose and a real experience of Inter-beingness to emerge.

*Every third Wednesday of the month we are connecting in this series of 6 gatherings, from Equinox to Equinox, starting on September 2022 and closing on March 2023 Equinox.*

[![Decorative Image](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/foto-1-1024x682.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/foto-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Inter-beingness is a regenerative space with an invitation to meet as equals in the richness of our diversity, to resonate with others, to feel nature’s presence through us and so connecting with our true nature; with the common vision and purpose that unites everyone within the wider movement of life caring activism.

We met for the first time this past 21st of September, vibrating in celebration for the Equinox and in gratitude for the new cycle that begins throughout Mother Earth. It was a very precious space, where from the presence of silence shared during the first 15 minutes, arose a profound field of intimacy and connection that allowed us to share wisdom through our personal experiences about the inner practices that help us build resilience.

The collective feeling was one of warmth, community connection, love, calmness and support. We embraced the value of recognizing how worthy we are to be able to meet across continents to meditate and harvest together the inner joy that bubbles from a collective consciousness of liberation and delight.

[![A word-cloud shaped as a flower. The central word is calmness.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lotocrop-1024x684.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lotocrop.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Let's come together to connect and meet each other deeper at Inter-beingness.  
We hope you feel the call to join us for the next three encounters!

Book tickets for the following dates:

- **[Dec 21st](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/interbeingness-nothing-to-do-nowhere-to-go-no-one-to-be-tickets-412339096337?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**
- **[Feb 15th](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle/events/inter-beingness-monthly-connections-584ce6a9/contribute/inter-beingness-feb-15-2023-49766?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**
- **[March 15th](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle/events/inter-beingness-monthly-connections-feb-15-2023-15c8d22a?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**

Always from **3:00pm to 4:30pm UTC.**   
Please check your local time and help us share this invitation widely.

**THANK YOU!**

We are the [Inner Transition Circle](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle), part of the Transition Movement. If you have any doubt, please contact us at [inner@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:inner@transitionnetwork.org)

**We are the Inner Transition Circle**, part of Transition Movement. If you have any questions or feedback please **contact us at [inner@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:inner@transitionnetwork.org)**

**Part of our work is volunteer and most of our paid work depends on donations.** If you feel the call to make a ticket donation we'll be deeply grateful. If you don't or cannot afford it please don't feel any pressure. We'll be really glad to count on your presence and energy.

[**Check out our main Open Collective page** ](https://opencollective.com/innertransitioncircle?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)to see more ways to participate and contribute in the future!

**In the meantime...**

Stay engaged with us on the Transition Network Virtual Platform!

Keep the connection going, and support the growth of your Transition Movement Community of Being and Practice.

👍 *We also have a *Facebook page* @InnerTransitionCircle*
### Shared leadership in the Transition Network: can you help?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/shared-leadership-in-the-transition-network-can-you-help/
Last updated: 2022-11-24T11:48:40.000Z
Are you willing to bring your perspective and have time to commit? Do you want to help us reimagine and rebuild our world? Are you willing to share leadership responsibility?

In England and Wales, where the Transition Network is registered as a charity, trustees share leadership and legal responsibilities for an organisation. Together with the staff members they work on fulfilling the purpose of the organisation. You can join us now to do exactly that!

## Develop your governance skills

By joining us in a trustee role you would become part of an innovative organisation, using shared governance structures and processes. Our organisation empowers trustees and staff members to develop themselves and the organisation in a supportive environment.

> *“The structure that we have developed feels more equitable, agile and effective and far better suited to an organisation seeking to support an emergent global movement and context.”*

## Bring your experiences to the fore

The contributions of our trustees often come from their diverse perspectives, skills and experience. This may be drawn from their participation in Transition groups and Hubs, or their work in aligned environmental, social, cultural or economic fields.

Transition Network is working internationally to support the Transition movement. We are seeking to recruit individuals whose background or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or underrepresented perspectives to the Transition Network team. We work internationally, so we would particularly benefit from trustees with connections and experience of working and living beyond the UK context.

Currently we have six trustees - [find out who they are](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/people/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We are hoping to recruit two new trustees in this process.

Trustees are part of our Primary Circle, setting and guiding our strategic direction. They exercise the responsibilities required by England & Wales charity law and take on other roles in our team as capacity, interest and opportunity allow.

We welcome applications from people with no previous experience as trustees. We offer a supportive and collaborative stewarding process to help new trustees join the organisation. We want to hear about the experiences and skills you can bring to help Transition Network respond to a time of accelerating and interconnected crises.

Being a trustee is an unpaid, voluntary role.

## Learn more and get in touch

>  
> *“I have learned a huge amount which I am able to implement into other voluntary and paid roles.”*

Interested? You can find out more about Transition Network and the role in the recruitment pack:

[Trustee Information Pack 2022 - English - PDF](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/TN-Trustee-Information-Pack-2022-1.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)[Download](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/TN-Trustee-Information-Pack-2022-1.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The closing date for applications is 11pm on Monday 5 December 2022\. If you have any queries that are not covered in the pack, or would like to send us your application – drop us a line at [trustee-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:trustee-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org)

We look forward to hearing from you!
### Community resilience from the future
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/community-resilience-from-the-future/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:26.000Z
During my talks, I often invite people to time travel in their imagination to a 2030 that’s not utopia, or dystopia, but rather is the result of our having done everything we could possibly have done in those intervening years. We do it because, as Walidah Imarisha puts it, *“we can’t build what we can’t imagine”*. Unless we cultivate longing for such a future, it will never happen. In spite of having done that exercise now over 100 times, the responses are pretty much always the same. “The birdsong is louder”. “There are far less cars”. “The air smells so much cleaner”. “The streets are full of kids playing”. “There is a strong sense of community”. It’s exciting then to be able to announce that this week I actually managed a spectacular feat of time travel to visit the future they dream of in that exercise, immersing myself in its magic and its deliciousness, with all my senses. It was incredible and life-affirming. And all I had to do was buy a train ticket to Freiburg in Germany.

# Community resilience by design

The Vauban, a district of Freiburg which is home to about 3000 people, is one of the most ambitious and best-known car-free neighbourhoods in Europe. It was a French military barracks until 1991, and it covers 41 hectares of land. Local people wanted something different to happen there, and campaigned for 3 years to ensure that happened. **The design process was inclusive of future residents’ ideas and dreams, and was expanded to include social and ecological issues of concern to residents.** The final scheme prioritised housing cooperatives, individual self builders and community building groups over private commercial developers and investors.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/vauban-1024x768.webp)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/vauban.webp?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The final scheme shows what’s possible when ecological design is put front and centre. Most of the houses are built to very high energy efficiency standards, many to Passivhaus level. There are solar panels everywhere. Most of the trees from the original barracks were retained and many more added, so large parts of the place feel more like a forest. There were clearly some permaculturists involved at the early stage: walking around I saw apples, plums, pears and walnuts, and grape vines growing up many buildings, and many other fruits too. All the different apartment blocks are in different styles and different colours, but somehow it all works. Most apartments have balconies, usually with plants growing on them, and the inner courtyards are filled with trees and, in the case of where I was staying, tiny birds dashing around together excitedly between their branches.

# Urban sanctuary

It is the car-free aspect of it that is most fascinating though. The Vauban was designed to remove the need to own a private car. The site is serviced by an amazing tram system, with trams coming every 5 minutes or so going into the main city. I’ve never seen so many cargo bikes in one place. Many of the footpaths are completely closed to cars. Running across the centre of the site are beautiful car free lanes, lined with huge trees and a swale to return runoff water to the water table.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908_155931-scaled-1-1024x768.webp)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908%5F155931-scaled-1.webp?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Kids as young as 3 pedal around on little bikes. Cargo bikes carrying 2 or 3 children rumble past. People walk their dogs. On the residential streets, bikes and people are given priority. You are allowed to bring your car, if you have one, to the door of your home to drop stuff off, but must then go and park it in the community car park in the centre of the Vauban, the only multistorey I’ve seen with solar panels on its roof. The result is a development with bike storage facilities everywhere, with just 172 cars to every 1000 residents, way less than the national average and with car-free residential streets.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908_123812-scaled-1-1024x768.webp)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908%5F123812-scaled-1.webp?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

As well as the housing, the site also features former barracks buildings turned into student accommodation, a community centre, nurseries, a primary school, cafes and restaurants, shops, and other social enterprises. There is a big park which is managed as a nature area, and as you walk around you see lots of playgrounds, wild corners, and a beautiful wild strip with a stream along one of the borders of the development. Energy comes from a Combined Heat and Power scheme augmented with lots of solar power. Unlike most modern housing developments in the UK which feel inherently mean, stingy with space, with materials, with room for nature, with artistic touches, the Vauban feels the opposite, designed with such vision, zest, abundance and generosity.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908_124444-scaled-1-1024x768.webp)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908%5F124444-scaled-1.webp?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Another thing I do in those talks where we time travel is to show an image of a t-shirt from the Black Lives Matter protests in Washington in 2020, which says *“I’ve been to the future. We won”*. Visiting the Vauban in Freiburg feels like what it will feel like when we win (by winning I don’t dismiss or sideline the reality of[ the climate change that is happening](https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/how-bad-is-it), rather that we’ve done absolutely everything we possibly can to make it through the “brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future” as[ described by the IPCC](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/resources/press/press-release/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) . I found it quite emotional, and deeply affecting, to be there.

# A future that sounds like birdsong and playing

I was there to try to record what a car-free future would sound like for the ‘[*Field Recordings from the Future*](https://www.robhopkins.net/2022/06/29/introducing-field-recordings-from-the-future/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ project I’m doing with ambient electronic artist Mr Kit. While I can show you photos of what the Vauban looks like (you’ll find them scattered throughout this piece) what interested me most was **what did it *sound* like?** If you could time travel to a car-free, more ecological, radically lower carbon future, what would it sound like? And if you could bring recordings of it back, they’d be more precious than gold, right? Well, I’ve done it, and here you are. Here’s what a low carbon future would sound like in a city (headphones are recommended)

[Rob Hopkins](https://soundcloud.com/transition-culture?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) · [A taste of the Vauban](https://soundcloud.com/transition-culture/a-day-in-the-vauban?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)My audience members are right when they say it’s a future that sounds like birdsong and children playing, but it’s much more complex and nuanced than that. It also sounds like cutlery on plates as people eat on their balconies, like people having piano lessons in their homes, or violin lessons, like distant passing trams, like the beeps of shop tills, like market traders setting up their stalls. It sounds like running water in lively streams dappled by the sun, like power drills as people make repairs to their homes, like the sounds of happy children chatting to each other in the back of bicycle trailers. It sounds like people enjoying cooking together in the community centre kitchen. It sounds like crows and wood pigeons in the trees and tiny sparrows excitedly dashing around. It sounds like conversations on benches and in distant gardens. It sounds like bees. And closing doors. And yes, maybe the occasional car, but very much the exception rather than the rule. Rather than dominating, they stand out as an oddity, an intrusion.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908_164802-scaled-1-1024x768.webp)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20220908%5F164802-scaled-1.webp?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

# Changing business-as-usual

The poet Rilke once wrote that: *“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens”.* Many, especially those in powerful positions in our societies, find it impossible to allow it in. Instead, we continue with business-as-usual. [Fatima Bhutto recently ](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/08/pakistan-floods-climate-crisis?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)reminded us what business-as-usual means: *“Our voracious burning of fossil fuels, obnoxious disregard for the wild and natural world we inherited, and criminal consumption means that no country, no matter its wealth, will be immune from the consequences of global heating. Today it is Pakistan, tomorrow it will be California, France, Australia, the world”.* Business-as-usual is untenable. As Vauban shows, the future we need is among us. The visions, ideas, and capacities to replicate are present in our communities. Next time you speak to people about urban development, point at Vauban and suggest: **“This is what business-as-usual looks like, in the future”**. --- This post was originally published here and reproduced with the permission of the auhor: [https://www.robhopkins.net/2022/09/09/a-dazzlingly-precious-gift-from-the-future/](https://www.robhopkins.net/2022/09/09/a-dazzlingly-precious-gift-from-the-future/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Abya Yala in Transition - 7 Conversations
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/abya-yala-in-transition/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:28.000Z
**Stories from inspirational and diverse communities who offer alternatives to the challenges we face.**

*Role para baixo para Português. Próximamente traducción al español.*

*Role para baixo para Português. Próximamente traducción al español.*

***Abya Yala in Transition*** invites you to take part in a series of conversations that will share the voices of, and shine a light on, many diverse stories of grassroots activism happening across Latin America.

These online conversations have been co-designed by a collective brought together by Transition groups from many countries across Latin America, working together in three languages.

Through [**Abya Yala in Transition – In Transition to What!?**](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), you’ll discover the experience of change makers in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and more.

The group hopes that each event will inspire people from across the globe to act positively at all levels to face the challenges of community and ecosystem destruction. In Latin America right now, we are witnessing profound changes, but also amazing new solutions emerging from diverse indigenous communities across the continent.

In recognition of this indigenous wisdom the group have revived the name, Abya Yala, which is the original name given to the Latin American continent, and invites everyone to join the party!

Abya Yala has so much to offer and share with the world. Enormous cultural and ecological diversity, the voices of wise ancestral communities, and a multitude of both rural and urban communities making their vision of regeneration a reality. From the damage done through abuses of power and colonisation, these communities are making themselves seen and heard anew.

The 7 conversations will take place from 6th July – 21st September. Each event will take place at the same time on each date, and are free to attend. They will be run with simultaneous translation in three languages – Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Click on the event links below to find out more and register for free.

- **From Global to Local,** *6th July*  
Sharing stories from across Latin America and the world to open up ideas, stories and experiences. Join us to listen deeply and discover that despite our geographical and cultural differences, we have a lot in common.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Ecoversities in Brazil,** *15th July*  
An ecoversity is a free university that draws life projects with young people, facilitating transformative learning, based on what one wants to know and what one needs to learn in order to be who you are in action in the World. Three ecoversities in Brazil will present their inspiring stories, diversity, achievements and challenges.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Libertarian Decolonization in Colombia,** *27th July*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Ecosocial Transition in Mexico´s indigenous communities,** *12th August*  
Two communities from Mexico will talk about their struggles and stories, exploring and defending ancestral ecosystems. The Nuu Savi are women weavers from Mixteca Alta will tell their story of eviction from their territory and how they are using their artistic textiles to defend their home. The community from Maseual Tutunaku are resisting mining in their region, developing local cooperatives and trilingual self-managed governance systems.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Rights of Mother Earth and Nature in Latin America,** *24th August*  
Human beings and nature are connected and part of a single fabric. Increasingly, across Latin America, initiatives are successfully strengthening the rights of nature to sit on the same level as human rights. Hear from a diverse group of people from Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico, who are promoting the recovery of balance between humans and nature.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Municipalities in Transition – activating multiple local networks,** *9th September*  
To bring together local networks is to cultivate the strength of a community. Discover the experience and developments of the Municipalities in Transition project in Vila Mariana, Sao Paolo, Brazil. Learn from the phases, processes, challenges and improvements they have made so far.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Mambeadero,** *21st September*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Everyone is invited to the party so please share and invite your neighbours, friends and community as we continue to bring life to this new humanity together.

*Role para baixo para Português. Próximamente traducción al español.*

***Abya Yala in Transition*** invites you to take part in a series of conversations that will share the voices of, and shine a light on, many diverse stories of grassroots activism happening across Latin America.

These online conversations have been co-designed by a collective brought together by Transition groups from many countries across Latin America, working together in three languages.

Through [**Abya Yala in Transition – In Transition to What!?**](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), you’ll discover the experience of change makers in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and more.

The group hopes that each event will inspire people from across the globe to act positively at all levels to face the challenges of community and ecosystem destruction. In Latin America right now, we are witnessing profound changes, but also amazing new solutions emerging from diverse indigenous communities across the continent.

In recognition of this indigenous wisdom the group have revived the name, Abya Yala, which is the original name given to the Latin American continent, and invites everyone to join the party!

Abya Yala has so much to offer and share with the world. Enormous cultural and ecological diversity, the voices of wise ancestral communities, and a multitude of both rural and urban communities making their vision of regeneration a reality. From the damage done through abuses of power and colonisation, these communities are making themselves seen and heard anew.

The 7 conversations will take place from 6th July – 21st September. Each event will take place at the same time on each date, and are free to attend. They will be run with simultaneous translation in three languages – Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Click on the event links below to find out more and register for free.

- **From Global to Local,** *6th July*  
Sharing stories from across Latin America and the world to open up ideas, stories and experiences. Join us to listen deeply and discover that despite our geographical and cultural differences, we have a lot in common.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Ecoversities in Brazil,** *15th July*  
An ecoversity is a free university that draws life projects with young people, facilitating transformative learning, based on what one wants to know and what one needs to learn in order to be who you are in action in the World. Three ecoversities in Brazil will present their inspiring stories, diversity, achievements and challenges.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Libertarian Decolonization in Colombia,** *27th July*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Ecosocial Transition in Mexico´s indigenous communities,** *12th August*  
Two communities from Mexico will talk about their struggles and stories, exploring and defending ancestral ecosystems. The Nuu Savi are women weavers from Mixteca Alta will tell their story of eviction from their territory and how they are using their artistic textiles to defend their home. The community from Maseual Tutunaku are resisting mining in their region, developing local cooperatives and trilingual self-managed governance systems.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Rights of Mother Earth and Nature in Latin America,** *24th August*  
Human beings and nature are connected and part of a single fabric. Increasingly, across Latin America, initiatives are successfully strengthening the rights of nature to sit on the same level as human rights. Hear from a diverse group of people from Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico, who are promoting the recovery of balance between humans and nature.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Municipalities in Transition – activating multiple local networks,** *9th September*  
To bring together local networks is to cultivate the strength of a community. Discover the experience and developments of the Municipalities in Transition project in Vila Mariana, Sao Paolo, Brazil. Learn from the phases, processes, challenges and improvements they have made so far.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Mambeadero,** *21st September*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Everyone is invited to the party so please share and invite your neighbours, friends and community as we continue to bring life to this new humanity together.

*Role para baixo para Português. Próximamente traducción al español.*

***Abya Yala in Transition*** invites you to take part in a series of conversations that will share the voices of, and shine a light on, many diverse stories of grassroots activism happening across Latin America.

These online conversations have been co-designed by a collective brought together by Transition groups from many countries across Latin America, working together in three languages.

Through [**Abya Yala in Transition – In Transition to What!?**](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), you’ll discover the experience of change makers in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and more.

The group hopes that each event will inspire people from across the globe to act positively at all levels to face the challenges of community and ecosystem destruction. In Latin America right now, we are witnessing profound changes, but also amazing new solutions emerging from diverse indigenous communities across the continent.

In recognition of this indigenous wisdom the group have revived the name, Abya Yala, which is the original name given to the Latin American continent, and invites everyone to join the party!

Abya Yala has so much to offer and share with the world. Enormous cultural and ecological diversity, the voices of wise ancestral communities, and a multitude of both rural and urban communities making their vision of regeneration a reality. From the damage done through abuses of power and colonisation, these communities are making themselves seen and heard anew.

The 7 conversations will take place from 6th July – 21st September. Each event will take place at the same time on each date, and are free to attend. They will be run with simultaneous translation in three languages – Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Click on the event links below to find out more and register for free.

- **From Global to Local,** *6th July*  
Sharing stories from across Latin America and the world to open up ideas, stories and experiences. Join us to listen deeply and discover that despite our geographical and cultural differences, we have a lot in common.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/from-global-to-local/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Ecoversities in Brazil,** *15th July*  
An ecoversity is a free university that draws life projects with young people, facilitating transformative learning, based on what one wants to know and what one needs to learn in order to be who you are in action in the World. Three ecoversities in Brazil will present their inspiring stories, diversity, achievements and challenges.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/ecoversities-in-brazil/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Libertarian Decolonization in Colombia,** *27th July*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Ecosocial Transition in Mexico´s indigenous communities,** *12th August*  
Two communities from Mexico will talk about their struggles and stories, exploring and defending ancestral ecosystems. The Nuu Savi are women weavers from Mixteca Alta will tell their story of eviction from their territory and how they are using their artistic textiles to defend their home. The community from Maseual Tutunaku are resisting mining in their region, developing local cooperatives and trilingual self-managed governance systems.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-ecosocial-transition-en-mexicos-indigenous-communities/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **The Rights of Mother Earth and Nature in Latin America,** *24th August*  
Human beings and nature are connected and part of a single fabric. Increasingly, across Latin America, initiatives are successfully strengthening the rights of nature to sit on the same level as human rights. Hear from a diverse group of people from Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico, who are promoting the recovery of balance between humans and nature.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/the-rights-of-mother-earth-nature-in-latin-america/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Municipalities in Transition – activating multiple local networks,** *9th September*  
To bring together local networks is to cultivate the strength of a community. Discover the experience and developments of the Municipalities in Transition project in Vila Mariana, Sao Paolo, Brazil. Learn from the phases, processes, challenges and improvements they have made so far.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events-trainings/municipalities-in-transition-an-opportunity-to-activate-multiple-local-networks/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Mambeadero,** *21st September*  
*More information coming soon*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/events/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Everyone is invited to the party so please share and invite your neighbours, friends and community as we continue to bring life to this new humanity together.

![Abya Yala em Transição - Comunidades, Historias Inspiradoras, Diversidade, Sucessos e Desafios](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/PORT-header-website-TN.jpg)

**Histórias de comunidades inspiradoras e diversificadas que oferecem alternativas para os desafios que enfrentamos.**

**Abya Yala em Transição** convida você a participar de uma série de conversas que irão compartilhar as vozes e iluminar muitas e diversas histórias de ativismo de base que acontecem em toda a América Latina.

Estas conversas on-line foram co-desenhadas por um coletivo reunido por grupos de Transição de muitos países de toda a América Latina, trabalhando juntos em três idiomas.

Através de [Abya Yala em Transição – Transição em direção à que!?](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/abya-yala-em-transicao-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), você descobrirá a experiência de fazedores de mudanças no Brasil, México, Colômbia, Chile, Argentina, Equador e muito mais.

O grupo espera que cada evento inspire as pessoas de todo o mundo a agir positivamente em todos os níveis para enfrentar os desafios da destruição da comunidade e do ecossistema. Na América Latina, neste momento, estamos testemunhando mudanças profundas, mas também novas soluções surpreendentes surgindo de diversas comunidades indígenas em todo o continente.

Em reconhecimento a esta sabedoria indígena, o grupo reavivou o nome, Abya Yala, que é o nome original dado ao continente latino-americano, e convida a todos a se juntarem ao partido!

Abya Yala tem muito a oferecer e compartilhar com o mundo. Enorme diversidade cultural e ecológica, as vozes das comunidades ancestrais sábias e uma multidão de comunidades rurais e urbanas tornando realidade sua visão de regeneração. A partir dos danos causados por abusos de poder e colonização, estas comunidades estão se fazendo ver e ouvir de novo.

As 7 conversas acontecerão de 6 de julho a 21 de setembro. Cada evento acontecerá ao mesmo tempo em cada data, e são livres para participar. Elas serão realizadas com tradução simultânea em três idiomas – espanhol, português e inglês.

Clique nos links do evento abaixo para saber mais e inscrever-se gratuitamente.

- **De Global para Local,** 6 de julho  
Compartilhar histórias de toda a América Latina e do mundo para abrir idéias, histórias e experiências. Junte-se a nós para ouvir profundamente e descobrir que apesar de nossas diferenças geográficas e culturais, temos muito em comum.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/do-global-ao-local/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/do-global-ao-local/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Ecoversities no Brasil**, 15 de julho  
Uma ecoverdade é uma universidade livre que atrai projetos de vida com os jovens, facilitando a aprendizagem transformadora, baseada no que se quer saber e no que se precisa aprender para ser quem se está em ação no Mundo. Três ecoveridades no Brasil apresentarão suas histórias inspiradoras, diversidade, conquistas e desafios.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/ecoversidades-no-brasil/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/ecoversidades-no-brasil/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **A descolonização libertária na Colômbia**, 27 de julho  
*Mais informações em breve*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/abya-yala-em-transicao-2/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/abya-yala-em-transicao-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **A Transição Ecosocial nas comunidades indígenas do México**, 12 de agosto  
Duas comunidades do México falarão de suas lutas e histórias, explorando e defendendo ecossistemas ancestrais. As Nuu Savi são mulheres tecedeiras de Mixteca Alta contarão sua história de despejo de seu território e como elas estão usando seus têxteis artísticos para defender seu lar. A comunidade de Maseual Tutunaku está resistindo à mineração em sua região, desenvolvendo cooperativas locais e sistemas trilíngues de governança autogerida.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/transicao-ecosocial-dos-povos-originarios-no-mexico/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/transicao-ecosocial-dos-povos-originarios-no-mexico/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Os Direitos da Mãe Terra e da Natureza na América Latina**, 24 de agosto  
O ser humano e a natureza estão conectados e fazem parte de um único tecido. Cada vez mais, em toda a América Latina, as iniciativas estão fortalecendo com sucesso os direitos da natureza de sentar-se no mesmo nível dos direitos humanos. Ouvir um grupo diversificado de pessoas do Chile, Colômbia, Brasil, Bolívia e México, que estão promovendo a recuperação do equilíbrio entre o ser humano e a natureza.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/os-direitos-da-mae-terra-natureza-na-america-latina/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/os-direitos-da-mae-terra-natureza-na-america-latina/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Municípios em Transição – ativando múltiplas redes locais**, 9 de setembro  
Reunir redes locais é cultivar a força de uma comunidade. Descubra a experiência e os desenvolvimentos do projeto Municípios em Transição na Vila Mariana, São Paulo, Brasil. Aprender com as fases, processos, desafios e melhorias que eles têm feito até agora.  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/municipalidades-em-transicao-uma-oportunidade-para-ativacao-das-multiplas-redes-locais/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/events-trainings/municipalidades-em-transicao-uma-oportunidade-para-ativacao-das-multiplas-redes-locais/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- **Mambeadero**, 21 de setembro  
*Mais informações em breve*  
[https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/abya-yala-em-transicao-2/](https://territorios-america-latina.transitionmovement.org/pt/abya-yala-em-transicao-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Todos estão convidados para a festa, portanto, por favor, compartilhem e convidem seus vizinhos, amigos e comunidade enquanto continuamos a trazer vida a esta nova humanidade juntos.
### Repair Cafes Touch A Diversity of People and Interests
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/repair-cafes-berkeley/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:29.000Z
*Uplifting the work of [Transition Berkeley](https://www.transitionberkeley.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) organizers Bonnie Borucki, Linda Currie, Lori Hines, and Carole Bennett-Simmons. Written by Ayako Nagano, Transition US Board Member, with the support of those mentioned.* ***This piece forms part of the [Stories to Action](https://www.transitionus.org/stories/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) series and was first published by Transition US in the inaugural issue of ReGeneration Nation magazine. Every quarter they will be offering an inside look at Transition US as well as uplifting the amazing visions, voices within the greater regenerative communities movement.***

Transition Berkeley has cultivated a community of practice that hits close to ground zero – a “culture of repair,” that demonstrates a way to live with more humility, making due with what we have by sharing knowledge and skills, one repair at a time. Repair Cafes harness a library-system supported methodology that touches a diversity of people and interests. The bells that ring on the repair grounds throughout an event celebrates the completion of each repair – and total up to 100 in any four-hour event. Repair Cafes and fix-it clinics produce an excitement not unlike a dopamine-pumped day at the derby with your besties.

![Three men in the foreground with a bicycle in front of them. One is giving a thumbs up, one is holding a sign that says "Repaired", and the third is holding a bicycle pump](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TB_repair_cafe_1.png)

Transition Berkeley Repair Cafe. Photo Credit: Linda Currie

This elegantly simple community-based solution draws support from people across all cultural, gender, age and socioeconomic lines and provides a unique opportunity for them to gather, connect, and build relationships. This universal desire to waste-not attracts people of all ages, genders, race, ethnicity, languages, religions, economic status and abilities. Volunteers and paid staff come in to participate as:

- The **repair coaches,**  who offer their skill sets and enjoy sharing their know-how with others,
- The nearby University **students,** who chip in both technically and as volunteer event supporters,
- The **local non-profit groups** with veteran organizers like Transition Berkeley, who sustain these efforts over time,
- The **general public**, anyone with a broken object requiring repair, with time and willingness to problem-solve and learn about repair.

Make no mistake, this isn’t the traditional “drop-it-off-and-we’ll-see-you-later” kind of outfit.

Clients sit with the repair coaches and together they diagnose and work to repair the item before them, building community and skills. To make your visits amply comfortable, Repair Cafes are always blessed with a local bounty of edibles, pizzas, coffee and tea, often donated by local restaurants and markets. But the Cafe also serves as a mingling space where community-members can chat and socialize. Every completed repair is an opportunity to celebrate with the ringing of a bell and a celebratory photo of the repair coach and participant. It’s part Party, with a bigger purpose.

Members of the public requesting that household items be repaired can sign up for an event beforehand online or show up in person on the day of the event. Useful repair tools and materials like duct tape, glues and lubricants, screws, wires and such are on site as a matter of course, in addition to the labyrinth of extension cords that provide each repair coach with lighting and power.

This location-based approach to community-building met its challenge when the pandemic first unfolded in March. Since then, some groups like [Fixit Clinics](https://fixitclinic.blogspot.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have moved the events online, and its popularity has spread globally. Participants initially share their broken object with a bigger group, and then split off onto designated tables (or if it’s online break out rooms) for further discussion and support from individual repair coaches.

Linda Currie, the co-director of Transition Berkeley, shared, “Transition Berkeley is focused on helping younger people learn about repair. Our current project is to help Cal (U.C. Berkeley) students create an online Repair Training course that can be shared with high school students from Berkeley Technology Academy, a local high school. Repair coaches will be helping with demonstrations and hands-on repair and all of it will be done remotely. We’re hoping students will gain problem solving skills and the ability to fix their own things as well as think about jobs and career opportunities. We plan to repeat this course again when it can be done in person.”

![Two men and four children feature in the photo, with an art work behind them that says "INSPIRED". One man has his fist in the air, one child is holding a bell, two children are holding a sign that says "Repaired", and a fourth is holding up a vacuum cleaner.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TB_repair_cafe_2.png)

Transition Berkeley Repair Cafe. Image Credit: Christina Choate

The first Repair Cafe by Transition Berkeley was held on February 23, 2019\. It was a featured event of a “Resiliency Fair,” which was a collaboration with the [Berkeley Adult School](https://bas.berkeleyschools.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School](https://www1.pgcps.org/martinlutherkingjr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [Berkeley Times](http://berkeleyx.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). A $5000 mini grant from [StopWaste.org](https://www.stopwaste.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) helped with the initial cost of supplies and venue costs. Some local businesses generously provided donations of food, supplies and funds. Roughly 200 people attended the fair and about 80 people participated in the Repair Cafe along with 50 volunteers. Lots of items got repaired and harnessed great community spirit. The items repaired included radios, headphones, a stereo, coffee grinders and makers, mixers, a microwave, a juicer, several space heaters, many lamps, a slide projector, pairs of jeans, jackets, jewelry, several walkers, a tent, a scooter, a bike light, several toys and more.

The Berkeley Adult School offered the venue, and helped with the logistics. Families and students from King Middle School ran the cafe to raise money for their class trip to Washington D.C. The Berkeley Times provided advertising at no cost and a partnering non-profit organization, the[ Culture of Repair](http://www.cultureofrepair.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) was instrumental in providing organizational support and helping recruit volunteers. Transition Berkeley helped coordinate the event which included various people and groups providing information on emergency preparedness, personal health and well-being, growing and sharing food, earthquake insurance, community choice energy, adult school classes and the tool lending library. Collaborating with these various groups brought a variety of participants to the Repair Cafe and provided a rich and learning experience.

One participant who successfully repaired her crook-necked desk lamp exclaimed, “Yes, and I learned how to do it myself!

Another senior participant who brought a ceramic space heater, was so elated after her successful repair that she said, “Yes, yes, yes, Miracles of Miracles! Thank you so much. I felt today that I was part of a community.”

The owners of a broken coffeemaker shared, “Yes, it was repaired. They explained what was wrong and told us how to fix it. It was a loose hose. We understand what needs to be done if it happens again. Thank you so much! & Kudos to the volunteers. Fun experience! “

You can see a video from the event, created by photographer, Christina Choate, here.

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The second Repair Cafe, May 18, 2019, was held at the [PLACE for Sustainable Living](https://www.place.community/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Oakland, California. An experiential learning center featuring sustainable living practices. PLACE supports a number of ongoing D.I.Y., repair and craft activities on site. Their staff was very accomodating in helping us plan how we would host the event in their space. They provided many of the things we needed for successful repairs, such as large tables, adequate electrical outlets, etc. The PLACE also helped us with event outreach via their own website and networks.

By hosting the second event in a different location, we attracted some new repair volunteers and a different set of people showing up needing help. Despite the rainy weather, people showed up, resulting in lots of collaboration and successes that day.

Of particular note was a woman in her eighties who brought her heirloom doll (circa 1940s) in need of some support. She and Sean, the repair volunteer, created a stand for the doll, giving the doll renewed life, and lighting up the room with smiles.

Another highlight was a 1950s art deco style single-slice chrome toaster. The participant and Bryce the “fixer” solved two issues and they both learned something in the process. Another success involved an outdoor garden chair whose webbing had been ripped, making the chair unusable. Since no webbing material was available, our resident sewing expert, Cecelia Clark, used designer fabric she brought and worked with the participant to create a one-of-a kind functional work of art. The chair owner said, “It was a fantastic upgrade!”

Lots of other items were saved from the waste stream that day – including several radios, a food processor, several blenders, many pairs of pants, a pop-up tent, a reciprocity saw, a metal dolly, and more. The big question people kept asking was when the next Repair Cafe would be held.

![Two people photographed in a repair cafe. Both smiling to camera one has a name badge which says "Sean - Volunteer Fixer", and he is holding a doll.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TB_repair_cafe_3.png)

Transition Berkeley Repair Cafe. Image Credit: Christina Choate

The third Repair Cafe on November 2, 2019, was held at the [Berkeley Technology Academy (“BTA”)](https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schools/high-schools/berkeley-technology-academy/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The event was a collaboration with U.C. Berkeley’s [Cal Zero Waste Department](https://facilities.berkeley.edu/operating-units/campus-operations/cal-zero-waste?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (“CZW”) and supported with a grant from the [Chancellor’s Community Partnership](https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/2019-2020%5Fccpf%5Fgrant%5Fguidelinesupdated.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Transition Berkeley worked closely with the CZW manager and a student intern, to plan and host the event. CZW helped with outreach and event advertising to the campus community. They procured food donations from local businesses for the event cafe. Transition Berkeley met with BTA faculty and staff, recruiting some of them to volunteer in person at the event. CZW student interns helped set up and staff the actual event and cafe along with some BTA staff and students. About 25 volunteers helped set up and ran the event, 36 repair experts came, six more than signed up and roughly 100 people brought in broken items. The room was a buzz with repair excitement from the moment we opened its doors, to when we ended and started taking the room apart.

This event featured the [Alameda County Mobile Bike Repair](http://www.bayareabikemobile.org/about-the-bikemobile/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which was set up in the outdoor courtyard space. One of the employees, a BTA graduate, helped about a dozen people fix their bicycles. A participant stated:, “My bicycle was successfully repaired. The bike mechanic was helpful in explaining the issues with my bike and made repairs as he could. I’ll be sure to tell my friends about the next repair cafe. Thanks!”

One participant, happy with her lamp repair, said, “I learned something about repair today. I love how well organized it was! Thanks Linda, Lori and others. Mark (the repair expert) was patient, helpful, + kind! I love the repair cafe concept — reducing waste, keeping stuff out of landfills, being more sustainable, building community!

Nearly all the participants said they learned something about repair and would like to participate again, many offered to volunteer with future events. The Cal Zero Waste student interns were so excited by all the successful repairs, many stayed past their shifts to keep working and write the latest repair success tally on the dry-erase board. You can view the event video here.

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All together, the three events attracted 204 participants, repairing 203 items. The number of broken Items successfully repaired was 142 (70%), the number of partially repaired items 41 (20%), and 20 items that were not repairable – bringing the tally of successfully and partially repaired items to 90%.

The Environmental impact was that 503 pounds or (.2515 tons) of waste was kept out of landfills, preventing the release of 1.03 metric tons of CO2.

In terms of volunteers, 47 (15 event support, 32 repair experts) attended the February event, 27 (12 event support, 15 repair experts) for the May event, and 54 (19 event support, 35 repair experts) for the November event, bringing the tally to 128 volunteers. The total volunteer hours contributed at all three events was estimated to be 512.

In doing our work, we’ve learned to apply the permaculture principles. For example, we need to stack functions wherever we can. We must get better at addressing the impacts of pollution, climate change and social justice AT THE SAME TIME. The Repair Cafes stacks functions in a holy trifecta – with our hands, hearts and heads.

- Repair what’s **physically** broken (with our **hands**) – repairing our broken items.
- Repair what’s **socially** broken (with our **hearts**) – repairing community-relations across differences, race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, socio-economic status.
- Repair what’s **ethically** broken (with our **heads**) – a move from an extractive and throw-away mentality, with vast economic disparity, towards regenerative and zero waste ethic at its core.

![Two people at a Repair Cafe holding a sign that says "Repaired". On the table between them is a bell, a camera and some tools.](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TB_repair-cafe_4.png)

Transition Berkeley Repair Cafe. Photo Credit: Christina Choate.

We have so much to repair and need to make up for lost time; only through the collective genius centered in our own communities will we be able to harness the solutions that will sustain us. Our Transition is no less than a concession as well as a celebration that we must join each other in co-creating the unknown, one healing repair at a time. Oprah once said that if we follow a greater purpose, then we could achieve anything. The path towards a just and sustainable transition is anointed with such greater purposes; from better relationships to nature, cooperative economic relationships, healthy soil, food, medicine, better collaborative governance – where the decision-makers are not above us nor the ill-affected below. Rather, we desire to co-create this world together, because we stand for a paradigm shift from Me to Us.

Bonnie Borucki, also co-director of Transition Berkeley, observed, “I am most inspired by the sense of accomplishment and collaboration that comes from the repair coach and participant relationships. The trust and cooperation that goes into this relationship is a lesson we can apply towards repairing larger issues, such as changing a system that views resources and people as disposable, to a culture that cherishes the gifts the earth and our ancestors have given us.”

***To receive future issues of ReGeneration Nation magazine, sign up for the [Transition US newsletter](https://www.transitionus.org/contactus/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).***
### Join Our Team - Communications Role
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/join-communications/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:30.000Z
**Would you like to join a creative, innovative and committed team working to support the international Transition movement?Does the opportunity to develop communications strategy and content in collaboration with volunteers in different parts of the world excite you?Do you have fresh ideas for increasing the visibility of the Transition movement and its contribution to regeneration?Are you keen to work in a non-hierarchical organisation exploring, and seeking to model, the changes we want to see in the world?**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Communications-Twitter3.png

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Communications-Twitter3.png

This is an exciting time to join the Transition Network team in a Communications role. In recent months we’ve worked closely with [international Transition Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to agree on two broad objectives for the next three years, with communications at the heart.

We plan to:

- Achieve a step-change in connections and flow of communication across and beyond the mycelial network of the Transition movement, to increase the impact and visibility of its contribution to regeneration.
- Contribute to the development of wider cultural narratives and practices of change, to help people **create the conditions in which transformative regenerative change can arise** and to **build collective resilience and solidarity** at multiple levels of scale.

Initially, some of our focus will involve working collaboratively on fundraising to build communication capacity and skills across the movement, helping us all to tell inspiring stories of community-led change which is having positive impacts in the world.

Our aim is for this to be a 3-4 day a week remote working role, which is equivalent to 0.6 to 0.8 of a full-time role. The full-time salary level for all team members is £34,764 (GBP) per year, which includes a home working allowance. For team members who are based outside the UK, an approximate/equivalent amount will be negotiated.

All Team Members have a generic role description and are assigned additional roles according to the needs of the organisation and where it’s felt that their experience, knowledge and creativity will have the greatest impact. In this recruitment, we are specifically looking for someone who can work collaboratively in a Communications Role to develop our communications strategy, deliver relevant and engaging content across our channels, and support fundraising to help us achieve our objectives.

We are also actively seeking to recruit individuals whose backgrounds or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or a diversity of perspectives to Transition Network. The range of diversity might include people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, from working-class backgrounds, people living with disabilities, a range of ages or sexualities, and/or those who have experienced disadvantage in society or their lives.

Although our team is mainly UK-based at the moment, we support an international movement and are actively seeking opportunities to distribute power, influence, resources and opportunities for paid work as widely as possible. We are very happy to explore the practicalities and costs (carbon and financial) of employing individuals based in mainland Europe or beyond. We encourage you to apply for the role if you feel you meet the [Person Specification](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#heading=h.25fcsuv8cbaq).

To find out more download this [Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **The deadline for applications is 12.00/midday (GMT/UTC) on Tues 12th July 2022.**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Communications-Twitter3.png

This is an exciting time to join the Transition Network team in a Communications role. In recent months we’ve worked closely with [international Transition Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to agree on two broad objectives for the next three years, with communications at the heart.

We plan to:

- Achieve a step-change in connections and flow of communication across and beyond the mycelial network of the Transition movement, to increase the impact and visibility of its contribution to regeneration.
- Contribute to the development of wider cultural narratives and practices of change, to help people **create the conditions in which transformative regenerative change can arise** and to **build collective resilience and solidarity** at multiple levels of scale.

Initially, some of our focus will involve working collaboratively on fundraising to build communication capacity and skills across the movement, helping us all to tell inspiring stories of community-led change which is having positive impacts in the world.

Our aim is for this to be a 3-4 day a week remote working role, which is equivalent to 0.6 to 0.8 of a full-time role. The full-time salary level for all team members is £34,764 (GBP) per year, which includes a home working allowance. For team members who are based outside the UK, an approximate/equivalent amount will be negotiated.

All Team Members have a generic role description and are assigned additional roles according to the needs of the organisation and where it’s felt that their experience, knowledge and creativity will have the greatest impact. In this recruitment, we are specifically looking for someone who can work collaboratively in a Communications Role to develop our communications strategy, deliver relevant and engaging content across our channels, and support fundraising to help us achieve our objectives.

We are also actively seeking to recruit individuals whose backgrounds or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or a diversity of perspectives to Transition Network. The range of diversity might include people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, from working-class backgrounds, people living with disabilities, a range of ages or sexualities, and/or those who have experienced disadvantage in society or their lives.

Although our team is mainly UK-based at the moment, we support an international movement and are actively seeking opportunities to distribute power, influence, resources and opportunities for paid work as widely as possible. We are very happy to explore the practicalities and costs (carbon and financial) of employing individuals based in mainland Europe or beyond. We encourage you to apply for the role if you feel you meet the [Person Specification](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#heading=h.25fcsuv8cbaq).

To find out more download this [Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **The deadline for applications is 12.00/midday (GMT/UTC) on Tues 12th July 2022.**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Communications-Twitter3.png

This is an exciting time to join the Transition Network team in a Communications role. In recent months we’ve worked closely with [international Transition Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to agree on two broad objectives for the next three years, with communications at the heart.

We plan to:

- Achieve a step-change in connections and flow of communication across and beyond the mycelial network of the Transition movement, to increase the impact and visibility of its contribution to regeneration.
- Contribute to the development of wider cultural narratives and practices of change, to help people **create the conditions in which transformative regenerative change can arise** and to **build collective resilience and solidarity** at multiple levels of scale.

Initially, some of our focus will involve working collaboratively on fundraising to build communication capacity and skills across the movement, helping us all to tell inspiring stories of community-led change which is having positive impacts in the world.

Our aim is for this to be a 3-4 day a week remote working role, which is equivalent to 0.6 to 0.8 of a full-time role. The full-time salary level for all team members is £34,764 (GBP) per year, which includes a home working allowance. For team members who are based outside the UK, an approximate/equivalent amount will be negotiated.

All Team Members have a generic role description and are assigned additional roles according to the needs of the organisation and where it’s felt that their experience, knowledge and creativity will have the greatest impact. In this recruitment, we are specifically looking for someone who can work collaboratively in a Communications Role to develop our communications strategy, deliver relevant and engaging content across our channels, and support fundraising to help us achieve our objectives.

We are also actively seeking to recruit individuals whose backgrounds or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or a diversity of perspectives to Transition Network. The range of diversity might include people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, from working-class backgrounds, people living with disabilities, a range of ages or sexualities, and/or those who have experienced disadvantage in society or their lives.

Although our team is mainly UK-based at the moment, we support an international movement and are actively seeking opportunities to distribute power, influence, resources and opportunities for paid work as widely as possible. We are very happy to explore the practicalities and costs (carbon and financial) of employing individuals based in mainland Europe or beyond. We encourage you to apply for the role if you feel you meet the [Person Specification](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#heading=h.25fcsuv8cbaq).

To find out more download this [Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). **The deadline for applications is 12.00/midday (GMT/UTC) on Tues 12th July 2022.**

**RECRUITMENT PACK**

**PDF –** [Recruitment Pack – May 2022 – Communications Team Member](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Recruitment-Pack-June-2022-Communications-Team-Member.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Docx –** [Recruitment Pack – May 2022 – Communications Team Member](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Recruitment-Pack-June-2022-Communications-Team-Member.docx?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**GDoc –** [Recruitment Pack – May 2022 – Communications Team Member](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa9E0FfLQrUDQiTWYHiJICXReaG9g525bH31NeKetyE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### A Great Custodian of the Collective Imagination
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/adrienne-maree-brown/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:32.000Z
In the 50th episode of the *From What Is To What If* podcast [Rob Hopkins](https://www.robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discusses the role of imagination in our movements with [adrienne maree brown](https://adriennemareebrown.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

> Since the start there's been one guest I've wanted to have on here more than any other, but it never happened until today... Queue fireworks and dancing elephants! - Rob Hopkins

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

> Since the start there's been one guest I've wanted to have on here more than any other, but it never happened until today... Queue fireworks and dancing elephants! - Rob Hopkins

**How would you evaluate the state of health of our collective imagination in 2022? I read one time you said, “We are in an imagination battle” and I wonder where are we at, do you think?**

… So I still think we’re in that same zone, right? But it’s like we’re recognising that if the world we live in has a root system in imagination, right, that someone *imagines* white supremacy. It’s not a fact, it’s not something that’s played out over time. Someone imagined white was superior, male was superior. Someone imagined that able bodied people made sense and that the world should be orientated around that, as opposed to orientated around the biodiversity of bodies we actually have, right? So it’s all imagined and so then when you realise that I think that awakening makes you like, “*Oh wait, so it doesn’t have to be this way? It can be some other way?”* And I think we’re in that place.

But I also think right now, 2022, I think we’re fatigued… I think right now there’s a collective exhaustion in effect… we’re tired of being in the constant adaptations of the pandemic, and also, depending on where you live, having to be so self-protective. It’s like we have to figure everything out ourselves and try to find the best practice to stay alive ourselves. That work of survival is exhausting. But before that, you know, we’ve been in an exhausting period of history. There’s growing uprisings against white supremacy but each of those uprisings happens because someone else dies and that grief is exhausting. And trying to figure out what is the right move.

I keep thinking that we are also on a big learning curve. My mentor Grace Lee Boggs was a Detroit based Chinese American activist who rocked with the Black Power movement, and she would always ask us, “*What time is it on the clock of the world?*” And lately I’ve been really thinking about, it’s been an exhausting time. It’s a time where we need to be visionary. We really are on the threshold of changing from an extractive way of being with the world to a collaborative way of being with the world… I think a lot about how do we sustain ourselves through despair in times of despair? And so far the best I have is staggering. You have to be, like, “*I’m feeling the despair this week, okay?*” You go feel your feelings and then come back and then someone else can kind of dip into their despair. And you can hold their boat up, you know.

**Like birds when they fly in a formation.**

Exactly. You take the lead for a little while because it’s so much we’re moving against, you know.

**You wrote, “*Because of our ancestors, because of us, because of children we’re raising, there will be a future without prisons and police.*” Police and prison abolition seem like two of the great ‘What if’ questions, ‘what if’ movements of our time, and keeping “*What if there were no prisons?*” alive during such a period of time, when actually there’s prisons being built and so much resource going into more and more prisons, what can wider movements of climate justice, of social justice, environmental movements, learn from those movements, in terms of how to keep big ‘What if’ questions alive over time? Because the climate movement needs those, “*What if we didn’t have any fossil fuels?*”…**

… Yeah, I love this question. You know, I think that one of the biggest things is the way that what it is right now is not to be taken as an assumption, right?… The group here called Movement Generation really taught me this idea of – we’re often given what is politically possible. This is what’s politically possible in this moment, and we shape our vision inside of that small box. But it’s not necessarily what we actually need, right? So we talk a lot about that. Like, how do we not fall for false solutions and spend all of our time fighting for false solutions that are not actually to get us free. And I think abolition is a great practice of that because the purpose of these punitive systems is supposed to be ending these cycles of harm. And we have poured so much money and time and energy into the prison-industrial complex, the prison system, if it was going to end harm it would have ended harm. We would be in good shape. And so what it teaches us is there’s a different kind of work and it’s a more humble work and it’s more decentralised work that everyone has to do in order to make justice a reality. Like a lived experience.

Community has to play a much larger role. We all have to be willing to hold each other through these things. I think a lesson there for other movements, in any movement space, we can get pulled by reformists into settling for something that’s not actually going to get us where we need to go. Climate is a great example of this, right? We are always negotiating, negotiating, and we end up with something that’s like,“*Well this isn’t going to make a difference and literally we’re all going to die”* if we move at the pace of corporations, that corporations are willing to change at. Because they don’t think it’s in their best interests to give up the profit available in this moment for the longevity of the species, right?

So I think the learning there is don’t settle for something small and ineffective over time. In the abolitionist movement I think we’re always looking, “*What is the furthest horizon we can see, and how do we articulate that as our vision?*” Understand that that will also change. It’s not like we’re a monolithic belief system even inside of our movement spaces. There are people who are like, “*What do we do with the most violent? What do we do with the people who hurt kids? What do we do with those folks?*” And rather than be like, “*Well, we just have to… It’s either this system as it is now, or a totally different one*”, it’s like, well we have to answer all those questions and we answer them by recognising the norm could be something else. The norm could be a space in which the cycles of harm were actually stopped, so we wouldn’t have to keep asking ourselves ‘what about the monsters*‘*? What would it look like to construct a society that didn’t produce monsters? Right? What would it look like to produce a society that did not produce scarcity? And that did not produce climate precarity, right? So much in this moment, “*Oh we don’t want the refugees here. We don’t want them to cross the border.*” It’s like, what would it look like to create a stable climate relationship with the planet, where people weren’t having to leave their homes in massive numbers because of the climate instability there?

There’s a politics of responsibility that starts to emerge across all these different issues. It’s not saying, “*We’ll just leave it as is, or we will control it, but only to point of our politics and not our responsibility*.” That’s a big one for me that comes up with abortion. Where folks are like, “*No abortions*”. Well it’s like, okay, but you’re showing over and over again you don’t actually want to be responsible for the growing population. You’re not providing healthcare. You’re not providing education. You’re not providing housing. You’re not providing heat and water and all the things that a growing population needs, but you don’t want people to help contribute to controlling that population by making the choices of having abortions when they know they can’t raise the children. It’s just basic stuff like that. It’s like, let’s take a deep breath in, let’s let it out, and let’s find solutions where we all have to be responsible for the consequences.

**We did an episode of this podcast about the well-being economy and they were talking about metrics by which you might measure that the well-being was improving, and one of them was the number of girls able to cycle home alone after dark. So beautiful. Because it’s like, well in order for that to be in place, all these other things need to be in place and that’s just a manifestation of something.**

Exactly.

**And the prison question is very similar.**

Exactly.

**So you’ve done amazing work with Walidah Imarisha on the importance of prefigurative storytelling and I love the quote in Octavia \[Butler\]’s book where she says all organising is science fiction. That gave me goosebumps, that, it’s just brilliant. So why does bringing alive – in stories, in art, in music – a future that we can long for, why is that so important? And how does it work?**

A lot of what we’re talking about all the time here is culture. What is the culture that we find normal? What is the culture we find compelling? And in order to make a great change in your life, even if it’s only in your personal life, you have to feel very compelled by the results. You have to feel very compelled by the new self, the new ways of being, and one of the ways that we create that compelling forward motion is by generating and creating more culture ourselves.

So for me, I’m like, I want to write fiction in which people get to do that imagination work. Strengthening that muscle of being able to see things other than they are now. Just slight differences. I get very geeked out about like, “*Well, what if we just made this slight adjustment, look at how everything would have to change if this slight adjustment was the case.*” I’m playing with a lot of those ideas right now. I’m doing a series, a novella trilogy, and really the adjustment is, “*What if grief was given its due? What if grief was given its full space? And how would we have to reshape the society in which grief was actually given enough time and space to exist?*” And it’s profound to see what would have to change in order for that to be true. Everything we think about commerce and pace and urgency and everything else has to shift if we are giving people the room they need to grieve, to go through the cycle of intense grief, and pivot into other phases of grief. It’s also interesting how much time and energy grief has to take from us, when it’s repressed, versus when it’s fully realised and expressed.

So I’m just exploring that and I think as many people as can need to be exploring that, whether it’s through albums, through fiction writing, through writing plays, through creating scenarios in which people immerse themselves in a new value or a new way of being. I get really excited about that. There’s a band called Hurray for the Riff Raff and they read Emergent Strategy and then created an album inspired, in part, by Emergent Strategy. And it’s such an incredible album. Sitting and listening to it I’m really moved and open. I’m like, there are people who will never read the book but who will listen to this music and something on a somatic level will open and shift and change in them. And they might notice wolves and rhododendron, and different things in a different way because they were listening to this album. And I love stuff like that. Culture is one of the ways we translate these ideas so they can reach more and more minds, and more and more hearts… There’s something about a story. We start to place ourselves, where do I go, where do I fit in that vision? We all want to fit somewhere in that vision.

**So I’m exploring at the moment the question of imagination infrastructure. So arguing that we urgently need to build the optimal conditions for the collective imagination to flourish. What would for you be the vital ingredients, the key components, of an imagination infrastructure? If you were made Minister of the Imagination in the US and your role was to expand the imagination, what are the key elements of an imagination infrastructure for you?**

Oh I love that. Well I think one of the biggest things is thinking about how schools are structured and the kind of space that kids are given to imagine and play versus have information told to them. Right? So I’m very much a fan of that Montessori, Waldorf, those style of schools, farm schools, free schools, unschools, things that are very much about, “*We come into the world with a voracious curiosity*” and that curiosity naturally flows towards our imagination. It’s why so many kids have imaginary friends. They play with dolls and they make up extravagant worlds. They play with toys. They make up these extravagant worlds. And kids are always making up stories to make sense of the world around them… So I think the first part of the infrastructure is opening up and re-shifting how we think about what schools should be. What the purpose of a school is.

And then I think for adults there’s a lot around just having time built into each day for imagination, and the way that we work, instead of doing these big pushes of 9 to 5, just pushing with a short lunch break. It’s like, work for 45 minutes, take 15 minutes of each hour as time to write, create, have questions that you’re asking yourself and others throughout the day. Have structures where people get to do collaborative imagination. Walidah Imarisha and I, when we toured *Octavia’s Brood*, one of the things we were doing with people was collective writing workshops. And they were fantastic. We would have people ideate a world together. You know, what time and space is it? Do we know anything about this world? What are some of the cultural norms and beliefs? How is transportation and housing and water, and all that, handled? You know. And once we had built the world then everyone could write their stories inside of it. And it was so powerful how quickly people could be like, “*Oh yeah, we built this world. Now we’re in there and we’re navigating inside of it.*” And what it implies is that any group of people actually could envision the world other than it is now if they are given a little bit of space for it.

I think imagination should be built into how organisations do their work each year. That there’s… In my dream world just one gathering that’s only about imagination. What are we dreaming into the world? How do we imagine our work will be of service to the future? What’s the wildest success we can imagine for it? Octavia was also someone who was a big manifester. And I think now part of my infrastructure for imagination is my journaling work. I’m always, what is it I’m trying to manifest? How can I harness the power of the moon and all the astrological signs and all the good wishes people have for me? How can I write into existence what I want to see? I think everyone thinking they can do that, the more people who believe they can do that, the more wide-ranging our infrastructure becomes.

**Beautiful, thank you.**

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

> Since the start there's been one guest I've wanted to have on here more than any other, but it never happened until today... Queue fireworks and dancing elephants! - Rob Hopkins

**How would you evaluate the state of health of our collective imagination in 2022? I read one time you said, “We are in an imagination battle” and I wonder where are we at, do you think?**

… So I still think we’re in that same zone, right? But it’s like we’re recognising that if the world we live in has a root system in imagination, right, that someone *imagines* white supremacy. It’s not a fact, it’s not something that’s played out over time. Someone imagined white was superior, male was superior. Someone imagined that able bodied people made sense and that the world should be orientated around that, as opposed to orientated around the biodiversity of bodies we actually have, right? So it’s all imagined and so then when you realise that I think that awakening makes you like, “*Oh wait, so it doesn’t have to be this way? It can be some other way?”* And I think we’re in that place.

But I also think right now, 2022, I think we’re fatigued… I think right now there’s a collective exhaustion in effect… we’re tired of being in the constant adaptations of the pandemic, and also, depending on where you live, having to be so self-protective. It’s like we have to figure everything out ourselves and try to find the best practice to stay alive ourselves. That work of survival is exhausting. But before that, you know, we’ve been in an exhausting period of history. There’s growing uprisings against white supremacy but each of those uprisings happens because someone else dies and that grief is exhausting. And trying to figure out what is the right move.

I keep thinking that we are also on a big learning curve. My mentor Grace Lee Boggs was a Detroit based Chinese American activist who rocked with the Black Power movement, and she would always ask us, “*What time is it on the clock of the world?*” And lately I’ve been really thinking about, it’s been an exhausting time. It’s a time where we need to be visionary. We really are on the threshold of changing from an extractive way of being with the world to a collaborative way of being with the world… I think a lot about how do we sustain ourselves through despair in times of despair? And so far the best I have is staggering. You have to be, like, “*I’m feeling the despair this week, okay?*” You go feel your feelings and then come back and then someone else can kind of dip into their despair. And you can hold their boat up, you know.

**Like birds when they fly in a formation.**

Exactly. You take the lead for a little while because it’s so much we’re moving against, you know.

**You wrote, “*Because of our ancestors, because of us, because of children we’re raising, there will be a future without prisons and police.*” Police and prison abolition seem like two of the great ‘What if’ questions, ‘what if’ movements of our time, and keeping “*What if there were no prisons?*” alive during such a period of time, when actually there’s prisons being built and so much resource going into more and more prisons, what can wider movements of climate justice, of social justice, environmental movements, learn from those movements, in terms of how to keep big ‘What if’ questions alive over time? Because the climate movement needs those, “*What if we didn’t have any fossil fuels?*”…**

… Yeah, I love this question. You know, I think that one of the biggest things is the way that what it is right now is not to be taken as an assumption, right?… The group here called Movement Generation really taught me this idea of – we’re often given what is politically possible. This is what’s politically possible in this moment, and we shape our vision inside of that small box. But it’s not necessarily what we actually need, right? So we talk a lot about that. Like, how do we not fall for false solutions and spend all of our time fighting for false solutions that are not actually to get us free. And I think abolition is a great practice of that because the purpose of these punitive systems is supposed to be ending these cycles of harm. And we have poured so much money and time and energy into the prison-industrial complex, the prison system, if it was going to end harm it would have ended harm. We would be in good shape. And so what it teaches us is there’s a different kind of work and it’s a more humble work and it’s more decentralised work that everyone has to do in order to make justice a reality. Like a lived experience.

Community has to play a much larger role. We all have to be willing to hold each other through these things. I think a lesson there for other movements, in any movement space, we can get pulled by reformists into settling for something that’s not actually going to get us where we need to go. Climate is a great example of this, right? We are always negotiating, negotiating, and we end up with something that’s like,“*Well this isn’t going to make a difference and literally we’re all going to die”* if we move at the pace of corporations, that corporations are willing to change at. Because they don’t think it’s in their best interests to give up the profit available in this moment for the longevity of the species, right?

So I think the learning there is don’t settle for something small and ineffective over time. In the abolitionist movement I think we’re always looking, “*What is the furthest horizon we can see, and how do we articulate that as our vision?*” Understand that that will also change. It’s not like we’re a monolithic belief system even inside of our movement spaces. There are people who are like, “*What do we do with the most violent? What do we do with the people who hurt kids? What do we do with those folks?*” And rather than be like, “*Well, we just have to… It’s either this system as it is now, or a totally different one*”, it’s like, well we have to answer all those questions and we answer them by recognising the norm could be something else. The norm could be a space in which the cycles of harm were actually stopped, so we wouldn’t have to keep asking ourselves ‘what about the monsters*‘*? What would it look like to construct a society that didn’t produce monsters? Right? What would it look like to produce a society that did not produce scarcity? And that did not produce climate precarity, right? So much in this moment, “*Oh we don’t want the refugees here. We don’t want them to cross the border.*” It’s like, what would it look like to create a stable climate relationship with the planet, where people weren’t having to leave their homes in massive numbers because of the climate instability there?

There’s a politics of responsibility that starts to emerge across all these different issues. It’s not saying, “*We’ll just leave it as is, or we will control it, but only to point of our politics and not our responsibility*.” That’s a big one for me that comes up with abortion. Where folks are like, “*No abortions*”. Well it’s like, okay, but you’re showing over and over again you don’t actually want to be responsible for the growing population. You’re not providing healthcare. You’re not providing education. You’re not providing housing. You’re not providing heat and water and all the things that a growing population needs, but you don’t want people to help contribute to controlling that population by making the choices of having abortions when they know they can’t raise the children. It’s just basic stuff like that. It’s like, let’s take a deep breath in, let’s let it out, and let’s find solutions where we all have to be responsible for the consequences.

**We did an episode of this podcast about the well-being economy and they were talking about metrics by which you might measure that the well-being was improving, and one of them was the number of girls able to cycle home alone after dark. So beautiful. Because it’s like, well in order for that to be in place, all these other things need to be in place and that’s just a manifestation of something.**

Exactly.

**And the prison question is very similar.**

Exactly.

**So you’ve done amazing work with Walidah Imarisha on the importance of prefigurative storytelling and I love the quote in Octavia \[Butler\]’s book where she says all organising is science fiction. That gave me goosebumps, that, it’s just brilliant. So why does bringing alive – in stories, in art, in music – a future that we can long for, why is that so important? And how does it work?**

A lot of what we’re talking about all the time here is culture. What is the culture that we find normal? What is the culture we find compelling? And in order to make a great change in your life, even if it’s only in your personal life, you have to feel very compelled by the results. You have to feel very compelled by the new self, the new ways of being, and one of the ways that we create that compelling forward motion is by generating and creating more culture ourselves.

So for me, I’m like, I want to write fiction in which people get to do that imagination work. Strengthening that muscle of being able to see things other than they are now. Just slight differences. I get very geeked out about like, “*Well, what if we just made this slight adjustment, look at how everything would have to change if this slight adjustment was the case.*” I’m playing with a lot of those ideas right now. I’m doing a series, a novella trilogy, and really the adjustment is, “*What if grief was given its due? What if grief was given its full space? And how would we have to reshape the society in which grief was actually given enough time and space to exist?*” And it’s profound to see what would have to change in order for that to be true. Everything we think about commerce and pace and urgency and everything else has to shift if we are giving people the room they need to grieve, to go through the cycle of intense grief, and pivot into other phases of grief. It’s also interesting how much time and energy grief has to take from us, when it’s repressed, versus when it’s fully realised and expressed.

So I’m just exploring that and I think as many people as can need to be exploring that, whether it’s through albums, through fiction writing, through writing plays, through creating scenarios in which people immerse themselves in a new value or a new way of being. I get really excited about that. There’s a band called Hurray for the Riff Raff and they read Emergent Strategy and then created an album inspired, in part, by Emergent Strategy. And it’s such an incredible album. Sitting and listening to it I’m really moved and open. I’m like, there are people who will never read the book but who will listen to this music and something on a somatic level will open and shift and change in them. And they might notice wolves and rhododendron, and different things in a different way because they were listening to this album. And I love stuff like that. Culture is one of the ways we translate these ideas so they can reach more and more minds, and more and more hearts… There’s something about a story. We start to place ourselves, where do I go, where do I fit in that vision? We all want to fit somewhere in that vision.

**So I’m exploring at the moment the question of imagination infrastructure. So arguing that we urgently need to build the optimal conditions for the collective imagination to flourish. What would for you be the vital ingredients, the key components, of an imagination infrastructure? If you were made Minister of the Imagination in the US and your role was to expand the imagination, what are the key elements of an imagination infrastructure for you?**

Oh I love that. Well I think one of the biggest things is thinking about how schools are structured and the kind of space that kids are given to imagine and play versus have information told to them. Right? So I’m very much a fan of that Montessori, Waldorf, those style of schools, farm schools, free schools, unschools, things that are very much about, “*We come into the world with a voracious curiosity*” and that curiosity naturally flows towards our imagination. It’s why so many kids have imaginary friends. They play with dolls and they make up extravagant worlds. They play with toys. They make up these extravagant worlds. And kids are always making up stories to make sense of the world around them… So I think the first part of the infrastructure is opening up and re-shifting how we think about what schools should be. What the purpose of a school is.

And then I think for adults there’s a lot around just having time built into each day for imagination, and the way that we work, instead of doing these big pushes of 9 to 5, just pushing with a short lunch break. It’s like, work for 45 minutes, take 15 minutes of each hour as time to write, create, have questions that you’re asking yourself and others throughout the day. Have structures where people get to do collaborative imagination. Walidah Imarisha and I, when we toured *Octavia’s Brood*, one of the things we were doing with people was collective writing workshops. And they were fantastic. We would have people ideate a world together. You know, what time and space is it? Do we know anything about this world? What are some of the cultural norms and beliefs? How is transportation and housing and water, and all that, handled? You know. And once we had built the world then everyone could write their stories inside of it. And it was so powerful how quickly people could be like, “*Oh yeah, we built this world. Now we’re in there and we’re navigating inside of it.*” And what it implies is that any group of people actually could envision the world other than it is now if they are given a little bit of space for it.

I think imagination should be built into how organisations do their work each year. That there’s… In my dream world just one gathering that’s only about imagination. What are we dreaming into the world? How do we imagine our work will be of service to the future? What’s the wildest success we can imagine for it? Octavia was also someone who was a big manifester. And I think now part of my infrastructure for imagination is my journaling work. I’m always, what is it I’m trying to manifest? How can I harness the power of the moon and all the astrological signs and all the good wishes people have for me? How can I write into existence what I want to see? I think everyone thinking they can do that, the more people who believe they can do that, the more wide-ranging our infrastructure becomes.

**Beautiful, thank you.**

**Links mentioned in this podcast:**

adrienne maree brown —[ https://adriennemareebrown.net/](https://adriennemareebrown.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

adrienne maree brown on Twitter —[ https://twitter.com/adriennemaree](https://twitter.com/adriennemaree?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

adrienne maree brown on Instagram —[ https://www.instagram.com/adriennemareebrown/](https://www.instagram.com/adriennemareebrown/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- *Emergent Strategy —*[ https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html](https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute —[ https://alliedmedia.org/speaker-projects/emergent-strategy-ideation-institute](https://alliedmedia.org/speaker-projects/emergent-strategy-ideation-institute?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Grievers —*[ https://www.akpress.org/grievers.html](https://www.akpress.org/grievers.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Holding Change —*[ https://www.akpress.org/holding-change.html](https://www.akpress.org/holding-change.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- How to Survive the End of the World Podcast —[ https://www.endoftheworldshow.org/](https://www.endoftheworldshow.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- *Hurray for the Riff Raff* – [https://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/](https://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Movement Generation —[ https://movementgeneration.org/](https://movementgeneration.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- *Octavia’s Brood* – [https://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html](https://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Octavia’s Parables Podcast —[ https://www.readingoctavia.com/](https://www.readingoctavia.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Pleasure Activism —*[ https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html](https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The Emergent Strategy Podcast —[ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emergent-strategy-podcast/id1553479340](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emergent-strategy-podcast/id1553479340?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*We Will Not Cancel Us —*[ https://www.akpress.org/we-will-not-cancel-us.html](https://www.akpress.org/we-will-not-cancel-us.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**adrienne maree brown** is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of *Grievers*, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as *Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation*; *We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice*; *Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good*; and *Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds.* She is the co-editor of *Octavia*’*s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements* and *How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office*, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

Monthly subscribers to [Rob’s Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) can get early access to new episodes of the [*From What Is To What If* podcast](https://fromwhatiftowhatnext.libsyn.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as well as exclusive extras. We’re delighted to share with you an abridged transcript of the 50th episode.

> Since the start there's been one guest I've wanted to have on here more than any other, but it never happened until today... Queue fireworks and dancing elephants! - Rob Hopkins

**How would you evaluate the state of health of our collective imagination in 2022? I read one time you said, “We are in an imagination battle” and I wonder where are we at, do you think?**

… So I still think we’re in that same zone, right? But it’s like we’re recognising that if the world we live in has a root system in imagination, right, that someone *imagines* white supremacy. It’s not a fact, it’s not something that’s played out over time. Someone imagined white was superior, male was superior. Someone imagined that able bodied people made sense and that the world should be orientated around that, as opposed to orientated around the biodiversity of bodies we actually have, right? So it’s all imagined and so then when you realise that I think that awakening makes you like, “*Oh wait, so it doesn’t have to be this way? It can be some other way?”* And I think we’re in that place.

But I also think right now, 2022, I think we’re fatigued… I think right now there’s a collective exhaustion in effect… we’re tired of being in the constant adaptations of the pandemic, and also, depending on where you live, having to be so self-protective. It’s like we have to figure everything out ourselves and try to find the best practice to stay alive ourselves. That work of survival is exhausting. But before that, you know, we’ve been in an exhausting period of history. There’s growing uprisings against white supremacy but each of those uprisings happens because someone else dies and that grief is exhausting. And trying to figure out what is the right move.

I keep thinking that we are also on a big learning curve. My mentor Grace Lee Boggs was a Detroit based Chinese American activist who rocked with the Black Power movement, and she would always ask us, “*What time is it on the clock of the world?*” And lately I’ve been really thinking about, it’s been an exhausting time. It’s a time where we need to be visionary. We really are on the threshold of changing from an extractive way of being with the world to a collaborative way of being with the world… I think a lot about how do we sustain ourselves through despair in times of despair? And so far the best I have is staggering. You have to be, like, “*I’m feeling the despair this week, okay?*” You go feel your feelings and then come back and then someone else can kind of dip into their despair. And you can hold their boat up, you know.

**Like birds when they fly in a formation.**

Exactly. You take the lead for a little while because it’s so much we’re moving against, you know.

**You wrote, “*Because of our ancestors, because of us, because of children we’re raising, there will be a future without prisons and police.*” Police and prison abolition seem like two of the great ‘What if’ questions, ‘what if’ movements of our time, and keeping “*What if there were no prisons?*” alive during such a period of time, when actually there’s prisons being built and so much resource going into more and more prisons, what can wider movements of climate justice, of social justice, environmental movements, learn from those movements, in terms of how to keep big ‘What if’ questions alive over time? Because the climate movement needs those, “*What if we didn’t have any fossil fuels?*”…**

… Yeah, I love this question. You know, I think that one of the biggest things is the way that what it is right now is not to be taken as an assumption, right?… The group here called Movement Generation really taught me this idea of – we’re often given what is politically possible. This is what’s politically possible in this moment, and we shape our vision inside of that small box. But it’s not necessarily what we actually need, right? So we talk a lot about that. Like, how do we not fall for false solutions and spend all of our time fighting for false solutions that are not actually to get us free. And I think abolition is a great practice of that because the purpose of these punitive systems is supposed to be ending these cycles of harm. And we have poured so much money and time and energy into the prison-industrial complex, the prison system, if it was going to end harm it would have ended harm. We would be in good shape. And so what it teaches us is there’s a different kind of work and it’s a more humble work and it’s more decentralised work that everyone has to do in order to make justice a reality. Like a lived experience.

Community has to play a much larger role. We all have to be willing to hold each other through these things. I think a lesson there for other movements, in any movement space, we can get pulled by reformists into settling for something that’s not actually going to get us where we need to go. Climate is a great example of this, right? We are always negotiating, negotiating, and we end up with something that’s like,“*Well this isn’t going to make a difference and literally we’re all going to die”* if we move at the pace of corporations, that corporations are willing to change at. Because they don’t think it’s in their best interests to give up the profit available in this moment for the longevity of the species, right?

So I think the learning there is don’t settle for something small and ineffective over time. In the abolitionist movement I think we’re always looking, “*What is the furthest horizon we can see, and how do we articulate that as our vision?*” Understand that that will also change. It’s not like we’re a monolithic belief system even inside of our movement spaces. There are people who are like, “*What do we do with the most violent? What do we do with the people who hurt kids? What do we do with those folks?*” And rather than be like, “*Well, we just have to… It’s either this system as it is now, or a totally different one*”, it’s like, well we have to answer all those questions and we answer them by recognising the norm could be something else. The norm could be a space in which the cycles of harm were actually stopped, so we wouldn’t have to keep asking ourselves ‘what about the monsters*‘*? What would it look like to construct a society that didn’t produce monsters? Right? What would it look like to produce a society that did not produce scarcity? And that did not produce climate precarity, right? So much in this moment, “*Oh we don’t want the refugees here. We don’t want them to cross the border.*” It’s like, what would it look like to create a stable climate relationship with the planet, where people weren’t having to leave their homes in massive numbers because of the climate instability there?

There’s a politics of responsibility that starts to emerge across all these different issues. It’s not saying, “*We’ll just leave it as is, or we will control it, but only to point of our politics and not our responsibility*.” That’s a big one for me that comes up with abortion. Where folks are like, “*No abortions*”. Well it’s like, okay, but you’re showing over and over again you don’t actually want to be responsible for the growing population. You’re not providing healthcare. You’re not providing education. You’re not providing housing. You’re not providing heat and water and all the things that a growing population needs, but you don’t want people to help contribute to controlling that population by making the choices of having abortions when they know they can’t raise the children. It’s just basic stuff like that. It’s like, let’s take a deep breath in, let’s let it out, and let’s find solutions where we all have to be responsible for the consequences.

**We did an episode of this podcast about the well-being economy and they were talking about metrics by which you might measure that the well-being was improving, and one of them was the number of girls able to cycle home alone after dark. So beautiful. Because it’s like, well in order for that to be in place, all these other things need to be in place and that’s just a manifestation of something.**

Exactly.

**And the prison question is very similar.**

Exactly.

**So you’ve done amazing work with Walidah Imarisha on the importance of prefigurative storytelling and I love the quote in Octavia \[Butler\]’s book where she says all organising is science fiction. That gave me goosebumps, that, it’s just brilliant. So why does bringing alive – in stories, in art, in music – a future that we can long for, why is that so important? And how does it work?**

A lot of what we’re talking about all the time here is culture. What is the culture that we find normal? What is the culture we find compelling? And in order to make a great change in your life, even if it’s only in your personal life, you have to feel very compelled by the results. You have to feel very compelled by the new self, the new ways of being, and one of the ways that we create that compelling forward motion is by generating and creating more culture ourselves.

So for me, I’m like, I want to write fiction in which people get to do that imagination work. Strengthening that muscle of being able to see things other than they are now. Just slight differences. I get very geeked out about like, “*Well, what if we just made this slight adjustment, look at how everything would have to change if this slight adjustment was the case.*” I’m playing with a lot of those ideas right now. I’m doing a series, a novella trilogy, and really the adjustment is, “*What if grief was given its due? What if grief was given its full space? And how would we have to reshape the society in which grief was actually given enough time and space to exist?*” And it’s profound to see what would have to change in order for that to be true. Everything we think about commerce and pace and urgency and everything else has to shift if we are giving people the room they need to grieve, to go through the cycle of intense grief, and pivot into other phases of grief. It’s also interesting how much time and energy grief has to take from us, when it’s repressed, versus when it’s fully realised and expressed.

So I’m just exploring that and I think as many people as can need to be exploring that, whether it’s through albums, through fiction writing, through writing plays, through creating scenarios in which people immerse themselves in a new value or a new way of being. I get really excited about that. There’s a band called Hurray for the Riff Raff and they read Emergent Strategy and then created an album inspired, in part, by Emergent Strategy. And it’s such an incredible album. Sitting and listening to it I’m really moved and open. I’m like, there are people who will never read the book but who will listen to this music and something on a somatic level will open and shift and change in them. And they might notice wolves and rhododendron, and different things in a different way because they were listening to this album. And I love stuff like that. Culture is one of the ways we translate these ideas so they can reach more and more minds, and more and more hearts… There’s something about a story. We start to place ourselves, where do I go, where do I fit in that vision? We all want to fit somewhere in that vision.

**So I’m exploring at the moment the question of imagination infrastructure. So arguing that we urgently need to build the optimal conditions for the collective imagination to flourish. What would for you be the vital ingredients, the key components, of an imagination infrastructure? If you were made Minister of the Imagination in the US and your role was to expand the imagination, what are the key elements of an imagination infrastructure for you?**

Oh I love that. Well I think one of the biggest things is thinking about how schools are structured and the kind of space that kids are given to imagine and play versus have information told to them. Right? So I’m very much a fan of that Montessori, Waldorf, those style of schools, farm schools, free schools, unschools, things that are very much about, “*We come into the world with a voracious curiosity*” and that curiosity naturally flows towards our imagination. It’s why so many kids have imaginary friends. They play with dolls and they make up extravagant worlds. They play with toys. They make up these extravagant worlds. And kids are always making up stories to make sense of the world around them… So I think the first part of the infrastructure is opening up and re-shifting how we think about what schools should be. What the purpose of a school is.

And then I think for adults there’s a lot around just having time built into each day for imagination, and the way that we work, instead of doing these big pushes of 9 to 5, just pushing with a short lunch break. It’s like, work for 45 minutes, take 15 minutes of each hour as time to write, create, have questions that you’re asking yourself and others throughout the day. Have structures where people get to do collaborative imagination. Walidah Imarisha and I, when we toured *Octavia’s Brood*, one of the things we were doing with people was collective writing workshops. And they were fantastic. We would have people ideate a world together. You know, what time and space is it? Do we know anything about this world? What are some of the cultural norms and beliefs? How is transportation and housing and water, and all that, handled? You know. And once we had built the world then everyone could write their stories inside of it. And it was so powerful how quickly people could be like, “*Oh yeah, we built this world. Now we’re in there and we’re navigating inside of it.*” And what it implies is that any group of people actually could envision the world other than it is now if they are given a little bit of space for it.

I think imagination should be built into how organisations do their work each year. That there’s… In my dream world just one gathering that’s only about imagination. What are we dreaming into the world? How do we imagine our work will be of service to the future? What’s the wildest success we can imagine for it? Octavia was also someone who was a big manifester. And I think now part of my infrastructure for imagination is my journaling work. I’m always, what is it I’m trying to manifest? How can I harness the power of the moon and all the astrological signs and all the good wishes people have for me? How can I write into existence what I want to see? I think everyone thinking they can do that, the more people who believe they can do that, the more wide-ranging our infrastructure becomes.

**Beautiful, thank you.**

**Links mentioned in this podcast:**

adrienne maree brown —[ https://adriennemareebrown.net/](https://adriennemareebrown.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

adrienne maree brown on Twitter —[ https://twitter.com/adriennemaree](https://twitter.com/adriennemaree?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

adrienne maree brown on Instagram —[ https://www.instagram.com/adriennemareebrown/](https://www.instagram.com/adriennemareebrown/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- *Emergent Strategy —*[ https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html](https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute —[ https://alliedmedia.org/speaker-projects/emergent-strategy-ideation-institute](https://alliedmedia.org/speaker-projects/emergent-strategy-ideation-institute?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Grievers —*[ https://www.akpress.org/grievers.html](https://www.akpress.org/grievers.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Holding Change —*[ https://www.akpress.org/holding-change.html](https://www.akpress.org/holding-change.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- How to Survive the End of the World Podcast —[ https://www.endoftheworldshow.org/](https://www.endoftheworldshow.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- *Hurray for the Riff Raff* – [https://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/](https://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- Movement Generation —[ https://movementgeneration.org/](https://movementgeneration.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- *Octavia’s Brood* – [https://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html](https://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Octavia’s Parables Podcast —[ https://www.readingoctavia.com/](https://www.readingoctavia.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Pleasure Activism —*[ https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html](https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The Emergent Strategy Podcast —[ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emergent-strategy-podcast/id1553479340](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-emergent-strategy-podcast/id1553479340?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*We Will Not Cancel Us —*[ https://www.akpress.org/we-will-not-cancel-us.html](https://www.akpress.org/we-will-not-cancel-us.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Photo Credit: Anjali Pinto
### Transition Governance - Not Perfect, But Precious
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-governance/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:33.000Z
Sarah McAdam recently joined [Pedro Portela](https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-portela-9a40423?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on his podcast, [*It Takes Two to Tango - Conversations Around Network Governance*](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.* In the series he gathers stories of governance from movements, networks and organisations that are trying to solve some of the world's most wicked problems. Sarah has been part of the Transition Network team for over a decade. She first joined as a Trustee, became Delivery Director in 2013, and since 2016 has been a Team Member - working within the team as it transitioned from having a hierarchical structure to a flat one. Her learning, practicing and experimenting with transformational governance hasn’t only been within Transition Network, the charity. Over the past few years she has played an active role in the work of further distributing power, decision-making and resources across the wider Transition movement - working closely with Transition Hubs based in different parts of the world. Within the principles and practices of the Transition movement there is a clear theme that how we do things is as important as what we do. We think that the story of our shared governance model, and the journey that got us here, is an important one to tell. And we are grateful to Pedro for inviting Sarah to the dancefloor to do that. We’re sharing an abridged version of their conversation. You can listen to the full podcast, and other episodes, [here](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org):

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

It’s not about getting it right… For me, it’s about finding a way to take a step forward, whether it’s me as a person or the organization that I’m part of. How do we take a step forward and hear the feedback and then see what needs to be adjusted? So that I have agency. I can be creative, but also… recognising that I’m part of a bigger system, that I can’t possibly know how what I’m doing is going to land or make a difference. I can only know that by listening to the feedback.

… I’m working with a [collaboration in the UK](https://stingy-hexagon-c88.notion.site/Transformational-Governance-a-proposal-b957b80161974d289e4c34b54a3edfac?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the moment where we’re talking about transformational governance because governance, in a way, is a neutral term. You know, there’s lots of different ways we can do governance…

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

It’s not about getting it right… For me, it’s about finding a way to take a step forward, whether it’s me as a person or the organization that I’m part of. How do we take a step forward and hear the feedback and then see what needs to be adjusted? So that I have agency. I can be creative, but also… recognising that I’m part of a bigger system, that I can’t possibly know how what I’m doing is going to land or make a difference. I can only know that by listening to the feedback.

… I’m working with a [collaboration in the UK](https://stingy-hexagon-c88.notion.site/Transformational-Governance-a-proposal-b957b80161974d289e4c34b54a3edfac?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the moment where we’re talking about transformational governance because governance, in a way, is a neutral term. You know, there’s lots of different ways we can do governance…

> Transformational governance... is explicitly designed to disrupt the way that power operates in the dominant system, that it's explicitly designed to support healthy collaboration across difference, and distance, and to bring about justice and resilient outcomes... -

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

It’s not about getting it right… For me, it’s about finding a way to take a step forward, whether it’s me as a person or the organization that I’m part of. How do we take a step forward and hear the feedback and then see what needs to be adjusted? So that I have agency. I can be creative, but also… recognising that I’m part of a bigger system, that I can’t possibly know how what I’m doing is going to land or make a difference. I can only know that by listening to the feedback.

… I’m working with a [collaboration in the UK](https://stingy-hexagon-c88.notion.site/Transformational-Governance-a-proposal-b957b80161974d289e4c34b54a3edfac?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the moment where we’re talking about transformational governance because governance, in a way, is a neutral term. You know, there’s lots of different ways we can do governance…

> Transformational governance... is explicitly designed to disrupt the way that power operates in the dominant system, that it's explicitly designed to support healthy collaboration across difference, and distance, and to bring about justice and resilient outcomes... -

Unless we’re creating governance that’s explicitly designed to do that, I fear that we’re often working in ways that hamper us… that actually make that more difficult to achieve.

**So can I propose a new evolution for Transition Network.. that we start talking about Transition governance?**

**Because one of the things I like about the word ‘transition’ is that it’s the process of going from one place to another. And maybe what you’re talking about is a form of governance which is transitional. As we move from one, I would say, medieval form of organising into something which is actually more suitable for the 21st century. For a 21st century world and challenges and interconnected world that we live in.**

I really like that. And I think, yes – what’s the governance that supports us to make that shift?… feels really interesting to me. And actually, I should just say that… one of the joys of my life at the moment is working with the wider network of Hubs on this form of governance. So not just doing it within our organisation, but as part of this wider system where Hubs have created their own circle to sense what’s needed in the system and to support things to happen. And for me, I think you’re right that it’s one of the strengths of the Transition movement, and it’s not always recognised – even by us. I think we’re doing it and we need to understand that it’s quite unusual. It’s not unique to us, but it’s quite unusual. And we’re really learning about how to do that well across a network… where people are in very different contexts… I meet up with others from this network every three weeks and we hold a circle meeting. And I really get the sense of that richness of it’s not one point in the system directing what’s happening… We’re coming together and sharing our different perspectives of what’s important and what’s needed and finding a next step together. And that is really inspirational.

**Yeah. It sounds like you found a very… well, you didn’t find it by accident, it was hard work… but you did find a good recipe. At least for this starting iteration, as I’m sure there will be mutations along in the next couple of years as also the Transition movement evolves and as the world heads to wherever it’s heading. It’s anyone’s guess right now. But yeah, it looks like you found something very, very precious.**

Yes, it feels precious, and it absolutely doesn’t feel perfect. And I don’t want to pretend that everything then becomes easy once you’re working in this way. If anything, I think, one of the things I’ve learnt about this form of governance is it actually exposes the problems… problems that have been under the surface often then come up to the surface. But that’s part of the joy of it. Suddenly they’re visible and suddenly we can start talking about them and trying to find a way together to resolve them. Rather than pushing them down and out of the way… but it’s certainly not perfect.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

It’s not about getting it right… For me, it’s about finding a way to take a step forward, whether it’s me as a person or the organization that I’m part of. How do we take a step forward and hear the feedback and then see what needs to be adjusted? So that I have agency. I can be creative, but also… recognising that I’m part of a bigger system, that I can’t possibly know how what I’m doing is going to land or make a difference. I can only know that by listening to the feedback.

… I’m working with a [collaboration in the UK](https://stingy-hexagon-c88.notion.site/Transformational-Governance-a-proposal-b957b80161974d289e4c34b54a3edfac?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the moment where we’re talking about transformational governance because governance, in a way, is a neutral term. You know, there’s lots of different ways we can do governance…

> Transformational governance... is explicitly designed to disrupt the way that power operates in the dominant system, that it's explicitly designed to support healthy collaboration across difference, and distance, and to bring about justice and resilient outcomes... -

Unless we’re creating governance that’s explicitly designed to do that, I fear that we’re often working in ways that hamper us… that actually make that more difficult to achieve.

**So can I propose a new evolution for Transition Network.. that we start talking about Transition governance?**

**Because one of the things I like about the word ‘transition’ is that it’s the process of going from one place to another. And maybe what you’re talking about is a form of governance which is transitional. As we move from one, I would say, medieval form of organising into something which is actually more suitable for the 21st century. For a 21st century world and challenges and interconnected world that we live in.**

I really like that. And I think, yes – what’s the governance that supports us to make that shift?… feels really interesting to me. And actually, I should just say that… one of the joys of my life at the moment is working with the wider network of Hubs on this form of governance. So not just doing it within our organisation, but as part of this wider system where Hubs have created their own circle to sense what’s needed in the system and to support things to happen. And for me, I think you’re right that it’s one of the strengths of the Transition movement, and it’s not always recognised – even by us. I think we’re doing it and we need to understand that it’s quite unusual. It’s not unique to us, but it’s quite unusual. And we’re really learning about how to do that well across a network… where people are in very different contexts… I meet up with others from this network every three weeks and we hold a circle meeting. And I really get the sense of that richness of it’s not one point in the system directing what’s happening… We’re coming together and sharing our different perspectives of what’s important and what’s needed and finding a next step together. And that is really inspirational.

**Yeah. It sounds like you found a very… well, you didn’t find it by accident, it was hard work… but you did find a good recipe. At least for this starting iteration, as I’m sure there will be mutations along in the next couple of years as also the Transition movement evolves and as the world heads to wherever it’s heading. It’s anyone’s guess right now. But yeah, it looks like you found something very, very precious.**

Yes, it feels precious, and it absolutely doesn’t feel perfect. And I don’t want to pretend that everything then becomes easy once you’re working in this way. If anything, I think, one of the things I’ve learnt about this form of governance is it actually exposes the problems… problems that have been under the surface often then come up to the surface. But that’s part of the joy of it. Suddenly they’re visible and suddenly we can start talking about them and trying to find a way together to resolve them. Rather than pushing them down and out of the way… but it’s certainly not perfect.

[https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network](https://soundcloud.com/pedro-portela-168791914/sarah-mcadam-transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Joining me today from the UK is Sarah McAdam from Transition Network. Transition Network is a charity established in the UK which works to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities worldwide as they self-organise around the Transition model.**

**Let’s start off by talking a little bit about Transition Network and how you became involved with it. And what the organisation, and this Transition model, is all about.**

What Transition Network is, as you mentioned, it’s a small charity registered in the UK. Currently, there’s 13 members of staff and 7 trustees, which is a requirement by law in the UK. And I first came to it actually even before 2013\. Initially I was a trustee, which I did almost as a sort of part time contribution. I thought the organisation sounded interesting and I was agreeing to go to a board meeting maybe four or five times a year to give them a bit of a strategic steer. And since then, we’ve really shifted the way we work. I joined the staff team, but we also completely shifted the way that we do our governance. So that role of a trustee is very different now.

**And what is Transition all about for those three people in the world who haven’t heard about Transition?**

Oh no, I’m sure it’s much, much more than three. So the Transition model is a model of, I would say, community resilience. It’s – how does a community, how do people get together with their neighbors, to work out what they want to shift in their community and feel that they have the energy and the power to do it? So that’s what the model is about. Started very much with a focus on the concept of peak oil and reducing our use of energy. But I would say it’s become more sophisticated and adapted as it’s spread around the world. And in each place, in each country, in each community, people are exploring for themselves – what are the key things that need to change to make the place where they live happier, healthier, more resilient, more sustainable? And that does look, of course, very different in very different places. But I think some of the values and principles apply across the whole movement.

**The Transition movement or the Transition network, not the charity, but the actual global network – is an incredible story of how something that started off as an idea in a small town in the U.K. became very quickly a trans-local international network with Hubs all around the world and in many cities in many countries. I was personally involved in a couple of initiatives here in Portugal.**

Yeah, it was something that spread, I would say, virally, according to where people went, where people saw the films, where they got access to the resources. And for me, that’s one of the joys of the movement – to see how it’s spread, but then also been adapted in different places. And we have a number of [Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as you mentioned. So groups of people in a particular territory that support Transition in that country, or maybe for the people who speak that language. And one of the areas where we’re really exploring different forms of governance is across that network of Hubs. Because it’s very important to us that those Hubs are not controlled from one place. They’re self-managing, they’re self-organising. But how do they come together to collaborate? That’s one of the questions for us.

**Let’s talk about that. So when did your organisation, Transition Network the charity, which has this fundamental role of providing the scaffolding and support for the whole movement around the world. When did you decide to invest in governance? And I’m using the word invest purposefully. So it’s not only financial investment, but also time commitment of the people involved – sitting together and saying, “We’re going to think differently on how we’re going to work together”. Can you tell us the story of that?**

Yes, I would say that the small charity, the organisation and the bigger movement was interested right from the start about how people, how groups work together. I mean, it’s pretty fundamental when you’re thinking about how to get together with your neighbors. It’s fundamental to the movement to find good ways of working together. And for me, that’s what governance is ultimately about. It’s – how do we come together in a group, agree on a shared endeavor, some common purpose that we’re trying to achieve together, and then find good ways to make decisions, to allocate resources, to be with each other, to resolve conflict or respond to conflict.

So I would say that we’ve been interested in that right from the start. And then as the international network of Hubs developed, I would say that there was quite an interesting challenge that arose from there. An interesting and useful challenge. This is just my perception. I’m sure different people would have different ways of telling the story, but I would say at the beginning Transition Network the little organisation, the charity, was maybe a bit careless about how we worked with those Hubs. I think we absolutely recognised that they needed to be self-managing and making their own decisions. But I think we were maybe a little unconscious in the way that we were using our power, the power that we were wielding because we were an organisation with some resources, because we were seen, you know, we were quite a visible part of the movement. So often the way we told the story had extra weight. And I think we became aware of that and people rightly questioned, challenged us a bit about that. And we started experimenting in the Hubs group with consent decision making, which draws from sociocracy. And I would say that initially it was that response of – “we want to be working in a different way that makes power more visible and then supports it to flow and to be distributed across the system”.

And then at the same time, Transition Network, the little organisation was, I would say, struggling with how we should work. We had a sort of technically hierarchical structure. We weren’t very hierarchical in the way we operated. But we had a board of trustees who, in the legal system that we work in, were in charge of our strategy and the staff were just there to carry out the strategy. And we knew that wasn’t real in terms of how we worked. So we experimented with various things. We struggled. And I think this relates to what you were just saying about investment. I would say up until 2016, we tried to deal with that a little bit on the margins of the work we were trying to do in the world. You know, we were trying to organise ourselves, but we didn’t have enough time to pay attention to it. And in 2016, we realised that this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t helping us to do the work we needed to do. And at that point we decided to invest properly, and we were very lucky that we found a funder who was also interested in our experiment and was prepared to give us, not huge funding, but a bit of support to help us invest time, and to find people who could help us explore how we wanted our governance to change.

**You mentioned that in the beginning you were a little bit careless with the Hubs. And you mentioned even there was the question of the power that your organisation was wielding unconsciously. Just because it started there, you’ve mobilised the resources and I guess the money for some initiatives. Could we spend five minutes talking about that phase? Because I think that’s an issue that interests both funders and grantees. People who are in a position to fund some of these movements, but also people who are on the receiving end of these funds. Understanding how these power dynamics or this friction eventually between funders and recipients of funds could be interesting… and how this leads them to the governance conversation.**

Yes. I would say it was in the early days. We weren’t particularly operating as a channel for funding, and that probably in itself brought some friction. We were managing to secure some funding for our organisation. And of course, partly that was because of what we were doing as an organisation. But probably just as much it was about the excitement of the movement. You know, that was partly, of course, what funders were responding to and interested in was what’s happening in these different communities around the world. So I think there was a piece there where maybe we were a little complacent about the fact that actually some of these resources were coming to us almost on the backs of the work that was being done in a distributed grassroots network.

I mean I say complacent… I think we thought about it quite a lot. I think one of the enemies of all of this, you know, trying to do work in a way that is healthy and thoughtful is the busyness, isn’t it? So we were a busy, small team desperately trying to respond to all these different needs and potential and demands.

> And I think that's the moment where it's so good to just pause and think. Where are resources coming from? Who's impacted by this? Who's getting a say in the decision making? Which voices are being heard? Which are not part of the process yet? And what can we do about that? -

And I think for a while, sort of inevitably I guess, I think we made a lot of assumptions and we didn’t even realise we were making assumptions.

And I’m really conscious that coming from the UK with our whole history of colonialism – there we are yet again making those sort of assumptions that how we see the world is how everybody else is experiencing the world. It’s so dangerous and it’s so easy to do. So I think for me, that was one of the things that we had to come to a realisation about. We were helped in that by some really constructive challenge from other people in other parts of the system.

**Yeah, when it comes to governance I like to think of how quickly we fall back to the usual archetypes of ways of organising. It’s a very innocent process, a very unconscious process, probably part of the collective unconscious of Jung. And how quickly we fall back to the traditional models of governance and decision making, which are part of our unconscious. But that in our case, we’re both in Europe, so we were both brought up in this culture and how much this is informing everything we do in terms of decision making and sense making and meaning making, right?**

Yes.

**So then, OK, flash forward – what happened then in 2016? What was the process? Walk us through this adventure that you started.**

Well, we knew that we were interested in sociocracy in particular because we’d experienced a bit of consent decision making. And I don’t know about you but for me, the moment I experienced that I felt a sort of tingling in my body of “there’s something different here”. This is a different way of a group coming to a decision that feels like for once we’re properly listening to the collective intelligence. We’re properly creating a space for us to find something that will work well enough for all of us. So we already had that excitement and that interest.

We found a team to help us, and they were a team from France called [Université du Nous](https://universite-du-nous.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). So ‘University of Us’. And they had a lot of experience of sociocracy and holacracy, which is a different model, but some similarities. And they also had lots of other tools at their disposal and a lot of experience…We did a sort of action learning process – they gave us a little menu of different ways that you can organize… They talked to us about the concept of a safety framework.

> These are the sorts of things that a group needs to know about itself to know how its governance works. Some basic things that unless you know, then actually you keep falling into the same traps. Such as, how do people join this group? How do people leave this group? What expectations do we have about how we work together? How do we make decisions? What are the roles that people are playing?... How does this work in your organization now? And what would you like to change about it?... -

We tried little experiments in various project groups trying out working in a sociocratic circle, trying out some of the things that they were offering us. We also did some sessions altogether as a team… We have trustees who have legal responsibility for the organisation, and it was very important for us that they were part of the process. We didn’t want this to be a situation where the staff team were finding a whole new culture and a new way of working. And then we still had trustees above us who had a different culture. That was a recipe for disaster. So we did all sorts of little two-day sessions, three day sessions with this team over a couple of years. It was quite a long process, including, I would say, some things that might surprise people. We did quite a lot of movement exercises, as a group, learning how to move almost like birds flocking. You know, when you have the murmuration of swallows or starlings. That movement where sometimes you’re in a leadership role, you’re moving the group forward, sometimes you’re following others and the leadership flows around the group. So getting that sense of how leadership could be something really different from what we’d experienced traditionally. We did music sessions… improvising music together as another way of building that sense of ‘how do I listen to this group and respond to the group, but also feel that I can bring my own creativity into what we’re doing together?’

**That makes a lot of sense. And it’s, of course, completely aligned with the values around Transition and the values of – mind and body and heart. I wonder, how did the people in the organisation respond to these hints or suggestions that there are other ways of knowing and other ways of perceiving that are not necessarily mental, rational? That are embodied or somatic.**

Well, as you say, that’s always been quite a strong belief within the Transition movement. So it was something that was already part of our culture. And I think that helped us a lot that we weren’t starting from zero. We’d already done quite a lot of work on a culture that was trying to balance being and doing, balance relationships with output. So I would say that people were very receptive to it.

I think all of us, at different points, had moments where we struggled. I mean, I’m not going to pretend it was a process where it all flowed smoothly and we ended up agreeing easily on how we were going to change our governance model. So there were moments, I would say, for all of us where we felt frustrated – this was taking a long time. Guilty, you know, we needed to be out there in the world doing things. Was it OK for us to be spending time looking inwardly at how we work? We had to process that a bit. And sometimes we had to accept that this was a time where we had something to deliver. We needed to prioritise that for a bit. But we needed to commit to coming back to this piece that was about ‘how do we work?’. Not letting that go. Because I think we did have a strong sense that there was a potential for it to unlock something very important for us.

**Did you have an endgame in sight? Meaning when you were in the difficult parts of this process – did you know that… this will come to an end eventually, and we know what that end is.**

Yes, we’d given ourselves two years to experiment, and then to design a new governance model, and to move to that new governance model… I mean, we weren’t dogmatic about it. We thought, ‘Well, if it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to go backwards’. But our idea was, we want to find a way to work in a way that isn’t hierarchical. So we want to create a new model that’s a flat structure. But also one that will give us more of an ability as an organisation to respond to what’s happening in the wider movement, in the wider world – to be more responsive. So not so rigid.

And also we knew that one of the things we were doing as an organisation before this was we were spending endless time in meetings. All of the whole team, because all of our work, everything that any of us did related to what everybody else was doing. You know, of course it did, nothing was really standalone.

> We didn't want to have a completely dictatorial structure where we followed the instructions of one person or a group of managers. So the only way we knew how to cope with that was to constantly have meetings where everybody came. And we'd talk about it and we'd go around in circles and we'd keep finding that the interrelationship of everything was too complex and we didn't know which bit to start with. So we knew we needed to do something about that. -

We felt that we weren’t being… I always wonder about the word efficient because I think it has a sort of connotation of… an efficient corporate body. But we knew we weren’t being efficient in terms of our time. We wanted to know that the time that we were spending was actually delivering some impact in the world, not going round and round in circles within the organisation. So that was one of the key things that we were saying. We need to find a model that gives us more clarity about who will be making decisions about what sort of stuff. And it doesn’t have to be, everybody will make all the decisions about everything.

**And did you find that model? The million dollar question.**

Of course we didn’t find the perfect model because that will never happen, I don’t think. But by 2017 we were designing a model that we thought would work for us. And in 2018, we made the leap. Because one of the things that we found is that there comes a point where working in two systems just is not good for your health or your sanity. So there came a point where we were experimenting so much we said, now we need to shift. And the whole organisation needs to move into this new model. So we called it shared governance. That’s a term that Université du Nous use. And we created a system of circles and roles and clarity about decision making that draws heavily on sociocracy but has elements of our existing culture, and some of the things that feel particularly important about the movement and about our organisation.

So we don’t follow exactly the model of sociocracy, but we’re doing some very similar stuff. And key to that is that it’s an evolutionary model.

> What we said when we were trying to design it was it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have to find all the answers. We need something that's good enough for now, safe enough to try - and we'll move into that model. And what we've got to make sure then is that the model's got the capacity to change. -

One of the things that I remember finding really helpful was when Guillame, who was the person who was helping us from Université du Nous,… said to me; “as soon as you move into this model you will find things wrong with it. And that’s exactly what should happen. Then the tensions will come up and then you’ll see what needs to change.” So that reassurance you don’t need to try and think ahead and predict everything that will be needed because you just need to create a model that’s got the capacity to shift as needs change.

**To evolve, to become alive. Practically speaking now – can you give us some examples of how this shared governance model works right now? And how is it different from what you previously had in terms of flow of power? And what do you think would be the next evolutionary mutation?**

So some of the key elements of it… One really fundamental piece early on was that we created a single circle. We call it the Primary Circle, which is the circle that takes care of the strategy, the purpose of the organisation, and its governance. And that circle is open to any member of the staff who would like to join it, and most people did. We didn’t insist on people joining it, but we made it available to any member of the staff who wanted to join, and to the trustees. So rather than having this fundamental hierarchy in the system – the group that holds equivalent power to decide what needs to shift in terms of our purpose and our governance includes everybody who wants to be part of it, and has got the capacity to be part of it.

So that’s a pretty big change. It’s actually not a change that the legal system in the UK is capable of recognising, for a charity. So we still have these trustees who’ve got legal responsibility, but they made a commitment that they would exercise that responsibility through this collective system, that they wouldn’t sit outside the system and exercise that power. So that’s really significant. And then as part of that… we really defined “what’s our purpose as an organisation?” We spent quite a lot of time thinking about that, feeling about that, exploring that with the wider movement, getting feedback, listening to the feedback. And that has become then the thing that steers us. So in all our decisions, in all our different ways of working – we’re constantly thinking, aligning to “how does this best serve the purpose of the organisation?” That’s our compass. And for me, there’s something there about how that enables a lot more trust. That because we’ve spent time knowing what it is we’re trying to achieve… I don’t need to know what this person’s doing and what that circle are doing. I can trust that we’re all aligned to this purpose, and I also trust that if a real tension arises between us we have a way of processing it.

We created this idea that there are roles in the system. So rather than having a team where people have fixed jobs where you stay forever. “We recruited you to be in this role and you’re going to stay in this role.” We created a system of “let’s name all the different roles that people play in our system”, knowing that often some of the invisible roles are ones that hold a lot of power… They’re not official in the structure chart, but it’s actually a role that somebody takes, might use a lot of power, exercise a lot of power, or sometimes will exercise a lot of responsibility, but without any recognition. And that was a really interesting piece to see. Well who’s spending a lot of time investing in the relationships in the organisation and supporting the health of the organisation? But that’s not visible on the structure chart. And actually, if that’s a role, let’s name it as a role and make sure we’ve put it somewhere in the system.

And there’s a much clearer idea now that people will move between roles. This is all part of the evolution of the system. At any given time I might be holding 2, 3, 4 roles in the system. But they’re not my identity in the organisation. They’re the things that I’m doing at the moment to help serve our purpose. At various points I might be asked to step out of a role because it makes sense for somebody else to go in there. I might be asked to hand over something else. I might be asked to take on something else. And all the time guided by, “what best serves our purpose”, rather than this idea that I’m fixed in this role and I’m the only person that can hold it. And seeing the health of roles shifting around the system. And I want to be honest and say, that’s probably something we’ve found quite difficult. You know, I think we’re getting much better at it. But it is very easy for people to just get embedded in a role, and to build up knowledge, and to feel nobody else can do this, and for the team to feel nobody else could do that. But we’re really trying to shift our thinking and recognise that there are some roles that have very specific skills attached, but there’s an awful lot that can be done in different ways by different people. That actually having that flexibility really supports us to pivot as an organisation, as we see things… that the needs are changing, or our priorities are changing.

**Yeah, that must have been a very interesting step… Identifying the invisible roles and maybe even uncovering that some of these invisible roles are key to how the whole organisation actually works.**

It really was… It was particularly interesting for me personally because, until we made the shift, I was holding this role of Delivery Director. And that role managed everybody else, all the other members of staff. And what we realised… I think I had already been feeling the discomfort of that role, but also the power of that role. That was a role that we’d added lots of different elements to… It was the role that had a lot of control over resources, and a lot of control over how people’s time was spent… I tended to work in a very collaborative way with people. But still, it was me that was the point of connection that would help see what needed to happen, and make it happen across the system. And I think, for me, one of the most exciting things we did was to disentangle all the stuff that we’d put onto that role and see that it could be done by different people in different ways… I was doing a lot of coaching and support. But did it make sense for that to be done by the same person who was also making decisions about money? It didn’t need to be. That actually we could distribute these leadership responsibilities in a much more transparent way. And you know, the reality was I couldn’t have carried on doing that job, it was becoming impossible and a bottleneck in the system. And suddenly by bringing more people in it opened up new energies and new ideas.

**Yeah, and it’s usually how people end up burning themselves out… by accumulating all of these roles…**

**I have a slightly more personal question about this process of picking apart all of these roles that are concentrated around a single node in the network. Because some people might think that this is actually a process of stripping away power from your position. And of course, no matter how much we work on our own personal development and our own capacity to see ourselves, you know, disconnected from the organisation. There’s always probably some fear that may come with this process of picking yourself apart and decentralising yourself from the organisation, right?… In the process of unbecoming this central node – does it bring up feelings of uncertainty or insecurity?**

… There were definite moments of insecurity. I think … there were definite moments where I struggled to let go of control… We talked about a posture that you need to learn to work in this way. There’s a culture as a group that needs to shift, but also for each of us individually there’s a new posture, a new way of behaving, that we need to learn. And there’s lots of times where it’s not comfortable because it’s not familiar… How I grew up and how I worked in other organisations taught me exactly the opposite of the posture that I think is needed in this sort of system. So for me a key bit was about letting go of control. And there were moments when I could feel the sort of message in my brain of “I’m not sure that this person can do it. I know how to do it. Is it safe to let it go to somebody else?” And also, I guess, a piece about my identity… My identity is to be a leader in this organisation. What is it if I’m part of a circle where I don’t have any more of a claim to be a leader than anyone else who’s sharing in these responsibilities? I have to say for me personally, it was so exciting that that really helped me. And I think also the fact that I could feel how completely unsustainable my old job was, that really helped me as well. That sense of, well I’m just going to break if I carry on trying to do it this way.

And for me, one of the things that we need to try and support in the world is people holding on to power, supporting them to feel the toll that is taking on them… And once you can feel that I think that really helps you connect with the sense of, “I want to distribute this more. I don’t want to be holding all of this to myself.” And I remember that there were key moments, really beautiful moments… along our journey where I would suddenly find myself in, say, consent decision making or a strategy meeting with a circle where I was no longer holding power. Everybody had a right to object to what we were doing. Everybody had a responsibility to try and find the right answer. And I noticed that we came up with a solution or a way forward that I would never have thought of.. That was never going to come into my brain. And even if I had been facilitating the meeting, in the old way I think I would have been facilitating to get to the solution that I thought I could see… we wouldn’t have got to this actually much better solution….

**Yeah. It’s interesting you mentioned something that is this burden of power… the issue of people holding onto power. I see it sometimes in two ways, like on one hand it could be I’m holding onto power because I’m addicted to it or I really like the feeling of being powerful. But there’s also the other alternative, the more positive alternative, which is I’m holding onto power because I care deeply about where this thing goes. And I think I know exactly where this thing needs to go. And a process, like you mentioned, of experiencing the moment when the organisation as a whole comes up with a path forward that is beyond your wildest dreams. And that is actually the right one… is liberating. In liberating I mean, from the perspective of someone who needs to hold power because he or she doesn’t trust that the organisation can find a way forward. So this is really powerful.**

I agree, and I also think this is relevant to the point you raised earlier about funders. Because I see with funders this huge and completely understandable sense of responsibility. You know, “we’ve got access to these resources. And somehow, we’ve got to make decisions that mean that these resources have the most possible impact… we can see the huge need.” It’s a huge responsibility… I’ve rarely met a funder who doesn’t care. That’s not the issue. It’s that they care hugely about what to do with these resources. But I also see how difficult it is to let go of control. And for me personally, it’s what needs to happen… When the system starts to find the best use of the resources you get to transformational solutions. But… I really recognise how hard that is for funders.

**Do you think it’s a leap of faith?**

… I’m very interested in working with funders because I feel their interest in working differently and I feel what pulls them back. So there is something about how do you give people a real taste of what’s possible in a way that feels safe enough?… How can they trial this and then start to gain confidence, start to see what’s possible. But I do think… with any piece that they’re going to experiment with, there is this moment where they have to let go of control. And if they haven’t properly done that, then the power that they’re exercising, even if it’s not explicit, will distort the process and it will mean they probably won’t get the sort of outcome that they’re looking for and that we’ve just been talking about. So until you’ve genuinely let go, even if you’re saying all the right things… it won’t genuinely make that shift a transformative change.

**… Formally, it’s possible to let go of that control. But is it possible to completely isolate yourself from the perception of power or the perception of expectations that receivers might have from you?**

That’s impossible. So when I’m saying let go of control I don’t mean let go of all power, because there’s rank, there’s all sorts of things that will still be operating in the system, whether you’re explicitly changing the way decisions are made or not…

> ... for me when you're thinking about governance - culture and individual posture is as important as the structures and processes. Because for me the thing that makes it possible to shift to healthy power, it's not about saying power doesn't exist, but it's about how do we name it? How do we make it visible? How do we name what's going on? You know where we see, "I think I might be having an influence here that is probably not a healthy influence? How do I talk about that? How do I invite feedback? How do I encourage people to trust that they can give me feedback and they won't be punished for it? And how do I really train myself to listen to the feedback?” -

…One of the big things that we always say is a key part of doing shared governance well is having curiosity. So when something comes up, whether it’s an unexpected tension in the system, whether it’s an objection to a decision that you thought was going to be a really straightforward decision… Whether it’s feedback that feels a bit uncomfortable. The piece about “how do I cultivate a sense of instead of defending myself, and proving that it’s wrong, and overcoming it. How do I cultivate this sense of, Oh, that’s interesting. What’s going on there? Why is the system telling me this?” It doesn’t mean that everybody who gives you feedback is right. But how can you be interested in what’s come up for them and why it’s come up?

**Yeah, a lot of how and why questions instead of what.**

**I’m curious what you make of this… I believe that working with governance within the organisations that support movements… Be it charities like Transition Network or even funders… I believe that this is actually a leverage point or something that can have and can propagate impact in the various different areas social movements are struggling. Be it climate change, social justice, peace building, you name it. Governance is almost like a thread that ties all of these groups together. Because it’s always a matter of organising. It’s always a matter of how we show up together…**

**I wonder if you share this hypothesis that working on governance, or at least hosting conversations on governance and going through this process like you did – at the level of funders, at the level of charities, at the level of formal organisations – can actually propagate to civil society, can actually then propagate to providing other models of how conflict is addressed in communities? Eventually to the scale of how conflict between larger communities and even nations are addressed. Or is it just my utopia?**

… So for me, governance is about how we work together, how we make decisions, how we distribute power and resources at every level of scale. So from within my family to within a group, within a network, an organisation, as you say, at regional, national, international level. For me… lots of us at lots of different levels of scale are currently doing that in ways that seem to me to be deeply flawed. Unhealthy, destructive, disconnecting. Disconnecting where the power is held from where the impacts are felt. And for me, that’s a fundamental flaw… you’re not bringing together accountability, responsibility. Where is the risk? Where is the impact? If the right voices aren’t involved in decisions and shaping of what we’re doing together as human beings, then you’ll come up with deeply flawed solutions. You won’t see the solutions that could really be transformative. They won’t even be visible. And there will be all sorts of reasons why people will feel unable to shift…

> The systems that we've got at the moment don't support us to shift. They support us to hold onto what we've got and to protect it... So for me, organisations who are working in this way, it's not just "is it helpful?" I think I'd put it even more strongly that it's necessary… Until we're looking at how we work there's a fundamental fault in what we're doing. That will keep showing up in what we put out in the world, it will just keep showing up and we won't have a way to notice that and adjust, which is what we need. -

It’s not about getting it right… For me, it’s about finding a way to take a step forward, whether it’s me as a person or the organization that I’m part of. How do we take a step forward and hear the feedback and then see what needs to be adjusted? So that I have agency. I can be creative, but also… recognising that I’m part of a bigger system, that I can’t possibly know how what I’m doing is going to land or make a difference. I can only know that by listening to the feedback.

… I’m working with a [collaboration in the UK](https://stingy-hexagon-c88.notion.site/Transformational-Governance-a-proposal-b957b80161974d289e4c34b54a3edfac?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the moment where we’re talking about transformational governance because governance, in a way, is a neutral term. You know, there’s lots of different ways we can do governance…

> Transformational governance... is explicitly designed to disrupt the way that power operates in the dominant system, that it's explicitly designed to support healthy collaboration across difference, and distance, and to bring about justice and resilient outcomes... -

Unless we’re creating governance that’s explicitly designed to do that, I fear that we’re often working in ways that hamper us… that actually make that more difficult to achieve.

**So can I propose a new evolution for Transition Network.. that we start talking about Transition governance?**

**Because one of the things I like about the word ‘transition’ is that it’s the process of going from one place to another. And maybe what you’re talking about is a form of governance which is transitional. As we move from one, I would say, medieval form of organising into something which is actually more suitable for the 21st century. For a 21st century world and challenges and interconnected world that we live in.**

I really like that. And I think, yes – what’s the governance that supports us to make that shift?… feels really interesting to me. And actually, I should just say that… one of the joys of my life at the moment is working with the wider network of Hubs on this form of governance. So not just doing it within our organisation, but as part of this wider system where Hubs have created their own circle to sense what’s needed in the system and to support things to happen. And for me, I think you’re right that it’s one of the strengths of the Transition movement, and it’s not always recognised – even by us. I think we’re doing it and we need to understand that it’s quite unusual. It’s not unique to us, but it’s quite unusual. And we’re really learning about how to do that well across a network… where people are in very different contexts… I meet up with others from this network every three weeks and we hold a circle meeting. And I really get the sense of that richness of it’s not one point in the system directing what’s happening… We’re coming together and sharing our different perspectives of what’s important and what’s needed and finding a next step together. And that is really inspirational.

**Yeah. It sounds like you found a very… well, you didn’t find it by accident, it was hard work… but you did find a good recipe. At least for this starting iteration, as I’m sure there will be mutations along in the next couple of years as also the Transition movement evolves and as the world heads to wherever it’s heading. It’s anyone’s guess right now. But yeah, it looks like you found something very, very precious.**

Yes, it feels precious, and it absolutely doesn’t feel perfect. And I don’t want to pretend that everything then becomes easy once you’re working in this way. If anything, I think, one of the things I’ve learnt about this form of governance is it actually exposes the problems… problems that have been under the surface often then come up to the surface. But that’s part of the joy of it. Suddenly they’re visible and suddenly we can start talking about them and trying to find a way together to resolve them. Rather than pushing them down and out of the way… but it’s certainly not perfect.

If you’d like to dive deeper into how we work:  
[Shared Governance](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/how-we-work/shared-governance/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
[TN Culture](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/how-we-work/culture/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
[Transition Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Developing an immune system for the Transition movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/immune-system/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:34.000Z
What changes to ourselves, our groups and wider society would help us to build new systems? Systems that can deliver fundamentally different outcomes to the one that has given us climate change and the many other environmental and social issues that we are struggling with globally.

The devastating issues we are facing are not inevitable. They are the outcomes of a particular way of being human – a way of being that many of us perpetuate without even noticing.

Attitudes and cultural habits learned growing up in the global north (and by many in the countries it has colonised, or in others similarly stuck in a mindset of domination), live, often unnoticed, inside each of us, between us, in our social structures and processes. These habits enable some to ignore patterns of hierarchy, to ‘unsee’ a mindset of domination, of power over – while those born with less privilege struggle with impacts and barriers that damage their ability to live well. From early infancy, through school and into higher education or work, those growing up in dominating cultures are taught our place in this system in a multitude of subtle – and not so subtle – ways.

In general, the more privilege we have within systems of domination, the less we notice its impacts. The reason the climate movement in the global north has tended to be so white and middle-class is that for many of us in these groups this is the first time an impact of this system has consciously affected us. Those of us in other groups have spent our lives dealing with its damaging impacts – and are often already engaged elsewhere in taking action on issues like poverty and racism.

A system that values some people over others is traumatising to live in whether we are valued or undervalued within it – albeit with added cushioning for those who are valued. Much of this trauma hides in our unconscious and in the social structures we’ve inherited. Unprocessed, it does what trauma does – repeats endlessly, looking for opportunities for healing that we (most often) don’t notice or know how to make use of.

Much of our personal, social and cultural experience lives in the unconscious, whether that is in our bodies, or in the social processes and structures that are the practical manifestations of our unprocessed collective history. As the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud observed: that which we can’t remember we will repeat: this is as true on the social as on the personal level. We need to wake up to this depth, complexity and nuance and give ourselves time to take it in and fully understand it. There are a wide range of approaches we can use to start healing at all these levels and to take the crucial steps towards the confidence that we are creating a different way of being in the world. One that is sound and that will give us genuinely different results over the long term.

**In our groups and communities, we need to create practical ways to consciously resist habits of status and stratification, of prioritising certain kinds of people and ways of being over others, of hiding our full selves to fit in. And we need to find ways that support us to do things differently. This practice of awareness, resistance and (re)discovery of new possibilities is deeply personal and deeply political. And it is just as important as the practical projects we’re building within our communities.**

It can feel uncomfortable when things that we’ve been taught to unquestioningly accept are challenged. It can confront us with a great deal of uncertainty, with painful feelings we’d rather keep hidden away – not least that most painful hope that healing might be possible. And when we’re uncomfortable we can make excuses – writing off this seemingly softer side of the work as unimportant, too time consuming or self-indulgent. But without it, we inevitably create processes and structures which end up repeating the very systems we need to change. This work of decolonising ourselves and our processes is core to the change we want to see in the world, and it needs to lead *how* we do what we do every step of the way.

**Our approach to disagreement and conflict is one key place where we need to understand the underlying mindset we’ve grown up with. Then we can find ways to shift it towards one that enables us to be more human with ourselves and others.**

In cultures that have been impacted by colonisation, whether as coloniser or colonised, conflict tends to mean that we want to make some people right and some wrong. There’s more emphasis on judgement than on listening, more on punishment than on learning. It’s not surprising that many of us find it scary and shy away from it, often keeping quiet about things that are bothering us until they are pushed to the surface as explosive outbursts or internalised until they make us unwell. While it’s true that we all behave in ways we later regret, taking responsibility, exploring the underlying reasons, healing past hurts all tend to be better – and more illuminating – ways to handle the conflicts we are in. This can lead to massive learning, better connection with and understanding of ourselves and others, which is what a transformative approach to conflict is aiming for.

### **Conflict Transformation Programme**

There’s a lot of unlearning – and a lot of finding out what works better to be done. The Conflict Transformation Programme (CTP) of the [Inner Transition Circle](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/history-inner-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), one of the distributed circles of the [Transition Hubs group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), was set up to look at how we can transform how we deal with conflict across our movement.

Conflict is a given in all of our relationships, groups and movements. The CTP is looking at how the Transition movement can address conflict in ways that support us to build healthy systems and group cultures that are less likely to trigger conflict in the first place. And when it crops up, to use it to learn and grow – not splinter and collapse – as is all too often the case!

The wider approach of the CTP includes several elements which can be tailored to the situation and needs of the individuals involved. We will begin by drawing together and improving access to resources that already exist both within and beyond the Transition movement, and will go on to develop innovative approaches over time. These resources include:

- **Humhub, the online platform being developed to support international collaboration across the Transition movement.** We already have a [**Heart of the Matter page**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/the-heart-of-the-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) within Humhub (which you can register to join) and look forward to developing it as a place where:
- we can signpost to the resources above
- anyone who needs it can ask for support
- immune system team members can share resources and thinking etc.
- **Videos from the** [**Coming Down To Earth summit**](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). These are currently available in English and we will develop a guide for easy access, and work on translations.
- [**Inner resilience materials**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which are already on the Transition Network website but need guidance and translation to make them fully accessible. They cover a wide range of elements including how to create healthy processes with our groups and how to navigate tensions and disagreements in ways that can help resolve them before they escalate into larger conflicts.
- **The Inner MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)**: an amazing online resource ([available here in French](https://www.colibris-lemouvement.org/magazine/mooc-transition-interieure-pour-un-changement-cap?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) which was developed by [Réseau Transition ](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(Transition Belgium) and which is in the process of being translated into English – and hopefully other languages over time.
- **Direct support from members of the ‘Immune System Team’** (see below for more on this) who can offer support to groups within their language group and cultural resonance.

### **Developing the Immune System Team**

Although working to develop healthier group culture is essential, it’s also clear that sometimes conflicts become very hard to deal with. In these situations, it can be incredibly helpful to be able to call on trusted people outside the group for help. We aim to develop a network of these skilled people across the movement.

Acknowledging the skill, trust and vulnerability that is needed to dive safely into tensions and conflicts in our relationships and group collaborations, practitioners will be chosen and supported with care. All aspects of this process need to be thorough and transparent to ensure that it is seen as a trustworthy and legitimate process by the wider movement.

### **Join us at a Heart of the Matter conversation**

![Image of starry skies with the words: "The Heart of the Matter conversations" - March 31st, April 28th, May 26th, June 30th - 4pm-6pm (UTC)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HoTM-2022.png)

One of the strands we are working on and will be weaving together over the coming months is called ‘The Heart of the Matter’. This is a series of conversations open to anyone within the Transition movement and beyond who is interested in exploring cultural assumptions that conflict is something to be feared or rejected, solved by taking the ‘bad element’ out of the system, or that it can just be ‘fixed’ from the outside.

Using video, sharing useful nuggets of information or practice, working with council circles and a range of other experiential formats, these sessions aim to support and develop an understanding that every one of us has a responsibility to grow our perspective, grounded presence and skill with the issues that underlie our conflicts.

If you’d like to attend one or more of the Heart of the Matter conversations, you can sign up using the links below. All the sessions run 4-6pm UTC. Sessions are currently running in English, but we are planning to have sessions in Spanish as soon as possible and over time will work to offer them in multiple languages.

- [March 31st](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-march-2022-tickets-272192132997?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [April 28th](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/272153798337?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [May 26th](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-may-2022-tickets-272193978517?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [June 30th](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-june-2022-tickets-272196907277?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Timezones alert!** Over the course of the series some international time zones will change by 1 hour. The sessions will always run from 4pm-6pm (UTC) and you can check the time where you are [here](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We look forward to seeing you there! Anyone with an interest is also very welcome to join the [**Heart of the Matter Humhub space.**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/the-heart-of-the-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The devastating issues we are facing are not inevitable. They are the outcomes of a particular way of being human – a way of being that many of us perpetuate without even noticing.

Attitudes and cultural habits learned growing up in the global north (and by many in the countries it has colonised, or in others similarly stuck in a mindset of domination), live, often unnoticed, inside each of us, between us, in our social structures and processes. These habits enable some to ignore patterns of hierarchy, to ‘unsee’ a mindset of domination, of power over – while those born with less privilege struggle with impacts and barriers that damage their ability to live well. From early infancy, through school and into higher education or work, those growing up in dominating cultures are taught our place in this system in a multitude of subtle – and not so subtle – ways.

In general, the more privilege we have within systems of domination, the less we notice its impacts. The reason the climate movement in the global north has tended to be so white and middle-class is that for many of us in these groups this is the first time an impact of this system has consciously affected us. Those of us in other groups have spent our lives dealing with its damaging impacts – and are often already engaged elsewhere in taking action on issues like poverty and racism.

A system that values some people over others is traumatising to live in whether we are valued or undervalued within it – albeit with added cushioning for those who are valued. Much of this trauma hides in our unconscious and in the social structures we’ve inherited. Unprocessed, it does what trauma does – repeats endlessly, looking for opportunities for healing that we (most often) don’t notice or know how to make use of.

Much of our personal, social and cultural experience lives in the unconscious, whether that is in our bodies, or in the social processes and structures that are the practical manifestations of our unprocessed collective history. As the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud observed: that which we can’t remember we will repeat: this is as true on the social as on the personal level. We need to wake up to this depth, complexity and nuance and give ourselves time to take it in and fully understand it. There are a wide range of approaches we can use to start healing at all these levels and to take the crucial steps towards the confidence that we are creating a different way of being in the world. One that is sound and that will give us genuinely different results over the long term.

**In our groups and communities, we need to create practical ways to consciously resist habits of status and stratification, of prioritising certain kinds of people and ways of being over others, of hiding our full selves to fit in. And we need to find ways that support us to do things differently. This practice of awareness, resistance and (re)discovery of new possibilities is deeply personal and deeply political. And it is just as important as the practical projects we’re building within our communities.**

It can feel uncomfortable when things that we’ve been taught to unquestioningly accept are challenged. It can confront us with a great deal of uncertainty, with painful feelings we’d rather keep hidden away – not least that most painful hope that healing might be possible. And when we’re uncomfortable we can make excuses – writing off this seemingly softer side of the work as unimportant, too time consuming or self-indulgent. But without it, we inevitably create processes and structures which end up repeating the very systems we need to change. This work of decolonising ourselves and our processes is core to the change we want to see in the world, and it needs to lead *how* we do what we do every step of the way.

**Our approach to disagreement and conflict is one key place where we need to understand the underlying mindset we’ve grown up with. Then we can find ways to shift it towards one that enables us to be more human with ourselves and others.**

In cultures that have been impacted by colonisation, whether as coloniser or colonised, conflict tends to mean that we want to make some people right and some wrong. There’s more emphasis on judgement than on listening, more on punishment than on learning. It’s not surprising that many of us find it scary and shy away from it, often keeping quiet about things that are bothering us until they are pushed to the surface as explosive outbursts or internalised until they make us unwell. While it’s true that we all behave in ways we later regret, taking responsibility, exploring the underlying reasons, healing past hurts all tend to be better – and more illuminating – ways to handle the conflicts we are in. This can lead to massive learning, better connection with and understanding of ourselves and others, which is what a transformative approach to conflict is aiming for.

### **Conflict Transformation Programme**

There’s a lot of unlearning – and a lot of finding out what works better to be done. The Conflict Transformation Programme (CTP) of the [Inner Transition Circle](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/history-inner-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), one of the distributed circles of the [Transition Hubs group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), was set up to look at how we can transform how we deal with conflict across our movement.

Conflict is a given in all of our relationships, groups and movements. The CTP is looking at how the Transition movement can address conflict in ways that support us to build healthy systems and group cultures that are less likely to trigger conflict in the first place. And when it crops up, to use it to learn and grow – not splinter and collapse – as is all too often the case!

The wider approach of the CTP includes several elements which can be tailored to the situation and needs of the individuals involved. We will begin by drawing together and improving access to resources that already exist both within and beyond the Transition movement, and will go on to develop innovative approaches over time. These resources include:

- **Humhub, the online platform being developed to support international collaboration across the Transition movement.** We already have a [**Heart of the Matter page**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/the-heart-of-the-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) within Humhub (which you can register to join) and look forward to developing it as a place where:
- we can signpost to the resources above
- anyone who needs it can ask for support
- immune system team members can share resources and thinking etc.
- **Videos from the** [**Coming Down To Earth summit**](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). These are currently available in English and we will develop a guide for easy access, and work on translations.
- [**Inner resilience materials**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which are already on the Transition Network website but need guidance and translation to make them fully accessible. They cover a wide range of elements including how to create healthy processes with our groups and how to navigate tensions and disagreements in ways that can help resolve them before they escalate into larger conflicts.
- **The Inner MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)**: an amazing online resource ([available here in French](https://www.colibris-lemouvement.org/magazine/mooc-transition-interieure-pour-un-changement-cap?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) which was developed by [Réseau Transition ](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(Transition Belgium) and which is in the process of being translated into English – and hopefully other languages over time.
- **Direct support from members of the ‘Immune System Team’** (see below for more on this) who can offer support to groups within their language group and cultural resonance.

### **Developing the Immune System Team**

Although working to develop healthier group culture is essential, it’s also clear that sometimes conflicts become very hard to deal with. In these situations, it can be incredibly helpful to be able to call on trusted people outside the group for help. We aim to develop a network of these skilled people across the movement.

Acknowledging the skill, trust and vulnerability that is needed to dive safely into tensions and conflicts in our relationships and group collaborations, practitioners will be chosen and supported with care. All aspects of this process need to be thorough and transparent to ensure that it is seen as a trustworthy and legitimate process by the wider movement.

### **Join us at a Heart of the Matter conversation**

![Image of starry skies with the words: "The Heart of the Matter conversations" - March 31st, April 28th, May 26th, June 30th - 4pm-6pm (UTC)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HoTM-2022.png)

One of the strands we are working on and will be weaving together over the coming months is called ‘The Heart of the Matter’. This is a series of conversations open to anyone within the Transition movement and beyond who is interested in exploring cultural assumptions that conflict is something to be feared or rejected, solved by taking the ‘bad element’ out of the system, or that it can just be ‘fixed’ from the outside.

Using video, sharing useful nuggets of information or practice, working with council circles and a range of other experiential formats, these sessions aim to support and develop an understanding that every one of us has a responsibility to grow our perspective, grounded presence and skill with the issues that underlie our conflicts.

If you’d like to attend one or more of the Heart of the Matter conversations, you can sign up using the links below. All the sessions run 4-6pm UTC. Sessions are currently running in English, but we are planning to have sessions in Spanish as soon as possible and over time will work to offer them in multiple languages.

- [March 31st](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-march-2022-tickets-272192132997?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [April 28th](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/272153798337?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [May 26th](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-may-2022-tickets-272193978517?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
- [June 30th](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-june-2022-tickets-272196907277?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Timezones alert!** Over the course of the series some international time zones will change by 1 hour. The sessions will always run from 4pm-6pm (UTC) and you can check the time where you are [here](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We look forward to seeing you there! Anyone with an interest is also very welcome to join the [**Heart of the Matter Humhub space.**](https://hub.transition-space.org/s/the-heart-of-the-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

###### Text: Eva Schonveld for [Inner Transition Circle](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle/)  
Feature Image: Esther Molina
### Stories from the movement: Transition Toronto
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-toronto-story/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:35.000Z
**Transition Network's ongoing [evaluation project](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/transition-characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has heard from Transition groups around the world, creating an inspiring snapshot of the work groups are quietly getting on with on the ground. We wanted to hear a bit more detail about some of them, so sent Rob Hopkins off to gather some stories. Here he chats Andrew, Jeremy, Leigh and Annisha to hear more about the work of Transition Toronto.**  The principle in Transition of focusing your energy on what you are passionate about is beautifully captured in the work of [Transition Toronto](https://www.transitiontoronto.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in Canada. While COVID meant that some of their key projects, such as their annual [EcoFair](https://ecofairtoronto.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which they co-present with the Green Neighbours Network, had to go virtual, two key projects, TreeMobile and Food Up Front really came into their own. **[TreeMobile](https://www.transitiontreemobile.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)** (pronounced in the same way as ‘Batmobile’) is described by the group thus:

> “TreeMobile delivers and plants food-bearing trees, shrubs, and other perennials to improve local food security, reduce food miles, reforest urban communities, and create delicious food”.

The idea is simple but effective. In the winter, Virginie Gysel, landscaper and the founder of the TreeMobile project, contacts tree nurseries, reserves trees and shrubs (edible species only) which will do well in the local climate. In February the website opens with a big fanfare to take orders. The money people spend is used to buy the trees, which are then delivered to people, and often, if the buyer so wishes, planted for them.

![A man wearing gardening gloves points to six volunteers with gardening tools](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2016-05-01-Casey-welcoming.png)

Most of the people buying through TreeMobile are private landowners, people with gardens who want to add some trees. TreeMobile began with Transition Guelph and Transition Guelph and Transition Toronto quickly became partners in the project. The site has since expanded to cover other areas too, such as Richmond Hill, Hamilton,and Burlington.

![Young trees are laid out on a pavement while volunteers prepare to plant them](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/St.-Saviors-2014_13.jpg)

In each case, the local Transition (or other community) group co-ordinate promotion, sales and plantings for that place, and keep a portion of the profits. The customer benefits from high quality trees cheaper than they would pay elsewhere. Since its inception, TreeMobile has been responsible for the planting of over 16,000 plants, which includes over 1000 trees. The other project that is central to Transition Toronto is [**Food Up Front**](https://www.transitiontoronto.org/food-up-front?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org#:~:text=Food%20Up%20Front%20is%20a,in%20solving%20our%20climate%20crisis.). They describe the aim of Food Up Front as being “to help you gather your community around local food”. The idea is to make free seeds available to people across the city so they can start growing food on their balconies, in the gardens or, ideally, in their front gardens in a very visible way.

![Advert for 'Food Up Front' a Transition Toronto Project. There is an image of a bowl with green food in it and the words "Get Your Free Seed Packs Now! Grow Your Own Food. www.transitiontoronto.org/food-ip-front](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/190974600_316972383317888_3374808088181208250_n.png)

Another aspect of the scheme is that the seeds are hand-delivered to people via volunteers through a network of low carbon deliveries. Here’s their invitation to potential seed deliverers:

> “If you have a bike, skateboard, rollerblades, like to walk, have a car etc. we encourage you to join our team to help deliver seeds to a diversity of people across the city. It is a fun way to discover different parts of the city, while helping to create more sustainable and resilient communities by connecting people around food!”

Food Up Front was started by Mark Stewart who was a Seed Librarian at the Toronto Botanical Garden who was inspired by the vision of people growing edible plants in a very visible way. In the first year, he delivered 3000 packets of seeds on his bike! Last year Mark moved on from co-ordinating the scheme, and Leigh took over. The first year of COVID was easier: people wanted to get out of the house, have some exercise and growing food was ‘in’. Finding volunteers was harder work in 2021, but the scheme still ran, and delivered more seeds than the previous year. There is a sense that the workload of running the scheme this year means that the model will need some revision for 2022.

![Advert for 'Food Up Front' a Transition Toronto Project. There is a photo of seedlings with the words "Get Your Free Seed Pack Now - only a few left"](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/191230178_318316983183428_6495925332962994880_n.png)

Food Up Front buys 11 different seed varieties suited to the local climate in bulk, and some other seeds are donated to the scheme. These are all then weighed and packed by volunteers before being delivered. Their dream is to get a whole street involved, to have a Food Up Front street, full of vegetables being grown, but that hasn’t happened yet. Research suggests that 40% of those accessing seeds through Food Up Front have never gardened before, 30% of have done it for one or two years, and the rest are longer term gardeners. In 2021 they distributed around 3500 packets of seeds. Transition Toronto recently worked with Annisha Stewart to create a community garden in a more low-income part of the city, an affordable food desert, working on the principle that access to good healthy food should be the birthright of everyone who lives in a city. The garden benefitted from trees that were donated, and planted, by TreeMobile, as it has benefitted from inputs from many different community organisations. “We were so grateful to receive awesome trees!” she says. “We really appreciate them”. Transition Toronto was founded by Andrew Knox, who had been in the UK at an early Transition Network conference, and who then did the Transition Training and returned to Toronto determined to Transition the whole city. “We haven’t solved climate change yet, but we’ve done a lot of stuff here”, he tells me. A steering group was formed, Transition training was put on, a film contest was held to gather impressions of what a ‘Transitioned-Toronto/ would look like. They pioneered what they called ‘Energy Descent Action Theatre’ (inspired by the ‘Energy Descent Action Plans being created elsewhere at that time), the creation of an Energy Descent Action Plan as a piece of community theatre.

The challenge was to find a niche in a city that already has many different groups doing different community/sustainability/regenerative projects. “What can we do that no-one else is doing that also fits in with the Transition approach?”, they wondered. In 2013 they became a not-for-profit organisation with a board. While the temptation is to do a wider diversity of projects, Transition Toronto have found their niche, and are focusing on projects with a very real impact on the city. After being involved with the movement here since its inception, I wanted to ask Andrew how it had impacted his life, his outlook on the future and on what might be possible. “The only reason I had kids and started a family was because the Transition movement inspired me that we could do this” he tells me.
### Making space for creativity
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/space-for-creativity/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:37.000Z
From 14th-18th February our team will be taking time for creativity and reflection.

In all of the busyness of our day-to-day activities – whether work, activism or home life – it can be difficult to find time for the type of deep reflection or creative thinking that supports us to work well with emergence and be receptive to new insights and practices.

The intersecting crises that we are living and working with can often feel like crashing waves. And as we constantly adjust and respond, it can be hard to find moments or ways of standing firm and calmly taking in the horizon and our surroundings.

Practices of change are central to the Transition movement – paying attention not just to what we do, but the ways in which we do it. As the charity which supports the international movement, Transition Network seeks to be an organisation that is actively trying \*not\* to do business as usual.

While Transition Network encourages individual members of the team to take time away from computers to learn, reflect and digest, we recognise that it can be difficult to do this when emails and meetings keep crashing in like waves. So, this year, we decided to identify a week during which we give each other permission to step away from the day-to-day and try something different and more expansive. We’ve chosen this week – 14th to 18th February – for our first attempt at this experiment.

Some team members might catch up on reading the articles we regularly share on Slack, but rarely have time to more than scan read at best. Others may dive into the playlist of videos and podcasts they’ve been collecting. For some, this is the perfect time to play around and experiment with different online tools that might just make our work easier, but that take time and attention to explore and assess. Some of us plan to reflect together, others will be taking time on their own in nature – sitting under a tree and watching the clouds might be exactly what’s needed for us to get a new perspective on a challenging situation or for the seed of an idea to form, or germinate.

In many ways this might not look like an ideal time to take a week away from the daily tasks and activities of our roles. We’re in the process of defining our strategy and priorities for the coming year, writing concept notes and applications for core funding, completing an extensive process of evaluation, preparing for cherished team members to take new paths, and balancing the books before we can embark on recruitment. But just as children in the UK are encouraged to ‘Stop Look Listen’ before crossing a road, this could in fact be the perfect time to do the same.

We’re sharing this with you because we want to be transparent about why we might be slower to respond during this week. And also as an invitation to think about how you might incorporate reflection and creativity into your work, teams and groups too.
### Transition Network is Recruiting!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-network-recruiting/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:38.000Z
**Do you have skills and experience in finance? And a passion for environmental and social projects? Are you interested in joining a creative, innovative and committed team working to support the international Transition movement and amplify stories of community-led change? Could your financial skills help support our non-hierarchical organisation as we explore and seek to model the changes we want to see in the world?**

This is a 17-hours a week home-working role supporting our small team of 11–13 staff, and a number of international and UK-based contractors. Our annual turnover is in the region of £500,000.

You will be responsible for all aspects of finance: including payments, bookkeeping on Paxton, finance procedures and systems, and supporting project budget management and reporting. You will work closely with the treasurer to help trustees fulfil their statutory roles, prepare annual accounts and liaise with the auditor/ independent examiner.

As a Transition Network Team Member, we can all be assigned to roles according to the needs of the organisation and where our experience, knowledge and creativity will have the greatest impact. However, in this recruitment round we are seeking to appoint someone to fill our specialist Finance role, ensuring that Transition Network maintains an effective and efficient finance system which meets statutory obligations and supports frontline delivery.

While our team is mainly UK-based at the moment, we support an international movement and are actively seeking opportunities to distribute power, influence, resources and opportunities as widely as possible.

We are actively seeking to recruit individuals whose background or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or a diversity of perspectives into our team. This might include: people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, from working class backgrounds, people living with disabilities, a range of ages or sexualities, and/or those who have experienced disadvantage in society or their lives.

To find out more download this [Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ckkojvyg%5FXzTvL%5FklZ%5F9lLT3QJr5%5FN4PRTQwefpi6so/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

To apply please submit this [application form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgHKRd6PmtwVZmxz4VkWDeufrFq3QHuZFFsfN5End2OinNYA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) together with your CV by **00.00/midnight GMT/UTC on Monday 24 January 2022.**

This is a 17-hours a week home-working role supporting our small team of 11–13 staff, and a number of international and UK-based contractors. Our annual turnover is in the region of £500,000.

You will be responsible for all aspects of finance: including payments, bookkeeping on Paxton, finance procedures and systems, and supporting project budget management and reporting. You will work closely with the treasurer to help trustees fulfil their statutory roles, prepare annual accounts and liaise with the auditor/ independent examiner.

As a Transition Network Team Member, we can all be assigned to roles according to the needs of the organisation and where our experience, knowledge and creativity will have the greatest impact. However, in this recruitment round we are seeking to appoint someone to fill our specialist Finance role, ensuring that Transition Network maintains an effective and efficient finance system which meets statutory obligations and supports frontline delivery.

While our team is mainly UK-based at the moment, we support an international movement and are actively seeking opportunities to distribute power, influence, resources and opportunities as widely as possible.

We are actively seeking to recruit individuals whose background or lived experiences will bring extra depth and/or a diversity of perspectives into our team. This might include: people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, from working class backgrounds, people living with disabilities, a range of ages or sexualities, and/or those who have experienced disadvantage in society or their lives.

To find out more download this [Recruitment Pack](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ckkojvyg%5FXzTvL%5FklZ%5F9lLT3QJr5%5FN4PRTQwefpi6so/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

To apply please submit this [application form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgHKRd6PmtwVZmxz4VkWDeufrFq3QHuZFFsfN5End2OinNYA/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) together with your CV by **00.00/midnight GMT/UTC on Monday 24 January 2022.**

**Recruitment Pack**

[Recruitment Pack – Dec 2021 – Finance Team Member](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ckkojvyg%5FXzTvL%5FklZ%5F9lLT3QJr5%5FN4PRTQwefpi6so/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Gdoc)

[Recruitment Pack – Dec 2021 – Finance\_Team Member](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Recruitment-Pack-Dec-2021-Finance%5FTeam-Member.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (pdf)

[Recruitment Pack – Dec 2021 – Finance\_Team Member](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Recruitment-Pack-Dec-2021-Finance%5FTeam-Member.docx?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (docx)
### Training for Transition - Applications Open
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-applications/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:39.000Z
Apply now to become a trainer or facilitator for Transition.

Following last year’s extensive [action research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/training-for-transition-news/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the Training Support Circle has been working on more accessible pathways for people to become recognised internationally as Transition trainers and facilitators.

As part of this work we have agreed new guidelines for becoming recognised as a trainer or facilitator for Transition, and we are creating a community of practice.

These new guidelines include a pathway for people who haven’t attended a Train the Trainers course in the past to become recognised as international trainers and facilitators. This includes an option for accredited trainers and facilitators from other organisations and movements that are aligned with Transition to join the international Transition Training community.

To become recognised as an international Transition trainer or facilitator please read through these [**guidelines**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19zwukDDoDTq4EFJlDMN55naCwSrTNAto9e69glywt5I/edit?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to find out if you qualify, and complete this [**form**](https://transitiongroups.org/add-trainer/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (in English, Spanish or Portuguese) by 31st December.

We aim to approve new trainers and facilitators for Transition in January and will schedule our first community of practice meeting for March. This will be an opportunity to get to know each other and to discuss how the community of practice can best serve all of its members, as well as the movement as a whole.

Applications can be submitted any time throughout the year and are assessed twice a year. Any applications received after 31st December 2021 will be assessed in June 2022.

We’re excited to come together again, share insights and resources with each other, provide peer-to-peer support, and help the Transition movement continue to grow and thrive around the world!

Please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org) if you have any questions.
### Transition Together in Britain
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-together/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:40.000Z
In July we shared exciting news that The National Lottery Community Fund had awarded Transition Network £5,977,444, from their [Growing Great Ideas](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/growing-great-ideas?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme, for work in Britain over the next ten years. Today we launch [Transition Together](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a project designed to help create more resilient, empowered and sustainable communities across Britain, from the ground up.

Transition Together builds on the work of [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which supported and strengthened Transition responses to Covid-19 in Britain. Within just a few months new community initiatives were kickstarted through seed-funding, and groups came together to explore big questions and imaginative solutions at the [What Next Summit](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhlSHeoZiRxcsOnRSBcs0ie6&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Working closely with [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Together will support the Transition movement across Britain to develop and grow over the next ten years. It will help groups to connect and learn from one another, amplify inspiring stories, give out seed-funding grants, and run workshops and events. It will also support the emergence of a [Transition Hub or Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in England and Wales. To help scale the impact of Transition in Britain and to strengthen international connections and collaborations.

There are already 300 Transition groups across Britain bringing people together to take positive action on climate change. This can look like setting up renewable energy projects, re-localising food systems, sparking entrepreneurship, rewilding cities, creating community spaces, working with local councils, or bridging divides within communities.

We want to support groups to widen, deepen and lengthen their impact. To challenge systemic injustices and pay more attention to who is and isn’t being included or heard within our networks of change.

Transition Together will build regional and national connections between Transition and other groups that are working to increase the resilience, power and capacity of local communities. It is already part of the [CTRLShift Coalition](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which creates spaces for organisations building practical and radical alternatives on the ground to collaborate, network and build partnerships.

In July we shared exciting news that The National Lottery Community Fund had awarded Transition Network £5,977,444, from their [Growing Great Ideas](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/growing-great-ideas?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme, for work in Britain over the next ten years. Today we launch [Transition Together](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a project designed to help create more resilient, empowered and sustainable communities across Britain, from the ground up.

Transition Together builds on the work of [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which supported and strengthened Transition responses to Covid-19 in Britain. Within just a few months new community initiatives were kickstarted through seed-funding, and groups came together to explore big questions and imaginative solutions at the [What Next Summit](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhlSHeoZiRxcsOnRSBcs0ie6&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Working closely with [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Together will support the Transition movement across Britain to develop and grow over the next ten years. It will help groups to connect and learn from one another, amplify inspiring stories, give out seed-funding grants, and run workshops and events. It will also support the emergence of a [Transition Hub or Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in England and Wales. To help scale the impact of Transition in Britain and to strengthen international connections and collaborations.

There are already 300 Transition groups across Britain bringing people together to take positive action on climate change. This can look like setting up renewable energy projects, re-localising food systems, sparking entrepreneurship, rewilding cities, creating community spaces, working with local councils, or bridging divides within communities.

We want to support groups to widen, deepen and lengthen their impact. To challenge systemic injustices and pay more attention to who is and isn’t being included or heard within our networks of change.

Transition Together will build regional and national connections between Transition and other groups that are working to increase the resilience, power and capacity of local communities. It is already part of the [CTRLShift Coalition](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which creates spaces for organisations building practical and radical alternatives on the ground to collaborate, network and build partnerships.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/TT-blog-post.png

In July we shared exciting news that The National Lottery Community Fund had awarded Transition Network £5,977,444, from their [Growing Great Ideas](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/growing-great-ideas?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme, for work in Britain over the next ten years. Today we launch [Transition Together](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a project designed to help create more resilient, empowered and sustainable communities across Britain, from the ground up.

Transition Together builds on the work of [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which supported and strengthened Transition responses to Covid-19 in Britain. Within just a few months new community initiatives were kickstarted through seed-funding, and groups came together to explore big questions and imaginative solutions at the [What Next Summit](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYHfM4%5F%5FlhlSHeoZiRxcsOnRSBcs0ie6&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Working closely with [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Together will support the Transition movement across Britain to develop and grow over the next ten years. It will help groups to connect and learn from one another, amplify inspiring stories, give out seed-funding grants, and run workshops and events. It will also support the emergence of a [Transition Hub or Hubs](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in England and Wales. To help scale the impact of Transition in Britain and to strengthen international connections and collaborations.

There are already 300 Transition groups across Britain bringing people together to take positive action on climate change. This can look like setting up renewable energy projects, re-localising food systems, sparking entrepreneurship, rewilding cities, creating community spaces, working with local councils, or bridging divides within communities.

We want to support groups to widen, deepen and lengthen their impact. To challenge systemic injustices and pay more attention to who is and isn’t being included or heard within our networks of change.

Transition Together will build regional and national connections between Transition and other groups that are working to increase the resilience, power and capacity of local communities. It is already part of the [CTRLShift Coalition](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which creates spaces for organisations building practical and radical alternatives on the ground to collaborate, network and build partnerships.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/TT-blog-post.png

As the dust settles after COP26 we know that the Transition movement’s experience of creating change driven by communities is needed now more than ever. Neither optimistic nor pessimistic, we remain determined to work together to build communities, towns, cities and countries that are regenerative, fair and resilient.

**Transition Together**  
W: [https://transitiontogether.org.uk/](https://transitiontogether.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
T: [https://twitter.com/TransitionTog](https://twitter.com/TransitionTog?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
F: <https://www.facebook.com/TransitionTog>
### Climate Justice Global Day of Action and People's Summit
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/cop26-climate-justice/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:43.000Z
While world leaders meet in Glasgow for the COP26 global climate talks, people all over the world are mobilising for climate justice.

The [COP26 Coalition](https://cop26coalition.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is a UK-based civil society coalition of groups and individuals mobilising around climate justice during COP26\. Coalition members include environment and development NGOs, trade unions, grassroots community campaigns, faith groups, youth groups, migrant and racial justice networks – to name a few.

**They are bringing together movements from across the world to build power for system change** while putting Indigenous, frontline and Global South communities front and centre.

They are calling on communities across the world to join a [Global Day of Action for Climate Justice](https://cop26coalition.org/call-to-action/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on **6th November** to demand:

- **No More Cooking The Books: No To Fossil Fuels, Net-zero And False Solutions**
- **Rewire The System: Start The Justice Transition Now**
- **Global Climate Justice: Reparations And Redistribution To Indigenous Communities and The Global South**

You can read the full set of demands here – [https://cop26coalition.org/demands/](https://cop26coalition.org/demands/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

You can search this [map](https://cop26coalition.org/map/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to find actions, local hubs and regional initiatives for the Global Day of Action.

[![Figurative image of dandelion seeds being held aloft and spreading. The flyer reads: The Era of Injustice is Over. Global Day for Climate Justice. Nov 6. Find or organise a local action: cop26coalition.org/gda](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/GDA-feature-1024x512.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/GDA-feature.png)

If you’re not able to join the actions or demonstrations in person, COP26 Coalition are hosting a [digital global rally](https://cop26coalition.org/rally/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that will bring together voices of leading campaigners and activists across the world with speakers from the main stage in Glasgow.

**Tune into the Digital Rally on 6th Nov at 19:30 UTC via the COP26 Coalition** [**website**](https://cop26coalition.org/rally/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**,** [**YouTube**](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMNmU3mvFT8pLROw0y2f8ZQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **or** [**Facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/cop26coalition)**.**

[![Images of 5 women who will be speaking at the digital rally. The flyer reads: Climate Justice Digital Rally + Glasgow Rally. Sat 6 Nov 19:30 UTC](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Copy-of-Session-template-Purple-Facebook-Cover-1024x576.png)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/Copy-of-Session-template-Purple-Facebook-Cover.png)

After the Global Day of Action there will be a [People’s Summit for Climate Justice](https://cop26coalition.org/peoples-summit/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), 7-10th November.

Bringing together the climate justice movement to discuss, learn and strategise for system change. Join in online from anywhere in the world, or in-person in Glasgow.

Full details of the programme and registration can be found here – [https://cop26coalition.org/peoples-summit/list/](https://cop26coalition.org/peoples-summit/list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![Figurative image of people holding and planting floating dandelion seeds. The flyer reads: People's Summit for Climate Justice. 150 sessions bringing together movements from across the world for system change. 7-10 Nov 2021 Join online or in-person in Glasgow. Register Online cop26coalition.org/ps](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/peoples-summit.png)

## **Together we can imagine and build a future that works for all of us.**
### COP26 and the Five Stages of Grief
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/cop26-grief/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:45.000Z
###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

With some governments already starting to lower peoples’ expectations that the Summit will be anything other than a massive disappointment, their spin doctors will have their work cut out to present this as anything other than a historically shameful failure to rise to the challenge of these times. But hey, I remain open to being impressed.

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about ‘Net Zero by 2050’. As Peter Kalmus [put it recently](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/10/net-zero-2050-deadly-procrastination-fossil-fuels?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “two fatal flaws hide in plain sight within those 16 characters. One is ‘net zero’. The other is ‘by 2050’”. Net Zero is not a way forward, not a target, rather it is, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a strategy for COP26 to lock in many decades of unnecessary fossil fuels use well past 2050”.

It is an idea being promoted by bankers, oil company executives and the legions of well-paid people who caused this problem in the first place. But it contains no sense of urgency, no vision, no willingness to address the deeper issues underlying the climate and ecological emergency. It’s about haggling with physics, maintaining business-as-usual, and hoping that offsets and technologies that barely exist yet will allow us to pump vast amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And that we won’t have to unpick any of the stuff in the awkward box marked ‘colonisation’. All of which sent me to dig out a yellowing book on the family bookshelves.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross published her seminal book ‘*On Death and Dying*’ which included her ‘Five Stages of Grief’ model, drawing upon her years of working with terminally ill patients. It strikes me that we see very much the same stages playing out as we prepare for COP26.

We’ve seen the first stage very actively in our world for decades now, **Denial**. The climate denial industry has been huge, lavishly funded, and profoundly damaging. As the old saying goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”. Fortunately it is getting harder and harder to be in full denial any more as the science becomes overwhelming, but it’s still out there and remains a toxic influence on public life.

The second is **Anger**. Anyone who has ever ventured into the world of the comment threads that appear beneath any article or tweet about Extinction Rebellion, or Insulate Britain, or who sees how the issues are covered in places like GB News, will know the level of anger that the mere suggestion that we need to eat less meat, or fly less or even change anything at all, can elicit. Full on, vein-pulsating, splenetic, eye-bulging fury. And a huge amount of scapegoating, of gaslighting, of hatred for those suggesting change is inevitable. There’s a lot of it about.

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

With some governments already starting to lower peoples’ expectations that the Summit will be anything other than a massive disappointment, their spin doctors will have their work cut out to present this as anything other than a historically shameful failure to rise to the challenge of these times. But hey, I remain open to being impressed.

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about ‘Net Zero by 2050’. As Peter Kalmus [put it recently](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/10/net-zero-2050-deadly-procrastination-fossil-fuels?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “two fatal flaws hide in plain sight within those 16 characters. One is ‘net zero’. The other is ‘by 2050’”. Net Zero is not a way forward, not a target, rather it is, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a strategy for COP26 to lock in many decades of unnecessary fossil fuels use well past 2050”.

It is an idea being promoted by bankers, oil company executives and the legions of well-paid people who caused this problem in the first place. But it contains no sense of urgency, no vision, no willingness to address the deeper issues underlying the climate and ecological emergency. It’s about haggling with physics, maintaining business-as-usual, and hoping that offsets and technologies that barely exist yet will allow us to pump vast amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And that we won’t have to unpick any of the stuff in the awkward box marked ‘colonisation’. All of which sent me to dig out a yellowing book on the family bookshelves.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross published her seminal book ‘*On Death and Dying*’ which included her ‘Five Stages of Grief’ model, drawing upon her years of working with terminally ill patients. It strikes me that we see very much the same stages playing out as we prepare for COP26.

We’ve seen the first stage very actively in our world for decades now, **Denial**. The climate denial industry has been huge, lavishly funded, and profoundly damaging. As the old saying goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”. Fortunately it is getting harder and harder to be in full denial any more as the science becomes overwhelming, but it’s still out there and remains a toxic influence on public life.

The second is **Anger**. Anyone who has ever ventured into the world of the comment threads that appear beneath any article or tweet about Extinction Rebellion, or Insulate Britain, or who sees how the issues are covered in places like GB News, will know the level of anger that the mere suggestion that we need to eat less meat, or fly less or even change anything at all, can elicit. Full on, vein-pulsating, splenetic, eye-bulging fury. And a huge amount of scapegoating, of gaslighting, of hatred for those suggesting change is inevitable. There’s a lot of it about.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h18m46s501.jpg

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

With some governments already starting to lower peoples’ expectations that the Summit will be anything other than a massive disappointment, their spin doctors will have their work cut out to present this as anything other than a historically shameful failure to rise to the challenge of these times. But hey, I remain open to being impressed.

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about ‘Net Zero by 2050’. As Peter Kalmus [put it recently](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/10/net-zero-2050-deadly-procrastination-fossil-fuels?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “two fatal flaws hide in plain sight within those 16 characters. One is ‘net zero’. The other is ‘by 2050’”. Net Zero is not a way forward, not a target, rather it is, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a strategy for COP26 to lock in many decades of unnecessary fossil fuels use well past 2050”.

It is an idea being promoted by bankers, oil company executives and the legions of well-paid people who caused this problem in the first place. But it contains no sense of urgency, no vision, no willingness to address the deeper issues underlying the climate and ecological emergency. It’s about haggling with physics, maintaining business-as-usual, and hoping that offsets and technologies that barely exist yet will allow us to pump vast amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And that we won’t have to unpick any of the stuff in the awkward box marked ‘colonisation’. All of which sent me to dig out a yellowing book on the family bookshelves.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross published her seminal book ‘*On Death and Dying*’ which included her ‘Five Stages of Grief’ model, drawing upon her years of working with terminally ill patients. It strikes me that we see very much the same stages playing out as we prepare for COP26.

We’ve seen the first stage very actively in our world for decades now, **Denial**. The climate denial industry has been huge, lavishly funded, and profoundly damaging. As the old saying goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”. Fortunately it is getting harder and harder to be in full denial any more as the science becomes overwhelming, but it’s still out there and remains a toxic influence on public life.

The second is **Anger**. Anyone who has ever ventured into the world of the comment threads that appear beneath any article or tweet about Extinction Rebellion, or Insulate Britain, or who sees how the issues are covered in places like GB News, will know the level of anger that the mere suggestion that we need to eat less meat, or fly less or even change anything at all, can elicit. Full on, vein-pulsating, splenetic, eye-bulging fury. And a huge amount of scapegoating, of gaslighting, of hatred for those suggesting change is inevitable. There’s a lot of it about.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h18m46s501.jpg

The third is **Bargaining**. Bargaining is where we find most of the people sitting around the table at COP26\. It’s where most businesses are right now, and most of the companies who continue to invest in and finance the climate emergency. It’s beyond denial, it’s (mostly) beyond the anger, but it’s now about trying to make deals with physics. The UK’s current version is “we’ll accelerate the move to electric vehicles, and give grants for air source heat pumps, but we want our expanded airports and our new coal mines” (the UK’s recently-published [‘Net Zero Strategy’](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-path-to-net-zero-set-out-in-landmark-strategy?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) summarised beautifully for you there). It is profoundly unimaginative. As prison-abolitionist Mariame Kaba puts it in her book ‘*We Do This ‘Til We Free Us*’, “we live in a system that has been locked into a false sense of inevitability”.

It’s something I called out when I was in Nice recently at the ‘Transition Forum’ organised by the city’s right-of-centre Mayor, a summit to explore strategies for Transition organised by an administration who are also planning airport expansion and building of thousands of new, energy inefficient homes of prime farm land. My approach at such events is to think I’m most likely never going to get invited back anyway, so I might as well tell it like it is.

###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

With some governments already starting to lower peoples’ expectations that the Summit will be anything other than a massive disappointment, their spin doctors will have their work cut out to present this as anything other than a historically shameful failure to rise to the challenge of these times. But hey, I remain open to being impressed.

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about ‘Net Zero by 2050’. As Peter Kalmus [put it recently](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/10/net-zero-2050-deadly-procrastination-fossil-fuels?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “two fatal flaws hide in plain sight within those 16 characters. One is ‘net zero’. The other is ‘by 2050’”. Net Zero is not a way forward, not a target, rather it is, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a strategy for COP26 to lock in many decades of unnecessary fossil fuels use well past 2050”.

It is an idea being promoted by bankers, oil company executives and the legions of well-paid people who caused this problem in the first place. But it contains no sense of urgency, no vision, no willingness to address the deeper issues underlying the climate and ecological emergency. It’s about haggling with physics, maintaining business-as-usual, and hoping that offsets and technologies that barely exist yet will allow us to pump vast amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And that we won’t have to unpick any of the stuff in the awkward box marked ‘colonisation’. All of which sent me to dig out a yellowing book on the family bookshelves.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross published her seminal book ‘*On Death and Dying*’ which included her ‘Five Stages of Grief’ model, drawing upon her years of working with terminally ill patients. It strikes me that we see very much the same stages playing out as we prepare for COP26.

We’ve seen the first stage very actively in our world for decades now, **Denial**. The climate denial industry has been huge, lavishly funded, and profoundly damaging. As the old saying goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”. Fortunately it is getting harder and harder to be in full denial any more as the science becomes overwhelming, but it’s still out there and remains a toxic influence on public life.

The second is **Anger**. Anyone who has ever ventured into the world of the comment threads that appear beneath any article or tweet about Extinction Rebellion, or Insulate Britain, or who sees how the issues are covered in places like GB News, will know the level of anger that the mere suggestion that we need to eat less meat, or fly less or even change anything at all, can elicit. Full on, vein-pulsating, splenetic, eye-bulging fury. And a huge amount of scapegoating, of gaslighting, of hatred for those suggesting change is inevitable. There’s a lot of it about.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h18m46s501.jpg

The third is **Bargaining**. Bargaining is where we find most of the people sitting around the table at COP26\. It’s where most businesses are right now, and most of the companies who continue to invest in and finance the climate emergency. It’s beyond denial, it’s (mostly) beyond the anger, but it’s now about trying to make deals with physics. The UK’s current version is “we’ll accelerate the move to electric vehicles, and give grants for air source heat pumps, but we want our expanded airports and our new coal mines” (the UK’s recently-published [‘Net Zero Strategy’](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-path-to-net-zero-set-out-in-landmark-strategy?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) summarised beautifully for you there). It is profoundly unimaginative. As prison-abolitionist Mariame Kaba puts it in her book ‘*We Do This ‘Til We Free Us*’, “we live in a system that has been locked into a false sense of inevitability”.

It’s something I called out when I was in Nice recently at the ‘Transition Forum’ organised by the city’s right-of-centre Mayor, a summit to explore strategies for Transition organised by an administration who are also planning airport expansion and building of thousands of new, energy inefficient homes of prime farm land. My approach at such events is to think I’m most likely never going to get invited back anyway, so I might as well tell it like it is.

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###### First published on his [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/26/cop26-and-the-five-stages-of-grief/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Rob Hopkins shares with us his thoughts on COP26 and the five stages of grief.

In a few days I head up to Glasgow for COP26\. I have no formal role, indeed I don’t know why I’m going there really, and I can only be there for the first week, but I feel drawn to being there. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, the Civil Rights campaigner Claudette Colvinrefused to give up her seat on the bus, and later said, [reflecting on why she did it](seathttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks), “History had me glued to the seat” (such a beautiful quote). I feel like history is calling me to be there, just as it did when [I went to Paris for COP21 in 2015](https://youtu.be/T6nISyrLGGo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which felt like an extraordinary time to be there, a moment in history that had to be tasted.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h26m30s750.jpg

With some governments already starting to lower peoples’ expectations that the Summit will be anything other than a massive disappointment, their spin doctors will have their work cut out to present this as anything other than a historically shameful failure to rise to the challenge of these times. But hey, I remain open to being impressed.

You’ll hear a lot in the coming weeks about ‘Net Zero by 2050’. As Peter Kalmus [put it recently](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/10/net-zero-2050-deadly-procrastination-fossil-fuels?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “two fatal flaws hide in plain sight within those 16 characters. One is ‘net zero’. The other is ‘by 2050’”. Net Zero is not a way forward, not a target, rather it is, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a strategy for COP26 to lock in many decades of unnecessary fossil fuels use well past 2050”.

It is an idea being promoted by bankers, oil company executives and the legions of well-paid people who caused this problem in the first place. But it contains no sense of urgency, no vision, no willingness to address the deeper issues underlying the climate and ecological emergency. It’s about haggling with physics, maintaining business-as-usual, and hoping that offsets and technologies that barely exist yet will allow us to pump vast amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And that we won’t have to unpick any of the stuff in the awkward box marked ‘colonisation’. All of which sent me to dig out a yellowing book on the family bookshelves.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross published her seminal book ‘*On Death and Dying*’ which included her ‘Five Stages of Grief’ model, drawing upon her years of working with terminally ill patients. It strikes me that we see very much the same stages playing out as we prepare for COP26.

We’ve seen the first stage very actively in our world for decades now, **Denial**. The climate denial industry has been huge, lavishly funded, and profoundly damaging. As the old saying goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on”. Fortunately it is getting harder and harder to be in full denial any more as the science becomes overwhelming, but it’s still out there and remains a toxic influence on public life.

The second is **Anger**. Anyone who has ever ventured into the world of the comment threads that appear beneath any article or tweet about Extinction Rebellion, or Insulate Britain, or who sees how the issues are covered in places like GB News, will know the level of anger that the mere suggestion that we need to eat less meat, or fly less or even change anything at all, can elicit. Full on, vein-pulsating, splenetic, eye-bulging fury. And a huge amount of scapegoating, of gaslighting, of hatred for those suggesting change is inevitable. There’s a lot of it about.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/vlcsnap-2015-12-02-09h18m46s501.jpg

The third is **Bargaining**. Bargaining is where we find most of the people sitting around the table at COP26\. It’s where most businesses are right now, and most of the companies who continue to invest in and finance the climate emergency. It’s beyond denial, it’s (mostly) beyond the anger, but it’s now about trying to make deals with physics. The UK’s current version is “we’ll accelerate the move to electric vehicles, and give grants for air source heat pumps, but we want our expanded airports and our new coal mines” (the UK’s recently-published [‘Net Zero Strategy’](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-path-to-net-zero-set-out-in-landmark-strategy?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) summarised beautifully for you there). It is profoundly unimaginative. As prison-abolitionist Mariame Kaba puts it in her book ‘*We Do This ‘Til We Free Us*’, “we live in a system that has been locked into a false sense of inevitability”.

It’s something I called out when I was in Nice recently at the ‘Transition Forum’ organised by the city’s right-of-centre Mayor, a summit to explore strategies for Transition organised by an administration who are also planning airport expansion and building of thousands of new, energy inefficient homes of prime farm land. My approach at such events is to think I’m most likely never going to get invited back anyway, so I might as well tell it like it is.

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The fourth is **Depression**, an all-too-familiar condition for those of us who have passed through the previous three, and who understand the scale of the crisis and can see no way forwards. In many ways, it is the natural response to the current situation. Over 50% of young people [now experience what is called ‘eco-anxiety’](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). I would argue that eco-anxiety is the entirely natural response to the world around us today, a good indicator of having a pulse and of paying attention. It’s why grief work is so important, and why activists need to support and hold each other. It’s that ‘dark night of the soul’ that all climate activists pass through, and one of the reasons I personally have my doubts that Citizens Assemblies on the climate can ever be as effective as they need to be if they don’t include supporting people to experience such a night as part of the process.

But it’s the fifth step, **Acceptance**, that I think is most fascinating in the context of COP26\. It doesn’t mean some kind of happy-clappy glossing over of reality. I have the huge privilege of travelling around Europe visiting Transition groups and others, and seeing what happens when people reach a point of truly understanding the scale and implications of the climate emergency, when they’ve passed through the other four stages. The projects, the ideas that emerge when people have accepted that business-as-usual is finished, that the only option now is fresh and bold thinking, are amazing, and offer an inspiring taste of what it would look and feel like if those in charge were to do the same.

The imagination loves limits. It’s why [Doughnut Economics](https://doughnuteconomics.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is so powerful – it identifies the ‘sweet spot’ in which humanity can thrive, and it explores how we might create, within those limits, thriving cultures, businesses, communities and cities. Acceptance means we are changed by what we know. It means we have to reimagine who we are and how we move through the world. It means we have to be willing to speak fearlessly about what is no longer possible, and to be brave and fierce in protecting that.

It means everything is up for being reimagined, and that we are genuinely excited about that possibility. It means [pension funds that are willing to completely ditch fossil fuels from their investments](https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/dutch-pension-fund-abp-sell-175-bln-fossil-fuel-assets-2021-10-26/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It means [15 Minute Cities](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/paris-mayor-unveils-15-minute-city-plan-in-re-election-campaign?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It means cities [fundamentally reimagining their food systems](https://transitionnetwork.org/news/a-dazzlingly-delicious-taste-of-the-future-in-liege/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from the ground up. It means decolonising education, making reparations, acknowledging the global north’s carbon debt and so much more.

The output of COP26 needs to be, as [BreakThrough put it](https://mailchi.mp/7279134f63de/ncesummit-news-update-5669992?e=8e13d0df97&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), “a ‘big minus’ in emissions, not ‘net zero’ emissions”. But it also needs to communicate acceptance, an honest and a truthfulness, that the climate and ecological emergency goes far far deeper than just electric cars and heat pumps, it demands a fundamental reimagining of everything. As long as that feels like being wrenched away from something irreplaceable it will never happen. But if we can nurture the collective imagination and talk about, and dream about, and draw, and paint, and act, and tell stories about, and create living breathing examples of a low carbon future that are so delicious that we create a deep shared cultural longing for it, then we might just do it.

But it has to start with acceptance. The time for bargaining is over.

\* **Postscript**: I wanted to add that the Five Stages of Grief are not something that is a purely linear process, or that once one has reached a place of acceptance, that’s it, and denial, depression and so on somehow melt away. In many ways we flow between these, and indeed cycle in and out of depression in a regular basis, and the other stages too. As Ecopsychologist Mary-Jayne Rust pointed out to me, in response to this blog, “we are grieving a continuous loss so we might revisit those stages and not in any order”. Thank you.
### Sunset Assembly
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/sunset-assembly/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:46.000Z
Eva Schonveld is a climate activist, process designer, facilitator, and part of the Conflict Transformation circle of the international Transition Hubs. In this piece, she shares details of a unique global assembly with an invitation to participate as a witness.

The sun is setting on a system that is incapable of saving us from itself.

We need to find new ways to gather, to make decisions, to organise and to step into taking responsibility for each other that can respect and nourish all life, since those tasked with this responsibility have so disastrously failed.

As the sun goes down on the 29th of October a [unique assembly](https://www.globalassembly.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) will begin. It will continue for 24 hours, following the sunset round the world. Passed from community to community, this rolling assembly will be held by communities in Peru, West Papua, Australia, Indonesia, Kenya and more.

Community members will speak and listen to one another from the heart. Each community will use different forms of meeting, as we collectively seek a path towards a politics of wholeness where our decisions are based on being deeply present to each other, rather than speaking at each other. Our common focus is on:

*“How the system is impacting on me and my community, and how we are resisting, creating alternatives and maintaining connectedness in the face of it”*

The timing is no coincidence: COP26 starts on 1st November and will be no different to the previous 25\. The Climate COPs are mind-bogglingly successful at pretending they are tackling the climate crisis, while enabling the fossil fuel industry to receive billions in subsidies, emissions to rise exponentially, and corporate interests to perpetually delay real action.

There is no time left to do anything less than change everything.

[Grassroots to Global](https://www.grassroots2global.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), who have sparked this assembly, are working to build alternatives to our current collective decision making processes. Most of what we have has been wrung from the hands of those with power who have given up the absolute minimum that would be tolerated by the wider public – most often followed by a gradual pulling back of the power to decide back to those with most power.

This is because our system is deeply traumatised. Like all trauma, it is not always visible – especially not to those who appear to benefit from the status quo. Because we are social animals, the connection between personal and cultural trauma is deep and can be hard to disentangle. Our basic assumptions about ‘how things are’, about ‘human nature’ are in fact completely culturally conditioned.

We have to become slow and deep enough to swiftly make the fundamental changes that are needed. It is not our humanity that is the problem, it is an inhumane system of appropriation and exploitation. We are persuaded to rely on it for our survival and well-being, while it devours both. Our well-being can only ever rely on ensuring the well-being of others, not on exploiting them.

Groups who will join the Sunset Assembly include:

- a diverse group of people from the Andes, the Amazon and the coast in Peru
- a group in North Sulawesi, Indonesia who will be opening with a sunset ritual held by Minahasa elders
- elders from West Papua reflecting on the devastation of palm oil and other colonial impacts
- the Ogiek of Mount Elgon in Kenya, who are holding over part of a wider community meeting so that it can happen within this assembly
- And more, including from Aotearoa, Scotland, New York . . .

Alongside these assembly holding groups, who will meet to deeply reflect together, anyone from anywhere in the world is invited to join as witnesses at any point. Witnesses are invited to deeply experience and listen to the holding groups. We believe witnessing is an active process in which attention and intention make a real difference to the process.

In between each section we will hold a “Sharing Circle’ which is open to all, taking turns to speak for a few minutes each, bringing our own feelings and reflections, and hearing other Witnesses’ voices, where we speak from the heart without the need to prepare.

We hope this can be the beginnings of a whole-globe check-in. If you would like to participate as a witness, please sign up [here](https://forms.gle/T11cdwPb18zWGw3WA?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Beyond the sunset, we aim to hold a Sunrise Assembly after COP, hopefully joined by many new collaborators, focusing on how communities can gather locally and trans-locally to make heart-centred decisions, and so take responsibility for the future in a way that can replace a global decision-making system that is paralysed by its own trauma.

These around-the-world assemblies are sparked by[ Grassroots to Global,](https://www.grassroots2global.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) building on the[ Reworlding gathering](https://www.globalassembly.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), through which we encourage everyone to explore their own pathways in their own ways, so that collectively we can create a shared pathway to a politics of wholeness.
### Talking Radical Imagination with Max Haiven
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/max-haiven/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:47.000Z
[**Max Haiven**](https://maxhaiven.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) works in Thunder Bay, Canada as the Canada Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice at Lakehead University, where he also directs the ReImagining Value Action Lab, a workshop for the radical imagination, social justice and decolonisation. He is author of, among other books, ‘Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power: Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons’, he’s the co-author, with Alex Khasnabish, of ‘The Radical Imagination: Social Movement Research in the Age of Austerity’ and most recently he published ‘Revenge Capitalism: The Ghosts of Empire, the Demons of Capital, and the Settling of Unpayable Debts’. This conversation originally appeared on Rob Hopkins' [website](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/10/01/talking-radical-imagination-with-max-haiven/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and as a bonus podcast for subscribers to the ‘[From What If to What Next’ podcast.](http://patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**In your book *Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power* you wrote, “Without the radicalisation of the imagination we have no hope of overcoming these crises.” Are we experiencing a crisis of the imagination? Why? And how is it manifesting around us, do you feel, in 2021?**

I think we certainly are, and we’re feeling it acutely as, at least allegedly, we’re told we’re emerging from the Covid-19 crisis. It seems that even though this crisis in so many ways emerged from, or at least became severe because of years of market-orientated, neoliberal policy, those policies, even though nobody really believes they’re going to make the world a better place, still seem to be in force, and there doesn’t seem to yet be a unifying paradigm that could replace it.

Mostly we have the opinion leaders of the world either saying it’s going to be more of the same, but perhaps more competition between governments around the world, or it’s time for the rich to escape Earth entirely and go to space. So it feels like we are in the midst of a crisis of imagination on the sort of level of political leadership and economic leadership.

Also on the level of many of our everyday lives there’s a sense that we go about our routines as we have, not necessarily because we like them or we think they’re going to bring us to a better place in our personal lives, ecologically, socially, but simply because we can’t envision what a different world would look like and how we could get there from here. We are absolutely still in the grips of a crisis of imagination, and that is really compounded by the kinds of ways that our mediascape and the spectrum of ideas is so tightly controlled by a very few corporations, or orientated towards profit, in ways to limit us from communicating with each other and thinking about alternatives.

**As somebody who has been involved in politics and change for clearly quite a while, what was it that started you focusing increasingly on this question of imagination rather than policy or activist strategies. Why imagination?**

I always began from the position that it’s social movements from the bottom-up that change history, that change human life. I mean, sometimes we credit particular individuals with catalysing those movements. Often we credit political leaders who appropriate the momentum of movements. But really it’s when people come together and decide that they don’t want to live the way they’re living, or be oppressed the way that they’re oppressed, that things actually change.

Thinking about that is when I started becoming politically active at the turn of the millennium. I was faced with the fact that it seemed like, as a young organiser, it was really hard for me to convince people that that task was even worth it. One argument is that people are just happy the way things are, but that clearly wasn’t true, and people were even then having a growing awareness that the capitalist system on a global scale was headed towards ecological collapse, as well as social and cultural collapse.

But I had this constant sense that because there wasn’t a way that we could envision what the future might look, or what we might be capable of creating together, we weren’t able to muster enough popular power to actually make a change. To build enough momentum to then force changes in politics and policy which might come later. I wanted to focus on what I saw as the root problem, which was this crisis or absence or lack of imagination.

Where that led me was to the realisation, after doing some research and thinking about it, and collaborating with a number of other thinkers and activists, that actually, I got it a little upside down, because I had imagined that if we could only harness or cultivate the radical imagination in people’s minds, through conversations and debates, that would lead to the action I was seeking. But what I discovered was that in fact there’s more of a mutually reinforcing or dialectic relationship between the imagination and action. Our imagination are enlivened and grow and change to the extent that we come together with people to fight for things that we care about. And as we do that, that imagination then inspires us, and others, to fight for the things we care about as well.

**What is the radical imagination? How do you define what you mean by it? How can we create the best conditions for it to emerge and flourish?**

I’ll start by saying what the radical imagination maybe isn’t, because that will maybe make it a little bit clearer, and here I’m drawing on work that I did with my friend Alex Khasnabish, who’s a social movement scholar, when we were both living in the city of Halifax in Canada. We chose to live there and we chose to study that city, not because it’s a particularly radical place where some sort of revolution or major change inevitable. It’s actually a very conservative city. But we wanted to study what social movements do in moments when it seems objectively, if not exactly hopeless, then very unlikely that they’re going to get the change that they want, and how people maintain faith and persevere in those conditions.

What we discovered is that when we went into it, a lot of the writing about the imagination and the radical imagination, political imagination, tends to have a very individualistic focus. This is the idea that’s familiar to most people, that your imagination is like your personal property. It’s your own internal landscape that you exist in part of the time. And that radical imagination is a matter of simply having radical ideas that you, as an individual, have a Eureka moment while reading a book or watching a movie, or doing something and you say, “Aha, I realise that the entire world can be changed.”

We proposed that the radical imagination isn’t something that individuals have, but something that people do together. The radical imagination is something that emerges when, as I was mentioning, people come together to struggle against the reality that they’ve been forced into. The social reality specifically, although sometimes the social reality masquerades as biological reality or physical reality, when in fact it’s something that we’ve created. When people come together and say, “This isn’t right. The system that we live in doesn’t value the things that we value” – whether that’s people’s lives, whether it’s a notion of equality, whether it’s ecological sustainability – when people come together and insist that they wish to live by a different set of values, and live in a world that values things differently, we say that the imagination sparks into existence.

And that spark can then sometimes spread into an enduring fire that can carry movements forward. It has in the past sometimes also flamed out of control in various ways. But the radical imagination in this sense is something that exists sort of underneath our social interactions. Probably the theorist that inspired us most around the radical imagination is the French Greek philosopher, Cornelius Castoriadis. He speaks about the radical imagination as a magma, sort of like lava that is flowing underneath the surface of the earth.

And you know, the surface of the earth itself that we walk on and that everything grows on, most of it was originally magma that erupted to the surface and then cooled in its chemical reaction with the atmosphere. And we take the Earth as we see it, as this eternal landscape that’s always been here. It’s actually in geological terms quite recent. And it’s changing all the time. And likewise the sort of structures of our society we take for eternal and that they’ve been handed down to us and there’s no escape from them and that they’re natural and inevitable, that markets are the only way to organise human co-operation.

But that’s a very recent invention too. Much more recent than the geological formations of the Earth. And likewise it came out of eruptions of the imagination, and it will be eventually washed away by eruptions of the imagination as well, which will then in their turn harden, and will need to be swept away and changed.

**That’s a beautiful analogy. You write very beautifully in the book about creativity and imagination, which are often used interchangeably, but you pick the two terms apart and distinguish between the two in a way I find really useful. Could you say a little bit about that?**

Yeah, absolutely. I trained in a literature department, and I teach in an English department still today, so as an Anglophone who grew up speaking English, I’m always fascinated by the strange hybrid weird imperial language that I live in. I often go back to the etymology of words and the way that they evolved. And it’s interesting that both imagination and creativity are relatively recent terms.

They were not words that were widely used until the early modern period. In fact the idea of a creation or a creature, from which we get the word creativity, was largely reserved for God’s powers to create. And the imagination at a certain point was actually a crime. The crime of imagination was to imagine the murder of the Regent. You could actually be hanged or at least imprisoned for the imagination. And then as we have this transition from the feudal period to capitalism, these words take on a different meaning and a different value.

At a certain point, as the world shifts, or at least as Europe shifts towards an idea of human centred cosmology, where humans create change in the world rather than God, notions of the imagination and creativity are developed. Sometimes these are quite triumphant. You know, the idea that humanity can conquer nature, can conquer the world, and create of its own will a kind of reality. And sometimes these are quite pessimistic. You know, at various points conservative forces in society have been very distrustful of both creativity and the imagination, as things that might disrupt the social order.

Recently I think what’s happened with both terms is that they’ve been reappropriated by the forces of capital accumulation. Now we have ‘creative cities’, the ‘creative class’, what Bill Gates used to call ‘creative capitalism’. And the idea that only under a capitalist market-driven system will creativity truly be unleashed because it allows for a field of competition that brings out the most creative individuals who first invent new companies and then shoot themselves into space.

The imagination likewise has been harnessed by this culture to suggest that, rather than having the power to imagine a different society together or create one, we should limit ourselves to personal acts of the imagination. You know, making TikTok videos, or doing all sorts of other things that fit into a very limited framework for the imagination.

I think the distinction between the terms, because of this kind of history that I’ve sketched really quickly, they often get really conflated, but I think it’s useful to keep them separate to a certain extent. The imagination is a really useful term for describing, as I mentioned, not just the quality of mind that allows people to dream of things that they haven’t seen, but that thing that exists between us, in a way. That thing that’s sparking in our interactions. The imagination as the social force is key not only to our ability to think about future possibilities, but also to empathise with people that are not like us, which I think is key to any decent society.

Meanwhile, the notion of creativity can be used in a slightly more limited sense to speak to those ways in which we express our imaginations through, for instance, arts and culture. Through writing. Through dance and performing arts. And those things that we more conventionally associate with creative expression.

[![Front cover of book by Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish - "The Radical Imagination"](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri_cover-657x1024.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri%5Fcover.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**In your book *Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power* you wrote, “Without the radicalisation of the imagination we have no hope of overcoming these crises.” Are we experiencing a crisis of the imagination? Why? And how is it manifesting around us, do you feel, in 2021?**

I think we certainly are, and we’re feeling it acutely as, at least allegedly, we’re told we’re emerging from the Covid-19 crisis. It seems that even though this crisis in so many ways emerged from, or at least became severe because of years of market-orientated, neoliberal policy, those policies, even though nobody really believes they’re going to make the world a better place, still seem to be in force, and there doesn’t seem to yet be a unifying paradigm that could replace it.

Mostly we have the opinion leaders of the world either saying it’s going to be more of the same, but perhaps more competition between governments around the world, or it’s time for the rich to escape Earth entirely and go to space. So it feels like we are in the midst of a crisis of imagination on the sort of level of political leadership and economic leadership.

Also on the level of many of our everyday lives there’s a sense that we go about our routines as we have, not necessarily because we like them or we think they’re going to bring us to a better place in our personal lives, ecologically, socially, but simply because we can’t envision what a different world would look like and how we could get there from here. We are absolutely still in the grips of a crisis of imagination, and that is really compounded by the kinds of ways that our mediascape and the spectrum of ideas is so tightly controlled by a very few corporations, or orientated towards profit, in ways to limit us from communicating with each other and thinking about alternatives.

**As somebody who has been involved in politics and change for clearly quite a while, what was it that started you focusing increasingly on this question of imagination rather than policy or activist strategies. Why imagination?**

I always began from the position that it’s social movements from the bottom-up that change history, that change human life. I mean, sometimes we credit particular individuals with catalysing those movements. Often we credit political leaders who appropriate the momentum of movements. But really it’s when people come together and decide that they don’t want to live the way they’re living, or be oppressed the way that they’re oppressed, that things actually change.

Thinking about that is when I started becoming politically active at the turn of the millennium. I was faced with the fact that it seemed like, as a young organiser, it was really hard for me to convince people that that task was even worth it. One argument is that people are just happy the way things are, but that clearly wasn’t true, and people were even then having a growing awareness that the capitalist system on a global scale was headed towards ecological collapse, as well as social and cultural collapse.

But I had this constant sense that because there wasn’t a way that we could envision what the future might look, or what we might be capable of creating together, we weren’t able to muster enough popular power to actually make a change. To build enough momentum to then force changes in politics and policy which might come later. I wanted to focus on what I saw as the root problem, which was this crisis or absence or lack of imagination.

Where that led me was to the realisation, after doing some research and thinking about it, and collaborating with a number of other thinkers and activists, that actually, I got it a little upside down, because I had imagined that if we could only harness or cultivate the radical imagination in people’s minds, through conversations and debates, that would lead to the action I was seeking. But what I discovered was that in fact there’s more of a mutually reinforcing or dialectic relationship between the imagination and action. Our imagination are enlivened and grow and change to the extent that we come together with people to fight for things that we care about. And as we do that, that imagination then inspires us, and others, to fight for the things we care about as well.

**What is the radical imagination? How do you define what you mean by it? How can we create the best conditions for it to emerge and flourish?**

I’ll start by saying what the radical imagination maybe isn’t, because that will maybe make it a little bit clearer, and here I’m drawing on work that I did with my friend Alex Khasnabish, who’s a social movement scholar, when we were both living in the city of Halifax in Canada. We chose to live there and we chose to study that city, not because it’s a particularly radical place where some sort of revolution or major change inevitable. It’s actually a very conservative city. But we wanted to study what social movements do in moments when it seems objectively, if not exactly hopeless, then very unlikely that they’re going to get the change that they want, and how people maintain faith and persevere in those conditions.

What we discovered is that when we went into it, a lot of the writing about the imagination and the radical imagination, political imagination, tends to have a very individualistic focus. This is the idea that’s familiar to most people, that your imagination is like your personal property. It’s your own internal landscape that you exist in part of the time. And that radical imagination is a matter of simply having radical ideas that you, as an individual, have a Eureka moment while reading a book or watching a movie, or doing something and you say, “Aha, I realise that the entire world can be changed.”

We proposed that the radical imagination isn’t something that individuals have, but something that people do together. The radical imagination is something that emerges when, as I was mentioning, people come together to struggle against the reality that they’ve been forced into. The social reality specifically, although sometimes the social reality masquerades as biological reality or physical reality, when in fact it’s something that we’ve created. When people come together and say, “This isn’t right. The system that we live in doesn’t value the things that we value” – whether that’s people’s lives, whether it’s a notion of equality, whether it’s ecological sustainability – when people come together and insist that they wish to live by a different set of values, and live in a world that values things differently, we say that the imagination sparks into existence.

And that spark can then sometimes spread into an enduring fire that can carry movements forward. It has in the past sometimes also flamed out of control in various ways. But the radical imagination in this sense is something that exists sort of underneath our social interactions. Probably the theorist that inspired us most around the radical imagination is the French Greek philosopher, Cornelius Castoriadis. He speaks about the radical imagination as a magma, sort of like lava that is flowing underneath the surface of the earth.

And you know, the surface of the earth itself that we walk on and that everything grows on, most of it was originally magma that erupted to the surface and then cooled in its chemical reaction with the atmosphere. And we take the Earth as we see it, as this eternal landscape that’s always been here. It’s actually in geological terms quite recent. And it’s changing all the time. And likewise the sort of structures of our society we take for eternal and that they’ve been handed down to us and there’s no escape from them and that they’re natural and inevitable, that markets are the only way to organise human co-operation.

But that’s a very recent invention too. Much more recent than the geological formations of the Earth. And likewise it came out of eruptions of the imagination, and it will be eventually washed away by eruptions of the imagination as well, which will then in their turn harden, and will need to be swept away and changed.

**That’s a beautiful analogy. You write very beautifully in the book about creativity and imagination, which are often used interchangeably, but you pick the two terms apart and distinguish between the two in a way I find really useful. Could you say a little bit about that?**

Yeah, absolutely. I trained in a literature department, and I teach in an English department still today, so as an Anglophone who grew up speaking English, I’m always fascinated by the strange hybrid weird imperial language that I live in. I often go back to the etymology of words and the way that they evolved. And it’s interesting that both imagination and creativity are relatively recent terms.

They were not words that were widely used until the early modern period. In fact the idea of a creation or a creature, from which we get the word creativity, was largely reserved for God’s powers to create. And the imagination at a certain point was actually a crime. The crime of imagination was to imagine the murder of the Regent. You could actually be hanged or at least imprisoned for the imagination. And then as we have this transition from the feudal period to capitalism, these words take on a different meaning and a different value.

At a certain point, as the world shifts, or at least as Europe shifts towards an idea of human centred cosmology, where humans create change in the world rather than God, notions of the imagination and creativity are developed. Sometimes these are quite triumphant. You know, the idea that humanity can conquer nature, can conquer the world, and create of its own will a kind of reality. And sometimes these are quite pessimistic. You know, at various points conservative forces in society have been very distrustful of both creativity and the imagination, as things that might disrupt the social order.

Recently I think what’s happened with both terms is that they’ve been reappropriated by the forces of capital accumulation. Now we have ‘creative cities’, the ‘creative class’, what Bill Gates used to call ‘creative capitalism’. And the idea that only under a capitalist market-driven system will creativity truly be unleashed because it allows for a field of competition that brings out the most creative individuals who first invent new companies and then shoot themselves into space.

The imagination likewise has been harnessed by this culture to suggest that, rather than having the power to imagine a different society together or create one, we should limit ourselves to personal acts of the imagination. You know, making TikTok videos, or doing all sorts of other things that fit into a very limited framework for the imagination.

I think the distinction between the terms, because of this kind of history that I’ve sketched really quickly, they often get really conflated, but I think it’s useful to keep them separate to a certain extent. The imagination is a really useful term for describing, as I mentioned, not just the quality of mind that allows people to dream of things that they haven’t seen, but that thing that exists between us, in a way. That thing that’s sparking in our interactions. The imagination as the social force is key not only to our ability to think about future possibilities, but also to empathise with people that are not like us, which I think is key to any decent society.

Meanwhile, the notion of creativity can be used in a slightly more limited sense to speak to those ways in which we express our imaginations through, for instance, arts and culture. Through writing. Through dance and performing arts. And those things that we more conventionally associate with creative expression.

[![Front cover of book by Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish - "The Radical Imagination"](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri_cover-657x1024.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri%5Fcover.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**We’ve been led I guess over the last two, three hundred years to believe that the imaginations we celebrate tend to be the imaginations of straight, white men, painters, writers. How do we set about decolonising the imagination? What does that term mean to you, or what might that look like as a practice?**

It’s such an amazing and difficult question. I suppose I would begin addressing it by simply pointing out that the structures that have shaped colonialism and imperialism are themselves deeply indebted to the imagination. Like this story we have that you can categorise human difference by race, and that race is a physiological fact, a genotypical fact, that has something to do with people’s capacities, that’s a completely imaginary construction that Europeans developed from the fifteenth century through various phases into the twentieth century in its more scientific and culturalist forms.

Race is this kind of fiction that becomes real through the way that it constrains people’s actions and reactions. The imagination isn’t just a force for good. It’s also a force for ill. Even something like money … even when it was still made of precious metals, it’s still kind of based in the imagination. Because after all most precious metals have very little use value to most humans. So the value, the outsized value that we give to money, and its ability to control how we co-operate with one another and build and reproduce our world, is a structure of the imagination.

Beginning with the dangers of the imagination, it alerts us to the kind of task ahead of really taking responsibility for the power of the imagination. Maybe more specifically to that question, one thing that I think anti-racist and anti-colonial critics have been pointing out for a long time is that these systems are really dependent not only on physical force, you know, the use of police, the use of militaries, the use of economic pressures, but also on conscripting the imagination of many people.

Specifically in our world historical moment, conscripting the imaginations largely of people who have been understood to be white. Or understood to be European. Although both of those categories themselves are imaginary. But imaginary and given real form by, again, the way that they inspire and shape people’s actions. Overcoming those kind of imaginary hierarchies is crucial. And also realising that then there have been and continue to be many other ways of organising life on this planet that don’t revolve around the kind of accumulation and competitive logics that emerged from imperial and colonial Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. And that those logics have a huge amount to teach us about what it might mean to leave sustainably on this world.

I’m really fortunate in many ways to live in Thunder Bay, which is a city in Anishinaabe Territories. And there are lots of Anishinaabe activists and elders who have been fighting to retain a living memory of the ways that Anishinaabe people organised life on these lands in very sustainable ways for millennia before Europeans arrived. What we’re struggling towards in this part of the world are ways of addressing the histories and continued impacts of colonialism, imperialism and racism that still dramatically affect people’s lives here, and also trying to find a pathway forward.

Nobody wants to go back to something that is imagined to have existed before. But to recognise that there’s an incredible power of the imagination that can emerge from the meeting points of Anishinaabe world views and practices with the kinds of world views and practices that now also exist on this land thanks to those of us whose ancestors settled here, or squatted here, because, you now, it’s not like they were invited by the Anishinaabe to settle here.

**It’s like in Permaculture, that idea of ‘edge’, where two things meet is always the most fertile bit isn’t it? I love how you talk about how the radical imagination not being a thing that we have as individuals but you say, “It’s a shared landscape or a commons of possibility that we share as communities.” Where have you seen the best examples of people creating the conditions, or using particular tools to foster and nurture that, to bring people together to spark that kind of radical imagination?**

The most inspiring examples to me are places where groups have managed to reclaim space and land, and use the space and land, and their interactions with space and land to build something different, and I’ll give a couple of examples in a second. But it’s really important, and I think it doesn’t just necessarily happen in sort of rural areas, kind of back to the land thing. It also happens in urban areas.

I mean, on the large-scale, there’s the incredible example of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, the state of Chiapas in Mexico, where Indigenous people reclaimed a huge territory and then over the last 30 years have transformed it into a zone where they can experiment with doing politics on a very different level, building an economy based on reciprocity with the land and with one another. This again integrates older Indigenous traditions with global wisdoms.

The Zapatistas have also opened up their territory to be a training ground for others. That’s an amazing large-scale example. And similar things are happening now with the revolution in Rojava in Kurdistan, in the territories between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, what are now those states, which are very, very promising. I’ve also seen a lot of it here in the territories currently known as Canada, and also the territories currently known as the United States, with Indigenous uprisings where as part of resisting pipelines or environmentally destructive projects, people come together and often Indigenous people will welcome non-Indigenous people into resistance camps.

In the space of that protest camp they actually begin to develop a whole new way of life, whole new sets of relationships and modes of co-operation that again draw on older traditions – including the tradition of the commons, from Western European origins and Indigenous practices – to create these living experiments. What is so inspiring about those experiments is that they are transformational on multiple levels. They’re transformational of the land and the relations on the land. They’re transformational of the individuals. They instantiate different ways of governing ourselves, outside of the kind of the order of the state and capitalism and its police and its prisons and its markets.

They are, not in and of themselves, enough to save the world, but are certainly great examples. There are other both more and less militant examples going on around the world of people also coming together and saying, “We’re going to care for this land that cares for us.” So the imprints of pamphlets that I published with Pluto press called Vagabonds is just publishing a pamphlet coming out this fall from Jay Jordan and Isa Fremeaux of the ZAD, the Zone to be Defended near Nantes in France, where based on rebellion against an airport a bunch of traditional farmers and also post-urban radicals came together to defend the land and build a different way of life on it.

I think your network of Transition Towns and Transition communities is another great example, where people are coming together around a sense that they want to live by and defend other values and that practice is grounded in territories and built out of relationships that are evolving.

Those are the ones that I see as most exciting. But I guess I would just maybe close the question by also saying I think this happens in an even smaller way, in other forms of resistance that we don’t necessarily always associate with it. I think about the incredible last summer of 2020 here in North America, and the incredible uprisings that were under the banner of Black Lives Matter. These uprisings were direct confrontations with police, and often had as their tip of the spear specific demands around policy.

But they also reclaimed space, and they were spaces where lots of people who were shouting “No” in unison came together and realised they had something in common, and discovered that if indeed they wanted to live in a world where Black lives indeed do matter, that would mean a much more massive transformation. There was a sort of connection there to the abolitionist movement which seeks to create a world without prisons and police.

These broad radical visions and radical imaginaries sort of emerged, but again it’s about people coming together in space, co-operating in new ways, and through co-operating in new ways to take and hold space, developing new visions of what might be possible.

**In that work, what for you is the role of visioning? Of really trying to dream of, and speak of, a different kind of future than the one that currently seems to be on offer? What’s the role of that tool?**

It’s vitally important, and it’s something that often movements forget to do, for a variety of reasons. I mean mostly movements are very busy, and they’re made up of people who are made artificially busy by capitalism trying to earn enough money to survive. Often it feels like there isn’t enough time when you’re really struggling to get together and be like, “Why are we doing this? What’s our vision? Or what are our many visions of what could be?”

But in the absence of that often movements lose their soul, to use a kind of romantic terminology. There’s an easy way that the struggle itself and the adrenalin, and other emotive forces of movement building just sort of run on their steam, or run on their own momentum, and you get huge problems of burn-out. There are different ways that movements cultivate this ability to do future dreaming or cultivate the radical imagination.

It’s kind of frowned upon or it seems a bit tacky to get together and talk about what my ideal future would look like. Often movements are based around a sense of self-sacrifice, so people feel indulgent for taking the time or the space to do that. But increasingly we’re seeing, and this is especially the case if I think about North America, or as we call it, like Turtle Island, it’s especially the case in Black and Indigenous organising. There’s a whole new emergence of a generation of Afrofuturists and Indigenous-futurists who are using films, novels, short stories, graphic novels, music, performance, dance, in order to create spaces that are outside but alongside social movements, for that kind of imagining of the future.

Partly thanks to the incredible capacities and affordances of digital technologies, that’s something that feels like it’s really blossoming in fascinating ways. Other movements have ways of doing that too but sometimes they need to do it indirectly. Like it’s not okay to just get all of your comrades around and be like, “What’s the future going to hold?” I’m doing a project right now for instance that will launch later this year to try and create reading groups and film groups with Amazon workers, to try and ask them what their visions of alternative futures are. You know, from within the belly of that beast! Because Amazon as a firm is very dedicated to crafting a certain kind of capitalist future. So perhaps the workers within it know something about other futures as well.

![Image of a pink brain with the words "Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power - Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons'](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/power.jpg)

**In your book *Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power* you wrote, “Without the radicalisation of the imagination we have no hope of overcoming these crises.” Are we experiencing a crisis of the imagination? Why? And how is it manifesting around us, do you feel, in 2021?**

I think we certainly are, and we’re feeling it acutely as, at least allegedly, we’re told we’re emerging from the Covid-19 crisis. It seems that even though this crisis in so many ways emerged from, or at least became severe because of years of market-orientated, neoliberal policy, those policies, even though nobody really believes they’re going to make the world a better place, still seem to be in force, and there doesn’t seem to yet be a unifying paradigm that could replace it.

Mostly we have the opinion leaders of the world either saying it’s going to be more of the same, but perhaps more competition between governments around the world, or it’s time for the rich to escape Earth entirely and go to space. So it feels like we are in the midst of a crisis of imagination on the sort of level of political leadership and economic leadership.

Also on the level of many of our everyday lives there’s a sense that we go about our routines as we have, not necessarily because we like them or we think they’re going to bring us to a better place in our personal lives, ecologically, socially, but simply because we can’t envision what a different world would look like and how we could get there from here. We are absolutely still in the grips of a crisis of imagination, and that is really compounded by the kinds of ways that our mediascape and the spectrum of ideas is so tightly controlled by a very few corporations, or orientated towards profit, in ways to limit us from communicating with each other and thinking about alternatives.

**As somebody who has been involved in politics and change for clearly quite a while, what was it that started you focusing increasingly on this question of imagination rather than policy or activist strategies. Why imagination?**

I always began from the position that it’s social movements from the bottom-up that change history, that change human life. I mean, sometimes we credit particular individuals with catalysing those movements. Often we credit political leaders who appropriate the momentum of movements. But really it’s when people come together and decide that they don’t want to live the way they’re living, or be oppressed the way that they’re oppressed, that things actually change.

Thinking about that is when I started becoming politically active at the turn of the millennium. I was faced with the fact that it seemed like, as a young organiser, it was really hard for me to convince people that that task was even worth it. One argument is that people are just happy the way things are, but that clearly wasn’t true, and people were even then having a growing awareness that the capitalist system on a global scale was headed towards ecological collapse, as well as social and cultural collapse.

But I had this constant sense that because there wasn’t a way that we could envision what the future might look, or what we might be capable of creating together, we weren’t able to muster enough popular power to actually make a change. To build enough momentum to then force changes in politics and policy which might come later. I wanted to focus on what I saw as the root problem, which was this crisis or absence or lack of imagination.

Where that led me was to the realisation, after doing some research and thinking about it, and collaborating with a number of other thinkers and activists, that actually, I got it a little upside down, because I had imagined that if we could only harness or cultivate the radical imagination in people’s minds, through conversations and debates, that would lead to the action I was seeking. But what I discovered was that in fact there’s more of a mutually reinforcing or dialectic relationship between the imagination and action. Our imagination are enlivened and grow and change to the extent that we come together with people to fight for things that we care about. And as we do that, that imagination then inspires us, and others, to fight for the things we care about as well.

**What is the radical imagination? How do you define what you mean by it? How can we create the best conditions for it to emerge and flourish?**

I’ll start by saying what the radical imagination maybe isn’t, because that will maybe make it a little bit clearer, and here I’m drawing on work that I did with my friend Alex Khasnabish, who’s a social movement scholar, when we were both living in the city of Halifax in Canada. We chose to live there and we chose to study that city, not because it’s a particularly radical place where some sort of revolution or major change inevitable. It’s actually a very conservative city. But we wanted to study what social movements do in moments when it seems objectively, if not exactly hopeless, then very unlikely that they’re going to get the change that they want, and how people maintain faith and persevere in those conditions.

What we discovered is that when we went into it, a lot of the writing about the imagination and the radical imagination, political imagination, tends to have a very individualistic focus. This is the idea that’s familiar to most people, that your imagination is like your personal property. It’s your own internal landscape that you exist in part of the time. And that radical imagination is a matter of simply having radical ideas that you, as an individual, have a Eureka moment while reading a book or watching a movie, or doing something and you say, “Aha, I realise that the entire world can be changed.”

We proposed that the radical imagination isn’t something that individuals have, but something that people do together. The radical imagination is something that emerges when, as I was mentioning, people come together to struggle against the reality that they’ve been forced into. The social reality specifically, although sometimes the social reality masquerades as biological reality or physical reality, when in fact it’s something that we’ve created. When people come together and say, “This isn’t right. The system that we live in doesn’t value the things that we value” – whether that’s people’s lives, whether it’s a notion of equality, whether it’s ecological sustainability – when people come together and insist that they wish to live by a different set of values, and live in a world that values things differently, we say that the imagination sparks into existence.

And that spark can then sometimes spread into an enduring fire that can carry movements forward. It has in the past sometimes also flamed out of control in various ways. But the radical imagination in this sense is something that exists sort of underneath our social interactions. Probably the theorist that inspired us most around the radical imagination is the French Greek philosopher, Cornelius Castoriadis. He speaks about the radical imagination as a magma, sort of like lava that is flowing underneath the surface of the earth.

And you know, the surface of the earth itself that we walk on and that everything grows on, most of it was originally magma that erupted to the surface and then cooled in its chemical reaction with the atmosphere. And we take the Earth as we see it, as this eternal landscape that’s always been here. It’s actually in geological terms quite recent. And it’s changing all the time. And likewise the sort of structures of our society we take for eternal and that they’ve been handed down to us and there’s no escape from them and that they’re natural and inevitable, that markets are the only way to organise human co-operation.

But that’s a very recent invention too. Much more recent than the geological formations of the Earth. And likewise it came out of eruptions of the imagination, and it will be eventually washed away by eruptions of the imagination as well, which will then in their turn harden, and will need to be swept away and changed.

**That’s a beautiful analogy. You write very beautifully in the book about creativity and imagination, which are often used interchangeably, but you pick the two terms apart and distinguish between the two in a way I find really useful. Could you say a little bit about that?**

Yeah, absolutely. I trained in a literature department, and I teach in an English department still today, so as an Anglophone who grew up speaking English, I’m always fascinated by the strange hybrid weird imperial language that I live in. I often go back to the etymology of words and the way that they evolved. And it’s interesting that both imagination and creativity are relatively recent terms.

They were not words that were widely used until the early modern period. In fact the idea of a creation or a creature, from which we get the word creativity, was largely reserved for God’s powers to create. And the imagination at a certain point was actually a crime. The crime of imagination was to imagine the murder of the Regent. You could actually be hanged or at least imprisoned for the imagination. And then as we have this transition from the feudal period to capitalism, these words take on a different meaning and a different value.

At a certain point, as the world shifts, or at least as Europe shifts towards an idea of human centred cosmology, where humans create change in the world rather than God, notions of the imagination and creativity are developed. Sometimes these are quite triumphant. You know, the idea that humanity can conquer nature, can conquer the world, and create of its own will a kind of reality. And sometimes these are quite pessimistic. You know, at various points conservative forces in society have been very distrustful of both creativity and the imagination, as things that might disrupt the social order.

Recently I think what’s happened with both terms is that they’ve been reappropriated by the forces of capital accumulation. Now we have ‘creative cities’, the ‘creative class’, what Bill Gates used to call ‘creative capitalism’. And the idea that only under a capitalist market-driven system will creativity truly be unleashed because it allows for a field of competition that brings out the most creative individuals who first invent new companies and then shoot themselves into space.

The imagination likewise has been harnessed by this culture to suggest that, rather than having the power to imagine a different society together or create one, we should limit ourselves to personal acts of the imagination. You know, making TikTok videos, or doing all sorts of other things that fit into a very limited framework for the imagination.

I think the distinction between the terms, because of this kind of history that I’ve sketched really quickly, they often get really conflated, but I think it’s useful to keep them separate to a certain extent. The imagination is a really useful term for describing, as I mentioned, not just the quality of mind that allows people to dream of things that they haven’t seen, but that thing that exists between us, in a way. That thing that’s sparking in our interactions. The imagination as the social force is key not only to our ability to think about future possibilities, but also to empathise with people that are not like us, which I think is key to any decent society.

Meanwhile, the notion of creativity can be used in a slightly more limited sense to speak to those ways in which we express our imaginations through, for instance, arts and culture. Through writing. Through dance and performing arts. And those things that we more conventionally associate with creative expression.

[![Front cover of book by Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish - "The Radical Imagination"](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri_cover-657x1024.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri%5Fcover.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**We’ve been led I guess over the last two, three hundred years to believe that the imaginations we celebrate tend to be the imaginations of straight, white men, painters, writers. How do we set about decolonising the imagination? What does that term mean to you, or what might that look like as a practice?**

It’s such an amazing and difficult question. I suppose I would begin addressing it by simply pointing out that the structures that have shaped colonialism and imperialism are themselves deeply indebted to the imagination. Like this story we have that you can categorise human difference by race, and that race is a physiological fact, a genotypical fact, that has something to do with people’s capacities, that’s a completely imaginary construction that Europeans developed from the fifteenth century through various phases into the twentieth century in its more scientific and culturalist forms.

Race is this kind of fiction that becomes real through the way that it constrains people’s actions and reactions. The imagination isn’t just a force for good. It’s also a force for ill. Even something like money … even when it was still made of precious metals, it’s still kind of based in the imagination. Because after all most precious metals have very little use value to most humans. So the value, the outsized value that we give to money, and its ability to control how we co-operate with one another and build and reproduce our world, is a structure of the imagination.

Beginning with the dangers of the imagination, it alerts us to the kind of task ahead of really taking responsibility for the power of the imagination. Maybe more specifically to that question, one thing that I think anti-racist and anti-colonial critics have been pointing out for a long time is that these systems are really dependent not only on physical force, you know, the use of police, the use of militaries, the use of economic pressures, but also on conscripting the imagination of many people.

Specifically in our world historical moment, conscripting the imaginations largely of people who have been understood to be white. Or understood to be European. Although both of those categories themselves are imaginary. But imaginary and given real form by, again, the way that they inspire and shape people’s actions. Overcoming those kind of imaginary hierarchies is crucial. And also realising that then there have been and continue to be many other ways of organising life on this planet that don’t revolve around the kind of accumulation and competitive logics that emerged from imperial and colonial Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. And that those logics have a huge amount to teach us about what it might mean to leave sustainably on this world.

I’m really fortunate in many ways to live in Thunder Bay, which is a city in Anishinaabe Territories. And there are lots of Anishinaabe activists and elders who have been fighting to retain a living memory of the ways that Anishinaabe people organised life on these lands in very sustainable ways for millennia before Europeans arrived. What we’re struggling towards in this part of the world are ways of addressing the histories and continued impacts of colonialism, imperialism and racism that still dramatically affect people’s lives here, and also trying to find a pathway forward.

Nobody wants to go back to something that is imagined to have existed before. But to recognise that there’s an incredible power of the imagination that can emerge from the meeting points of Anishinaabe world views and practices with the kinds of world views and practices that now also exist on this land thanks to those of us whose ancestors settled here, or squatted here, because, you now, it’s not like they were invited by the Anishinaabe to settle here.

**It’s like in Permaculture, that idea of ‘edge’, where two things meet is always the most fertile bit isn’t it? I love how you talk about how the radical imagination not being a thing that we have as individuals but you say, “It’s a shared landscape or a commons of possibility that we share as communities.” Where have you seen the best examples of people creating the conditions, or using particular tools to foster and nurture that, to bring people together to spark that kind of radical imagination?**

The most inspiring examples to me are places where groups have managed to reclaim space and land, and use the space and land, and their interactions with space and land to build something different, and I’ll give a couple of examples in a second. But it’s really important, and I think it doesn’t just necessarily happen in sort of rural areas, kind of back to the land thing. It also happens in urban areas.

I mean, on the large-scale, there’s the incredible example of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, the state of Chiapas in Mexico, where Indigenous people reclaimed a huge territory and then over the last 30 years have transformed it into a zone where they can experiment with doing politics on a very different level, building an economy based on reciprocity with the land and with one another. This again integrates older Indigenous traditions with global wisdoms.

The Zapatistas have also opened up their territory to be a training ground for others. That’s an amazing large-scale example. And similar things are happening now with the revolution in Rojava in Kurdistan, in the territories between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, what are now those states, which are very, very promising. I’ve also seen a lot of it here in the territories currently known as Canada, and also the territories currently known as the United States, with Indigenous uprisings where as part of resisting pipelines or environmentally destructive projects, people come together and often Indigenous people will welcome non-Indigenous people into resistance camps.

In the space of that protest camp they actually begin to develop a whole new way of life, whole new sets of relationships and modes of co-operation that again draw on older traditions – including the tradition of the commons, from Western European origins and Indigenous practices – to create these living experiments. What is so inspiring about those experiments is that they are transformational on multiple levels. They’re transformational of the land and the relations on the land. They’re transformational of the individuals. They instantiate different ways of governing ourselves, outside of the kind of the order of the state and capitalism and its police and its prisons and its markets.

They are, not in and of themselves, enough to save the world, but are certainly great examples. There are other both more and less militant examples going on around the world of people also coming together and saying, “We’re going to care for this land that cares for us.” So the imprints of pamphlets that I published with Pluto press called Vagabonds is just publishing a pamphlet coming out this fall from Jay Jordan and Isa Fremeaux of the ZAD, the Zone to be Defended near Nantes in France, where based on rebellion against an airport a bunch of traditional farmers and also post-urban radicals came together to defend the land and build a different way of life on it.

I think your network of Transition Towns and Transition communities is another great example, where people are coming together around a sense that they want to live by and defend other values and that practice is grounded in territories and built out of relationships that are evolving.

Those are the ones that I see as most exciting. But I guess I would just maybe close the question by also saying I think this happens in an even smaller way, in other forms of resistance that we don’t necessarily always associate with it. I think about the incredible last summer of 2020 here in North America, and the incredible uprisings that were under the banner of Black Lives Matter. These uprisings were direct confrontations with police, and often had as their tip of the spear specific demands around policy.

But they also reclaimed space, and they were spaces where lots of people who were shouting “No” in unison came together and realised they had something in common, and discovered that if indeed they wanted to live in a world where Black lives indeed do matter, that would mean a much more massive transformation. There was a sort of connection there to the abolitionist movement which seeks to create a world without prisons and police.

These broad radical visions and radical imaginaries sort of emerged, but again it’s about people coming together in space, co-operating in new ways, and through co-operating in new ways to take and hold space, developing new visions of what might be possible.

**In that work, what for you is the role of visioning? Of really trying to dream of, and speak of, a different kind of future than the one that currently seems to be on offer? What’s the role of that tool?**

It’s vitally important, and it’s something that often movements forget to do, for a variety of reasons. I mean mostly movements are very busy, and they’re made up of people who are made artificially busy by capitalism trying to earn enough money to survive. Often it feels like there isn’t enough time when you’re really struggling to get together and be like, “Why are we doing this? What’s our vision? Or what are our many visions of what could be?”

But in the absence of that often movements lose their soul, to use a kind of romantic terminology. There’s an easy way that the struggle itself and the adrenalin, and other emotive forces of movement building just sort of run on their steam, or run on their own momentum, and you get huge problems of burn-out. There are different ways that movements cultivate this ability to do future dreaming or cultivate the radical imagination.

It’s kind of frowned upon or it seems a bit tacky to get together and talk about what my ideal future would look like. Often movements are based around a sense of self-sacrifice, so people feel indulgent for taking the time or the space to do that. But increasingly we’re seeing, and this is especially the case if I think about North America, or as we call it, like Turtle Island, it’s especially the case in Black and Indigenous organising. There’s a whole new emergence of a generation of Afrofuturists and Indigenous-futurists who are using films, novels, short stories, graphic novels, music, performance, dance, in order to create spaces that are outside but alongside social movements, for that kind of imagining of the future.

Partly thanks to the incredible capacities and affordances of digital technologies, that’s something that feels like it’s really blossoming in fascinating ways. Other movements have ways of doing that too but sometimes they need to do it indirectly. Like it’s not okay to just get all of your comrades around and be like, “What’s the future going to hold?” I’m doing a project right now for instance that will launch later this year to try and create reading groups and film groups with Amazon workers, to try and ask them what their visions of alternative futures are. You know, from within the belly of that beast! Because Amazon as a firm is very dedicated to crafting a certain kind of capitalist future. So perhaps the workers within it know something about other futures as well.

![Image of a pink brain with the words "Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power - Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons'](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/power.jpg)

**You write, “Movements rarely take the time to talk about the imagination explicitly”. You have also written “While contemporary capitalism may cynically solicit our imaginations at every turn, what cannot be imagined is an end to the economic system as we know it” which seems to boil down a lot of what you’ve said. That we’re in this time where what we have is a suicide pact, in effect, and so we need to profoundly reimagine.**

**My last question is what your suggestions or what your advice is for the wider sort of movements for change that are faced with this. It feels like we’re in a time where the model of capitalism and the politicians that we have are so utterly shameless. All the people I know in Extinction Rebellion are asking, “How do we shift this thing?” All the people I know in Black Lives Matter are askin “How do we shift this thing?” Capitalism seems to be incredibly resilient, especially when combined with surveillance capitalism and all these other things. Max, what’s the magic key we’re all missing? Come on, tell us!**

I wish I knew! I don’t know. I don’t know. There are lots of reasons to be hopeful. One of them is that the kind of buffoonery and also the cruelty of these politicians is a kind of symptom of a massive legitimation crisis in the system. You know, not even the most doctrinaire neoliberal at this point really believes that if we just allow markets to run society everything’s going to get better.

All of the major neoliberals who are still alive who are actual serious thinkers have semi-recanted that and go, “Oh maybe we need to rethink this a little bit.” You know, notably Mr End of History himself, Francis Fukuyama. But others as well. There is a huge legitimation crisis in the system. That is dangerous and hopeful.

It’s hopeful obviously because now there’s not as many ideological barriers to get through, to just have an honest conversation about the future of the planet and the species. But it’s also very dangerous because that legitimation crisis in an era of profound political illiteracy and isolation also can easily feed reactionary and fascist forces, as we’re seeing. The people who are attracted to those also realise that the system is at a dead end and something needs to change, and the narrative being offered by the far right – even though it’s completely contradictory and paranoid – is very seductive.

I also think there’s reason to hope because, you know, and here I’m thinking about Kier Milburn’s work, who’s also done really great work on the imagination, that the younger generations, people under the age of 30, have no problem talking about the critiques of capitalism. People are very amenable to thinking about ideas. The big challenge though is that everyone is asking, like, “Okay, no, capitalism, yes, what?” And as yet nothing’s really emerged to really catalyse people’s imaginations.

What I’m looking at these days is the way that young people, pending a vision of a different society, are actually developing different kinds of collective and communal practices, which is quite interesting. I’ve been doing a project recently on the so-called epidemic of student anxiety, which is something that everyone who works in the university knows intimately well, because their students are, you know, in many ways falling apart. And you can’t really blame them. They’re about to inherit a pretty messed up world and they’ve been fed a lot of lies and cynicism throughout their entire lives.

But one of the things that me and my colleagues are noticing is that students have become very adept at building communities and building forms of support for one another. And new forms of solidarity, to kind of survive this crisis, that are very small and often not explicitly political, but they somehow speak to the way that people are realising that to defeat capitalism will require some sort of large mass movement, but that mass movement is going to build on the strength of the commons and the strength of people’s relationships, and their ability to care for each other and support one another. In what is going to be – I don’t think we can avoid it – a very rocky transition, in which we’re going to need one another in ways that I don’t think we could have imagined before. I see those as very hopeful signs but I don’t have the magic formula. The movement of movements.

It might also be different in different places. Here in Canada we saw, just before the pandemic, a massive Indigenous uprising against pipelines that had attracted a lot of support from non-Indigenous people, especially non-Indigenous youth. Together they were shutting down the entire logistics grid of the country. They were blocking trains. They were blocking ports. They were blocking highways. They were taking over the centres of cities, and just grinding the economy to a halt.

That’s still continuing in some ways throughout the pandemic, but that was amazing, not only because we saw so many people engaged in it, but also because a plurality of polled opinionators, and opinion polls actually supported it. That’s something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime, because essentially what those protestors are calling for is a form of decolonisation that implies, often explicitly, a rejection of capitalism and a complete change in our way of life to restore land to Indigenous ownership, and to forego Canada’s dependency on mining and extractive industries and logistics industries. There is something quite promising about what’s brewing.

**In your book *Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power* you wrote, “Without the radicalisation of the imagination we have no hope of overcoming these crises.” Are we experiencing a crisis of the imagination? Why? And how is it manifesting around us, do you feel, in 2021?**

I think we certainly are, and we’re feeling it acutely as, at least allegedly, we’re told we’re emerging from the Covid-19 crisis. It seems that even though this crisis in so many ways emerged from, or at least became severe because of years of market-orientated, neoliberal policy, those policies, even though nobody really believes they’re going to make the world a better place, still seem to be in force, and there doesn’t seem to yet be a unifying paradigm that could replace it.

Mostly we have the opinion leaders of the world either saying it’s going to be more of the same, but perhaps more competition between governments around the world, or it’s time for the rich to escape Earth entirely and go to space. So it feels like we are in the midst of a crisis of imagination on the sort of level of political leadership and economic leadership.

Also on the level of many of our everyday lives there’s a sense that we go about our routines as we have, not necessarily because we like them or we think they’re going to bring us to a better place in our personal lives, ecologically, socially, but simply because we can’t envision what a different world would look like and how we could get there from here. We are absolutely still in the grips of a crisis of imagination, and that is really compounded by the kinds of ways that our mediascape and the spectrum of ideas is so tightly controlled by a very few corporations, or orientated towards profit, in ways to limit us from communicating with each other and thinking about alternatives.

**As somebody who has been involved in politics and change for clearly quite a while, what was it that started you focusing increasingly on this question of imagination rather than policy or activist strategies. Why imagination?**

I always began from the position that it’s social movements from the bottom-up that change history, that change human life. I mean, sometimes we credit particular individuals with catalysing those movements. Often we credit political leaders who appropriate the momentum of movements. But really it’s when people come together and decide that they don’t want to live the way they’re living, or be oppressed the way that they’re oppressed, that things actually change.

Thinking about that is when I started becoming politically active at the turn of the millennium. I was faced with the fact that it seemed like, as a young organiser, it was really hard for me to convince people that that task was even worth it. One argument is that people are just happy the way things are, but that clearly wasn’t true, and people were even then having a growing awareness that the capitalist system on a global scale was headed towards ecological collapse, as well as social and cultural collapse.

But I had this constant sense that because there wasn’t a way that we could envision what the future might look, or what we might be capable of creating together, we weren’t able to muster enough popular power to actually make a change. To build enough momentum to then force changes in politics and policy which might come later. I wanted to focus on what I saw as the root problem, which was this crisis or absence or lack of imagination.

Where that led me was to the realisation, after doing some research and thinking about it, and collaborating with a number of other thinkers and activists, that actually, I got it a little upside down, because I had imagined that if we could only harness or cultivate the radical imagination in people’s minds, through conversations and debates, that would lead to the action I was seeking. But what I discovered was that in fact there’s more of a mutually reinforcing or dialectic relationship between the imagination and action. Our imagination are enlivened and grow and change to the extent that we come together with people to fight for things that we care about. And as we do that, that imagination then inspires us, and others, to fight for the things we care about as well.

**What is the radical imagination? How do you define what you mean by it? How can we create the best conditions for it to emerge and flourish?**

I’ll start by saying what the radical imagination maybe isn’t, because that will maybe make it a little bit clearer, and here I’m drawing on work that I did with my friend Alex Khasnabish, who’s a social movement scholar, when we were both living in the city of Halifax in Canada. We chose to live there and we chose to study that city, not because it’s a particularly radical place where some sort of revolution or major change inevitable. It’s actually a very conservative city. But we wanted to study what social movements do in moments when it seems objectively, if not exactly hopeless, then very unlikely that they’re going to get the change that they want, and how people maintain faith and persevere in those conditions.

What we discovered is that when we went into it, a lot of the writing about the imagination and the radical imagination, political imagination, tends to have a very individualistic focus. This is the idea that’s familiar to most people, that your imagination is like your personal property. It’s your own internal landscape that you exist in part of the time. And that radical imagination is a matter of simply having radical ideas that you, as an individual, have a Eureka moment while reading a book or watching a movie, or doing something and you say, “Aha, I realise that the entire world can be changed.”

We proposed that the radical imagination isn’t something that individuals have, but something that people do together. The radical imagination is something that emerges when, as I was mentioning, people come together to struggle against the reality that they’ve been forced into. The social reality specifically, although sometimes the social reality masquerades as biological reality or physical reality, when in fact it’s something that we’ve created. When people come together and say, “This isn’t right. The system that we live in doesn’t value the things that we value” – whether that’s people’s lives, whether it’s a notion of equality, whether it’s ecological sustainability – when people come together and insist that they wish to live by a different set of values, and live in a world that values things differently, we say that the imagination sparks into existence.

And that spark can then sometimes spread into an enduring fire that can carry movements forward. It has in the past sometimes also flamed out of control in various ways. But the radical imagination in this sense is something that exists sort of underneath our social interactions. Probably the theorist that inspired us most around the radical imagination is the French Greek philosopher, Cornelius Castoriadis. He speaks about the radical imagination as a magma, sort of like lava that is flowing underneath the surface of the earth.

And you know, the surface of the earth itself that we walk on and that everything grows on, most of it was originally magma that erupted to the surface and then cooled in its chemical reaction with the atmosphere. And we take the Earth as we see it, as this eternal landscape that’s always been here. It’s actually in geological terms quite recent. And it’s changing all the time. And likewise the sort of structures of our society we take for eternal and that they’ve been handed down to us and there’s no escape from them and that they’re natural and inevitable, that markets are the only way to organise human co-operation.

But that’s a very recent invention too. Much more recent than the geological formations of the Earth. And likewise it came out of eruptions of the imagination, and it will be eventually washed away by eruptions of the imagination as well, which will then in their turn harden, and will need to be swept away and changed.

**That’s a beautiful analogy. You write very beautifully in the book about creativity and imagination, which are often used interchangeably, but you pick the two terms apart and distinguish between the two in a way I find really useful. Could you say a little bit about that?**

Yeah, absolutely. I trained in a literature department, and I teach in an English department still today, so as an Anglophone who grew up speaking English, I’m always fascinated by the strange hybrid weird imperial language that I live in. I often go back to the etymology of words and the way that they evolved. And it’s interesting that both imagination and creativity are relatively recent terms.

They were not words that were widely used until the early modern period. In fact the idea of a creation or a creature, from which we get the word creativity, was largely reserved for God’s powers to create. And the imagination at a certain point was actually a crime. The crime of imagination was to imagine the murder of the Regent. You could actually be hanged or at least imprisoned for the imagination. And then as we have this transition from the feudal period to capitalism, these words take on a different meaning and a different value.

At a certain point, as the world shifts, or at least as Europe shifts towards an idea of human centred cosmology, where humans create change in the world rather than God, notions of the imagination and creativity are developed. Sometimes these are quite triumphant. You know, the idea that humanity can conquer nature, can conquer the world, and create of its own will a kind of reality. And sometimes these are quite pessimistic. You know, at various points conservative forces in society have been very distrustful of both creativity and the imagination, as things that might disrupt the social order.

Recently I think what’s happened with both terms is that they’ve been reappropriated by the forces of capital accumulation. Now we have ‘creative cities’, the ‘creative class’, what Bill Gates used to call ‘creative capitalism’. And the idea that only under a capitalist market-driven system will creativity truly be unleashed because it allows for a field of competition that brings out the most creative individuals who first invent new companies and then shoot themselves into space.

The imagination likewise has been harnessed by this culture to suggest that, rather than having the power to imagine a different society together or create one, we should limit ourselves to personal acts of the imagination. You know, making TikTok videos, or doing all sorts of other things that fit into a very limited framework for the imagination.

I think the distinction between the terms, because of this kind of history that I’ve sketched really quickly, they often get really conflated, but I think it’s useful to keep them separate to a certain extent. The imagination is a really useful term for describing, as I mentioned, not just the quality of mind that allows people to dream of things that they haven’t seen, but that thing that exists between us, in a way. That thing that’s sparking in our interactions. The imagination as the social force is key not only to our ability to think about future possibilities, but also to empathise with people that are not like us, which I think is key to any decent society.

Meanwhile, the notion of creativity can be used in a slightly more limited sense to speak to those ways in which we express our imaginations through, for instance, arts and culture. Through writing. Through dance and performing arts. And those things that we more conventionally associate with creative expression.

[![Front cover of book by Max Haiven and Alex Khasnabish - "The Radical Imagination"](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri_cover-657x1024.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ri%5Fcover.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**We’ve been led I guess over the last two, three hundred years to believe that the imaginations we celebrate tend to be the imaginations of straight, white men, painters, writers. How do we set about decolonising the imagination? What does that term mean to you, or what might that look like as a practice?**

It’s such an amazing and difficult question. I suppose I would begin addressing it by simply pointing out that the structures that have shaped colonialism and imperialism are themselves deeply indebted to the imagination. Like this story we have that you can categorise human difference by race, and that race is a physiological fact, a genotypical fact, that has something to do with people’s capacities, that’s a completely imaginary construction that Europeans developed from the fifteenth century through various phases into the twentieth century in its more scientific and culturalist forms.

Race is this kind of fiction that becomes real through the way that it constrains people’s actions and reactions. The imagination isn’t just a force for good. It’s also a force for ill. Even something like money … even when it was still made of precious metals, it’s still kind of based in the imagination. Because after all most precious metals have very little use value to most humans. So the value, the outsized value that we give to money, and its ability to control how we co-operate with one another and build and reproduce our world, is a structure of the imagination.

Beginning with the dangers of the imagination, it alerts us to the kind of task ahead of really taking responsibility for the power of the imagination. Maybe more specifically to that question, one thing that I think anti-racist and anti-colonial critics have been pointing out for a long time is that these systems are really dependent not only on physical force, you know, the use of police, the use of militaries, the use of economic pressures, but also on conscripting the imagination of many people.

Specifically in our world historical moment, conscripting the imaginations largely of people who have been understood to be white. Or understood to be European. Although both of those categories themselves are imaginary. But imaginary and given real form by, again, the way that they inspire and shape people’s actions. Overcoming those kind of imaginary hierarchies is crucial. And also realising that then there have been and continue to be many other ways of organising life on this planet that don’t revolve around the kind of accumulation and competitive logics that emerged from imperial and colonial Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. And that those logics have a huge amount to teach us about what it might mean to leave sustainably on this world.

I’m really fortunate in many ways to live in Thunder Bay, which is a city in Anishinaabe Territories. And there are lots of Anishinaabe activists and elders who have been fighting to retain a living memory of the ways that Anishinaabe people organised life on these lands in very sustainable ways for millennia before Europeans arrived. What we’re struggling towards in this part of the world are ways of addressing the histories and continued impacts of colonialism, imperialism and racism that still dramatically affect people’s lives here, and also trying to find a pathway forward.

Nobody wants to go back to something that is imagined to have existed before. But to recognise that there’s an incredible power of the imagination that can emerge from the meeting points of Anishinaabe world views and practices with the kinds of world views and practices that now also exist on this land thanks to those of us whose ancestors settled here, or squatted here, because, you now, it’s not like they were invited by the Anishinaabe to settle here.

**It’s like in Permaculture, that idea of ‘edge’, where two things meet is always the most fertile bit isn’t it? I love how you talk about how the radical imagination not being a thing that we have as individuals but you say, “It’s a shared landscape or a commons of possibility that we share as communities.” Where have you seen the best examples of people creating the conditions, or using particular tools to foster and nurture that, to bring people together to spark that kind of radical imagination?**

The most inspiring examples to me are places where groups have managed to reclaim space and land, and use the space and land, and their interactions with space and land to build something different, and I’ll give a couple of examples in a second. But it’s really important, and I think it doesn’t just necessarily happen in sort of rural areas, kind of back to the land thing. It also happens in urban areas.

I mean, on the large-scale, there’s the incredible example of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, the state of Chiapas in Mexico, where Indigenous people reclaimed a huge territory and then over the last 30 years have transformed it into a zone where they can experiment with doing politics on a very different level, building an economy based on reciprocity with the land and with one another. This again integrates older Indigenous traditions with global wisdoms.

The Zapatistas have also opened up their territory to be a training ground for others. That’s an amazing large-scale example. And similar things are happening now with the revolution in Rojava in Kurdistan, in the territories between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, what are now those states, which are very, very promising. I’ve also seen a lot of it here in the territories currently known as Canada, and also the territories currently known as the United States, with Indigenous uprisings where as part of resisting pipelines or environmentally destructive projects, people come together and often Indigenous people will welcome non-Indigenous people into resistance camps.

In the space of that protest camp they actually begin to develop a whole new way of life, whole new sets of relationships and modes of co-operation that again draw on older traditions – including the tradition of the commons, from Western European origins and Indigenous practices – to create these living experiments. What is so inspiring about those experiments is that they are transformational on multiple levels. They’re transformational of the land and the relations on the land. They’re transformational of the individuals. They instantiate different ways of governing ourselves, outside of the kind of the order of the state and capitalism and its police and its prisons and its markets.

They are, not in and of themselves, enough to save the world, but are certainly great examples. There are other both more and less militant examples going on around the world of people also coming together and saying, “We’re going to care for this land that cares for us.” So the imprints of pamphlets that I published with Pluto press called Vagabonds is just publishing a pamphlet coming out this fall from Jay Jordan and Isa Fremeaux of the ZAD, the Zone to be Defended near Nantes in France, where based on rebellion against an airport a bunch of traditional farmers and also post-urban radicals came together to defend the land and build a different way of life on it.

I think your network of Transition Towns and Transition communities is another great example, where people are coming together around a sense that they want to live by and defend other values and that practice is grounded in territories and built out of relationships that are evolving.

Those are the ones that I see as most exciting. But I guess I would just maybe close the question by also saying I think this happens in an even smaller way, in other forms of resistance that we don’t necessarily always associate with it. I think about the incredible last summer of 2020 here in North America, and the incredible uprisings that were under the banner of Black Lives Matter. These uprisings were direct confrontations with police, and often had as their tip of the spear specific demands around policy.

But they also reclaimed space, and they were spaces where lots of people who were shouting “No” in unison came together and realised they had something in common, and discovered that if indeed they wanted to live in a world where Black lives indeed do matter, that would mean a much more massive transformation. There was a sort of connection there to the abolitionist movement which seeks to create a world without prisons and police.

These broad radical visions and radical imaginaries sort of emerged, but again it’s about people coming together in space, co-operating in new ways, and through co-operating in new ways to take and hold space, developing new visions of what might be possible.

**In that work, what for you is the role of visioning? Of really trying to dream of, and speak of, a different kind of future than the one that currently seems to be on offer? What’s the role of that tool?**

It’s vitally important, and it’s something that often movements forget to do, for a variety of reasons. I mean mostly movements are very busy, and they’re made up of people who are made artificially busy by capitalism trying to earn enough money to survive. Often it feels like there isn’t enough time when you’re really struggling to get together and be like, “Why are we doing this? What’s our vision? Or what are our many visions of what could be?”

But in the absence of that often movements lose their soul, to use a kind of romantic terminology. There’s an easy way that the struggle itself and the adrenalin, and other emotive forces of movement building just sort of run on their steam, or run on their own momentum, and you get huge problems of burn-out. There are different ways that movements cultivate this ability to do future dreaming or cultivate the radical imagination.

It’s kind of frowned upon or it seems a bit tacky to get together and talk about what my ideal future would look like. Often movements are based around a sense of self-sacrifice, so people feel indulgent for taking the time or the space to do that. But increasingly we’re seeing, and this is especially the case if I think about North America, or as we call it, like Turtle Island, it’s especially the case in Black and Indigenous organising. There’s a whole new emergence of a generation of Afrofuturists and Indigenous-futurists who are using films, novels, short stories, graphic novels, music, performance, dance, in order to create spaces that are outside but alongside social movements, for that kind of imagining of the future.

Partly thanks to the incredible capacities and affordances of digital technologies, that’s something that feels like it’s really blossoming in fascinating ways. Other movements have ways of doing that too but sometimes they need to do it indirectly. Like it’s not okay to just get all of your comrades around and be like, “What’s the future going to hold?” I’m doing a project right now for instance that will launch later this year to try and create reading groups and film groups with Amazon workers, to try and ask them what their visions of alternative futures are. You know, from within the belly of that beast! Because Amazon as a firm is very dedicated to crafting a certain kind of capitalist future. So perhaps the workers within it know something about other futures as well.

![Image of a pink brain with the words "Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power - Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons'](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/power.jpg)

**You write, “Movements rarely take the time to talk about the imagination explicitly”. You have also written “While contemporary capitalism may cynically solicit our imaginations at every turn, what cannot be imagined is an end to the economic system as we know it” which seems to boil down a lot of what you’ve said. That we’re in this time where what we have is a suicide pact, in effect, and so we need to profoundly reimagine.**

**My last question is what your suggestions or what your advice is for the wider sort of movements for change that are faced with this. It feels like we’re in a time where the model of capitalism and the politicians that we have are so utterly shameless. All the people I know in Extinction Rebellion are asking, “How do we shift this thing?” All the people I know in Black Lives Matter are askin “How do we shift this thing?” Capitalism seems to be incredibly resilient, especially when combined with surveillance capitalism and all these other things. Max, what’s the magic key we’re all missing? Come on, tell us!**

I wish I knew! I don’t know. I don’t know. There are lots of reasons to be hopeful. One of them is that the kind of buffoonery and also the cruelty of these politicians is a kind of symptom of a massive legitimation crisis in the system. You know, not even the most doctrinaire neoliberal at this point really believes that if we just allow markets to run society everything’s going to get better.

All of the major neoliberals who are still alive who are actual serious thinkers have semi-recanted that and go, “Oh maybe we need to rethink this a little bit.” You know, notably Mr End of History himself, Francis Fukuyama. But others as well. There is a huge legitimation crisis in the system. That is dangerous and hopeful.

It’s hopeful obviously because now there’s not as many ideological barriers to get through, to just have an honest conversation about the future of the planet and the species. But it’s also very dangerous because that legitimation crisis in an era of profound political illiteracy and isolation also can easily feed reactionary and fascist forces, as we’re seeing. The people who are attracted to those also realise that the system is at a dead end and something needs to change, and the narrative being offered by the far right – even though it’s completely contradictory and paranoid – is very seductive.

I also think there’s reason to hope because, you know, and here I’m thinking about Kier Milburn’s work, who’s also done really great work on the imagination, that the younger generations, people under the age of 30, have no problem talking about the critiques of capitalism. People are very amenable to thinking about ideas. The big challenge though is that everyone is asking, like, “Okay, no, capitalism, yes, what?” And as yet nothing’s really emerged to really catalyse people’s imaginations.

What I’m looking at these days is the way that young people, pending a vision of a different society, are actually developing different kinds of collective and communal practices, which is quite interesting. I’ve been doing a project recently on the so-called epidemic of student anxiety, which is something that everyone who works in the university knows intimately well, because their students are, you know, in many ways falling apart. And you can’t really blame them. They’re about to inherit a pretty messed up world and they’ve been fed a lot of lies and cynicism throughout their entire lives.

But one of the things that me and my colleagues are noticing is that students have become very adept at building communities and building forms of support for one another. And new forms of solidarity, to kind of survive this crisis, that are very small and often not explicitly political, but they somehow speak to the way that people are realising that to defeat capitalism will require some sort of large mass movement, but that mass movement is going to build on the strength of the commons and the strength of people’s relationships, and their ability to care for each other and support one another. In what is going to be – I don’t think we can avoid it – a very rocky transition, in which we’re going to need one another in ways that I don’t think we could have imagined before. I see those as very hopeful signs but I don’t have the magic formula. The movement of movements.

It might also be different in different places. Here in Canada we saw, just before the pandemic, a massive Indigenous uprising against pipelines that had attracted a lot of support from non-Indigenous people, especially non-Indigenous youth. Together they were shutting down the entire logistics grid of the country. They were blocking trains. They were blocking ports. They were blocking highways. They were taking over the centres of cities, and just grinding the economy to a halt.

That’s still continuing in some ways throughout the pandemic, but that was amazing, not only because we saw so many people engaged in it, but also because a plurality of polled opinionators, and opinion polls actually supported it. That’s something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime, because essentially what those protestors are calling for is a form of decolonisation that implies, often explicitly, a rejection of capitalism and a complete change in our way of life to restore land to Indigenous ownership, and to forego Canada’s dependency on mining and extractive industries and logistics industries. There is something quite promising about what’s brewing.

###### **Featured image credit: Photo: Andi Weiland / Berliner Gazette. Creative Commons 2.0.**
### What if young people reimagined the education system?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-education/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:48.000Z
How best to reimagine the education system for the 21st century? Our current system is clearly not educating young people for the time of the climate and ecological emergency, for a world that is more socially just, equitable and embracing of diversity in all its forms. There are plenty of podcasts where adults discuss what they think the future of education should be, but for Episode 34 of my ‘[*From What If to What Next*](https://www.patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ podcast, I wanted to hear from young people themselves. It turned out to be one of the richest and most extraordinary episodes yet published.I was joined by **Yumna Hussen** and **Lottie Cooke** to discuss what a reimagined education system would be like, to explore “What if young people reimagined the education system”. Honestly, spending an hour in the company of these two remarkable young people, so articulate, passionate and well informed, was just a joy. Both are part of an organisation in the UK called[Pupil Power](https://pupilpower.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is "committed to educating, engaging and transforming young minds around the issues impacting our experience of school". "So", they add, "we're demanding an entire transformation in education".

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FWIWN-Ep-34-take-two.jpg)

You can hear the full episode by subscribing [here](http://patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), but here are some edited highlights of our conversation. I started by asking them whether the education system needs reforming, or completely reinventing: **Yumna**: We need a complete radical transformation of the schooling system and the wider education system. I’ll tell you why. Over the past few years, the agenda of reform has gone on for so long that nothing is actually being reformed. I’ve spoken to international educators about this. The current state of the education system is so dire right now – where young people are just not willing to go to schools (attendance rates are at an all-time low), the current pandemic has exacerbated a lot of social inequalities in society and within schooling – that reform isn’t needed any more. The government’s version of reform was to give young people a little bit more time, and a little more option in the subjects that they’re picking when they’re in Year 8 and Year 9, or whatever, but nothing’s actually been changed because they’re not including young people in their decision making. When they’re talking about consulting young people, it’s, “Let’s just listen to a few young people for some surveys” but not actually going into schools, seeing what young people need, and actually implementing that in the policies. A lot of international educators I’ve spoken to have said that they’ve found loopholes within their national curriculum. For example there’s a school in Australia now where they found a loophole in the system where it said that they just need to be offering the national curriculum. Young people don’t actually need to be taking the subjects in the national curriculum. And that’s one loophole they found and they’ve implemented in their school. They’ve allowed young people to co-design their own curriculums, and I feel like that is really, really necessary in our schools. So yes, the whole system needs to be radically transformed with young people being seen as learners, and not just students who are there to just be rote learners and come out of this system as just robots, basically. **Lottie**: The bells that send us from lesson to lesson at school go way, way, way back to the era when workhouses were a thing, and they were dismissing people from one task to another. With that information in mind, and those policies that currently exist in schools, to have the mindset that we can fix it, is a complete misunderstanding of the situation. Other things that spring to mind like that, we have a young person in our network who goes to a school where when a member of School Learning Team (senior members of staff) enters a room, they all have to stand up. That to me was completely barbaric. I spoke to more people in our network, and it happens to loads of them. It is rooted in old, old, old structures where you had to be respectful to your higher up, but those higher ups were often racist, queer phobic, what have you. For us to say, “Oh no, we can tweak it and fix it and reform it”, well no, we totally can’t. It needs to be scrapped. If it’s rooted in colonialism, misogyny and any type of bigotry then it needs to go. **The focus of this podcast, and of your brilliant TEDx talk, Yumna, is on imagination and creating the best condition for it to flourish. Would you both say that your imaginations are as they are because of the education that you’ve had, or in spite of it? And what would it feel like to be in an education system that did everything it could to nurture your imaginations?Yumna**: Young people’s imaginations survive despite the system. Despite everything that’s been going on, our imagination is still there. We just need to be able to be in a space that is safe and inclusive for us to vocalise it, for us to realise it. And particularly when our imaginations are suppressed and pushed to a side, the human spirit naturally tends to push back and resist it, because we’re wired as creative beings. We always want to progress. We always want to evolve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpeN64AuLU There definitely needs to be a focus on imagination within the education system. That’s just not within the education system now because arts are not seen as an important thing. It’s pushed to a side. We feel like we can’t contribute anything because we’re not given the space to. I feel like it’s the three main things, which is:

- **Personally developing yourself:** doing the self-evaluations, looking at where you can contribute
- **Uniting with other people**: trying to create a space, or try and find a space, where you’re able to connect people, like Pupil Power, being able to be part of a national community of students who just as passionate as I am about transforming the education system
- **Service**: actually doing the work and contributing, in whatever ways that you can, small or big

I feel like a lot of people within the school ecosystem, not just young people: teachers, parents, the wider community, local citizens, need a space to come together because there’s one thing talking from young person to young person, a young person and an educationalist or someone who’s really passionate about transforming the education system, or an educator, and another thing talking to policymakers, and there’s another thing actually getting everybody within that space to vocalise what they want to say. Some people within certain focus groups will take the control and lead on it. You need space for the other people not being able to properly contribute. There needs to be a framework that young people can actually challenge the status quo, and know effective methods for doing so, so they’re able to communicate to these policy makers or grassroots organisations. **Lottie**: I remember so many times sat in English lessons and we did creative writing, and our teachers would say, “okay, we’re going to think of a story now. Go, and include these devices.” And that would be all the help we got. We’re taught in such a monotonous way that that’s hard for anyone to do at that age. Plus, again, you’re making us include certain devices or whatever to tick a box. That’s not creative or imaginative! That’s what capitalism wants us to do, for us to be all carbon copies of each other. I wish that school was set up in a way where it was more like, “Here’s how I would craft a story and how I would work with it. What about you guys? Let’s build one together. What characters could you have in this? Let’s explore this through drama and through games.” Instead of just, “Okay, you did this simile. Good job, well done, you’re now a writer.” Yeah, no, that’s the best metaphor I can think of for how I would want to change imagination in schools. **Rob: Lastly, I’d love for you to imagine, unlikely as it may sound, that Gavin Williamson (the UK Secretary of State for Education at the time this interview was done, who since then, thankfully, has been sacked) were to at this moment join us in our meeting. What would you say to him? What would be your advice to him? What would be your demand to him?Lottie**: There’s a lot I would say to him! Gavin, if you’re listening to this, we won’t be friends. Number one would be: give up the position. That position needs to be filled with someone who has been through a state education, who has essentially taught, has a really good understanding of all the failings of school, and all the positives of school. That would be my number one thing. And two, for you to be saying that young people have their opinions heard in education, I would you to put your money where your mouth is and actually go into schools, talk to young people, have specific young person conferences. We need to see this happening. You can’t claim youth voice and then back away from the conversation. I want him to be there and to be in it. **Yumna**: Exactly what Lottie said. Give up the post. I don’t think you’re fit for it because, you know, we need somebody who’s worked with young people in an education setting who understands the failings of the schooling system and the wider education system. Someone who’s able to actually positively create change and understand that to do this young people’s voices and ideas shouldn’t be taken as tokenistic. It’s not a tick box exercise. The idea should be directly embedded within policy making. I would say to him that if the vision of the education system that we have is realised, if this vision was realised, young people would feel safe, they would feel confident, they would feel empowered to create change in the world and to be the version that they want to be without this external pressure from schools. Without this external pressure from different individuals telling young people what to do with their lives. And ultimately there will be more contributing citizens in the world. Gavin, if you’re listening to this, please listen to Pupil Power. Listen to all the different young people like myself, like Lottie, who believe in the power of transformative education, that is stripped of racism, that is stripped of colonialism, that really takes young people as learners and makes learning vital for young people to grow and evolve into the wonderful people that we are.
### Conflict Resilience - Principles, Practices and Resources
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/conflict-resilience-resources/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:50.000Z
*We’re excited to share with you our new set of* [***Conflict Resilience Resources***](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *full of information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups.*

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

We’d also like to share with you this invitation from the Conflict Transformation group who will be holding a series of deep and challenging conversations to explore what supports us and what’s challenging within our Transition movement, so we can learn from and support one another.

![Flyer advertising the Heart of the Matter webinars, "a series of deep and challenging conversations exploring what supports and what challenges us within the Transition movement". Against the background of a leaf skeleton there are 4 more leaves each containing the date of a webinar. 9th September, 7th October, 4th November, 9th December](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/the-heart-of-the-matter-dates-1.png)

*We will meet using a ‘council circle’ process to share experiences from our local and national groups. These are simple processes where we share time equally between us, with each person invited to speak and listen to others from the heart.*

*Time: 3-5pm UTC. PLEASE REMEMBER there will be time changes in some countries over the course of the meetings..*

*Dates and themes:*

*– 9th September:* [***Resourcing ourselves: what is supporting our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-resourcing-ourselves-tickets-165126928087?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 7th October:* [***Finding the sore spots: What is blocking or challenging our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-finding-the-sore-spots-tickets-165223613275?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 4th November – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*– 9th December – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*Language: Because we don’t have funds for translation these sessions will be in English. Very big apologies for this! We would like to offer to share thinking and resources for people who’d like to hold similar circles in other languages – please get in touch if this is you.*

*Inspiration: these spaces have been inspired by 2 of the 9 ‘*[***Characteristics of the Transition Movement***](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/transition-characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**’* report which are:*

- *Connect and care for each other – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;*
- *Support inner transformations – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change.*

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

We’d also like to share with you this invitation from the Conflict Transformation group who will be holding a series of deep and challenging conversations to explore what supports us and what’s challenging within our Transition movement, so we can learn from and support one another.

![Flyer advertising the Heart of the Matter webinars, "a series of deep and challenging conversations exploring what supports and what challenges us within the Transition movement". Against the background of a leaf skeleton there are 4 more leaves each containing the date of a webinar. 9th September, 7th October, 4th November, 9th December](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/the-heart-of-the-matter-dates-1.png)

*We will meet using a ‘council circle’ process to share experiences from our local and national groups. These are simple processes where we share time equally between us, with each person invited to speak and listen to others from the heart.*

*Time: 3-5pm UTC. PLEASE REMEMBER there will be time changes in some countries over the course of the meetings..*

*Dates and themes:*

*– 9th September:* [***Resourcing ourselves: what is supporting our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-resourcing-ourselves-tickets-165126928087?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 7th October:* [***Finding the sore spots: What is blocking or challenging our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-finding-the-sore-spots-tickets-165223613275?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 4th November – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*– 9th December – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*Language: Because we don’t have funds for translation these sessions will be in English. Very big apologies for this! We would like to offer to share thinking and resources for people who’d like to hold similar circles in other languages – please get in touch if this is you.*

*Inspiration: these spaces have been inspired by 2 of the 9 ‘*[***Characteristics of the Transition Movement***](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/transition-characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**’* report which are:*

- *Connect and care for each other – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;*
- *Support inner transformations – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change.*

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

We’d also like to share with you this invitation from the Conflict Transformation group who will be holding a series of deep and challenging conversations to explore what supports us and what’s challenging within our Transition movement, so we can learn from and support one another.

![Flyer advertising the Heart of the Matter webinars, "a series of deep and challenging conversations exploring what supports and what challenges us within the Transition movement". Against the background of a leaf skeleton there are 4 more leaves each containing the date of a webinar. 9th September, 7th October, 4th November, 9th December](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/the-heart-of-the-matter-dates-1.png)

*We will meet using a ‘council circle’ process to share experiences from our local and national groups. These are simple processes where we share time equally between us, with each person invited to speak and listen to others from the heart.*

*Time: 3-5pm UTC. PLEASE REMEMBER there will be time changes in some countries over the course of the meetings..*

*Dates and themes:*

*– 9th September:* [***Resourcing ourselves: what is supporting our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-resourcing-ourselves-tickets-165126928087?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 7th October:* [***Finding the sore spots: What is blocking or challenging our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-finding-the-sore-spots-tickets-165223613275?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 4th November – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*– 9th December – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*Language: Because we don’t have funds for translation these sessions will be in English. Very big apologies for this! We would like to offer to share thinking and resources for people who’d like to hold similar circles in other languages – please get in touch if this is you.*

*Inspiration: these spaces have been inspired by 2 of the 9 ‘*[***Characteristics of the Transition Movement***](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/transition-characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**’* report which are:*

- *Connect and care for each other – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;*
- *Support inner transformations – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change.*

Conflict and misunderstandings are common in groups working together for shared aims. Having a common purpose is a great way to bring people together and build initial energy, however differences in background, sensitivities, communication styles, desired outcomes, levels of comfort in group settings, unconscious biases or privilege, can all lead to tensions and conflicts in a group.

In recent times polarisation, extremism, blaming and shaming seem to be increasing across many aspects of modern culture, whether politics, organisations, news or social media. Transition Network (TN), as a support organisation to the wider movement, is exploring how to bring people together to work collaboratively toward a better future, without falling into these patterns of separating from and harming each other.

Many groups within Transition struggle with conflict, often to the point of failing to achieve key aims, or even breaking down entirely. After listening to feedback from the movement, TN and the international Hubs have heard that additional support regarding conflict transformation would be welcomed.

TN serves the international movement of self-organising Transition groups and Hubs, with part of our [**Purpose**](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/purpose/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) being to support communities to ‘collaborate across difference’ and ‘nurture healthy group cultures’. Developing tools and resources which support this, and helping to build peer support and movement capacity, are important aspects of the role TN plays.

The staff and trustee team have also experienced conflict, tensions and misunderstandings over the years, and have felt the impacts of this on relationships and work. This led us to explore with curiosity the topics of conflict resilience and conflict transformation. We’ve learned that when conflicts are approached constructively they can improve creativity and enhance relationships. We can then deliver our work in the world better and with more enjoyment.

This interest in conflict resilience across the movement led to the creation of the Conflict Transformation group, now held within the [**Inner Transition Circle**,](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle) who delivered the [**Coming Down to Earth** ](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)summit last year and are continuing to develop conflict transformation support systems for the wider movement.

The TN team has embarked on a conflict resilience learning journey. So far engaging in six focused sessions exploring different approaches to, and developing capacities for, navigating conflict. Many of the approaches to collaborative culture, which TN have been developing over the last few years, have also helped create foundations that support conflict resilience. We provide more details of the six sessions, some tools we explored, and TN organisational practices which support conflict resilience, in this [**resource**](https://transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-networks-learning-journey-with-conflict-resilience/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our journey is ongoing and we will continue to adapt and emerge the practices which support us to be conflict resilient.

The set of Conflict Resilience Resources offered [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/conflict-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) provide more information about conflict transformation topics and processes, plus some practical ways to apply them in your own groups. They are offered as a complement to the emerging work of the Conflict Transformation group. We hope you find them helpful.

We’d also like to share with you this invitation from the Conflict Transformation group who will be holding a series of deep and challenging conversations to explore what supports us and what’s challenging within our Transition movement, so we can learn from and support one another.

![Flyer advertising the Heart of the Matter webinars, "a series of deep and challenging conversations exploring what supports and what challenges us within the Transition movement". Against the background of a leaf skeleton there are 4 more leaves each containing the date of a webinar. 9th September, 7th October, 4th November, 9th December](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/the-heart-of-the-matter-dates-1.png)

*We will meet using a ‘council circle’ process to share experiences from our local and national groups. These are simple processes where we share time equally between us, with each person invited to speak and listen to others from the heart.*

*Time: 3-5pm UTC. PLEASE REMEMBER there will be time changes in some countries over the course of the meetings..*

*Dates and themes:*

*– 9th September:* [***Resourcing ourselves: what is supporting our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-resourcing-ourselves-tickets-165126928087?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 7th October:* [***Finding the sore spots: What is blocking or challenging our personal, group and cultural transformation in our lives and communities?***](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-heart-of-the-matter-finding-the-sore-spots-tickets-165223613275?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*– 4th November – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*– 9th December – to emerge from the previous conversations*

*Language: Because we don’t have funds for translation these sessions will be in English. Very big apologies for this! We would like to offer to share thinking and resources for people who’d like to hold similar circles in other languages – please get in touch if this is you.*

*Inspiration: these spaces have been inspired by 2 of the 9 ‘*[***Characteristics of the Transition Movement***](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/transition-characteristics/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**’* report which are:*

- *Connect and care for each other – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;*
- *Support inner transformations – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change.*

###### Feature image by [Bekky Bekks](https://unsplash.com/@bekkybekks?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/painted-wall?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Distant Socialising Please, Not Social Distancing
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/distant-socialising/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:51.000Z
*As some countries experience an easing of lockdown restrictions and a ‘return to normal’, many groups and organisations will be making moves towards re-starting in-person events and activities. While there are so many benefits to sharing physical space with each other we’ve also heard voices of those for whom events and activities were inaccessible before the pandemic. For reasons including health, employment, caring responsibilities, transport, income, disability and more, many people experienced pre-pandemic barriers to connection and participation. As well as enabling access, online tools have shown us that we can attend events all over the world without the need to fly.*

*In this piece [Nikki Hafter](https://www.instagram.com/nikkihafter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and[ Chuck Whitehead](https://www.instagram.com/cemwhitehead/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) of [Transition Town Tooting](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) share their experiences and thoughts on ‘distant socialising’, asking us to consider how we might keep going with the best of these online participatory methods.*

*As some countries experience an easing of lockdown restrictions and a ‘return to normal’, many groups and organisations will be making moves towards re-starting in-person events and activities. While there are so many benefits to sharing physical space with each other we’ve also heard voices of those for whom events and activities were inaccessible before the pandemic. For reasons including health, employment, caring responsibilities, transport, income, disability and more, many people experienced pre-pandemic barriers to connection and participation. As well as enabling access, online tools have shown us that we can attend events all over the world without the need to fly.*

*In this piece [Nikki Hafter](https://www.instagram.com/nikkihafter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and[ Chuck Whitehead](https://www.instagram.com/cemwhitehead/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) of [Transition Town Tooting](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) share their experiences and thoughts on ‘distant socialising’, asking us to consider how we might keep going with the best of these online participatory methods.*

**Distant Socialising please, not Social Distancing**

Connecting with each other in 2020 and 2021 has been a little different. **Most of us have been part of online meetings**: family get-togethers, work sessions, blends of live and recorded talks and entertainment. These are all part of the recent imperative to practice ‘social distancing’. **Can we improve on that concept?**

Psychologist [Jamil Zaki](https://twitter.com/zakijam?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has described ‘distant socialising’ as something most of us might wish for in current conditions: **to be connected despite physical distance**. He points to the confusion created by the go-to label of *social distancing,* which implies a loss of companionship and connection. But if technology is approached with a willingness to explore and be playful, this need not be the case.

Our new familiarity with ‘distant socialising’ might be a silver lining of the pandemic – and considering the diverse online workshops we’ve been part of in the past year, there are certainly facilitation methods that are worth continuing with, once physical socializing is possible again.

**We’ve seen that participative magic is possible in all kinds of online workshops, from cooking to gardening to speech therapy.** Throughout the past year, we’ve experimented with how we can be present and proactive with each other in a virtual space.

We only recently learned of Jamil’s analysis. That gave us a fresh look at what we’d discovered in the workshops listed below, where facilitators aimed for a setting where all participants could be proactive.

**Some of our learning as facilitators**

These workshops felt like remarkable experiences for many reasons:

- What was produced ranged so widely, from gardening and foraging tips, poems, dishes and meals, decorations, gifts.
- The best process seemed to be working alongside rather than telling what to do. The atmosphere of interaction supported goodwill, laughter, invitations, sharing, co-creation, even live translation.
- Time flew by, even in a 2-hour event. What sounds like a lot of screen time was eased by the hands-on nature of the activities and diverse groups. Sessions were not always predictable and linear – there was some uncertainty and some gentle chaos.

It helped to be tolerant and simply enjoy – like a relaxed performance in theatre. You could be active or just watch for a bit…one person said *‘I wouldn’t have joined a live event doing this’*, so an online workshop may allow for individual preferences in a different way than face-to-face.

We felt participants were taking the opportunity to reach out (maybe taking a small risk) rather than being constrained by limitations in the pandemic. We felt both welcomed by and connected to strangers and friends of all ages. Joining an online session from your own home is a surprisingly intimate and personal experience – you are invited into others’ houses; people may drift in and out; questions and comments fly back and forth; participants proudly show what they have created.

Thanks to all the facilitators and participants in these online workshops, we found a new, virtual space that was creative, fun and energising.

**Here are some examples of online events we’ve experienced**

Some were conceived before the pandemic but ran once the spring 2020 UK lockdown began; others were designed specifically for the new normal of Covid.

[**AWAZ Cumbria**](https://www.awazcumbria.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) initiated a series of weekly meetings in April 2020 across 3 themed topics, co-ordinated by Erika and Nicole from AWAZ as part of the Cumbria Integration Programme:

- **Kitchen Garden** is an online space for gardening and food, from microgreens to foraging to garden vegetables.
- **Multilingual Library** celebrates diverse language groups represented in Cumbria through readings and conversation.
- **Connection Hub** is a weekly informal meeting place.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_E5563-225x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG%5FE5563-scaled.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

All these are still running in 2021, connecting people as the pandemic continues. Health, employment, isolation and transport are all challenges across a large county.

**Kendal Unity Festival 2020** included making sculptures, exploring unity in nature and creating and sharing poetry as Zoom fringe events before the online Festival Day itself.

[**Lancaster Fun Palace 2020**](https://www.facebook.com/Lancaster-Fun-Palace-2020-107678367761445/) featured Zoom drama and poetry-writing workshops alongside events where participants were led to activities through online links – for example collecting materials for crystal-growing – and then carried out the project in their own time.

Sussex culture hub the [**De La Warr Pavilion**](https://www.dlwp.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’s invitation to *Look.Think.Make* in dialogue with experiencing virtual exhibitions. This was extended online through a series of videos sharing art activities that used readily available materials.

[***The Art of Conversation with Aphasia***](https://www.dlwp.com/wellbeing/the-art-of-conversation-with-aphasia/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) knowledge exchange between De La Warr Pavilion, University College London and Sussex-based charity Say Aphasia. A participative course was designed and delivered entirely online. In the facilitated course stroke survivors and their partners could develop strategies to have better conversations, through a blend of speech therapy and art.

London-based charity [**Refugee Youth**](https://www.refugeeyouth.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) commissioned two food-themed online sessions to deliver on their “Family full of Food, Fun & Friendship” promise. Young people were posted packs of ingredients, baked soda bread rolls live in the session and explored creative writing.

[**Phosphoros Theatre**](https://www.phosphorostheatre.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [**CARAS**](https://caras.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers) facilitated ten weekly sessions with young refugees and asylum-seekers in lockdown to produce an animated video. We’ve partnered with CARAS since 2015 though we weren’t contributors to this video project. You can watch it[ here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEePjbm5MU&t=6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

5 online workshops were offered once a fortnight in winter 2020/21 by collaborators in several sister-projects in London that are all connected with [**Transition Town Tooting**](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As a group of facilitators and contributors we swapped roles around**,** exploring the online setting with each others’ support. We celebrated creativity and connection for all ages in 3 settings:

- A [**Tooting Community Garden**](https://www.facebook.com/tootingcommunitygarden/) Halloween event with poetry, crafts and cooking pumpkin soup outdoors. This was was conceived as a one-off and evolved into the series described below.
- The pumpkin soup inspired three cook-along events for [**Vegetanuary!**](https://www.facebook.com/groups/684003641760229) our Facebook wellbeing and food group. Volunteer home cooks shared the preparation of favourite dishes with participants, from Ethiopian shiro wat to lentil pakoras and raita. In each event a dozen households cooked together in real time. These food-themed sessions explored other creative avenues too: hand shadow-puppets were entertainment alongside a feast, poetry-writing captured the joys of cooking, participants created a list of 2021 food intentions.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The fifth event was an online variation of **ReSparkle!** – a face-to-face crafts workshop run annually since 2015\. With 5 facilitators, individuals and families made Christmas crafts live and hands-on using re-purposed materials.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Building on the desire for connection online:** it’s been recognised that refugees and asylum-seekers demonstrate great skills in distant socializing. For example when using a mobile to share information and navigate routes across the world, or when connecting online to dispersed family members, some who remain in the past familiar home which can be safely glimpsed and heard via a screen.

Linking to the refugee experience, Jamil Zaki’s concept of Distant Socialising is discussed by Jacqui Broadhead from [The Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS)](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/about/about-compas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in her short article called [*Social integration and cohesion in a time of social distancing*](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2020/social-integration-and-cohesion-in-a-time-of-social-distancing/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

**In the future**, when we can also connect readily face to face, we feel it will be valuable to blend in some of what we are learning during the pandemic about digital connection and community.

*As some countries experience an easing of lockdown restrictions and a ‘return to normal’, many groups and organisations will be making moves towards re-starting in-person events and activities. While there are so many benefits to sharing physical space with each other we’ve also heard voices of those for whom events and activities were inaccessible before the pandemic. For reasons including health, employment, caring responsibilities, transport, income, disability and more, many people experienced pre-pandemic barriers to connection and participation. As well as enabling access, online tools have shown us that we can attend events all over the world without the need to fly.*

*In this piece [Nikki Hafter](https://www.instagram.com/nikkihafter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and[ Chuck Whitehead](https://www.instagram.com/cemwhitehead/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) of [Transition Town Tooting](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) share their experiences and thoughts on ‘distant socialising’, asking us to consider how we might keep going with the best of these online participatory methods.*

**Distant Socialising please, not Social Distancing**

Connecting with each other in 2020 and 2021 has been a little different. **Most of us have been part of online meetings**: family get-togethers, work sessions, blends of live and recorded talks and entertainment. These are all part of the recent imperative to practice ‘social distancing’. **Can we improve on that concept?**

Psychologist [Jamil Zaki](https://twitter.com/zakijam?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has described ‘distant socialising’ as something most of us might wish for in current conditions: **to be connected despite physical distance**. He points to the confusion created by the go-to label of *social distancing,* which implies a loss of companionship and connection. But if technology is approached with a willingness to explore and be playful, this need not be the case.

Our new familiarity with ‘distant socialising’ might be a silver lining of the pandemic – and considering the diverse online workshops we’ve been part of in the past year, there are certainly facilitation methods that are worth continuing with, once physical socializing is possible again.

**We’ve seen that participative magic is possible in all kinds of online workshops, from cooking to gardening to speech therapy.** Throughout the past year, we’ve experimented with how we can be present and proactive with each other in a virtual space.

We only recently learned of Jamil’s analysis. That gave us a fresh look at what we’d discovered in the workshops listed below, where facilitators aimed for a setting where all participants could be proactive.

**Some of our learning as facilitators**

These workshops felt like remarkable experiences for many reasons:

- What was produced ranged so widely, from gardening and foraging tips, poems, dishes and meals, decorations, gifts.
- The best process seemed to be working alongside rather than telling what to do. The atmosphere of interaction supported goodwill, laughter, invitations, sharing, co-creation, even live translation.
- Time flew by, even in a 2-hour event. What sounds like a lot of screen time was eased by the hands-on nature of the activities and diverse groups. Sessions were not always predictable and linear – there was some uncertainty and some gentle chaos.

It helped to be tolerant and simply enjoy – like a relaxed performance in theatre. You could be active or just watch for a bit…one person said *‘I wouldn’t have joined a live event doing this’*, so an online workshop may allow for individual preferences in a different way than face-to-face.

We felt participants were taking the opportunity to reach out (maybe taking a small risk) rather than being constrained by limitations in the pandemic. We felt both welcomed by and connected to strangers and friends of all ages. Joining an online session from your own home is a surprisingly intimate and personal experience – you are invited into others’ houses; people may drift in and out; questions and comments fly back and forth; participants proudly show what they have created.

Thanks to all the facilitators and participants in these online workshops, we found a new, virtual space that was creative, fun and energising.

**Here are some examples of online events we’ve experienced**

Some were conceived before the pandemic but ran once the spring 2020 UK lockdown began; others were designed specifically for the new normal of Covid.

[**AWAZ Cumbria**](https://www.awazcumbria.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) initiated a series of weekly meetings in April 2020 across 3 themed topics, co-ordinated by Erika and Nicole from AWAZ as part of the Cumbria Integration Programme:

- **Kitchen Garden** is an online space for gardening and food, from microgreens to foraging to garden vegetables.
- **Multilingual Library** celebrates diverse language groups represented in Cumbria through readings and conversation.
- **Connection Hub** is a weekly informal meeting place.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_E5563-225x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG%5FE5563-scaled.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

All these are still running in 2021, connecting people as the pandemic continues. Health, employment, isolation and transport are all challenges across a large county.

**Kendal Unity Festival 2020** included making sculptures, exploring unity in nature and creating and sharing poetry as Zoom fringe events before the online Festival Day itself.

[**Lancaster Fun Palace 2020**](https://www.facebook.com/Lancaster-Fun-Palace-2020-107678367761445/) featured Zoom drama and poetry-writing workshops alongside events where participants were led to activities through online links – for example collecting materials for crystal-growing – and then carried out the project in their own time.

Sussex culture hub the [**De La Warr Pavilion**](https://www.dlwp.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’s invitation to *Look.Think.Make* in dialogue with experiencing virtual exhibitions. This was extended online through a series of videos sharing art activities that used readily available materials.

[***The Art of Conversation with Aphasia***](https://www.dlwp.com/wellbeing/the-art-of-conversation-with-aphasia/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) knowledge exchange between De La Warr Pavilion, University College London and Sussex-based charity Say Aphasia. A participative course was designed and delivered entirely online. In the facilitated course stroke survivors and their partners could develop strategies to have better conversations, through a blend of speech therapy and art.

London-based charity [**Refugee Youth**](https://www.refugeeyouth.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) commissioned two food-themed online sessions to deliver on their “Family full of Food, Fun & Friendship” promise. Young people were posted packs of ingredients, baked soda bread rolls live in the session and explored creative writing.

[**Phosphoros Theatre**](https://www.phosphorostheatre.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [**CARAS**](https://caras.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers) facilitated ten weekly sessions with young refugees and asylum-seekers in lockdown to produce an animated video. We’ve partnered with CARAS since 2015 though we weren’t contributors to this video project. You can watch it[ here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEePjbm5MU&t=6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

5 online workshops were offered once a fortnight in winter 2020/21 by collaborators in several sister-projects in London that are all connected with [**Transition Town Tooting**](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As a group of facilitators and contributors we swapped roles around**,** exploring the online setting with each others’ support. We celebrated creativity and connection for all ages in 3 settings:

- A [**Tooting Community Garden**](https://www.facebook.com/tootingcommunitygarden/) Halloween event with poetry, crafts and cooking pumpkin soup outdoors. This was was conceived as a one-off and evolved into the series described below.
- The pumpkin soup inspired three cook-along events for [**Vegetanuary!**](https://www.facebook.com/groups/684003641760229) our Facebook wellbeing and food group. Volunteer home cooks shared the preparation of favourite dishes with participants, from Ethiopian shiro wat to lentil pakoras and raita. In each event a dozen households cooked together in real time. These food-themed sessions explored other creative avenues too: hand shadow-puppets were entertainment alongside a feast, poetry-writing captured the joys of cooking, participants created a list of 2021 food intentions.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The fifth event was an online variation of **ReSparkle!** – a face-to-face crafts workshop run annually since 2015\. With 5 facilitators, individuals and families made Christmas crafts live and hands-on using re-purposed materials.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Building on the desire for connection online:** it’s been recognised that refugees and asylum-seekers demonstrate great skills in distant socializing. For example when using a mobile to share information and navigate routes across the world, or when connecting online to dispersed family members, some who remain in the past familiar home which can be safely glimpsed and heard via a screen.

Linking to the refugee experience, Jamil Zaki’s concept of Distant Socialising is discussed by Jacqui Broadhead from [The Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS)](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/about/about-compas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in her short article called [*Social integration and cohesion in a time of social distancing*](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2020/social-integration-and-cohesion-in-a-time-of-social-distancing/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

**In the future**, when we can also connect readily face to face, we feel it will be valuable to blend in some of what we are learning during the pandemic about digital connection and community.

*This piece was first published in The Unity Book in April 2021\. The Unity Book is a collection of experiences from diverse communities: in their own voices and styles. Individuals and groups from all over the world contributed words and images in 2020, exploring themes such as wellbeing, social unity and nature. All proceeds from the book will go towards supporting accessible community projects in Cumbria, UK.*

*If you would like to learn more, get involved, or order a copy of the book, please contact The Unity Book on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/theunitybook/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *or* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/theunitybook/)*, or email* [*thebookforunity@gmail.com*](mailto:thebookforunity@gmail.com)*.*  

*As some countries experience an easing of lockdown restrictions and a ‘return to normal’, many groups and organisations will be making moves towards re-starting in-person events and activities. While there are so many benefits to sharing physical space with each other we’ve also heard voices of those for whom events and activities were inaccessible before the pandemic. For reasons including health, employment, caring responsibilities, transport, income, disability and more, many people experienced pre-pandemic barriers to connection and participation. As well as enabling access, online tools have shown us that we can attend events all over the world without the need to fly.*

*In this piece [Nikki Hafter](https://www.instagram.com/nikkihafter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and[ Chuck Whitehead](https://www.instagram.com/cemwhitehead/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) of [Transition Town Tooting](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) share their experiences and thoughts on ‘distant socialising’, asking us to consider how we might keep going with the best of these online participatory methods.*

**Distant Socialising please, not Social Distancing**

Connecting with each other in 2020 and 2021 has been a little different. **Most of us have been part of online meetings**: family get-togethers, work sessions, blends of live and recorded talks and entertainment. These are all part of the recent imperative to practice ‘social distancing’. **Can we improve on that concept?**

Psychologist [Jamil Zaki](https://twitter.com/zakijam?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) has described ‘distant socialising’ as something most of us might wish for in current conditions: **to be connected despite physical distance**. He points to the confusion created by the go-to label of *social distancing,* which implies a loss of companionship and connection. But if technology is approached with a willingness to explore and be playful, this need not be the case.

Our new familiarity with ‘distant socialising’ might be a silver lining of the pandemic – and considering the diverse online workshops we’ve been part of in the past year, there are certainly facilitation methods that are worth continuing with, once physical socializing is possible again.

**We’ve seen that participative magic is possible in all kinds of online workshops, from cooking to gardening to speech therapy.** Throughout the past year, we’ve experimented with how we can be present and proactive with each other in a virtual space.

We only recently learned of Jamil’s analysis. That gave us a fresh look at what we’d discovered in the workshops listed below, where facilitators aimed for a setting where all participants could be proactive.

**Some of our learning as facilitators**

These workshops felt like remarkable experiences for many reasons:

- What was produced ranged so widely, from gardening and foraging tips, poems, dishes and meals, decorations, gifts.
- The best process seemed to be working alongside rather than telling what to do. The atmosphere of interaction supported goodwill, laughter, invitations, sharing, co-creation, even live translation.
- Time flew by, even in a 2-hour event. What sounds like a lot of screen time was eased by the hands-on nature of the activities and diverse groups. Sessions were not always predictable and linear – there was some uncertainty and some gentle chaos.

It helped to be tolerant and simply enjoy – like a relaxed performance in theatre. You could be active or just watch for a bit…one person said *‘I wouldn’t have joined a live event doing this’*, so an online workshop may allow for individual preferences in a different way than face-to-face.

We felt participants were taking the opportunity to reach out (maybe taking a small risk) rather than being constrained by limitations in the pandemic. We felt both welcomed by and connected to strangers and friends of all ages. Joining an online session from your own home is a surprisingly intimate and personal experience – you are invited into others’ houses; people may drift in and out; questions and comments fly back and forth; participants proudly show what they have created.

Thanks to all the facilitators and participants in these online workshops, we found a new, virtual space that was creative, fun and energising.

**Here are some examples of online events we’ve experienced**

Some were conceived before the pandemic but ran once the spring 2020 UK lockdown began; others were designed specifically for the new normal of Covid.

[**AWAZ Cumbria**](https://www.awazcumbria.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) initiated a series of weekly meetings in April 2020 across 3 themed topics, co-ordinated by Erika and Nicole from AWAZ as part of the Cumbria Integration Programme:

- **Kitchen Garden** is an online space for gardening and food, from microgreens to foraging to garden vegetables.
- **Multilingual Library** celebrates diverse language groups represented in Cumbria through readings and conversation.
- **Connection Hub** is a weekly informal meeting place.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_E5563-225x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG%5FE5563-scaled.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

All these are still running in 2021, connecting people as the pandemic continues. Health, employment, isolation and transport are all challenges across a large county.

**Kendal Unity Festival 2020** included making sculptures, exploring unity in nature and creating and sharing poetry as Zoom fringe events before the online Festival Day itself.

[**Lancaster Fun Palace 2020**](https://www.facebook.com/Lancaster-Fun-Palace-2020-107678367761445/) featured Zoom drama and poetry-writing workshops alongside events where participants were led to activities through online links – for example collecting materials for crystal-growing – and then carried out the project in their own time.

Sussex culture hub the [**De La Warr Pavilion**](https://www.dlwp.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’s invitation to *Look.Think.Make* in dialogue with experiencing virtual exhibitions. This was extended online through a series of videos sharing art activities that used readily available materials.

[***The Art of Conversation with Aphasia***](https://www.dlwp.com/wellbeing/the-art-of-conversation-with-aphasia/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) knowledge exchange between De La Warr Pavilion, University College London and Sussex-based charity Say Aphasia. A participative course was designed and delivered entirely online. In the facilitated course stroke survivors and their partners could develop strategies to have better conversations, through a blend of speech therapy and art.

London-based charity [**Refugee Youth**](https://www.refugeeyouth.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) commissioned two food-themed online sessions to deliver on their “Family full of Food, Fun & Friendship” promise. Young people were posted packs of ingredients, baked soda bread rolls live in the session and explored creative writing.

[**Phosphoros Theatre**](https://www.phosphorostheatre.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [**CARAS**](https://caras.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers) facilitated ten weekly sessions with young refugees and asylum-seekers in lockdown to produce an animated video. We’ve partnered with CARAS since 2015 though we weren’t contributors to this video project. You can watch it[ here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEePjbm5MU&t=6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

5 online workshops were offered once a fortnight in winter 2020/21 by collaborators in several sister-projects in London that are all connected with [**Transition Town Tooting**](https://twitter.com/tttooting?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As a group of facilitators and contributors we swapped roles around**,** exploring the online setting with each others’ support. We celebrated creativity and connection for all ages in 3 settings:

- A [**Tooting Community Garden**](https://www.facebook.com/tootingcommunitygarden/) Halloween event with poetry, crafts and cooking pumpkin soup outdoors. This was was conceived as a one-off and evolved into the series described below.
- The pumpkin soup inspired three cook-along events for [**Vegetanuary!**](https://www.facebook.com/groups/684003641760229) our Facebook wellbeing and food group. Volunteer home cooks shared the preparation of favourite dishes with participants, from Ethiopian shiro wat to lentil pakoras and raita. In each event a dozen households cooked together in real time. These food-themed sessions explored other creative avenues too: hand shadow-puppets were entertainment alongside a feast, poetry-writing captured the joys of cooking, participants created a list of 2021 food intentions.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Vegetanuary-Cookalong-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

- The fifth event was an online variation of **ReSparkle!** – a face-to-face crafts workshop run annually since 2015\. With 5 facilitators, individuals and families made Christmas crafts live and hands-on using re-purposed materials.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ReSparkle.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2-1024x512.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Resparkle-2.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Building on the desire for connection online:** it’s been recognised that refugees and asylum-seekers demonstrate great skills in distant socializing. For example when using a mobile to share information and navigate routes across the world, or when connecting online to dispersed family members, some who remain in the past familiar home which can be safely glimpsed and heard via a screen.

Linking to the refugee experience, Jamil Zaki’s concept of Distant Socialising is discussed by Jacqui Broadhead from [The Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS)](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/about/about-compas/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in her short article called [*Social integration and cohesion in a time of social distancing*](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2020/social-integration-and-cohesion-in-a-time-of-social-distancing/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

**In the future**, when we can also connect readily face to face, we feel it will be valuable to blend in some of what we are learning during the pandemic about digital connection and community.

*This piece was first published in The Unity Book in April 2021\. The Unity Book is a collection of experiences from diverse communities: in their own voices and styles. Individuals and groups from all over the world contributed words and images in 2020, exploring themes such as wellbeing, social unity and nature. All proceeds from the book will go towards supporting accessible community projects in Cumbria, UK.*

*If you would like to learn more, get involved, or order a copy of the book, please contact The Unity Book on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/theunitybook/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *or* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/theunitybook/)*, or email* [*thebookforunity@gmail.com*](mailto:thebookforunity@gmail.com)*.*  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/TUB-cover-front-back-jpeg-scaled.jpg
### Hubs of Resilience
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/hubs-of-resilience/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:53.000Z
*In December of last year, thanks to funding from [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project distributed £140,000 to 112 Transition projects across England. One of those projects was [hubRen](https://www.hubren.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a Hub of Resilience imagined by Amy Scaife of [Transition Leytonstone](https://www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who asked herself:*

*In December of last year, thanks to funding from [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project distributed £140,000 to 112 Transition projects across England. One of those projects was [hubRen](https://www.hubren.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a Hub of Resilience imagined by Amy Scaife of [Transition Leytonstone](https://www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who asked herself:*

>  
>  

*In December of last year, thanks to funding from [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project distributed £140,000 to 112 Transition projects across England. One of those projects was [hubRen](https://www.hubren.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a Hub of Resilience imagined by Amy Scaife of [Transition Leytonstone](https://www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who asked herself:*

>  
>  

*Inspired by reimagined cargo trikes she set out to create a mobile hub of art, imagination and connection, seeding community decarbonisation and resilience in a climate changing world.*

*In this piece Amy shares with us her experiences and learning from beta testing the idea at a local arts trail.*

*In December of last year, thanks to funding from [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project distributed £140,000 to 112 Transition projects across England. One of those projects was [hubRen](https://www.hubren.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a Hub of Resilience imagined by Amy Scaife of [Transition Leytonstone](https://www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who asked herself:*

>  
>  

*Inspired by reimagined cargo trikes she set out to create a mobile hub of art, imagination and connection, seeding community decarbonisation and resilience in a climate changing world.*

*In this piece Amy shares with us her experiences and learning from beta testing the idea at a local arts trail.*

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/hubren.jpg)

# That was the E17 Art Trail, 2021

When I saw that the theme of this year’s Art Trail was Possible Futures, I knew that the hub had to participate in some way, despite not being in its perfect bike trailer form yet.

It was… interesting. Not gonna lie, how I imagined it and how it turned out were two quite different things (are they ever the same?). It took me a few days to pick myself up from the ground when it finished, but I am glad we went through with it. I learned a huge amount and had a great many illuminating conversations, forcing me to clarify my own understanding of certain subjects (population and China being the most commonly brought up ‘deflectors’) along with the way that I communicate about them, and re-affirming that I really do love chatting to people about climate, solutions, responses and emotions.

Boy oh boy are folk OBSESSED with recycling. But obsessed in a vaguely frustrated way, where they are aware it’s quite a futile gesture in the face of the scale of the crisis, that most is incinerated or shipped to Turkey, but they still do it anyway because it’s *the thing they can do*. What became so clear after three weeks of chatting and listening, there is a huge, scary, foggy chasm that gapes between ‘I’, and ‘the government’. This individualised, neo-liberal, post-Thatcher, post-Reagan society seems to have taken a huge eraser to people’s ability to imagine and connect with a response that is collective, communal and civic. It is going to be so critical to remind people of their collective power and to gently guide them towards finding it, if we are to have any chance of challenging and surviving what is coming.

A highlight was definitely our ‘Ask A Climate Scientist’ session on the last Friday eve. We were joined by esteemed Professor of Global Change Science, author of The Human Planet and all round decent dude, Simon Lewis.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Simon-Lewis-@-HubRen.png)

Professor Simon Lewis sharing his wisdom.

There were illuminating conversations, a refreshing beverage or two, and some lovely new neighbourhood connections were formed. Thanks Simon!

Spending many hours hanging out on a couch outside my house has allowed me to properly meet a lot of the neighbours that the last year of lockdown had blocked. Also very grateful for the support and company provided by the ever enthusiastic Steph, Sarah, Hannah and Winter.  

Attendance wise overall, we had a slow start, a busier middle weekend and high hopes for the last weekend. Sadly, extreme weather hit us with 30°C on Sat and 32°C on Sunday. By 2pm the streets were dead. I know it’s nothing compared to the recent 49’s and 50’s of Canada and Pakistan, but still far above what this usually cool and damp city is designed for or used to. In the days following the last sweaty pack down of the borrowed gazebo, I definitely felt a little deflated at the quietness of some afternoons, of the often averted gaze, the awkward smiles and hurried pace away of folk both known and unknown. No matter how welcoming a space is, climate is still an unwelcome topic of discussion, bringing up feelings of shame, anxiety, fear and uncertainty.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Amy-@HubRen.png)

It’s me, your friendly neighbourhood climate nerd!

But then a strange thing began to happen. Walking to the grocery store I bumped into an elder mother and son duo who would regularly trundle past the hub, often pausing to engage in a neighbourly hello, but never outwardly showing any interest in what the hub was about. But when I ran into them a week later we stopped in the shade and they both directly engaged me in a conversation that wandered across migration, BLM, reparations, residential schools and the cruelty inherent in colonisation. It was unexpected and I felt quite moved and honoured by the unprompted and candid sharing of their ideas and experiences.

Two different school mums who hadn’t been able to make it to the hub but had seen it online, found me to talk about their concerns, hopes and plans. It looks like a school workshop is now happening. Another school parent and I have been talking about the recent local floods on whatsapp and what our kids lives might look like.

From the local knowledge that was added to our ‘Map of Community Resilience’, some new, tentative relationships are forming.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Map-@-HubRen.png)

The collaborative map of community projects.

What I have come to realise is that the hub is like casting a handful of seeds out. You don’t necessarily see where they all land, or which ones will germinate until a bit later. They may bear fruit in ways you don’t anticipate. I know these interactions are so tiny in the grand scheme of things, but that is what seeds are, tiny packets of potential that can crack concrete and lift roads. They just need time, the right soil, water and sunlight.

*For more information about hubRen and to subscribe to their newsletter check out –* [*https://www.hubren.org/*](https://www.hubren.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition Network - Growing Great Ideas!
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/growing-great-ideas/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:54.000Z
Thanks to National Lottery players, Transition Network has been awarded £5,977,444 from The National Lottery Community Fund’s [Growing Great Ideas](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news/blog/2021-07-14/growing-great-ideas-supporting-transformational-change?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) programme for work in Great Britain over the next 10 years.

Growing Great Ideas exists to support transformational change across the UK, change that matches the scale of the challenges and complexities we face. By providing long-term investment in groups and networks that are pioneering new ways of doing things, that go well beyond fixing or adapting the current systems, it aims to fundamentally transform the systems in which we live.

We’re honoured to be recognised as a pioneering network and welcome the opportunity to build on the amazing work Transition groups in Britain have been doing over the last 15 years – growing resilience, sustainability and social equity in their communities. With this long-term funding we will develop the infrastructure and capacity of our groups – supporting them to launch new initiatives, build diverse partnerships, develop skills and share best practice, and enabling us to deepen, lengthen and widen the impact of our network.

We will do this by focusing on 4 core areas:

**Network & Capacity Building**

We will use community network leadership strategies to create the conditions for peer connection, support and learning. Using a combination of online tools, training and events we will support people and groups in Great Britain to develop and deepen their skill sets and forge new connections across the country. We want to build local communities’ capacity to lead and engage in practices of foresight and imagination as well as developing a greater understanding of working with complex power and racial dynamics.

**Seed Funding**

On a yearly basis we will distribute resources to Transition groups and their partners in England and Wales, to enable grassroots activity that has an impact on the ground and builds the capacity and ambition of groups. This will be achieved via seed funding of micro grants for local groups to run hyper-local experiments. Doing this will allow more communities to innovate and experiment with community-led and owned solutions to persistent social problems.

**Hub Development**

We will support the development of distributive and grassroots leadership across the Transition movement in England and Wales – creating the infrastructure for decentralising the movement in a way that has already been achieved in Scotland and other parts of the world. This strand will support the shift to a leadership model that aligns with Transition Network’s long-term direction towards distributing power, resources and responsibilities to Transition Hubs and circles.

**Movement of Movements**

We will also focus on supporting the development of networks, relationships and partnerships between all sorts of different people and organisations who are working to build community power and resilience in Great Britain. We will play a role in creating an ecology of community-led movements through developing the [CTRLshift](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) coalition and supporting the [Transition Scotland Hub](https://transitionscotland.weebly.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and the [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), enabling greater collaboration and potential to be realised.

This funding allows us to build upon the great work carried out this year by the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) team, who will be leading on this work and launching their new name and website in September.

We’re so thrilled to be sharing this news with you today, and we’re excited about working with an amazing ecosystem of Transition groups and partner organisations as we build more resilient, sustainable and socially just communities over the next 10 years.

You can read more about our vision in this [blog](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news/blog/2021-07-19/transition-network?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) published by The National Lottery Community Fund, and make sure you sign up to the [mailing list](https://mailchi.mp/53e828726cf4/transition-bounce-forward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) so you don’t miss any of the exciting updates and project developments as they happen.

**Our thanks to National Lottery Players, and The National Lottery Community Fund for enabling us to grow great ideas!**
### Recruiting: Training Coordinator for the Transition Movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/recruiting-training-coordinator/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:55.000Z
*Would you like to help re-energise training and learning across our amazing movement?*

Transition Network and the Training Circle are inviting applications from individuals who are interested in supporting the development and sharing of high quality training and mentoring within the global Transition movement. In this time of increasing awareness and urgency regarding the climate emergency, we are looking to increase learning opportunities relevant to the current global context, and to develop a thriving Community of Practice for trainers and facilitators of Transition.

The international Transition movement is made up of thousands of people in hundreds of communities and at least 50 countries, each creating grassroots change in their own way. These communities and initiatives are looking for ways to increase the impact of what they are doing, and to reach new people interested in creating sustainable regenerative futures for their regions. Access to training and learning opportunities is an important way of achieving these aims, and of empowering more people to explore, create and share approaches that can meet the pressing challenges of our times. The Transition movement is fortunate to have hundreds of trainers and several Hubs, across many countries, who are already delivering transformative learning and training opportunities. These individuals and groups have indicated they need more coherence, peer support and networked communication.

Are you the right person to help energise and support this emerging global Community of Practice (CoP), in service to increasing the accessibility, relevance and impact of training for Transition?

Download the [**Training Coordinator Recruitment Pack**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Training-Coordinator-Recruitment-Pack-2021%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for more information and details of how to apply for the role.

The deadline for applications is **23:00 GMT on August 15th 2021.**
### How the ‘From What If to What Next’ podcast came to be.
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-podcast/
Last updated: 2026-03-23T15:57:29.000Z
**Rob Hopkins shares the story of how his podcast series was born, and shares some of his highlights from the journey so far...** It all started with the first lockdown. All of a sudden, weeks of work that lay ahead of me, travelling here and there to give workshops and talks, evaporated. I needed to think afresh about what I was going to do. It was Matt at Chelsea Green who first suggested a podcast. I think they were keen to see how many of their authors might be interested in starting one. As I sat and thought about it, the pieces of a jigsaw seemed to fall together. Hadn’t my son been part of a podcast, with his friend Ben, about craft beer? Didn’t Ben have a shed in his garden he had turned into a recording studio? Didn’t he also make music and produce them? I started thinking about a format, and quickly hit on the idea of using each episode to explore a different What If question, ideally a question sent in by a listener. The title was suggested by Matt, and it was a “well of course it will be called that…” moment. The idea that really excited me was to make a very different kind of space in which to explore important ideas. Instead of getting two people, for and against, to debate something, how would it be to take two people who were both really excited about an idea, who dedicated their lives to its realisation, and invite them to imagine that it’s 2030 and that idea has already been part of our lives for several years. What’s it like? How does it feel? What does the world look like? It offered the opportunity to get inside the vision that world-changing people carry around in their heads, the visions that get them out of bed in the morning. I ran the idea past a few people, and the consensus was that it seemed like a good idea. I also, as part of my own journey and my own efforts at ‘doing the work’, decided from the outset to set myself a rule to never do a show with just two white male guests. It’s a rule I’ve only broken twice I think, and the conversations we’ve had and the issues we’ve explored have been massively enriched from having that as a rule. I also wanted to make sure that I spoke to people who were not the ‘usual suspects’, but rather were voices the listener most probably hadn’t heard before. The first episode explored a question I had first heard from the London National Park City project, ‘What if birdsong drowned out the traffic?’. I was joined by ‘Birdgirl’ Mya-Rose Craig, and by musician and writer Sam Lee. Sam actually joined the call from some woodlands, full of birdsong, which gave the whole conversation a real magic. It was such a delicious conversation, and the bit where they described 2030 to us was so enthralling, that I was hooked already. Working with Ben has been a delight. He records the shows, edits them, he wrote our beautiful theme tune, and on our bonus subscriber-only ‘Ministry of Imagination’ episodes (of which more shortly), he creates amazing soundscapes to bring them to life. It feels like a real collaboration. While every show has had its own magic and its own ‘aha’ moments and moments when I get goosebumps, if pushed with a very pointed stick I would point to 8 particular highlights so far: **[Episode Six](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/08/03/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-six/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: which asked ‘What if imagination were a human right?’ with Ariane Conrad and Masum Momaya, which went so deep so fast and really blew me away **[Episode Ten](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/09/27/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-10/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if we decolonised education?’ with Kwame Boateng, and also by the incredible Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, my first exposure to one of the smartest and most eloquent young women I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. It was an episode rich in insight **[Episode Twelve](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/10/26/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-12/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if criminal justice resources were instead invested into communities of colour’: sometimes I record an episode that is so deep and rich that I need to go for a walk afterwards and this was one of those. The two guests were absolutely on the front line of the rise in Trump fascism at the time, and both said that the opportunity to dream of the 2030 that they long for was a powerful respite from the world around them **[Episode Seventeen](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/01/14/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-17/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if indigenous wisdom could save the world?’: another one that I had to go and lie down in a field afterwards to digest for a while. Incredibly rich, thanks to my guests Tyson Yunkaporta and the incredible Sherri Mitchell. Mindblowing and profoundly grounding, simultaneously **[Episode Twenty](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/15/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-20/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if we addressed the trauma that lies beneath the world’s problems?’ The deepest and most insightful I think the podcast has yet gone. I keep going back to this and discussion with Susan Raffo and Staci K. Haines, as I get new insights every time I listen to it **[Episode Twenty-Two](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/03/17/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-22/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if we learned to embrace failure?’ was a really heartening discussion about not being perfect, with two guests who had delightful stories to share, and a real humility that ran through the whole thing **[Episode Twenty-Five](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/04/26/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-25/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if we built an imagination infrastructure?’ An intriguing conversation with Panthea Lee and Cassie Robinson which felt like it just opened a vital conversation, one that should be returned to regularly **[Episode Twenty-Seven](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/05/28/from-what-if-to-what-next-episode-twenty-seven/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**: ‘What if we all stopped flying?’ This one was such fun, and a thrilling taste of a very different future, one with no planes. And then of course there was the subscriber-only bonus interview I did with Brian Eno about art and imagination, a dream come true. Every 10 episodes we make a compilation of the best 2030 dreaming bits from those episodes, cut together, artfully, by Ben, who combines music and spoken word in a way that is powerful and deeply evocative. The last one we did, [for Episodes 10-19](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/04/13/special-podcast-a-2030-to-long-for-and-a-theory-to-share/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), is a gem. I also worked with artists Tem Gunawardena and Badj Whipple to animate some of the best 2030 quotes from Episodes 1-9\. It was a beautiful process, their brief to inspire longing in the viewer for a different vision of 2030\. I am very proud of the result. https://vimeo.com/551810723 The podcast is only made possible by those who subscribe to it [here](http://patreon.com/fromwhatiftowhatnext?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Do join them, your support really makes a difference. I have dreams of guests I would love to have on future episodes: Arundhati Roy, Mariame Kaba, Adrienne maree brown to name just three. I keep working on it! It’s been an amazing journey and adventure, one I feel has only just begun. Do join me. *‘From What If to What Next’ is available through all good podcast providers.*
### Characteristics of the Transition Movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-characteristics/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:57.000Z
How responses to the 2020 evaluation survey are influencing the way we understand and describe the Transition movement.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

##### **Take practical actions** – designing and implementing practical projects which reduce carbon emissions, address equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, habitat protection and healthy ecosystems, mutual aid, community building and disaster relief;

##### **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovating and collaborating to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;

##### **Broaden and deepen participation** – convening diverse participation and supporting distributed and engaged deliberation and decision making processes. Valuing and accommodating multiple perspectives and life experiences, including those marginalised by current systems.

##### **Energise networks and alliances** – bringing together and contributing to broad alliances across different levels of scale. Working with local, regional and wider partners, including local government. Making visible, and helping to energise and amplify networks and ecosystems of change which are working towards a common purpose.

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

##### **Take practical actions** – designing and implementing practical projects which reduce carbon emissions, address equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, habitat protection and healthy ecosystems, mutual aid, community building and disaster relief;

##### **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovating and collaborating to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;

##### **Broaden and deepen participation** – convening diverse participation and supporting distributed and engaged deliberation and decision making processes. Valuing and accommodating multiple perspectives and life experiences, including those marginalised by current systems.

##### **Energise networks and alliances** – bringing together and contributing to broad alliances across different levels of scale. Working with local, regional and wider partners, including local government. Making visible, and helping to energise and amplify networks and ecosystems of change which are working towards a common purpose.

[DOWNLOAD: Transition Characteristics (with examples from around the world)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

##### **Take practical actions** – designing and implementing practical projects which reduce carbon emissions, address equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, habitat protection and healthy ecosystems, mutual aid, community building and disaster relief;

##### **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovating and collaborating to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;

##### **Broaden and deepen participation** – convening diverse participation and supporting distributed and engaged deliberation and decision making processes. Valuing and accommodating multiple perspectives and life experiences, including those marginalised by current systems.

##### **Energise networks and alliances** – bringing together and contributing to broad alliances across different levels of scale. Working with local, regional and wider partners, including local government. Making visible, and helping to energise and amplify networks and ecosystems of change which are working towards a common purpose.

[DOWNLOAD: Transition Characteristics (with examples from around the world)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

##### **Take practical actions** – designing and implementing practical projects which reduce carbon emissions, address equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, habitat protection and healthy ecosystems, mutual aid, community building and disaster relief;

##### **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovating and collaborating to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;

##### **Broaden and deepen participation** – convening diverse participation and supporting distributed and engaged deliberation and decision making processes. Valuing and accommodating multiple perspectives and life experiences, including those marginalised by current systems.

##### **Energise networks and alliances** – bringing together and contributing to broad alliances across different levels of scale. Working with local, regional and wider partners, including local government. Making visible, and helping to energise and amplify networks and ecosystems of change which are working towards a common purpose.

[DOWNLOAD: Transition Characteristics (with examples from around the world)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**As always, we welcome your feedback. Do these characteristics resonate with you and fit your understanding of the Transition movement? Let us know whether and how you are using this list to tell stories about your work, explore what you might focus on next and/or secure resources for your group. Comment below or via social media or email us at** [**evaluation@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org)**.**

In 2020, as we embarked on our [evaluation of the Transition movement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team developed and shared a list of characteristics of the Transition movement. The characteristics were derived from the Transition principles and ingredients and we are using them to provide a flexible overview of how the Transition movement seeks to have impact.

We invited feedback about the published characteristics as part of the evaluation process and tested them against the wealth of stories and examples of Transition activity that we collected via the 2020 survey. The practices and projects that you described were broader and more nuanced than our original list of characteristics suggested – we’ve now adjusted the characteristics to more accurately reflect the updated evidence.

The characteristics are not meant to be a rigid list of ‘shoulds or oughts’. We do not expect all the characteristics to be equally present in every Transition group or hub – this would be a recipe for guilt and overwhelm! Instead, we hope that this list of characteristics:

- will help Transition groups and hubs tell inspiring stories about themselves and their place within a richly diverse international movement;
- feels rooted in the reality of what’s happening across the Transition movement right now;
- makes more visible the breadth and depth of activities that are possible;
- supports Transition groups and hubs to learn, grow, reflect and make informed choices about where to put their energy;
- will encourage further exploration of why and how we do what we do and the relationship between different aspects of our movement.

Below is a short list of the revised characteristics or you can [download a longer version here](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which is richly illustrated with examples from across our international movement.

First, we repeat something which Transitioners have used as a guide since the very early days of our movement (this particular version was agreed by the Hubs Group in 2016).

Doing Transition successfully is about finding a balance between:

- **The Head:** we act on the basis of the best information and evidence available and apply our collective intelligence to find better ways of living.
- **The Heart:** we work with compassion, valuing and paying attention to the emotional, psychological, relational and social aspects of the work we do.
- **The Hands:** we turn our vision and ideas into a tangible reality, initiating practical projects and starting to build a new, healthy economy in the place where we live.

## The Transition Characteristics

##### People in the Transition movement come together to:

##### **Engage with the need for change** – creating spaces for exploring and engaging with, the complex interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy)

##### **Co-create motivating and imaginative narratives and visions** – using creative and participatory methods to share stories and possibilities of a healthy, just and resilient future.

Note: We have changed the language of this characteristic which used to refer to “positive narratives”. We received feedback that positivity was sometimes perceived as naïve or unrealistic, or contributed to polarisations between hope and despair. A core aim of the Transition movement is to envision and build towards a more just, healthy and resilient world for all. Narratives which give a strong sense of how this is possible have been shown to motivate and inspire long term engagement. This can arise through the process of participation in action, reflection, imagination and creativity, and in moving through the range of feelings that are provoked by the intersecting crises we face.

##### **Connect and care for each other** – building social cohesion and resilience through practicing and celebrating creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;

##### **Support inner transformations** – growing our individual and collective psychological resilience and wellbeing, supporting thriving groups, relationships and conflict transformation, and exploring how our mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;

Note: The threads of inner transformation – and the need for processes to support psychological resilience and connection – were evident throughout the evaluation process. The need for framing the approaches and practices of inner transformation in accessible and culturally relevant ways was apparent, alongside the need to integrate them into transition activities. We have adjusted the description of this characteristic to express ways in which inner transformations happen at the individual, relational/group and also the collective/cultural levels.

##### **Address injustice**: increasing awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and finding ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

##### **Apply Living Systems Design** – understanding the principles of living systems and working with whole system design approaches to support the development and emergence of regenerative social systems including: economies, education, health, food/farming and more.

Note: across the Transition movement and the wider ecosystem of eco-social change making, we are seeing more groups and projects embracing whole and living systems principles when designing their projects. These approaches involve an increased focus on interdependence, relationships, networks, processes, learning, adaptation and emergence. They support regeneration and the flourishing of systems and cultures, as a step further than sustainability.

##### **Take practical actions** – designing and implementing practical projects which reduce carbon emissions, address equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, habitat protection and healthy ecosystems, mutual aid, community building and disaster relief;

##### **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovating and collaborating to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;

##### **Broaden and deepen participation** – convening diverse participation and supporting distributed and engaged deliberation and decision making processes. Valuing and accommodating multiple perspectives and life experiences, including those marginalised by current systems.

##### **Energise networks and alliances** – bringing together and contributing to broad alliances across different levels of scale. Working with local, regional and wider partners, including local government. Making visible, and helping to energise and amplify networks and ecosystems of change which are working towards a common purpose.

[DOWNLOAD: Transition Characteristics (with examples from around the world)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Transition-characteristics-with-examples-June-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**As always, we welcome your feedback. Do these characteristics resonate with you and fit your understanding of the Transition movement? Let us know whether and how you are using this list to tell stories about your work, explore what you might focus on next and/or secure resources for your group. Comment below or via social media or email us at** [**evaluation@transitionnetwork.org**](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org)**.**

###### Feature image by [Roman Kraft](https://unsplash.com/@romankraft?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/heart-leaves?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Hide Enomoto on his new book about the story of Transition in Japan.
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-in-japan/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:58.000Z
**Hide Enomoto** is one of the pioneers of the Japanese Transition movement, both in his community and in supporting the national movement. He has just published a book capturing the stories and learnings from that movement. **Rob Hopkins** caught up with him just before he set out on a tour across Japan promoting his book. Here is their conversation, illustrated with images from some of those talks.

**Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first come across the Transition movement?**

I had been living at Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland from 2005 until 2008\. I think it was 2005 or 2006 that you started the Transition movement in Totnes, so I somehow overheard the rumour through the grapevines that something wonderful was happening. I happened to have a chance to listen to your talk, in November 2007, in a conference called ‘Be the Change’ in London. For some reason even before I listened to your talk, I’ve never read any books or read any articles but something about this word ‘Transition’, ‘Transition Town’, gave me a sense that there is something here. My intuition was confirmed when I listened to your speech. I thought, “This is something that I have been looking for.” Then again in March 2008 you came to Findhorn for the conference called ‘Positive Energy’.

I invited my friends who studied permaculture together with me, before I came to the UK, and three of them came. Four of us attended that conference and listened to your talk, and they all said, “This is great. Let’s do it. Let’s do it in Japan.” Except for one person who had to go back to Japan right away, three of us attended Naresh and Sophy’s Transition training.

We were all geared up before I went back to Japan. Right after I went back to Japan, in June 2008, we started on two levels. On the community level, so I moved to Fujino so I started a Transition movement in Fujino. And Shunro started a Transition movement in Hayama in the same prefecture and Paul Shepherd, who’s a British guy who happened to be living in Japan for a long time also found out about Transition around the same time. He started a Transition movement in a suburb of Tokyo called Koganei.

There were three initiatives that started in the middle of 2008\. That’s one level. We also started at the national level. We set-up a non-profit Transition Japan and started to spread the idea around Japan. Since then it’s been a little over 12 years now and we have more than 60 initiatives around the entire of Japan.

**So, 12 years and 60 initiatives. What was it that prompted you that it was time to write a book? What did you want to achieve with this book?**

I had been wanting to write a book about what happened in Fujino in particular. But it took much longer than I thought. I got busy with other things. It was really challenging for me to find the time to write. I’m not a good writer like you are! I struggled to find the time and keep writing.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/hide-cover.jpg)

But then Covid-19 happened last year, so most of my other work got cancelled and I suddenly had time. I said, “Now is the time, I have to finish this. This is probably the last chance for me to write this book.” I was able to find the time to write finally, and was able to complete at the end of last year.

About three or four years ago I felt that we have done enough to be able to share with other people in Fujino. There are lots of visible projects that happened and I have been invited to give a talk about what we did in Fujino, and each time I talk about this people get excited. I thought there’s something about this story that is happening in Fujino that I need to share more widely by writing the book. My plan was to finish it three years ago!

**Could you share some of those stories with us? What has happened in Fujino? What is the Fujino story?**

There’s the story about the Fujino Electric Company where we started this workshop to set up a mini-solar electric system that kind of caught fire. Not just in Fujino but all around Japan. Because of the naming of ‘Fujino Electric Company’ people started to have this idea, “Oh, it’s okay to set up our own energy company!” Until then, all the energy companies were big energy companies like Tepco, Tokyo Electric Company. People didn’t have an idea that it’s possible to set up our own energy initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOplAlBvMk0

Fujino Electric Company became a precursor to the kind of movement that took place in Japan following the triple disaster in 2011, the big earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear fall-out. The name Fujino Electric Company became even more famous than Transition Fujino. So many people know about Fujino Electric Company but not many people know about Transition Fujino, which I think is okay. What I found is that Transition initiatives are like preparing the soil, a fertile soil where this kind of visible project can grow. I think that Transition Fujino’s work over the years has been to tender to enriching this soil so that these kinds of visible projects pop up. Fujino Electric is one.

We have a local currency called Yorozu which I think between 5 and 10 percent of the entire population in Fujino has now joined. It’s quite active. People have been exchanging. It’s based on LETS (Local Exchange Trading System). We don’t have actual bank notes or coins. We don’t have an electric system that you have in the UK, but this LETS system has been working well for us.

The exchange of goods and services has been quite active until today. What’s great about this system is it does not only serve as a medium for exchange, but it serves for other things. It’s a really great way to make explicit what kind of resources people in the local community have, because people write down what kind of exchange they did in the notebook, and whenever you do an exchange you have a chance to look at all the previous exchanges that have happened. And people say, “Oh, wow, I didn’t know he speaks Chinese, or he’s very good at computers or he has a big chainsaw, or whatever.”

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_3881-1-scaled.jpg)

Hide on tour promoting his book.

To uncover the resources that already exist in the local community, not just natural resource, but the social resource, including the history, the culture, and the people, and people have not only the knowledge and skills but they have passion and ideas. These are all resources. How can we make it visible so that we can enable people to connect these different resources together? The local currency group was the very first working group that was established in Fujino. We didn’t plan this. As I look back, that was the greatest place to start because through that local currency system the local resources became more visible. It became like an infrastructure of all the other things that happened afterwards.

Another typical thing that happened in Fujino was what we call a Forest Club. 80 per cent of Fujino is forests. When you look from afar it looks beautiful. It’s all green and beautiful. But once you go into the forest it’s not a good forest. What I mean by not good forest is that it’s not being taken care of because the logging industry in Japan is not doing well, so the owner of the mountains is not taking care of their forest because it’s not going to make any money for them. They stopped maintaining the forest, so once you go in there are only forests with – I don’t know if you know much about forestry but when you maintain the forest you need to thin the forest, thin the woods.

This thinning is not happening in Japanese forests so that means there are very weak and small trees that don’t take root so when the big rain falls it does not store the water. It often creates landslides and as the weather pattern changes as a result of climate change, we are seeing a lot of landslides happening all over Japan. They say it is because of the change in the weather patterns. But they are missing half of the equation because it’s happening because we are not taking good care of our forests. In the past maintaining the forest belonged to the professional arena.

Because the Japanese logging industry hasn’t been doing well for the last twenty to thirty years all the professional foresters have become very old and the new ones aren’t coming. There aren’t enough foresters. It’s a dangerous thing if you’re not used to it. We found a way for the novice people to maintain the forest in a safe way. It’s called bark peeling thinning. What you do is you cut the bottom part of the tree. You don’t cut fully. You just cut it enough so we can peel the bark. Once you cut the bark of the cedar trees it’s easy to peel the bark. Even children can do that. When you peel the bark because the water doesn’t go up the bark the tree dies after a year. So by the time we cut the trees the water has vapourised so it’s not dangerous when you cut it. It’s very light.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_3934.jpg)

The most dangerous thing about maintaining the forest is using the chainsaw. If you’re not used to it you cannot control which direction the tree will fall. If the tree is dried up it’s light so it doesn’t kind of fall down. It’s not dangerous. That’s how it works. We formed a forestry club and we go into the forest as a way to enjoy nature. We take our lunch box with us, we take our musical instruments and we go in as a family because even the children can peel the bark. We stay in the forest for a full day peeling the bark, eating lunch boxes together, playing music together. That’s one thing that we are doing. I can keep going but I think that’s enough ...

**How about more widely in Japan? You said there are 60 initiatives. What’s the current situation? What’s it looking like in Japan at the moment in terms of the Transition movement?**

One thing as I look back on this 12 years, one thing that happened after 3/11, the triple disaster \[*earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown*\], people were not only shocked, but they were awakened. Before the 3/11, when I was talking about Transition Towns, people said, “Why? Why do we need to Transition?” But after 3/11 people stopped asking me why because they understood the reason. Of course we need to make a Transition. But how do we do it? The question that I’ve been asked has changed from “Why?” to “How?” It’s actually shown in the increase in the numbers of the Transition Towns after 3/11\. Until then it was slow gradual growth, but after 3/11 the number of Transition Towns in Japan, the pace has increased. That was a big turn of events.

What else? If I were to come up with some reason why I wrote this book and finished this book in a hurry is that I am assuming that the same thing would happen after Coronavirus. This is another big shock. It’s a big shock and I feel that people are noticing that they need to change the way that they have been living their lives. If I finish writing this book I think this can contribute to people, those who are noticing that they need to change how they live their lives but they don’t know how. This book can provide some directions. It’s not the answer but it’s definitely one of the answers for after Coronavirus, I believe.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_3866.jpg)

**What has surprised you over that time, since you brought it back? Have there been any key moments that have been a real surprise?**

I don’t know if I can call it a surprise, but I can think of one moment that really touched me which is again going back to this 3/11\. Right after this triple disaster happened, I was in shock. I was in a shock and didn’t know what to do. Many people in Fujino, especially those families who have young children, were in panic. They started to move overseas or they moved to the west because they were concerned about nuclear fall out. We had a small child back then, so we actually considered about moving. I think there was an uncertain feeling all around the Fujino community.

Then somebody in the community said, “I’d like to take the surplus food and the daily goods that are not being used to Tohoku area”, the north east area of Japan which was hit by this disaster, to help those who are in need. This news went around this mailing list that we use for local currency. All of a sudden people said, “Okay, we’ll bring all our foods and clothes that we’re not using.” Within a day or two, lots of things gathered and lots of people came to pack things up and then a truckload of this surplus food and goods was taken to the disaster area.

I still remember feeling the shift in the energy in the community. Before this everyone was panicked and they were in fear. They were really focusing on oneself. The attention was on ourselves or on our family. We were not looking at the whole. But as soon as that message was shared in that mailing list, it’s almost like they remembered all of a sudden that we are not just ourselves. We are living in communities and there are communities out there who are in need. We’ve got to do something about it. Even though we are still in fear, as we started thinking about other people who are in need and started acting, taking action, it seems like there was a shift in the energy from being in fear and also the energy of hope.

I was so touched by the goodness of humans. They were in fear, they didn’t know what to do, but they still nevertheless put their food and goods for the other people who were in a greater need. I think that’s what I want to believe about human nature. Not just thinking about ourselves, but thinking about other people and other communities.

**What have been the main challenges, the main obstacles to the spread of Transition in Japan?**

To a certain extent it still is a challenge, is that the more rural you go, in the rural communities, and also the more elderly you are, there is a sense of resistance towards anything that comes from overseas. So we have been trying to talk about Transition without using the word Transition. Or any other foreign imported concept. We are still talking about Transition but if we talk to these elderly people in rural communities using lots of foreign imported words, they would go like this... “ I don’t want to hear any more.” To find a way to explain these concepts without using those foreign words has been a challenge.

After ten years we have found a way. In a way this book that I just wrote, even though I use the word Transition and so on, it is sort of like an accumulation of all the ways that we have been finding to explain these concepts in a way that doesn’t use a lot of foreign imported words and makes it more understandable, even for the elderly people in the rural community.

**You’ve been around this set of ideas and around this movement since 2007\. What would you say were the key things that it has taught you? Or in what ways has it changed you? What impact has it had on your own life and thinking?**

It’s related to what I was sharing earlier. Through being engaged in Transition movement for the last ten years or so I became more confident about the power of community. I feel like I’m more trusting and also one thing is that until I moved to Fujino I never lived in the same community for more than five years. Partly because of my upbringing. My father was working for a bank and if you work for a bank you get transferred every three years or so. I never settled down, even after I grew up and became independent.

When I came back and moved to Fujino, I had a strong intention to make this my own community. I’ve been living here ever since. This is the longest record for me for living in the same community for this many years. Not only the length of time but because of my involvement in the Transition movement I feel more rooted and grounded in this community, which is a feeling I’ve been longing for for my entire life. Thanks to the Transition Town movement I think I’ve finally found my community.

Even in my college days some of my friends had been living in the same community since their birth and they often talk about ‘my town’, ‘my home town’ and I used to envy them. I don’t have my home town. But now I can confidently say that Fujino is my home town. It became my family’s home town, especially for my daughter, who has been living here since she was three and she’s now sixteen. I can’t believe how fast children grow!

**My last question is just what are your hopes for this book? As it goes out into the world? You’ve spent the last couple of years working for it. If all of your hopes for this book in the world were realised, what would that be?**

The direct translation of the title of this book is, “If we change, the community changes. If the community changes, the world changes.” My hope, therefore, is included in the title. It starts with us. This is really to your previous question that one of the wonderful things about Transition is that it’s a great educational programme. People go through transformation through being involved in this movement.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_3953.jpg)

I hope that by reading this book, starting with people in Japan, people get to start to see that they don’t have to be a victim of what happens in the world. You can start right there, where you live. And if you just shift your mindset a little bit and believe that by changing this victim mindset, of that I’m feeling miserable because this or that, we have a power to change things and we don’t have to say we can change the world. That’s too big. But if you look at this local community that you live in, you can imagine yourself having an impact on your local community.

If everyone in every local community starts to believe that and starts to take action, then there will be a synergy and this kind of community transformation would accumulate. It’s like a ripple effect and it spreads all over the world. It is already happening. But I hope that the ripple will be bigger and stronger in Japan through this book. That would be my hope.

**Thank you so much.**

You’re welcome.
### Training for Transition - latest news
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-for-transition-news/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:35:59.000Z
In English / Español / Português

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

Somos un círculo relativamente nuevo dentro del movimiento de Transición más amplio, creado en enero de 2020 para ayudar a distribuir el poder y la toma de decisiones de los entrenamientos para la Transición y las oportunidades de aprendizaje, desde Transition Network (la organización benéfica que apoyo) hacia el movimiento de Transición más amplio y los propios formadores. Nuestro objetivo es revitalizar y hacer más accesibles las oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje que apoyan la Transición.

En los últimos meses han ocurrido muchas cosas. El año pasado realizamos un estudio en todo el movimiento sobre las necesidades, tensiones y oportunidades relacionadas con la formación y el aprendizaje en el movimiento de la Transición. Puedes encontrar más información sobre esta investigación y leer nuestro informe final [aquí](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Esto creó los cimientos para nuestros próximos pasos.

**Ampliar el reconocimiento de los entrenadores para la Transición**

Una de las tensiones puestas de manifiesto en la investigación fue la necesidad de revisar la forma en que se reconoce y avala a los entrenadores para la Transición. Hasta ahora, esto dependía de que los individuos hicieran un curso de Entrenamiento de Entrenadores (ToT) con uno de los pequeños grupos de entrenadores de ToT de Transition Network. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos los cursos ToT que han tenido lugar a lo largo de los años, por los entrenadores del ToT y por los cientos de personas que han participado en estos cursos y que han impartido entrenamientos para la Transición en muchos países. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que el escaso número de formadores ToT y el formato presencial de varios días de los cursos ToT han limitado la accesibilidad a estas oportunidades.

Los comentarios del movimiento también mostraron que hay muchos entrenadores y facilitadores en el mundo, que están capacitados y tienen conocimientos sobre el contenido y los enfoques relacionados con la Transición, pero que actualmente no son reconocidos como entrenadores, ni sus programas de formación se amplían a nivel del movimiento internacional de Transición. Queríamos cambiar esta situación y por ello nos comprometimos a crear una nueva vía para que los entrenadores y facilitadores para la Transición puedan ser reconocidos y apoyados a nivel internacional. El 28 de abril se aprobó una nueva política de reconocimiento y apoyo a los formadores, tanto a los que han realizado un curso de transición como a los que no. Encontrarás [aquí ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)todos los detalles al respecto.

**Apoyo y redes para formadores y facilitadores de la transición**

Si eres un entrenador/facilitador de contenidos relacionados con la Transición y cumples los criterios de las nuevas vías para ser reconocido y avalado a escala internacional, puede que te interese unirte a la recién re-energizada Comunidad de Práctica internacional de formadores/facilitadores. Unirse a esta comunidad también te dará acceso a figurar en las páginas web de entrenadores de Transition Network (TN) y a poder promocionar sus oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje a través de las redes sociales de TN. En un futuro próximo esperamos contar con una plataforma en línea donde los entrenadores y facilitadores de la Transición puedan reunirse, compartir y colaborar. Para registrar tu interés, envía un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprender juntos**

Además de trabajar en importantes cambios de política, el círculo de Formación para la Transición organizó una serie de seis seminarios web en los últimos meses. En ellos se reunieron formadores, nodos/hubs y miembros de grupos de Transición para explorar con más detalle algunos de los temas más candentes en materia de formación. En ellos se debatieron los cursos de formación originales de Transición y otros temas de formación populares, como [Lanzamiento/Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Prosperidad/Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transición Interior](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saludables y Gobernanza Compartido](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economías Resilientes](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Transformación del Conflicto](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Puedes acceder a las grabaciones de cada seminario web haciendo clic en el tema.

**Codiseño con los Nodos/Hubs de Transición**

Los seminarios web dieron lugar a un deseo de más oportunidades de codiseño entre los Nodos/Hubs que han estado activos en el ámbito de la formación durante los últimos diez años. Para ello, El Círculo Corazón de los Hubs (Heart Hubs Circle – HHC) ha concedido subvenciones de 4.000 libras esterlinas a [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Estados Unidos), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) y [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para apoyar el trabajo del proyecto durante los próximos 6 meses.

El Círculo de Formación para la Transición está encantado de trabajar con estos Nodos/Hubs, ya que han aportado muchas innovaciones y oportunidades en materia de aprendizaje y formación en los últimos años. El hub belga ha lanzado recientemente un nuevo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course – Curso Online Abierto y Masivo) de Transición Interior en la plataforma Colibri, en el que han participado más de 13.000 personas. El Hub brasileño reunió a formadores de todo el país para co-diseñar y dirigir una formación en línea de diez módulos durante la pandemia de Covid-19, ya que toda la formación presencial había sido cancelada. El Hub de EE.UU. ha cambiado el nombre de Lanzamiento de la Transición (la introducción básica al contenido de la Transición) por el de Liderazgo Regenerativo para el Cambio Social – ampliando enormemente la audiencia de esta oportunidad de aprendizaje y haciendo que muchas más personas participen en estos cursos online.

Sabemos que otros centros, formadores y grupos de Transición también han hecho cosas nuevas e interesantes con la formación y el aprendizaje, y te invitamos a que nos cuentes sobre ellas. Puedes enviar un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Estamos deseando escuchar tus historias, ampliar tu trabajo y ayudarte a conectar y compartir con otros.

Los miembros de los tres Nodos y del círculo de Formación para la Transición celebraron su primera reunión del proyecto la semana pasada y empezaron a explorar cómo podría progresar este trabajo de co-diseño. Entre los temas que probablemente se desarrollen se encuentran los siguientes:

- Seguir apoyando y dinamizando la Comunidad de Práctica de formadores internacionales.
- Replantear y diseñar la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los entrenadores/facilitadores dentro de nuestro movimiento más amplio, y hacerlo mucho más accesible.
- Aumentar la accesibilidad y la relevancia de las oportunidades de aprendizaje populares, como por ejemplo mediante el desarrollo de más formación en línea, formación autoguiada, cursos de estilo MOOC, y la participación de un público más amplio.

A medida que nuestros planes sean más firmes, compartiremos más información con ustedes.

**Nuevas funciones y oportunidades en el círculo de la formación**

Y por último, este es un buen momento para compartir el agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido al círculo de Formación para la Transición en los últimos 15 meses. A medida que entramos en una nueva fase de trabajo, centrándonos más en el co-diseño con los Nodos/Hubs, y apoyando/sirviendo mejor a los muchos entrenadores/facilitadores para la Transición en todo el movimiento, algunas de las personas que han estado desempeñando funciones operativas activas en el círculo de formación están dando un paso atrás o se están desplazando a otras funciones y áreas de interés.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) y Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) dejan de desempeñar funciones operativas y pasan a desempeñar funciones en los Nodos/Hubs de co-diseño. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se centrará más en el círculo de Transición Interna, y sigue siendo nuestro enlace con ese círculo y su trabajo. Rachel Ellman y Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – después de estar muy involucradas en el primer año del círculo de Formación, han pasado a otros trabajos y proyectos. Damos la bienvenida a Don Hall (EE.UU.) al proyecto de codiseño Hubs-Training, y seguimos estando muy agradecidos a nuestros otros miembros del Círculo Primario, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn y Gesa Maschkowski por su continua participación. Silvana Bañados seguirá apoyando al círculo en su función administrativa y estará encantada de responder a sus correos electrónicos y consultas a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

En las próximas semanas diseñaremos cómo estructurar el círculo de Formación para la Transición y los nuevos roles operativos para el próximo año. Es posible que haya oportunidades para que nuevas personas del movimiento de Transición se unan al círculo de Formación, ya sea en funciones voluntarias del círculo Primario o en funciones operativas con recursos. Compartiremos más información sobre esto en el sitio web y las redes sociales de TN y a través de las listas de correo electrónico de los Nodos/HUbs de Transición y los Entrenadores/Facilitadores de Transición.

Estamos deseando dar los siguientes pasos para revitalizar la formación y el aprendizaje dentro del movimiento de Transición y para apoyar y servir mejor a los formadores, los Nodos, los grupos de Transición y las nuevas personas que se adentran en el camino de la Transición.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

Somos un círculo relativamente nuevo dentro del movimiento de Transición más amplio, creado en enero de 2020 para ayudar a distribuir el poder y la toma de decisiones de los entrenamientos para la Transición y las oportunidades de aprendizaje, desde Transition Network (la organización benéfica que apoyo) hacia el movimiento de Transición más amplio y los propios formadores. Nuestro objetivo es revitalizar y hacer más accesibles las oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje que apoyan la Transición.

En los últimos meses han ocurrido muchas cosas. El año pasado realizamos un estudio en todo el movimiento sobre las necesidades, tensiones y oportunidades relacionadas con la formación y el aprendizaje en el movimiento de la Transición. Puedes encontrar más información sobre esta investigación y leer nuestro informe final [aquí](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Esto creó los cimientos para nuestros próximos pasos.

**Ampliar el reconocimiento de los entrenadores para la Transición**

Una de las tensiones puestas de manifiesto en la investigación fue la necesidad de revisar la forma en que se reconoce y avala a los entrenadores para la Transición. Hasta ahora, esto dependía de que los individuos hicieran un curso de Entrenamiento de Entrenadores (ToT) con uno de los pequeños grupos de entrenadores de ToT de Transition Network. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos los cursos ToT que han tenido lugar a lo largo de los años, por los entrenadores del ToT y por los cientos de personas que han participado en estos cursos y que han impartido entrenamientos para la Transición en muchos países. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que el escaso número de formadores ToT y el formato presencial de varios días de los cursos ToT han limitado la accesibilidad a estas oportunidades.

Los comentarios del movimiento también mostraron que hay muchos entrenadores y facilitadores en el mundo, que están capacitados y tienen conocimientos sobre el contenido y los enfoques relacionados con la Transición, pero que actualmente no son reconocidos como entrenadores, ni sus programas de formación se amplían a nivel del movimiento internacional de Transición. Queríamos cambiar esta situación y por ello nos comprometimos a crear una nueva vía para que los entrenadores y facilitadores para la Transición puedan ser reconocidos y apoyados a nivel internacional. El 28 de abril se aprobó una nueva política de reconocimiento y apoyo a los formadores, tanto a los que han realizado un curso de transición como a los que no. Encontrarás [aquí ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)todos los detalles al respecto.

**Apoyo y redes para formadores y facilitadores de la transición**

Si eres un entrenador/facilitador de contenidos relacionados con la Transición y cumples los criterios de las nuevas vías para ser reconocido y avalado a escala internacional, puede que te interese unirte a la recién re-energizada Comunidad de Práctica internacional de formadores/facilitadores. Unirse a esta comunidad también te dará acceso a figurar en las páginas web de entrenadores de Transition Network (TN) y a poder promocionar sus oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje a través de las redes sociales de TN. En un futuro próximo esperamos contar con una plataforma en línea donde los entrenadores y facilitadores de la Transición puedan reunirse, compartir y colaborar. Para registrar tu interés, envía un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprender juntos**

Además de trabajar en importantes cambios de política, el círculo de Formación para la Transición organizó una serie de seis seminarios web en los últimos meses. En ellos se reunieron formadores, nodos/hubs y miembros de grupos de Transición para explorar con más detalle algunos de los temas más candentes en materia de formación. En ellos se debatieron los cursos de formación originales de Transición y otros temas de formación populares, como [Lanzamiento/Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Prosperidad/Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transición Interior](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saludables y Gobernanza Compartido](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economías Resilientes](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Transformación del Conflicto](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Puedes acceder a las grabaciones de cada seminario web haciendo clic en el tema.

**Codiseño con los Nodos/Hubs de Transición**

Los seminarios web dieron lugar a un deseo de más oportunidades de codiseño entre los Nodos/Hubs que han estado activos en el ámbito de la formación durante los últimos diez años. Para ello, El Círculo Corazón de los Hubs (Heart Hubs Circle – HHC) ha concedido subvenciones de 4.000 libras esterlinas a [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Estados Unidos), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) y [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para apoyar el trabajo del proyecto durante los próximos 6 meses.

El Círculo de Formación para la Transición está encantado de trabajar con estos Nodos/Hubs, ya que han aportado muchas innovaciones y oportunidades en materia de aprendizaje y formación en los últimos años. El hub belga ha lanzado recientemente un nuevo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course – Curso Online Abierto y Masivo) de Transición Interior en la plataforma Colibri, en el que han participado más de 13.000 personas. El Hub brasileño reunió a formadores de todo el país para co-diseñar y dirigir una formación en línea de diez módulos durante la pandemia de Covid-19, ya que toda la formación presencial había sido cancelada. El Hub de EE.UU. ha cambiado el nombre de Lanzamiento de la Transición (la introducción básica al contenido de la Transición) por el de Liderazgo Regenerativo para el Cambio Social – ampliando enormemente la audiencia de esta oportunidad de aprendizaje y haciendo que muchas más personas participen en estos cursos online.

Sabemos que otros centros, formadores y grupos de Transición también han hecho cosas nuevas e interesantes con la formación y el aprendizaje, y te invitamos a que nos cuentes sobre ellas. Puedes enviar un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Estamos deseando escuchar tus historias, ampliar tu trabajo y ayudarte a conectar y compartir con otros.

Los miembros de los tres Nodos y del círculo de Formación para la Transición celebraron su primera reunión del proyecto la semana pasada y empezaron a explorar cómo podría progresar este trabajo de co-diseño. Entre los temas que probablemente se desarrollen se encuentran los siguientes:

- Seguir apoyando y dinamizando la Comunidad de Práctica de formadores internacionales.
- Replantear y diseñar la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los entrenadores/facilitadores dentro de nuestro movimiento más amplio, y hacerlo mucho más accesible.
- Aumentar la accesibilidad y la relevancia de las oportunidades de aprendizaje populares, como por ejemplo mediante el desarrollo de más formación en línea, formación autoguiada, cursos de estilo MOOC, y la participación de un público más amplio.

A medida que nuestros planes sean más firmes, compartiremos más información con ustedes.

**Nuevas funciones y oportunidades en el círculo de la formación**

Y por último, este es un buen momento para compartir el agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido al círculo de Formación para la Transición en los últimos 15 meses. A medida que entramos en una nueva fase de trabajo, centrándonos más en el co-diseño con los Nodos/Hubs, y apoyando/sirviendo mejor a los muchos entrenadores/facilitadores para la Transición en todo el movimiento, algunas de las personas que han estado desempeñando funciones operativas activas en el círculo de formación están dando un paso atrás o se están desplazando a otras funciones y áreas de interés.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) y Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) dejan de desempeñar funciones operativas y pasan a desempeñar funciones en los Nodos/Hubs de co-diseño. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se centrará más en el círculo de Transición Interna, y sigue siendo nuestro enlace con ese círculo y su trabajo. Rachel Ellman y Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – después de estar muy involucradas en el primer año del círculo de Formación, han pasado a otros trabajos y proyectos. Damos la bienvenida a Don Hall (EE.UU.) al proyecto de codiseño Hubs-Training, y seguimos estando muy agradecidos a nuestros otros miembros del Círculo Primario, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn y Gesa Maschkowski por su continua participación. Silvana Bañados seguirá apoyando al círculo en su función administrativa y estará encantada de responder a sus correos electrónicos y consultas a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

En las próximas semanas diseñaremos cómo estructurar el círculo de Formación para la Transición y los nuevos roles operativos para el próximo año. Es posible que haya oportunidades para que nuevas personas del movimiento de Transición se unan al círculo de Formación, ya sea en funciones voluntarias del círculo Primario o en funciones operativas con recursos. Compartiremos más información sobre esto en el sitio web y las redes sociales de TN y a través de las listas de correo electrónico de los Nodos/HUbs de Transición y los Entrenadores/Facilitadores de Transición.

Estamos deseando dar los siguientes pasos para revitalizar la formación y el aprendizaje dentro del movimiento de Transición y para apoyar y servir mejor a los formadores, los Nodos, los grupos de Transición y las nuevas personas que se adentran en el camino de la Transición.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

Somos un círculo relativamente nuevo dentro del movimiento de Transición más amplio, creado en enero de 2020 para ayudar a distribuir el poder y la toma de decisiones de los entrenamientos para la Transición y las oportunidades de aprendizaje, desde Transition Network (la organización benéfica que apoyo) hacia el movimiento de Transición más amplio y los propios formadores. Nuestro objetivo es revitalizar y hacer más accesibles las oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje que apoyan la Transición.

En los últimos meses han ocurrido muchas cosas. El año pasado realizamos un estudio en todo el movimiento sobre las necesidades, tensiones y oportunidades relacionadas con la formación y el aprendizaje en el movimiento de la Transición. Puedes encontrar más información sobre esta investigación y leer nuestro informe final [aquí](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Esto creó los cimientos para nuestros próximos pasos.

**Ampliar el reconocimiento de los entrenadores para la Transición**

Una de las tensiones puestas de manifiesto en la investigación fue la necesidad de revisar la forma en que se reconoce y avala a los entrenadores para la Transición. Hasta ahora, esto dependía de que los individuos hicieran un curso de Entrenamiento de Entrenadores (ToT) con uno de los pequeños grupos de entrenadores de ToT de Transition Network. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos los cursos ToT que han tenido lugar a lo largo de los años, por los entrenadores del ToT y por los cientos de personas que han participado en estos cursos y que han impartido entrenamientos para la Transición en muchos países. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que el escaso número de formadores ToT y el formato presencial de varios días de los cursos ToT han limitado la accesibilidad a estas oportunidades.

Los comentarios del movimiento también mostraron que hay muchos entrenadores y facilitadores en el mundo, que están capacitados y tienen conocimientos sobre el contenido y los enfoques relacionados con la Transición, pero que actualmente no son reconocidos como entrenadores, ni sus programas de formación se amplían a nivel del movimiento internacional de Transición. Queríamos cambiar esta situación y por ello nos comprometimos a crear una nueva vía para que los entrenadores y facilitadores para la Transición puedan ser reconocidos y apoyados a nivel internacional. El 28 de abril se aprobó una nueva política de reconocimiento y apoyo a los formadores, tanto a los que han realizado un curso de transición como a los que no. Encontrarás [aquí ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)todos los detalles al respecto.

**Apoyo y redes para formadores y facilitadores de la transición**

Si eres un entrenador/facilitador de contenidos relacionados con la Transición y cumples los criterios de las nuevas vías para ser reconocido y avalado a escala internacional, puede que te interese unirte a la recién re-energizada Comunidad de Práctica internacional de formadores/facilitadores. Unirse a esta comunidad también te dará acceso a figurar en las páginas web de entrenadores de Transition Network (TN) y a poder promocionar sus oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje a través de las redes sociales de TN. En un futuro próximo esperamos contar con una plataforma en línea donde los entrenadores y facilitadores de la Transición puedan reunirse, compartir y colaborar. Para registrar tu interés, envía un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprender juntos**

Además de trabajar en importantes cambios de política, el círculo de Formación para la Transición organizó una serie de seis seminarios web en los últimos meses. En ellos se reunieron formadores, nodos/hubs y miembros de grupos de Transición para explorar con más detalle algunos de los temas más candentes en materia de formación. En ellos se debatieron los cursos de formación originales de Transición y otros temas de formación populares, como [Lanzamiento/Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Prosperidad/Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transición Interior](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saludables y Gobernanza Compartido](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economías Resilientes](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Transformación del Conflicto](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Puedes acceder a las grabaciones de cada seminario web haciendo clic en el tema.

**Codiseño con los Nodos/Hubs de Transición**

Los seminarios web dieron lugar a un deseo de más oportunidades de codiseño entre los Nodos/Hubs que han estado activos en el ámbito de la formación durante los últimos diez años. Para ello, El Círculo Corazón de los Hubs (Heart Hubs Circle – HHC) ha concedido subvenciones de 4.000 libras esterlinas a [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Estados Unidos), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) y [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para apoyar el trabajo del proyecto durante los próximos 6 meses.

El Círculo de Formación para la Transición está encantado de trabajar con estos Nodos/Hubs, ya que han aportado muchas innovaciones y oportunidades en materia de aprendizaje y formación en los últimos años. El hub belga ha lanzado recientemente un nuevo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course – Curso Online Abierto y Masivo) de Transición Interior en la plataforma Colibri, en el que han participado más de 13.000 personas. El Hub brasileño reunió a formadores de todo el país para co-diseñar y dirigir una formación en línea de diez módulos durante la pandemia de Covid-19, ya que toda la formación presencial había sido cancelada. El Hub de EE.UU. ha cambiado el nombre de Lanzamiento de la Transición (la introducción básica al contenido de la Transición) por el de Liderazgo Regenerativo para el Cambio Social – ampliando enormemente la audiencia de esta oportunidad de aprendizaje y haciendo que muchas más personas participen en estos cursos online.

Sabemos que otros centros, formadores y grupos de Transición también han hecho cosas nuevas e interesantes con la formación y el aprendizaje, y te invitamos a que nos cuentes sobre ellas. Puedes enviar un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Estamos deseando escuchar tus historias, ampliar tu trabajo y ayudarte a conectar y compartir con otros.

Los miembros de los tres Nodos y del círculo de Formación para la Transición celebraron su primera reunión del proyecto la semana pasada y empezaron a explorar cómo podría progresar este trabajo de co-diseño. Entre los temas que probablemente se desarrollen se encuentran los siguientes:

- Seguir apoyando y dinamizando la Comunidad de Práctica de formadores internacionales.
- Replantear y diseñar la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los entrenadores/facilitadores dentro de nuestro movimiento más amplio, y hacerlo mucho más accesible.
- Aumentar la accesibilidad y la relevancia de las oportunidades de aprendizaje populares, como por ejemplo mediante el desarrollo de más formación en línea, formación autoguiada, cursos de estilo MOOC, y la participación de un público más amplio.

A medida que nuestros planes sean más firmes, compartiremos más información con ustedes.

**Nuevas funciones y oportunidades en el círculo de la formación**

Y por último, este es un buen momento para compartir el agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido al círculo de Formación para la Transición en los últimos 15 meses. A medida que entramos en una nueva fase de trabajo, centrándonos más en el co-diseño con los Nodos/Hubs, y apoyando/sirviendo mejor a los muchos entrenadores/facilitadores para la Transición en todo el movimiento, algunas de las personas que han estado desempeñando funciones operativas activas en el círculo de formación están dando un paso atrás o se están desplazando a otras funciones y áreas de interés.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) y Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) dejan de desempeñar funciones operativas y pasan a desempeñar funciones en los Nodos/Hubs de co-diseño. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se centrará más en el círculo de Transición Interna, y sigue siendo nuestro enlace con ese círculo y su trabajo. Rachel Ellman y Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – después de estar muy involucradas en el primer año del círculo de Formación, han pasado a otros trabajos y proyectos. Damos la bienvenida a Don Hall (EE.UU.) al proyecto de codiseño Hubs-Training, y seguimos estando muy agradecidos a nuestros otros miembros del Círculo Primario, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn y Gesa Maschkowski por su continua participación. Silvana Bañados seguirá apoyando al círculo en su función administrativa y estará encantada de responder a sus correos electrónicos y consultas a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

En las próximas semanas diseñaremos cómo estructurar el círculo de Formación para la Transición y los nuevos roles operativos para el próximo año. Es posible que haya oportunidades para que nuevas personas del movimiento de Transición se unan al círculo de Formación, ya sea en funciones voluntarias del círculo Primario o en funciones operativas con recursos. Compartiremos más información sobre esto en el sitio web y las redes sociales de TN y a través de las listas de correo electrónico de los Nodos/HUbs de Transición y los Entrenadores/Facilitadores de Transición.

Estamos deseando dar los siguientes pasos para revitalizar la formación y el aprendizaje dentro del movimiento de Transición y para apoyar y servir mejor a los formadores, los Nodos, los grupos de Transición y las nuevas personas que se adentran en el camino de la Transición.

Somos um círculo relativamente novo dentro do movimento de Transição mais amplo, criado em janeiro de 2020 para ajudar a distribuir o poder e a tomada de decisões dos treinamentos de Transição e oportunidades de aprendizado do Transition Network (a instituição de caridade que eu apoio) para o movimento de Transição mais amplo e para os próprios treinadores. Nosso objetivo é revitalizar e tornar mais acessíveis as oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem que apoiam a Transição.

Muita coisa tem acontecido nos últimos meses. No ano passado, realizamos uma pesquisa sobre as necessidades, tensões e oportunidades relacionadas ao treinamento e aprendizagem no movimento de Transição como um todo. Você pode saber mais sobre esta pesquisa e ler nosso relatório final [aqui](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Isto nos trouxe mais conhecimento sobre o que acontecia nos diversos lugares em que a Transição está presente e nos deu base para nossos próximos passos.

**Ampliando o reconhecimento dos treinadores de transição**

Uma das tensões destacadas na pesquisa foi a necessidade de rever a forma pela qual os treinadores de Transição são reconhecidos e endossados. Até agora, isto dependia da participação dos indivíduos no curso de Treinamento de Treinadores (ToT) com um dos pequenos grupos de treinadores de ToT da Transition Network. Somos muito gratos por todos os cursos ToT que aconteceram ao longo dos anos, pelos treinadores ToT e pelas centenas de pessoas que participaram desses cursos e ministraram treinamento de Transição em muitos países. Entretanto, também reconhecemos que o pequeno número de treinadores ToT e o formato de vários dias presenciais de cursos ToT têm limitado a acessibilidade a essas oportunidades.

O feedback do movimento também mostrou que há muitos treinadores e facilitadores no mundo, que são treinados e conhecedores do conteúdo e abordagens relacionadas à Transição, mas que atualmente não são reconhecidos como treinadores, nem seus programas de treinamento são expandidos no nível do movimento internacional de Transição. Queríamos mudar esta situação e, portanto, nos comprometemos a criar uma nova maneira para que os treinadores e facilitadores de Transição sejam reconhecidos e apoiados internacionalmente. Em 28 de abril foi aprovada uma nova política para reconhecer e apoiar instrutores, tanto aqueles que completaram um curso de Transição como aqueles que não o fizeram. Você encontrará todos os detalhes [aqui](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Apoio e Rede de Trabalho para Treinadores e Facilitadores de Transição**

Se você é um treinador/facilitador de conteúdo relacionado à Transição e atende aos critérios dos novos caminhos a serem reconhecidos e endossados internacionalmente, você pode estar interessado em juntar-se à recém-reenergizada Comunidade Internacional de Prática para treinadores/facilitadores. A adesão a esta comunidade também lhe dará a oportunidade de estar listado nos sites de treinadores da Rede de Transição (TN) de promover suas oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizado através dos canais de mídia social da TN. Num futuro próximo esperamos ter uma plataforma online onde os treinadores e facilitadores da Transição possam se encontrar, compartilhar e colaborar. Para registrar seu interesse, envie um e-mail para [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprendendo juntos**

Além de trabalhar em importantes mudanças políticas, o Círculo de Treinamento de Transição organizou uma série de seis webinars durante os últimos meses. Estes reuniram treinadores de transição, Hubs e membros dos grupos de transição locais para explorar com mais detalhes alguns dos tópicos mais quentes no treinamento. Eles discutiram os cursos de treinamento originais da Transição e outros tópicos populares de treinamento, tais como [Lançamento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Crescimento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transição Interna](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saudáveis e Governança Compartilhada](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economia Resiliente](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Transformação de Conflitos](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Você pode acessar as gravações de cada webinar clicando sobre o tópico.

**Co-desenho com os Hubs de Transição**

Os webinars levaram a um desejo de mais oportunidades de co-design entre os Hubs que têm sido ativos na área de treinamento nos últimos dez anos. Para este fim, The Heart Hubs Circle (HHC) concedeu subsídios de £4.000 à [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (EUA), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) e [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) para apoiar o trabalho do projeto durante os próximos 6 meses.

O Círculo de Treinamento de Transição tem o prazer de trabalhar com esses Hubs, pois eles trouxeram muitas inovações e oportunidades de aprendizado e treinamento nos últimos anos. O Hub Belga lançou recentemente um novo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) sobre Transição Interna na plataforma Colibri, do qual participaram mais de 13.000 pessoas. O Hub brasileiro reuniu treinadores de todo o país para co-desenhar e conduzir um treinamento on-line de dez módulos durante a pandemia de Covid-19, já que todo o treinamento presencial havia sido cancelado. O Hub dos EUA renomeou o lançamento da Transição (a introdução básica ao conteúdo da Transição) para Liderança Regenerativa para a Mudança Social – expandindo muito o público para esta oportunidade de aprendizado e fazendo com que muito mais pessoas participem destes cursos on-line.

Sabemos que outros centros de transição, treinadores e grupos também fizeram coisas novas e interessantes com treinamento e aprendizagem, e convidamos você a nos falar sobre eles. Você pode enviar um e-mail para [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Esperamos ouvir suas histórias, expandir seu trabalho e ajudá-lo a se conectar e compartilhar com os outros.

Os membros dos três Hubs e do círculo de treinamento de transição realizaram sua primeira reunião de projeto na semana passada e começaram a explorar como este trabalho de co-design poderia progredir. Entre os temas passíveis de serem desenvolvidos estão os seguintes:

Continuando a apoiar e energizar a Comunidade de Prática dos treinadores internacionais.

Repensar e projetar o treinamento e desenvolvimento profissional de treinadores/facilitadores dentro de nosso movimento mais amplo, e torná-lo muito mais acessível.

Aumentar a acessibilidade e a relevância das oportunidades de aprendizagem popular, por exemplo, desenvolvendo mais treinamento on-line, treinamento auto-orientado, cursos no estilo MOOC e envolvendo um público mais amplo.

À medida que nossos planos se tornarem mais firmes, compartilharemos mais informações com você.

**Novas características e oportunidades no círculo de treinamento**

E finalmente, este é um bom momento para compartilhar informações, e agradecer a todos que contribuíram para o círculo de Treinamento para Transição durante os últimos 15 meses. Ao entrarmos em uma nova fase de trabalho, concentrando-nos mais no co-desenho com os Hubs, e melhor apoiando os muitos treinadores/facilitadores de Transição através do movimento, algumas das pessoas que têm desempenhado papéis operacionais ativos no círculo de treinamento estão recuando ou avançando para outros papéis e áreas de interesse.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) e Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) estão saindo das funções operacionais e entrando em funções nos Hubs de co-design. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se concentrará mais no círculo de Transição Interna, e continuará sendo nossa ligação com esse círculo e seu trabalho. Rachel Ellman e Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – depois de estarem muito envolvidas no primeiro ano do círculo de formação, passaram para outros trabalhos e projetos. Damos as boas-vindas a Don Hall (EUA) ao projeto de co-design Hubs-Training, e continuamos muito gratos aos nossos outros membros do Primary Circle, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn e Gesa Maschkowski por seu envolvimento contínuo. Silvana Bañados continuará a apoiar o círculo em seu papel administrativo e terá prazer em responder a seus e-mails e consultas em [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

Nas próximas semanas estaremos projetando como estruturar o círculo de Formação de Transição e as novas funções operacionais para o próximo ano. Pode haver oportunidades para que novas pessoas do movimento de Transição se juntem ao Círculo de Formação, seja em funções voluntárias no Círculo Primário ou em funções operacionais com recursos. Compartilharemos mais informações sobre isso no site da TN e nas mídias sociais e através das listas de e-mail de Treinadores/Facilitadores de Transição/HUbs e Transition Trainers/Facilitators.

Estamos ansiosos para dar os próximos passos para revitalizar o treinamento e aprendizado dentro do movimento de Transição e para melhor apoiar e servir os treinadores, Hubs, grupos de Transição e novas pessoas que entram na jornada de Transição.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

Somos un círculo relativamente nuevo dentro del movimiento de Transición más amplio, creado en enero de 2020 para ayudar a distribuir el poder y la toma de decisiones de los entrenamientos para la Transición y las oportunidades de aprendizaje, desde Transition Network (la organización benéfica que apoyo) hacia el movimiento de Transición más amplio y los propios formadores. Nuestro objetivo es revitalizar y hacer más accesibles las oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje que apoyan la Transición.

En los últimos meses han ocurrido muchas cosas. El año pasado realizamos un estudio en todo el movimiento sobre las necesidades, tensiones y oportunidades relacionadas con la formación y el aprendizaje en el movimiento de la Transición. Puedes encontrar más información sobre esta investigación y leer nuestro informe final [aquí](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Esto creó los cimientos para nuestros próximos pasos.

**Ampliar el reconocimiento de los entrenadores para la Transición**

Una de las tensiones puestas de manifiesto en la investigación fue la necesidad de revisar la forma en que se reconoce y avala a los entrenadores para la Transición. Hasta ahora, esto dependía de que los individuos hicieran un curso de Entrenamiento de Entrenadores (ToT) con uno de los pequeños grupos de entrenadores de ToT de Transition Network. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos los cursos ToT que han tenido lugar a lo largo de los años, por los entrenadores del ToT y por los cientos de personas que han participado en estos cursos y que han impartido entrenamientos para la Transición en muchos países. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que el escaso número de formadores ToT y el formato presencial de varios días de los cursos ToT han limitado la accesibilidad a estas oportunidades.

Los comentarios del movimiento también mostraron que hay muchos entrenadores y facilitadores en el mundo, que están capacitados y tienen conocimientos sobre el contenido y los enfoques relacionados con la Transición, pero que actualmente no son reconocidos como entrenadores, ni sus programas de formación se amplían a nivel del movimiento internacional de Transición. Queríamos cambiar esta situación y por ello nos comprometimos a crear una nueva vía para que los entrenadores y facilitadores para la Transición puedan ser reconocidos y apoyados a nivel internacional. El 28 de abril se aprobó una nueva política de reconocimiento y apoyo a los formadores, tanto a los que han realizado un curso de transición como a los que no. Encontrarás [aquí ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)todos los detalles al respecto.

**Apoyo y redes para formadores y facilitadores de la transición**

Si eres un entrenador/facilitador de contenidos relacionados con la Transición y cumples los criterios de las nuevas vías para ser reconocido y avalado a escala internacional, puede que te interese unirte a la recién re-energizada Comunidad de Práctica internacional de formadores/facilitadores. Unirse a esta comunidad también te dará acceso a figurar en las páginas web de entrenadores de Transition Network (TN) y a poder promocionar sus oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje a través de las redes sociales de TN. En un futuro próximo esperamos contar con una plataforma en línea donde los entrenadores y facilitadores de la Transición puedan reunirse, compartir y colaborar. Para registrar tu interés, envía un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprender juntos**

Además de trabajar en importantes cambios de política, el círculo de Formación para la Transición organizó una serie de seis seminarios web en los últimos meses. En ellos se reunieron formadores, nodos/hubs y miembros de grupos de Transición para explorar con más detalle algunos de los temas más candentes en materia de formación. En ellos se debatieron los cursos de formación originales de Transición y otros temas de formación populares, como [Lanzamiento/Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Prosperidad/Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transición Interior](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saludables y Gobernanza Compartido](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economías Resilientes](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Transformación del Conflicto](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Puedes acceder a las grabaciones de cada seminario web haciendo clic en el tema.

**Codiseño con los Nodos/Hubs de Transición**

Los seminarios web dieron lugar a un deseo de más oportunidades de codiseño entre los Nodos/Hubs que han estado activos en el ámbito de la formación durante los últimos diez años. Para ello, El Círculo Corazón de los Hubs (Heart Hubs Circle – HHC) ha concedido subvenciones de 4.000 libras esterlinas a [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Estados Unidos), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) y [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para apoyar el trabajo del proyecto durante los próximos 6 meses.

El Círculo de Formación para la Transición está encantado de trabajar con estos Nodos/Hubs, ya que han aportado muchas innovaciones y oportunidades en materia de aprendizaje y formación en los últimos años. El hub belga ha lanzado recientemente un nuevo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course – Curso Online Abierto y Masivo) de Transición Interior en la plataforma Colibri, en el que han participado más de 13.000 personas. El Hub brasileño reunió a formadores de todo el país para co-diseñar y dirigir una formación en línea de diez módulos durante la pandemia de Covid-19, ya que toda la formación presencial había sido cancelada. El Hub de EE.UU. ha cambiado el nombre de Lanzamiento de la Transición (la introducción básica al contenido de la Transición) por el de Liderazgo Regenerativo para el Cambio Social – ampliando enormemente la audiencia de esta oportunidad de aprendizaje y haciendo que muchas más personas participen en estos cursos online.

Sabemos que otros centros, formadores y grupos de Transición también han hecho cosas nuevas e interesantes con la formación y el aprendizaje, y te invitamos a que nos cuentes sobre ellas. Puedes enviar un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Estamos deseando escuchar tus historias, ampliar tu trabajo y ayudarte a conectar y compartir con otros.

Los miembros de los tres Nodos y del círculo de Formación para la Transición celebraron su primera reunión del proyecto la semana pasada y empezaron a explorar cómo podría progresar este trabajo de co-diseño. Entre los temas que probablemente se desarrollen se encuentran los siguientes:

- Seguir apoyando y dinamizando la Comunidad de Práctica de formadores internacionales.
- Replantear y diseñar la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los entrenadores/facilitadores dentro de nuestro movimiento más amplio, y hacerlo mucho más accesible.
- Aumentar la accesibilidad y la relevancia de las oportunidades de aprendizaje populares, como por ejemplo mediante el desarrollo de más formación en línea, formación autoguiada, cursos de estilo MOOC, y la participación de un público más amplio.

A medida que nuestros planes sean más firmes, compartiremos más información con ustedes.

**Nuevas funciones y oportunidades en el círculo de la formación**

Y por último, este es un buen momento para compartir el agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido al círculo de Formación para la Transición en los últimos 15 meses. A medida que entramos en una nueva fase de trabajo, centrándonos más en el co-diseño con los Nodos/Hubs, y apoyando/sirviendo mejor a los muchos entrenadores/facilitadores para la Transición en todo el movimiento, algunas de las personas que han estado desempeñando funciones operativas activas en el círculo de formación están dando un paso atrás o se están desplazando a otras funciones y áreas de interés.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) y Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) dejan de desempeñar funciones operativas y pasan a desempeñar funciones en los Nodos/Hubs de co-diseño. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se centrará más en el círculo de Transición Interna, y sigue siendo nuestro enlace con ese círculo y su trabajo. Rachel Ellman y Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – después de estar muy involucradas en el primer año del círculo de Formación, han pasado a otros trabajos y proyectos. Damos la bienvenida a Don Hall (EE.UU.) al proyecto de codiseño Hubs-Training, y seguimos estando muy agradecidos a nuestros otros miembros del Círculo Primario, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn y Gesa Maschkowski por su continua participación. Silvana Bañados seguirá apoyando al círculo en su función administrativa y estará encantada de responder a sus correos electrónicos y consultas a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

En las próximas semanas diseñaremos cómo estructurar el círculo de Formación para la Transición y los nuevos roles operativos para el próximo año. Es posible que haya oportunidades para que nuevas personas del movimiento de Transición se unan al círculo de Formación, ya sea en funciones voluntarias del círculo Primario o en funciones operativas con recursos. Compartiremos más información sobre esto en el sitio web y las redes sociales de TN y a través de las listas de correo electrónico de los Nodos/HUbs de Transición y los Entrenadores/Facilitadores de Transición.

Estamos deseando dar los siguientes pasos para revitalizar la formación y el aprendizaje dentro del movimiento de Transición y para apoyar y servir mejor a los formadores, los Nodos, los grupos de Transición y las nuevas personas que se adentran en el camino de la Transición.

Somos um círculo relativamente novo dentro do movimento de Transição mais amplo, criado em janeiro de 2020 para ajudar a distribuir o poder e a tomada de decisões dos treinamentos de Transição e oportunidades de aprendizado do Transition Network (a instituição de caridade que eu apoio) para o movimento de Transição mais amplo e para os próprios treinadores. Nosso objetivo é revitalizar e tornar mais acessíveis as oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem que apoiam a Transição.

Muita coisa tem acontecido nos últimos meses. No ano passado, realizamos uma pesquisa sobre as necessidades, tensões e oportunidades relacionadas ao treinamento e aprendizagem no movimento de Transição como um todo. Você pode saber mais sobre esta pesquisa e ler nosso relatório final [aqui](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Isto nos trouxe mais conhecimento sobre o que acontecia nos diversos lugares em que a Transição está presente e nos deu base para nossos próximos passos.

**Ampliando o reconhecimento dos treinadores de transição**

Uma das tensões destacadas na pesquisa foi a necessidade de rever a forma pela qual os treinadores de Transição são reconhecidos e endossados. Até agora, isto dependia da participação dos indivíduos no curso de Treinamento de Treinadores (ToT) com um dos pequenos grupos de treinadores de ToT da Transition Network. Somos muito gratos por todos os cursos ToT que aconteceram ao longo dos anos, pelos treinadores ToT e pelas centenas de pessoas que participaram desses cursos e ministraram treinamento de Transição em muitos países. Entretanto, também reconhecemos que o pequeno número de treinadores ToT e o formato de vários dias presenciais de cursos ToT têm limitado a acessibilidade a essas oportunidades.

O feedback do movimento também mostrou que há muitos treinadores e facilitadores no mundo, que são treinados e conhecedores do conteúdo e abordagens relacionadas à Transição, mas que atualmente não são reconhecidos como treinadores, nem seus programas de treinamento são expandidos no nível do movimento internacional de Transição. Queríamos mudar esta situação e, portanto, nos comprometemos a criar uma nova maneira para que os treinadores e facilitadores de Transição sejam reconhecidos e apoiados internacionalmente. Em 28 de abril foi aprovada uma nova política para reconhecer e apoiar instrutores, tanto aqueles que completaram um curso de Transição como aqueles que não o fizeram. Você encontrará todos os detalhes [aqui](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Apoio e Rede de Trabalho para Treinadores e Facilitadores de Transição**

Se você é um treinador/facilitador de conteúdo relacionado à Transição e atende aos critérios dos novos caminhos a serem reconhecidos e endossados internacionalmente, você pode estar interessado em juntar-se à recém-reenergizada Comunidade Internacional de Prática para treinadores/facilitadores. A adesão a esta comunidade também lhe dará a oportunidade de estar listado nos sites de treinadores da Rede de Transição (TN) de promover suas oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizado através dos canais de mídia social da TN. Num futuro próximo esperamos ter uma plataforma online onde os treinadores e facilitadores da Transição possam se encontrar, compartilhar e colaborar. Para registrar seu interesse, envie um e-mail para [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprendendo juntos**

Além de trabalhar em importantes mudanças políticas, o Círculo de Treinamento de Transição organizou uma série de seis webinars durante os últimos meses. Estes reuniram treinadores de transição, Hubs e membros dos grupos de transição locais para explorar com mais detalhes alguns dos tópicos mais quentes no treinamento. Eles discutiram os cursos de treinamento originais da Transição e outros tópicos populares de treinamento, tais como [Lançamento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Crescimento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transição Interna](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saudáveis e Governança Compartilhada](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economia Resiliente](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Transformação de Conflitos](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Você pode acessar as gravações de cada webinar clicando sobre o tópico.

**Co-desenho com os Hubs de Transição**

Os webinars levaram a um desejo de mais oportunidades de co-design entre os Hubs que têm sido ativos na área de treinamento nos últimos dez anos. Para este fim, The Heart Hubs Circle (HHC) concedeu subsídios de £4.000 à [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (EUA), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) e [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) para apoiar o trabalho do projeto durante os próximos 6 meses.

O Círculo de Treinamento de Transição tem o prazer de trabalhar com esses Hubs, pois eles trouxeram muitas inovações e oportunidades de aprendizado e treinamento nos últimos anos. O Hub Belga lançou recentemente um novo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) sobre Transição Interna na plataforma Colibri, do qual participaram mais de 13.000 pessoas. O Hub brasileiro reuniu treinadores de todo o país para co-desenhar e conduzir um treinamento on-line de dez módulos durante a pandemia de Covid-19, já que todo o treinamento presencial havia sido cancelado. O Hub dos EUA renomeou o lançamento da Transição (a introdução básica ao conteúdo da Transição) para Liderança Regenerativa para a Mudança Social – expandindo muito o público para esta oportunidade de aprendizado e fazendo com que muito mais pessoas participem destes cursos on-line.

Sabemos que outros centros de transição, treinadores e grupos também fizeram coisas novas e interessantes com treinamento e aprendizagem, e convidamos você a nos falar sobre eles. Você pode enviar um e-mail para [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Esperamos ouvir suas histórias, expandir seu trabalho e ajudá-lo a se conectar e compartilhar com os outros.

Os membros dos três Hubs e do círculo de treinamento de transição realizaram sua primeira reunião de projeto na semana passada e começaram a explorar como este trabalho de co-design poderia progredir. Entre os temas passíveis de serem desenvolvidos estão os seguintes:

Continuando a apoiar e energizar a Comunidade de Prática dos treinadores internacionais.

Repensar e projetar o treinamento e desenvolvimento profissional de treinadores/facilitadores dentro de nosso movimento mais amplo, e torná-lo muito mais acessível.

Aumentar a acessibilidade e a relevância das oportunidades de aprendizagem popular, por exemplo, desenvolvendo mais treinamento on-line, treinamento auto-orientado, cursos no estilo MOOC e envolvendo um público mais amplo.

À medida que nossos planos se tornarem mais firmes, compartilharemos mais informações com você.

**Novas características e oportunidades no círculo de treinamento**

E finalmente, este é um bom momento para compartilhar informações, e agradecer a todos que contribuíram para o círculo de Treinamento para Transição durante os últimos 15 meses. Ao entrarmos em uma nova fase de trabalho, concentrando-nos mais no co-desenho com os Hubs, e melhor apoiando os muitos treinadores/facilitadores de Transição através do movimento, algumas das pessoas que têm desempenhado papéis operacionais ativos no círculo de treinamento estão recuando ou avançando para outros papéis e áreas de interesse.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) e Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) estão saindo das funções operacionais e entrando em funções nos Hubs de co-design. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se concentrará mais no círculo de Transição Interna, e continuará sendo nossa ligação com esse círculo e seu trabalho. Rachel Ellman e Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – depois de estarem muito envolvidas no primeiro ano do círculo de formação, passaram para outros trabalhos e projetos. Damos as boas-vindas a Don Hall (EUA) ao projeto de co-design Hubs-Training, e continuamos muito gratos aos nossos outros membros do Primary Circle, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn e Gesa Maschkowski por seu envolvimento contínuo. Silvana Bañados continuará a apoiar o círculo em seu papel administrativo e terá prazer em responder a seus e-mails e consultas em [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

Nas próximas semanas estaremos projetando como estruturar o círculo de Formação de Transição e as novas funções operacionais para o próximo ano. Pode haver oportunidades para que novas pessoas do movimento de Transição se juntem ao Círculo de Formação, seja em funções voluntárias no Círculo Primário ou em funções operacionais com recursos. Compartilharemos mais informações sobre isso no site da TN e nas mídias sociais e através das listas de e-mail de Treinadores/Facilitadores de Transição/HUbs e Transition Trainers/Facilitators.

Estamos ansiosos para dar os próximos passos para revitalizar o treinamento e aprendizado dentro do movimento de Transição e para melhor apoiar e servir os treinadores, Hubs, grupos de Transição e novas pessoas que entram na jornada de Transição.

We are a relatively new circle within the wider Transition movement, created in January 2020 to help distribute agency and decision making for Transition training and learning opportunities, from Transition Network (the support charity) to the wider Transition movement and the trainers themselves. Our aim is to re-energise and make more widely accessible, training and learning opportunities which support Transition.

A lot has been happening these past few months. Last year we conducted research across the movement regarding the needs, tensions and opportunities related to training and learning in the Transition movement. You can find out more about this research and read our final report [here.](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) This created the foundation for our next steps.

**Broadening how Trainers for Transition are Recognised**

One of the tensions highlighted in the research was the need to revisit how trainers for Transition are recognised and endorsed. Previously this relied on individuals taking a Training of Trainers (ToT) course with one of a small group of ToT trainers from Transition Network. We are super grateful for all the ToT courses which happened over the years, to the ToT trainers and the several hundred people who took these courses and went on to deliver transition training in many countries. However we also recognise that the small number of ToT trainers, and the in person, multiple day format of the ToT courses has created limited accessibility of these opportunities.

Feedback from the movement also showed that there are many trainers and facilitators in the world, who are skilled and knowledgeable in Transition related content and approaches, and who are not currently recognised or their training programmes amplified at the international Transition movement level. We wanted to change this and so engaged in a process of creating a new pathway for how trainers and facilitators for Transition can be recognised and supported at the international level. A new policy for recognising and endorsing trainers, including those who have taken a Transition ToT and those who have not, was agreed by consent on April 28th and you can find full details [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Support and Networking for Trainers and Facilitators of Transition**

If you are a trainer of Transition related content and meet the criteria of the new pathways for being recognised and endorsed at the international level of scale, you may be interested in joining the newly re-invigorated trainers/facilitators international Community of Practice. Joining this community will also give you access to being listed on the Transition Network trainers webpages and being able to promote your training and learning opportunities through TN social media. In the near future we hope to have an online platform where trainers and facilitators for Transition can meet, share and collaborate – more on that in the coming months. To register your interest please email [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Learning Together**

In addition to working on major policy changes, the Training for Transition circle hosted a six part webinar series over the last few months. These brought together trainers, Hubs and members of Transition groups to explore in more detail some of the most lively topics regarding training. These included discussing the original Transition training courses and other popular training topics including – [Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) & [Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Inner Transition](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Healthy Groups & Shared Governance](https://youtu.be/5orHRQ91eW4?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Resilient Economies](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and [Conflict Transformation](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). You can access recordings of each webinar by clicking on the topic.

**Co-designing with Transition Hubs**

The webinars led to a desire for more co-design opportunities between Hubs who have been active in the training domain over the last ten years. To support this, The Hubs Heart Circle have made grants of £4000 each to the [Transition US ](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)(United States), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Belgium) and [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) to support project work over the next 6 months.

The Training for Transition circle are excited to be working with these Hubs as they have delivered a lot of innovation and opportunities within learning and training over the last few years. The Belgian Hub recently launched a new Inner Transition MOOC on the Colibri platform, with over 13,000 people taking part. The Brazilian Hub brought together trainers from across the country to co-design and lead a ten module online training during the Covid-19 pandemic, as all in person training had been cancelled. The U.S Hub. has renamed Transition Launch (the basic introduction to Transition content) to Regenerative Leadership for Social Change – hugely widening the audience for this learning opportunity and leading to many more people participating in these online courses.

We know other Hubs, trainers and Transition groups have also been doing new and interesting things with training and learning and we invite you to reach out and tell us about these – you can email [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). We look forward to hearing your stories, amplifying your work and helping you to connect and share with others.

Members of the three Hubs and the Training for Transition circle had their first project meeting last week and began to explore how this co-design work might progress. Likely themes to develop include:

- Further supporting and energising the international trainers Community of Practice.
- Re-envisioning and designing how training and professional development of trainers/facilitators happens within our wider movement – and making this much more widely available.
- Increasing accessibility and relevance of popular learning opportunities e.g. through the development of more online training, self guided training, MOOC style courses and engaging with wider audiences.

As our plans become firmer we will share more with you.

**New Roles and Opportunities in the Training Circle**

And lastly, this feels like a good time to share some appreciation for all of those who have contributed to the Training for Transition circle over the past 15 months. As we enter into a new phase of work – focusing more on codesign with Hubs, and better supporting and serving the many trainers/facilitators for Transition across the wider movement, some of the people who have been holding active operational roles in the Training circle are taking a step back or sideways into other roles and areas of focus.

Monica Picavêa (Brazil) and Josué Dusoulier (Belgium) move from operational roles to Hubs codesign roles. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) will be focusing more on the Inner Transition circle – and remains our link to that circle and its work. Rachel Ellman and Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – after being very involved in the first year of the Training circle, have moved on to other work and projects. We welcome Don Hall (U.S.) to the Hubs-Training codesign project, and we remain very grateful to our other Primary Circle members, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn and Gesa Maschkowski for their ongoing participation. Silvana Bañados will continue to support the circle in an administrative role – and is happy to answer your emails and enquiries [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

In the next few weeks we will be designing how to structure the Training for Transition circle and new operational roles for the coming year. There may be opportunities for new people within the Transition movement to join the Training circle in either voluntary Primary Circle roles or resourced operational roles. We will share more about this on the TN website and social media and through the Transition Hubs and Transition Trainers email lists.

We look forward to the next steps of re-energising training and learning within the Transition movement and to better supporting and serving the trainers, Hubs, Transition groups and new people entering into a Transition learning journey.

Somos un círculo relativamente nuevo dentro del movimiento de Transición más amplio, creado en enero de 2020 para ayudar a distribuir el poder y la toma de decisiones de los entrenamientos para la Transición y las oportunidades de aprendizaje, desde Transition Network (la organización benéfica que apoyo) hacia el movimiento de Transición más amplio y los propios formadores. Nuestro objetivo es revitalizar y hacer más accesibles las oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje que apoyan la Transición.

En los últimos meses han ocurrido muchas cosas. El año pasado realizamos un estudio en todo el movimiento sobre las necesidades, tensiones y oportunidades relacionadas con la formación y el aprendizaje en el movimiento de la Transición. Puedes encontrar más información sobre esta investigación y leer nuestro informe final [aquí](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Esto creó los cimientos para nuestros próximos pasos.

**Ampliar el reconocimiento de los entrenadores para la Transición**

Una de las tensiones puestas de manifiesto en la investigación fue la necesidad de revisar la forma en que se reconoce y avala a los entrenadores para la Transición. Hasta ahora, esto dependía de que los individuos hicieran un curso de Entrenamiento de Entrenadores (ToT) con uno de los pequeños grupos de entrenadores de ToT de Transition Network. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos los cursos ToT que han tenido lugar a lo largo de los años, por los entrenadores del ToT y por los cientos de personas que han participado en estos cursos y que han impartido entrenamientos para la Transición en muchos países. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que el escaso número de formadores ToT y el formato presencial de varios días de los cursos ToT han limitado la accesibilidad a estas oportunidades.

Los comentarios del movimiento también mostraron que hay muchos entrenadores y facilitadores en el mundo, que están capacitados y tienen conocimientos sobre el contenido y los enfoques relacionados con la Transición, pero que actualmente no son reconocidos como entrenadores, ni sus programas de formación se amplían a nivel del movimiento internacional de Transición. Queríamos cambiar esta situación y por ello nos comprometimos a crear una nueva vía para que los entrenadores y facilitadores para la Transición puedan ser reconocidos y apoyados a nivel internacional. El 28 de abril se aprobó una nueva política de reconocimiento y apoyo a los formadores, tanto a los que han realizado un curso de transición como a los que no. Encontrarás [aquí ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)todos los detalles al respecto.

**Apoyo y redes para formadores y facilitadores de la transición**

Si eres un entrenador/facilitador de contenidos relacionados con la Transición y cumples los criterios de las nuevas vías para ser reconocido y avalado a escala internacional, puede que te interese unirte a la recién re-energizada Comunidad de Práctica internacional de formadores/facilitadores. Unirse a esta comunidad también te dará acceso a figurar en las páginas web de entrenadores de Transition Network (TN) y a poder promocionar sus oportunidades de formación y aprendizaje a través de las redes sociales de TN. En un futuro próximo esperamos contar con una plataforma en línea donde los entrenadores y facilitadores de la Transición puedan reunirse, compartir y colaborar. Para registrar tu interés, envía un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprender juntos**

Además de trabajar en importantes cambios de política, el círculo de Formación para la Transición organizó una serie de seis seminarios web en los últimos meses. En ellos se reunieron formadores, nodos/hubs y miembros de grupos de Transición para explorar con más detalle algunos de los temas más candentes en materia de formación. En ellos se debatieron los cursos de formación originales de Transición y otros temas de formación populares, como [Lanzamiento/Launch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Prosperidad/Thrive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transición Interior](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saludables y Gobernanza Compartido](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economías Resilientes](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) y [Transformación del Conflicto](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Puedes acceder a las grabaciones de cada seminario web haciendo clic en el tema.

**Codiseño con los Nodos/Hubs de Transición**

Los seminarios web dieron lugar a un deseo de más oportunidades de codiseño entre los Nodos/Hubs que han estado activos en el ámbito de la formación durante los últimos diez años. Para ello, El Círculo Corazón de los Hubs (Heart Hubs Circle – HHC) ha concedido subvenciones de 4.000 libras esterlinas a [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Estados Unidos), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) y [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para apoyar el trabajo del proyecto durante los próximos 6 meses.

El Círculo de Formación para la Transición está encantado de trabajar con estos Nodos/Hubs, ya que han aportado muchas innovaciones y oportunidades en materia de aprendizaje y formación en los últimos años. El hub belga ha lanzado recientemente un nuevo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course – Curso Online Abierto y Masivo) de Transición Interior en la plataforma Colibri, en el que han participado más de 13.000 personas. El Hub brasileño reunió a formadores de todo el país para co-diseñar y dirigir una formación en línea de diez módulos durante la pandemia de Covid-19, ya que toda la formación presencial había sido cancelada. El Hub de EE.UU. ha cambiado el nombre de Lanzamiento de la Transición (la introducción básica al contenido de la Transición) por el de Liderazgo Regenerativo para el Cambio Social – ampliando enormemente la audiencia de esta oportunidad de aprendizaje y haciendo que muchas más personas participen en estos cursos online.

Sabemos que otros centros, formadores y grupos de Transición también han hecho cosas nuevas e interesantes con la formación y el aprendizaje, y te invitamos a que nos cuentes sobre ellas. Puedes enviar un correo electrónico a [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Estamos deseando escuchar tus historias, ampliar tu trabajo y ayudarte a conectar y compartir con otros.

Los miembros de los tres Nodos y del círculo de Formación para la Transición celebraron su primera reunión del proyecto la semana pasada y empezaron a explorar cómo podría progresar este trabajo de co-diseño. Entre los temas que probablemente se desarrollen se encuentran los siguientes:

- Seguir apoyando y dinamizando la Comunidad de Práctica de formadores internacionales.
- Replantear y diseñar la formación y el desarrollo profesional de los entrenadores/facilitadores dentro de nuestro movimiento más amplio, y hacerlo mucho más accesible.
- Aumentar la accesibilidad y la relevancia de las oportunidades de aprendizaje populares, como por ejemplo mediante el desarrollo de más formación en línea, formación autoguiada, cursos de estilo MOOC, y la participación de un público más amplio.

A medida que nuestros planes sean más firmes, compartiremos más información con ustedes.

**Nuevas funciones y oportunidades en el círculo de la formación**

Y por último, este es un buen momento para compartir el agradecimiento a todos los que han contribuido al círculo de Formación para la Transición en los últimos 15 meses. A medida que entramos en una nueva fase de trabajo, centrándonos más en el co-diseño con los Nodos/Hubs, y apoyando/sirviendo mejor a los muchos entrenadores/facilitadores para la Transición en todo el movimiento, algunas de las personas que han estado desempeñando funciones operativas activas en el círculo de formación están dando un paso atrás o se están desplazando a otras funciones y áreas de interés.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) y Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) dejan de desempeñar funciones operativas y pasan a desempeñar funciones en los Nodos/Hubs de co-diseño. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se centrará más en el círculo de Transición Interna, y sigue siendo nuestro enlace con ese círculo y su trabajo. Rachel Ellman y Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – después de estar muy involucradas en el primer año del círculo de Formación, han pasado a otros trabajos y proyectos. Damos la bienvenida a Don Hall (EE.UU.) al proyecto de codiseño Hubs-Training, y seguimos estando muy agradecidos a nuestros otros miembros del Círculo Primario, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn y Gesa Maschkowski por su continua participación. Silvana Bañados seguirá apoyando al círculo en su función administrativa y estará encantada de responder a sus correos electrónicos y consultas a [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org)

En las próximas semanas diseñaremos cómo estructurar el círculo de Formación para la Transición y los nuevos roles operativos para el próximo año. Es posible que haya oportunidades para que nuevas personas del movimiento de Transición se unan al círculo de Formación, ya sea en funciones voluntarias del círculo Primario o en funciones operativas con recursos. Compartiremos más información sobre esto en el sitio web y las redes sociales de TN y a través de las listas de correo electrónico de los Nodos/HUbs de Transición y los Entrenadores/Facilitadores de Transición.

Estamos deseando dar los siguientes pasos para revitalizar la formación y el aprendizaje dentro del movimiento de Transición y para apoyar y servir mejor a los formadores, los Nodos, los grupos de Transición y las nuevas personas que se adentran en el camino de la Transición.

Somos um círculo relativamente novo dentro do movimento de Transição mais amplo, criado em janeiro de 2020 para ajudar a distribuir o poder e a tomada de decisões dos treinamentos de Transição e oportunidades de aprendizado do Transition Network (a instituição de caridade que eu apoio) para o movimento de Transição mais amplo e para os próprios treinadores. Nosso objetivo é revitalizar e tornar mais acessíveis as oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem que apoiam a Transição.

Muita coisa tem acontecido nos últimos meses. No ano passado, realizamos uma pesquisa sobre as necessidades, tensões e oportunidades relacionadas ao treinamento e aprendizagem no movimento de Transição como um todo. Você pode saber mais sobre esta pesquisa e ler nosso relatório final [aqui](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Isto nos trouxe mais conhecimento sobre o que acontecia nos diversos lugares em que a Transição está presente e nos deu base para nossos próximos passos.

**Ampliando o reconhecimento dos treinadores de transição**

Uma das tensões destacadas na pesquisa foi a necessidade de rever a forma pela qual os treinadores de Transição são reconhecidos e endossados. Até agora, isto dependia da participação dos indivíduos no curso de Treinamento de Treinadores (ToT) com um dos pequenos grupos de treinadores de ToT da Transition Network. Somos muito gratos por todos os cursos ToT que aconteceram ao longo dos anos, pelos treinadores ToT e pelas centenas de pessoas que participaram desses cursos e ministraram treinamento de Transição em muitos países. Entretanto, também reconhecemos que o pequeno número de treinadores ToT e o formato de vários dias presenciais de cursos ToT têm limitado a acessibilidade a essas oportunidades.

O feedback do movimento também mostrou que há muitos treinadores e facilitadores no mundo, que são treinados e conhecedores do conteúdo e abordagens relacionadas à Transição, mas que atualmente não são reconhecidos como treinadores, nem seus programas de treinamento são expandidos no nível do movimento internacional de Transição. Queríamos mudar esta situação e, portanto, nos comprometemos a criar uma nova maneira para que os treinadores e facilitadores de Transição sejam reconhecidos e apoiados internacionalmente. Em 28 de abril foi aprovada uma nova política para reconhecer e apoiar instrutores, tanto aqueles que completaram um curso de Transição como aqueles que não o fizeram. Você encontrará todos os detalhes [aqui](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KC0EWcwyZJdfgET8szYY7aEv-u%5F5Y86r/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Apoio e Rede de Trabalho para Treinadores e Facilitadores de Transição**

Se você é um treinador/facilitador de conteúdo relacionado à Transição e atende aos critérios dos novos caminhos a serem reconhecidos e endossados internacionalmente, você pode estar interessado em juntar-se à recém-reenergizada Comunidade Internacional de Prática para treinadores/facilitadores. A adesão a esta comunidade também lhe dará a oportunidade de estar listado nos sites de treinadores da Rede de Transição (TN) de promover suas oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizado através dos canais de mídia social da TN. Num futuro próximo esperamos ter uma plataforma online onde os treinadores e facilitadores da Transição possam se encontrar, compartilhar e colaborar. Para registrar seu interesse, envie um e-mail para [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

**Aprendendo juntos**

Além de trabalhar em importantes mudanças políticas, o Círculo de Treinamento de Transição organizou uma série de seis webinars durante os últimos meses. Estes reuniram treinadores de transição, Hubs e membros dos grupos de transição locais para explorar com mais detalhes alguns dos tópicos mais quentes no treinamento. Eles discutiram os cursos de treinamento originais da Transição e outros tópicos populares de treinamento, tais como [Lançamento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtC1cKI-bSo&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Crescimento](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg1-vZ-c2yk&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Transição Interna](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Grupos Saudáveis e Governança Compartilhada](https://youtu.be/i%5FBAoqsOotw?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Economia Resiliente](https://youtu.be/b4Cvr5FO6Ms?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) e [Transformação de Conflitos](https://youtu.be/eONhInv2W4I?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Você pode acessar as gravações de cada webinar clicando sobre o tópico.

**Co-desenho com os Hubs de Transição**

Os webinars levaram a um desejo de mais oportunidades de co-design entre os Hubs que têm sido ativos na área de treinamento nos últimos dez anos. Para este fim, The Heart Hubs Circle (HHC) concedeu subsídios de £4.000 à [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (EUA), [Réseau Transition](https://www.reseautransition.be/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Bélgica) e [Transition Brasil](https://transitionbrasil.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Brazil) para apoiar o trabalho do projeto durante os próximos 6 meses.

O Círculo de Treinamento de Transição tem o prazer de trabalhar com esses Hubs, pois eles trouxeram muitas inovações e oportunidades de aprendizado e treinamento nos últimos anos. O Hub Belga lançou recentemente um novo MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) sobre Transição Interna na plataforma Colibri, do qual participaram mais de 13.000 pessoas. O Hub brasileiro reuniu treinadores de todo o país para co-desenhar e conduzir um treinamento on-line de dez módulos durante a pandemia de Covid-19, já que todo o treinamento presencial havia sido cancelado. O Hub dos EUA renomeou o lançamento da Transição (a introdução básica ao conteúdo da Transição) para Liderança Regenerativa para a Mudança Social – expandindo muito o público para esta oportunidade de aprendizado e fazendo com que muito mais pessoas participem destes cursos on-line.

Sabemos que outros centros de transição, treinadores e grupos também fizeram coisas novas e interessantes com treinamento e aprendizagem, e convidamos você a nos falar sobre eles. Você pode enviar um e-mail para [training@transitionnework.org](mailto:training@transitionnework.org). Esperamos ouvir suas histórias, expandir seu trabalho e ajudá-lo a se conectar e compartilhar com os outros.

Os membros dos três Hubs e do círculo de treinamento de transição realizaram sua primeira reunião de projeto na semana passada e começaram a explorar como este trabalho de co-design poderia progredir. Entre os temas passíveis de serem desenvolvidos estão os seguintes:

Continuando a apoiar e energizar a Comunidade de Prática dos treinadores internacionais.

Repensar e projetar o treinamento e desenvolvimento profissional de treinadores/facilitadores dentro de nosso movimento mais amplo, e torná-lo muito mais acessível.

Aumentar a acessibilidade e a relevância das oportunidades de aprendizagem popular, por exemplo, desenvolvendo mais treinamento on-line, treinamento auto-orientado, cursos no estilo MOOC e envolvendo um público mais amplo.

À medida que nossos planos se tornarem mais firmes, compartilharemos mais informações com você.

**Novas características e oportunidades no círculo de treinamento**

E finalmente, este é um bom momento para compartilhar informações, e agradecer a todos que contribuíram para o círculo de Treinamento para Transição durante os últimos 15 meses. Ao entrarmos em uma nova fase de trabalho, concentrando-nos mais no co-desenho com os Hubs, e melhor apoiando os muitos treinadores/facilitadores de Transição através do movimento, algumas das pessoas que têm desempenhado papéis operacionais ativos no círculo de treinamento estão recuando ou avançando para outros papéis e áreas de interesse.

Monica Picavêa (Brasil) e Josué Dusoulier (Bélgica) estão saindo das funções operacionais e entrando em funções nos Hubs de co-design. Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda (Chile) se concentrará mais no círculo de Transição Interna, e continuará sendo nossa ligação com esse círculo e seu trabalho. Rachel Ellman e Catalina Diaz Del Pauw – depois de estarem muito envolvidas no primeiro ano do círculo de formação, passaram para outros trabalhos e projetos. Damos as boas-vindas a Don Hall (EUA) ao projeto de co-design Hubs-Training, e continuamos muito gratos aos nossos outros membros do Primary Circle, Filipa Pimentel, Ellen Bermann, Suzie Cahn e Gesa Maschkowski por seu envolvimento contínuo. Silvana Bañados continuará a apoiar o círculo em seu papel administrativo e terá prazer em responder a seus e-mails e consultas em [training@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:training@transitionnetwork.org).

Nas próximas semanas estaremos projetando como estruturar o círculo de Formação de Transição e as novas funções operacionais para o próximo ano. Pode haver oportunidades para que novas pessoas do movimento de Transição se juntem ao Círculo de Formação, seja em funções voluntárias no Círculo Primário ou em funções operacionais com recursos. Compartilharemos mais informações sobre isso no site da TN e nas mídias sociais e através das listas de e-mail de Treinadores/Facilitadores de Transição/HUbs e Transition Trainers/Facilitators.

Estamos ansiosos para dar os próximos passos para revitalizar o treinamento e aprendizado dentro do movimento de Transição e para melhor apoiar e servir os treinadores, Hubs, grupos de Transição e novas pessoas que entram na jornada de Transição.

###### Feature image by [Lucas George Wendt](https://unsplash.com/@lucasgwendt?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/pencils?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Our focus over the next 12 months
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/12-months-focus/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:01.000Z
In this blog, we share information about our focus for the financial year that has just started - April 2021 to March 2022\. The ‘we’ in this case is the Hubs Heart circle, the Inner Transition circle, the Municipalities in Transition team, the Training Circle and the Transition Network team

Within Transition Network, and across the teams and circles we work with internationally, we recognise the importance of transparency. Transparency is an essential element of the shared governance model we are developing together and we believe it has transformative potential. As we make visible what roles are being played in our system, what decisions are being made and by whom, what actions are being taken and how resources are allocated, we open up space for people to ask questions, give feedback and raise tensions. We’re noticing how this builds trust and supports accountability and means that our work is better informed and more responsive to the perspectives and needs of the diverse movement we are seeking to support. It also makes it much easier for new people to get involved and for unexpected collaborations to arise.

Our attempts to be transparent are a work in progress – it’s easy to be so busy getting things done that we forget to explain what it is we’re doing and why. But when we take time to make our intentions and ways of working public, we find that the process often helps us to achieve a new level of collective clarity and commitment.

Within Transition Network, and across the teams and circles we work with internationally, we recognise the importance of transparency. Transparency is an essential element of the shared governance model we are developing together and we believe it has transformative potential. As we make visible what roles are being played in our system, what decisions are being made and by whom, what actions are being taken and how resources are allocated, we open up space for people to ask questions, give feedback and raise tensions. We’re noticing how this builds trust and supports accountability and means that our work is better informed and more responsive to the perspectives and needs of the diverse movement we are seeking to support. It also makes it much easier for new people to get involved and for unexpected collaborations to arise.

Our attempts to be transparent are a work in progress – it’s easy to be so busy getting things done that we forget to explain what it is we’re doing and why. But when we take time to make our intentions and ways of working public, we find that the process often helps us to achieve a new level of collective clarity and commitment.

Within Transition Network, and across the teams and circles we work with internationally, we recognise the importance of transparency. Transparency is an essential element of the shared governance model we are developing together and we believe it has transformative potential. As we make visible what roles are being played in our system, what decisions are being made and by whom, what actions are being taken and how resources are allocated, we open up space for people to ask questions, give feedback and raise tensions. We’re noticing how this builds trust and supports accountability and means that our work is better informed and more responsive to the perspectives and needs of the diverse movement we are seeking to support. It also makes it much easier for new people to get involved and for unexpected collaborations to arise.

Our attempts to be transparent are a work in progress – it’s easy to be so busy getting things done that we forget to explain what it is we’re doing and why. But when we take time to make our intentions and ways of working public, we find that the process often helps us to achieve a new level of collective clarity and commitment.

Those of us working together internationally share a vision of a Transition movement in which people working for positive change in any locality and at any level of scale, feel connected to, and supported by, peers all over the world. A movement where people’s experiences, languages, cultures and histories are represented in the resources and learning being shared and in the interventions being co-created. We are seeking to shift away from a position in which experiences in one country or one language have disproportionate weight. Instead we are together supporting the emergence of an interdependent ecosystem of change makers, a resilient web of diverse people, groups, perspectives, stories and activities, which is visible, accessible and well connected beyond our movement.

Over the past six months, Transition Network and the Hubs Group have been supporting Transitioners to participate in a collective evaluation of the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement. You can find out more [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the questions we’ve been exploring and the themes which have been emerging.

In the coming year, our aim is **to move through reflection to the co-design, resourcing and implementation of strategic interventions which respond to this time of accelerating and interconnected crises.**

We want to do this by:

- **Connecting, deepening and sharing reflections about the role and response of the Transition movement at a time of accelerating and interconnected crises.**
- **Actively exploring the Transition movement’s relationship with social justice.**
- ****Consolidating and sharing learning about the transformative potential of:**
- regenerative leadership and distributed governance;
- collaboration between top down and bottom up approaches, particularly at the municipal scale;
- integrating inner and outer change;
- processes which support collaboration across difference, de-polarisation and conflict resilience; and living systems approaches.
- **Identifying and co-designing strategic interventions at the international scale.**
- **Developing and testing a prototype Transition platform or set of tools, aligned with our values.**

One of our long-term funders has generously offered us a grant to cover our basic needs as we do this work. In previous years, Transition Network made decisions about how to allocate such grants across the different teams and groups working at an international scale. But our experiments with distributed governance have now created the structures, capacity, relationships and skills which enable us to make an important shift.

In 2021, we have agreed that responsibility for allocating money across the Transition Hubs Group domain will transfer to the Hubs Heart Circle. This is a space where the Hubs Group, Inner Transition Circle, Municipalities in Transition team; Training for Transition Circle, Transition Network and other key roles hold equivalent power and can together identify synergies, resolve tensions, and connect and balance the co-operative cultures that each individual circle is developing. We’re still finding out how to make these processes work well across different contexts and time zones, but we’re very excited about learning and modelling approaches which we believe can bring benefits across and beyond the Transition movement.

We have come to think of 2021/22 as a bridging year. A time for us to make connections between the questions and possibilities that are arising across our movement and identify where we want to place collective energy and attention at the international level of scale. As we find key projects or areas of focus where we see a need and capacity for international collaboration, we will bring the appropriate roles together to develop and start implementing proposals. We also plan to become more proactive and more coordinated in our efforts to build strategic funding relationships and attract resources into the movement. As part of this, we will be trialling transparent and participatory budget and funding mechanisms such as [Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We have identified a clear need and potential for innovative technology, aligned with our values, to support peer to peer collaboration, make structures, projects and activities more visible and accessible and help power, ideas and resources flow more dynamically across our movement. We have embarked on a project to define our collective needs and priorities, assess available virtual platforms and other online collaboration tools, agree on the technical solution that we want to experiment with and launch a prototype online community. While identifying appropriate, ethically-aligned and future-proofed technology is important, we are just as focused on how to nurture a healthy and inclusive culture of co-responsibility, mutual support and meaningful engagement.

The Transition Network team came together earlier in 2021 to agree how we would contribute to this bridging year. We publish our specific areas of focus to make clear to potential collaborators where our energy and attention will be concentrated in the coming months. Working with others, the Transition Network team will:

Within Transition Network, and across the teams and circles we work with internationally, we recognise the importance of transparency. Transparency is an essential element of the shared governance model we are developing together and we believe it has transformative potential. As we make visible what roles are being played in our system, what decisions are being made and by whom, what actions are being taken and how resources are allocated, we open up space for people to ask questions, give feedback and raise tensions. We’re noticing how this builds trust and supports accountability and means that our work is better informed and more responsive to the perspectives and needs of the diverse movement we are seeking to support. It also makes it much easier for new people to get involved and for unexpected collaborations to arise.

Our attempts to be transparent are a work in progress – it’s easy to be so busy getting things done that we forget to explain what it is we’re doing and why. But when we take time to make our intentions and ways of working public, we find that the process often helps us to achieve a new level of collective clarity and commitment.

Those of us working together internationally share a vision of a Transition movement in which people working for positive change in any locality and at any level of scale, feel connected to, and supported by, peers all over the world. A movement where people’s experiences, languages, cultures and histories are represented in the resources and learning being shared and in the interventions being co-created. We are seeking to shift away from a position in which experiences in one country or one language have disproportionate weight. Instead we are together supporting the emergence of an interdependent ecosystem of change makers, a resilient web of diverse people, groups, perspectives, stories and activities, which is visible, accessible and well connected beyond our movement.

Over the past six months, Transition Network and the Hubs Group have been supporting Transitioners to participate in a collective evaluation of the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement. You can find out more [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the questions we’ve been exploring and the themes which have been emerging.

In the coming year, our aim is **to move through reflection to the co-design, resourcing and implementation of strategic interventions which respond to this time of accelerating and interconnected crises.**

We want to do this by:

- **Connecting, deepening and sharing reflections about the role and response of the Transition movement at a time of accelerating and interconnected crises.**
- **Actively exploring the Transition movement’s relationship with social justice.**
- ****Consolidating and sharing learning about the transformative potential of:**
- regenerative leadership and distributed governance;
- collaboration between top down and bottom up approaches, particularly at the municipal scale;
- integrating inner and outer change;
- processes which support collaboration across difference, de-polarisation and conflict resilience; and living systems approaches.
- **Identifying and co-designing strategic interventions at the international scale.**
- **Developing and testing a prototype Transition platform or set of tools, aligned with our values.**

One of our long-term funders has generously offered us a grant to cover our basic needs as we do this work. In previous years, Transition Network made decisions about how to allocate such grants across the different teams and groups working at an international scale. But our experiments with distributed governance have now created the structures, capacity, relationships and skills which enable us to make an important shift.

In 2021, we have agreed that responsibility for allocating money across the Transition Hubs Group domain will transfer to the Hubs Heart Circle. This is a space where the Hubs Group, Inner Transition Circle, Municipalities in Transition team; Training for Transition Circle, Transition Network and other key roles hold equivalent power and can together identify synergies, resolve tensions, and connect and balance the co-operative cultures that each individual circle is developing. We’re still finding out how to make these processes work well across different contexts and time zones, but we’re very excited about learning and modelling approaches which we believe can bring benefits across and beyond the Transition movement.

We have come to think of 2021/22 as a bridging year. A time for us to make connections between the questions and possibilities that are arising across our movement and identify where we want to place collective energy and attention at the international level of scale. As we find key projects or areas of focus where we see a need and capacity for international collaboration, we will bring the appropriate roles together to develop and start implementing proposals. We also plan to become more proactive and more coordinated in our efforts to build strategic funding relationships and attract resources into the movement. As part of this, we will be trialling transparent and participatory budget and funding mechanisms such as [Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

We have identified a clear need and potential for innovative technology, aligned with our values, to support peer to peer collaboration, make structures, projects and activities more visible and accessible and help power, ideas and resources flow more dynamically across our movement. We have embarked on a project to define our collective needs and priorities, assess available virtual platforms and other online collaboration tools, agree on the technical solution that we want to experiment with and launch a prototype online community. While identifying appropriate, ethically-aligned and future-proofed technology is important, we are just as focused on how to nurture a healthy and inclusive culture of co-responsibility, mutual support and meaningful engagement.

The Transition Network team came together earlier in 2021 to agree how we would contribute to this bridging year. We publish our specific areas of focus to make clear to potential collaborators where our energy and attention will be concentrated in the coming months. Working with others, the Transition Network team will:

- Support deep exploration of the tensions and possibilities arising from the evaluation process, including active exploration of the Transition movement’s relationship with social justice;
- Increase the impact and visibility of distributed governance across our international network, testing resilience and effectiveness as we go;
- Find diverse ways to attract resources into the movement, building capacity across different circles, geographies and levels of scale;
- Support the activation of a virtual collaboration platform for Transitioners working at the international level of scale;
- Identify and make visible the purpose and role/s that TN will seek to fulfil in the next phase of our development, to include separating, and facilitating good governance for, project/s or hub/s in England & Wales;
- Weave and share narratives around the impact of our movement and the transformative potential of core Transition practices.

We set off across this bridge to the future with as many questions as answers, but with a strong sense that the values, skills, practices, ideas and experiences alive within the Transition movement will be much needed in the times ahead. Together we will be exploring how to increase the reach and impact of our work and how to continue to build our ability to respond in healthy and creative ways to the accelerating and interconnected crises that we are living through.

We welcome any questions, comments and suggestions here on the website or via social media.
### What Happened at the What Next Summit?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-happened-what-next/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:02.000Z
Rob Hopkins tells the story of how it unfolded, with videos of the sessions and some reflections. Between March 3rd and 20th 2021, the [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) team hosted the ‘What Next Summit’, billed as “building community power through imagination and action”. While its focus was on Britain (due to the funding that enabled it) it drew an international audience and shared stories from around the world. It was ambitious and quite a ride. https://youtu.be/UUkquvgIPhU The Summit started on the evening of March 3rd, with our first week, the ‘What Is’ week. The idea was that it would explore where we are at right now, what’s the state of play of the movements and the issues that are defining our times.We kicked off with a very ambitious event called ‘The Blizzard of Stories’. It had so much potential to go horribly wrong, but it turned out amazingly. In just over an hour, we heard 12 stories of people-led change from around the world. A moving, and inspiring start to the Summit. It also featured our first poem from the Summit’s Poet Laureate, [Fedzilla](https://www.facebook.com/Fedzillamusic), and was the first time people got to meet Fanny Didou of Sketching the Move, who created beautiful visual notes of each key session from that point forward. The intention was for the Blizzard to feel like being in a ‘positivity windtunnel’, and it certainly did… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VhDusGeTCg&t=4758s The next night’s webinar was called ‘Making Sense of the Climate Emergency’, and featured Michael Mann, Lola Fayokun, Anna Bullen and Sam Knights. It was a fascinating immersion into where we find ourselves in the climate and ecological emergency, and what our next steps might look like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y7tZXsuTgA On the following day, the event broadened out into a number of workshops as part of our Invited Programme. Workshops (I will include links rather than embedding videos just in the interests of this blog not being a mile long) included Inner Transition, ‘[Technology for Change](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoLSMLIVzak&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, ‘[Together, our ideas change the world](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5A7EgOIj94&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, ‘[Reaching beyond the usual suspects: community action for everyone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTOy7VyOcFU&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, ‘[Building the livelihoods of Tomorrow, now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvLB20b-s8U&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, a takeover session by the Alternative UK called ‘[Where does the power lie?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmM%5FEG6jCVs&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, and also one by the Upstream podcast, called[ ‘What is … feminism for the 99%’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ICfY12fHMQ&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). All were well attended and a real buzz was starting to build around the content and the themes being covered.That evening we held our last big webinar in the ‘What Is’ week, called ‘What is breaking through as the current food system is breaking down?’ It featured Prof. Tim Lang, Dierdre ‘Dee’ Woods, Julie Brown and Pam Warhurst. The chat forum was so alive and busy that afterwards when we pasted it into Word it ran over 24 pages! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7gAg0Q4aiM&t=991s Saturday then picked up where Friday had left off, with a full programme of workshops. There was a[ Community Organising 101](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow7aygdBg8I&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) session, ‘[COVID Mutual Aid: has it ever been mutual?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYLFB9-XglE&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, the very powerful ‘[Does environmental sustainability have a problem with social justice? (re)Locating Justice in Environmentalism](https://youtu.be/g%5FusVBb8Blo?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ with Marvina Newton of BLM Leeds and our very own Nick Anim, all of which rounded up with a very rich and insightful reflection session, hearing peoples’ experiences of the Summit up to that point. https://youtu.be/g\_usVBb8Blo The next week, our ‘What If’ week, was designed to introduce the aspect of the imagination, of ‘What If’, of how our activism might be deepened and enriched by making more space for the imagination. We couldn’t have chosen a better event to open it with, which turned out to be many people’s highlight of the Summit. The session on the New Constellation in Barrow moved many to tears, and took us on an incredible heart-filled journey into what community consultation can look like if dreaming and imagination are at its heart… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuhhquWMbUw&t=2316s Wednesday night’s event was called ‘Cultivating Everyday Imagination’, and it featured Tom Doust, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan and Phoebe Tickell looking at how, as individuals, we might boost and expand our own capacity for imagination. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRZmXw1L3BU The following evening we broadened that out, to look at how we might do the same for communities. Joined by Afsheen Kabir Rashid, Daniel Raven Ellison and Kamran Rashid, it was a great conversation, again accompanied by a very lively chat box! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vki3cnQwwtE The final one of these What If evening webinars was on Friday, where we were joined by Kate Raworth, Mia Birdsong and Carne Ross, for a session called ‘A Society Where Imagination Flourishes’.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/What_If_Society-scaled.jpg)

We were also joined by two Keynote Listeners, a concept that we’d return to in the conference, where Cassie Robinson and Chidi Oti Obihara both offered their reflections on the discussion at the end. This session was a real highlight for many Summit participants. It also featured Fedzilla’s second poem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki\_hj88XgAE And here's that poem… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Itw0qdP8EY Another highlight was to come the next day. Lucy Neal and Ruth Ben Tovim had picked up our challenge to translate their incredible ‘Pop Up 2030’ activity into an online setting. With the support of the team’s Dan Hurring, an incredible array of different digital tools were corralled so as to enable the activity to go ahead. It turned out to be an incredible journey into the future we could still create, just. \[caption id="attachment\_4638616" align="alignnone" width="1387"\]

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG-20210313-WA0225.jpg)

'Pop Up 2030' participants during the online official opening of Town Anywhere by the 'Mayor'...\[/caption\] \[caption id="attachment\_4638617" align="alignnone" width="1280"\]

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG-20210313-WA0215.jpg)

One participant's kitchen table during the Pop Up 2030 day...\[/caption\] \[caption id="attachment\_4638618" align="alignnone" width="1600"\]

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG-20210313-WA0167.jpg)

A 'Story Circle Centre', home to the 'Open Story Network', as shared on WhatsApp during the day...\[/caption\]

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG-20210313-WA0228.jpg)

People around the world dreamed and planned, and built those futures with cardboard and paper and pens, sharing them via WhatsApp, while Fanny created a beautiful drawing of the town they were creating. A deeply touching day that will stay with people for a long time.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Town_Anywhere-scaled.jpg)

The final week was ‘What Next’ week, intending to pull together all the threads of the Summit so far. It started with 2 days of self-organising Open Space. People were invited to organise their own sessions and to post them for people to attend on our Nudj Platform. The subjects were wide and varied, and it was beautiful to see that by now, people were comfortable enough with the Nudj Losing Control platform to both organise Open Space session, and also to hold discussions and conversations about the sessions that they had been to.On the last Friday evening, ‘Connecting the Threads’ was a reflective session that drew together the key threads up to that point. Saturday began with different workshops and skillshares. They included 'Collaborative Organising within our Communities’, ‘Building community power through innovative partnerships’, ‘Effective communications for social change’, and ‘how to work with your local council effectively’. The whole event ended with ‘What Next: organising for change’, a beautiful opportunity for participants to meet each other and to share their experience of the Summit. And a big celebration. And a final poem from Fedzilla. And a review of all of Fanny’s drawings up to that point. And lots of beautiful feedback from participants.The What Next Summit was a huge stretch for the Transition: Bounce Forward team, but it exceeded our expectations. A particular delight was the really focused dedication to diversifying the voices heard at the Summit, which brought so much richness, and challenge, to the event. Also, the degree to which the self organisation and connection, facilitated by the platform we were using, succeeded. The sense of people taking ownership of the event was thrilling.Some thanks. Firstly to the team: Rich, Dan, Rhiannon, Jenny, Roxy, Mike, Nick, Mikee. To everyone in CtrlShift and the other organisations who partnered with us. To [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for making it possible. To [Losing Control](https://www.losingcontrol.org/network-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for hosting us on the Nudj Platform. And to everyone who took part, as a speaker, a Keynote Listener, a workshop presenter, or a participant.
### First Full Moon Gathering
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/first-full-moon-gathering/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:03.000Z
Andrea Giraldo López of the Inner Transition Circle reports back from the first Moon and Sun celebration.

## **Honoring our return to natural cycles in celebration of our connection**

On a full moon in February 2021, we gathered to celebrate the first [*Moon & Sun Celebrations* ](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)that gathered people from different places of Latin America and Europe. This was an event held in Spanish, opening doors for beings in all territories to join in the conversation and weaving of practices and actions around the inner transformation process we are embraced upon. It was a compelling birth for an event, as the process of design and co-creation for the gathering enriched us by making visible the subtleness in the details we need to take into account in order to sustain the ground of care and transparency that holds us in our culture for Transition.

## **An open space to share inner actions and connect**

During the gathering, the space was opened for people to share how they are living their inner actions as individuals, in community and as a network. A collective practice to speak from our own experience, remembering times in our lives where we have had to face difficult times and what inner resources have been helpful to rise above those moments. Calls and prayers for the need of rainwater in Mexico and Chile arose as we connected with what moves us from the inside during a full moon and how our relationship with the pain of Mother Earth can be a mirror and opportunity for us to liberate ourselves and tune into focus with what really nurtures our hearts with joy and sense of purpose during these times.

Re-connection with our ancestors kept resonating as also the essence of trust that comes from being able to rest in the harmony of coming in balance with our authentic feminine and masculine energies. Recognizing that life starts beneath the soil, in ocean depths, the gathering was opened with a [meditation](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bYRJBm-BPS6dtFWoqgdHi0Qktmxnlw9HCcFe7uvWSi4/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) where we visualized ourselves in a journey growing within the waters of the womb and how through the trust of our own decision to be born, we embrace this planet as a safe and abundant place to experience life and to keep admiring and inspiring each other in this web of growing human care and mutual nurture.

## **Individual and collective practices**

Ancestral technologies for community strengthening like the Mexican Temazcal (ceremonial sweat lodge to return to the womb of the mother) and the Colombian Mambeadero (word weaving around the fire as practice for collective decision making and human interconnection in presence of the medicines of mambe- coca leave, and ambil- tobacco honey) were present; group meditations and traditional dances, as well as recognizing the power of our voice through the healing of singing and connecting with music instruments; A Japanese way to honour, connect and recharge energy called “Forest Baths” was also mentioned. Yoga, writing, weaving mandalas and having long walks in nature followed by the importance of our relationship with food, our health, our hands touching the soil and regenerating our gardens from the recognition of our own abundance gave impulse to the collective weaving. Also, the respect and value on the calling for responsibly sharing in guided ceremonies with Sacred Plants, and experiences around facing our fears, observing the movements where we feel separated or limited and having the capacity to discern and self-govern ourselves as we do everything we need to come back to our center, are some of the actions mentioned in order to be re-empowered and re-identified as a whole and healthy living organism.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Word-Art-ITC.jpeg)

Wordcloud from sharings in the check out

## **We invite you to connect with us**

We are holding regular spaces for connecting to each other, usually during Full and New Moon days, as a celebration to cultivate life, to reconnect with each other, to keep growing as a community of practice and to constantly celebrate the great gift of being together and alive in these extraordinary times.

We are open to include as many languages as our collective offers in the next gatherings.

For details of future Sun & Moon gatherings keep an eye on the Inner Transition Circle [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle), the Transition Network [Eventbrite page](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/transition-network-13758562454?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), or add your details to the Inner Transition Circle database in [English](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Spanish](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

## **Honoring our return to natural cycles in celebration of our connection**

On a full moon in February 2021, we gathered to celebrate the first [*Moon & Sun Celebrations* ](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)that gathered people from different places of Latin America and Europe. This was an event held in Spanish, opening doors for beings in all territories to join in the conversation and weaving of practices and actions around the inner transformation process we are embraced upon. It was a compelling birth for an event, as the process of design and co-creation for the gathering enriched us by making visible the subtleness in the details we need to take into account in order to sustain the ground of care and transparency that holds us in our culture for Transition.

## **An open space to share inner actions and connect**

During the gathering, the space was opened for people to share how they are living their inner actions as individuals, in community and as a network. A collective practice to speak from our own experience, remembering times in our lives where we have had to face difficult times and what inner resources have been helpful to rise above those moments. Calls and prayers for the need of rainwater in Mexico and Chile arose as we connected with what moves us from the inside during a full moon and how our relationship with the pain of Mother Earth can be a mirror and opportunity for us to liberate ourselves and tune into focus with what really nurtures our hearts with joy and sense of purpose during these times.

Re-connection with our ancestors kept resonating as also the essence of trust that comes from being able to rest in the harmony of coming in balance with our authentic feminine and masculine energies. Recognizing that life starts beneath the soil, in ocean depths, the gathering was opened with a [meditation](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bYRJBm-BPS6dtFWoqgdHi0Qktmxnlw9HCcFe7uvWSi4/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) where we visualized ourselves in a journey growing within the waters of the womb and how through the trust of our own decision to be born, we embrace this planet as a safe and abundant place to experience life and to keep admiring and inspiring each other in this web of growing human care and mutual nurture.

## **Individual and collective practices**

Ancestral technologies for community strengthening like the Mexican Temazcal (ceremonial sweat lodge to return to the womb of the mother) and the Colombian Mambeadero (word weaving around the fire as practice for collective decision making and human interconnection in presence of the medicines of mambe- coca leave, and ambil- tobacco honey) were present; group meditations and traditional dances, as well as recognizing the power of our voice through the healing of singing and connecting with music instruments; A Japanese way to honour, connect and recharge energy called “Forest Baths” was also mentioned. Yoga, writing, weaving mandalas and having long walks in nature followed by the importance of our relationship with food, our health, our hands touching the soil and regenerating our gardens from the recognition of our own abundance gave impulse to the collective weaving. Also, the respect and value on the calling for responsibly sharing in guided ceremonies with Sacred Plants, and experiences around facing our fears, observing the movements where we feel separated or limited and having the capacity to discern and self-govern ourselves as we do everything we need to come back to our center, are some of the actions mentioned in order to be re-empowered and re-identified as a whole and healthy living organism.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Word-Art-ITC.jpeg)

Wordcloud from sharings in the check out

## **We invite you to connect with us**

We are holding regular spaces for connecting to each other, usually during Full and New Moon days, as a celebration to cultivate life, to reconnect with each other, to keep growing as a community of practice and to constantly celebrate the great gift of being together and alive in these extraordinary times.

We are open to include as many languages as our collective offers in the next gatherings.

For details of future Sun & Moon gatherings keep an eye on the Inner Transition Circle [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle), the Transition Network [Eventbrite page](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/transition-network-13758562454?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), or add your details to the Inner Transition Circle database in [English](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Spanish](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

## **Honoring our return to natural cycles in celebration of our connection**

On a full moon in February 2021, we gathered to celebrate the first [*Moon & Sun Celebrations* ](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)that gathered people from different places of Latin America and Europe. This was an event held in Spanish, opening doors for beings in all territories to join in the conversation and weaving of practices and actions around the inner transformation process we are embraced upon. It was a compelling birth for an event, as the process of design and co-creation for the gathering enriched us by making visible the subtleness in the details we need to take into account in order to sustain the ground of care and transparency that holds us in our culture for Transition.

## **An open space to share inner actions and connect**

During the gathering, the space was opened for people to share how they are living their inner actions as individuals, in community and as a network. A collective practice to speak from our own experience, remembering times in our lives where we have had to face difficult times and what inner resources have been helpful to rise above those moments. Calls and prayers for the need of rainwater in Mexico and Chile arose as we connected with what moves us from the inside during a full moon and how our relationship with the pain of Mother Earth can be a mirror and opportunity for us to liberate ourselves and tune into focus with what really nurtures our hearts with joy and sense of purpose during these times.

Re-connection with our ancestors kept resonating as also the essence of trust that comes from being able to rest in the harmony of coming in balance with our authentic feminine and masculine energies. Recognizing that life starts beneath the soil, in ocean depths, the gathering was opened with a [meditation](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bYRJBm-BPS6dtFWoqgdHi0Qktmxnlw9HCcFe7uvWSi4/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) where we visualized ourselves in a journey growing within the waters of the womb and how through the trust of our own decision to be born, we embrace this planet as a safe and abundant place to experience life and to keep admiring and inspiring each other in this web of growing human care and mutual nurture.

## **Individual and collective practices**

Ancestral technologies for community strengthening like the Mexican Temazcal (ceremonial sweat lodge to return to the womb of the mother) and the Colombian Mambeadero (word weaving around the fire as practice for collective decision making and human interconnection in presence of the medicines of mambe- coca leave, and ambil- tobacco honey) were present; group meditations and traditional dances, as well as recognizing the power of our voice through the healing of singing and connecting with music instruments; A Japanese way to honour, connect and recharge energy called “Forest Baths” was also mentioned. Yoga, writing, weaving mandalas and having long walks in nature followed by the importance of our relationship with food, our health, our hands touching the soil and regenerating our gardens from the recognition of our own abundance gave impulse to the collective weaving. Also, the respect and value on the calling for responsibly sharing in guided ceremonies with Sacred Plants, and experiences around facing our fears, observing the movements where we feel separated or limited and having the capacity to discern and self-govern ourselves as we do everything we need to come back to our center, are some of the actions mentioned in order to be re-empowered and re-identified as a whole and healthy living organism.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Word-Art-ITC.jpeg)

Wordcloud from sharings in the check out

## **We invite you to connect with us**

We are holding regular spaces for connecting to each other, usually during Full and New Moon days, as a celebration to cultivate life, to reconnect with each other, to keep growing as a community of practice and to constantly celebrate the great gift of being together and alive in these extraordinary times.

We are open to include as many languages as our collective offers in the next gatherings.

For details of future Sun & Moon gatherings keep an eye on the Inner Transition Circle [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/InnerTransitionCircle), the Transition Network [Eventbrite page](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/transition-network-13758562454?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), or add your details to the Inner Transition Circle database in [English](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Spanish](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**References and Resources from the gathering:**

\* MÉXICO:

- Hub Transición México: silviapermacultura@gmail.com. “BAÑOS DE BOSQUE” (Forest Baths)
- Meditación en Ciudad de México, Dirección: Calle Palenque 125, Narvarte Oriente, Benito Juárez, 03020 Ciudad de México, CDMX. Horario: Abierto ⋅ Horario de cierre: 20:00\. Teléfono: 55 2614 7448
- App for local and responsible consumption.[ https://nuhu.org.mx](https://nuhu.org.mx/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\* COLOMBIA:

– Support the spiritual agreement with water weaving sacred Marunzama houses. The return of stolen gold: the reactivation of crystal waters amongst the Earth. [https://www.whydonate.nl/fundraising/Marunsama-Guardianes-del-Agua/nl](https://www.whydonate.nl/fundraising/Marunsama-Guardianes-del-Agua/nl?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

\* Writer: [https://ranaehanson.com/](https://ranaehanson.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition Voices on Social Justice – Part Three
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/social-justice-voices-three/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:04.000Z
*Continuing our series of interviews conducted by freelance journalist Abigail Sykes. After interviewing Sarah McAdam (Transition Network), Nick Anim (Transition: Bounce Forward & Transition Town Brixton) and Marissa Mommaerts (Transition US) her piece “There’s No Transition Without a Just Transition” was published in Swedish newspaper Landets Fria Tidning, see* [*https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/*](https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*We’re very grateful to Abigail and Landets Fria Tidning that we can share with you the full length interviews here, over three parts. In this final piece we hear from Marissa Mommaerts of* [*Transition US*](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/marissa-mommaerts.jpg)

“There’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US. Photo: Private

Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US, has had social justice as her priority since she joined the Transition movement eight years ago.

“We’ve started and our national leadership sees this as important, and sees that it needs to dedicate resources to this work. But we have a lot of work to do”, she says.

## **Why is it important?**

“1\. It’s the right thing to do. Transition people care. Why would we want to rebuild our world and not include justice?”

“2\. We’re only as resilient as our neighbours, or the weakest members of our communities. As long as the impacts of imperialism are playing out in Latin America, the US is always going to have refugees. Our work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re not growing as much as we need to – why? We need to be more inclusive. And it’s not enough to be inclusive and diverse – we need to support justice, to support the leadership of indigenous people, black people and people of colour.”

“One Transition group I love in the US is Cooperation Humboldt. They say we need to leverage our power and privilege to support the work that’s already happening in marginalised communities. For example, they have a community health worker project. I know some people will say that’s not Transition. But firstly, people need basic security before they can take on other issues. And secondly, we’re only as resilient as others around us. If others are struggling, we need to meet them where they’re at.”

“3\. Without this, the movement isn’t going to achieve its visions and goals. Recognizing that all of our struggles are intimately connected and that we must work together to build a better world is known as collective liberation. Collective liberation is a strategic response to the Transition goal of slowing climate change and creating resilient ecosystems. The only way to build a movement that’s strong enough to confront entrenched interests, is to build strong partnerships with social movements with a broader and deeper analysis. I love Naomi Klein’s book “*This changes everything*”. She does such a good job of explaining how both social and ecological crises are a result of an extractive economic model”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US is in the middle of its national strategy planning process, and is collecting input from Transition groups across the country.

“One theme we’re hearing from them is that we need to centre social justice and inclusion. Another is that we need a deeper analysis of power and how the economic, social and ecological crises are linked. They’re saying that there’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US also wants to build more strategic collaborations, locally and nationally, with movements and organisations like 350.org, the Sunrise movement and other climate justice movements.

“They probably won’t be that excited to work with us until we have a strong commitment to social justice. We have strong new economics and social justice movements in the US, so we’re behind. We’re constantly being challenged and pushed, and we have lots of resources and sources of inspiration.”

The US Transition Hub has several social justice initiatives underway. A lot of work goes through the national social justice working group which was started just over three years ago. The Hub has done advocacy to its board of directors to prioritise social justice, and hopes to be able to update its mission statement to include social justice.

Transition US has hosted a series of national conversations on various aspects of the connection between Transition and social justice called Building Bridges which was funded by Transition Network seed funding, so they could hire speakers from various organisations and movements within justice and antiracism. This was organized by Jul Bystrova from the Social Justice Working Group and Inner Resilience Network.

“We’re also looking at the connection between social justice and inner Transition, for example, how colonialism and white supremacy shows up in us. It’s hard work. We’ve done sessions on healing intergenerational trauma in relation to oppression, power, privilege, allyship and the connections between the climate and social justice”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

In the past year the Hub has been working with the Transition initiative Cooperation Humboldt to offer a social justice community of practice. It’s six sessions of training on white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, is based on the leadership training they do with people who want to join the core team. Cooperation Humboldt has a focus on the solidarity economy and economic models for equity, and incubates worker cooperatives. Transition US is interested in supporting that work.

The US Hub is also collaborating with the Pine Ridge Reservation in the US on the permaculture food sovereignty project OLCERI (Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative) as well as a big permaculture conference after the Covid-19 pandemic. This partnership was organized by Jul Bystrova.

“We also have a project called Stories to Action where we amplify stories from the US Transition movement. The Transition Network is supporting us to highlight stories on social justice. We’ve found that people working hard in their communities may not have time to document their stories, so we pay people for their time to talk to us. A handful of groups have solid justice collaborations in their communities. We’re documenting what, why and how they’re doing. A lot is about building relationships and trust”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Social justice is likely to be a big theme in the Hub’s upcoming national gathering, and Marissa Mommaerts thinks they will try to reevaluate all their programmes and materials to make justice more central, such as Transition Streets and emergency preparedness. A priority is inclusion and diversity in the Hub’s staff and board.

“Our board and staff are at least 50 percent people of colour. It’s taken a long time to get here. We have so much more to do but now it seems common knowledge that this is important, at least within our leadership. We also have a grassroots advisory council of local leaders, and there’s understanding there too that this is important”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

On the whole, Transition initiatives in the US seem to want to prioritise social justice. The national hub has been convening lots of conversations on the issue and the response has been very positive.

“I was surprised – maybe people who weren’t on board with this just didn’t come – but no one said this is not a direction we should go in. There was no resistance or pushback. All the Transition initiatives that turned up were interested.”

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is on board, Marissa Mommaerts notes.  
“There are still people on our council who are questioning how to do this without undermining our commitment to climate change, while others think this is the way to address climate change. We’re trying to give everyone the chance to express their concerns but not waiting for 100 percent support. Local groups are still autonomous but this is a priority when we’re guiding and giving support.”

Marissa Mommaerts says that there may also be people in Transition groups who don’t identify as white supremacists but might hold some of the same beliefs, at least unconsciously.  
“That’s why we examine our belief systems and call each other in. We need practice and confidence. Humility is a big value of mine that’s good to lean on. I don’t want to be racist but sometimes I do or say something and I get called out. Then I have to be humble, learn and try not to f\*\*\* up again. We also have a culture of not shaming each other. We are all part of systems of oppression and shaming doesn’t help.”

“It’s hard, it’s a constant process, work and learning. We have basic recognition that this is important but we have a lot of work until Transition initiatives really embody it”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Transition Network made a powerful [statement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that social justice is a priority. It’s helpful that Transition Network is saying that this is part of Transition.”

“Building relationships and trust based on consistency. Showing up for them, supporting their agendas.”

“Giving people space, paired with training, is constructive”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Two pieces of work are needed in social justice, says Marissa Mommaerts. One is reconciliation and looking at the emotional trauma of racism. The other is reparations and redistributing resources.

“That’s an important issue in the US. Solidarity, not charity! I love the way Cooperation Humboldt is building more equitable economic systems. They’re paying reparations to local indigenous tribes, and other local groups are starting to do that too. It’s partly about showing up and partly about putting your money where your mouth is. Saying we care about poor people and not trying to change the economic system feels pretty superficial to me. One example is that all white-led organizations in the New Economy Coalition are being asked to dedicate 0.1 percent of their annual budget to be redistributed to support black-led organizations in the coalition.”

## **What do you think would’ve happened if Transition US hadn’t had this focus?**

“We would’ve become irrelevant. I think that’s why we have support now, because people know we have to do this to stay relevant. I think addressing justice is also an important part of engaging youth. Young people aren’t going to be attracted to Transition if it stays in its little bubble. I think there’s widespread understanding that Transition needs to reach beyond the choir”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/marissa-mommaerts.jpg)

“There’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US. Photo: Private

Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US, has had social justice as her priority since she joined the Transition movement eight years ago.

“We’ve started and our national leadership sees this as important, and sees that it needs to dedicate resources to this work. But we have a lot of work to do”, she says.

## **Why is it important?**

“1\. It’s the right thing to do. Transition people care. Why would we want to rebuild our world and not include justice?”

“2\. We’re only as resilient as our neighbours, or the weakest members of our communities. As long as the impacts of imperialism are playing out in Latin America, the US is always going to have refugees. Our work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re not growing as much as we need to – why? We need to be more inclusive. And it’s not enough to be inclusive and diverse – we need to support justice, to support the leadership of indigenous people, black people and people of colour.”

“One Transition group I love in the US is Cooperation Humboldt. They say we need to leverage our power and privilege to support the work that’s already happening in marginalised communities. For example, they have a community health worker project. I know some people will say that’s not Transition. But firstly, people need basic security before they can take on other issues. And secondly, we’re only as resilient as others around us. If others are struggling, we need to meet them where they’re at.”

“3\. Without this, the movement isn’t going to achieve its visions and goals. Recognizing that all of our struggles are intimately connected and that we must work together to build a better world is known as collective liberation. Collective liberation is a strategic response to the Transition goal of slowing climate change and creating resilient ecosystems. The only way to build a movement that’s strong enough to confront entrenched interests, is to build strong partnerships with social movements with a broader and deeper analysis. I love Naomi Klein’s book “*This changes everything*”. She does such a good job of explaining how both social and ecological crises are a result of an extractive economic model”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US is in the middle of its national strategy planning process, and is collecting input from Transition groups across the country.

“One theme we’re hearing from them is that we need to centre social justice and inclusion. Another is that we need a deeper analysis of power and how the economic, social and ecological crises are linked. They’re saying that there’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US also wants to build more strategic collaborations, locally and nationally, with movements and organisations like 350.org, the Sunrise movement and other climate justice movements.

“They probably won’t be that excited to work with us until we have a strong commitment to social justice. We have strong new economics and social justice movements in the US, so we’re behind. We’re constantly being challenged and pushed, and we have lots of resources and sources of inspiration.”

The US Transition Hub has several social justice initiatives underway. A lot of work goes through the national social justice working group which was started just over three years ago. The Hub has done advocacy to its board of directors to prioritise social justice, and hopes to be able to update its mission statement to include social justice.

Transition US has hosted a series of national conversations on various aspects of the connection between Transition and social justice called Building Bridges which was funded by Transition Network seed funding, so they could hire speakers from various organisations and movements within justice and antiracism. This was organized by Jul Bystrova from the Social Justice Working Group and Inner Resilience Network.

“We’re also looking at the connection between social justice and inner Transition, for example, how colonialism and white supremacy shows up in us. It’s hard work. We’ve done sessions on healing intergenerational trauma in relation to oppression, power, privilege, allyship and the connections between the climate and social justice”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

In the past year the Hub has been working with the Transition initiative Cooperation Humboldt to offer a social justice community of practice. It’s six sessions of training on white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, is based on the leadership training they do with people who want to join the core team. Cooperation Humboldt has a focus on the solidarity economy and economic models for equity, and incubates worker cooperatives. Transition US is interested in supporting that work.

The US Hub is also collaborating with the Pine Ridge Reservation in the US on the permaculture food sovereignty project OLCERI (Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative) as well as a big permaculture conference after the Covid-19 pandemic. This partnership was organized by Jul Bystrova.

“We also have a project called Stories to Action where we amplify stories from the US Transition movement. The Transition Network is supporting us to highlight stories on social justice. We’ve found that people working hard in their communities may not have time to document their stories, so we pay people for their time to talk to us. A handful of groups have solid justice collaborations in their communities. We’re documenting what, why and how they’re doing. A lot is about building relationships and trust”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Social justice is likely to be a big theme in the Hub’s upcoming national gathering, and Marissa Mommaerts thinks they will try to reevaluate all their programmes and materials to make justice more central, such as Transition Streets and emergency preparedness. A priority is inclusion and diversity in the Hub’s staff and board.

“Our board and staff are at least 50 percent people of colour. It’s taken a long time to get here. We have so much more to do but now it seems common knowledge that this is important, at least within our leadership. We also have a grassroots advisory council of local leaders, and there’s understanding there too that this is important”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

On the whole, Transition initiatives in the US seem to want to prioritise social justice. The national hub has been convening lots of conversations on the issue and the response has been very positive.

“I was surprised – maybe people who weren’t on board with this just didn’t come – but no one said this is not a direction we should go in. There was no resistance or pushback. All the Transition initiatives that turned up were interested.”

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is on board, Marissa Mommaerts notes.  
“There are still people on our council who are questioning how to do this without undermining our commitment to climate change, while others think this is the way to address climate change. We’re trying to give everyone the chance to express their concerns but not waiting for 100 percent support. Local groups are still autonomous but this is a priority when we’re guiding and giving support.”

Marissa Mommaerts says that there may also be people in Transition groups who don’t identify as white supremacists but might hold some of the same beliefs, at least unconsciously.  
“That’s why we examine our belief systems and call each other in. We need practice and confidence. Humility is a big value of mine that’s good to lean on. I don’t want to be racist but sometimes I do or say something and I get called out. Then I have to be humble, learn and try not to f\*\*\* up again. We also have a culture of not shaming each other. We are all part of systems of oppression and shaming doesn’t help.”

“It’s hard, it’s a constant process, work and learning. We have basic recognition that this is important but we have a lot of work until Transition initiatives really embody it”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Transition Network made a powerful [statement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that social justice is a priority. It’s helpful that Transition Network is saying that this is part of Transition.”

“Building relationships and trust based on consistency. Showing up for them, supporting their agendas.”

“Giving people space, paired with training, is constructive”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Two pieces of work are needed in social justice, says Marissa Mommaerts. One is reconciliation and looking at the emotional trauma of racism. The other is reparations and redistributing resources.

“That’s an important issue in the US. Solidarity, not charity! I love the way Cooperation Humboldt is building more equitable economic systems. They’re paying reparations to local indigenous tribes, and other local groups are starting to do that too. It’s partly about showing up and partly about putting your money where your mouth is. Saying we care about poor people and not trying to change the economic system feels pretty superficial to me. One example is that all white-led organizations in the New Economy Coalition are being asked to dedicate 0.1 percent of their annual budget to be redistributed to support black-led organizations in the coalition.”

## **What do you think would’ve happened if Transition US hadn’t had this focus?**

“We would’ve become irrelevant. I think that’s why we have support now, because people know we have to do this to stay relevant. I think addressing justice is also an important part of engaging youth. Young people aren’t going to be attracted to Transition if it stays in its little bubble. I think there’s widespread understanding that Transition needs to reach beyond the choir”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/marissa-mommaerts.jpg)

“There’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US. Photo: Private

Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US, has had social justice as her priority since she joined the Transition movement eight years ago.

“We’ve started and our national leadership sees this as important, and sees that it needs to dedicate resources to this work. But we have a lot of work to do”, she says.

## **Why is it important?**

“1\. It’s the right thing to do. Transition people care. Why would we want to rebuild our world and not include justice?”

“2\. We’re only as resilient as our neighbours, or the weakest members of our communities. As long as the impacts of imperialism are playing out in Latin America, the US is always going to have refugees. Our work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re not growing as much as we need to – why? We need to be more inclusive. And it’s not enough to be inclusive and diverse – we need to support justice, to support the leadership of indigenous people, black people and people of colour.”

“One Transition group I love in the US is Cooperation Humboldt. They say we need to leverage our power and privilege to support the work that’s already happening in marginalised communities. For example, they have a community health worker project. I know some people will say that’s not Transition. But firstly, people need basic security before they can take on other issues. And secondly, we’re only as resilient as others around us. If others are struggling, we need to meet them where they’re at.”

“3\. Without this, the movement isn’t going to achieve its visions and goals. Recognizing that all of our struggles are intimately connected and that we must work together to build a better world is known as collective liberation. Collective liberation is a strategic response to the Transition goal of slowing climate change and creating resilient ecosystems. The only way to build a movement that’s strong enough to confront entrenched interests, is to build strong partnerships with social movements with a broader and deeper analysis. I love Naomi Klein’s book “*This changes everything*”. She does such a good job of explaining how both social and ecological crises are a result of an extractive economic model”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US is in the middle of its national strategy planning process, and is collecting input from Transition groups across the country.

“One theme we’re hearing from them is that we need to centre social justice and inclusion. Another is that we need a deeper analysis of power and how the economic, social and ecological crises are linked. They’re saying that there’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US also wants to build more strategic collaborations, locally and nationally, with movements and organisations like 350.org, the Sunrise movement and other climate justice movements.

“They probably won’t be that excited to work with us until we have a strong commitment to social justice. We have strong new economics and social justice movements in the US, so we’re behind. We’re constantly being challenged and pushed, and we have lots of resources and sources of inspiration.”

The US Transition Hub has several social justice initiatives underway. A lot of work goes through the national social justice working group which was started just over three years ago. The Hub has done advocacy to its board of directors to prioritise social justice, and hopes to be able to update its mission statement to include social justice.

Transition US has hosted a series of national conversations on various aspects of the connection between Transition and social justice called Building Bridges which was funded by Transition Network seed funding, so they could hire speakers from various organisations and movements within justice and antiracism. This was organized by Jul Bystrova from the Social Justice Working Group and Inner Resilience Network.

“We’re also looking at the connection between social justice and inner Transition, for example, how colonialism and white supremacy shows up in us. It’s hard work. We’ve done sessions on healing intergenerational trauma in relation to oppression, power, privilege, allyship and the connections between the climate and social justice”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

In the past year the Hub has been working with the Transition initiative Cooperation Humboldt to offer a social justice community of practice. It’s six sessions of training on white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, is based on the leadership training they do with people who want to join the core team. Cooperation Humboldt has a focus on the solidarity economy and economic models for equity, and incubates worker cooperatives. Transition US is interested in supporting that work.

The US Hub is also collaborating with the Pine Ridge Reservation in the US on the permaculture food sovereignty project OLCERI (Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative) as well as a big permaculture conference after the Covid-19 pandemic. This partnership was organized by Jul Bystrova.

“We also have a project called Stories to Action where we amplify stories from the US Transition movement. The Transition Network is supporting us to highlight stories on social justice. We’ve found that people working hard in their communities may not have time to document their stories, so we pay people for their time to talk to us. A handful of groups have solid justice collaborations in their communities. We’re documenting what, why and how they’re doing. A lot is about building relationships and trust”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Social justice is likely to be a big theme in the Hub’s upcoming national gathering, and Marissa Mommaerts thinks they will try to reevaluate all their programmes and materials to make justice more central, such as Transition Streets and emergency preparedness. A priority is inclusion and diversity in the Hub’s staff and board.

“Our board and staff are at least 50 percent people of colour. It’s taken a long time to get here. We have so much more to do but now it seems common knowledge that this is important, at least within our leadership. We also have a grassroots advisory council of local leaders, and there’s understanding there too that this is important”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

On the whole, Transition initiatives in the US seem to want to prioritise social justice. The national hub has been convening lots of conversations on the issue and the response has been very positive.

“I was surprised – maybe people who weren’t on board with this just didn’t come – but no one said this is not a direction we should go in. There was no resistance or pushback. All the Transition initiatives that turned up were interested.”

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is on board, Marissa Mommaerts notes.  
“There are still people on our council who are questioning how to do this without undermining our commitment to climate change, while others think this is the way to address climate change. We’re trying to give everyone the chance to express their concerns but not waiting for 100 percent support. Local groups are still autonomous but this is a priority when we’re guiding and giving support.”

Marissa Mommaerts says that there may also be people in Transition groups who don’t identify as white supremacists but might hold some of the same beliefs, at least unconsciously.  
“That’s why we examine our belief systems and call each other in. We need practice and confidence. Humility is a big value of mine that’s good to lean on. I don’t want to be racist but sometimes I do or say something and I get called out. Then I have to be humble, learn and try not to f\*\*\* up again. We also have a culture of not shaming each other. We are all part of systems of oppression and shaming doesn’t help.”

“It’s hard, it’s a constant process, work and learning. We have basic recognition that this is important but we have a lot of work until Transition initiatives really embody it”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Transition Network made a powerful [statement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that social justice is a priority. It’s helpful that Transition Network is saying that this is part of Transition.”

“Building relationships and trust based on consistency. Showing up for them, supporting their agendas.”

“Giving people space, paired with training, is constructive”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Two pieces of work are needed in social justice, says Marissa Mommaerts. One is reconciliation and looking at the emotional trauma of racism. The other is reparations and redistributing resources.

“That’s an important issue in the US. Solidarity, not charity! I love the way Cooperation Humboldt is building more equitable economic systems. They’re paying reparations to local indigenous tribes, and other local groups are starting to do that too. It’s partly about showing up and partly about putting your money where your mouth is. Saying we care about poor people and not trying to change the economic system feels pretty superficial to me. One example is that all white-led organizations in the New Economy Coalition are being asked to dedicate 0.1 percent of their annual budget to be redistributed to support black-led organizations in the coalition.”

## **What do you think would’ve happened if Transition US hadn’t had this focus?**

“We would’ve become irrelevant. I think that’s why we have support now, because people know we have to do this to stay relevant. I think addressing justice is also an important part of engaging youth. Young people aren’t going to be attracted to Transition if it stays in its little bubble. I think there’s widespread understanding that Transition needs to reach beyond the choir”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/marissa-mommaerts.jpg)

“There’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US. Photo: Private

Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US, has had social justice as her priority since she joined the Transition movement eight years ago.

“We’ve started and our national leadership sees this as important, and sees that it needs to dedicate resources to this work. But we have a lot of work to do”, she says.

## **Why is it important?**

“1\. It’s the right thing to do. Transition people care. Why would we want to rebuild our world and not include justice?”

“2\. We’re only as resilient as our neighbours, or the weakest members of our communities. As long as the impacts of imperialism are playing out in Latin America, the US is always going to have refugees. Our work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re not growing as much as we need to – why? We need to be more inclusive. And it’s not enough to be inclusive and diverse – we need to support justice, to support the leadership of indigenous people, black people and people of colour.”

“One Transition group I love in the US is Cooperation Humboldt. They say we need to leverage our power and privilege to support the work that’s already happening in marginalised communities. For example, they have a community health worker project. I know some people will say that’s not Transition. But firstly, people need basic security before they can take on other issues. And secondly, we’re only as resilient as others around us. If others are struggling, we need to meet them where they’re at.”

“3\. Without this, the movement isn’t going to achieve its visions and goals. Recognizing that all of our struggles are intimately connected and that we must work together to build a better world is known as collective liberation. Collective liberation is a strategic response to the Transition goal of slowing climate change and creating resilient ecosystems. The only way to build a movement that’s strong enough to confront entrenched interests, is to build strong partnerships with social movements with a broader and deeper analysis. I love Naomi Klein’s book “*This changes everything*”. She does such a good job of explaining how both social and ecological crises are a result of an extractive economic model”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US is in the middle of its national strategy planning process, and is collecting input from Transition groups across the country.

“One theme we’re hearing from them is that we need to centre social justice and inclusion. Another is that we need a deeper analysis of power and how the economic, social and ecological crises are linked. They’re saying that there’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US also wants to build more strategic collaborations, locally and nationally, with movements and organisations like 350.org, the Sunrise movement and other climate justice movements.

“They probably won’t be that excited to work with us until we have a strong commitment to social justice. We have strong new economics and social justice movements in the US, so we’re behind. We’re constantly being challenged and pushed, and we have lots of resources and sources of inspiration.”

The US Transition Hub has several social justice initiatives underway. A lot of work goes through the national social justice working group which was started just over three years ago. The Hub has done advocacy to its board of directors to prioritise social justice, and hopes to be able to update its mission statement to include social justice.

Transition US has hosted a series of national conversations on various aspects of the connection between Transition and social justice called Building Bridges which was funded by Transition Network seed funding, so they could hire speakers from various organisations and movements within justice and antiracism. This was organized by Jul Bystrova from the Social Justice Working Group and Inner Resilience Network.

“We’re also looking at the connection between social justice and inner Transition, for example, how colonialism and white supremacy shows up in us. It’s hard work. We’ve done sessions on healing intergenerational trauma in relation to oppression, power, privilege, allyship and the connections between the climate and social justice”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

In the past year the Hub has been working with the Transition initiative Cooperation Humboldt to offer a social justice community of practice. It’s six sessions of training on white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, is based on the leadership training they do with people who want to join the core team. Cooperation Humboldt has a focus on the solidarity economy and economic models for equity, and incubates worker cooperatives. Transition US is interested in supporting that work.

The US Hub is also collaborating with the Pine Ridge Reservation in the US on the permaculture food sovereignty project OLCERI (Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative) as well as a big permaculture conference after the Covid-19 pandemic. This partnership was organized by Jul Bystrova.

“We also have a project called Stories to Action where we amplify stories from the US Transition movement. The Transition Network is supporting us to highlight stories on social justice. We’ve found that people working hard in their communities may not have time to document their stories, so we pay people for their time to talk to us. A handful of groups have solid justice collaborations in their communities. We’re documenting what, why and how they’re doing. A lot is about building relationships and trust”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Social justice is likely to be a big theme in the Hub’s upcoming national gathering, and Marissa Mommaerts thinks they will try to reevaluate all their programmes and materials to make justice more central, such as Transition Streets and emergency preparedness. A priority is inclusion and diversity in the Hub’s staff and board.

“Our board and staff are at least 50 percent people of colour. It’s taken a long time to get here. We have so much more to do but now it seems common knowledge that this is important, at least within our leadership. We also have a grassroots advisory council of local leaders, and there’s understanding there too that this is important”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

On the whole, Transition initiatives in the US seem to want to prioritise social justice. The national hub has been convening lots of conversations on the issue and the response has been very positive.

“I was surprised – maybe people who weren’t on board with this just didn’t come – but no one said this is not a direction we should go in. There was no resistance or pushback. All the Transition initiatives that turned up were interested.”

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is on board, Marissa Mommaerts notes.  
“There are still people on our council who are questioning how to do this without undermining our commitment to climate change, while others think this is the way to address climate change. We’re trying to give everyone the chance to express their concerns but not waiting for 100 percent support. Local groups are still autonomous but this is a priority when we’re guiding and giving support.”

Marissa Mommaerts says that there may also be people in Transition groups who don’t identify as white supremacists but might hold some of the same beliefs, at least unconsciously.  
“That’s why we examine our belief systems and call each other in. We need practice and confidence. Humility is a big value of mine that’s good to lean on. I don’t want to be racist but sometimes I do or say something and I get called out. Then I have to be humble, learn and try not to f\*\*\* up again. We also have a culture of not shaming each other. We are all part of systems of oppression and shaming doesn’t help.”

“It’s hard, it’s a constant process, work and learning. We have basic recognition that this is important but we have a lot of work until Transition initiatives really embody it”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Transition Network made a powerful [statement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that social justice is a priority. It’s helpful that Transition Network is saying that this is part of Transition.”

“Building relationships and trust based on consistency. Showing up for them, supporting their agendas.”

“Giving people space, paired with training, is constructive”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Two pieces of work are needed in social justice, says Marissa Mommaerts. One is reconciliation and looking at the emotional trauma of racism. The other is reparations and redistributing resources.

“That’s an important issue in the US. Solidarity, not charity! I love the way Cooperation Humboldt is building more equitable economic systems. They’re paying reparations to local indigenous tribes, and other local groups are starting to do that too. It’s partly about showing up and partly about putting your money where your mouth is. Saying we care about poor people and not trying to change the economic system feels pretty superficial to me. One example is that all white-led organizations in the New Economy Coalition are being asked to dedicate 0.1 percent of their annual budget to be redistributed to support black-led organizations in the coalition.”

## **What do you think would’ve happened if Transition US hadn’t had this focus?**

“We would’ve become irrelevant. I think that’s why we have support now, because people know we have to do this to stay relevant. I think addressing justice is also an important part of engaging youth. Young people aren’t going to be attracted to Transition if it stays in its little bubble. I think there’s widespread understanding that Transition needs to reach beyond the choir”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/marissa-mommaerts.jpg)

“There’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US. Photo: Private

Marissa Mommaerts, national network organiser at Transition US, has had social justice as her priority since she joined the Transition movement eight years ago.

“We’ve started and our national leadership sees this as important, and sees that it needs to dedicate resources to this work. But we have a lot of work to do”, she says.

## **Why is it important?**

“1\. It’s the right thing to do. Transition people care. Why would we want to rebuild our world and not include justice?”

“2\. We’re only as resilient as our neighbours, or the weakest members of our communities. As long as the impacts of imperialism are playing out in Latin America, the US is always going to have refugees. Our work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’re not growing as much as we need to – why? We need to be more inclusive. And it’s not enough to be inclusive and diverse – we need to support justice, to support the leadership of indigenous people, black people and people of colour.”

“One Transition group I love in the US is Cooperation Humboldt. They say we need to leverage our power and privilege to support the work that’s already happening in marginalised communities. For example, they have a community health worker project. I know some people will say that’s not Transition. But firstly, people need basic security before they can take on other issues. And secondly, we’re only as resilient as others around us. If others are struggling, we need to meet them where they’re at.”

“3\. Without this, the movement isn’t going to achieve its visions and goals. Recognizing that all of our struggles are intimately connected and that we must work together to build a better world is known as collective liberation. Collective liberation is a strategic response to the Transition goal of slowing climate change and creating resilient ecosystems. The only way to build a movement that’s strong enough to confront entrenched interests, is to build strong partnerships with social movements with a broader and deeper analysis. I love Naomi Klein’s book “*This changes everything*”. She does such a good job of explaining how both social and ecological crises are a result of an extractive economic model”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US is in the middle of its national strategy planning process, and is collecting input from Transition groups across the country.

“One theme we’re hearing from them is that we need to centre social justice and inclusion. Another is that we need a deeper analysis of power and how the economic, social and ecological crises are linked. They’re saying that there’s been too much magic thinking in the Transition movement, that if we just build community we will fix everything. We need a better power analysis”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Transition US also wants to build more strategic collaborations, locally and nationally, with movements and organisations like 350.org, the Sunrise movement and other climate justice movements.

“They probably won’t be that excited to work with us until we have a strong commitment to social justice. We have strong new economics and social justice movements in the US, so we’re behind. We’re constantly being challenged and pushed, and we have lots of resources and sources of inspiration.”

The US Transition Hub has several social justice initiatives underway. A lot of work goes through the national social justice working group which was started just over three years ago. The Hub has done advocacy to its board of directors to prioritise social justice, and hopes to be able to update its mission statement to include social justice.

Transition US has hosted a series of national conversations on various aspects of the connection between Transition and social justice called Building Bridges which was funded by Transition Network seed funding, so they could hire speakers from various organisations and movements within justice and antiracism. This was organized by Jul Bystrova from the Social Justice Working Group and Inner Resilience Network.

“We’re also looking at the connection between social justice and inner Transition, for example, how colonialism and white supremacy shows up in us. It’s hard work. We’ve done sessions on healing intergenerational trauma in relation to oppression, power, privilege, allyship and the connections between the climate and social justice”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

In the past year the Hub has been working with the Transition initiative Cooperation Humboldt to offer a social justice community of practice. It’s six sessions of training on white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, is based on the leadership training they do with people who want to join the core team. Cooperation Humboldt has a focus on the solidarity economy and economic models for equity, and incubates worker cooperatives. Transition US is interested in supporting that work.

The US Hub is also collaborating with the Pine Ridge Reservation in the US on the permaculture food sovereignty project OLCERI (Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative) as well as a big permaculture conference after the Covid-19 pandemic. This partnership was organized by Jul Bystrova.

“We also have a project called Stories to Action where we amplify stories from the US Transition movement. The Transition Network is supporting us to highlight stories on social justice. We’ve found that people working hard in their communities may not have time to document their stories, so we pay people for their time to talk to us. A handful of groups have solid justice collaborations in their communities. We’re documenting what, why and how they’re doing. A lot is about building relationships and trust”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Social justice is likely to be a big theme in the Hub’s upcoming national gathering, and Marissa Mommaerts thinks they will try to reevaluate all their programmes and materials to make justice more central, such as Transition Streets and emergency preparedness. A priority is inclusion and diversity in the Hub’s staff and board.

“Our board and staff are at least 50 percent people of colour. It’s taken a long time to get here. We have so much more to do but now it seems common knowledge that this is important, at least within our leadership. We also have a grassroots advisory council of local leaders, and there’s understanding there too that this is important”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

On the whole, Transition initiatives in the US seem to want to prioritise social justice. The national hub has been convening lots of conversations on the issue and the response has been very positive.

“I was surprised – maybe people who weren’t on board with this just didn’t come – but no one said this is not a direction we should go in. There was no resistance or pushback. All the Transition initiatives that turned up were interested.”

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone is on board, Marissa Mommaerts notes.  
“There are still people on our council who are questioning how to do this without undermining our commitment to climate change, while others think this is the way to address climate change. We’re trying to give everyone the chance to express their concerns but not waiting for 100 percent support. Local groups are still autonomous but this is a priority when we’re guiding and giving support.”

Marissa Mommaerts says that there may also be people in Transition groups who don’t identify as white supremacists but might hold some of the same beliefs, at least unconsciously.  
“That’s why we examine our belief systems and call each other in. We need practice and confidence. Humility is a big value of mine that’s good to lean on. I don’t want to be racist but sometimes I do or say something and I get called out. Then I have to be humble, learn and try not to f\*\*\* up again. We also have a culture of not shaming each other. We are all part of systems of oppression and shaming doesn’t help.”

“It’s hard, it’s a constant process, work and learning. We have basic recognition that this is important but we have a lot of work until Transition initiatives really embody it”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Transition Network made a powerful [statement](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that social justice is a priority. It’s helpful that Transition Network is saying that this is part of Transition.”

“Building relationships and trust based on consistency. Showing up for them, supporting their agendas.”

“Giving people space, paired with training, is constructive”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

Two pieces of work are needed in social justice, says Marissa Mommaerts. One is reconciliation and looking at the emotional trauma of racism. The other is reparations and redistributing resources.

“That’s an important issue in the US. Solidarity, not charity! I love the way Cooperation Humboldt is building more equitable economic systems. They’re paying reparations to local indigenous tribes, and other local groups are starting to do that too. It’s partly about showing up and partly about putting your money where your mouth is. Saying we care about poor people and not trying to change the economic system feels pretty superficial to me. One example is that all white-led organizations in the New Economy Coalition are being asked to dedicate 0.1 percent of their annual budget to be redistributed to support black-led organizations in the coalition.”

## **What do you think would’ve happened if Transition US hadn’t had this focus?**

“We would’ve become irrelevant. I think that’s why we have support now, because people know we have to do this to stay relevant. I think addressing justice is also an important part of engaging youth. Young people aren’t going to be attracted to Transition if it stays in its little bubble. I think there’s widespread understanding that Transition needs to reach beyond the choir”, says Marissa Mommaerts.

[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

###### *Feature image by* [*Maick Maciel*](https://unsplash.com/@maickmacielfotos?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) *on* [*Unsplash*](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Transition Voices on Social Justice; Part Two
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/social-justice-voices-two/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:07.000Z
*Freelance journalist Abigail Sykes compiled three interviews with Transitioners on social justice and inclusion. Sarah McAdam (Transition Network), Nick Anim (Transition: Bounce Forward & Transition Town Brixton) and Marissa Mommaerts (Transition US) offered their voices and perspectives to her piece “There’s No Transition Without a Just Transition” which was published in Swedish newspaper Landets Fria Tidning, see* [*https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/*](https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*We’re very grateful to Abigail and Landets Fria Tidning that we can share with you the full length interviews here, over three parts. In this interview we hear from Nick Anim of* [*Transition Town Brixton*](http://www.transitiontownbrixton.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) *&* [*Transition: Bounce Forward*](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*.*

Nick Anim’s PhD thesis “Green, but mostly white” is about why Transition and other environmental movements are mostly white. As part of his research he interviewed black and brown people in Brixton in London about why they weren’t joining Transition groups.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-768x1024.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-scaled.jpg)

“We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously”, says Nick Anim, inclusion and diversity strategy advisor for Transition: Bounce Forward and director of Transition Town Brixton. Photo: Private

“People kept saying “we’ve got bigger fish to fry”. I found what I call a blockchain of inequalities of concern to black and brown people, that persist over time.”  
The key concerns for these groups were education, police and criminal justice systems, housing, health and employment. Nick Anim also found that many black and brown people saw the environmental movement as elitist and as working for changes that would only benefit middle-class white people. “Of course, that’s not the case.”

While most black and brown people in Brixton hadn’t heard of Transition Town Brixton, there was more engagement with its specific initiatives in food, local currency and energy production.

“It comes down to how initiatives engage directly with the needs and experiences of people. You can’t get people to join unless you address their primary concerns.”

Nick Anim also says that it’s not enough to open the doors to your own spaces. If they look in and see a lot of white faces they may not feel comfortable coming in. Instead, you have to meet people where they are – churches, mosques, hairdressers, cafés…

“Go in with honesty and humility, talk to people, and listen listen listen to their concerns. Once you start addressing social justice, over time you will get people to trust you.”

Nick Anim emphasises that social justice was one of the Transition movement’s primary concerns from the start, and that diversity is one of the permaculture principles out of which Transition was born. However, he feels that the approach used to be fairly passive.

“But following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, the Transition movement is being more proactive on social justice.”  
One example is the Transition Bounce Forward project, where Nick Anim is advising the Transition Network on how to attend to issues of social justice.

## **Why is diversity in Transition groups and initiatives important?**

“1\. Legitimacy. How legitimate is our initiative if we don’t have diverse voices? This is a very serious question. If we’re seen as illegitimate, our effects won’t be as widespread. There’s also the issue of elitism, that what we are pursuing will only benefit one group. Some black people will see our work as upholding the system of inequality, so why should they join?”

“2\. A lot of research shows that businesses with more diverse employees are more resilient and innovative. If you have a homogenous group, you will come up with the same solutions. Diversity offers a wealth of perspectives and helps us become resilient in the long term.”

“3\. It is increasingly accepted that we can’t have environmental sustainability without tackling the issues of injustice that plague particularly multicultural societies everywhere. Environmental sustainability is concerned with justice in the long term, but what is justice in the long term when we don’t have justice today?”, says Nick Anim.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Always ask provocative questions, like why does diversity, inclusion and social justice matter to you? What do you understand community to be? My point of departure is Martin Luther King’s assertion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Once you understand why diversity, inclusion and social justice should matter, I think any initiative will stand a greater chance of prospering.”

“Build coalitions with groups that are working for social justice. Support and celebrate them when they need support. One example is after school clubs, which can use our networks or spaces”, says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim points out that some issues of social justice like the police and criminal justice system and health can feel too big for Transition groups to address. However, others do try to work on employment, education or housing. Social justice also ties in with inner transition and wellbeing.

In terms of the bigger issues, Transition groups can build bridges to local governments. Nick Anim describes the local project nights that Transition Town Brixton has once a week as one example.

“It’s a space for anyone in the community to come in and talk about their concerns. We can take those concerns to the council to address them, and so we can argue that Transition helps foster greater local democracy. This is where Transition comes into its own.”

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“There is considerable opinion that issues of social justice shouldn’t be in the environmental movement because they’re so contested, that Black Lives Matter is a distraction from the main goal. But what people don’t understand, appreciate and empathise with is that for many people, the goal of environmental sustainability can’t be achieved without addressing issues of justice now. We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously.”

“These are the challenging and difficult conversations we don’t have enough of because they are challenging, difficult and messy. But we have to recognise our own part in perpetuating the system. If you don’t care for another human being, what is the point of life?” says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim’s PhD thesis “Green, but mostly white” is about why Transition and other environmental movements are mostly white. As part of his research he interviewed black and brown people in Brixton in London about why they weren’t joining Transition groups.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-768x1024.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-scaled.jpg)

“We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously”, says Nick Anim, inclusion and diversity strategy advisor for Transition: Bounce Forward and director of Transition Town Brixton. Photo: Private

“People kept saying “we’ve got bigger fish to fry”. I found what I call a blockchain of inequalities of concern to black and brown people, that persist over time.”  
The key concerns for these groups were education, police and criminal justice systems, housing, health and employment. Nick Anim also found that many black and brown people saw the environmental movement as elitist and as working for changes that would only benefit middle-class white people. “Of course, that’s not the case.”

While most black and brown people in Brixton hadn’t heard of Transition Town Brixton, there was more engagement with its specific initiatives in food, local currency and energy production.

“It comes down to how initiatives engage directly with the needs and experiences of people. You can’t get people to join unless you address their primary concerns.”

Nick Anim also says that it’s not enough to open the doors to your own spaces. If they look in and see a lot of white faces they may not feel comfortable coming in. Instead, you have to meet people where they are – churches, mosques, hairdressers, cafés…

“Go in with honesty and humility, talk to people, and listen listen listen to their concerns. Once you start addressing social justice, over time you will get people to trust you.”

Nick Anim emphasises that social justice was one of the Transition movement’s primary concerns from the start, and that diversity is one of the permaculture principles out of which Transition was born. However, he feels that the approach used to be fairly passive.

“But following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, the Transition movement is being more proactive on social justice.”  
One example is the Transition Bounce Forward project, where Nick Anim is advising the Transition Network on how to attend to issues of social justice.

## **Why is diversity in Transition groups and initiatives important?**

“1\. Legitimacy. How legitimate is our initiative if we don’t have diverse voices? This is a very serious question. If we’re seen as illegitimate, our effects won’t be as widespread. There’s also the issue of elitism, that what we are pursuing will only benefit one group. Some black people will see our work as upholding the system of inequality, so why should they join?”

“2\. A lot of research shows that businesses with more diverse employees are more resilient and innovative. If you have a homogenous group, you will come up with the same solutions. Diversity offers a wealth of perspectives and helps us become resilient in the long term.”

“3\. It is increasingly accepted that we can’t have environmental sustainability without tackling the issues of injustice that plague particularly multicultural societies everywhere. Environmental sustainability is concerned with justice in the long term, but what is justice in the long term when we don’t have justice today?”, says Nick Anim.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Always ask provocative questions, like why does diversity, inclusion and social justice matter to you? What do you understand community to be? My point of departure is Martin Luther King’s assertion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Once you understand why diversity, inclusion and social justice should matter, I think any initiative will stand a greater chance of prospering.”

“Build coalitions with groups that are working for social justice. Support and celebrate them when they need support. One example is after school clubs, which can use our networks or spaces”, says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim points out that some issues of social justice like the police and criminal justice system and health can feel too big for Transition groups to address. However, others do try to work on employment, education or housing. Social justice also ties in with inner transition and wellbeing.

In terms of the bigger issues, Transition groups can build bridges to local governments. Nick Anim describes the local project nights that Transition Town Brixton has once a week as one example.

“It’s a space for anyone in the community to come in and talk about their concerns. We can take those concerns to the council to address them, and so we can argue that Transition helps foster greater local democracy. This is where Transition comes into its own.”

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“There is considerable opinion that issues of social justice shouldn’t be in the environmental movement because they’re so contested, that Black Lives Matter is a distraction from the main goal. But what people don’t understand, appreciate and empathise with is that for many people, the goal of environmental sustainability can’t be achieved without addressing issues of justice now. We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously.”

“These are the challenging and difficult conversations we don’t have enough of because they are challenging, difficult and messy. But we have to recognise our own part in perpetuating the system. If you don’t care for another human being, what is the point of life?” says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim’s PhD thesis “Green, but mostly white” is about why Transition and other environmental movements are mostly white. As part of his research he interviewed black and brown people in Brixton in London about why they weren’t joining Transition groups.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-768x1024.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-scaled.jpg)

“We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously”, says Nick Anim, inclusion and diversity strategy advisor for Transition: Bounce Forward and director of Transition Town Brixton. Photo: Private

“People kept saying “we’ve got bigger fish to fry”. I found what I call a blockchain of inequalities of concern to black and brown people, that persist over time.”  
The key concerns for these groups were education, police and criminal justice systems, housing, health and employment. Nick Anim also found that many black and brown people saw the environmental movement as elitist and as working for changes that would only benefit middle-class white people. “Of course, that’s not the case.”

While most black and brown people in Brixton hadn’t heard of Transition Town Brixton, there was more engagement with its specific initiatives in food, local currency and energy production.

“It comes down to how initiatives engage directly with the needs and experiences of people. You can’t get people to join unless you address their primary concerns.”

Nick Anim also says that it’s not enough to open the doors to your own spaces. If they look in and see a lot of white faces they may not feel comfortable coming in. Instead, you have to meet people where they are – churches, mosques, hairdressers, cafés…

“Go in with honesty and humility, talk to people, and listen listen listen to their concerns. Once you start addressing social justice, over time you will get people to trust you.”

Nick Anim emphasises that social justice was one of the Transition movement’s primary concerns from the start, and that diversity is one of the permaculture principles out of which Transition was born. However, he feels that the approach used to be fairly passive.

“But following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, the Transition movement is being more proactive on social justice.”  
One example is the Transition Bounce Forward project, where Nick Anim is advising the Transition Network on how to attend to issues of social justice.

## **Why is diversity in Transition groups and initiatives important?**

“1\. Legitimacy. How legitimate is our initiative if we don’t have diverse voices? This is a very serious question. If we’re seen as illegitimate, our effects won’t be as widespread. There’s also the issue of elitism, that what we are pursuing will only benefit one group. Some black people will see our work as upholding the system of inequality, so why should they join?”

“2\. A lot of research shows that businesses with more diverse employees are more resilient and innovative. If you have a homogenous group, you will come up with the same solutions. Diversity offers a wealth of perspectives and helps us become resilient in the long term.”

“3\. It is increasingly accepted that we can’t have environmental sustainability without tackling the issues of injustice that plague particularly multicultural societies everywhere. Environmental sustainability is concerned with justice in the long term, but what is justice in the long term when we don’t have justice today?”, says Nick Anim.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Always ask provocative questions, like why does diversity, inclusion and social justice matter to you? What do you understand community to be? My point of departure is Martin Luther King’s assertion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Once you understand why diversity, inclusion and social justice should matter, I think any initiative will stand a greater chance of prospering.”

“Build coalitions with groups that are working for social justice. Support and celebrate them when they need support. One example is after school clubs, which can use our networks or spaces”, says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim points out that some issues of social justice like the police and criminal justice system and health can feel too big for Transition groups to address. However, others do try to work on employment, education or housing. Social justice also ties in with inner transition and wellbeing.

In terms of the bigger issues, Transition groups can build bridges to local governments. Nick Anim describes the local project nights that Transition Town Brixton has once a week as one example.

“It’s a space for anyone in the community to come in and talk about their concerns. We can take those concerns to the council to address them, and so we can argue that Transition helps foster greater local democracy. This is where Transition comes into its own.”

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“There is considerable opinion that issues of social justice shouldn’t be in the environmental movement because they’re so contested, that Black Lives Matter is a distraction from the main goal. But what people don’t understand, appreciate and empathise with is that for many people, the goal of environmental sustainability can’t be achieved without addressing issues of justice now. We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously.”

“These are the challenging and difficult conversations we don’t have enough of because they are challenging, difficult and messy. But we have to recognise our own part in perpetuating the system. If you don’t care for another human being, what is the point of life?” says Nick Anim.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim’s PhD thesis “Green, but mostly white” is about why Transition and other environmental movements are mostly white. As part of his research he interviewed black and brown people in Brixton in London about why they weren’t joining Transition groups.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-768x1024.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-scaled.jpg)

“We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously”, says Nick Anim, inclusion and diversity strategy advisor for Transition: Bounce Forward and director of Transition Town Brixton. Photo: Private

“People kept saying “we’ve got bigger fish to fry”. I found what I call a blockchain of inequalities of concern to black and brown people, that persist over time.”  
The key concerns for these groups were education, police and criminal justice systems, housing, health and employment. Nick Anim also found that many black and brown people saw the environmental movement as elitist and as working for changes that would only benefit middle-class white people. “Of course, that’s not the case.”

While most black and brown people in Brixton hadn’t heard of Transition Town Brixton, there was more engagement with its specific initiatives in food, local currency and energy production.

“It comes down to how initiatives engage directly with the needs and experiences of people. You can’t get people to join unless you address their primary concerns.”

Nick Anim also says that it’s not enough to open the doors to your own spaces. If they look in and see a lot of white faces they may not feel comfortable coming in. Instead, you have to meet people where they are – churches, mosques, hairdressers, cafés…

“Go in with honesty and humility, talk to people, and listen listen listen to their concerns. Once you start addressing social justice, over time you will get people to trust you.”

Nick Anim emphasises that social justice was one of the Transition movement’s primary concerns from the start, and that diversity is one of the permaculture principles out of which Transition was born. However, he feels that the approach used to be fairly passive.

“But following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, the Transition movement is being more proactive on social justice.”  
One example is the Transition Bounce Forward project, where Nick Anim is advising the Transition Network on how to attend to issues of social justice.

## **Why is diversity in Transition groups and initiatives important?**

“1\. Legitimacy. How legitimate is our initiative if we don’t have diverse voices? This is a very serious question. If we’re seen as illegitimate, our effects won’t be as widespread. There’s also the issue of elitism, that what we are pursuing will only benefit one group. Some black people will see our work as upholding the system of inequality, so why should they join?”

“2\. A lot of research shows that businesses with more diverse employees are more resilient and innovative. If you have a homogenous group, you will come up with the same solutions. Diversity offers a wealth of perspectives and helps us become resilient in the long term.”

“3\. It is increasingly accepted that we can’t have environmental sustainability without tackling the issues of injustice that plague particularly multicultural societies everywhere. Environmental sustainability is concerned with justice in the long term, but what is justice in the long term when we don’t have justice today?”, says Nick Anim.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Always ask provocative questions, like why does diversity, inclusion and social justice matter to you? What do you understand community to be? My point of departure is Martin Luther King’s assertion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Once you understand why diversity, inclusion and social justice should matter, I think any initiative will stand a greater chance of prospering.”

“Build coalitions with groups that are working for social justice. Support and celebrate them when they need support. One example is after school clubs, which can use our networks or spaces”, says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim points out that some issues of social justice like the police and criminal justice system and health can feel too big for Transition groups to address. However, others do try to work on employment, education or housing. Social justice also ties in with inner transition and wellbeing.

In terms of the bigger issues, Transition groups can build bridges to local governments. Nick Anim describes the local project nights that Transition Town Brixton has once a week as one example.

“It’s a space for anyone in the community to come in and talk about their concerns. We can take those concerns to the council to address them, and so we can argue that Transition helps foster greater local democracy. This is where Transition comes into its own.”

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“There is considerable opinion that issues of social justice shouldn’t be in the environmental movement because they’re so contested, that Black Lives Matter is a distraction from the main goal. But what people don’t understand, appreciate and empathise with is that for many people, the goal of environmental sustainability can’t be achieved without addressing issues of justice now. We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously.”

“These are the challenging and difficult conversations we don’t have enough of because they are challenging, difficult and messy. But we have to recognise our own part in perpetuating the system. If you don’t care for another human being, what is the point of life?” says Nick Anim.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim’s PhD thesis “Green, but mostly white” is about why Transition and other environmental movements are mostly white. As part of his research he interviewed black and brown people in Brixton in London about why they weren’t joining Transition groups.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-768x1024.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/nick-akim-scaled.jpg)

“We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously”, says Nick Anim, inclusion and diversity strategy advisor for Transition: Bounce Forward and director of Transition Town Brixton. Photo: Private

“People kept saying “we’ve got bigger fish to fry”. I found what I call a blockchain of inequalities of concern to black and brown people, that persist over time.”  
The key concerns for these groups were education, police and criminal justice systems, housing, health and employment. Nick Anim also found that many black and brown people saw the environmental movement as elitist and as working for changes that would only benefit middle-class white people. “Of course, that’s not the case.”

While most black and brown people in Brixton hadn’t heard of Transition Town Brixton, there was more engagement with its specific initiatives in food, local currency and energy production.

“It comes down to how initiatives engage directly with the needs and experiences of people. You can’t get people to join unless you address their primary concerns.”

Nick Anim also says that it’s not enough to open the doors to your own spaces. If they look in and see a lot of white faces they may not feel comfortable coming in. Instead, you have to meet people where they are – churches, mosques, hairdressers, cafés…

“Go in with honesty and humility, talk to people, and listen listen listen to their concerns. Once you start addressing social justice, over time you will get people to trust you.”

Nick Anim emphasises that social justice was one of the Transition movement’s primary concerns from the start, and that diversity is one of the permaculture principles out of which Transition was born. However, he feels that the approach used to be fairly passive.

“But following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, the Transition movement is being more proactive on social justice.”  
One example is the Transition Bounce Forward project, where Nick Anim is advising the Transition Network on how to attend to issues of social justice.

## **Why is diversity in Transition groups and initiatives important?**

“1\. Legitimacy. How legitimate is our initiative if we don’t have diverse voices? This is a very serious question. If we’re seen as illegitimate, our effects won’t be as widespread. There’s also the issue of elitism, that what we are pursuing will only benefit one group. Some black people will see our work as upholding the system of inequality, so why should they join?”

“2\. A lot of research shows that businesses with more diverse employees are more resilient and innovative. If you have a homogenous group, you will come up with the same solutions. Diversity offers a wealth of perspectives and helps us become resilient in the long term.”

“3\. It is increasingly accepted that we can’t have environmental sustainability without tackling the issues of injustice that plague particularly multicultural societies everywhere. Environmental sustainability is concerned with justice in the long term, but what is justice in the long term when we don’t have justice today?”, says Nick Anim.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Always ask provocative questions, like why does diversity, inclusion and social justice matter to you? What do you understand community to be? My point of departure is Martin Luther King’s assertion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Once you understand why diversity, inclusion and social justice should matter, I think any initiative will stand a greater chance of prospering.”

“Build coalitions with groups that are working for social justice. Support and celebrate them when they need support. One example is after school clubs, which can use our networks or spaces”, says Nick Anim.

Nick Anim points out that some issues of social justice like the police and criminal justice system and health can feel too big for Transition groups to address. However, others do try to work on employment, education or housing. Social justice also ties in with inner transition and wellbeing.

In terms of the bigger issues, Transition groups can build bridges to local governments. Nick Anim describes the local project nights that Transition Town Brixton has once a week as one example.

“It’s a space for anyone in the community to come in and talk about their concerns. We can take those concerns to the council to address them, and so we can argue that Transition helps foster greater local democracy. This is where Transition comes into its own.”

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“There is considerable opinion that issues of social justice shouldn’t be in the environmental movement because they’re so contested, that Black Lives Matter is a distraction from the main goal. But what people don’t understand, appreciate and empathise with is that for many people, the goal of environmental sustainability can’t be achieved without addressing issues of justice now. We as a movement will not succeed unless we take justice seriously.”

“These are the challenging and difficult conversations we don’t have enough of because they are challenging, difficult and messy. But we have to recognise our own part in perpetuating the system. If you don’t care for another human being, what is the point of life?” says Nick Anim.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

###### *Feature image by* [*LOGAN WEAVER*](https://unsplash.com/@lgnwvr?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) *on* [*Unsplash*](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/justice?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Transition Voices on Social Justice; Part One
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/social-justice-voices-one/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:09.000Z
*In February freelance journalist Abigail Sykes contacted Transition Network to hear about international examples of Transitioners working on social justice and inclusion. After compiling interviews from Sarah McAdam (Transition Network), Nick Anim (Transition: Bounce Forward & Transition Town Brixton) and Marissa Mommaerts (Transition US) her piece "There's No Transition Without a Just Transition" was published in Swedish newspaper Landets Fria Tidning, see* [*https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/*](https://landetsfria.nu/2021/nummer-202/utan-rattvis-omstallning-finns-ingen-omstallning/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*We're very grateful to Abigail and Landets Fria Tidning that we can share with you the full length interviews here, over three parts. First up is her interview with Sarah McAdam of Transition Network.*

Transition Network is currently supporting the Transition movement to do a collective evaluation of where it is as a movement, it’s impacts so far, its relevance today and its potential for the future. One of the areas being explored is social justice, inclusion and diversity and this is also a focus of the What Next Summit that was held in the UK during March.

Last autumn 377 people in 32 countries completed a Transition movement evaluation survey. Sarah McAdam from the Transition Network team explains that Transition groups have very different thoughts on the importance of social justice, inclusion and diversity.

“Some groups give passionate and interesting examples of practical work they’re doing on social justice, addressing the challenges and needs of their community in ways that include everyone. They say “this is central to Transition, if we don’t address these issues there’s no value to what we do”. For some there’s been a lot of silence around the issue, with people saying that it’s not something they look at or address. They say “this is not what Transition is focussed on, our issue is the environment, anything else is an unhelpful diversion”.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/sarah-mcadam-scaled.jpeg)

Sarah McAdam from the Transition network team tries to cultivate curiosity when things feel uncomfortable. “It tells me there’s something powerful here”. Photo: Private

Sarah McAdam emphasises that the Transition Network’s role isn’t to give the right answer but to support people to have this conversation.  
“One of the challenges can be that people perceive social justice as a whole new agenda on top of so much work they’re already doing. They see it as difficult, unfamiliar and potentially scary. They don’t feel secure about how to express themselves. It’s charged for everybody involved. A number of groups unconsciously or consciously avoid it because it’s very difficult territory.”

Another reason to avoid the topic may be denial, says Sarah McAdam.  
“It’s interesting to compare the experience of white supremacy denial with climate denial. Some of the same things happen when we struggle to look at racism, power, privilege, how we benefit and what we might need to lose. Some of the same defences activate.”

Sarah McAdam emphasises that although she is part of the Transition Network team, she can only speak for herself.  
“It’s important to us not to speak for the movement, which is a diverse beast. Even in the team, we’re all individuals with different perspectives.”

## **Why do you think it’s important for the Transition movement to work on social justice and inclusion?**

“I think what’s fundamental to the Transition approach is that we bring people together to find new solutions to entrenched problems. Essential to that is to have the perspectives of all the people who are affected. If you do this work in a narrow way, where some voices aren’t heard, or perhaps even more importantly some impacts aren’t understood, you’ll create solutions that only work for people who are already living relatively privileged lives. For me, there’s no point in that, then we’re just continuing what we want to change. It’s easy to say that there’s no Transition without a just Transition. But to make that real, the voices of all the people who are impacted need to be included. A lot of the negative effects of the current ways of living, especially in countries like the UK and Sweden, are being exported to other countries or to marginalised people in our countries. For me, this is a fundamental part of the work”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is engaging with these issues in various ways. One aspect is amplifying stories from the movement to give greater visibility to the work that’s being done, attract resources and identify points where shifts in policy might support a Transition approach. In recent years they’ve been thinking more and more about which resources and stories they share. On social media they now actively follow for example black, indigenous and people of colour environmentalists, black-led organisations and groups highlighting climate justice, and share their stories.

“One reason is to help people outside Transition see that our movement is relevant for them, “you’re speaking about and to me, I might be interested”. It also helps us identify potential collaborations with organisations that centre social justice in their work. We’re open to looking beyond our “natural” allies and people who identify themselves as environmentalists, and are thinking more broadly about people whose values align with ours even if their focus is different. We’re looking for diversity in the stories we tell and the connections we make. Otherwise there’s a risk of creating an echo chamber, where a narrow group of people see themselves being reflected while others are excluded”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Allying. I sometimes hear Transition groups say, “we want more diversity in our group”. It’s coming from a very positive place, but there’s a trap in that way of thinking. We’ve defined the conversation based on our experiences and we’re going to invite others with other experiences to work on our stuff with us. Why would they do that? I wouldn’t. If you’re closed to the experiences of black or working-class people you’re not going to include their issues and their solutions in your thinking, and your solutions will be the poorer for it”, says Sarah McAdam.

“Allying is moving away from the idea of inviting people in and looking for where there’s energy for change aligned to what we’re doing and to our values. Finding often small, practical ways to support and build relationships in a spirit of generosity without seeing where they will go. Can we share information about what you’re doing or share resources with you? Once you build relationships, you start to see links between the work. A number of Transition groups are doing very interesting work with refugee groups for example. They find clear alignments between Transition and human rights. They end up with shared gardens, food and skills projects which support and bring new energy to both groups.”

Sarah McAdam also suggests deep democracy approaches as a way to explore tensions in a group, for example different opinions about whether and how to bring a social justice focus to the work. The idea is to identify and lean into differences rather than avoid difficult conversations. A facilitator can help the group identify and describe the polarity in a way which makes sense to those most affected. Then participants stand at either end of the polarity and explore what it feels like when social justice is a priority, as well as when social justice is a distraction and we just want to get on with Transition.

“When I do these processes with people, it shifts things in ways that are hard to explain. Often I can feel the truth of both positions within me and better understand the pressures that others are under. We empathise more and understand the needs and fears being expressed. There’s something about making those things visible that can help a group find practical next steps that everyone can live with.”

## **Can you tell me about the Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter?**

“We didn’t want to be tokenistic, but we felt it was wrong to ignore the level of engagement. Silence has too often been white people’s response to racism. We also felt it was important to say that it wasn’t just a US issue, but something we see as happening across the whole Global North and impacting the planet.”

“We wanted to say that we see it as relevant to the whole Transition movement and to encourage Transition groups to reflect on how they relate to this. We also wanted to share resources. It’s easy to say “these things are wrong” but we wanted to help people and groups understand more. We see this as something white people need to learn about.”

“Before we published it, all the trustees and members of the team signed up so that it felt real as a statement from our organisation. Now we’re keeping it alive in our team – we don’t have it all solved at all”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“On a basic level it becomes less relevant to the world we’re living in, so you end up with a negative loop.”

“On a deeper level, for me the beauty and power of Transition is about understanding the interconnectedness of everything and understanding that what we do is either supporting the health of the system or part of unhealthy ways of being. For me an important part of interconnectedness is understanding how power works. Most Transitioners see the power of big fossil fuel companies and industrial power and position themselves outside that. Once you’re clear about that, you understand what you’re trying to disrupt and make alternatives to. If you avoid looking at power systems that you benefit from, you’re cutting out part of the picture. I think you know that, even if not explicitly. It takes a lot of energy to hold a position of not looking at your benefits and privilege. There’s something very energising about looking at power, and you can create new collaborations with a lot of potential”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is currently supporting the Transition movement to do a collective evaluation of where it is as a movement, it’s impacts so far, its relevance today and its potential for the future. One of the areas being explored is social justice, inclusion and diversity and this is also a focus of the What Next Summit that was held in the UK during March.

Last autumn 377 people in 32 countries completed a Transition movement evaluation survey. Sarah McAdam from the Transition Network team explains that Transition groups have very different thoughts on the importance of social justice, inclusion and diversity.

“Some groups give passionate and interesting examples of practical work they’re doing on social justice, addressing the challenges and needs of their community in ways that include everyone. They say “this is central to Transition, if we don’t address these issues there’s no value to what we do”. For some there’s been a lot of silence around the issue, with people saying that it’s not something they look at or address. They say “this is not what Transition is focussed on, our issue is the environment, anything else is an unhelpful diversion”.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/sarah-mcadam-scaled.jpeg)

Sarah McAdam from the Transition network team tries to cultivate curiosity when things feel uncomfortable. “It tells me there’s something powerful here”. Photo: Private

Sarah McAdam emphasises that the Transition Network’s role isn’t to give the right answer but to support people to have this conversation.  
“One of the challenges can be that people perceive social justice as a whole new agenda on top of so much work they’re already doing. They see it as difficult, unfamiliar and potentially scary. They don’t feel secure about how to express themselves. It’s charged for everybody involved. A number of groups unconsciously or consciously avoid it because it’s very difficult territory.”

Another reason to avoid the topic may be denial, says Sarah McAdam.  
“It’s interesting to compare the experience of white supremacy denial with climate denial. Some of the same things happen when we struggle to look at racism, power, privilege, how we benefit and what we might need to lose. Some of the same defences activate.”

Sarah McAdam emphasises that although she is part of the Transition Network team, she can only speak for herself.  
“It’s important to us not to speak for the movement, which is a diverse beast. Even in the team, we’re all individuals with different perspectives.”

## **Why do you think it’s important for the Transition movement to work on social justice and inclusion?**

“I think what’s fundamental to the Transition approach is that we bring people together to find new solutions to entrenched problems. Essential to that is to have the perspectives of all the people who are affected. If you do this work in a narrow way, where some voices aren’t heard, or perhaps even more importantly some impacts aren’t understood, you’ll create solutions that only work for people who are already living relatively privileged lives. For me, there’s no point in that, then we’re just continuing what we want to change. It’s easy to say that there’s no Transition without a just Transition. But to make that real, the voices of all the people who are impacted need to be included. A lot of the negative effects of the current ways of living, especially in countries like the UK and Sweden, are being exported to other countries or to marginalised people in our countries. For me, this is a fundamental part of the work”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is engaging with these issues in various ways. One aspect is amplifying stories from the movement to give greater visibility to the work that’s being done, attract resources and identify points where shifts in policy might support a Transition approach. In recent years they’ve been thinking more and more about which resources and stories they share. On social media they now actively follow for example black, indigenous and people of colour environmentalists, black-led organisations and groups highlighting climate justice, and share their stories.

“One reason is to help people outside Transition see that our movement is relevant for them, “you’re speaking about and to me, I might be interested”. It also helps us identify potential collaborations with organisations that centre social justice in their work. We’re open to looking beyond our “natural” allies and people who identify themselves as environmentalists, and are thinking more broadly about people whose values align with ours even if their focus is different. We’re looking for diversity in the stories we tell and the connections we make. Otherwise there’s a risk of creating an echo chamber, where a narrow group of people see themselves being reflected while others are excluded”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Allying. I sometimes hear Transition groups say, “we want more diversity in our group”. It’s coming from a very positive place, but there’s a trap in that way of thinking. We’ve defined the conversation based on our experiences and we’re going to invite others with other experiences to work on our stuff with us. Why would they do that? I wouldn’t. If you’re closed to the experiences of black or working-class people you’re not going to include their issues and their solutions in your thinking, and your solutions will be the poorer for it”, says Sarah McAdam.

“Allying is moving away from the idea of inviting people in and looking for where there’s energy for change aligned to what we’re doing and to our values. Finding often small, practical ways to support and build relationships in a spirit of generosity without seeing where they will go. Can we share information about what you’re doing or share resources with you? Once you build relationships, you start to see links between the work. A number of Transition groups are doing very interesting work with refugee groups for example. They find clear alignments between Transition and human rights. They end up with shared gardens, food and skills projects which support and bring new energy to both groups.”

Sarah McAdam also suggests deep democracy approaches as a way to explore tensions in a group, for example different opinions about whether and how to bring a social justice focus to the work. The idea is to identify and lean into differences rather than avoid difficult conversations. A facilitator can help the group identify and describe the polarity in a way which makes sense to those most affected. Then participants stand at either end of the polarity and explore what it feels like when social justice is a priority, as well as when social justice is a distraction and we just want to get on with Transition.

“When I do these processes with people, it shifts things in ways that are hard to explain. Often I can feel the truth of both positions within me and better understand the pressures that others are under. We empathise more and understand the needs and fears being expressed. There’s something about making those things visible that can help a group find practical next steps that everyone can live with.”

## **Can you tell me about the Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter?**

“We didn’t want to be tokenistic, but we felt it was wrong to ignore the level of engagement. Silence has too often been white people’s response to racism. We also felt it was important to say that it wasn’t just a US issue, but something we see as happening across the whole Global North and impacting the planet.”

“We wanted to say that we see it as relevant to the whole Transition movement and to encourage Transition groups to reflect on how they relate to this. We also wanted to share resources. It’s easy to say “these things are wrong” but we wanted to help people and groups understand more. We see this as something white people need to learn about.”

“Before we published it, all the trustees and members of the team signed up so that it felt real as a statement from our organisation. Now we’re keeping it alive in our team – we don’t have it all solved at all”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“On a basic level it becomes less relevant to the world we’re living in, so you end up with a negative loop.”

“On a deeper level, for me the beauty and power of Transition is about understanding the interconnectedness of everything and understanding that what we do is either supporting the health of the system or part of unhealthy ways of being. For me an important part of interconnectedness is understanding how power works. Most Transitioners see the power of big fossil fuel companies and industrial power and position themselves outside that. Once you’re clear about that, you understand what you’re trying to disrupt and make alternatives to. If you avoid looking at power systems that you benefit from, you’re cutting out part of the picture. I think you know that, even if not explicitly. It takes a lot of energy to hold a position of not looking at your benefits and privilege. There’s something very energising about looking at power, and you can create new collaborations with a lot of potential”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is currently supporting the Transition movement to do a collective evaluation of where it is as a movement, it’s impacts so far, its relevance today and its potential for the future. One of the areas being explored is social justice, inclusion and diversity and this is also a focus of the What Next Summit that was held in the UK during March.

Last autumn 377 people in 32 countries completed a Transition movement evaluation survey. Sarah McAdam from the Transition Network team explains that Transition groups have very different thoughts on the importance of social justice, inclusion and diversity.

“Some groups give passionate and interesting examples of practical work they’re doing on social justice, addressing the challenges and needs of their community in ways that include everyone. They say “this is central to Transition, if we don’t address these issues there’s no value to what we do”. For some there’s been a lot of silence around the issue, with people saying that it’s not something they look at or address. They say “this is not what Transition is focussed on, our issue is the environment, anything else is an unhelpful diversion”.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/sarah-mcadam-scaled.jpeg)

Sarah McAdam from the Transition network team tries to cultivate curiosity when things feel uncomfortable. “It tells me there’s something powerful here”. Photo: Private

Sarah McAdam emphasises that the Transition Network’s role isn’t to give the right answer but to support people to have this conversation.  
“One of the challenges can be that people perceive social justice as a whole new agenda on top of so much work they’re already doing. They see it as difficult, unfamiliar and potentially scary. They don’t feel secure about how to express themselves. It’s charged for everybody involved. A number of groups unconsciously or consciously avoid it because it’s very difficult territory.”

Another reason to avoid the topic may be denial, says Sarah McAdam.  
“It’s interesting to compare the experience of white supremacy denial with climate denial. Some of the same things happen when we struggle to look at racism, power, privilege, how we benefit and what we might need to lose. Some of the same defences activate.”

Sarah McAdam emphasises that although she is part of the Transition Network team, she can only speak for herself.  
“It’s important to us not to speak for the movement, which is a diverse beast. Even in the team, we’re all individuals with different perspectives.”

## **Why do you think it’s important for the Transition movement to work on social justice and inclusion?**

“I think what’s fundamental to the Transition approach is that we bring people together to find new solutions to entrenched problems. Essential to that is to have the perspectives of all the people who are affected. If you do this work in a narrow way, where some voices aren’t heard, or perhaps even more importantly some impacts aren’t understood, you’ll create solutions that only work for people who are already living relatively privileged lives. For me, there’s no point in that, then we’re just continuing what we want to change. It’s easy to say that there’s no Transition without a just Transition. But to make that real, the voices of all the people who are impacted need to be included. A lot of the negative effects of the current ways of living, especially in countries like the UK and Sweden, are being exported to other countries or to marginalised people in our countries. For me, this is a fundamental part of the work”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is engaging with these issues in various ways. One aspect is amplifying stories from the movement to give greater visibility to the work that’s being done, attract resources and identify points where shifts in policy might support a Transition approach. In recent years they’ve been thinking more and more about which resources and stories they share. On social media they now actively follow for example black, indigenous and people of colour environmentalists, black-led organisations and groups highlighting climate justice, and share their stories.

“One reason is to help people outside Transition see that our movement is relevant for them, “you’re speaking about and to me, I might be interested”. It also helps us identify potential collaborations with organisations that centre social justice in their work. We’re open to looking beyond our “natural” allies and people who identify themselves as environmentalists, and are thinking more broadly about people whose values align with ours even if their focus is different. We’re looking for diversity in the stories we tell and the connections we make. Otherwise there’s a risk of creating an echo chamber, where a narrow group of people see themselves being reflected while others are excluded”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Allying. I sometimes hear Transition groups say, “we want more diversity in our group”. It’s coming from a very positive place, but there’s a trap in that way of thinking. We’ve defined the conversation based on our experiences and we’re going to invite others with other experiences to work on our stuff with us. Why would they do that? I wouldn’t. If you’re closed to the experiences of black or working-class people you’re not going to include their issues and their solutions in your thinking, and your solutions will be the poorer for it”, says Sarah McAdam.

“Allying is moving away from the idea of inviting people in and looking for where there’s energy for change aligned to what we’re doing and to our values. Finding often small, practical ways to support and build relationships in a spirit of generosity without seeing where they will go. Can we share information about what you’re doing or share resources with you? Once you build relationships, you start to see links between the work. A number of Transition groups are doing very interesting work with refugee groups for example. They find clear alignments between Transition and human rights. They end up with shared gardens, food and skills projects which support and bring new energy to both groups.”

Sarah McAdam also suggests deep democracy approaches as a way to explore tensions in a group, for example different opinions about whether and how to bring a social justice focus to the work. The idea is to identify and lean into differences rather than avoid difficult conversations. A facilitator can help the group identify and describe the polarity in a way which makes sense to those most affected. Then participants stand at either end of the polarity and explore what it feels like when social justice is a priority, as well as when social justice is a distraction and we just want to get on with Transition.

“When I do these processes with people, it shifts things in ways that are hard to explain. Often I can feel the truth of both positions within me and better understand the pressures that others are under. We empathise more and understand the needs and fears being expressed. There’s something about making those things visible that can help a group find practical next steps that everyone can live with.”

## **Can you tell me about the Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter?**

“We didn’t want to be tokenistic, but we felt it was wrong to ignore the level of engagement. Silence has too often been white people’s response to racism. We also felt it was important to say that it wasn’t just a US issue, but something we see as happening across the whole Global North and impacting the planet.”

“We wanted to say that we see it as relevant to the whole Transition movement and to encourage Transition groups to reflect on how they relate to this. We also wanted to share resources. It’s easy to say “these things are wrong” but we wanted to help people and groups understand more. We see this as something white people need to learn about.”

“Before we published it, all the trustees and members of the team signed up so that it felt real as a statement from our organisation. Now we’re keeping it alive in our team – we don’t have it all solved at all”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“On a basic level it becomes less relevant to the world we’re living in, so you end up with a negative loop.”

“On a deeper level, for me the beauty and power of Transition is about understanding the interconnectedness of everything and understanding that what we do is either supporting the health of the system or part of unhealthy ways of being. For me an important part of interconnectedness is understanding how power works. Most Transitioners see the power of big fossil fuel companies and industrial power and position themselves outside that. Once you’re clear about that, you understand what you’re trying to disrupt and make alternatives to. If you avoid looking at power systems that you benefit from, you’re cutting out part of the picture. I think you know that, even if not explicitly. It takes a lot of energy to hold a position of not looking at your benefits and privilege. There’s something very energising about looking at power, and you can create new collaborations with a lot of potential”, says Sarah McAdam.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Transition Network is currently supporting the Transition movement to do a collective evaluation of where it is as a movement, it’s impacts so far, its relevance today and its potential for the future. One of the areas being explored is social justice, inclusion and diversity and this is also a focus of the What Next Summit that was held in the UK during March.

Last autumn 377 people in 32 countries completed a Transition movement evaluation survey. Sarah McAdam from the Transition Network team explains that Transition groups have very different thoughts on the importance of social justice, inclusion and diversity.

“Some groups give passionate and interesting examples of practical work they’re doing on social justice, addressing the challenges and needs of their community in ways that include everyone. They say “this is central to Transition, if we don’t address these issues there’s no value to what we do”. For some there’s been a lot of silence around the issue, with people saying that it’s not something they look at or address. They say “this is not what Transition is focussed on, our issue is the environment, anything else is an unhelpful diversion”.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/sarah-mcadam-scaled.jpeg)

Sarah McAdam from the Transition network team tries to cultivate curiosity when things feel uncomfortable. “It tells me there’s something powerful here”. Photo: Private

Sarah McAdam emphasises that the Transition Network’s role isn’t to give the right answer but to support people to have this conversation.  
“One of the challenges can be that people perceive social justice as a whole new agenda on top of so much work they’re already doing. They see it as difficult, unfamiliar and potentially scary. They don’t feel secure about how to express themselves. It’s charged for everybody involved. A number of groups unconsciously or consciously avoid it because it’s very difficult territory.”

Another reason to avoid the topic may be denial, says Sarah McAdam.  
“It’s interesting to compare the experience of white supremacy denial with climate denial. Some of the same things happen when we struggle to look at racism, power, privilege, how we benefit and what we might need to lose. Some of the same defences activate.”

Sarah McAdam emphasises that although she is part of the Transition Network team, she can only speak for herself.  
“It’s important to us not to speak for the movement, which is a diverse beast. Even in the team, we’re all individuals with different perspectives.”

## **Why do you think it’s important for the Transition movement to work on social justice and inclusion?**

“I think what’s fundamental to the Transition approach is that we bring people together to find new solutions to entrenched problems. Essential to that is to have the perspectives of all the people who are affected. If you do this work in a narrow way, where some voices aren’t heard, or perhaps even more importantly some impacts aren’t understood, you’ll create solutions that only work for people who are already living relatively privileged lives. For me, there’s no point in that, then we’re just continuing what we want to change. It’s easy to say that there’s no Transition without a just Transition. But to make that real, the voices of all the people who are impacted need to be included. A lot of the negative effects of the current ways of living, especially in countries like the UK and Sweden, are being exported to other countries or to marginalised people in our countries. For me, this is a fundamental part of the work”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is engaging with these issues in various ways. One aspect is amplifying stories from the movement to give greater visibility to the work that’s being done, attract resources and identify points where shifts in policy might support a Transition approach. In recent years they’ve been thinking more and more about which resources and stories they share. On social media they now actively follow for example black, indigenous and people of colour environmentalists, black-led organisations and groups highlighting climate justice, and share their stories.

“One reason is to help people outside Transition see that our movement is relevant for them, “you’re speaking about and to me, I might be interested”. It also helps us identify potential collaborations with organisations that centre social justice in their work. We’re open to looking beyond our “natural” allies and people who identify themselves as environmentalists, and are thinking more broadly about people whose values align with ours even if their focus is different. We’re looking for diversity in the stories we tell and the connections we make. Otherwise there’s a risk of creating an echo chamber, where a narrow group of people see themselves being reflected while others are excluded”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Allying. I sometimes hear Transition groups say, “we want more diversity in our group”. It’s coming from a very positive place, but there’s a trap in that way of thinking. We’ve defined the conversation based on our experiences and we’re going to invite others with other experiences to work on our stuff with us. Why would they do that? I wouldn’t. If you’re closed to the experiences of black or working-class people you’re not going to include their issues and their solutions in your thinking, and your solutions will be the poorer for it”, says Sarah McAdam.

“Allying is moving away from the idea of inviting people in and looking for where there’s energy for change aligned to what we’re doing and to our values. Finding often small, practical ways to support and build relationships in a spirit of generosity without seeing where they will go. Can we share information about what you’re doing or share resources with you? Once you build relationships, you start to see links between the work. A number of Transition groups are doing very interesting work with refugee groups for example. They find clear alignments between Transition and human rights. They end up with shared gardens, food and skills projects which support and bring new energy to both groups.”

Sarah McAdam also suggests deep democracy approaches as a way to explore tensions in a group, for example different opinions about whether and how to bring a social justice focus to the work. The idea is to identify and lean into differences rather than avoid difficult conversations. A facilitator can help the group identify and describe the polarity in a way which makes sense to those most affected. Then participants stand at either end of the polarity and explore what it feels like when social justice is a priority, as well as when social justice is a distraction and we just want to get on with Transition.

“When I do these processes with people, it shifts things in ways that are hard to explain. Often I can feel the truth of both positions within me and better understand the pressures that others are under. We empathise more and understand the needs and fears being expressed. There’s something about making those things visible that can help a group find practical next steps that everyone can live with.”

## **Can you tell me about the Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter?**

“We didn’t want to be tokenistic, but we felt it was wrong to ignore the level of engagement. Silence has too often been white people’s response to racism. We also felt it was important to say that it wasn’t just a US issue, but something we see as happening across the whole Global North and impacting the planet.”

“We wanted to say that we see it as relevant to the whole Transition movement and to encourage Transition groups to reflect on how they relate to this. We also wanted to share resources. It’s easy to say “these things are wrong” but we wanted to help people and groups understand more. We see this as something white people need to learn about.”

“Before we published it, all the trustees and members of the team signed up so that it felt real as a statement from our organisation. Now we’re keeping it alive in our team – we don’t have it all solved at all”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“On a basic level it becomes less relevant to the world we’re living in, so you end up with a negative loop.”

“On a deeper level, for me the beauty and power of Transition is about understanding the interconnectedness of everything and understanding that what we do is either supporting the health of the system or part of unhealthy ways of being. For me an important part of interconnectedness is understanding how power works. Most Transitioners see the power of big fossil fuel companies and industrial power and position themselves outside that. Once you’re clear about that, you understand what you’re trying to disrupt and make alternatives to. If you avoid looking at power systems that you benefit from, you’re cutting out part of the picture. I think you know that, even if not explicitly. It takes a lot of energy to hold a position of not looking at your benefits and privilege. There’s something very energising about looking at power, and you can create new collaborations with a lot of potential”, says Sarah McAdam.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Transition Network is currently supporting the Transition movement to do a collective evaluation of where it is as a movement, it’s impacts so far, its relevance today and its potential for the future. One of the areas being explored is social justice, inclusion and diversity and this is also a focus of the What Next Summit that was held in the UK during March.

Last autumn 377 people in 32 countries completed a Transition movement evaluation survey. Sarah McAdam from the Transition Network team explains that Transition groups have very different thoughts on the importance of social justice, inclusion and diversity.

“Some groups give passionate and interesting examples of practical work they’re doing on social justice, addressing the challenges and needs of their community in ways that include everyone. They say “this is central to Transition, if we don’t address these issues there’s no value to what we do”. For some there’s been a lot of silence around the issue, with people saying that it’s not something they look at or address. They say “this is not what Transition is focussed on, our issue is the environment, anything else is an unhelpful diversion”.

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/sarah-mcadam-scaled.jpeg)

Sarah McAdam from the Transition network team tries to cultivate curiosity when things feel uncomfortable. “It tells me there’s something powerful here”. Photo: Private

Sarah McAdam emphasises that the Transition Network’s role isn’t to give the right answer but to support people to have this conversation.  
“One of the challenges can be that people perceive social justice as a whole new agenda on top of so much work they’re already doing. They see it as difficult, unfamiliar and potentially scary. They don’t feel secure about how to express themselves. It’s charged for everybody involved. A number of groups unconsciously or consciously avoid it because it’s very difficult territory.”

Another reason to avoid the topic may be denial, says Sarah McAdam.  
“It’s interesting to compare the experience of white supremacy denial with climate denial. Some of the same things happen when we struggle to look at racism, power, privilege, how we benefit and what we might need to lose. Some of the same defences activate.”

Sarah McAdam emphasises that although she is part of the Transition Network team, she can only speak for herself.  
“It’s important to us not to speak for the movement, which is a diverse beast. Even in the team, we’re all individuals with different perspectives.”

## **Why do you think it’s important for the Transition movement to work on social justice and inclusion?**

“I think what’s fundamental to the Transition approach is that we bring people together to find new solutions to entrenched problems. Essential to that is to have the perspectives of all the people who are affected. If you do this work in a narrow way, where some voices aren’t heard, or perhaps even more importantly some impacts aren’t understood, you’ll create solutions that only work for people who are already living relatively privileged lives. For me, there’s no point in that, then we’re just continuing what we want to change. It’s easy to say that there’s no Transition without a just Transition. But to make that real, the voices of all the people who are impacted need to be included. A lot of the negative effects of the current ways of living, especially in countries like the UK and Sweden, are being exported to other countries or to marginalised people in our countries. For me, this is a fundamental part of the work”, says Sarah McAdam.

Transition Network is engaging with these issues in various ways. One aspect is amplifying stories from the movement to give greater visibility to the work that’s being done, attract resources and identify points where shifts in policy might support a Transition approach. In recent years they’ve been thinking more and more about which resources and stories they share. On social media they now actively follow for example black, indigenous and people of colour environmentalists, black-led organisations and groups highlighting climate justice, and share their stories.

“One reason is to help people outside Transition see that our movement is relevant for them, “you’re speaking about and to me, I might be interested”. It also helps us identify potential collaborations with organisations that centre social justice in their work. We’re open to looking beyond our “natural” allies and people who identify themselves as environmentalists, and are thinking more broadly about people whose values align with ours even if their focus is different. We’re looking for diversity in the stories we tell and the connections we make. Otherwise there’s a risk of creating an echo chamber, where a narrow group of people see themselves being reflected while others are excluded”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What are some useful strategies and approaches?**

“Allying. I sometimes hear Transition groups say, “we want more diversity in our group”. It’s coming from a very positive place, but there’s a trap in that way of thinking. We’ve defined the conversation based on our experiences and we’re going to invite others with other experiences to work on our stuff with us. Why would they do that? I wouldn’t. If you’re closed to the experiences of black or working-class people you’re not going to include their issues and their solutions in your thinking, and your solutions will be the poorer for it”, says Sarah McAdam.

“Allying is moving away from the idea of inviting people in and looking for where there’s energy for change aligned to what we’re doing and to our values. Finding often small, practical ways to support and build relationships in a spirit of generosity without seeing where they will go. Can we share information about what you’re doing or share resources with you? Once you build relationships, you start to see links between the work. A number of Transition groups are doing very interesting work with refugee groups for example. They find clear alignments between Transition and human rights. They end up with shared gardens, food and skills projects which support and bring new energy to both groups.”

Sarah McAdam also suggests deep democracy approaches as a way to explore tensions in a group, for example different opinions about whether and how to bring a social justice focus to the work. The idea is to identify and lean into differences rather than avoid difficult conversations. A facilitator can help the group identify and describe the polarity in a way which makes sense to those most affected. Then participants stand at either end of the polarity and explore what it feels like when social justice is a priority, as well as when social justice is a distraction and we just want to get on with Transition.

“When I do these processes with people, it shifts things in ways that are hard to explain. Often I can feel the truth of both positions within me and better understand the pressures that others are under. We empathise more and understand the needs and fears being expressed. There’s something about making those things visible that can help a group find practical next steps that everyone can live with.”

## **Can you tell me about the Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter?**

“We didn’t want to be tokenistic, but we felt it was wrong to ignore the level of engagement. Silence has too often been white people’s response to racism. We also felt it was important to say that it wasn’t just a US issue, but something we see as happening across the whole Global North and impacting the planet.”

“We wanted to say that we see it as relevant to the whole Transition movement and to encourage Transition groups to reflect on how they relate to this. We also wanted to share resources. It’s easy to say “these things are wrong” but we wanted to help people and groups understand more. We see this as something white people need to learn about.”

“Before we published it, all the trustees and members of the team signed up so that it felt real as a statement from our organisation. Now we’re keeping it alive in our team – we don’t have it all solved at all”, says Sarah McAdam.

## **What happens when the Transition movement doesn’t engage with these issues?**

“On a basic level it becomes less relevant to the world we’re living in, so you end up with a negative loop.”

“On a deeper level, for me the beauty and power of Transition is about understanding the interconnectedness of everything and understanding that what we do is either supporting the health of the system or part of unhealthy ways of being. For me an important part of interconnectedness is understanding how power works. Most Transitioners see the power of big fossil fuel companies and industrial power and position themselves outside that. Once you’re clear about that, you understand what you’re trying to disrupt and make alternatives to. If you avoid looking at power systems that you benefit from, you’re cutting out part of the picture. I think you know that, even if not explicitly. It takes a lot of energy to hold a position of not looking at your benefits and privilege. There’s something very energising about looking at power, and you can create new collaborations with a lot of potential”, says Sarah McAdam.

**Resources**  
[7 Ingredients for a just, fair and inclusive Transition](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Diversity-and-Social-Justice-Resource-Final.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network

[From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring](https://movementgeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/JT%5Fbooklet%5FEnglish%5FSPREADs%5Fweb.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – Transition US on Just Transition

[Transition Network’s response to Black Lives Matter](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition US response to Black Lives Matter](http://www.transitionus.org/social-justice-resources-and-support-for-transition-initiatives?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Nick Anim, [Green, but mostly white. Why?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBSifJTCFM&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) webinar for Transition Network

Marissa Mommaerts, [Bridging Social Justice & Community Resilience](http://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-13/bridging-social-justice-community-resilience?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[10 Stories of Transition in the US: Justice and Diversity in Transition](https://www.transitionus.org/10-stories-of-transition-in-the-us-justice-and-diversity-in-transition/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

###### *Feature image by* [*Clay Banks*](https://unsplash.com/@claybanks?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) *on* [*Unsplash*](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/justice?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Drucilla Cornell on the Power of the Public Imagination
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/drucilla-cornell/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:10.000Z
###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

**You quote Spinoza. You say Spinoza teaches us that the imagination is always collective, and you suggest that vital to the public imagination is more and more contact with others. Can you expand on why this is good for the imagination? Why more exposure to difference and people unlike us is so vital to a healthy public imagination? And why increasingly social media and everybody going into bubbles where they just speak to people like them is so potentially harmful?**

Well, you’re talking to a technological dunce. I didn’t even know how to hear you! I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do Twitter, I don’t do any of it.

**Good for you.**

Here’s the problem with it. There’s two kinds of freedom. Freedom to actually collectively transform your social world. That’s freedom for me. Where we come together and we democratise the economy and end our horrific inequality. That vision is called socialism. Nobody knows what socialism is, including me, but that vision, that there’s an alternative, I would call socialism, like Rosa Luxembourg.

What happens when you have all the social media is people feel free. You can put your rear end on Facebook. You can put what you’re eating for lunch. You know, and your dog went to the bathroom and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel free, but it’s not freedom, because that’s the difference between a public notion of freedom, where relations are together.

And, you know, all this ‘cancel culture’. Now people cancel their boyfriends. They cancel their friends. They cancel people they don’t like. It just makes you feel like you’re in power. And who are you cancelling? You’re cancelling other people who don’t have any power!

The Facebook, Twitter culture has given young people a sense that they’re free. Meanwhile, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have unions. They don’t have health insurance. They live in a totally precarious world where you can say, “Oh, I had a hamburger for lunch” and everybody’s like, “You like that?” “I like that! “Wow that’s so tight!”

I think we really have to see how in an odd way this was Trump’s world. Now he’s been cut off everything because he incited a mob riot where the idea was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately she got out of the building in time. So you see what I’m saying? The difference is that isn’t about imagination. That’s almost like falling into the worst kind of empiricism.

**If you were to be advising Joe Biden and he was to say, “We are going to make our intention for the next four years to ‘Make America Imaginative Again’, or to help America become more imaginative again…” What would you suggest he do? What would be the key steps to build a public imagination?**

Well the first thing, just because I’m an on-the-ground type, is pass all eleven of Bernie Sander’s legislative proposals. A Green New Deal, the erasure of all student debt, his $2000 a month which he put forward first in the economic recovery. Why is this important? Because people need to see that what get called now Progressive Democrats actually have gotten much more empowered because of Bernie Sanders.

The first thing we do is we continue to march in the street for Black Lives Matter, because black people continue to be killed by the police. Nothing’s changed. And the police haven’t been defunded and we haven’t reorganised what we think of as security. All of that needs to be done.

In a certain way we have to be out in the streets and then to the degree you’re into electoral politics, pass the Sanders bills. Biden is a moderate, but he’s been pushed so far to the left. Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, who was for the death penalty in California! Hardly are we going to see from them the leadership that I’m calling rebuilding the public imagination.

But Sanders, the Squad, the young people in the house – to the degree that you want to be in electoral politics, and I think we have to at times – they are challenging the institutional structures. This is why insurrection, insurgency have been captured in the media by the right. An insurrection is against the fundamental institutions and values. What we saw was no insurrection. It was a mob riot, men – white men – carrying Confederate flags, wishing that the Confederacy won and black people were slaves. “They were so much better as slaves!” That’s not an insurrection.

I’m actually writing a book now called, ‘Today’s Struggles, Tomorrow’s Insurgencies’. We have to keep the insurgencies going. Part of that is electoral. Part of that is saying, “Pass Sanders’ bills”. Medicare for all. Enough of people not being able to buy insulin. Just enough.

Is it socialism? No, but it’s social democracy. I mean Trump calls everybody a socialist. In fact most of the people aren’t socialist. It’s very important to me that we keep the momentum of movements in the streets.

**You talk about the importance of public spaces. Can you expand what you mean by public spaces?**

It’s very difficult. This takes us back to Facebook and Twitter. Those are supposedly public spaces. But nobody’s face to face and nobody’s organising and nobody’s meeting and nobody’s debating. So I think the question of public space has never been more difficult. Again, getting back to my union activism, when you organise a union you create a public space within the employment area. Now of course that’s not possible any more.

When I first started organising, employers had to have meetings with the union in the property during work hours. That was the National Labor Relations Act. I live in Greenwich village. One of the most interesting things that’s happened in the pandemic is restaurants opening outside spaces. Those outside spaces are often used for meetings in a pandemic when everyone is quarantined. I don’t know if you’ve seen it – we’re the only city that’s really done this. We need to create public spaces where people can meet. Ironically one of them is now outside restaurants where people can get together and talk about the way Black Lives is going, or the Sanders bills…

We have to be very creative about it, and get people off the internet. You might say, “Well, she just wants everybody off the internet so she never has to go on it again.” I would admit that probably is the case! But we need to be really creative right now about what public space is. In my experience when you get a union drive across the States because we no longer can turn a workplace into a site where the employers have to meet the union people, we have to think creatively about it.

I’m very proud of my daughter for organising PS1 Moma. I don’t know if you know the museum, but right now it has a prisoners’ abolitionist exhibit up, which all the art is done by prisoners. 90% of it. That, the content, and the form, and the way the workers are treated, of course were completely different.

Could PS1 be a public space? Well the answer is, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It does Nights at the Museum. It attracts young people. But could it be a much more political public space – which is what it was set up to be, by the person who founded it – yes. She took over a school that was deserted and turned it into a free studio space for artists who were leftist and then worked together. We have to think very creatively about where and when we can find public spaces.

**Is it fair to suggest that people on the left tend to be more imaginative that people on the right? Is there any evidence to back up such a suggestion?**

\[Laughs\] Let’s say some people on the left are more imaginative. In my youth I was in four Marxist-Leninist organisations and I was kicked out of all of them. One of my favourites was I was a ‘deviationist idealist’! And a deviationist idealist is definitely somebody who is trying to build a public imagination.

I think the left has a horrible time moving forward because it became very, very fancy, and entitled to do critiques, and nobody wanted to do old fashioned things like programmes. Like C.L.R. James, you know, he laid out a whole programme, created a movement in Antigua and Trinidad which almost took power, called the New Beginning Movement.

The New Beginning Movement is a classic example of a left imagination. They organised in two of the islands and almost took power. They were on the ground. Now New Beginning, I love the title, but this is a real movement.

What happens in the left in the United States, particularly the academic left, it became, you know, the idea is theory is to critique, and then we fight for hegemony. What do we fight for hegemony for? New Beginnings says we fight for some version of socialism and against racialised capitalism, and for a kind of egalitarian participatory democracy which no-one’s ever experienced. But they did it on the ground.

We need to remember our nostalgia is not nostalgia. It’s to look at the great revolutionary movements in the seventies and eighties. My guess is you’ve never heard of New Beginnings because it was an all black movement on an island in the Caribbean! The whole way that theories become… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Afro-pessimism, or ‘all politics is heteronormative’?

When you’re an academic and you have a job and health insurance, it’s really easy to say, “Black people are socially dead. I’m married to a nice white girl and I’ve got health insurance. What’s the problem?” “I’m not going to march in the streets.” You have Lee Edelman saying, “All politics is heteronormative.” You know, he has health insurance too!

The way in which the Academy pulled back and said, “All these dreamers. We can’t really deal with them.” What did that do? What is Afro-pessimism? You say black people are socially dead when they’ve created a movement that’s a major insurgency in the United States? You’re socially dead!

That’s a problem with left academics. They withdraw, retreat. Like Janet Halley taking a break from feminism. I’ll take a break from feminism when women finally have reproductive rights and maternity leave!

As a union organiser I fought and fought and fought and fought for maternity leave. And I never won. We need to look at movements like the New Beginnings and the incredible influence they had in two islands in the Caribbean, and think about their forms of organising, and their forms of participatory democracy. And then we see a leftist imagination.

We do not need any more Marxist-Leninist parties. That’s done. We do not need any men telling us, like Stalin, “I know the truth.” Dialectical materialism. We don’t need that. I do think right now the left often backs away from real alternatives. We need alternatives! We need answers to things like are we going to have a stock market in socialism? We need answers to those types of questions.

The answer is the left needs to be pushed. I’m writing a book after this current one called ‘Thinking like an activist’. Activists constantly push open spaces for the imagination. I would encourage you to look at the New Beginnings Movement. It’s not like 1650\. It was in the 1970s and 1980s!

**I’m always very interested in movements that manage to keep really big bold ‘what if’ questions alive, which is what you’re talking about I think. I love things like the prison abolition movement who’ve kept that ‘what if’ question alive for so long in the face of a society which just thinks it’s completely unimaginable. What would be the key learnings from that, about how to sustain big and bold audacious what if questions alive over time? Like you were saying about getting maternity cover and prison abolition is a bigger what if question I guess. How do we sustain those over time?**

Maternity leave should hardly be a revolutionary question!

**Not really.**

\[Laughs\] I never won it. There’s a wonderful book by one of the women who started Black Lives Matter. She writes about ‘stardust people’, which is an accurate description of a human being. The universe is not only with us, it’s in us. We literally carry cells of dead stars.

We have to think like stardust people, like she did. Black Lives Matter is not just about police violence. It’s about black people being equal citizens in the United States. That shouldn’t be a big idea either. That should be like maternity leave, but unfortunately it’s not!

What we have to do is think like an activist. Think like someone whose whole life is about building a transformed world. Therefore your theory is about what you learn in the street. Not what you learn in books, but what you learn in the street. That’s exemplary in Black Lives Matter.

We’re not going to get bold ideas from people who are in universities and don’t like to go to demonstrations because they might be hit by the police. We need people who have the courage to be in the streets. I’ve been an activist all my life. I consider being an academic not that important.

I’ll give you an example because I think examples help. After 9/11 in New York city the Patriot Act was passed which basically ended our constitutional rights. Fourth and fifth amendment. I had a friend, Ann Snitow, and we wanted to support the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women. Another one of those groups with big ideas.

Yes, they ran gynaecological clinics under the Taliban, and yes, they ran schools, and yes, they did armed self-defence. Because you imagine going up to the Taliban and saying, “Hi, I just wanted to discuss why women need…” It doesn’t work!

No communicative freedom, as Habermas believes, can exist in those situations. They did learn self-defence. We defended them to be on the ballot in Afghanistan. We didn’t win and yet feminism is all about not wearing a headscarf. I dye my hair! What woman knows what the hell she’s doing with her hair? You do the best you can! Headscarf? “Oh, I don’t have to wear a headscarf. I’ll just go to my hairdresser and make sure that my grey is covered”, you know. What was that? It’s freedom. That’s this whole fallacy of individual freedom.

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

**You quote Spinoza. You say Spinoza teaches us that the imagination is always collective, and you suggest that vital to the public imagination is more and more contact with others. Can you expand on why this is good for the imagination? Why more exposure to difference and people unlike us is so vital to a healthy public imagination? And why increasingly social media and everybody going into bubbles where they just speak to people like them is so potentially harmful?**

Well, you’re talking to a technological dunce. I didn’t even know how to hear you! I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do Twitter, I don’t do any of it.

**Good for you.**

Here’s the problem with it. There’s two kinds of freedom. Freedom to actually collectively transform your social world. That’s freedom for me. Where we come together and we democratise the economy and end our horrific inequality. That vision is called socialism. Nobody knows what socialism is, including me, but that vision, that there’s an alternative, I would call socialism, like Rosa Luxembourg.

What happens when you have all the social media is people feel free. You can put your rear end on Facebook. You can put what you’re eating for lunch. You know, and your dog went to the bathroom and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel free, but it’s not freedom, because that’s the difference between a public notion of freedom, where relations are together.

And, you know, all this ‘cancel culture’. Now people cancel their boyfriends. They cancel their friends. They cancel people they don’t like. It just makes you feel like you’re in power. And who are you cancelling? You’re cancelling other people who don’t have any power!

The Facebook, Twitter culture has given young people a sense that they’re free. Meanwhile, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have unions. They don’t have health insurance. They live in a totally precarious world where you can say, “Oh, I had a hamburger for lunch” and everybody’s like, “You like that?” “I like that! “Wow that’s so tight!”

I think we really have to see how in an odd way this was Trump’s world. Now he’s been cut off everything because he incited a mob riot where the idea was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately she got out of the building in time. So you see what I’m saying? The difference is that isn’t about imagination. That’s almost like falling into the worst kind of empiricism.

**If you were to be advising Joe Biden and he was to say, “We are going to make our intention for the next four years to ‘Make America Imaginative Again’, or to help America become more imaginative again…” What would you suggest he do? What would be the key steps to build a public imagination?**

Well the first thing, just because I’m an on-the-ground type, is pass all eleven of Bernie Sander’s legislative proposals. A Green New Deal, the erasure of all student debt, his $2000 a month which he put forward first in the economic recovery. Why is this important? Because people need to see that what get called now Progressive Democrats actually have gotten much more empowered because of Bernie Sanders.

The first thing we do is we continue to march in the street for Black Lives Matter, because black people continue to be killed by the police. Nothing’s changed. And the police haven’t been defunded and we haven’t reorganised what we think of as security. All of that needs to be done.

In a certain way we have to be out in the streets and then to the degree you’re into electoral politics, pass the Sanders bills. Biden is a moderate, but he’s been pushed so far to the left. Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, who was for the death penalty in California! Hardly are we going to see from them the leadership that I’m calling rebuilding the public imagination.

But Sanders, the Squad, the young people in the house – to the degree that you want to be in electoral politics, and I think we have to at times – they are challenging the institutional structures. This is why insurrection, insurgency have been captured in the media by the right. An insurrection is against the fundamental institutions and values. What we saw was no insurrection. It was a mob riot, men – white men – carrying Confederate flags, wishing that the Confederacy won and black people were slaves. “They were so much better as slaves!” That’s not an insurrection.

I’m actually writing a book now called, ‘Today’s Struggles, Tomorrow’s Insurgencies’. We have to keep the insurgencies going. Part of that is electoral. Part of that is saying, “Pass Sanders’ bills”. Medicare for all. Enough of people not being able to buy insulin. Just enough.

Is it socialism? No, but it’s social democracy. I mean Trump calls everybody a socialist. In fact most of the people aren’t socialist. It’s very important to me that we keep the momentum of movements in the streets.

**You talk about the importance of public spaces. Can you expand what you mean by public spaces?**

It’s very difficult. This takes us back to Facebook and Twitter. Those are supposedly public spaces. But nobody’s face to face and nobody’s organising and nobody’s meeting and nobody’s debating. So I think the question of public space has never been more difficult. Again, getting back to my union activism, when you organise a union you create a public space within the employment area. Now of course that’s not possible any more.

When I first started organising, employers had to have meetings with the union in the property during work hours. That was the National Labor Relations Act. I live in Greenwich village. One of the most interesting things that’s happened in the pandemic is restaurants opening outside spaces. Those outside spaces are often used for meetings in a pandemic when everyone is quarantined. I don’t know if you’ve seen it – we’re the only city that’s really done this. We need to create public spaces where people can meet. Ironically one of them is now outside restaurants where people can get together and talk about the way Black Lives is going, or the Sanders bills…

We have to be very creative about it, and get people off the internet. You might say, “Well, she just wants everybody off the internet so she never has to go on it again.” I would admit that probably is the case! But we need to be really creative right now about what public space is. In my experience when you get a union drive across the States because we no longer can turn a workplace into a site where the employers have to meet the union people, we have to think creatively about it.

I’m very proud of my daughter for organising PS1 Moma. I don’t know if you know the museum, but right now it has a prisoners’ abolitionist exhibit up, which all the art is done by prisoners. 90% of it. That, the content, and the form, and the way the workers are treated, of course were completely different.

Could PS1 be a public space? Well the answer is, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It does Nights at the Museum. It attracts young people. But could it be a much more political public space – which is what it was set up to be, by the person who founded it – yes. She took over a school that was deserted and turned it into a free studio space for artists who were leftist and then worked together. We have to think very creatively about where and when we can find public spaces.

**Is it fair to suggest that people on the left tend to be more imaginative that people on the right? Is there any evidence to back up such a suggestion?**

\[Laughs\] Let’s say some people on the left are more imaginative. In my youth I was in four Marxist-Leninist organisations and I was kicked out of all of them. One of my favourites was I was a ‘deviationist idealist’! And a deviationist idealist is definitely somebody who is trying to build a public imagination.

I think the left has a horrible time moving forward because it became very, very fancy, and entitled to do critiques, and nobody wanted to do old fashioned things like programmes. Like C.L.R. James, you know, he laid out a whole programme, created a movement in Antigua and Trinidad which almost took power, called the New Beginning Movement.

The New Beginning Movement is a classic example of a left imagination. They organised in two of the islands and almost took power. They were on the ground. Now New Beginning, I love the title, but this is a real movement.

What happens in the left in the United States, particularly the academic left, it became, you know, the idea is theory is to critique, and then we fight for hegemony. What do we fight for hegemony for? New Beginnings says we fight for some version of socialism and against racialised capitalism, and for a kind of egalitarian participatory democracy which no-one’s ever experienced. But they did it on the ground.

We need to remember our nostalgia is not nostalgia. It’s to look at the great revolutionary movements in the seventies and eighties. My guess is you’ve never heard of New Beginnings because it was an all black movement on an island in the Caribbean! The whole way that theories become… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Afro-pessimism, or ‘all politics is heteronormative’?

When you’re an academic and you have a job and health insurance, it’s really easy to say, “Black people are socially dead. I’m married to a nice white girl and I’ve got health insurance. What’s the problem?” “I’m not going to march in the streets.” You have Lee Edelman saying, “All politics is heteronormative.” You know, he has health insurance too!

The way in which the Academy pulled back and said, “All these dreamers. We can’t really deal with them.” What did that do? What is Afro-pessimism? You say black people are socially dead when they’ve created a movement that’s a major insurgency in the United States? You’re socially dead!

That’s a problem with left academics. They withdraw, retreat. Like Janet Halley taking a break from feminism. I’ll take a break from feminism when women finally have reproductive rights and maternity leave!

As a union organiser I fought and fought and fought and fought for maternity leave. And I never won. We need to look at movements like the New Beginnings and the incredible influence they had in two islands in the Caribbean, and think about their forms of organising, and their forms of participatory democracy. And then we see a leftist imagination.

We do not need any more Marxist-Leninist parties. That’s done. We do not need any men telling us, like Stalin, “I know the truth.” Dialectical materialism. We don’t need that. I do think right now the left often backs away from real alternatives. We need alternatives! We need answers to things like are we going to have a stock market in socialism? We need answers to those types of questions.

The answer is the left needs to be pushed. I’m writing a book after this current one called ‘Thinking like an activist’. Activists constantly push open spaces for the imagination. I would encourage you to look at the New Beginnings Movement. It’s not like 1650\. It was in the 1970s and 1980s!

**I’m always very interested in movements that manage to keep really big bold ‘what if’ questions alive, which is what you’re talking about I think. I love things like the prison abolition movement who’ve kept that ‘what if’ question alive for so long in the face of a society which just thinks it’s completely unimaginable. What would be the key learnings from that, about how to sustain big and bold audacious what if questions alive over time? Like you were saying about getting maternity cover and prison abolition is a bigger what if question I guess. How do we sustain those over time?**

Maternity leave should hardly be a revolutionary question!

**Not really.**

\[Laughs\] I never won it. There’s a wonderful book by one of the women who started Black Lives Matter. She writes about ‘stardust people’, which is an accurate description of a human being. The universe is not only with us, it’s in us. We literally carry cells of dead stars.

We have to think like stardust people, like she did. Black Lives Matter is not just about police violence. It’s about black people being equal citizens in the United States. That shouldn’t be a big idea either. That should be like maternity leave, but unfortunately it’s not!

What we have to do is think like an activist. Think like someone whose whole life is about building a transformed world. Therefore your theory is about what you learn in the street. Not what you learn in books, but what you learn in the street. That’s exemplary in Black Lives Matter.

We’re not going to get bold ideas from people who are in universities and don’t like to go to demonstrations because they might be hit by the police. We need people who have the courage to be in the streets. I’ve been an activist all my life. I consider being an academic not that important.

I’ll give you an example because I think examples help. After 9/11 in New York city the Patriot Act was passed which basically ended our constitutional rights. Fourth and fifth amendment. I had a friend, Ann Snitow, and we wanted to support the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women. Another one of those groups with big ideas.

Yes, they ran gynaecological clinics under the Taliban, and yes, they ran schools, and yes, they did armed self-defence. Because you imagine going up to the Taliban and saying, “Hi, I just wanted to discuss why women need…” It doesn’t work!

No communicative freedom, as Habermas believes, can exist in those situations. They did learn self-defence. We defended them to be on the ballot in Afghanistan. We didn’t win and yet feminism is all about not wearing a headscarf. I dye my hair! What woman knows what the hell she’s doing with her hair? You do the best you can! Headscarf? “Oh, I don’t have to wear a headscarf. I’ll just go to my hairdresser and make sure that my grey is covered”, you know. What was that? It’s freedom. That’s this whole fallacy of individual freedom.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/download-1.png)

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

**You quote Spinoza. You say Spinoza teaches us that the imagination is always collective, and you suggest that vital to the public imagination is more and more contact with others. Can you expand on why this is good for the imagination? Why more exposure to difference and people unlike us is so vital to a healthy public imagination? And why increasingly social media and everybody going into bubbles where they just speak to people like them is so potentially harmful?**

Well, you’re talking to a technological dunce. I didn’t even know how to hear you! I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do Twitter, I don’t do any of it.

**Good for you.**

Here’s the problem with it. There’s two kinds of freedom. Freedom to actually collectively transform your social world. That’s freedom for me. Where we come together and we democratise the economy and end our horrific inequality. That vision is called socialism. Nobody knows what socialism is, including me, but that vision, that there’s an alternative, I would call socialism, like Rosa Luxembourg.

What happens when you have all the social media is people feel free. You can put your rear end on Facebook. You can put what you’re eating for lunch. You know, and your dog went to the bathroom and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel free, but it’s not freedom, because that’s the difference between a public notion of freedom, where relations are together.

And, you know, all this ‘cancel culture’. Now people cancel their boyfriends. They cancel their friends. They cancel people they don’t like. It just makes you feel like you’re in power. And who are you cancelling? You’re cancelling other people who don’t have any power!

The Facebook, Twitter culture has given young people a sense that they’re free. Meanwhile, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have unions. They don’t have health insurance. They live in a totally precarious world where you can say, “Oh, I had a hamburger for lunch” and everybody’s like, “You like that?” “I like that! “Wow that’s so tight!”

I think we really have to see how in an odd way this was Trump’s world. Now he’s been cut off everything because he incited a mob riot where the idea was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately she got out of the building in time. So you see what I’m saying? The difference is that isn’t about imagination. That’s almost like falling into the worst kind of empiricism.

**If you were to be advising Joe Biden and he was to say, “We are going to make our intention for the next four years to ‘Make America Imaginative Again’, or to help America become more imaginative again…” What would you suggest he do? What would be the key steps to build a public imagination?**

Well the first thing, just because I’m an on-the-ground type, is pass all eleven of Bernie Sander’s legislative proposals. A Green New Deal, the erasure of all student debt, his $2000 a month which he put forward first in the economic recovery. Why is this important? Because people need to see that what get called now Progressive Democrats actually have gotten much more empowered because of Bernie Sanders.

The first thing we do is we continue to march in the street for Black Lives Matter, because black people continue to be killed by the police. Nothing’s changed. And the police haven’t been defunded and we haven’t reorganised what we think of as security. All of that needs to be done.

In a certain way we have to be out in the streets and then to the degree you’re into electoral politics, pass the Sanders bills. Biden is a moderate, but he’s been pushed so far to the left. Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, who was for the death penalty in California! Hardly are we going to see from them the leadership that I’m calling rebuilding the public imagination.

But Sanders, the Squad, the young people in the house – to the degree that you want to be in electoral politics, and I think we have to at times – they are challenging the institutional structures. This is why insurrection, insurgency have been captured in the media by the right. An insurrection is against the fundamental institutions and values. What we saw was no insurrection. It was a mob riot, men – white men – carrying Confederate flags, wishing that the Confederacy won and black people were slaves. “They were so much better as slaves!” That’s not an insurrection.

I’m actually writing a book now called, ‘Today’s Struggles, Tomorrow’s Insurgencies’. We have to keep the insurgencies going. Part of that is electoral. Part of that is saying, “Pass Sanders’ bills”. Medicare for all. Enough of people not being able to buy insulin. Just enough.

Is it socialism? No, but it’s social democracy. I mean Trump calls everybody a socialist. In fact most of the people aren’t socialist. It’s very important to me that we keep the momentum of movements in the streets.

**You talk about the importance of public spaces. Can you expand what you mean by public spaces?**

It’s very difficult. This takes us back to Facebook and Twitter. Those are supposedly public spaces. But nobody’s face to face and nobody’s organising and nobody’s meeting and nobody’s debating. So I think the question of public space has never been more difficult. Again, getting back to my union activism, when you organise a union you create a public space within the employment area. Now of course that’s not possible any more.

When I first started organising, employers had to have meetings with the union in the property during work hours. That was the National Labor Relations Act. I live in Greenwich village. One of the most interesting things that’s happened in the pandemic is restaurants opening outside spaces. Those outside spaces are often used for meetings in a pandemic when everyone is quarantined. I don’t know if you’ve seen it – we’re the only city that’s really done this. We need to create public spaces where people can meet. Ironically one of them is now outside restaurants where people can get together and talk about the way Black Lives is going, or the Sanders bills…

We have to be very creative about it, and get people off the internet. You might say, “Well, she just wants everybody off the internet so she never has to go on it again.” I would admit that probably is the case! But we need to be really creative right now about what public space is. In my experience when you get a union drive across the States because we no longer can turn a workplace into a site where the employers have to meet the union people, we have to think creatively about it.

I’m very proud of my daughter for organising PS1 Moma. I don’t know if you know the museum, but right now it has a prisoners’ abolitionist exhibit up, which all the art is done by prisoners. 90% of it. That, the content, and the form, and the way the workers are treated, of course were completely different.

Could PS1 be a public space? Well the answer is, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It does Nights at the Museum. It attracts young people. But could it be a much more political public space – which is what it was set up to be, by the person who founded it – yes. She took over a school that was deserted and turned it into a free studio space for artists who were leftist and then worked together. We have to think very creatively about where and when we can find public spaces.

**Is it fair to suggest that people on the left tend to be more imaginative that people on the right? Is there any evidence to back up such a suggestion?**

\[Laughs\] Let’s say some people on the left are more imaginative. In my youth I was in four Marxist-Leninist organisations and I was kicked out of all of them. One of my favourites was I was a ‘deviationist idealist’! And a deviationist idealist is definitely somebody who is trying to build a public imagination.

I think the left has a horrible time moving forward because it became very, very fancy, and entitled to do critiques, and nobody wanted to do old fashioned things like programmes. Like C.L.R. James, you know, he laid out a whole programme, created a movement in Antigua and Trinidad which almost took power, called the New Beginning Movement.

The New Beginning Movement is a classic example of a left imagination. They organised in two of the islands and almost took power. They were on the ground. Now New Beginning, I love the title, but this is a real movement.

What happens in the left in the United States, particularly the academic left, it became, you know, the idea is theory is to critique, and then we fight for hegemony. What do we fight for hegemony for? New Beginnings says we fight for some version of socialism and against racialised capitalism, and for a kind of egalitarian participatory democracy which no-one’s ever experienced. But they did it on the ground.

We need to remember our nostalgia is not nostalgia. It’s to look at the great revolutionary movements in the seventies and eighties. My guess is you’ve never heard of New Beginnings because it was an all black movement on an island in the Caribbean! The whole way that theories become… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Afro-pessimism, or ‘all politics is heteronormative’?

When you’re an academic and you have a job and health insurance, it’s really easy to say, “Black people are socially dead. I’m married to a nice white girl and I’ve got health insurance. What’s the problem?” “I’m not going to march in the streets.” You have Lee Edelman saying, “All politics is heteronormative.” You know, he has health insurance too!

The way in which the Academy pulled back and said, “All these dreamers. We can’t really deal with them.” What did that do? What is Afro-pessimism? You say black people are socially dead when they’ve created a movement that’s a major insurgency in the United States? You’re socially dead!

That’s a problem with left academics. They withdraw, retreat. Like Janet Halley taking a break from feminism. I’ll take a break from feminism when women finally have reproductive rights and maternity leave!

As a union organiser I fought and fought and fought and fought for maternity leave. And I never won. We need to look at movements like the New Beginnings and the incredible influence they had in two islands in the Caribbean, and think about their forms of organising, and their forms of participatory democracy. And then we see a leftist imagination.

We do not need any more Marxist-Leninist parties. That’s done. We do not need any men telling us, like Stalin, “I know the truth.” Dialectical materialism. We don’t need that. I do think right now the left often backs away from real alternatives. We need alternatives! We need answers to things like are we going to have a stock market in socialism? We need answers to those types of questions.

The answer is the left needs to be pushed. I’m writing a book after this current one called ‘Thinking like an activist’. Activists constantly push open spaces for the imagination. I would encourage you to look at the New Beginnings Movement. It’s not like 1650\. It was in the 1970s and 1980s!

**I’m always very interested in movements that manage to keep really big bold ‘what if’ questions alive, which is what you’re talking about I think. I love things like the prison abolition movement who’ve kept that ‘what if’ question alive for so long in the face of a society which just thinks it’s completely unimaginable. What would be the key learnings from that, about how to sustain big and bold audacious what if questions alive over time? Like you were saying about getting maternity cover and prison abolition is a bigger what if question I guess. How do we sustain those over time?**

Maternity leave should hardly be a revolutionary question!

**Not really.**

\[Laughs\] I never won it. There’s a wonderful book by one of the women who started Black Lives Matter. She writes about ‘stardust people’, which is an accurate description of a human being. The universe is not only with us, it’s in us. We literally carry cells of dead stars.

We have to think like stardust people, like she did. Black Lives Matter is not just about police violence. It’s about black people being equal citizens in the United States. That shouldn’t be a big idea either. That should be like maternity leave, but unfortunately it’s not!

What we have to do is think like an activist. Think like someone whose whole life is about building a transformed world. Therefore your theory is about what you learn in the street. Not what you learn in books, but what you learn in the street. That’s exemplary in Black Lives Matter.

We’re not going to get bold ideas from people who are in universities and don’t like to go to demonstrations because they might be hit by the police. We need people who have the courage to be in the streets. I’ve been an activist all my life. I consider being an academic not that important.

I’ll give you an example because I think examples help. After 9/11 in New York city the Patriot Act was passed which basically ended our constitutional rights. Fourth and fifth amendment. I had a friend, Ann Snitow, and we wanted to support the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women. Another one of those groups with big ideas.

Yes, they ran gynaecological clinics under the Taliban, and yes, they ran schools, and yes, they did armed self-defence. Because you imagine going up to the Taliban and saying, “Hi, I just wanted to discuss why women need…” It doesn’t work!

No communicative freedom, as Habermas believes, can exist in those situations. They did learn self-defence. We defended them to be on the ballot in Afghanistan. We didn’t win and yet feminism is all about not wearing a headscarf. I dye my hair! What woman knows what the hell she’s doing with her hair? You do the best you can! Headscarf? “Oh, I don’t have to wear a headscarf. I’ll just go to my hairdresser and make sure that my grey is covered”, you know. What was that? It’s freedom. That’s this whole fallacy of individual freedom.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/download-1.png)

Freedom would have been getting the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women, an underground network and a government, into the government of Afghanistan. *That* would have been freedom. What we did out of that, we called a group called ‘Take Back the Future’ in which we expanded the definition of feminism to include anyone who was from below the bar of what was considered human.

We marched with Muslim communities who were being forced to re-register even though they had a Green card. We marched with African-American families whose sons were being told “You get to go to war. You get to go to prison.” And we saw those as feminist issues. It’s called Take Back the Future. That’s a big idea. We take back the future.

My comrade Ann Snitow is no longer with us so this is also a tribute to her because in the face of total opposition, from a lot of left academics, who all of a sudden spoke Arabic and knew something about Islam, do you know what I knew? I didn’t know anything about Islam! But I later taught for 2 years a class on Islamic jurisprudence with somebody who was my student who was a specialist in Islamic jurisprudence. Because I realised I didn’t know anything…

But these people say, “Oh, you know, this was that, this was that, this was that. I know what the Prophet said.” Well, I didn’t know what the Prophet said. So we did Take back the Future in enormous opposition to the left, that said, “Oh, the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women are terrorists.”

What is the book called, by one of the women who founded Black Lives Matter? ‘When they call you a terrorist’. That’s what I mean by Take Back the Future. Challenge limited views of feminism to open it up to anti-Muslim and anti-racist politics. That’s what you do. How you do it, you go. You have to have the courage to go, into the streets and fight. You can’t just sit around and write books.

I write a lot of books, I admit… But I like to think they help. But that organisation, Take Back the Future, went completely against the grain of how feminism is being defined, how anti-racist politics are being defined, how Muslims were being defined. That’s a group I’m terribly proud of, and that’s a recent group for me.

I also formed a group called the Ubuntu Project in South Africa. All of this forming projects, organising, is about changing the world. What did Marx say? “The purpose of philosophy is not to understand the world, it’s to transform it”.

**You wrote in that article, I thought it was fantastic, you said, “A powerful new left can only create a rich collective imagination capable of confronting this crisis by opening ourselves to new forms of contact that will allow us to be affected by and imagine others in new ways.” I thought that was fantastic. Is there anything you’d like to add to that? Or reflect on that?**

Again, let’s take the example of Take Back the Future. By redefining what feminism is, and joining feminism to movements… one of the key things about this group is we had a giant dragon that was eating the Constitution. That was made in paper mâché. And people wanted the dragon at all these demonstrations.

Now why is that important to this? Because you’re performing something. You’re performing why the Patriot Act ate up the Constitution, with the dragon. We used to go, just to take back the streets. Because you can actually demonstrate in New York City without a permit. We would go with the dragon in front of rush hour train stations, and show what it meant to be eating the Constitution to provoke discussion. Rush hours and people running home would never be seen as a public space but we turned it into one.

That’s what I’m really trying to emphasise. You have to be creative.

Take Back the Future is one of the groups that I formed. But then I formed the Ubuntu project almost at the same time, in South Africa, and I moved to South Africa because I knew that I had to learn about indigenous values. What it means to be an anti-racist doesn’t stop with protesting in the United States. You have to think about what decolonisation means. You have to think about what it really means to really fight imperialism.

So I formed a project. I didn’t know anything about Ubuntu. I’m not an anthropologist. I’m not a sociologist. So I went to the ground. And I worked for A Sangoma. He said, “You want to know about Ubuntu, come work for me.” That’s a high spiritual level in South Africa. When you put yourself at risk, and everything you know at risk, and have the courage to say, “I. Don’t. Know”, that’s when you learn new things.

I’m very proud of the Ubuntu project. Throughout the 2000s I’ve been organising, and I intend to go down organising.

**Is capitalism by design something that is damaging to the imagination? Is it inherently a creation that is ruinous to the imagination?**

Capitalism per se, or neoliberal capitalism?

**You choose.**

Well, what capitalism does – you know, I’m quasi-Marxist – is it turns exploitation into the fantasy of free labour, right? What the Keynesian model said is, “Well we have to give these so-called free labourers something, because otherwise they can’t buy anything.” That was the Keynesian model after World War II. But does capitalism per se limit the imagination? Of course it does, and it becomes neoliberal capitalism.

That’s what Rosa Luxembourg told us. That primitive accumulation of capital doesn’t stop. It needs more. It needs the indentured servitude who are making our computers – the ones that I hate – in South Korea and in China, with women workers who are making slave wages, which is how I started out in Silicon Valley. I know what it’s like to be a dye sorter!

So the answer is yes, and neoliberal capitalism then gives you what I said earlier, these little carrots. You can put your name on Twitter and show what you ate and where your dog went to the bathroom, and all these great freedoms, because they can’t provide what people need.

People need meaningful labour. This is what Marx told us. But what happens in capitalism is people see freedom as going to a bar, freedom as going to a soccer game, freedom as now doing Facebook and Twitter. What they don’t see is that real freedom is the unleashing of human creativity in what we call work. And then of course work would be totally different.

Work would be where you were creating. That’s what New Beginning got in its reorganisation of work places. Reorganise work places and then a sugar worker who’s making sugar begins to see what making sugar is all about and why it may be important. That limit is something that’s not overcome-able in capitalism. We need to democratise the economy and then when we have democratised the economy maybe we can slowly begin to figure out what a different form of economic organisation is, where you wouldn’t think that freedom at the end of the day is going and getting drunk because you hate your job so much and your boss is a total arsehole and you can’t organise a union because you don’t have rights any more. I think that Marx had it right. Human beings at some level at the core are creative creatures.

**Thank you so much. Wonderful.**

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

**You quote Spinoza. You say Spinoza teaches us that the imagination is always collective, and you suggest that vital to the public imagination is more and more contact with others. Can you expand on why this is good for the imagination? Why more exposure to difference and people unlike us is so vital to a healthy public imagination? And why increasingly social media and everybody going into bubbles where they just speak to people like them is so potentially harmful?**

Well, you’re talking to a technological dunce. I didn’t even know how to hear you! I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do Twitter, I don’t do any of it.

**Good for you.**

Here’s the problem with it. There’s two kinds of freedom. Freedom to actually collectively transform your social world. That’s freedom for me. Where we come together and we democratise the economy and end our horrific inequality. That vision is called socialism. Nobody knows what socialism is, including me, but that vision, that there’s an alternative, I would call socialism, like Rosa Luxembourg.

What happens when you have all the social media is people feel free. You can put your rear end on Facebook. You can put what you’re eating for lunch. You know, and your dog went to the bathroom and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel free, but it’s not freedom, because that’s the difference between a public notion of freedom, where relations are together.

And, you know, all this ‘cancel culture’. Now people cancel their boyfriends. They cancel their friends. They cancel people they don’t like. It just makes you feel like you’re in power. And who are you cancelling? You’re cancelling other people who don’t have any power!

The Facebook, Twitter culture has given young people a sense that they’re free. Meanwhile, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have unions. They don’t have health insurance. They live in a totally precarious world where you can say, “Oh, I had a hamburger for lunch” and everybody’s like, “You like that?” “I like that! “Wow that’s so tight!”

I think we really have to see how in an odd way this was Trump’s world. Now he’s been cut off everything because he incited a mob riot where the idea was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately she got out of the building in time. So you see what I’m saying? The difference is that isn’t about imagination. That’s almost like falling into the worst kind of empiricism.

**If you were to be advising Joe Biden and he was to say, “We are going to make our intention for the next four years to ‘Make America Imaginative Again’, or to help America become more imaginative again…” What would you suggest he do? What would be the key steps to build a public imagination?**

Well the first thing, just because I’m an on-the-ground type, is pass all eleven of Bernie Sander’s legislative proposals. A Green New Deal, the erasure of all student debt, his $2000 a month which he put forward first in the economic recovery. Why is this important? Because people need to see that what get called now Progressive Democrats actually have gotten much more empowered because of Bernie Sanders.

The first thing we do is we continue to march in the street for Black Lives Matter, because black people continue to be killed by the police. Nothing’s changed. And the police haven’t been defunded and we haven’t reorganised what we think of as security. All of that needs to be done.

In a certain way we have to be out in the streets and then to the degree you’re into electoral politics, pass the Sanders bills. Biden is a moderate, but he’s been pushed so far to the left. Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, who was for the death penalty in California! Hardly are we going to see from them the leadership that I’m calling rebuilding the public imagination.

But Sanders, the Squad, the young people in the house – to the degree that you want to be in electoral politics, and I think we have to at times – they are challenging the institutional structures. This is why insurrection, insurgency have been captured in the media by the right. An insurrection is against the fundamental institutions and values. What we saw was no insurrection. It was a mob riot, men – white men – carrying Confederate flags, wishing that the Confederacy won and black people were slaves. “They were so much better as slaves!” That’s not an insurrection.

I’m actually writing a book now called, ‘Today’s Struggles, Tomorrow’s Insurgencies’. We have to keep the insurgencies going. Part of that is electoral. Part of that is saying, “Pass Sanders’ bills”. Medicare for all. Enough of people not being able to buy insulin. Just enough.

Is it socialism? No, but it’s social democracy. I mean Trump calls everybody a socialist. In fact most of the people aren’t socialist. It’s very important to me that we keep the momentum of movements in the streets.

**You talk about the importance of public spaces. Can you expand what you mean by public spaces?**

It’s very difficult. This takes us back to Facebook and Twitter. Those are supposedly public spaces. But nobody’s face to face and nobody’s organising and nobody’s meeting and nobody’s debating. So I think the question of public space has never been more difficult. Again, getting back to my union activism, when you organise a union you create a public space within the employment area. Now of course that’s not possible any more.

When I first started organising, employers had to have meetings with the union in the property during work hours. That was the National Labor Relations Act. I live in Greenwich village. One of the most interesting things that’s happened in the pandemic is restaurants opening outside spaces. Those outside spaces are often used for meetings in a pandemic when everyone is quarantined. I don’t know if you’ve seen it – we’re the only city that’s really done this. We need to create public spaces where people can meet. Ironically one of them is now outside restaurants where people can get together and talk about the way Black Lives is going, or the Sanders bills…

We have to be very creative about it, and get people off the internet. You might say, “Well, she just wants everybody off the internet so she never has to go on it again.” I would admit that probably is the case! But we need to be really creative right now about what public space is. In my experience when you get a union drive across the States because we no longer can turn a workplace into a site where the employers have to meet the union people, we have to think creatively about it.

I’m very proud of my daughter for organising PS1 Moma. I don’t know if you know the museum, but right now it has a prisoners’ abolitionist exhibit up, which all the art is done by prisoners. 90% of it. That, the content, and the form, and the way the workers are treated, of course were completely different.

Could PS1 be a public space? Well the answer is, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It does Nights at the Museum. It attracts young people. But could it be a much more political public space – which is what it was set up to be, by the person who founded it – yes. She took over a school that was deserted and turned it into a free studio space for artists who were leftist and then worked together. We have to think very creatively about where and when we can find public spaces.

**Is it fair to suggest that people on the left tend to be more imaginative that people on the right? Is there any evidence to back up such a suggestion?**

\[Laughs\] Let’s say some people on the left are more imaginative. In my youth I was in four Marxist-Leninist organisations and I was kicked out of all of them. One of my favourites was I was a ‘deviationist idealist’! And a deviationist idealist is definitely somebody who is trying to build a public imagination.

I think the left has a horrible time moving forward because it became very, very fancy, and entitled to do critiques, and nobody wanted to do old fashioned things like programmes. Like C.L.R. James, you know, he laid out a whole programme, created a movement in Antigua and Trinidad which almost took power, called the New Beginning Movement.

The New Beginning Movement is a classic example of a left imagination. They organised in two of the islands and almost took power. They were on the ground. Now New Beginning, I love the title, but this is a real movement.

What happens in the left in the United States, particularly the academic left, it became, you know, the idea is theory is to critique, and then we fight for hegemony. What do we fight for hegemony for? New Beginnings says we fight for some version of socialism and against racialised capitalism, and for a kind of egalitarian participatory democracy which no-one’s ever experienced. But they did it on the ground.

We need to remember our nostalgia is not nostalgia. It’s to look at the great revolutionary movements in the seventies and eighties. My guess is you’ve never heard of New Beginnings because it was an all black movement on an island in the Caribbean! The whole way that theories become… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Afro-pessimism, or ‘all politics is heteronormative’?

When you’re an academic and you have a job and health insurance, it’s really easy to say, “Black people are socially dead. I’m married to a nice white girl and I’ve got health insurance. What’s the problem?” “I’m not going to march in the streets.” You have Lee Edelman saying, “All politics is heteronormative.” You know, he has health insurance too!

The way in which the Academy pulled back and said, “All these dreamers. We can’t really deal with them.” What did that do? What is Afro-pessimism? You say black people are socially dead when they’ve created a movement that’s a major insurgency in the United States? You’re socially dead!

That’s a problem with left academics. They withdraw, retreat. Like Janet Halley taking a break from feminism. I’ll take a break from feminism when women finally have reproductive rights and maternity leave!

As a union organiser I fought and fought and fought and fought for maternity leave. And I never won. We need to look at movements like the New Beginnings and the incredible influence they had in two islands in the Caribbean, and think about their forms of organising, and their forms of participatory democracy. And then we see a leftist imagination.

We do not need any more Marxist-Leninist parties. That’s done. We do not need any men telling us, like Stalin, “I know the truth.” Dialectical materialism. We don’t need that. I do think right now the left often backs away from real alternatives. We need alternatives! We need answers to things like are we going to have a stock market in socialism? We need answers to those types of questions.

The answer is the left needs to be pushed. I’m writing a book after this current one called ‘Thinking like an activist’. Activists constantly push open spaces for the imagination. I would encourage you to look at the New Beginnings Movement. It’s not like 1650\. It was in the 1970s and 1980s!

**I’m always very interested in movements that manage to keep really big bold ‘what if’ questions alive, which is what you’re talking about I think. I love things like the prison abolition movement who’ve kept that ‘what if’ question alive for so long in the face of a society which just thinks it’s completely unimaginable. What would be the key learnings from that, about how to sustain big and bold audacious what if questions alive over time? Like you were saying about getting maternity cover and prison abolition is a bigger what if question I guess. How do we sustain those over time?**

Maternity leave should hardly be a revolutionary question!

**Not really.**

\[Laughs\] I never won it. There’s a wonderful book by one of the women who started Black Lives Matter. She writes about ‘stardust people’, which is an accurate description of a human being. The universe is not only with us, it’s in us. We literally carry cells of dead stars.

We have to think like stardust people, like she did. Black Lives Matter is not just about police violence. It’s about black people being equal citizens in the United States. That shouldn’t be a big idea either. That should be like maternity leave, but unfortunately it’s not!

What we have to do is think like an activist. Think like someone whose whole life is about building a transformed world. Therefore your theory is about what you learn in the street. Not what you learn in books, but what you learn in the street. That’s exemplary in Black Lives Matter.

We’re not going to get bold ideas from people who are in universities and don’t like to go to demonstrations because they might be hit by the police. We need people who have the courage to be in the streets. I’ve been an activist all my life. I consider being an academic not that important.

I’ll give you an example because I think examples help. After 9/11 in New York city the Patriot Act was passed which basically ended our constitutional rights. Fourth and fifth amendment. I had a friend, Ann Snitow, and we wanted to support the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women. Another one of those groups with big ideas.

Yes, they ran gynaecological clinics under the Taliban, and yes, they ran schools, and yes, they did armed self-defence. Because you imagine going up to the Taliban and saying, “Hi, I just wanted to discuss why women need…” It doesn’t work!

No communicative freedom, as Habermas believes, can exist in those situations. They did learn self-defence. We defended them to be on the ballot in Afghanistan. We didn’t win and yet feminism is all about not wearing a headscarf. I dye my hair! What woman knows what the hell she’s doing with her hair? You do the best you can! Headscarf? “Oh, I don’t have to wear a headscarf. I’ll just go to my hairdresser and make sure that my grey is covered”, you know. What was that? It’s freedom. That’s this whole fallacy of individual freedom.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/download-1.png)

Freedom would have been getting the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women, an underground network and a government, into the government of Afghanistan. *That* would have been freedom. What we did out of that, we called a group called ‘Take Back the Future’ in which we expanded the definition of feminism to include anyone who was from below the bar of what was considered human.

We marched with Muslim communities who were being forced to re-register even though they had a Green card. We marched with African-American families whose sons were being told “You get to go to war. You get to go to prison.” And we saw those as feminist issues. It’s called Take Back the Future. That’s a big idea. We take back the future.

My comrade Ann Snitow is no longer with us so this is also a tribute to her because in the face of total opposition, from a lot of left academics, who all of a sudden spoke Arabic and knew something about Islam, do you know what I knew? I didn’t know anything about Islam! But I later taught for 2 years a class on Islamic jurisprudence with somebody who was my student who was a specialist in Islamic jurisprudence. Because I realised I didn’t know anything…

But these people say, “Oh, you know, this was that, this was that, this was that. I know what the Prophet said.” Well, I didn’t know what the Prophet said. So we did Take back the Future in enormous opposition to the left, that said, “Oh, the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women are terrorists.”

What is the book called, by one of the women who founded Black Lives Matter? ‘When they call you a terrorist’. That’s what I mean by Take Back the Future. Challenge limited views of feminism to open it up to anti-Muslim and anti-racist politics. That’s what you do. How you do it, you go. You have to have the courage to go, into the streets and fight. You can’t just sit around and write books.

I write a lot of books, I admit… But I like to think they help. But that organisation, Take Back the Future, went completely against the grain of how feminism is being defined, how anti-racist politics are being defined, how Muslims were being defined. That’s a group I’m terribly proud of, and that’s a recent group for me.

I also formed a group called the Ubuntu Project in South Africa. All of this forming projects, organising, is about changing the world. What did Marx say? “The purpose of philosophy is not to understand the world, it’s to transform it”.

**You wrote in that article, I thought it was fantastic, you said, “A powerful new left can only create a rich collective imagination capable of confronting this crisis by opening ourselves to new forms of contact that will allow us to be affected by and imagine others in new ways.” I thought that was fantastic. Is there anything you’d like to add to that? Or reflect on that?**

Again, let’s take the example of Take Back the Future. By redefining what feminism is, and joining feminism to movements… one of the key things about this group is we had a giant dragon that was eating the Constitution. That was made in paper mâché. And people wanted the dragon at all these demonstrations.

Now why is that important to this? Because you’re performing something. You’re performing why the Patriot Act ate up the Constitution, with the dragon. We used to go, just to take back the streets. Because you can actually demonstrate in New York City without a permit. We would go with the dragon in front of rush hour train stations, and show what it meant to be eating the Constitution to provoke discussion. Rush hours and people running home would never be seen as a public space but we turned it into one.

That’s what I’m really trying to emphasise. You have to be creative.

Take Back the Future is one of the groups that I formed. But then I formed the Ubuntu project almost at the same time, in South Africa, and I moved to South Africa because I knew that I had to learn about indigenous values. What it means to be an anti-racist doesn’t stop with protesting in the United States. You have to think about what decolonisation means. You have to think about what it really means to really fight imperialism.

So I formed a project. I didn’t know anything about Ubuntu. I’m not an anthropologist. I’m not a sociologist. So I went to the ground. And I worked for A Sangoma. He said, “You want to know about Ubuntu, come work for me.” That’s a high spiritual level in South Africa. When you put yourself at risk, and everything you know at risk, and have the courage to say, “I. Don’t. Know”, that’s when you learn new things.

I’m very proud of the Ubuntu project. Throughout the 2000s I’ve been organising, and I intend to go down organising.

**Is capitalism by design something that is damaging to the imagination? Is it inherently a creation that is ruinous to the imagination?**

Capitalism per se, or neoliberal capitalism?

**You choose.**

Well, what capitalism does – you know, I’m quasi-Marxist – is it turns exploitation into the fantasy of free labour, right? What the Keynesian model said is, “Well we have to give these so-called free labourers something, because otherwise they can’t buy anything.” That was the Keynesian model after World War II. But does capitalism per se limit the imagination? Of course it does, and it becomes neoliberal capitalism.

That’s what Rosa Luxembourg told us. That primitive accumulation of capital doesn’t stop. It needs more. It needs the indentured servitude who are making our computers – the ones that I hate – in South Korea and in China, with women workers who are making slave wages, which is how I started out in Silicon Valley. I know what it’s like to be a dye sorter!

So the answer is yes, and neoliberal capitalism then gives you what I said earlier, these little carrots. You can put your name on Twitter and show what you ate and where your dog went to the bathroom, and all these great freedoms, because they can’t provide what people need.

People need meaningful labour. This is what Marx told us. But what happens in capitalism is people see freedom as going to a bar, freedom as going to a soccer game, freedom as now doing Facebook and Twitter. What they don’t see is that real freedom is the unleashing of human creativity in what we call work. And then of course work would be totally different.

Work would be where you were creating. That’s what New Beginning got in its reorganisation of work places. Reorganise work places and then a sugar worker who’s making sugar begins to see what making sugar is all about and why it may be important. That limit is something that’s not overcome-able in capitalism. We need to democratise the economy and then when we have democratised the economy maybe we can slowly begin to figure out what a different form of economic organisation is, where you wouldn’t think that freedom at the end of the day is going and getting drunk because you hate your job so much and your boss is a total arsehole and you can’t organise a union because you don’t have rights any more. I think that Marx had it right. Human beings at some level at the core are creative creatures.

**Thank you so much. Wonderful.**

###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2021/02/03/drucilla-cornell-on-the-power-of-the-public-imagination/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in February 2020.***

I recently read a brilliant article by [Drucilla Cornell](https://www.polisci.rutgers.edu/cb-profile/dcornell?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Stephen D. Seely, called ‘[What has happened to the public imagination, and why?](https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/march-2017/what-has-happened-public-imagination-and-why?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’. I found it so insightful, and such a powerful take on what the public imagination is and why it matters, that I wrote to Drucilla to ask if we might be able to have a chat about it, and she agreed. Drucilla is a professor of law, women’s studies and political science at Rutgers University. Our conversation covered so much ground, and was so rich and delightful, that I publish it here in its entirety. You could also listen the audio, marred occasionally by a skronky Zoom connection and by a small dog barking sometimes, but still fascinating.

# **What do you mean by the term ‘the public imagination’? And how would you evaluate its state of health in 2021?**

In 2021 I think the importance of a public imagination has never been more significant. I’m an old union organiser, and the way you get a public imagination is that you organise from the ground up, and you get people together to begin to see a common world. That’s what a union drive is. That’s what it means to be in a union. In order to be in union you have to have that ability to get people together to begin to see a world in common.

In 2021 in the United States that happened to quite a degree. In 2021 you saw the mobilisation of the Sanders campaign beginning to create that kind of public imagination. An imagination which says that capitalism doesn’t rule the world, and that we can actually challenge economic structures. And if we don’t have the ability to challenge economic structures, then we don’t have the ability to change the way we live together socially. That’s what I mean by public imagination.

I’ll give you an example from my union work. When we started the campaign we were working under terribly unsafe conditions. I was working in the acid room, and the acid room was such that we had no protective clothing and no ability whatsoever to even work safely. Things caught on fire all the time. This is the Silicon Valley you never hear about. It’s a Silicon Valley of slave labour and that’s where I began by union campaigns.

What we did is mobilise ourselves to call an Occupational Health and Safety Act. Of course we don’t really have that any more. What has happened in that moment we began to see ourselves as worthy of being treated safely. That’s what I mean by a common world. It always demands organisation, and that organising has to be democratic and from within because that’s what changes the way people see things.

**Wonderful. We’re doing this interview a couple of days after the fall of the House of Trump. What would you say that the Trump years have done to the public imagination? In your article you wrote that his government literally threatens the imagination with death, and I know Henry Giroux, who is an activist, he talks about the “Trump disimagination machine”. Why does he threaten the imagination with death, and how did he do it?**

He threatened the public imagination. What did he appeal to? It’s the nostalgia for white supremacy and a world in which white men have their entitlement and feel like they can be men again. And why? Because we no longer have a unionised workforce. In a way the public imagination was destroyed by Trump.

The white supremacist imagination, of the Confederate flag, that white people will once again rule – not people, men – will go back to the old ways, and women won’t get pregnant, they won’t have abortions, and people won’t have sex, and there won’t be sex education. And men won’t run away with 22 year olds – that’s why women got involved in Trump. He’s appealing not to a public imagination, he’s appealing to an imaginary, which is different, of a white supremacy, so you can feel like a man again.

If you look at who stormed the Capitol, it was white guys. My daughter works at the PS1 Moma and the only people who don’t comply with wearing a mask are white guys. The workers have to say, “You know, you have to put your mask on”, and they’re told “I’m a man. I don’t wear a mask!” Because the unionised workforce no longer is there. That was the middle class in the United States. It was the unionised workforce. And we have pretty much done that in. Bill Clinton started it. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. The outsourcing of American industry is part of this story.

What did Trump do at that rally? He said, “Be men!” And so they stormed the Capitol! But if you see what I’m saying, that’s an imaginary, that we can go back where black people aren’t people, and women aren’t people, and transgendered and gay and lesbians aren’t people. And then it’s just men. Because we can’t give them a stable job. We can’t give them a job in a union with health insurance.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg)

Credit: TapTheForwardAssist via Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

What does he do? I want you to make that distinction between a forward looking public imagination, which builds towards a future and a different way of seeing things, and someone who appeals to a nostalgia of what never was, except we did have a civil war, and they were willing to risk everything to keep slaves, which is a crime against humanity.

This country was built around slavery, including the Constitution. It’s why we have the federal courts, the Electoral college, all of these are institutions to keep black people out of politics. That’s a distinction I really want you to make. He appeals to an imaginary. I want to build a public imagination. So Trump and I are at odds with one another…

**You are the opposite. The yin and the yang! You’ve talked about the decline and contraction of unionism. Are there other factors that you think are damaging to the public imagination? What are the other factors in 2021 that would be additionally causing it to contract?**

You’re talking to a union activist, so one of the things that unions do – I mean, not so much in 2021, although my daughter was a union leader at PS1 Moma, and then was on the negotiating committee – we have lost a lot of our basic rights. The right to strike is fundamental to a strong union movement. We no longer protect that.

You don’t have the right to strike, then you have to do ‘all offs’. ‘Six ways to Sunday’ forms of manipulation, Sick ins, you know, there’s creative ways to handle it. We’ve lost most of our labour rights. In my day, a wildcat strike which I led with another woman in Silicon Valley could be declared a legitimate strike by the United Autoworkers. You couldn’t do that today.

What’s happened is we’ve chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, chipped away at union rights. Now are there other forms of organisation? Absolutely. And Black Lives Matter for me is a major insurgency. Not just a demonstration. It’s an insurgency against the history of white supremacy and the failure at black reconstruction after the civil war, which was to create an agrarian democracy.

The failure in the deep sense of the civil rights movement which was completely undermined. We finally get the Voter Rights Act and it gets completely undermined. We’re in a third movement, which I would call a third reconstruction, where black people can finally be equal citizens.

How are we doing? Well, not great, but Biden is not an outright nutcase, which is what Trump is. But is Biden someone who is not going to go back to neoliberal capitalist policies? No, he’s a neoliberal capitalist. He’s just a more decent person. I mean, he’s sane.

Black Lives Matter was formed by three women who had such hair-raising, hellish stories about their lives. And what did they do? They built Black Lives Matter, and that is a classic example of capturing a public imagination against the nostalgia for white supremacy.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1024px-Black_Lives_Matter_protest_against_St._Paul_police_brutality_21552673186.jpg)

Black Lives Matter protest on Sept 20, 2015 againt police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota. Credit: Fibonacci Blue – Creative Commons C.C. by 2.0

**You quote Spinoza. You say Spinoza teaches us that the imagination is always collective, and you suggest that vital to the public imagination is more and more contact with others. Can you expand on why this is good for the imagination? Why more exposure to difference and people unlike us is so vital to a healthy public imagination? And why increasingly social media and everybody going into bubbles where they just speak to people like them is so potentially harmful?**

Well, you’re talking to a technological dunce. I didn’t even know how to hear you! I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do Twitter, I don’t do any of it.

**Good for you.**

Here’s the problem with it. There’s two kinds of freedom. Freedom to actually collectively transform your social world. That’s freedom for me. Where we come together and we democratise the economy and end our horrific inequality. That vision is called socialism. Nobody knows what socialism is, including me, but that vision, that there’s an alternative, I would call socialism, like Rosa Luxembourg.

What happens when you have all the social media is people feel free. You can put your rear end on Facebook. You can put what you’re eating for lunch. You know, and your dog went to the bathroom and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel free, but it’s not freedom, because that’s the difference between a public notion of freedom, where relations are together.

And, you know, all this ‘cancel culture’. Now people cancel their boyfriends. They cancel their friends. They cancel people they don’t like. It just makes you feel like you’re in power. And who are you cancelling? You’re cancelling other people who don’t have any power!

The Facebook, Twitter culture has given young people a sense that they’re free. Meanwhile, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have unions. They don’t have health insurance. They live in a totally precarious world where you can say, “Oh, I had a hamburger for lunch” and everybody’s like, “You like that?” “I like that! “Wow that’s so tight!”

I think we really have to see how in an odd way this was Trump’s world. Now he’s been cut off everything because he incited a mob riot where the idea was to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately she got out of the building in time. So you see what I’m saying? The difference is that isn’t about imagination. That’s almost like falling into the worst kind of empiricism.

**If you were to be advising Joe Biden and he was to say, “We are going to make our intention for the next four years to ‘Make America Imaginative Again’, or to help America become more imaginative again…” What would you suggest he do? What would be the key steps to build a public imagination?**

Well the first thing, just because I’m an on-the-ground type, is pass all eleven of Bernie Sander’s legislative proposals. A Green New Deal, the erasure of all student debt, his $2000 a month which he put forward first in the economic recovery. Why is this important? Because people need to see that what get called now Progressive Democrats actually have gotten much more empowered because of Bernie Sanders.

The first thing we do is we continue to march in the street for Black Lives Matter, because black people continue to be killed by the police. Nothing’s changed. And the police haven’t been defunded and we haven’t reorganised what we think of as security. All of that needs to be done.

In a certain way we have to be out in the streets and then to the degree you’re into electoral politics, pass the Sanders bills. Biden is a moderate, but he’s been pushed so far to the left. Kamala Harris was a prosecutor, who was for the death penalty in California! Hardly are we going to see from them the leadership that I’m calling rebuilding the public imagination.

But Sanders, the Squad, the young people in the house – to the degree that you want to be in electoral politics, and I think we have to at times – they are challenging the institutional structures. This is why insurrection, insurgency have been captured in the media by the right. An insurrection is against the fundamental institutions and values. What we saw was no insurrection. It was a mob riot, men – white men – carrying Confederate flags, wishing that the Confederacy won and black people were slaves. “They were so much better as slaves!” That’s not an insurrection.

I’m actually writing a book now called, ‘Today’s Struggles, Tomorrow’s Insurgencies’. We have to keep the insurgencies going. Part of that is electoral. Part of that is saying, “Pass Sanders’ bills”. Medicare for all. Enough of people not being able to buy insulin. Just enough.

Is it socialism? No, but it’s social democracy. I mean Trump calls everybody a socialist. In fact most of the people aren’t socialist. It’s very important to me that we keep the momentum of movements in the streets.

**You talk about the importance of public spaces. Can you expand what you mean by public spaces?**

It’s very difficult. This takes us back to Facebook and Twitter. Those are supposedly public spaces. But nobody’s face to face and nobody’s organising and nobody’s meeting and nobody’s debating. So I think the question of public space has never been more difficult. Again, getting back to my union activism, when you organise a union you create a public space within the employment area. Now of course that’s not possible any more.

When I first started organising, employers had to have meetings with the union in the property during work hours. That was the National Labor Relations Act. I live in Greenwich village. One of the most interesting things that’s happened in the pandemic is restaurants opening outside spaces. Those outside spaces are often used for meetings in a pandemic when everyone is quarantined. I don’t know if you’ve seen it – we’re the only city that’s really done this. We need to create public spaces where people can meet. Ironically one of them is now outside restaurants where people can get together and talk about the way Black Lives is going, or the Sanders bills…

We have to be very creative about it, and get people off the internet. You might say, “Well, she just wants everybody off the internet so she never has to go on it again.” I would admit that probably is the case! But we need to be really creative right now about what public space is. In my experience when you get a union drive across the States because we no longer can turn a workplace into a site where the employers have to meet the union people, we have to think creatively about it.

I’m very proud of my daughter for organising PS1 Moma. I don’t know if you know the museum, but right now it has a prisoners’ abolitionist exhibit up, which all the art is done by prisoners. 90% of it. That, the content, and the form, and the way the workers are treated, of course were completely different.

Could PS1 be a public space? Well the answer is, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It does Nights at the Museum. It attracts young people. But could it be a much more political public space – which is what it was set up to be, by the person who founded it – yes. She took over a school that was deserted and turned it into a free studio space for artists who were leftist and then worked together. We have to think very creatively about where and when we can find public spaces.

**Is it fair to suggest that people on the left tend to be more imaginative that people on the right? Is there any evidence to back up such a suggestion?**

\[Laughs\] Let’s say some people on the left are more imaginative. In my youth I was in four Marxist-Leninist organisations and I was kicked out of all of them. One of my favourites was I was a ‘deviationist idealist’! And a deviationist idealist is definitely somebody who is trying to build a public imagination.

I think the left has a horrible time moving forward because it became very, very fancy, and entitled to do critiques, and nobody wanted to do old fashioned things like programmes. Like C.L.R. James, you know, he laid out a whole programme, created a movement in Antigua and Trinidad which almost took power, called the New Beginning Movement.

The New Beginning Movement is a classic example of a left imagination. They organised in two of the islands and almost took power. They were on the ground. Now New Beginning, I love the title, but this is a real movement.

What happens in the left in the United States, particularly the academic left, it became, you know, the idea is theory is to critique, and then we fight for hegemony. What do we fight for hegemony for? New Beginnings says we fight for some version of socialism and against racialised capitalism, and for a kind of egalitarian participatory democracy which no-one’s ever experienced. But they did it on the ground.

We need to remember our nostalgia is not nostalgia. It’s to look at the great revolutionary movements in the seventies and eighties. My guess is you’ve never heard of New Beginnings because it was an all black movement on an island in the Caribbean! The whole way that theories become… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Afro-pessimism, or ‘all politics is heteronormative’?

When you’re an academic and you have a job and health insurance, it’s really easy to say, “Black people are socially dead. I’m married to a nice white girl and I’ve got health insurance. What’s the problem?” “I’m not going to march in the streets.” You have Lee Edelman saying, “All politics is heteronormative.” You know, he has health insurance too!

The way in which the Academy pulled back and said, “All these dreamers. We can’t really deal with them.” What did that do? What is Afro-pessimism? You say black people are socially dead when they’ve created a movement that’s a major insurgency in the United States? You’re socially dead!

That’s a problem with left academics. They withdraw, retreat. Like Janet Halley taking a break from feminism. I’ll take a break from feminism when women finally have reproductive rights and maternity leave!

As a union organiser I fought and fought and fought and fought for maternity leave. And I never won. We need to look at movements like the New Beginnings and the incredible influence they had in two islands in the Caribbean, and think about their forms of organising, and their forms of participatory democracy. And then we see a leftist imagination.

We do not need any more Marxist-Leninist parties. That’s done. We do not need any men telling us, like Stalin, “I know the truth.” Dialectical materialism. We don’t need that. I do think right now the left often backs away from real alternatives. We need alternatives! We need answers to things like are we going to have a stock market in socialism? We need answers to those types of questions.

The answer is the left needs to be pushed. I’m writing a book after this current one called ‘Thinking like an activist’. Activists constantly push open spaces for the imagination. I would encourage you to look at the New Beginnings Movement. It’s not like 1650\. It was in the 1970s and 1980s!

**I’m always very interested in movements that manage to keep really big bold ‘what if’ questions alive, which is what you’re talking about I think. I love things like the prison abolition movement who’ve kept that ‘what if’ question alive for so long in the face of a society which just thinks it’s completely unimaginable. What would be the key learnings from that, about how to sustain big and bold audacious what if questions alive over time? Like you were saying about getting maternity cover and prison abolition is a bigger what if question I guess. How do we sustain those over time?**

Maternity leave should hardly be a revolutionary question!

**Not really.**

\[Laughs\] I never won it. There’s a wonderful book by one of the women who started Black Lives Matter. She writes about ‘stardust people’, which is an accurate description of a human being. The universe is not only with us, it’s in us. We literally carry cells of dead stars.

We have to think like stardust people, like she did. Black Lives Matter is not just about police violence. It’s about black people being equal citizens in the United States. That shouldn’t be a big idea either. That should be like maternity leave, but unfortunately it’s not!

What we have to do is think like an activist. Think like someone whose whole life is about building a transformed world. Therefore your theory is about what you learn in the street. Not what you learn in books, but what you learn in the street. That’s exemplary in Black Lives Matter.

We’re not going to get bold ideas from people who are in universities and don’t like to go to demonstrations because they might be hit by the police. We need people who have the courage to be in the streets. I’ve been an activist all my life. I consider being an academic not that important.

I’ll give you an example because I think examples help. After 9/11 in New York city the Patriot Act was passed which basically ended our constitutional rights. Fourth and fifth amendment. I had a friend, Ann Snitow, and we wanted to support the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women. Another one of those groups with big ideas.

Yes, they ran gynaecological clinics under the Taliban, and yes, they ran schools, and yes, they did armed self-defence. Because you imagine going up to the Taliban and saying, “Hi, I just wanted to discuss why women need…” It doesn’t work!

No communicative freedom, as Habermas believes, can exist in those situations. They did learn self-defence. We defended them to be on the ballot in Afghanistan. We didn’t win and yet feminism is all about not wearing a headscarf. I dye my hair! What woman knows what the hell she’s doing with her hair? You do the best you can! Headscarf? “Oh, I don’t have to wear a headscarf. I’ll just go to my hairdresser and make sure that my grey is covered”, you know. What was that? It’s freedom. That’s this whole fallacy of individual freedom.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/download-1.png)

Freedom would have been getting the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women, an underground network and a government, into the government of Afghanistan. *That* would have been freedom. What we did out of that, we called a group called ‘Take Back the Future’ in which we expanded the definition of feminism to include anyone who was from below the bar of what was considered human.

We marched with Muslim communities who were being forced to re-register even though they had a Green card. We marched with African-American families whose sons were being told “You get to go to war. You get to go to prison.” And we saw those as feminist issues. It’s called Take Back the Future. That’s a big idea. We take back the future.

My comrade Ann Snitow is no longer with us so this is also a tribute to her because in the face of total opposition, from a lot of left academics, who all of a sudden spoke Arabic and knew something about Islam, do you know what I knew? I didn’t know anything about Islam! But I later taught for 2 years a class on Islamic jurisprudence with somebody who was my student who was a specialist in Islamic jurisprudence. Because I realised I didn’t know anything…

But these people say, “Oh, you know, this was that, this was that, this was that. I know what the Prophet said.” Well, I didn’t know what the Prophet said. So we did Take back the Future in enormous opposition to the left, that said, “Oh, the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women are terrorists.”

What is the book called, by one of the women who founded Black Lives Matter? ‘When they call you a terrorist’. That’s what I mean by Take Back the Future. Challenge limited views of feminism to open it up to anti-Muslim and anti-racist politics. That’s what you do. How you do it, you go. You have to have the courage to go, into the streets and fight. You can’t just sit around and write books.

I write a lot of books, I admit… But I like to think they help. But that organisation, Take Back the Future, went completely against the grain of how feminism is being defined, how anti-racist politics are being defined, how Muslims were being defined. That’s a group I’m terribly proud of, and that’s a recent group for me.

I also formed a group called the Ubuntu Project in South Africa. All of this forming projects, organising, is about changing the world. What did Marx say? “The purpose of philosophy is not to understand the world, it’s to transform it”.

**You wrote in that article, I thought it was fantastic, you said, “A powerful new left can only create a rich collective imagination capable of confronting this crisis by opening ourselves to new forms of contact that will allow us to be affected by and imagine others in new ways.” I thought that was fantastic. Is there anything you’d like to add to that? Or reflect on that?**

Again, let’s take the example of Take Back the Future. By redefining what feminism is, and joining feminism to movements… one of the key things about this group is we had a giant dragon that was eating the Constitution. That was made in paper mâché. And people wanted the dragon at all these demonstrations.

Now why is that important to this? Because you’re performing something. You’re performing why the Patriot Act ate up the Constitution, with the dragon. We used to go, just to take back the streets. Because you can actually demonstrate in New York City without a permit. We would go with the dragon in front of rush hour train stations, and show what it meant to be eating the Constitution to provoke discussion. Rush hours and people running home would never be seen as a public space but we turned it into one.

That’s what I’m really trying to emphasise. You have to be creative.

Take Back the Future is one of the groups that I formed. But then I formed the Ubuntu project almost at the same time, in South Africa, and I moved to South Africa because I knew that I had to learn about indigenous values. What it means to be an anti-racist doesn’t stop with protesting in the United States. You have to think about what decolonisation means. You have to think about what it really means to really fight imperialism.

So I formed a project. I didn’t know anything about Ubuntu. I’m not an anthropologist. I’m not a sociologist. So I went to the ground. And I worked for A Sangoma. He said, “You want to know about Ubuntu, come work for me.” That’s a high spiritual level in South Africa. When you put yourself at risk, and everything you know at risk, and have the courage to say, “I. Don’t. Know”, that’s when you learn new things.

I’m very proud of the Ubuntu project. Throughout the 2000s I’ve been organising, and I intend to go down organising.

**Is capitalism by design something that is damaging to the imagination? Is it inherently a creation that is ruinous to the imagination?**

Capitalism per se, or neoliberal capitalism?

**You choose.**

Well, what capitalism does – you know, I’m quasi-Marxist – is it turns exploitation into the fantasy of free labour, right? What the Keynesian model said is, “Well we have to give these so-called free labourers something, because otherwise they can’t buy anything.” That was the Keynesian model after World War II. But does capitalism per se limit the imagination? Of course it does, and it becomes neoliberal capitalism.

That’s what Rosa Luxembourg told us. That primitive accumulation of capital doesn’t stop. It needs more. It needs the indentured servitude who are making our computers – the ones that I hate – in South Korea and in China, with women workers who are making slave wages, which is how I started out in Silicon Valley. I know what it’s like to be a dye sorter!

So the answer is yes, and neoliberal capitalism then gives you what I said earlier, these little carrots. You can put your name on Twitter and show what you ate and where your dog went to the bathroom, and all these great freedoms, because they can’t provide what people need.

People need meaningful labour. This is what Marx told us. But what happens in capitalism is people see freedom as going to a bar, freedom as going to a soccer game, freedom as now doing Facebook and Twitter. What they don’t see is that real freedom is the unleashing of human creativity in what we call work. And then of course work would be totally different.

Work would be where you were creating. That’s what New Beginning got in its reorganisation of work places. Reorganise work places and then a sugar worker who’s making sugar begins to see what making sugar is all about and why it may be important. That limit is something that’s not overcome-able in capitalism. We need to democratise the economy and then when we have democratised the economy maybe we can slowly begin to figure out what a different form of economic organisation is, where you wouldn’t think that freedom at the end of the day is going and getting drunk because you hate your job so much and your boss is a total arsehole and you can’t organise a union because you don’t have rights any more. I think that Marx had it right. Human beings at some level at the core are creative creatures.

**Thank you so much. Wonderful.**

###### *Feature image by [Marija Zaric](https://unsplash.com/@simplicity?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/imagination?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)*
### What you told us about the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-you-told-us/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:12.000Z
Transition Network, working with the international network of Transition Hubs, is currently supporting a collective evaluation for, and about, the Transition movement. You can read about why we’re doing this work in a blog published last October [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A central element of the evaluation was a survey, translated into 9 languages, which was completed by 377 people in 32 countries. The people who participated in the survey (most of whom are involved in a Transition group) have shared fascinating stories, examples and opinions. It feels important that Transition Network doesn’t hold onto this information and try to make sense and make use of it on our own. Instead, we are publishing our analysis as it currently stands and inviting you to explore it for yourself and give further feedback.

We hope you will find inspiration and support in the words of other Transitioners. You might come across experiences of Transition groups that could be applied or adapted in your own neighbourhood. Maybe this evidence of the impact and potential of the Transition movement will help you secure funding for a local project or influence your municipality. We encourage you to read with an open heart and mind and see what possibilities, feelings and further questions arise.

We are publishing our current analysis of the survey responses in two parts.

## Impact of the Transition movement

[**Here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find tables and stories showing how people assess the impact of their Transition group. We understand that there are limitations to self-assessment, but it is revealing to see where people feel they are having the greatest impact and the areas where groups have either not focused much attention or are struggling to make progress. We know that the work done by Transition groups often brings multiple benefits, sometimes in ways which are unpredictable and difficult to measure. It’s also our experience that Transition groups tend to forget or underestimate their achievements in their focus on the bigger changes that we are all longing for.

Given all of the above, it’s great to see reports of positive impacts across such a wide range of activities. In celebrating this, we don’t want to minimise or ignore the challenges that many people are also reporting. Throughout the survey responses, there are references to burnout, an over-reliance on small groups of volunteers and the emotional as well as the practical impacts of the times we are living in and our fears about the future. The importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other is evident throughout the survey responses – perhaps an appropriate point for us to link to the updated [personal resilience resources](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we published recently.

The main part of this impact analysis document provides specific examples and quotes relating to each of the characteristics of the Transition movement that we shared in draft when we launched the evaluation process. We are using the evaluation process to test the draft characteristics and can already see a need to make some adjustments in the light of the feedback and new insights received. As we update the characteristics we will share them here and explain the reasons behind the changes, continuing to invite your comments and questions.

## Transition as an emergency response

There were some particularly interesting answers to the survey question *“In the face of recent challenges and crises e.g. Covid 19, political unrest and extreme weather events, has your Transition work had a significant impact in your local community or more widely?”.* You can find our analysis of these responses in the last section of the [impacts report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The majority of respondents seem to have found an opportunity to continue some aspects of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, with community food, nature connection projects, mutual aid, community cohesion and supporting local businesses the main impacts. Activities which relied on face to face events were negatively impacted, but where groups transferred this aspect of their work online, it proved an opportunity to broaden the group’s reach. Other groups took the opportunity to update or overhaul some of their work. Most significantly from our perspective, there was evidence that the social networks, social capital and skills that groups had built up over the years proved valuable at times of crisis. This contribution to community resilience and emergency preparedness feels like an important element of the Transition movement narrative – one which it can be helpful to emphasise when trying to secure resources or support for our work.

## Relevance and Potential

In [this document](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find our analysis of responses to the questions in the Relevance and Potential sections of the survey. We chose to ask open questions so that people could answer them in a way which felt meaningful to them. The result is a multiplicity of perspectives from across our movement, with some areas of significant alignment and others where there is a lot of divergence.

We received careful, passionate and expansive responses to some important questions for our movement. We encourage you to read the detail and notice your reactions. What feels familiar, maybe even boring or frustrating, and which comments feel exciting or different and perhaps spark new ideas.

Transition Network, working with the international network of Transition Hubs, is currently supporting a collective evaluation for, and about, the Transition movement. You can read about why we’re doing this work in a blog published last October [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A central element of the evaluation was a survey, translated into 9 languages, which was completed by 377 people in 32 countries. The people who participated in the survey (most of whom are involved in a Transition group) have shared fascinating stories, examples and opinions. It feels important that Transition Network doesn’t hold onto this information and try to make sense and make use of it on our own. Instead, we are publishing our analysis as it currently stands and inviting you to explore it for yourself and give further feedback.

We hope you will find inspiration and support in the words of other Transitioners. You might come across experiences of Transition groups that could be applied or adapted in your own neighbourhood. Maybe this evidence of the impact and potential of the Transition movement will help you secure funding for a local project or influence your municipality. We encourage you to read with an open heart and mind and see what possibilities, feelings and further questions arise.

We are publishing our current analysis of the survey responses in two parts.

## Impact of the Transition movement

[**Here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find tables and stories showing how people assess the impact of their Transition group. We understand that there are limitations to self-assessment, but it is revealing to see where people feel they are having the greatest impact and the areas where groups have either not focused much attention or are struggling to make progress. We know that the work done by Transition groups often brings multiple benefits, sometimes in ways which are unpredictable and difficult to measure. It’s also our experience that Transition groups tend to forget or underestimate their achievements in their focus on the bigger changes that we are all longing for.

Given all of the above, it’s great to see reports of positive impacts across such a wide range of activities. In celebrating this, we don’t want to minimise or ignore the challenges that many people are also reporting. Throughout the survey responses, there are references to burnout, an over-reliance on small groups of volunteers and the emotional as well as the practical impacts of the times we are living in and our fears about the future. The importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other is evident throughout the survey responses – perhaps an appropriate point for us to link to the updated [personal resilience resources](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we published recently.

The main part of this impact analysis document provides specific examples and quotes relating to each of the characteristics of the Transition movement that we shared in draft when we launched the evaluation process. We are using the evaluation process to test the draft characteristics and can already see a need to make some adjustments in the light of the feedback and new insights received. As we update the characteristics we will share them here and explain the reasons behind the changes, continuing to invite your comments and questions.

## Transition as an emergency response

There were some particularly interesting answers to the survey question *“In the face of recent challenges and crises e.g. Covid 19, political unrest and extreme weather events, has your Transition work had a significant impact in your local community or more widely?”.* You can find our analysis of these responses in the last section of the [impacts report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The majority of respondents seem to have found an opportunity to continue some aspects of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, with community food, nature connection projects, mutual aid, community cohesion and supporting local businesses the main impacts. Activities which relied on face to face events were negatively impacted, but where groups transferred this aspect of their work online, it proved an opportunity to broaden the group’s reach. Other groups took the opportunity to update or overhaul some of their work. Most significantly from our perspective, there was evidence that the social networks, social capital and skills that groups had built up over the years proved valuable at times of crisis. This contribution to community resilience and emergency preparedness feels like an important element of the Transition movement narrative – one which it can be helpful to emphasise when trying to secure resources or support for our work.

## Relevance and Potential

In [this document](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find our analysis of responses to the questions in the Relevance and Potential sections of the survey. We chose to ask open questions so that people could answer them in a way which felt meaningful to them. The result is a multiplicity of perspectives from across our movement, with some areas of significant alignment and others where there is a lot of divergence.

We received careful, passionate and expansive responses to some important questions for our movement. We encourage you to read the detail and notice your reactions. What feels familiar, maybe even boring or frustrating, and which comments feel exciting or different and perhaps spark new ideas.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/word-cloud-evaluation.png

Transition Network, working with the international network of Transition Hubs, is currently supporting a collective evaluation for, and about, the Transition movement. You can read about why we’re doing this work in a blog published last October [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A central element of the evaluation was a survey, translated into 9 languages, which was completed by 377 people in 32 countries. The people who participated in the survey (most of whom are involved in a Transition group) have shared fascinating stories, examples and opinions. It feels important that Transition Network doesn’t hold onto this information and try to make sense and make use of it on our own. Instead, we are publishing our analysis as it currently stands and inviting you to explore it for yourself and give further feedback.

We hope you will find inspiration and support in the words of other Transitioners. You might come across experiences of Transition groups that could be applied or adapted in your own neighbourhood. Maybe this evidence of the impact and potential of the Transition movement will help you secure funding for a local project or influence your municipality. We encourage you to read with an open heart and mind and see what possibilities, feelings and further questions arise.

We are publishing our current analysis of the survey responses in two parts.

## Impact of the Transition movement

[**Here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find tables and stories showing how people assess the impact of their Transition group. We understand that there are limitations to self-assessment, but it is revealing to see where people feel they are having the greatest impact and the areas where groups have either not focused much attention or are struggling to make progress. We know that the work done by Transition groups often brings multiple benefits, sometimes in ways which are unpredictable and difficult to measure. It’s also our experience that Transition groups tend to forget or underestimate their achievements in their focus on the bigger changes that we are all longing for.

Given all of the above, it’s great to see reports of positive impacts across such a wide range of activities. In celebrating this, we don’t want to minimise or ignore the challenges that many people are also reporting. Throughout the survey responses, there are references to burnout, an over-reliance on small groups of volunteers and the emotional as well as the practical impacts of the times we are living in and our fears about the future. The importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other is evident throughout the survey responses – perhaps an appropriate point for us to link to the updated [personal resilience resources](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we published recently.

The main part of this impact analysis document provides specific examples and quotes relating to each of the characteristics of the Transition movement that we shared in draft when we launched the evaluation process. We are using the evaluation process to test the draft characteristics and can already see a need to make some adjustments in the light of the feedback and new insights received. As we update the characteristics we will share them here and explain the reasons behind the changes, continuing to invite your comments and questions.

## Transition as an emergency response

There were some particularly interesting answers to the survey question *“In the face of recent challenges and crises e.g. Covid 19, political unrest and extreme weather events, has your Transition work had a significant impact in your local community or more widely?”.* You can find our analysis of these responses in the last section of the [impacts report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The majority of respondents seem to have found an opportunity to continue some aspects of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, with community food, nature connection projects, mutual aid, community cohesion and supporting local businesses the main impacts. Activities which relied on face to face events were negatively impacted, but where groups transferred this aspect of their work online, it proved an opportunity to broaden the group’s reach. Other groups took the opportunity to update or overhaul some of their work. Most significantly from our perspective, there was evidence that the social networks, social capital and skills that groups had built up over the years proved valuable at times of crisis. This contribution to community resilience and emergency preparedness feels like an important element of the Transition movement narrative – one which it can be helpful to emphasise when trying to secure resources or support for our work.

## Relevance and Potential

In [this document](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find our analysis of responses to the questions in the Relevance and Potential sections of the survey. We chose to ask open questions so that people could answer them in a way which felt meaningful to them. The result is a multiplicity of perspectives from across our movement, with some areas of significant alignment and others where there is a lot of divergence.

We received careful, passionate and expansive responses to some important questions for our movement. We encourage you to read the detail and notice your reactions. What feels familiar, maybe even boring or frustrating, and which comments feel exciting or different and perhaps spark new ideas.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/word-cloud-evaluation.png

## Worldviews and expectations of the future

We didn’t ask specific questions about how people view the times in which we are currently living or their expectations of the future, but we caught glimpses of related assumptions, questions and emotions in many of the responses. In a Transition Network event last year, we used a regenerative spiral model developed by [Resilience Earth](https://resilience.earth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to explore people’s [worldviews](https://medium.com/living-systems-and-change/living-systems-perespective-a-summary-c494c7e749e7?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and how these influence the way we think and feel about possible futures. As an experiment, we have included a section in the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) highlighting survey responses which speak to each of these possible futures.

As we continue with the evaluation process, Transition Network would like to find skilful and accessible ways to help people identify and speak about their worldviews and expectations of the future when they come together as a group. It is our experience that, when such assumptions and feelings are left unnamed and unexplored, they can derail conversations and cause frustration and confusion. Our worldviews may impose unconscious limitations in how we think, feel and design, or they can create space for huge creativity and flexibility. Becoming aware of our worldviews and being willing to work with them, or even step outside them, can open up interesting new realms of possibility. We see this as a particularly important issue for the Transition movement since positive stories of what is possible are such a central part of our narrative and yet it’s also important that we don’t override feelings of despair or ignore the devastating impacts that the current system is already having on so many communities and on the natural world of which we are part.

Any assessment of the relevance and potential of the Transition movement requires us to look with a clear eye at the accelerating and interlinked global crises that we face. And, as human beings with complex responses to that complexity, we will need support and good tools and practices to help us stay grounded and find good next steps together.

## What next?

In the final section of the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we draw out themes, questions and, in some cases, tensions that we see arising from the survey responses. Transition Network plans to work with the Hubs Group to support and connect further collective conversations around some of these themes. Watch this space for more information as our plans develop.

We would really welcome your questions and feedback about the analysis and information shared in this blog. Transition Network wants to make this evaluation process open and interactive so that we benefit from the wealth of knowledge available across our movement and others can make use of the information we have gathered without waiting for our conclusions. We want to carry out further analysis (and, indeed, we are open to offers from researchers who might be interested in supporting this process). As we move into the next phase, now is a good opportunity to let us know if you have a different perspective on the data we are sharing here or see interesting possibilities for deeper collective reflection about the impact, relevance and potential of our movement.

You can add comments at the bottom of this blog, interact with us on social media or email the evaluation team at [evaluation(at)transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

Transition Network, working with the international network of Transition Hubs, is currently supporting a collective evaluation for, and about, the Transition movement. You can read about why we’re doing this work in a blog published last October [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A central element of the evaluation was a survey, translated into 9 languages, which was completed by 377 people in 32 countries. The people who participated in the survey (most of whom are involved in a Transition group) have shared fascinating stories, examples and opinions. It feels important that Transition Network doesn’t hold onto this information and try to make sense and make use of it on our own. Instead, we are publishing our analysis as it currently stands and inviting you to explore it for yourself and give further feedback.

We hope you will find inspiration and support in the words of other Transitioners. You might come across experiences of Transition groups that could be applied or adapted in your own neighbourhood. Maybe this evidence of the impact and potential of the Transition movement will help you secure funding for a local project or influence your municipality. We encourage you to read with an open heart and mind and see what possibilities, feelings and further questions arise.

We are publishing our current analysis of the survey responses in two parts.

## Impact of the Transition movement

[**Here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find tables and stories showing how people assess the impact of their Transition group. We understand that there are limitations to self-assessment, but it is revealing to see where people feel they are having the greatest impact and the areas where groups have either not focused much attention or are struggling to make progress. We know that the work done by Transition groups often brings multiple benefits, sometimes in ways which are unpredictable and difficult to measure. It’s also our experience that Transition groups tend to forget or underestimate their achievements in their focus on the bigger changes that we are all longing for.

Given all of the above, it’s great to see reports of positive impacts across such a wide range of activities. In celebrating this, we don’t want to minimise or ignore the challenges that many people are also reporting. Throughout the survey responses, there are references to burnout, an over-reliance on small groups of volunteers and the emotional as well as the practical impacts of the times we are living in and our fears about the future. The importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other is evident throughout the survey responses – perhaps an appropriate point for us to link to the updated [personal resilience resources](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we published recently.

The main part of this impact analysis document provides specific examples and quotes relating to each of the characteristics of the Transition movement that we shared in draft when we launched the evaluation process. We are using the evaluation process to test the draft characteristics and can already see a need to make some adjustments in the light of the feedback and new insights received. As we update the characteristics we will share them here and explain the reasons behind the changes, continuing to invite your comments and questions.

## Transition as an emergency response

There were some particularly interesting answers to the survey question *“In the face of recent challenges and crises e.g. Covid 19, political unrest and extreme weather events, has your Transition work had a significant impact in your local community or more widely?”.* You can find our analysis of these responses in the last section of the [impacts report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The majority of respondents seem to have found an opportunity to continue some aspects of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, with community food, nature connection projects, mutual aid, community cohesion and supporting local businesses the main impacts. Activities which relied on face to face events were negatively impacted, but where groups transferred this aspect of their work online, it proved an opportunity to broaden the group’s reach. Other groups took the opportunity to update or overhaul some of their work. Most significantly from our perspective, there was evidence that the social networks, social capital and skills that groups had built up over the years proved valuable at times of crisis. This contribution to community resilience and emergency preparedness feels like an important element of the Transition movement narrative – one which it can be helpful to emphasise when trying to secure resources or support for our work.

## Relevance and Potential

In [this document](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find our analysis of responses to the questions in the Relevance and Potential sections of the survey. We chose to ask open questions so that people could answer them in a way which felt meaningful to them. The result is a multiplicity of perspectives from across our movement, with some areas of significant alignment and others where there is a lot of divergence.

We received careful, passionate and expansive responses to some important questions for our movement. We encourage you to read the detail and notice your reactions. What feels familiar, maybe even boring or frustrating, and which comments feel exciting or different and perhaps spark new ideas.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/word-cloud-evaluation.png

## Worldviews and expectations of the future

We didn’t ask specific questions about how people view the times in which we are currently living or their expectations of the future, but we caught glimpses of related assumptions, questions and emotions in many of the responses. In a Transition Network event last year, we used a regenerative spiral model developed by [Resilience Earth](https://resilience.earth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to explore people’s [worldviews](https://medium.com/living-systems-and-change/living-systems-perespective-a-summary-c494c7e749e7?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and how these influence the way we think and feel about possible futures. As an experiment, we have included a section in the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) highlighting survey responses which speak to each of these possible futures.

As we continue with the evaluation process, Transition Network would like to find skilful and accessible ways to help people identify and speak about their worldviews and expectations of the future when they come together as a group. It is our experience that, when such assumptions and feelings are left unnamed and unexplored, they can derail conversations and cause frustration and confusion. Our worldviews may impose unconscious limitations in how we think, feel and design, or they can create space for huge creativity and flexibility. Becoming aware of our worldviews and being willing to work with them, or even step outside them, can open up interesting new realms of possibility. We see this as a particularly important issue for the Transition movement since positive stories of what is possible are such a central part of our narrative and yet it’s also important that we don’t override feelings of despair or ignore the devastating impacts that the current system is already having on so many communities and on the natural world of which we are part.

Any assessment of the relevance and potential of the Transition movement requires us to look with a clear eye at the accelerating and interlinked global crises that we face. And, as human beings with complex responses to that complexity, we will need support and good tools and practices to help us stay grounded and find good next steps together.

## What next?

In the final section of the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we draw out themes, questions and, in some cases, tensions that we see arising from the survey responses. Transition Network plans to work with the Hubs Group to support and connect further collective conversations around some of these themes. Watch this space for more information as our plans develop.

We would really welcome your questions and feedback about the analysis and information shared in this blog. Transition Network wants to make this evaluation process open and interactive so that we benefit from the wealth of knowledge available across our movement and others can make use of the information we have gathered without waiting for our conclusions. We want to carry out further analysis (and, indeed, we are open to offers from researchers who might be interested in supporting this process). As we move into the next phase, now is a good opportunity to let us know if you have a different perspective on the data we are sharing here or see interesting possibilities for deeper collective reflection about the impact, relevance and potential of our movement.

You can add comments at the bottom of this blog, interact with us on social media or email the evaluation team at [evaluation(at)transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**DOWNLOAD:**

[Transition movement evaluation survey overview – impacts](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition movement evaluation survey overview – relevance & potential](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Transition Network, working with the international network of Transition Hubs, is currently supporting a collective evaluation for, and about, the Transition movement. You can read about why we’re doing this work in a blog published last October [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A central element of the evaluation was a survey, translated into 9 languages, which was completed by 377 people in 32 countries. The people who participated in the survey (most of whom are involved in a Transition group) have shared fascinating stories, examples and opinions. It feels important that Transition Network doesn’t hold onto this information and try to make sense and make use of it on our own. Instead, we are publishing our analysis as it currently stands and inviting you to explore it for yourself and give further feedback.

We hope you will find inspiration and support in the words of other Transitioners. You might come across experiences of Transition groups that could be applied or adapted in your own neighbourhood. Maybe this evidence of the impact and potential of the Transition movement will help you secure funding for a local project or influence your municipality. We encourage you to read with an open heart and mind and see what possibilities, feelings and further questions arise.

We are publishing our current analysis of the survey responses in two parts.

## Impact of the Transition movement

[**Here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find tables and stories showing how people assess the impact of their Transition group. We understand that there are limitations to self-assessment, but it is revealing to see where people feel they are having the greatest impact and the areas where groups have either not focused much attention or are struggling to make progress. We know that the work done by Transition groups often brings multiple benefits, sometimes in ways which are unpredictable and difficult to measure. It’s also our experience that Transition groups tend to forget or underestimate their achievements in their focus on the bigger changes that we are all longing for.

Given all of the above, it’s great to see reports of positive impacts across such a wide range of activities. In celebrating this, we don’t want to minimise or ignore the challenges that many people are also reporting. Throughout the survey responses, there are references to burnout, an over-reliance on small groups of volunteers and the emotional as well as the practical impacts of the times we are living in and our fears about the future. The importance of taking good care of ourselves and each other is evident throughout the survey responses – perhaps an appropriate point for us to link to the updated [personal resilience resources](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we published recently.

The main part of this impact analysis document provides specific examples and quotes relating to each of the characteristics of the Transition movement that we shared in draft when we launched the evaluation process. We are using the evaluation process to test the draft characteristics and can already see a need to make some adjustments in the light of the feedback and new insights received. As we update the characteristics we will share them here and explain the reasons behind the changes, continuing to invite your comments and questions.

## Transition as an emergency response

There were some particularly interesting answers to the survey question *“In the face of recent challenges and crises e.g. Covid 19, political unrest and extreme weather events, has your Transition work had a significant impact in your local community or more widely?”.* You can find our analysis of these responses in the last section of the [impacts report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The majority of respondents seem to have found an opportunity to continue some aspects of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, with community food, nature connection projects, mutual aid, community cohesion and supporting local businesses the main impacts. Activities which relied on face to face events were negatively impacted, but where groups transferred this aspect of their work online, it proved an opportunity to broaden the group’s reach. Other groups took the opportunity to update or overhaul some of their work. Most significantly from our perspective, there was evidence that the social networks, social capital and skills that groups had built up over the years proved valuable at times of crisis. This contribution to community resilience and emergency preparedness feels like an important element of the Transition movement narrative – one which it can be helpful to emphasise when trying to secure resources or support for our work.

## Relevance and Potential

In [this document](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) you will find our analysis of responses to the questions in the Relevance and Potential sections of the survey. We chose to ask open questions so that people could answer them in a way which felt meaningful to them. The result is a multiplicity of perspectives from across our movement, with some areas of significant alignment and others where there is a lot of divergence.

We received careful, passionate and expansive responses to some important questions for our movement. We encourage you to read the detail and notice your reactions. What feels familiar, maybe even boring or frustrating, and which comments feel exciting or different and perhaps spark new ideas.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/word-cloud-evaluation.png

## Worldviews and expectations of the future

We didn’t ask specific questions about how people view the times in which we are currently living or their expectations of the future, but we caught glimpses of related assumptions, questions and emotions in many of the responses. In a Transition Network event last year, we used a regenerative spiral model developed by [Resilience Earth](https://resilience.earth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to explore people’s [worldviews](https://medium.com/living-systems-and-change/living-systems-perespective-a-summary-c494c7e749e7?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and how these influence the way we think and feel about possible futures. As an experiment, we have included a section in the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) highlighting survey responses which speak to each of these possible futures.

As we continue with the evaluation process, Transition Network would like to find skilful and accessible ways to help people identify and speak about their worldviews and expectations of the future when they come together as a group. It is our experience that, when such assumptions and feelings are left unnamed and unexplored, they can derail conversations and cause frustration and confusion. Our worldviews may impose unconscious limitations in how we think, feel and design, or they can create space for huge creativity and flexibility. Becoming aware of our worldviews and being willing to work with them, or even step outside them, can open up interesting new realms of possibility. We see this as a particularly important issue for the Transition movement since positive stories of what is possible are such a central part of our narrative and yet it’s also important that we don’t override feelings of despair or ignore the devastating impacts that the current system is already having on so many communities and on the natural world of which we are part.

Any assessment of the relevance and potential of the Transition movement requires us to look with a clear eye at the accelerating and interlinked global crises that we face. And, as human beings with complex responses to that complexity, we will need support and good tools and practices to help us stay grounded and find good next steps together.

## What next?

In the final section of the [relevance and potential report](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we draw out themes, questions and, in some cases, tensions that we see arising from the survey responses. Transition Network plans to work with the Hubs Group to support and connect further collective conversations around some of these themes. Watch this space for more information as our plans develop.

We would really welcome your questions and feedback about the analysis and information shared in this blog. Transition Network wants to make this evaluation process open and interactive so that we benefit from the wealth of knowledge available across our movement and others can make use of the information we have gathered without waiting for our conclusions. We want to carry out further analysis (and, indeed, we are open to offers from researchers who might be interested in supporting this process). As we move into the next phase, now is a good opportunity to let us know if you have a different perspective on the data we are sharing here or see interesting possibilities for deeper collective reflection about the impact, relevance and potential of our movement.

You can add comments at the bottom of this blog, interact with us on social media or email the evaluation team at [evaluation(at)transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**DOWNLOAD:**

[Transition movement evaluation survey overview – impacts](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-impacts.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Transition movement evaluation survey overview – relevance & potential](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transition-movement-evaluation-survey-overview-relevance-potential.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

###### *Feature image by [Sharon McCutcheon](https://unsplash.com/@sharonmccutcheon?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)*
### Training for Transition: Thrive & Resilient Economies
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/thrive-resilient-economy/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:13.000Z
The final two webinars in the current series for Transition trainers, facilitators and Hubs members to share practice and ideas. *Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português* The Training for Transition webinars, showcasing successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global Transition movement, have been a step towards the development of a lively community of practice for trainers and facilitators. **Training for Transition: ThriveThursday 18th March @ 18:00 (UTC)** (You can use this[ tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/pasted-image-0.png)

The fifth session in our series is about Thrive Training, and will be led by Naresh Giangrande and Don Hall. Thrive Training was developed as a way to support established Transition groups to work out their next steps or to help them to re-energise their group, through learning from what has worked for others around the world. Don Hall is the Co-Director of Transition US, as well as a certified Transition trainer and experienced facilitator. Naresh Giangrande has been embedded within the Transition movement since it was founded and is one of the original co-founders of Transition training. They will talk about the evolution in Transition and the new ideas that have emerged, for example integrating Otto Scharmer’s Theory U into the Transition model and process. He’ll also challenge us to think about the aspects of Transition that might need refreshing or rethinking, as well as introducing new technologies such as Disco, Cryptocurrency, and Big Data, explaining how they can be integrated into regenerative local economies. Now is the time to be bold and question all of our ideas and assumptions! Register **[here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-5-thrive-registration-142849870809?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**. **Training for Transition: Resilient EconomyThursday 8th April @ 15:00 UTC** (You can use this[ tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/economia-en-english.png)

The final session in our webinar series is about Resilient Economies, or what we affectionately call REconomy, which is one of the most commonly requested themes from Transition groups. We will hear from Jay Tompt of the Transition Town Totnes REconomy Project (UK), and Melissa Bivar from REconomy Rio (Brazil). Jay is also a lecturer in economics at Plymouth University as well as a regular teacher on post graduate economics programmes of Schumacher College. He co-developed the Transition Network REconomy Projects Local Economic Blueprint course and handbook, co-founded the REconomy Centre, and developed the Local Entrepreneur Forum Model. Melissa is also responsible for the REconomy Project in Brazil, and co-founded the Fórum de Empreendedores do Rio de Janeiro. An entrepreneur of the new economy, she is the owner of Social Contemporânea which works to help companies to find better ways to produce their goods. They will share their experiences of fostering a resilient and regenerative economy in their regions, and insights into how communities can support their local entrepreneurs. Register **[here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-6-resilient-economy-registration-143315355085?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**. **Language**: We will use English as the main working language for these events, with simultaneous translation into Spanish. For speakers of other languages, we will ask about language needs when you register and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation. We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route. **More information at training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Prosperando (Thrive) y Economía Resiliente**

Son los dos últimos webinarios de la serie de seis que se está realizando para que los entrenadores, facilitadores y miembros de los nodos (hub) de transición compartan prácticas e ideas.

En los webinarios de Entrenamientos para la Transición se comparten experiencias de casos exitosos de entrenamientos u ‘oportunidades de aprendizaje’ de todo el movimiento global de Transición. Además, han sido un primer paso importante hacia el desarrollo de una comunidad de práctica viva para entrenadores y facilitadores.

**Entrenamientos para la transición: Prosperando (Thrive)**

**Jueves 18 de marzo a las 18:00 (UTC)**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Training-for-Transition-webinars-invite-28.png)

La quinta sesión de nuestra serie trata sobre el entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ (Thrive) y será dirigida Naresh Giangrande Don Hall.

El entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ se desarrolló como una forma de apoyar a los grupos de Transición ya establecidos para que definan sus próximos pasos o para ayudarles a revitalizar su grupo, aprendiendo de lo que ha funcionado para otros en todo el mundo.

Don Hall, es codirector de Transition Estados Unidos además de un entrenador certificado de Transición y facilitador experimentado. Naresh Giangrande ha participado en el movimiento de Transición desde su fundacióny es uno de los cofundadores originales de los entrenamientos de Transición. , . Hablarán de la evolución de la Transición y de las nuevas ideas que han surgido, como por ejemplo la integración de la Teoría U de Otto Scharmer en el modelo y el proceso de Transición. También nos van a desafiar para que pensemos en los aspectos de la Transición que podrían necesitar ser refrescados o repensados, además de introducir nuevas tecnologías como el Disco, la Criptomonedas y el Big Data, explicando cómo pueden integrarse en las economías locales regenerativas.

Ahora es el momento de ser audaz y cuestionar todas nuestras ideas y suposiciones. Inscríbase **[aquí](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-5-thrive-registration-142849870809?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Economía Resiliente**

**Jueves 8 de Abril a las 15.00 horas UTC**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/economies-espnanol.png)

La última sesión de nuestra serie de webinars trata sobre las economías resilientes, o lo que cariñosamente llamamos REconomía, que es uno de los temas más solicitados por los grupos de transición.

Escucharemos a Jay Tompt, del proyecto REconomy de Transition Town Totnes (Reino Unido), y a Melissa Bivar de REconomy Rio (Brasil).

Jay es también profesor de Economía en la Universidad de Plymouth y profesor habitual en los programas de posgrado de economía del Schumacher College. Es cofundador del curso y el manual de la Red de Transición REconomy Projects Local Economic Blueprint, cofundador del Centro REconomy y desarrollador del Modelo de Foro de Emprendedores Locales.

Melissa también es responsable del Proyecto REconomy en Brasil, y cofundó el Fórum de Empreendedores do Rio de Janeiro. Emprendedora de la nueva economía, es propietaria de Social Contemporânea, que trabaja para ayudar a las empresas a encontrar mejores formas de producir sus bienes.

Compartirán sus experiencias de fomento de una economía resiliente y regenerativa en sus regiones, y sus ideas sobre cómo las comunidades pueden apoyar a sus empresarios locales. Inscríbase [**aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-6-resilient-economy-registration-143315355085?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Idioma:** Utilizaremos el inglés como idioma principal de trabajo para este evento con traducción simultánea al español. Para los hablantes de otros idiomas se les preguntará sobre las necesidades lingüísticas al inscribirse y haremos todo lo posible por responder con una autoorganización creativa.

Reconocemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Los tiempos propuestos reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y probables presentadores de estudios de caso. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentren en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener una discusión sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de caso y / o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Puede usar esto para albergar su propia discusión sobre el tema. Nos encantaría escuchar sus comentarios si elige esta ruta.

**Más información en training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Prosperando (Thrive) y Economía Resiliente**

Son los dos últimos webinarios de la serie de seis que se está realizando para que los entrenadores, facilitadores y miembros de los nodos (hub) de transición compartan prácticas e ideas.

En los webinarios de Entrenamientos para la Transición se comparten experiencias de casos exitosos de entrenamientos u ‘oportunidades de aprendizaje’ de todo el movimiento global de Transición. Además, han sido un primer paso importante hacia el desarrollo de una comunidad de práctica viva para entrenadores y facilitadores.

**Entrenamientos para la transición: Prosperando (Thrive)**

**Jueves 18 de marzo a las 18:00 (UTC)**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Training-for-Transition-webinars-invite-28.png)

La quinta sesión de nuestra serie trata sobre el entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ (Thrive) y será dirigida Naresh Giangrande Don Hall.

El entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ se desarrolló como una forma de apoyar a los grupos de Transición ya establecidos para que definan sus próximos pasos o para ayudarles a revitalizar su grupo, aprendiendo de lo que ha funcionado para otros en todo el mundo.

Don Hall, es codirector de Transition Estados Unidos además de un entrenador certificado de Transición y facilitador experimentado. Naresh Giangrande ha participado en el movimiento de Transición desde su fundacióny es uno de los cofundadores originales de los entrenamientos de Transición. , . Hablarán de la evolución de la Transición y de las nuevas ideas que han surgido, como por ejemplo la integración de la Teoría U de Otto Scharmer en el modelo y el proceso de Transición. También nos van a desafiar para que pensemos en los aspectos de la Transición que podrían necesitar ser refrescados o repensados, además de introducir nuevas tecnologías como el Disco, la Criptomonedas y el Big Data, explicando cómo pueden integrarse en las economías locales regenerativas.

Ahora es el momento de ser audaz y cuestionar todas nuestras ideas y suposiciones. Inscríbase **[aquí](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-5-thrive-registration-142849870809?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Economía Resiliente**

**Jueves 8 de Abril a las 15.00 horas UTC**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/economies-espnanol.png)

La última sesión de nuestra serie de webinars trata sobre las economías resilientes, o lo que cariñosamente llamamos REconomía, que es uno de los temas más solicitados por los grupos de transición.

Escucharemos a Jay Tompt, del proyecto REconomy de Transition Town Totnes (Reino Unido), y a Melissa Bivar de REconomy Rio (Brasil).

Jay es también profesor de Economía en la Universidad de Plymouth y profesor habitual en los programas de posgrado de economía del Schumacher College. Es cofundador del curso y el manual de la Red de Transición REconomy Projects Local Economic Blueprint, cofundador del Centro REconomy y desarrollador del Modelo de Foro de Emprendedores Locales.

Melissa también es responsable del Proyecto REconomy en Brasil, y cofundó el Fórum de Empreendedores do Rio de Janeiro. Emprendedora de la nueva economía, es propietaria de Social Contemporânea, que trabaja para ayudar a las empresas a encontrar mejores formas de producir sus bienes.

Compartirán sus experiencias de fomento de una economía resiliente y regenerativa en sus regiones, y sus ideas sobre cómo las comunidades pueden apoyar a sus empresarios locales. Inscríbase [**aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-6-resilient-economy-registration-143315355085?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Idioma:** Utilizaremos el inglés como idioma principal de trabajo para este evento con traducción simultánea al español. Para los hablantes de otros idiomas se les preguntará sobre las necesidades lingüísticas al inscribirse y haremos todo lo posible por responder con una autoorganización creativa.

Reconocemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Los tiempos propuestos reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y probables presentadores de estudios de caso. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentren en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener una discusión sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de caso y / o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Puede usar esto para albergar su propia discusión sobre el tema. Nos encantaría escuchar sus comentarios si elige esta ruta.

**Más información en training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Prosperando (Thrive) y Economía Resiliente**

Son los dos últimos webinarios de la serie de seis que se está realizando para que los entrenadores, facilitadores y miembros de los nodos (hub) de transición compartan prácticas e ideas.

En los webinarios de Entrenamientos para la Transición se comparten experiencias de casos exitosos de entrenamientos u ‘oportunidades de aprendizaje’ de todo el movimiento global de Transición. Además, han sido un primer paso importante hacia el desarrollo de una comunidad de práctica viva para entrenadores y facilitadores.

**Entrenamientos para la transición: Prosperando (Thrive)**

**Jueves 18 de marzo a las 18:00 (UTC)**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Training-for-Transition-webinars-invite-28.png)

La quinta sesión de nuestra serie trata sobre el entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ (Thrive) y será dirigida Naresh Giangrande Don Hall.

El entrenamiento ‘Prosperando’ se desarrolló como una forma de apoyar a los grupos de Transición ya establecidos para que definan sus próximos pasos o para ayudarles a revitalizar su grupo, aprendiendo de lo que ha funcionado para otros en todo el mundo.

Don Hall, es codirector de Transition Estados Unidos además de un entrenador certificado de Transición y facilitador experimentado. Naresh Giangrande ha participado en el movimiento de Transición desde su fundacióny es uno de los cofundadores originales de los entrenamientos de Transición. , . Hablarán de la evolución de la Transición y de las nuevas ideas que han surgido, como por ejemplo la integración de la Teoría U de Otto Scharmer en el modelo y el proceso de Transición. También nos van a desafiar para que pensemos en los aspectos de la Transición que podrían necesitar ser refrescados o repensados, además de introducir nuevas tecnologías como el Disco, la Criptomonedas y el Big Data, explicando cómo pueden integrarse en las economías locales regenerativas.

Ahora es el momento de ser audaz y cuestionar todas nuestras ideas y suposiciones. Inscríbase **[aquí](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-5-thrive-registration-142849870809?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.

**Entrenamientos para la Transición: Economía Resiliente**

**Jueves 8 de Abril a las 15.00 horas UTC**

(Puede utilizar esta [herramienta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para convertir a la zona horaria de su región)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/economies-espnanol.png)

La última sesión de nuestra serie de webinars trata sobre las economías resilientes, o lo que cariñosamente llamamos REconomía, que es uno de los temas más solicitados por los grupos de transición.

Escucharemos a Jay Tompt, del proyecto REconomy de Transition Town Totnes (Reino Unido), y a Melissa Bivar de REconomy Rio (Brasil).

Jay es también profesor de Economía en la Universidad de Plymouth y profesor habitual en los programas de posgrado de economía del Schumacher College. Es cofundador del curso y el manual de la Red de Transición REconomy Projects Local Economic Blueprint, cofundador del Centro REconomy y desarrollador del Modelo de Foro de Emprendedores Locales.

Melissa también es responsable del Proyecto REconomy en Brasil, y cofundó el Fórum de Empreendedores do Rio de Janeiro. Emprendedora de la nueva economía, es propietaria de Social Contemporânea, que trabaja para ayudar a las empresas a encontrar mejores formas de producir sus bienes.

Compartirán sus experiencias de fomento de una economía resiliente y regenerativa en sus regiones, y sus ideas sobre cómo las comunidades pueden apoyar a sus empresarios locales. Inscríbase [**aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-6-resilient-economy-registration-143315355085?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**Idioma:** Utilizaremos el inglés como idioma principal de trabajo para este evento con traducción simultánea al español. Para los hablantes de otros idiomas se les preguntará sobre las necesidades lingüísticas al inscribirse y haremos todo lo posible por responder con una autoorganización creativa.

Reconocemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Los tiempos propuestos reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y probables presentadores de estudios de caso. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentren en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener una discusión sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de caso y / o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Puede usar esto para albergar su propia discusión sobre el tema. Nos encantaría escuchar sus comentarios si elige esta ruta.

**Más información en training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Treinamento para a Transição: Economia próspera e resiliente**

Os dois webinars finais da série atual para instrutores, facilitadores e membros do Hubs de Transição para compartilhar práticas e idéias.

Os webinars Treinamento para Transição, mostrando modelos de sucesso e estudos de caso de oportunidades de treinamento/aprendizagem em torno do movimento de Transição global, foram um passo para o desenvolvimento de uma animada comunidade de prática para instrutores e facilitadores.

**Treinamento para a Transição: Thrive**

**Quinta-feira 18 de março @ 18:00 (UTC)**

(Você pode usar esta [ferramenta ](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)para converter para o fuso horário em sua região)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Training-for-Transition-webinars-invite-26.png)

A quinta sessão de nossa série é sobre o Treinamento Thrive, e será liderada por Naresh Giangrande e Don Hall.

Thrive Training foi desenvolvido como uma forma de apoiar os grupos de transição estabelecidos para elaborar seus próximos passos ou para ajudá-los a reenergizar seu grupo, aprendendo com o que tem funcionado para outros ao redor do mundo.

Don Hall é o co-diretor da Transition US, assim como um treinador certificado da Transition e um facilitador experiente. Naresh Giangrande foi incorporado ao movimento de Transição desde sua fundação e é um dos co-fundadores originais do treinamento da Transição.

Eles falarão sobre a evolução na Transição e as novas idéias que surgiram, por exemplo, a integração da Teoria U de Otto Scharmer no modelo e processo de Transição. Ele também nos desafiará a pensar sobre os aspectos da Transição que podem precisar ser revigorados ou repensados, assim como introduzir novas tecnologias como Disco, Cryptocurrency e Big Data, explicando como elas podem ser integradas em economias locais regenerativas.

Agora é o momento de sermos ousados e questionar todas as nossas idéias e suposições! Cadastre-se **[aqui](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-5-thrive-registration-142849870809?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.

**Treinamento para a Transição: Economia Resiliente**

**Quinta-feira 8 de abril @ 15:00 UTC**

(Você pode usar esta [ferramenta ](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)para converter para o fuso horário em sua região)

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Economies-portugues.png)

A sessão final de nossa série de webinars é sobre Economias Resilientes, ou o que chamamos carinhosamente de REconomia, que é um dos temas mais solicitados pelos grupos de Transição.

Jay Tompt do Transition Town Totnes REconomy Project (Reino Unido) e Melissa Bivar do REconomy Rio (Brasil) nos falarão sobre o tema.

Jay também é professor de economia na Universidade de Plymouth, bem como professor regular dos programas de economia de pós-graduação da Faculdade Schumacher. Ele co-desenvolveu o curso e o manual “Transition Network REconomy Projects Local Economic Blueprint”, co-fundou o Centro REconomy e desenvolveu o Modelo do Fórum de Empresários Locais.

Melissa também é responsável pelo Projeto REconomia no Brasil, e co-fundou o Fórum de Empreendedores do Rio de Janeiro. Empreendedora da nova economia, ela é proprietária da Social Contemporânea, que trabalha para ajudar as empresas a encontrar melhores maneiras de produzir seus bens.

Elas compartilharão suas experiências de promoção de uma economia resiliente e regenerativa em suas regiões, além de insights sobre como as comunidades podem apoiar seus empreendedores locais. Cadastre-se **[aqui](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-6-resilient-economy-registration-143315355085?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**.

**Idioma**: Utilizaremos o inglês como principal idioma de trabalho para estes eventos, com tradução simultânea para o espanhol. Para falantes de outros idiomas, perguntaremos sobre as necessidades linguísticas quando você se inscrever e faremos o melhor para responder com auto-organização criativa.

Reconhecemos que essas datas e horários podem não se adequar a todos os grupos ou fusos horários e pedimos desculpas por isso. Os tempos propostos refletem a disponibilidade dos anfitriões e prováveis​​apresentadores de estudos de caso. Para aqueles de vocês em outros fusos horários, ou que preferem ter uma discussão sobre esses tópicos em seu próprio idioma, podemos fornecer uma gravação das apresentações do estudo de caso e / ou possivelmente legendas ou uma transcrição traduzida, se necessário. Você pode usar isso para hospedar sua própria discussão sobre o tópico. Gostaríamos muito de ouvir seus comentários se você escolher esse caminho.

**Mais informações em training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**
### The Tale of the Camden Future Journal
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/camden-future-journal/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:14.000Z
A year ago we shared with you the story of the [Camden Think & Do](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/the-tale-of-the-camden-think-do/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the amazing community-led *What If* space created by [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (TKT) in partnership with other community organisations. This is the story of what they did next, the tale of the **Camden Future Journal**. It's a great time to tell it, because one of the highlights of the [What Next Summit](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-next-summit/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) which started this week is a session called '*Reaching beyond the usual suspects: community action for everyone*', which will feature TKT's **Debbie Bourne** talking more about it. To find out more, I spoke to Debbie and to **Habiba Nabutu,** both of whom were central to the creation of the Journal. **Could you tell us the story of how the Camden Future Journal came about, and what you were trying to achieve?Debbie**: One of my fave things to do is flick through a certain book called *‘From What Is to What If’,* and see which page I land open on! What is… the inspiration I might take from that page? On a balmy day last summer when my thoughts started to turn towards a dreaded winter of more lockdowns & Covid mutations, I flicked through the book and landed on p170\. My eyes alighted upon a paragraph visualising a newspaper written from the future. Aha, I thought… What if… we would persuade our local newspaper, the [Camden New Journal](http://camdennewjournal.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (CNJ), to publish a wraparound containing community visions and stories written from the year 2030, and publish it in the first week of Jan 2021? What if the CNJ could look exactly like it does now, and readers initially wouldn’t realise they were reading an issue written from the year 2030 once we have addressed the issues of climate and social inequality? Wouldn’t this be a playful, positive way to start the year? Our Transition group approached other local sustainability groups: [Think&Do Camden](https://www.thinkanddocamden.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Camden Friends of the Earth](https://www.camdenfoe.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Power Up North London](https://powerupnorthlondon.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Vegbox.org.uk](https://vegbox.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Climate Emergency Camden](https://climateemergencycamden.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and we approached the CNJ. We agreed a price that we felt between us all we could raise, and that ethically was ok (i.e. was this the right use of money?). The Camden New Journal were fantastic and very much involved in the whole process. We had the most wonderful surprise when we opened our copy of our Camden Future Journal on January 7th 2021 to find that the CNJ had turned the WHOLE issue over to going green.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMG_0770-rotated.jpg)

What we were trying to achieve with our Camden Future Journal was basically to cheer people up, and to inspire them to action. As you say Rob, we can’t make the future happen unless we can imagine it first. The other main aim of the community wraparound was to reach out to as many different people and groups as possible. We wanted to use the Camden Future Journal as a way of connecting and starting to share visions with as many different groups as possible. Then join together to bring those visions to life.**The diversity of voices in it is really striking. From international lawyers to schoolkids, and people from many different parts of the community. How did you achieve this? How did you seek out such diverse representation? Habiba**: We work with diverse groups of people and diverse ideas. We have been building relationships with local groups, schools, the council and businesses over the last three years. We also can’t impose what we want on people, so we have got better at asking people what they want to do and then looking for shared values and then working together. Being interested in other people’s contributions has meant that we let go of our own agendas and co-create agendas based on shared values. **Debbie**: The first thing we did was to convene a diverse editorial group to steer the project. We realised that in order to reach ‘beyond the normal suspects’ and have every CNJ reader who read our wraparound feel like it was talking to them, we needed to broaden the appeal. The narrative had to be about social justice, as much as climate justice. \[caption id="attachment\_4638463" align="alignnone" width="703"\]

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Humbug.jpg)

The imagined 'Hum Bug', the restaurant service insects-based food by 2030\. I love that the chef is called 'Mr Larvae Larvae'....\[/caption\] The formation of this editorial steering group was so important as it enabled us to connect much more widely across the borough with other local groups such as [Hopscotch Women's Centre](http://www.hopscotchawc.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Refugee Community Kitchen](https://www.refugeecommunitykitchen.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Cooperation Town](https://cooperation.town/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Camden People's Theatre and [Global Generation](https://www.globalgeneration.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We also worked incredibly hard marketing the project. It really was 3 backbreaking months’ work. We contacted loads of different local groups asking for their visions. We embarked upon a big social media campaign teasing people with provocations: How would we treat the poorest and most disadvantaged in our communities? What kind of education will you be receiving or giving?

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cg.jpg)

In terms of schools (a big part of our outreach), we had around 155 entries from students from 9 schools. **Part of the resource for this came through the [Transition Bounce Forward seed funding](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/seed-funding-grants-in-england/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). How did that help, and what did it make possible?Debbie**: The TBF seed funding completely got the ball rolling. This first £500 made everything suddenly seem possible. All our groups all chipped in what we could. It was so wonderful to see groups who were offshoots of Transition Kentish Town: Vegbox.org.uk and Power Up North London contribute. We then approached a local business; [Alara Wholefoods](https://alara.co.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (Alex Smith has been a sustainability leader for years – he is a genuine local hero). Alara donated £1,000\. When then raised the final £1,500 by crowd funder. It was great to see local residents donating anything from a fiver to £200\. **What kind of reception has the Journal had?Debbie**: The Future Journal had a fantastic response. The CNJ editorial team were incredibly happy. From our monitoring of CNJ on Twitter, we think this project had their biggest response in years. We also had some wonderful feedback from around the country. Camden Council who we work closely with (but who did not contribute) were very excited about the project. So much so that one department is giving us some money to create and build a portable exhibition to tour the borough as part of their ‘[We Make Camden](https://www.camden.gov.uk/we-make-camden?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ campaign.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2030.jpg)

**What are your hopes for what comes next for Visioning Camden 2030?Habiba**: Our hopes are that we build a broad and diverse coalition of people and groups all contributing towards a more equitable Camden that meets people’s needs within planetary boundaries. **Debbie:** Another lovely outcome is that many of the groups who put the wrap together or shared their visions have now unofficially formed one big happy eco-system-family. ‘VCCamden2030’ has formed 2 new groups:

1. VC2030 rollout group. The wraparound around received 330 entries. We were only able to publish 40\. The rollout group is developing plans for how to display all entries across different platforms: a roving exhibition funded by council, a digital flip-book containing all entries (can now be viewed online **[here](http://visioningcamden2030.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**), a performance: What if…there was a summer season of performance curated by the wonderful Camden’s People Theatre? a poetry anthology, and a tour of schools. Lots of wonderfully diverse venues are excited about hosting the exhibition.
2. VC2030 project group. Food Coops, Street Food, Climate Café, making the most of LTNs, Addressing Digital Divide, Retrofitting, First Mile delivery…lots of brainstorming and projects being hatched by this group!

Our Think & Do group is also busily starting to plan a series of summer pop ups – with the particular emphasis on working with Tenants and Residents’ Associations (TRAs) on housing estates. What if… all VC2030 entries could be displayed in TRA halls around the borough…?

*(Digital Flipbook with all entries to the Camden Future Journal)* **What do you think this What If, imagination-based approach has brought to your activism that wasn't there before? Habiba**: There are two things, firstly it has made the possibilities visible. There are alternative ideas, thinking and ways of being that are more equitable and don’t destroy the planet. Secondly it has also made our interdependence visible. Social, political, economic issues are all part of addressing the ecological crisis.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/hands.jpg)

We don’t have to choose between renewable energy or retrofitting, we need to do it all. We need a focus on participatory democracy, economy, businesses, public sector, etc. It doesn't matter where people are working, wherever people are, they can contribute to visioning the future. Thirdly, it can be fun, playful and creative. The poems were some of the most moving pieces. There was playfulness in some of the articles. It doesn’t have to be all serious. **What advice would you have for other groups inspired and wanting to do something similar?Habiba**: Don’t wait for perfection - good enough is great. Welcome all media: pictures; poetry; films; whatever people want to use and can be shared. Involve kids and young people but don’t leave it to just them, the responsibility for the future is for all of us. We would say that it’s not about putting on a ‘positive’ spin on things. Some things are difficult or painful but they need to be included because that’s real life. Aim for as much diversity as possible but don’t let it paralyse you from acting. We didn’t get it perfect, it’s a work in progress. **Debbie:** It really was a huge amount of work to put this together. Don’t underestimate it. But it was totally worth it. It really was quite emotional when it was published. There were lots of different opinions amongst us all on the amount of space to be given over to poetry, and kids entries versus the incredibly important climate and social issues that we had the opportunity to feature. We are Transition-Towners, not magazine publishers, and our lack of experience showed! We are also not graphic layout artists. The CNJ kindly allowed one of their layout editors to do the layout – without this, the end product would have been nowhere near as good.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rainbow-scaled.jpg)

We are going to make available a digital version of our four-page wrapround, with the name Camden removed. If any group reading this thinks this could be of use to them, get in touch. Our main advice is to just do it. Our CNJ wrap reached 60,000 Camdeners. At the follow up public meeting there were just under 40 people there. Some might be surprised that there weren’t at least triple the amount of people there, but we all know that the kind of wonderful, inspiring, hopeful campaigning and visioning work we do is a slow build. It’s one conversation at time. One action at a time. A slow build until we reach critical mass. What we can tell you is that we are having some wonderful individual conversations. Here’s an example: Last week an email came in from a secondary school in Camden. Kate Stockings, head of geography at Hampstead School, read the wrap, and has now designed a [learning module for year 7 pupils](https://www.katestockings.com/classroom-resources?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) based on it: ‘What if the stories in this wrap came to pass? How could we make this happen?’ \* Thanks to TBF funding we have had 600 copies of the wrap printed and were able to supply her 60 of these as a ‘valuable school resource.’ What if… this Year 7 learning resource was offered to all schools in LB Camden, and beyond…? What if it became part of the year 7 curriculum?! Camden Council sustainability department have now decided they are going suggest just this. How great is that?! **Final message from Habiba and Debbie:**  Pick up Rob’s book and flick through it now! What little nugget of wisdom do you land on? What Next…? *\*This learning module for Year 7/8 pupils is now an open resource - [https://www.katestockings.com/classroom-resources](https://www.katestockings.com/classroom-resources?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*
### Personal Resilience Resources
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/personal-resilience-resources/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:15.000Z
When isolated cases of Covid-19 started to become the global pandemic we have all been living with, the Transition Network team took some time to [pause, listen, reflect and adjust](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/responding-to-covid19/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As we continued our work of supporting the wider Transition movement, we also made space for collective reflections as we tried to understand the impacts we were living with, and those that were to come. We took time to share our individual circumstances and vulnerabilities, enabling us to build stronger collaborative relationships rooted in trust which supported us to take care of ourselves and each other.

The process of individual and collective grounding and care within our team expanded to thoughts of how we could support others undertaking the work of social change, particularly through times of crisis and upheaval. We began to gather up and make sense of all of the resources we were drawing from in building up inner resilience.

We started by focusing on [**personal resilience for individuals**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as we see this as a crucial building block for every other aspect of life. Having the tools to cope with and respond to disturbances or adversity in ways that facilitate integrity and harmony, deepening and strengthening relationships, and leading to breakthroughs rather than breakdowns, can be very valuable.

The resources that we share with you here are organised in an easy to navigate structure of seven layers, so called ‘roots of resilience’, each linked to practices that promote well-being and that can improve an individual’s capacity to recover after a disturbance. Three relate to the **physical body**; two relate to **the mind and the emotions**; and two relate to **compassion and connection**.

We tried to encompass different types of resources, both for exploration and general information, as well as some offering practical guidance and activities you can do yourself. We have listed sources and related resources so you can explore the themes further, if you wish.

You can access and download all of the resources [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

***There’s a lot there, so don’t feel you need to read them all at once.***

When isolated cases of Covid-19 started to become the global pandemic we have all been living with, the Transition Network team took some time to [pause, listen, reflect and adjust](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/responding-to-covid19/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). As we continued our work of supporting the wider Transition movement, we also made space for collective reflections as we tried to understand the impacts we were living with, and those that were to come. We took time to share our individual circumstances and vulnerabilities, enabling us to build stronger collaborative relationships rooted in trust which supported us to take care of ourselves and each other.

The process of individual and collective grounding and care within our team expanded to thoughts of how we could support others undertaking the work of social change, particularly through times of crisis and upheaval. We began to gather up and make sense of all of the resources we were drawing from in building up inner resilience.

We started by focusing on [**personal resilience for individuals**](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), as we see this as a crucial building block for every other aspect of life. Having the tools to cope with and respond to disturbances or adversity in ways that facilitate integrity and harmony, deepening and strengthening relationships, and leading to breakthroughs rather than breakdowns, can be very valuable.

The resources that we share with you here are organised in an easy to navigate structure of seven layers, so called ‘roots of resilience’, each linked to practices that promote well-being and that can improve an individual’s capacity to recover after a disturbance. Three relate to the **physical body**; two relate to **the mind and the emotions**; and two relate to **compassion and connection**.

We tried to encompass different types of resources, both for exploration and general information, as well as some offering practical guidance and activities you can do yourself. We have listed sources and related resources so you can explore the themes further, if you wish.

You can access and download all of the resources [here](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner/personal-resilience-resources/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

***There’s a lot there, so don’t feel you need to read them all at once.***

###### Cover photo by [Miguel Henriques](https://unsplash.com/@miguel%5Fphoto?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Transition Network is Looking for Trustees
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/looking-for-trustees/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:16.000Z
Do you have experience, values, a fresh perspective, and time to commit to helping us deliver on our purpose and strategy?

As trustee, you would join an innovative organisation, using shared governance structures and processes. Our trustees exercise their legal responsibilities while working within a non-hierarchical governance model, empowering all members of the team to act autonomously and to input into key decisions.

As trustee, you would join an innovative organisation, using shared governance structures and processes. Our trustees exercise their legal responsibilities while working within a non-hierarchical governance model, empowering all members of the team to act autonomously and to input into key decisions.

> “... the facilitative and decision making processes practised by TN are the most innovative, human and effective that I have experienced in any organisation. Taking part in these processes has fed into my professional and community practice in many ways.” -

As trustee, you would join an innovative organisation, using shared governance structures and processes. Our trustees exercise their legal responsibilities while working within a non-hierarchical governance model, empowering all members of the team to act autonomously and to input into key decisions.

> “... the facilitative and decision making processes practised by TN are the most innovative, human and effective that I have experienced in any organisation. Taking part in these processes has fed into my professional and community practice in many ways.” -

The contributions of our trustees often come from the sense of perspective they can bring that is zoomed out from the day-to-day work of the team, as well as drawing on their experience in Transition groups and Hubs, or their work in aligned environmental, social, cultural or economic fields.

Transition Network is a charity registered in England and Wales, working internationally to support the Transition movement. We’re looking for new trustees from a diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences who can help guide our strategy and join an ongoing experiment in shared governance.

Currently we have four trustees – [meet them here](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/the-charity/people/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We are hoping to recruit two new trustees in this process to bring our total up to six.

Trustees are part of our Primary Circle, setting and guiding our strategic direction; exercising the responsibilities required by England & Wales charity law; and taking other roles in our team and structure as skills, capacity, interest and opportunity allow.

We welcome applications from people with no previous experience as trustees, and offer a supportive and collaborative stewarding process to bring new trustees into the organisation. We want to hear your perspective on the experiences and skills you can bring to help Transition Network respond to a time of accelerating and interconnected crises.

Being a trustee is an unpaid, voluntary role.

Interested? You can find out more about Transition Network and the role of Treasurer in our [**TN Trustee Information Pack 2021**](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/TN-Trustee-Information-Pack-2021.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

The closing date for applications is Sunday 11th April 2021\. If you have any queries that are not covered in the pack, or would like to send us your application – drop us a line at [trustee-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:trustee-recruitment@transitionnetwork.org)

We look forward to hearing from you!
### Reflections on my French Digital Transition Tour
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/french-digital-transition-tour/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:17.000Z
For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

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For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

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Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

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Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

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For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

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Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

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Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-nws\_h8ivkhy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nwS\_H8IVKHY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-nws\_h8ivkhy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nwS\_H8IVKHY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The events of February 1st and 2nd were set in Bordeaux. On the morning of the 1st I met with local government officials and talked about the challenges of taking bold action, but also about their commitment to doing to, as imaginatively as possible. The second day’s event was a meeting with local young people, many of whom have been involved in the youth climate strikes. Their energy made it a really special event, possibly the best of all of them. It was the first talk with the new headset I bought, hoping to improve the audio quality…

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-nws\_h8ivkhy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nwS\_H8IVKHY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The events of February 1st and 2nd were set in Bordeaux. On the morning of the 1st I met with local government officials and talked about the challenges of taking bold action, but also about their commitment to doing to, as imaginatively as possible. The second day’s event was a meeting with local young people, many of whom have been involved in the youth climate strikes. Their energy made it a really special event, possibly the best of all of them. It was the first talk with the new headset I bought, hoping to improve the audio quality…

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-wvdwp0f6r6q","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/WvDWP0f6R6Q?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-nws\_h8ivkhy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nwS\_H8IVKHY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The events of February 1st and 2nd were set in Bordeaux. On the morning of the 1st I met with local government officials and talked about the challenges of taking bold action, but also about their commitment to doing to, as imaginatively as possible. The second day’s event was a meeting with local young people, many of whom have been involved in the youth climate strikes. Their energy made it a really special event, possibly the best of all of them. It was the first talk with the new headset I bought, hoping to improve the audio quality…

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-wvdwp0f6r6q","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/WvDWP0f6R6Q?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The final date on the tour was in Annecy, the city until that day my only association with was that it was the site of one of the most disastrous holidays of my life.We always have a running joke with the organising team that, like any good rock band, at the end of a tour like this we trash our hotel rooms and drive a car into the swimming pool, but that it was a struggle to think of an online version of that. The talk, introduced by Francois Astorg, the Mayor of Annecy, went really well.

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

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The events of February 1st and 2nd were set in Bordeaux. On the morning of the 1st I met with local government officials and talked about the challenges of taking bold action, but also about their commitment to doing to, as imaginatively as possible. The second day’s event was a meeting with local young people, many of whom have been involved in the youth climate strikes. Their energy made it a really special event, possibly the best of all of them. It was the first talk with the new headset I bought, hoping to improve the audio quality…

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-wvdwp0f6r6q","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/WvDWP0f6R6Q?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The final date on the tour was in Annecy, the city until that day my only association with was that it was the site of one of the most disastrous holidays of my life.We always have a running joke with the organising team that, like any good rock band, at the end of a tour like this we trash our hotel rooms and drive a car into the swimming pool, but that it was a struggle to think of an online version of that. The talk, introduced by Francois Astorg, the Mayor of Annecy, went really well.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-fqj2yyb54ga","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fqJ2YYb54gA?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

For obvious reasons, my proposed tour of France, organised by the wonderful [Sans Transition](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) magazine for the last week of January and the first week of February was unable to go ahead. Gone were my long days on trains and dashing from place to place of [previous tours](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/02/11/transition-tour-2-a-speaking-tour-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), my sampling of exquisite local French beers, and meeting Transitioners and other activists from there. But instead, within the limits imposed by our inability to do it in person, it all shifted online, and it worked amazingly well.

We used a platform called VMix, which meant that each presentation became a multimedia event, like a TV show, with video clips and guests and other things, as well as me giving a presentation and responding to questions from local activists and audience members. Aided by the wonderful translation team of Xavier, Isabelle, Rachel and Bart and the great Sans Transition backstage crew, and beautifully presented by Sans Transition directors Magali and Julien, it was a fascinating thing to be part of.

The first event, on January 27th, was to the city of Lyon. In the afternoon, I met with Gregory Doucet, the Mayor of Lyon, and his cabinet, to talk about Transition, and about the work they are already doing in the city to decarbonise and transition the city, and the challenges and opportunities that are arising. In the evening we did the first show, which had some teething problems relating to translation and the technicalities of doing that, but which went fine.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-67zbewhouve","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/67ZbEwhOUVE?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day I was the guest of the Macif Foundation and the theme was solidarity. Then in the evening was a public event, by which time we were getting a bit better at getting the whole system working better.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-jzomrztsk7k","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jZoMRztsK7k?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Next day was the city of Nantes, where the municipality has, over a few years, done some really interesting work with a city-scale citizens assembly and now an ambitious energy transition plan, and a food transition plan for the city. In the afternoon I met with a group of committed citizens and professionals working in this kind of area, and then in the evening was the public event. Again, really well attended, and with great input from local activists. It is one of the things Sans Transition do beautifully, inviting Transitioners, local currency activists, people who’ve set up local co-ops and others to present themselves and to play a role in the events.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-nws\_h8ivkhy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nwS\_H8IVKHY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The events of February 1st and 2nd were set in Bordeaux. On the morning of the 1st I met with local government officials and talked about the challenges of taking bold action, but also about their commitment to doing to, as imaginatively as possible. The second day’s event was a meeting with local young people, many of whom have been involved in the youth climate strikes. Their energy made it a really special event, possibly the best of all of them. It was the first talk with the new headset I bought, hoping to improve the audio quality…

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/french-digital-transition-tour\\/#arve-youtube-wvdwp0f6r6q","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/WvDWP0f6R6Q?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

The final date on the tour was in Annecy, the city until that day my only association with was that it was the site of one of the most disastrous holidays of my life.We always have a running joke with the organising team that, like any good rock band, at the end of a tour like this we trash our hotel rooms and drive a car into the swimming pool, but that it was a struggle to think of an online version of that. The talk, introduced by Francois Astorg, the Mayor of Annecy, went really well.

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So, in spite of a pandemic, and not being able to travel in person, there is still so much we can do to share ideas and to dream of the future beyond the current restrictions. How long until I am again able to do such things in person, and how long until I can once again give talks in theatres with unmasked audiences? Not too long I hope. But in the meantime, we can be flexible and creative, and we can create alternative approaches that can actually reach more people than physical talks do. I get the sense from the Mayors I spoke to, that a deep commitment to meaningful and ambitious transition is growing across France, and that the recent court case where [the French government was found guilty of failing to adequately address climate change](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/03/court-convicts-french-state-for-failure-to-address-climate-crisis?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Citizens Assembly for the Climate, the sweep of Green and municipalist parties in the last local elections, and opinion polls showing a growing concern over sustainability issues, are together driving far more ambition that we’ve seen previously. Fascinating stuff.

My thanks to Julien, Magali, Stéphane, Bénédicte, Julie, Quentin, Garance-Anne, Léonore, and all the Sans Transition team, to Xavier, Isabelle, Bart and Rachel for their expert translation, to Benjamin for his amazing production, and to everyone else who made it all possible. See you next time, hopefully in person!
### Transición Interior – Celebraciones de Luna y Sol
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings/
Last updated: 2026-03-23T15:48:10.000Z
*(Scroll down for English language version below)*

**¡Estamos muy contentos de celebrar y compartir con todos ustedes el recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior!**

En estos tiempos desafiantes, de profunda transformación y crisis multisistémicas, somos testigos de las viejas estructuras desmoronándose en el mismo instante que emergen nuevas y maravillosas historias en todo el mundo.

Hoy más que nunca se nos invita, como individuos y grupos, a sostener nuestro centro y permanecer enraizados. Es hora de que nuestras comunidades extiendan su mano hacia todos sus recursos internos y relacionales, de manera de poder navegar por estas aguas turbulentas, activando la sabiduría y la fuerza colectivas que nos permitirán mantenernos resilientes y prosperar.

Conscientes de esta necesidad de recursos internos, a finales de 2019 el [grupo de Hubs/Nodos de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pidió colaboración voluntaria para reactivar el trabajo/espacio de Transición Interior. Durante el 2020 un grupo de 10 amantes del trabajo interior desde diversas partes del mundo se reunió para conocerse y conectar profundamente. Al finalizar el año emerge el Círculo de Transición Interior, con el propósito de ser una voz colectiva a escala global, que inspire y de apoyo a acciones de transformación local. El Círculo ha comenzado su trabajo activando tres principales proyectos: Encuentros del Spirit-hub, Programa de Transformación del Conflicto y Viajes de Aprendizaje Interior. Nos sentimos inspirados y agradecidos de poder ofrecer estos encuentros más amplios, espacios de colaboración, oportunidades de aprendizaje, una comunidad de práctica para el apoyo entre pares y mucho más.

Si quieres unirte a la base de datos del Círculo de Transición Interior y ayudarnos a sentir el campo social aportando con tus reflexiones, sentimientos y puntos de vista de la Transición Interior en estos tiempos, por favor [completa este formulario.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**¡Estamos muy contentos de celebrar y compartir con todos ustedes el recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior!**

En estos tiempos desafiantes, de profunda transformación y crisis multisistémicas, somos testigos de las viejas estructuras desmoronándose en el mismo instante que emergen nuevas y maravillosas historias en todo el mundo.

Hoy más que nunca se nos invita, como individuos y grupos, a sostener nuestro centro y permanecer enraizados. Es hora de que nuestras comunidades extiendan su mano hacia todos sus recursos internos y relacionales, de manera de poder navegar por estas aguas turbulentas, activando la sabiduría y la fuerza colectivas que nos permitirán mantenernos resilientes y prosperar.

Conscientes de esta necesidad de recursos internos, a finales de 2019 el [grupo de Hubs/Nodos de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pidió colaboración voluntaria para reactivar el trabajo/espacio de Transición Interior. Durante el 2020 un grupo de 10 amantes del trabajo interior desde diversas partes del mundo se reunió para conocerse y conectar profundamente. Al finalizar el año emerge el Círculo de Transición Interior, con el propósito de ser una voz colectiva a escala global, que inspire y de apoyo a acciones de transformación local. El Círculo ha comenzado su trabajo activando tres principales proyectos: Encuentros del Spirit-hub, Programa de Transformación del Conflicto y Viajes de Aprendizaje Interior. Nos sentimos inspirados y agradecidos de poder ofrecer estos encuentros más amplios, espacios de colaboración, oportunidades de aprendizaje, una comunidad de práctica para el apoyo entre pares y mucho más.

Si quieres unirte a la base de datos del Círculo de Transición Interior y ayudarnos a sentir el campo social aportando con tus reflexiones, sentimientos y puntos de vista de la Transición Interior en estos tiempos, por favor [completa este formulario.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Transición Interior: Celebraciones de Luna y Sol**

¡Tod@s invitados! ¡Grupos de Transición, Hubs/Nodos de Transición y más allá!

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Luna-Llena-Febrero-png-01-01-01.png)

El Círculo de Transición Interior está feliz de invitarles a los Encuentros de Luna Nueva y Llena, Solsticio y Equinoccio. Anhelamos reconectar con los ciclos naturales y volver a tener una relación más sana con “el tiempo”. Honrando este presente de transformación para nuestra humanidad y de todos los ecosistemas de Vida en nuestra querida Madre Tierra.

Nuestra intención es reunirnos regularmente y compartir espacios de mutua nutrición, profundizar en nuestra conexión y simplemente sintonizarnos y disfrutar, honrando nuestro inter-Ser a través de la música, la danza, el silencio, la poesía, el amor… co-creando un espacio relajado y abierto al emergente.

Eres muy bienvenid@ a la apertura de Conexiones Internas – Encuentros de Luna y Sol, el sábado 27 de febrero de 2021, de 18:00 a 20:00 UTC.

Este primer evento se realizará en español, y estamos abiertos a incluir tantos idiomas como nuestro colectivo ofrezca en los próximos encuentros.

Utilice este enlace para comprobar la hora de inicio en su zona horaria – [https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095](https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[**Inscríbete aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings-registration-141189915839?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para el evento del 27 de febrero de 2021.

Para conocer los detalles de los futuros Encuentros de Sol y Luna, consulta la página de **Facebook de la** [**Red de Transición**](https://web.facebook.com/transitionnetwork/?%5Frdc=1&%5Frdr&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) o añade tus datos a la [**base de datos**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **del Círculo de Transición Interior.**

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule.png)

**¡Estamos muy contentos de celebrar y compartir con todos ustedes el recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior!**

En estos tiempos desafiantes, de profunda transformación y crisis multisistémicas, somos testigos de las viejas estructuras desmoronándose en el mismo instante que emergen nuevas y maravillosas historias en todo el mundo.

Hoy más que nunca se nos invita, como individuos y grupos, a sostener nuestro centro y permanecer enraizados. Es hora de que nuestras comunidades extiendan su mano hacia todos sus recursos internos y relacionales, de manera de poder navegar por estas aguas turbulentas, activando la sabiduría y la fuerza colectivas que nos permitirán mantenernos resilientes y prosperar.

Conscientes de esta necesidad de recursos internos, a finales de 2019 el [grupo de Hubs/Nodos de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pidió colaboración voluntaria para reactivar el trabajo/espacio de Transición Interior. Durante el 2020 un grupo de 10 amantes del trabajo interior desde diversas partes del mundo se reunió para conocerse y conectar profundamente. Al finalizar el año emerge el Círculo de Transición Interior, con el propósito de ser una voz colectiva a escala global, que inspire y de apoyo a acciones de transformación local. El Círculo ha comenzado su trabajo activando tres principales proyectos: Encuentros del Spirit-hub, Programa de Transformación del Conflicto y Viajes de Aprendizaje Interior. Nos sentimos inspirados y agradecidos de poder ofrecer estos encuentros más amplios, espacios de colaboración, oportunidades de aprendizaje, una comunidad de práctica para el apoyo entre pares y mucho más.

Si quieres unirte a la base de datos del Círculo de Transición Interior y ayudarnos a sentir el campo social aportando con tus reflexiones, sentimientos y puntos de vista de la Transición Interior en estos tiempos, por favor [completa este formulario.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Transición Interior: Celebraciones de Luna y Sol**

¡Tod@s invitados! ¡Grupos de Transición, Hubs/Nodos de Transición y más allá!

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Luna-Llena-Febrero-png-01-01-01.png)

El Círculo de Transición Interior está feliz de invitarles a los Encuentros de Luna Nueva y Llena, Solsticio y Equinoccio. Anhelamos reconectar con los ciclos naturales y volver a tener una relación más sana con “el tiempo”. Honrando este presente de transformación para nuestra humanidad y de todos los ecosistemas de Vida en nuestra querida Madre Tierra.

Nuestra intención es reunirnos regularmente y compartir espacios de mutua nutrición, profundizar en nuestra conexión y simplemente sintonizarnos y disfrutar, honrando nuestro inter-Ser a través de la música, la danza, el silencio, la poesía, el amor… co-creando un espacio relajado y abierto al emergente.

Eres muy bienvenid@ a la apertura de Conexiones Internas – Encuentros de Luna y Sol, el sábado 27 de febrero de 2021, de 18:00 a 20:00 UTC.

Este primer evento se realizará en español, y estamos abiertos a incluir tantos idiomas como nuestro colectivo ofrezca en los próximos encuentros.

Utilice este enlace para comprobar la hora de inicio en su zona horaria – [https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095](https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[**Inscríbete aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings-registration-141189915839?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para el evento del 27 de febrero de 2021.

Para conocer los detalles de los futuros Encuentros de Sol y Luna, consulta la página de **Facebook de la** [**Red de Transición**](https://web.facebook.com/transitionnetwork/?%5Frdc=1&%5Frdr&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) o añade tus datos a la [**base de datos**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **del Círculo de Transición Interior.**

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule.png)

**¡Estamos muy contentos de celebrar y compartir con todos ustedes el recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior!**

En estos tiempos desafiantes, de profunda transformación y crisis multisistémicas, somos testigos de las viejas estructuras desmoronándose en el mismo instante que emergen nuevas y maravillosas historias en todo el mundo.

Hoy más que nunca se nos invita, como individuos y grupos, a sostener nuestro centro y permanecer enraizados. Es hora de que nuestras comunidades extiendan su mano hacia todos sus recursos internos y relacionales, de manera de poder navegar por estas aguas turbulentas, activando la sabiduría y la fuerza colectivas que nos permitirán mantenernos resilientes y prosperar.

Conscientes de esta necesidad de recursos internos, a finales de 2019 el [grupo de Hubs/Nodos de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pidió colaboración voluntaria para reactivar el trabajo/espacio de Transición Interior. Durante el 2020 un grupo de 10 amantes del trabajo interior desde diversas partes del mundo se reunió para conocerse y conectar profundamente. Al finalizar el año emerge el Círculo de Transición Interior, con el propósito de ser una voz colectiva a escala global, que inspire y de apoyo a acciones de transformación local. El Círculo ha comenzado su trabajo activando tres principales proyectos: Encuentros del Spirit-hub, Programa de Transformación del Conflicto y Viajes de Aprendizaje Interior. Nos sentimos inspirados y agradecidos de poder ofrecer estos encuentros más amplios, espacios de colaboración, oportunidades de aprendizaje, una comunidad de práctica para el apoyo entre pares y mucho más.

Si quieres unirte a la base de datos del Círculo de Transición Interior y ayudarnos a sentir el campo social aportando con tus reflexiones, sentimientos y puntos de vista de la Transición Interior en estos tiempos, por favor [completa este formulario.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Transición Interior: Celebraciones de Luna y Sol**

¡Tod@s invitados! ¡Grupos de Transición, Hubs/Nodos de Transición y más allá!

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Luna-Llena-Febrero-png-01-01-01.png)

El Círculo de Transición Interior está feliz de invitarles a los Encuentros de Luna Nueva y Llena, Solsticio y Equinoccio. Anhelamos reconectar con los ciclos naturales y volver a tener una relación más sana con “el tiempo”. Honrando este presente de transformación para nuestra humanidad y de todos los ecosistemas de Vida en nuestra querida Madre Tierra.

Nuestra intención es reunirnos regularmente y compartir espacios de mutua nutrición, profundizar en nuestra conexión y simplemente sintonizarnos y disfrutar, honrando nuestro inter-Ser a través de la música, la danza, el silencio, la poesía, el amor… co-creando un espacio relajado y abierto al emergente.

Eres muy bienvenid@ a la apertura de Conexiones Internas – Encuentros de Luna y Sol, el sábado 27 de febrero de 2021, de 18:00 a 20:00 UTC.

Este primer evento se realizará en español, y estamos abiertos a incluir tantos idiomas como nuestro colectivo ofrezca en los próximos encuentros.

Utilice este enlace para comprobar la hora de inicio en su zona horaria – [https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095](https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[**Inscríbete aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings-registration-141189915839?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para el evento del 27 de febrero de 2021.

Para conocer los detalles de los futuros Encuentros de Sol y Luna, consulta la página de **Facebook de la** [**Red de Transición**](https://web.facebook.com/transitionnetwork/?%5Frdc=1&%5Frdr&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) o añade tus datos a la [**base de datos**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **del Círculo de Transición Interior.**

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule.png)

**We are very happy to celebrate and share with you all the newborn Inner Transition Circle!**

In these challenging times of deep transformation and multisystemic crises we watch old structures fall to pieces while amazing new stories arise all around the globe.

Today, more than ever, we are encouraged as individuals and groups to hold our centre and hold our ground. If our communities have to hand all of our inner and relational resources we can navigate these turbulent waters, activating the collective wisdom and strength that enables us to stay resilient and thrive.

Conscious of this need for inner resourcing, in late 2019 the [Transition Hubs group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) called for volunteer collaboration to re-activate the work/space for Inner Transition. During 2020 a group of 10 lovers of Inner work from diverse parts of the world met to deeply connect and get to know each other. At the end of the year the Inner Transition Circle emerged with the purpose of being a collective voice on a global scale, to inspire and support local transformative actions. The Circle has started its work by activating three main projects: Spirit-hub gatherings, a [Conflict Transformation Programme](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Inner Learning Journeys. We are energised and grateful to be able offer wider gatherings, collaboration spaces, learning opportunities, a community of practice for peer-to-peer support, and more.

If you would like to join the **Inner Transition Circle database and help us to sense the field** with your reflections, feelings and views of the Inner in these times, please [**complete this form.**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**¡Estamos muy contentos de celebrar y compartir con todos ustedes el recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior!**

En estos tiempos desafiantes, de profunda transformación y crisis multisistémicas, somos testigos de las viejas estructuras desmoronándose en el mismo instante que emergen nuevas y maravillosas historias en todo el mundo.

Hoy más que nunca se nos invita, como individuos y grupos, a sostener nuestro centro y permanecer enraizados. Es hora de que nuestras comunidades extiendan su mano hacia todos sus recursos internos y relacionales, de manera de poder navegar por estas aguas turbulentas, activando la sabiduría y la fuerza colectivas que nos permitirán mantenernos resilientes y prosperar.

Conscientes de esta necesidad de recursos internos, a finales de 2019 el [grupo de Hubs/Nodos de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) pidió colaboración voluntaria para reactivar el trabajo/espacio de Transición Interior. Durante el 2020 un grupo de 10 amantes del trabajo interior desde diversas partes del mundo se reunió para conocerse y conectar profundamente. Al finalizar el año emerge el Círculo de Transición Interior, con el propósito de ser una voz colectiva a escala global, que inspire y de apoyo a acciones de transformación local. El Círculo ha comenzado su trabajo activando tres principales proyectos: Encuentros del Spirit-hub, Programa de Transformación del Conflicto y Viajes de Aprendizaje Interior. Nos sentimos inspirados y agradecidos de poder ofrecer estos encuentros más amplios, espacios de colaboración, oportunidades de aprendizaje, una comunidad de práctica para el apoyo entre pares y mucho más.

Si quieres unirte a la base de datos del Círculo de Transición Interior y ayudarnos a sentir el campo social aportando con tus reflexiones, sentimientos y puntos de vista de la Transición Interior en estos tiempos, por favor [completa este formulario.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSzbJKDz4k%5Fl1GZKXr%5FsHvU9H6B8ECtvsKqU2jK78A69G%5FJQ/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Transición Interior: Celebraciones de Luna y Sol**

¡Tod@s invitados! ¡Grupos de Transición, Hubs/Nodos de Transición y más allá!

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Luna-Llena-Febrero-png-01-01-01.png)

El Círculo de Transición Interior está feliz de invitarles a los Encuentros de Luna Nueva y Llena, Solsticio y Equinoccio. Anhelamos reconectar con los ciclos naturales y volver a tener una relación más sana con “el tiempo”. Honrando este presente de transformación para nuestra humanidad y de todos los ecosistemas de Vida en nuestra querida Madre Tierra.

Nuestra intención es reunirnos regularmente y compartir espacios de mutua nutrición, profundizar en nuestra conexión y simplemente sintonizarnos y disfrutar, honrando nuestro inter-Ser a través de la música, la danza, el silencio, la poesía, el amor… co-creando un espacio relajado y abierto al emergente.

Eres muy bienvenid@ a la apertura de Conexiones Internas – Encuentros de Luna y Sol, el sábado 27 de febrero de 2021, de 18:00 a 20:00 UTC.

Este primer evento se realizará en español, y estamos abiertos a incluir tantos idiomas como nuestro colectivo ofrezca en los próximos encuentros.

Utilice este enlace para comprobar la hora de inicio en su zona horaria – [https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095](https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[**Inscríbete aquí**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings-registration-141189915839?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) para el evento del 27 de febrero de 2021.

Para conocer los detalles de los futuros Encuentros de Sol y Luna, consulta la página de **Facebook de la** [**Red de Transición**](https://web.facebook.com/transitionnetwork/?%5Frdc=1&%5Frdr&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) o añade tus datos a la [**base de datos**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) **del Círculo de Transición Interior.**

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule.png)

**We are very happy to celebrate and share with you all the newborn Inner Transition Circle!**

In these challenging times of deep transformation and multisystemic crises we watch old structures fall to pieces while amazing new stories arise all around the globe.

Today, more than ever, we are encouraged as individuals and groups to hold our centre and hold our ground. If our communities have to hand all of our inner and relational resources we can navigate these turbulent waters, activating the collective wisdom and strength that enables us to stay resilient and thrive.

Conscious of this need for inner resourcing, in late 2019 the [Transition Hubs group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) called for volunteer collaboration to re-activate the work/space for Inner Transition. During 2020 a group of 10 lovers of Inner work from diverse parts of the world met to deeply connect and get to know each other. At the end of the year the Inner Transition Circle emerged with the purpose of being a collective voice on a global scale, to inspire and support local transformative actions. The Circle has started its work by activating three main projects: Spirit-hub gatherings, a [Conflict Transformation Programme](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Inner Learning Journeys. We are energised and grateful to be able offer wider gatherings, collaboration spaces, learning opportunities, a community of practice for peer-to-peer support, and more.

If you would like to join the **Inner Transition Circle database and help us to sense the field** with your reflections, feelings and views of the Inner in these times, please [**complete this form.**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

# **Inner Connections – *Moon & Sun Gatherings***

**Everyone is invited! Transition groups, Hubs and beyond!**

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Full-Moon-February.png)

**This first event will be hosted in Spanish, and we are open to include as many languages as our collective offers in the next gatherings.**

The Inner Transition Circle is delighted to invite one and all to the **New and Full Moon, Solstice and Equinox Gatherings**, honouring these transformative times for humanity and all ecosystems of Life on our beloved Mother Earth.

We long to reconnect **with the natural cycles** and to come back to a healthier relationship with time. You are very welcome to these shared spaces where we aim to meet regularly to **nourish ourselves, deepen our connection** and just tune in and enjoy ourselves, **honouring our interbeingness** through music, dance, silence, poetry, love… co-creating a relaxing space open to emergence.

You are very welcome to the opening of the **Inner Connections – Moon & Sun Gatherings**, on Saturday 27th February 2021, at 18:00-20:00 UTC.

**This first event will be hosted in Spanish, and we are open to include as many languages as our collective offers in the next gatherings.**

*Use this link to check the starting time in your timezone – [https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095](https://www.starts-at.com/event/1932873095?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*

**Register [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inner-connections-moon-sun-gatherings-registration-141189915839?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for the event on 27 February 2021.**

For details of future Sun & Moon gatherings keep an eye on the Transition Network [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/transitionnetwork/) or add your details to the Inner Transition Circle [database](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddDGQ-0MYzR5HaLXeQ%5FkhLplmaBJycWlw7GG0fc55qVB8few/viewform?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule-724x1024.png)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/moon-and-sun-gatherings-schedule.png?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition: Bounce Forward – What Next?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-bounce-forward-what-next/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:20.000Z
Three weeks of workshops, events and networking to build community power across the UK.

After distributing [£140,000 to 112 Transition projects](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/seed-funding-grants-in-england/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) across England at the end of 2020, we’re excited to share the latest news from [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Next month’s ***What Next? Summit*** will **build community power** across the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists already making change happen, so together they can have a bigger impact.

Developed in collaboration with [CTRLShift](http://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Losing Control](https://www.losingcontrol.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) it will be a space to empower communities in the UK to create the future, tap into collective imagination, make new connections, and share knowledge to build a stronger movement.

Over the course of three weeks they will be hosting a wide range of events and workshops. From a blizzard of inspiring stories of change happening across the world, to mapping the plethora of community groups and projects already making change happen in the UK. From a workshop series on the new economy, participatory democracy and community organising, to inspiring speakers such as Kate Raworth, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan and Carne Ross exploring how the power of imagination can transform our current practice. A whole day will be set aside to imagine and co-create a vision for the future in the ‘Pop up 2030’ event, as well as finishing the Summit with a weekend of practically planning next steps and ways to work together more effectively as a movement over the coming months and years.

To maximise opportunities for connection and learning there will also be a Summit Fringe throughout the whole conference. Using an exciting new Nudj platform participants will be able to find the live events calendar, connect with others and host fringe conversations and events.

If you’re involved in community organising and action in the UK, this event is not to be missed.

Registration and further information can be found here – [https://nudj.app/event/503](https://nudj.app/event/503?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

After distributing [£140,000 to 112 Transition projects](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/seed-funding-grants-in-england/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) across England at the end of 2020, we’re excited to share the latest news from [Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

Next month’s ***What Next? Summit*** will **build community power** across the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists already making change happen, so together they can have a bigger impact.

Developed in collaboration with [CTRLShift](http://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Losing Control](https://www.losingcontrol.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Scottish Communities Climate Action Network](https://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) it will be a space to empower communities in the UK to create the future, tap into collective imagination, make new connections, and share knowledge to build a stronger movement.

Over the course of three weeks they will be hosting a wide range of events and workshops. From a blizzard of inspiring stories of change happening across the world, to mapping the plethora of community groups and projects already making change happen in the UK. From a workshop series on the new economy, participatory democracy and community organising, to inspiring speakers such as Kate Raworth, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan and Carne Ross exploring how the power of imagination can transform our current practice. A whole day will be set aside to imagine and co-create a vision for the future in the ‘Pop up 2030’ event, as well as finishing the Summit with a weekend of practically planning next steps and ways to work together more effectively as a movement over the coming months and years.

To maximise opportunities for connection and learning there will also be a Summit Fringe throughout the whole conference. Using an exciting new Nudj platform participants will be able to find the live events calendar, connect with others and host fringe conversations and events.

If you’re involved in community organising and action in the UK, this event is not to be missed.

Registration and further information can be found here – [https://nudj.app/event/503](https://nudj.app/event/503?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/what-next-summit.png
### Training for Transition: Conflict Transformation
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-for-transition-conflict-transformation/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:21.000Z
**The second in a series of webinars for Transition trainers, facilitators and Hubs members to share practice and ideas.**

*Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português*

This series is a step towards the development of a lively community of practice for trainers and facilitators. The 6 webinars will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global Transition movement.

(You can use this [tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

**Conflict Transformation** 
**February 4th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/https-_cdn.evbuc_.com_images_124197161_3498819486_1_original.20210126-120155.jpg)

Tensions and conflicts are a part of human life. Relational and group conflicts are alive in many levels within the Transition movement and beyond. We can sometimes observe and feel pain and frustration at how amazing projects and people do not manage to fully manifest their dreams of creating a caring life, social justice, cultural diversity, regenerative education etc. due to the presence of unresolved tensions and conflicts. Tending these areas is an important aspect of *Caring for our Interbeingness*.

In late 2018, the Hubs Heart Circle asked a team of transitioners to develop a Transformative Conflict Programme to help explore and navigate the topic of conflict transformation. This inspired last year’s [Coming Down to Earth Summit](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – where 3000 participants from all continents, and more than 80 countries, were invited to reimagine the ways we understand and respond to conflict. It was very touching to witness and experience the field of trust, vulnerability and openness that was built among participants who had never met, and who were sharing from across diverse cultures and backgrounds. A collective wisdom emerged from these gatherings which we are excited to share with you.

The newborn Inner Transition Circle, which is holding the Conflict Transformation Programme, have invited Eva Schonveld and Nuno Da Silva to share their learnings from the Coming Down to Earth Summit as part of the **Training for Transition Webinar series**.

Join us for an inquiry into what it means to navigate and transform the tensions in our human relationships during a time of great uncertainty and major changes. Tensions and conflicts can increase when we find ourselves amidst multiple systems collapse. The summit was an opportunity to let go of habits and maps that no longer serve us, explore diverse perspectives, and discover practices that nurture the capacity to approach tensions and conflicts in our lives in healthier ways. Can we meet the challenges of these times from a place of curiosity, compassion and courage? Opening up possibilities for more healthy and regenerative relationships, collaborations and cultures to emerge?

**Register here** – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Future Dates**

Shared Governance & Consent Based Decision Making  
February 18th – 15:00 to 17:00 UTC

Inner Transition  
March 4th – 15:00 to 17:00 – UTC

Thrive  
March 18th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC

Resilient Economy  
April 8th – 15:00 to17:00 UTC

**Language:** We will use English as the main working language/s for this event. You will be asked about language needs on registration and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation.

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**More information at training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

*Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português*

This series is a step towards the development of a lively community of practice for trainers and facilitators. The 6 webinars will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global Transition movement.

(You can use this [tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

**Conflict Transformation** 
**February 4th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/https-_cdn.evbuc_.com_images_124197161_3498819486_1_original.20210126-120155.jpg)

Tensions and conflicts are a part of human life. Relational and group conflicts are alive in many levels within the Transition movement and beyond. We can sometimes observe and feel pain and frustration at how amazing projects and people do not manage to fully manifest their dreams of creating a caring life, social justice, cultural diversity, regenerative education etc. due to the presence of unresolved tensions and conflicts. Tending these areas is an important aspect of *Caring for our Interbeingness*.

In late 2018, the Hubs Heart Circle asked a team of transitioners to develop a Transformative Conflict Programme to help explore and navigate the topic of conflict transformation. This inspired last year’s [Coming Down to Earth Summit](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – where 3000 participants from all continents, and more than 80 countries, were invited to reimagine the ways we understand and respond to conflict. It was very touching to witness and experience the field of trust, vulnerability and openness that was built among participants who had never met, and who were sharing from across diverse cultures and backgrounds. A collective wisdom emerged from these gatherings which we are excited to share with you.

The newborn Inner Transition Circle, which is holding the Conflict Transformation Programme, have invited Eva Schonveld and Nuno Da Silva to share their learnings from the Coming Down to Earth Summit as part of the **Training for Transition Webinar series**.

Join us for an inquiry into what it means to navigate and transform the tensions in our human relationships during a time of great uncertainty and major changes. Tensions and conflicts can increase when we find ourselves amidst multiple systems collapse. The summit was an opportunity to let go of habits and maps that no longer serve us, explore diverse perspectives, and discover practices that nurture the capacity to approach tensions and conflicts in our lives in healthier ways. Can we meet the challenges of these times from a place of curiosity, compassion and courage? Opening up possibilities for more healthy and regenerative relationships, collaborations and cultures to emerge?

**Register here** – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Future Dates**

Shared Governance & Consent Based Decision Making  
February 18th – 15:00 to 17:00 UTC

Inner Transition  
March 4th – 15:00 to 17:00 – UTC

Thrive  
March 18th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC

Resilient Economy  
April 8th – 15:00 to17:00 UTC

**Language:** We will use English as the main working language/s for this event. You will be asked about language needs on registration and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation.

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**More information at training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Educadores para la Transición: Transformación del Conflicto**

El segundo de una serie de webinarios para formadores, facilitadores y miembros de los Hubs/Nodos de Transición, compartiendo buenas prácticas e ideas innovadoras.

Esta serie es un paso hacia el desarrollo de una viva comunidad de práctica para formadores y facilitadores. Los 6 seminarios web mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de oportunidades de formación/aprendizaje de todo el movimiento global de Transición.

(Puedes utilizar [esta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región)

**Transformación del Conflicto** 
**4 de febrero – 18:00 a 20:00 UTC**

Tensiones y conflictos forman parte de la vida humana. Conflictos relacionales y grupales están vivos en muchos niveles dentro del movimiento de Transición y más allá. En ocasiones somos testigos, sintiendo dolor y frustración, al ver cómo proyectos y personas increíbles no consiguen manifestar plenamente sus sueños de crear una vida solidaria, justicia social, diversidad cultural, educación regenerativa, y más, debido a la presencia de tensiones y conflictos no resueltos. Poner nuestra atención en este tema es significativo para poder Cuidar nuestra Interdependencia.

A finales de 2018, el Círculo Corazón de los Hubs pidió a un equipo de transicioner@s que desarrollara un Programa de Transformación de Conflictos para ayudar a explorar y navegar en estos temas. Esto inspiró el año pasado la [Cumbre Bajando a la Tierra](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – donde 3000 participantes de todos los continentes, y más de 80 países, fueron invitados a reimaginar las formas en que entendemos y respondemos al conflicto. Fue muy conmovedor presenciar y experimentar el campo social de la confianza, la vulnerabilidad y la apertura que se construyó entre personas que nunca se habían conocido, y que compartían desde diversas culturas e historias de vida. De estos encuentros surgió una sabiduría colectiva que nos inspira mucho compartir con ustedes.

El recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior, actual sostenedor del Programa de Transformación del Conflicto, cordialmente invita a Eva Schonveld y Nuno Da Silva a compartir sus aprendizajes de la Cumbre Bajando a la Tierra como parte de la serie de Webinarios de Educación para la Transición.

Únete a esta indagación sobre lo que significa navegar y transformar las tensiones en nuestras relaciones humanas durante esta época de gran incertidumbre y grandes cambios. Las tensiones y los conflictos pueden aumentar cuando nos encontramos en medio del colapso sistémico múltiple. La cumbre fue una oportunidad para soltar hábitos y mapas que ya no nos sirven, explorar diversas perspectivas y descubrir prácticas que alimenten la capacidad de abordar las tensiones y los conflictos en nuestras vidas de forma más saludable. ¿Podemos afrontar los retos de estos tiempos desde un lugar de curiosidad, compasión y coraje? ¿Abrirnos a múltiples posibilidades para que surjan relaciones, colaboraciones y culturas más saludables y regenerativas?

Inscríbete aquí – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Fechas futuras**

Gobernanza compartida y Toma de decisiones en Consentimiento  
18 de febrero – 15:00 a 17:00 UTC

Transición Interior  
4 de marzo – 15:00 a 17:00 – UTC

Prosperar  
18 de marzo – 18:00 a 20:00 UTC

Economía resiliente  
8 de abril – 15:00 a 17:00 UTC

Idioma: Utilizaremos el inglés como idioma principal de trabajo para este evento. Se te preguntará por sus necesidades lingüísticas al inscribirte y haremos todo lo posible por responder con una autoorganización creativa.

Reconocemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Los horarios propuestos reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y de los posibles presentadores de los estudios de caso. Para aquellos que se encuentren en otras zonas horarias, o que quisieran ofrecer un webinario sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de caso, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Puedes utilizarlo para organizar tu propio encuentro sobre el tema. Nos encantaría conocer tu opinión si optas por esta opción.

Más información en training \[@\] [transitionnetwork.org](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

*Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português*

This series is a step towards the development of a lively community of practice for trainers and facilitators. The 6 webinars will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global Transition movement.

(You can use this [tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

**Conflict Transformation** 
**February 4th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC**

![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/https-_cdn.evbuc_.com_images_124197161_3498819486_1_original.20210126-120155.jpg)

Tensions and conflicts are a part of human life. Relational and group conflicts are alive in many levels within the Transition movement and beyond. We can sometimes observe and feel pain and frustration at how amazing projects and people do not manage to fully manifest their dreams of creating a caring life, social justice, cultural diversity, regenerative education etc. due to the presence of unresolved tensions and conflicts. Tending these areas is an important aspect of *Caring for our Interbeingness*.

In late 2018, the Hubs Heart Circle asked a team of transitioners to develop a Transformative Conflict Programme to help explore and navigate the topic of conflict transformation. This inspired last year’s [Coming Down to Earth Summit](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – where 3000 participants from all continents, and more than 80 countries, were invited to reimagine the ways we understand and respond to conflict. It was very touching to witness and experience the field of trust, vulnerability and openness that was built among participants who had never met, and who were sharing from across diverse cultures and backgrounds. A collective wisdom emerged from these gatherings which we are excited to share with you.

The newborn Inner Transition Circle, which is holding the Conflict Transformation Programme, have invited Eva Schonveld and Nuno Da Silva to share their learnings from the Coming Down to Earth Summit as part of the **Training for Transition Webinar series**.

Join us for an inquiry into what it means to navigate and transform the tensions in our human relationships during a time of great uncertainty and major changes. Tensions and conflicts can increase when we find ourselves amidst multiple systems collapse. The summit was an opportunity to let go of habits and maps that no longer serve us, explore diverse perspectives, and discover practices that nurture the capacity to approach tensions and conflicts in our lives in healthier ways. Can we meet the challenges of these times from a place of curiosity, compassion and courage? Opening up possibilities for more healthy and regenerative relationships, collaborations and cultures to emerge?

**Register here** – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Future Dates**

Shared Governance & Consent Based Decision Making  
February 18th – 15:00 to 17:00 UTC

Inner Transition  
March 4th – 15:00 to 17:00 – UTC

Thrive  
March 18th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC

Resilient Economy  
April 8th – 15:00 to17:00 UTC

**Language:** We will use English as the main working language/s for this event. You will be asked about language needs on registration and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation.

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**More information at training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**

**Educadores para la Transición: Transformación del Conflicto**

El segundo de una serie de webinarios para formadores, facilitadores y miembros de los Hubs/Nodos de Transición, compartiendo buenas prácticas e ideas innovadoras.

Esta serie es un paso hacia el desarrollo de una viva comunidad de práctica para formadores y facilitadores. Los 6 seminarios web mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de oportunidades de formación/aprendizaje de todo el movimiento global de Transición.

(Puedes utilizar [esta](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región)

**Transformación del Conflicto** 
**4 de febrero – 18:00 a 20:00 UTC**

Tensiones y conflictos forman parte de la vida humana. Conflictos relacionales y grupales están vivos en muchos niveles dentro del movimiento de Transición y más allá. En ocasiones somos testigos, sintiendo dolor y frustración, al ver cómo proyectos y personas increíbles no consiguen manifestar plenamente sus sueños de crear una vida solidaria, justicia social, diversidad cultural, educación regenerativa, y más, debido a la presencia de tensiones y conflictos no resueltos. Poner nuestra atención en este tema es significativo para poder Cuidar nuestra Interdependencia.

A finales de 2018, el Círculo Corazón de los Hubs pidió a un equipo de transicioner@s que desarrollara un Programa de Transformación de Conflictos para ayudar a explorar y navegar en estos temas. Esto inspiró el año pasado la [Cumbre Bajando a la Tierra](https://www.conflicttransformationsummit.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – donde 3000 participantes de todos los continentes, y más de 80 países, fueron invitados a reimaginar las formas en que entendemos y respondemos al conflicto. Fue muy conmovedor presenciar y experimentar el campo social de la confianza, la vulnerabilidad y la apertura que se construyó entre personas que nunca se habían conocido, y que compartían desde diversas culturas e historias de vida. De estos encuentros surgió una sabiduría colectiva que nos inspira mucho compartir con ustedes.

El recién nacido Círculo de Transición Interior, actual sostenedor del Programa de Transformación del Conflicto, cordialmente invita a Eva Schonveld y Nuno Da Silva a compartir sus aprendizajes de la Cumbre Bajando a la Tierra como parte de la serie de Webinarios de Educación para la Transición.

Únete a esta indagación sobre lo que significa navegar y transformar las tensiones en nuestras relaciones humanas durante esta época de gran incertidumbre y grandes cambios. Las tensiones y los conflictos pueden aumentar cuando nos encontramos en medio del colapso sistémico múltiple. La cumbre fue una oportunidad para soltar hábitos y mapas que ya no nos sirven, explorar diversas perspectivas y descubrir prácticas que alimenten la capacidad de abordar las tensiones y los conflictos en nuestras vidas de forma más saludable. ¿Podemos afrontar los retos de estos tiempos desde un lugar de curiosidad, compasión y coraje? ¿Abrirnos a múltiples posibilidades para que surjan relaciones, colaboraciones y culturas más saludables y regenerativas?

Inscríbete aquí – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Fechas futuras**

Gobernanza compartida y Toma de decisiones en Consentimiento  
18 de febrero – 15:00 a 17:00 UTC

Transición Interior  
4 de marzo – 15:00 a 17:00 – UTC

Prosperar  
18 de marzo – 18:00 a 20:00 UTC

Economía resiliente  
8 de abril – 15:00 a 17:00 UTC

Idioma: Utilizaremos el inglés como idioma principal de trabajo para este evento. Se te preguntará por sus necesidades lingüísticas al inscribirte y haremos todo lo posible por responder con una autoorganización creativa.

Reconocemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Los horarios propuestos reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y de los posibles presentadores de los estudios de caso. Para aquellos que se encuentren en otras zonas horarias, o que quisieran ofrecer un webinario sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de caso, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Puedes utilizarlo para organizar tu propio encuentro sobre el tema. Nos encantaría conocer tu opinión si optas por esta opción.

Más información en training \[@\] [transitionnetwork.org](http://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Caros treinadores, facilitadores e membros do hub,

Após dez meses incubando o renascimento e reenergização de oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem de Transição, ouvindo o movimento e colhendo suas vozes nesta pesquisa, estamos felizes em retornar a você com mais informações e convites para treinadores, facilitadores e Hubs de transição.

Como um primeiro passo para o desenvolvimento de uma comunidade de prática animada para treinadores / facilitadores, iremos hospedar uma série de 6 webinars do final de janeiro ao início de abril. Eles irão apresentar modelos de sucesso e estudos de caso de oportunidades de treinamento / aprendizagem de todo o movimento global de Transição.

Estamos felizes em compartilhar detalhes sobre o segundo webinar, bem como lembrá-los das datas e tópicos dos próximos 4 eventos.

O segundo webinar é nesta quinta-feira, dia 04 de fevereiro de 2021, das 18h às 20h UTC, e o tópico é Transformação de Conflitos: Aprendizagem da Cúpula “*Coming Down to Earth ‘2020\. O Programa de Transformação de Conflitos, parte do recém-nascido Círculo de Transição Interna, está feliz apresentar Eva Schonveld e Nuno Da Silva, co-anfitriões da Cúpula “Coming Down to Earth”*, compartilhando os aprendizados de Transformação de Conflitos que emergiram desta incrível experiência comunitária de um mês, durante junho / julho de 2020\. Estes irão apresentar além dos aprendizados, modelos exitosos de oportunidades de treinamento/aprendizagem, que podem ser úteis em todo o movimento global de Transição.

[REGISTRE-SE AQUI!](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

APRENDIZAGEM PARA A TRANSFORMAÇÃO DE CONFLITO

da Summit “Coming down to Earth” 2020

QUINTA, 4 DE FEVEREIRO DE 2021

18 a 20 horas UTC

Reconhecer tensões e conflitos faz parte da vida humana. Ciente de que os conflitos relacionais e de grupo estão vivos em níveis fractais dentro do Movimento de Transição e além. Presenciando, que muitas vezes, sentindo dor e frustração, tanto projetos incríveis quanto seres humanos ímpares não chegam para manifestar seus sonhos de cuidar da Vida, Justiça Social, Diversidade Cultural, Educação Regenerativa e outros. Em poucas palavras, Cuidando de nossa Interexistência. No final de 2018, o Hubs Heart Circle (HHC) pediu a uma equipe de membros da transição para desenvolver um Programa de Conflito Transformativo (CTP).

Isso inspirou Coming Down to Earth Summit do ano passado – onde 3.000 participantes registrados de todos os continentes e mais de 80 países foram convidados a reimaginar as maneiras como entendemos e respondemos aos conflitos. Foi muito tocante vivenciar o campo de confiança, vulnerabilidade e abertura que foi construído entre pessoas que nunca se viram antes, compartilhando culturas e experiências tão diferentes. Uma sabedoria coletiva emergiu dessas reuniões.

O recém-nascido Círculo de Transição Interna (ITC) que hoje realiza o Programa de Transformação de Conflitos (CTP) está muito feliz em compartilhar com vocês os aprendizados que Eva Schonveld e Nuno Da Silva, co-anfitriões do Summit, estão trazendo para nós neste Treinamento para a Série de Webinars de transição.

Junte-se a nós para uma investigação sobre o que significa ser humano em uma época de grande incerteza e grandes mudanças. As tensões e os conflitos são superados, em meio ao colapso de vários sistemas. Podemos encontrá-los a partir de um lugar de curiosidade, compaixão e coragem, abrindo um campo de possibilidades para o surgimento de culturas mais saudáveis ​​e regenerativas?

Compartilharemos alguns de nossos aprendizados com a o Summit On-line de Transformação de Conflitos “Coming Down to Earth” que ocorreu em junho / julho passado. O evento foi uma oportunidade de abandonar mapas que não correspondem mais ao terreno em que estamos, explorar diversas perspectivas e descobrir práticas que podem estimular a capacidade de abordar tensões e conflitos em nossas vidas de maneiras mais saudáveis ​​e regenerativas.

Você poderá estar conosco nesta conversa?

Obrigado a todos os seres que fazem o“Coming Down to Earth” possível !!

Aqui está um lembrete dos seguintes detalhes dos webinars e do tópico anterior do webinar:

(Você pode usar esta ferramenta para converter para o fuso horário da sua região)

18 de janeiro – Treinamento para a Transição: Lançamento – Diferentemente? – Feito!

18 de fevereiro – Governança Compartilhada e Tomada de Decisão Baseada em Consentimento – 15:00 às 17:00 UTC

4 de março – Transição Interna – 15:00 às 17:00 – UTC

18 de março – Thrive – 18:00 às 20:00 UTC

8 de abril – Economia Resiliente – 15h às 17h UTC

Esta é uma grande oportunidade de conhecer as experiências dos Hubs em todo o mundo, e também de compartilhar suas experiências, conhecer outros treinadores e explorar como responder aos desafios que vivemos hoje com oportunidades de aprendizagem.

Esperamos que este seja um bom começo para nossa comunidade de prática de Trainers for Transition.

Esperamos por você lá!

Idioma: Usaremos o inglês como principal idioma de trabalho para este evento. Você será questionado sobre as necessidades de idioma no registro e faremos o nosso melhor para responder com uma auto-organização criativa.

MUITO IMPORTANTE: reconhecemos que essas datas e horários podem não se adequar a todos os grupos ou fusos horários e pedimos desculpas por isso. Os tempos propostos refletem a disponibilidade dos anfitriões e prováveis ​​apresentadores de estudos de caso. Para aqueles de vocês em outros fusos horários, ou que preferem ter uma discussão sobre esses tópicos em seu próprio idioma, podemos fornecer uma gravação das apresentações do estudo de caso e / ou possivelmente legendas ou uma transcrição traduzida, se necessário. Você pode usar isso para hospedar sua própria discussão sobre o tópico. Gostaríamos muito de ouvir seus comentários se você escolher esse caminho.

Mais informações em training \[@\] transitionetwork.org

Link da Eventbrite: [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-n2-conflict-transformation-learnings-registration-137681377707?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### This Good Earth – film review
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/this-good-earth-film-review/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:22.000Z
Launching today, for online streaming, Rob Hopkins offers a review of *This Good Earth*.

There are many films that look at the crisis facing food and farming globally, and which also look into solutions for these, and other interlinked crises too. But *This Good Earth*, a documentary produced by community activists in Dorset, is something a bit different in that it sets out to explore these bigger questions by focussing on the local scale, and on local farms and farmers.

In the film we meet a variety of local farmers, all of whom have a particular approach to food production, often being very honest about the compromises they have to make, and their recognition that while some of what they do can be considered exemplary, various pressures mean that they often have to also make certain compromises. We learn about the importance of looking after soil, of good farming practice, of maximising biodiversity, of the role of farming in the context of rebuilding local economies. What comes through strongest in all of the film’s interviewees is the depth of love and dedication that many farmers have for their land, and their sense of stewardship for the long term.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/5-up--scaled.jpg)

The film is packed with facts and figures and statistics about food and farming in 2020, such as how there are now 97% less wildflower meadows than there were in World War Two, and that every 100 calories of grain fed to cattle produces just 3 calories of beef. I would have liked to see more referencing of some of these points though, as it would be good for the viewer to be able to follow them up and find out more.

As a tool to engage people and communities in thinking about food and farming in their local area, it is a powerful and fascinating overview that covers a lot of ground in a short time. Part of its value, I think, is in the dirt beneath its fingernails, and in the integrity of its local focus. I feel this would make a great film to show at a public event and to then use it to prompt and open up a conversation about the future of food and farming, possibly an Open Space event or something similar. It might even inspire different parts of the country to make their own versions, capturing the diversity, the complexity, the opportunities that Transition offers to their food and farming sector. To enable our local farmers, often among the most isolated members of a community, to feel celebrated and part of a larger story, is very skilful. Take a look, and then start dreaming of the impactful event you might then build around it.

*This Good Earth* is available for streaming from the film’s website [https://this-good-earth.com](https://this-good-earth.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

There are many films that look at the crisis facing food and farming globally, and which also look into solutions for these, and other interlinked crises too. But *This Good Earth*, a documentary produced by community activists in Dorset, is something a bit different in that it sets out to explore these bigger questions by focussing on the local scale, and on local farms and farmers.

In the film we meet a variety of local farmers, all of whom have a particular approach to food production, often being very honest about the compromises they have to make, and their recognition that while some of what they do can be considered exemplary, various pressures mean that they often have to also make certain compromises. We learn about the importance of looking after soil, of good farming practice, of maximising biodiversity, of the role of farming in the context of rebuilding local economies. What comes through strongest in all of the film’s interviewees is the depth of love and dedication that many farmers have for their land, and their sense of stewardship for the long term.

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/5-up--scaled.jpg)

The film is packed with facts and figures and statistics about food and farming in 2020, such as how there are now 97% less wildflower meadows than there were in World War Two, and that every 100 calories of grain fed to cattle produces just 3 calories of beef. I would have liked to see more referencing of some of these points though, as it would be good for the viewer to be able to follow them up and find out more.

As a tool to engage people and communities in thinking about food and farming in their local area, it is a powerful and fascinating overview that covers a lot of ground in a short time. Part of its value, I think, is in the dirt beneath its fingernails, and in the integrity of its local focus. I feel this would make a great film to show at a public event and to then use it to prompt and open up a conversation about the future of food and farming, possibly an Open Space event or something similar. It might even inspire different parts of the country to make their own versions, capturing the diversity, the complexity, the opportunities that Transition offers to their food and farming sector. To enable our local farmers, often among the most isolated members of a community, to feel celebrated and part of a larger story, is very skilful. Take a look, and then start dreaming of the impactful event you might then build around it.

*This Good Earth* is available for streaming from the film’s website [https://this-good-earth.com](https://this-good-earth.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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### Training for Transition: Launch – Differently?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-for-transition-launch-differently/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:23.000Z
**The first in a series of webinars for Transition trainers, facilitators and Hubs representatives to share practice and ideas.**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), we are happy to return to you with more information and invitation for Trainers, Facilitators and [Transition Hubs](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As a first step towards the development of a lively community of practice for trainers/facilitators, we will host a series of 6 webinars from late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global Transition movement.

(You can use this [tool](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to convert to the time zone in your region)

**Transition Launch**  
**January 21st – 15:00 to 17:00 UTC**  

![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/https-_cdn.evbuc_.com_images_123231861_3498819486_1_original.20210115-120738.jpg)

The Brazilian Community of Practice, presented by Isabela Menezes and Monica Picavea, will share how a Transition Launch online course with 10 modules emerged, after the suspension of in-person training because of COVID-19\. From the United States Hub, Don Hall will share the success of Regenerative Leadership project.

This is a great opportunity to know about both Hubs experiences, Brazilian and USA, and also to share your experiences, meet other trainers and explore how to respond to the challenges we are living today with learning opportunities.

**Register here – [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/training-for-transition-launch-differently-tickets-136936912993](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/training-for-transition-launch-differently-tickets-136936912993?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)**

**Future Dates**

Conflict Transformation  
February 4th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC

Shared Governance & Consent Based Decision Making  
February 18th – 15:00 to 17:00 UTC

Inner Transition  
March 4th – 15:00 to 17:00 – UTC

Thrive  
March 18th – 18:00 to 20:00 UTC

Resilient Economy  
April 8th – 15:00 to17:00 UTC

**Language:** We will use English as the main working language/s for this event. You will be asked about language needs on registration and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation.

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**More information at training \[@\] transitionnetwork.org**
### The Hardest Work Can Be a Blessing: Grief Work in Transition
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/all-things-mortal/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:24.000Z
##### **By Kaat Vander Straeten (Transition Wayland), originally published by Transition US in December 2020.**

  
*This story is part of a series developed in [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ Stories to Action phase of their year-long national campaign, [From What Is to What If: Reimagining and Rebuilding Our World](https://www.transitionus.org/whatif/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In this campaign, Transition US is inviting (through May of 2021) community resilience-building initiatives all over the country to share inspiring stories. Transition US is curating a collection of stories of innovative, successful, and replicable projects that have furthered the causes of sustainability, justice, cooperation, and regeneration in neighborhoods, towns and cities, states, and regions throughout the U.S.*

There are two stories here, interwoven: the story of a project called “All Things Mortal,” and the story of the dying and funeral of our friend and colleague in Transition. They are two sides of the same coin, like life and death, and joy and grief. Neither one would have happened the way they did if it hadn’t been for Transition.

Rebecca had only just moved to our town when she came to our screening of “In Transition 2.0.” Our Initiative, Transition Wayland, is featured in that documentary, so we made a big deal of it. We asked high school students to record interviews afterward, and one of those is with Rebecca. Her red curls bouncing around, she is telling the camera she will show up. And so she did, a week later, at our next core group meeting.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1-261x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Rebecca, beloved member of Transition Wayland

She instantly became a prime schemer. She opened her energy-efficient home for Earth Day tours, helped design and plant a permaculture garden, picked up a truckload of totes for rainwater catchment all over town, wrote opinion pieces for our local paper… It still surprises us that we did so much together over just two years.

One of her special contributions to transitioning our town was in Inner Work. She created a program called *All Things Mortal*, with gatherings to talk about death and presentations and workshops on home funerals and green burial.

When she and I proposed *All Things Mortal* to our core group, everyone else balked. They thought it would make our group look “crazy”. They argued that that kind of work is not Transition work – that Transition work is climate change, and energy efficiency. That it is too depressing not community building at all.

We spent a couple of hours unpacking all of this. Though in the end not all were persuaded that this kind of work is perhaps the most fundamental part of our mission, all gave the “safe enough to try” all-clear, and we went to work.

With light-hearted invitations to “Coffee and Cake Death Cafe” (the image has a crow pecking away at the cake), we touched those who were already questioning our dominant culture’s take on dying and death, but who were having to do it in isolation. We created a safe space for them to talk, to hear from others. With workshops on home funerals, we gave people practical resources for putting their desires for a “good death” into practice. We connected them to one another for support. With articles in the local press about these gatherings we opened many a mind to a different way of relating to what is. We also educated local officials, who are needed to make a home funeral happen.

None of these people had connected to our Transition work before then. It was a great culture work to forge our courage, imagination, and community for the hardest of times. That hard time came too soon for us, when a couple of months later, and a mere two years after we first met, Rebecca was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Within two weeks she was no longer really with us, in mind. Because of *All Things Mortal* our group knew her wishes: to die at home, have a home funeral, and a green burial. She had not yet shared this with her older friends and her daughter, so we became her gentle advocates.

Then, for ten months, we took on part of her care, carrying out all the practical things, like grocery shopping, that were needed for her to remain at home. We visited daily, weeded her garden, walked her dog. Her house always had a string of cars and bikes parked up front.

In the few times when she was lucid, she told us that this was what she wanted – not just for herself, but for us, her friends, and for the community at large. She put it that this was the work of a true elder, teaching us: One day, this will be you, this will be everyone you love. This is why you love them. Stay close – don’t turn away. Watch closely. Spread the word. Weave the web of community around it.

We did just that, in that order. First: stay close, watch closely. Around her, our friendly Transition core team became close friends. Facing personal catastrophe, we had to face our own demons and did so together. We also faced a serious drain on our time and resources, a sudden shift in what we thought our work was, but we were resilient and adaptive, and we dropped most of our outward-facing projects.

Rebecca saw this, and after a few months she presented us with a challenge, the challenge that would make us spread the word, weave the web. She asked us to build her coffin.

Every time I think of it, it takes my breath away how clever she was! She specified a plain box from local white pine and no metal. She knew, of course, that none of us knew a jig from a reel. So she knew we would have to ask for help, open up again. Enough self-sufficiency! Community!

  
*This story is part of a series developed in [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ Stories to Action phase of their year-long national campaign, [From What Is to What If: Reimagining and Rebuilding Our World](https://www.transitionus.org/whatif/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In this campaign, Transition US is inviting (through May of 2021) community resilience-building initiatives all over the country to share inspiring stories. Transition US is curating a collection of stories of innovative, successful, and replicable projects that have furthered the causes of sustainability, justice, cooperation, and regeneration in neighborhoods, towns and cities, states, and regions throughout the U.S.*

There are two stories here, interwoven: the story of a project called “All Things Mortal,” and the story of the dying and funeral of our friend and colleague in Transition. They are two sides of the same coin, like life and death, and joy and grief. Neither one would have happened the way they did if it hadn’t been for Transition.

Rebecca had only just moved to our town when she came to our screening of “In Transition 2.0.” Our Initiative, Transition Wayland, is featured in that documentary, so we made a big deal of it. We asked high school students to record interviews afterward, and one of those is with Rebecca. Her red curls bouncing around, she is telling the camera she will show up. And so she did, a week later, at our next core group meeting.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1-261x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Rebecca, beloved member of Transition Wayland

She instantly became a prime schemer. She opened her energy-efficient home for Earth Day tours, helped design and plant a permaculture garden, picked up a truckload of totes for rainwater catchment all over town, wrote opinion pieces for our local paper… It still surprises us that we did so much together over just two years.

One of her special contributions to transitioning our town was in Inner Work. She created a program called *All Things Mortal*, with gatherings to talk about death and presentations and workshops on home funerals and green burial.

When she and I proposed *All Things Mortal* to our core group, everyone else balked. They thought it would make our group look “crazy”. They argued that that kind of work is not Transition work – that Transition work is climate change, and energy efficiency. That it is too depressing not community building at all.

We spent a couple of hours unpacking all of this. Though in the end not all were persuaded that this kind of work is perhaps the most fundamental part of our mission, all gave the “safe enough to try” all-clear, and we went to work.

With light-hearted invitations to “Coffee and Cake Death Cafe” (the image has a crow pecking away at the cake), we touched those who were already questioning our dominant culture’s take on dying and death, but who were having to do it in isolation. We created a safe space for them to talk, to hear from others. With workshops on home funerals, we gave people practical resources for putting their desires for a “good death” into practice. We connected them to one another for support. With articles in the local press about these gatherings we opened many a mind to a different way of relating to what is. We also educated local officials, who are needed to make a home funeral happen.

None of these people had connected to our Transition work before then. It was a great culture work to forge our courage, imagination, and community for the hardest of times. That hard time came too soon for us, when a couple of months later, and a mere two years after we first met, Rebecca was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Within two weeks she was no longer really with us, in mind. Because of *All Things Mortal* our group knew her wishes: to die at home, have a home funeral, and a green burial. She had not yet shared this with her older friends and her daughter, so we became her gentle advocates.

Then, for ten months, we took on part of her care, carrying out all the practical things, like grocery shopping, that were needed for her to remain at home. We visited daily, weeded her garden, walked her dog. Her house always had a string of cars and bikes parked up front.

In the few times when she was lucid, she told us that this was what she wanted – not just for herself, but for us, her friends, and for the community at large. She put it that this was the work of a true elder, teaching us: One day, this will be you, this will be everyone you love. This is why you love them. Stay close – don’t turn away. Watch closely. Spread the word. Weave the web of community around it.

We did just that, in that order. First: stay close, watch closely. Around her, our friendly Transition core team became close friends. Facing personal catastrophe, we had to face our own demons and did so together. We also faced a serious drain on our time and resources, a sudden shift in what we thought our work was, but we were resilient and adaptive, and we dropped most of our outward-facing projects.

Rebecca saw this, and after a few months she presented us with a challenge, the challenge that would make us spread the word, weave the web. She asked us to build her coffin.

Every time I think of it, it takes my breath away how clever she was! She specified a plain box from local white pine and no metal. She knew, of course, that none of us knew a jig from a reel. So she knew we would have to ask for help, open up again. Enough self-sufficiency! Community!

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Kaat-group1-1-300x225-1.jpg

  
*This story is part of a series developed in [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ Stories to Action phase of their year-long national campaign, [From What Is to What If: Reimagining and Rebuilding Our World](https://www.transitionus.org/whatif/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In this campaign, Transition US is inviting (through May of 2021) community resilience-building initiatives all over the country to share inspiring stories. Transition US is curating a collection of stories of innovative, successful, and replicable projects that have furthered the causes of sustainability, justice, cooperation, and regeneration in neighborhoods, towns and cities, states, and regions throughout the U.S.*

There are two stories here, interwoven: the story of a project called “All Things Mortal,” and the story of the dying and funeral of our friend and colleague in Transition. They are two sides of the same coin, like life and death, and joy and grief. Neither one would have happened the way they did if it hadn’t been for Transition.

Rebecca had only just moved to our town when she came to our screening of “In Transition 2.0.” Our Initiative, Transition Wayland, is featured in that documentary, so we made a big deal of it. We asked high school students to record interviews afterward, and one of those is with Rebecca. Her red curls bouncing around, she is telling the camera she will show up. And so she did, a week later, at our next core group meeting.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1-261x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Rebecca, beloved member of Transition Wayland

She instantly became a prime schemer. She opened her energy-efficient home for Earth Day tours, helped design and plant a permaculture garden, picked up a truckload of totes for rainwater catchment all over town, wrote opinion pieces for our local paper… It still surprises us that we did so much together over just two years.

One of her special contributions to transitioning our town was in Inner Work. She created a program called *All Things Mortal*, with gatherings to talk about death and presentations and workshops on home funerals and green burial.

When she and I proposed *All Things Mortal* to our core group, everyone else balked. They thought it would make our group look “crazy”. They argued that that kind of work is not Transition work – that Transition work is climate change, and energy efficiency. That it is too depressing not community building at all.

We spent a couple of hours unpacking all of this. Though in the end not all were persuaded that this kind of work is perhaps the most fundamental part of our mission, all gave the “safe enough to try” all-clear, and we went to work.

With light-hearted invitations to “Coffee and Cake Death Cafe” (the image has a crow pecking away at the cake), we touched those who were already questioning our dominant culture’s take on dying and death, but who were having to do it in isolation. We created a safe space for them to talk, to hear from others. With workshops on home funerals, we gave people practical resources for putting their desires for a “good death” into practice. We connected them to one another for support. With articles in the local press about these gatherings we opened many a mind to a different way of relating to what is. We also educated local officials, who are needed to make a home funeral happen.

None of these people had connected to our Transition work before then. It was a great culture work to forge our courage, imagination, and community for the hardest of times. That hard time came too soon for us, when a couple of months later, and a mere two years after we first met, Rebecca was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Within two weeks she was no longer really with us, in mind. Because of *All Things Mortal* our group knew her wishes: to die at home, have a home funeral, and a green burial. She had not yet shared this with her older friends and her daughter, so we became her gentle advocates.

Then, for ten months, we took on part of her care, carrying out all the practical things, like grocery shopping, that were needed for her to remain at home. We visited daily, weeded her garden, walked her dog. Her house always had a string of cars and bikes parked up front.

In the few times when she was lucid, she told us that this was what she wanted – not just for herself, but for us, her friends, and for the community at large. She put it that this was the work of a true elder, teaching us: One day, this will be you, this will be everyone you love. This is why you love them. Stay close – don’t turn away. Watch closely. Spread the word. Weave the web of community around it.

We did just that, in that order. First: stay close, watch closely. Around her, our friendly Transition core team became close friends. Facing personal catastrophe, we had to face our own demons and did so together. We also faced a serious drain on our time and resources, a sudden shift in what we thought our work was, but we were resilient and adaptive, and we dropped most of our outward-facing projects.

Rebecca saw this, and after a few months she presented us with a challenge, the challenge that would make us spread the word, weave the web. She asked us to build her coffin.

Every time I think of it, it takes my breath away how clever she was! She specified a plain box from local white pine and no metal. She knew, of course, that none of us knew a jig from a reel. So she knew we would have to ask for help, open up again. Enough self-sufficiency! Community!

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Kaat-group1-1-300x225-1.jpg

A friend of a friend offered his woodworking shop, a local carpenter volunteered to help with all that dovetailing. Others sourced and donated the pine boards, the glue. We had the use of the shop for three very intense days during which we built the coffin. Some of us were there from early morning till late evening. Tom, the carpenter who had never even met Rebecca but was simply blown away by what we were doing, put in the most time. The news spread. The shop was in the middle of town, and people started popping by to give what they could: a helping hand, encouragement and advice, a blessing, lunch, and snacks. In the end, twenty-one people lovingly sawed, sanded, glued, even just touched that box, and made it beautiful.

Beautiful too were all the stories that were told around it as it came together. People came and told us stories about Rebecca – how she always volunteered at the polls, helped her neighborhood deal with a gun range controversy, and old friends told us about her many lives before she moved to Wayland.

We also shared stories from a time when this kind of thing – dying at home, communal coffin building, a home wake – was common, and we wondered how it had turned into a taboo. There were hard stories of awful dying and hard stories of good dying. After a while, we began to share how we would like to go ourselves. We laughed a lot. Always there was the work, with our hands and hammers and chisels and the smell of wood shavings and glue.

From the shop, we fanned out to visit the town’s health department, town clerk, police chief, and the cemetery director. We talked with them about what was happening, that we would have a home funeral, and how they had to help us with the unfamiliar paperwork and permits for the transport and the burial. All of this was new to them too, but they were all open-minded, appreciative, helpful – after all, they knew and loved Rebecca.

Ostensibly we had put *All Things Mortal* on the back burner, but in reality, the work of changing the culture of dying and death continued as we planned the first home funeral in our town in a long time. The story of the home funeral is a different story, more private. Let me just say that, unasked, the Police Chief sent patrol cars to escort our funeral caravan, the minivan with the coffin upfront, and the cemetery director allowed us to fill the grave ourselves.

  
*This story is part of a series developed in [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ Stories to Action phase of their year-long national campaign, [From What Is to What If: Reimagining and Rebuilding Our World](https://www.transitionus.org/whatif/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In this campaign, Transition US is inviting (through May of 2021) community resilience-building initiatives all over the country to share inspiring stories. Transition US is curating a collection of stories of innovative, successful, and replicable projects that have furthered the causes of sustainability, justice, cooperation, and regeneration in neighborhoods, towns and cities, states, and regions throughout the U.S.*

There are two stories here, interwoven: the story of a project called “All Things Mortal,” and the story of the dying and funeral of our friend and colleague in Transition. They are two sides of the same coin, like life and death, and joy and grief. Neither one would have happened the way they did if it hadn’t been for Transition.

Rebecca had only just moved to our town when she came to our screening of “In Transition 2.0.” Our Initiative, Transition Wayland, is featured in that documentary, so we made a big deal of it. We asked high school students to record interviews afterward, and one of those is with Rebecca. Her red curls bouncing around, she is telling the camera she will show up. And so she did, a week later, at our next core group meeting.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1-261x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Rebecca, beloved member of Transition Wayland

She instantly became a prime schemer. She opened her energy-efficient home for Earth Day tours, helped design and plant a permaculture garden, picked up a truckload of totes for rainwater catchment all over town, wrote opinion pieces for our local paper… It still surprises us that we did so much together over just two years.

One of her special contributions to transitioning our town was in Inner Work. She created a program called *All Things Mortal*, with gatherings to talk about death and presentations and workshops on home funerals and green burial.

When she and I proposed *All Things Mortal* to our core group, everyone else balked. They thought it would make our group look “crazy”. They argued that that kind of work is not Transition work – that Transition work is climate change, and energy efficiency. That it is too depressing not community building at all.

We spent a couple of hours unpacking all of this. Though in the end not all were persuaded that this kind of work is perhaps the most fundamental part of our mission, all gave the “safe enough to try” all-clear, and we went to work.

With light-hearted invitations to “Coffee and Cake Death Cafe” (the image has a crow pecking away at the cake), we touched those who were already questioning our dominant culture’s take on dying and death, but who were having to do it in isolation. We created a safe space for them to talk, to hear from others. With workshops on home funerals, we gave people practical resources for putting their desires for a “good death” into practice. We connected them to one another for support. With articles in the local press about these gatherings we opened many a mind to a different way of relating to what is. We also educated local officials, who are needed to make a home funeral happen.

None of these people had connected to our Transition work before then. It was a great culture work to forge our courage, imagination, and community for the hardest of times. That hard time came too soon for us, when a couple of months later, and a mere two years after we first met, Rebecca was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Within two weeks she was no longer really with us, in mind. Because of *All Things Mortal* our group knew her wishes: to die at home, have a home funeral, and a green burial. She had not yet shared this with her older friends and her daughter, so we became her gentle advocates.

Then, for ten months, we took on part of her care, carrying out all the practical things, like grocery shopping, that were needed for her to remain at home. We visited daily, weeded her garden, walked her dog. Her house always had a string of cars and bikes parked up front.

In the few times when she was lucid, she told us that this was what she wanted – not just for herself, but for us, her friends, and for the community at large. She put it that this was the work of a true elder, teaching us: One day, this will be you, this will be everyone you love. This is why you love them. Stay close – don’t turn away. Watch closely. Spread the word. Weave the web of community around it.

We did just that, in that order. First: stay close, watch closely. Around her, our friendly Transition core team became close friends. Facing personal catastrophe, we had to face our own demons and did so together. We also faced a serious drain on our time and resources, a sudden shift in what we thought our work was, but we were resilient and adaptive, and we dropped most of our outward-facing projects.

Rebecca saw this, and after a few months she presented us with a challenge, the challenge that would make us spread the word, weave the web. She asked us to build her coffin.

Every time I think of it, it takes my breath away how clever she was! She specified a plain box from local white pine and no metal. She knew, of course, that none of us knew a jig from a reel. So she knew we would have to ask for help, open up again. Enough self-sufficiency! Community!

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Kaat-group1-1-300x225-1.jpg

A friend of a friend offered his woodworking shop, a local carpenter volunteered to help with all that dovetailing. Others sourced and donated the pine boards, the glue. We had the use of the shop for three very intense days during which we built the coffin. Some of us were there from early morning till late evening. Tom, the carpenter who had never even met Rebecca but was simply blown away by what we were doing, put in the most time. The news spread. The shop was in the middle of town, and people started popping by to give what they could: a helping hand, encouragement and advice, a blessing, lunch, and snacks. In the end, twenty-one people lovingly sawed, sanded, glued, even just touched that box, and made it beautiful.

Beautiful too were all the stories that were told around it as it came together. People came and told us stories about Rebecca – how she always volunteered at the polls, helped her neighborhood deal with a gun range controversy, and old friends told us about her many lives before she moved to Wayland.

We also shared stories from a time when this kind of thing – dying at home, communal coffin building, a home wake – was common, and we wondered how it had turned into a taboo. There were hard stories of awful dying and hard stories of good dying. After a while, we began to share how we would like to go ourselves. We laughed a lot. Always there was the work, with our hands and hammers and chisels and the smell of wood shavings and glue.

From the shop, we fanned out to visit the town’s health department, town clerk, police chief, and the cemetery director. We talked with them about what was happening, that we would have a home funeral, and how they had to help us with the unfamiliar paperwork and permits for the transport and the burial. All of this was new to them too, but they were all open-minded, appreciative, helpful – after all, they knew and loved Rebecca.

Ostensibly we had put *All Things Mortal* on the back burner, but in reality, the work of changing the culture of dying and death continued as we planned the first home funeral in our town in a long time. The story of the home funeral is a different story, more private. Let me just say that, unasked, the Police Chief sent patrol cars to escort our funeral caravan, the minivan with the coffin upfront, and the cemetery director allowed us to fill the grave ourselves.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/casket-1024x765-1.jpg

  
*This story is part of a series developed in [Transition US](https://www.transitionus.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ Stories to Action phase of their year-long national campaign, [From What Is to What If: Reimagining and Rebuilding Our World](https://www.transitionus.org/whatif/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). In this campaign, Transition US is inviting (through May of 2021) community resilience-building initiatives all over the country to share inspiring stories. Transition US is curating a collection of stories of innovative, successful, and replicable projects that have furthered the causes of sustainability, justice, cooperation, and regeneration in neighborhoods, towns and cities, states, and regions throughout the U.S.*

There are two stories here, interwoven: the story of a project called “All Things Mortal,” and the story of the dying and funeral of our friend and colleague in Transition. They are two sides of the same coin, like life and death, and joy and grief. Neither one would have happened the way they did if it hadn’t been for Transition.

Rebecca had only just moved to our town when she came to our screening of “In Transition 2.0.” Our Initiative, Transition Wayland, is featured in that documentary, so we made a big deal of it. We asked high school students to record interviews afterward, and one of those is with Rebecca. Her red curls bouncing around, she is telling the camera she will show up. And so she did, a week later, at our next core group meeting.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1-261x300.jpg)](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/rebecca-e1607363506626-890x1024-1.jpg?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Rebecca, beloved member of Transition Wayland

She instantly became a prime schemer. She opened her energy-efficient home for Earth Day tours, helped design and plant a permaculture garden, picked up a truckload of totes for rainwater catchment all over town, wrote opinion pieces for our local paper… It still surprises us that we did so much together over just two years.

One of her special contributions to transitioning our town was in Inner Work. She created a program called *All Things Mortal*, with gatherings to talk about death and presentations and workshops on home funerals and green burial.

When she and I proposed *All Things Mortal* to our core group, everyone else balked. They thought it would make our group look “crazy”. They argued that that kind of work is not Transition work – that Transition work is climate change, and energy efficiency. That it is too depressing not community building at all.

We spent a couple of hours unpacking all of this. Though in the end not all were persuaded that this kind of work is perhaps the most fundamental part of our mission, all gave the “safe enough to try” all-clear, and we went to work.

With light-hearted invitations to “Coffee and Cake Death Cafe” (the image has a crow pecking away at the cake), we touched those who were already questioning our dominant culture’s take on dying and death, but who were having to do it in isolation. We created a safe space for them to talk, to hear from others. With workshops on home funerals, we gave people practical resources for putting their desires for a “good death” into practice. We connected them to one another for support. With articles in the local press about these gatherings we opened many a mind to a different way of relating to what is. We also educated local officials, who are needed to make a home funeral happen.

None of these people had connected to our Transition work before then. It was a great culture work to forge our courage, imagination, and community for the hardest of times. That hard time came too soon for us, when a couple of months later, and a mere two years after we first met, Rebecca was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Within two weeks she was no longer really with us, in mind. Because of *All Things Mortal* our group knew her wishes: to die at home, have a home funeral, and a green burial. She had not yet shared this with her older friends and her daughter, so we became her gentle advocates.

Then, for ten months, we took on part of her care, carrying out all the practical things, like grocery shopping, that were needed for her to remain at home. We visited daily, weeded her garden, walked her dog. Her house always had a string of cars and bikes parked up front.

In the few times when she was lucid, she told us that this was what she wanted – not just for herself, but for us, her friends, and for the community at large. She put it that this was the work of a true elder, teaching us: One day, this will be you, this will be everyone you love. This is why you love them. Stay close – don’t turn away. Watch closely. Spread the word. Weave the web of community around it.

We did just that, in that order. First: stay close, watch closely. Around her, our friendly Transition core team became close friends. Facing personal catastrophe, we had to face our own demons and did so together. We also faced a serious drain on our time and resources, a sudden shift in what we thought our work was, but we were resilient and adaptive, and we dropped most of our outward-facing projects.

Rebecca saw this, and after a few months she presented us with a challenge, the challenge that would make us spread the word, weave the web. She asked us to build her coffin.

Every time I think of it, it takes my breath away how clever she was! She specified a plain box from local white pine and no metal. She knew, of course, that none of us knew a jig from a reel. So she knew we would have to ask for help, open up again. Enough self-sufficiency! Community!

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Kaat-group1-1-300x225-1.jpg

A friend of a friend offered his woodworking shop, a local carpenter volunteered to help with all that dovetailing. Others sourced and donated the pine boards, the glue. We had the use of the shop for three very intense days during which we built the coffin. Some of us were there from early morning till late evening. Tom, the carpenter who had never even met Rebecca but was simply blown away by what we were doing, put in the most time. The news spread. The shop was in the middle of town, and people started popping by to give what they could: a helping hand, encouragement and advice, a blessing, lunch, and snacks. In the end, twenty-one people lovingly sawed, sanded, glued, even just touched that box, and made it beautiful.

Beautiful too were all the stories that were told around it as it came together. People came and told us stories about Rebecca – how she always volunteered at the polls, helped her neighborhood deal with a gun range controversy, and old friends told us about her many lives before she moved to Wayland.

We also shared stories from a time when this kind of thing – dying at home, communal coffin building, a home wake – was common, and we wondered how it had turned into a taboo. There were hard stories of awful dying and hard stories of good dying. After a while, we began to share how we would like to go ourselves. We laughed a lot. Always there was the work, with our hands and hammers and chisels and the smell of wood shavings and glue.

From the shop, we fanned out to visit the town’s health department, town clerk, police chief, and the cemetery director. We talked with them about what was happening, that we would have a home funeral, and how they had to help us with the unfamiliar paperwork and permits for the transport and the burial. All of this was new to them too, but they were all open-minded, appreciative, helpful – after all, they knew and loved Rebecca.

Ostensibly we had put *All Things Mortal* on the back burner, but in reality, the work of changing the culture of dying and death continued as we planned the first home funeral in our town in a long time. The story of the home funeral is a different story, more private. Let me just say that, unasked, the Police Chief sent patrol cars to escort our funeral caravan, the minivan with the coffin upfront, and the cemetery director allowed us to fill the grave ourselves.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/casket-1024x765-1.jpg

Many months after we buried Rebecca, someone I didn’t know approached me at the grocery store and asked: “Were you in that group that built that coffin?”

This story is still a story of our town. It is a legend.

Rebecca came to us and we had years together thanks to Transition. The Transition mindset of openness, courageous experimentation, and resilience allows us to do and share the most difficult and rewarding work. And the Transition lifestyle has the depth and width to embrace the wide range of personal, intimate grief to group friendship to community learning.

It is nothing less than a blessing.
### Bouncing Forward with seed funding grants in England
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/seed-funding-grants-in-england/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:25.000Z
*Thanks to National Lottery Players and* [*The National Lottery Community Fund*](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*£140,000 is to be distributed to 112 Transition projects across England through our [Transition: Bounce Forward project.](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)*

In these difficult times we’re delighted to be able to share a moment of celebration. These grants will enable a large number of Transition groups to stay afloat and launch new projects in response to the impacts of Covid-19.

The pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability and inequality experienced by many people in our communities, and at the same time it has demonstrated the potential for major and swift changes to reframe the purposes of our economy and our society.

In September we were awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to support Transition groups across England to ‘bounce forward’ from Covid-19\. In true Transition style our vision was not to ‘bounce back’ to how things were before, but to build on the vision of a better future that Transition groups have been crafting for over a decade. To ‘bounce forward’ from the Covid-19 crisis and create more resilient, sustainable and equal communities.

We were overwhelmed with hundreds of brilliant projects and ideas and it was a real honour assessing all 200+ applications we received for both the micro grants and full grants. We are really happy to be able to give support to 112 of these applications, ranging from Bolton to Dorchester, Liverpool to Brixton, Exmouth to Herefordshire, and with a healthy mix of projects from both rural and city areas.

The projects we have supported cover a wide range of important areas in the recovery and rebuilding of our communities from Covid-19\. Projects span across visioning, community gardening, transport schemes, solar power, local economies, community hubs, Transition group re-boots post-covid, mapping communities, food poverty, social justice and empowering community voices with local authorities who have declared a climate emergency.

The spread and range of different applications and groups supported showed us what we had always hoped for – the transition approach makes space for a wide variety of projects depending on the people who are involved and the communities they are working in.

**There were three clear needs that emerged from the movement in the current context of surviving and bouncing forward from Covid-19.**

**1\. Sustaining Transition groups during the pandemic**

A number of seed funding grants have been given to Transition groups whose core capacity and funding has been lost due to the impacts of Covid-19\. This includes challenges such as: group members suffering from long Covid, leading to a loss of capacity within the core team, a loss of main sources of income due to public facing events and workshops being cancelled, or changes that needed to be made to enable the group to keep functioning in the Covid context – such as paying for a Zoom subscription. This may not seem like a very glamorous thing to be giving funding to, as these groups are not launching shiny, exciting new projects. However, part of bouncing forward is building resilience within the core of our groups, ensuring they can continue to do all the excellent work they have already been doing, and enabling them to survive the shocks that Covid-19 has presented.

**2\. Building resilient and sustainable local economies**

The second core area our seed funding has gone to is supporting Transition groups to contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable economy in their locality. Whether that be setting up a new ‘library of things’ to encourage borrowing, sharing and reuse of items in Exmouth, growing fresh, local food for community food banks in Dorchester, or establishing a network of new community gardens in Wilmslow. In Guildford and Manchester our funding will support new community hubs and physical spaces for people to come together to take action on the climate emergency and build local food resilience, whereas in Belper it will help a new mobile solar power station get off the ground. In New Mills in Derbyshire the funding will help launch a project to bring people together through food and support the development of local bread making and wheat growing. Finally in the North West, with our support, Bolton Diggers will be creating an education and support programme to share learning and best practices between social enterprises, co-ops and small producers within the North West.

Building more local, sustainable and equal economies in the face of this crisis is a crucial and vital part of bouncing forward from Covid-19, and we are excited that so many Transition groups are playing a key role in this.

**3\. Visioning, social justice & building partnerships**

The final set of projects our seed funding will support are Transition groups seeking to engage more deeply with people and specific stakeholders within their communities. Many groups, such as Transition Town Totnes, Heswall & Kentish Town have been inspired by Rob Hopkins’ ‘*From What Is to What If*’ book and our online visioning webinars. They will use the funding to support them to engage as many members of their community as possible in a positive visioning process for what their town could look and feel like in 2030.

In other groups such as Crystal Palace Transition Town the visioning process will be more specific and focused, creating safe spaces for dialogue around issues such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and engaging directly with local people who are often excluded from conversations about their neighbourhood. In St Albans and Brixton there is a strong focus on social justice and listening to and amplifying the voices of groups of people that are usually more marginalised or under-represented in their communities, such as the Bangladeshi community in St Albans, or the Afro-Caribbean community in Brixton. Embedding social justice and equality within our projects and communities is at the core of transition and an important element of our funding criteria, so we are delighted to fund projects and groups that are working in this area.

Finally a few groups such as Transition Town Berkhamsted, Transition in Kings, and Abbots in Transition have formed a coalition to work with their local council through “GUTSI” – Grand Union Transition Sustainability Initiative. This will strengthen their voice and capacity to push their local authority to take more radical and progressive action following their declaration of a climate emergency.

**Bouncing Forwards**

These are tough and challenging times for us all, and we regret that we could not support every single project that applied to our seed funding pot. However we have been so thrilled and enthused by the amazing amount of ideas, skills, projects and hope that members of Transition groups across England have demonstrated.

We can’t wait to see how these projects will develop and grow, so do follow Transition: Bounce Forward to hear inspiring stories of these projects as they get off the ground.

W: [https://transition-bounceforward.org/](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

T: [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

F: [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionBounceForward/)

**What Next?**

We also hope you will all be joining us for our [**What Next? Summit** from **3rd-20th of March in** **2021**](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-next-summit-2021-save-the-date/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). This will build the power of community led action across the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists who are already making change happen, so together we can have a bigger impact. It will be a space to empower us to create our own future, through inspiring each other, making new connections and sharing knowledge to build a stronger movement that creates the change we want to see in our communities.This summit is not to be missed!

In these difficult times we’re delighted to be able to share a moment of celebration. These grants will enable a large number of Transition groups to stay afloat and launch new projects in response to the impacts of Covid-19.

The pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability and inequality experienced by many people in our communities, and at the same time it has demonstrated the potential for major and swift changes to reframe the purposes of our economy and our society.

In September we were awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to support Transition groups across England to ‘bounce forward’ from Covid-19\. In true Transition style our vision was not to ‘bounce back’ to how things were before, but to build on the vision of a better future that Transition groups have been crafting for over a decade. To ‘bounce forward’ from the Covid-19 crisis and create more resilient, sustainable and equal communities.

We were overwhelmed with hundreds of brilliant projects and ideas and it was a real honour assessing all 200+ applications we received for both the micro grants and full grants. We are really happy to be able to give support to 112 of these applications, ranging from Bolton to Dorchester, Liverpool to Brixton, Exmouth to Herefordshire, and with a healthy mix of projects from both rural and city areas.

The projects we have supported cover a wide range of important areas in the recovery and rebuilding of our communities from Covid-19\. Projects span across visioning, community gardening, transport schemes, solar power, local economies, community hubs, Transition group re-boots post-covid, mapping communities, food poverty, social justice and empowering community voices with local authorities who have declared a climate emergency.

The spread and range of different applications and groups supported showed us what we had always hoped for – the transition approach makes space for a wide variety of projects depending on the people who are involved and the communities they are working in.

**There were three clear needs that emerged from the movement in the current context of surviving and bouncing forward from Covid-19.**

**1\. Sustaining Transition groups during the pandemic**

A number of seed funding grants have been given to Transition groups whose core capacity and funding has been lost due to the impacts of Covid-19\. This includes challenges such as: group members suffering from long Covid, leading to a loss of capacity within the core team, a loss of main sources of income due to public facing events and workshops being cancelled, or changes that needed to be made to enable the group to keep functioning in the Covid context – such as paying for a Zoom subscription. This may not seem like a very glamorous thing to be giving funding to, as these groups are not launching shiny, exciting new projects. However, part of bouncing forward is building resilience within the core of our groups, ensuring they can continue to do all the excellent work they have already been doing, and enabling them to survive the shocks that Covid-19 has presented.

**2\. Building resilient and sustainable local economies**

The second core area our seed funding has gone to is supporting Transition groups to contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable economy in their locality. Whether that be setting up a new ‘library of things’ to encourage borrowing, sharing and reuse of items in Exmouth, growing fresh, local food for community food banks in Dorchester, or establishing a network of new community gardens in Wilmslow. In Guildford and Manchester our funding will support new community hubs and physical spaces for people to come together to take action on the climate emergency and build local food resilience, whereas in Belper it will help a new mobile solar power station get off the ground. In New Mills in Derbyshire the funding will help launch a project to bring people together through food and support the development of local bread making and wheat growing. Finally in the North West, with our support, Bolton Diggers will be creating an education and support programme to share learning and best practices between social enterprises, co-ops and small producers within the North West.

Building more local, sustainable and equal economies in the face of this crisis is a crucial and vital part of bouncing forward from Covid-19, and we are excited that so many Transition groups are playing a key role in this.

**3\. Visioning, social justice & building partnerships**

The final set of projects our seed funding will support are Transition groups seeking to engage more deeply with people and specific stakeholders within their communities. Many groups, such as Transition Town Totnes, Heswall & Kentish Town have been inspired by Rob Hopkins’ ‘*From What Is to What If*’ book and our online visioning webinars. They will use the funding to support them to engage as many members of their community as possible in a positive visioning process for what their town could look and feel like in 2030.

In other groups such as Crystal Palace Transition Town the visioning process will be more specific and focused, creating safe spaces for dialogue around issues such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and engaging directly with local people who are often excluded from conversations about their neighbourhood. In St Albans and Brixton there is a strong focus on social justice and listening to and amplifying the voices of groups of people that are usually more marginalised or under-represented in their communities, such as the Bangladeshi community in St Albans, or the Afro-Caribbean community in Brixton. Embedding social justice and equality within our projects and communities is at the core of transition and an important element of our funding criteria, so we are delighted to fund projects and groups that are working in this area.

Finally a few groups such as Transition Town Berkhamsted, Transition in Kings, and Abbots in Transition have formed a coalition to work with their local council through “GUTSI” – Grand Union Transition Sustainability Initiative. This will strengthen their voice and capacity to push their local authority to take more radical and progressive action following their declaration of a climate emergency.

**Bouncing Forwards**

These are tough and challenging times for us all, and we regret that we could not support every single project that applied to our seed funding pot. However we have been so thrilled and enthused by the amazing amount of ideas, skills, projects and hope that members of Transition groups across England have demonstrated.

We can’t wait to see how these projects will develop and grow, so do follow Transition: Bounce Forward to hear inspiring stories of these projects as they get off the ground.

W: [https://transition-bounceforward.org/](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

T: [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

F: [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionBounceForward/)

**What Next?**

We also hope you will all be joining us for our [**What Next? Summit** from **3rd-20th of March in** **2021**](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-next-summit-2021-save-the-date/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). This will build the power of community led action across the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists who are already making change happen, so together we can have a bigger impact. It will be a space to empower us to create our own future, through inspiring each other, making new connections and sharing knowledge to build a stronger movement that creates the change we want to see in our communities.This summit is not to be missed!

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Twitter-Post-2.png
### Voices and stories from across our movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/voices-and-stories-from-across-our-movement/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:27.000Z
An update about our collective reflection on the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement.

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

[Exploring what’s emerging from the Transition movement survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Exploring-whats-emerging-from-the-Transition-movement-survey.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Explorando lo que está emergiendo desde la encuesta del Movimiento de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Explorando-lo-que-esta-emergiendo-desde-la-encuesta-del-Movimiento-de-Transicion.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

[Exploring what’s emerging from the Transition movement survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Exploring-whats-emerging-from-the-Transition-movement-survey.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Explorando lo que está emergiendo desde la encuesta del Movimiento de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Explorando-lo-que-esta-emergiendo-desde-la-encuesta-del-Movimiento-de-Transicion.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The survey plus feedback from the discussion groups, emails and comments on this website has given us lots of material to sift and analyse so that we can deepen, adjust and add to the 9 themes identified in our initial document. Many of you provided detailed information about specific Transition activities and projects – we intend to draw on the valuable examples, documents and website links you have shared to generate evidence, case studies and stories in 2021\. Indeed, we’re interested in whether there are researchers out there who would like to get involved with this process (see Calling researchers below!)

We need time to digest and reflect on what we’ve already heard and the turning of the year is a good opportunity to do just that. As we reflect, we’re holding a few additional questions of our own, including:

- What different expectations of the future exist within the Transition movement and how do these expectations influence a conversation about impact, relevance and potential?
- What are the feelings that underpin and influence the stories, questions and comments that we’ve heard? When and how might it be useful to express and explore these feelings collectively?
- Where are we hearing silence and what is being ignored?

**What next?**

Those who came to the online discussion groups told us that it felt heartwarming and energising to connect with people from other places and explore together what it means to be part of the Transition movement in these uncertain and fast-changing times.

We plan to provide more opportunities for such connections in 2021\. We will share feedback about our analysis of the fully set of survey responses and identify different ways that people can help us tease out and better understand the emerging themes. Our aim is for the whole process to be as open and interactive as possible. We hope that some of the questions and issues we highlight might prompt discussions in Transition hubs and Transition groups which can also feed into our collective evaluation process. If you have ideas or questions about any of this, contact us on [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**A moment to celebrate**

As we come to the end of what has been an exceptionally hard year for so many people, we invite you to take a moment to celebrate the spirit, values and activities of the Transition movement. Our survey gave us another opportunity to marvel at how many people are putting huge amounts of time, energy and creativity into supporting positive change and building regenerative cultures across the world. We heard from a rich diversity of voices and perspectives while noticing so many things on which we’re aligned. And, as many people have reminded us in their responses, the Transition movement is part of a much broader and even richer ecology of social change. It’s good to let ourselves feel the resilience, solidarity and space available when we connect to that bigger picture.

Here’s a word cloud, generated from responses to the survey question ‘What is the Transition movement really good at, that is needed widely or urgently now, and over the next few years?’ (all responses translated into English).

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

[Exploring what’s emerging from the Transition movement survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Exploring-whats-emerging-from-the-Transition-movement-survey.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Explorando lo que está emergiendo desde la encuesta del Movimiento de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Explorando-lo-que-esta-emergiendo-desde-la-encuesta-del-Movimiento-de-Transicion.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The survey plus feedback from the discussion groups, emails and comments on this website has given us lots of material to sift and analyse so that we can deepen, adjust and add to the 9 themes identified in our initial document. Many of you provided detailed information about specific Transition activities and projects – we intend to draw on the valuable examples, documents and website links you have shared to generate evidence, case studies and stories in 2021\. Indeed, we’re interested in whether there are researchers out there who would like to get involved with this process (see Calling researchers below!)

We need time to digest and reflect on what we’ve already heard and the turning of the year is a good opportunity to do just that. As we reflect, we’re holding a few additional questions of our own, including:

- What different expectations of the future exist within the Transition movement and how do these expectations influence a conversation about impact, relevance and potential?
- What are the feelings that underpin and influence the stories, questions and comments that we’ve heard? When and how might it be useful to express and explore these feelings collectively?
- Where are we hearing silence and what is being ignored?

**What next?**

Those who came to the online discussion groups told us that it felt heartwarming and energising to connect with people from other places and explore together what it means to be part of the Transition movement in these uncertain and fast-changing times.

We plan to provide more opportunities for such connections in 2021\. We will share feedback about our analysis of the fully set of survey responses and identify different ways that people can help us tease out and better understand the emerging themes. Our aim is for the whole process to be as open and interactive as possible. We hope that some of the questions and issues we highlight might prompt discussions in Transition hubs and Transition groups which can also feed into our collective evaluation process. If you have ideas or questions about any of this, contact us on [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**A moment to celebrate**

As we come to the end of what has been an exceptionally hard year for so many people, we invite you to take a moment to celebrate the spirit, values and activities of the Transition movement. Our survey gave us another opportunity to marvel at how many people are putting huge amounts of time, energy and creativity into supporting positive change and building regenerative cultures across the world. We heard from a rich diversity of voices and perspectives while noticing so many things on which we’re aligned. And, as many people have reminded us in their responses, the Transition movement is part of a much broader and even richer ecology of social change. It’s good to let ourselves feel the resilience, solidarity and space available when we connect to that bigger picture.

Here’s a word cloud, generated from responses to the survey question ‘What is the Transition movement really good at, that is needed widely or urgently now, and over the next few years?’ (all responses translated into English).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Evaluation-word-cloud.png

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

[Exploring what’s emerging from the Transition movement survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Exploring-whats-emerging-from-the-Transition-movement-survey.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Explorando lo que está emergiendo desde la encuesta del Movimiento de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Explorando-lo-que-esta-emergiendo-desde-la-encuesta-del-Movimiento-de-Transicion.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The survey plus feedback from the discussion groups, emails and comments on this website has given us lots of material to sift and analyse so that we can deepen, adjust and add to the 9 themes identified in our initial document. Many of you provided detailed information about specific Transition activities and projects – we intend to draw on the valuable examples, documents and website links you have shared to generate evidence, case studies and stories in 2021\. Indeed, we’re interested in whether there are researchers out there who would like to get involved with this process (see Calling researchers below!)

We need time to digest and reflect on what we’ve already heard and the turning of the year is a good opportunity to do just that. As we reflect, we’re holding a few additional questions of our own, including:

- What different expectations of the future exist within the Transition movement and how do these expectations influence a conversation about impact, relevance and potential?
- What are the feelings that underpin and influence the stories, questions and comments that we’ve heard? When and how might it be useful to express and explore these feelings collectively?
- Where are we hearing silence and what is being ignored?

**What next?**

Those who came to the online discussion groups told us that it felt heartwarming and energising to connect with people from other places and explore together what it means to be part of the Transition movement in these uncertain and fast-changing times.

We plan to provide more opportunities for such connections in 2021\. We will share feedback about our analysis of the fully set of survey responses and identify different ways that people can help us tease out and better understand the emerging themes. Our aim is for the whole process to be as open and interactive as possible. We hope that some of the questions and issues we highlight might prompt discussions in Transition hubs and Transition groups which can also feed into our collective evaluation process. If you have ideas or questions about any of this, contact us on [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**A moment to celebrate**

As we come to the end of what has been an exceptionally hard year for so many people, we invite you to take a moment to celebrate the spirit, values and activities of the Transition movement. Our survey gave us another opportunity to marvel at how many people are putting huge amounts of time, energy and creativity into supporting positive change and building regenerative cultures across the world. We heard from a rich diversity of voices and perspectives while noticing so many things on which we’re aligned. And, as many people have reminded us in their responses, the Transition movement is part of a much broader and even richer ecology of social change. It’s good to let ourselves feel the resilience, solidarity and space available when we connect to that bigger picture.

Here’s a word cloud, generated from responses to the survey question ‘What is the Transition movement really good at, that is needed widely or urgently now, and over the next few years?’ (all responses translated into English).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Evaluation-word-cloud.png

**Calling researchers!**

Are you a Masters or PhD student with an interest in a particular characteristic of the Transition movement or community-led action on sustainability? We have gathered a substantial amount of data and supporting material and want to explore creative and collaborative ways to carry out further analysis and research. If you are interested, contact [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org) telling us about your field of study, capacity, timescale and needs. Please be aware that we are a small and busy team and may not be able to work with everyone who has something to offer.

When we launched our [evaluation process](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) at the end of October we didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone have the energy or time to respond to our questions in the middle of a global pandemic? Would we be able to connect with Transitioners living in very different places who are focused on what’s needed and possible in their own communities?

Today we’re celebrating that 377 people in [32 countries](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCCLQ4WZNUba3T5diYzZ3ZrpGxUwkrJ%5F6GoAARXkotY/edit?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) took time to fill in the Transition movement 2020 evaluation survey. With the support of a fantastic team of Transition translators, we made the survey available in 9 languages, inviting people to tell their stories and express their hopes, fears and dreams for our movement.

We’re only at the beginning of analysing the wealth of information that you have provided. Our intention with this ongoing evaluation process is to keep feeding back publicly about what we’re hearing, inviting further and deeper collective reflection. Last month, we organised online discussion groups, sharing some early themes emerging from the survey as conversation prompts. Here is the document we prepared for those discussions, available in English and Spanish and drawing on survey responses received by 22 November (we’ve had over 100 more since then).

[Exploring what’s emerging from the Transition movement survey](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Exploring-whats-emerging-from-the-Transition-movement-survey.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

[Explorando lo que está emergiendo desde la encuesta del Movimiento de Transición](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Explorando-lo-que-esta-emergiendo-desde-la-encuesta-del-Movimiento-de-Transicion.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

The survey plus feedback from the discussion groups, emails and comments on this website has given us lots of material to sift and analyse so that we can deepen, adjust and add to the 9 themes identified in our initial document. Many of you provided detailed information about specific Transition activities and projects – we intend to draw on the valuable examples, documents and website links you have shared to generate evidence, case studies and stories in 2021\. Indeed, we’re interested in whether there are researchers out there who would like to get involved with this process (see Calling researchers below!)

We need time to digest and reflect on what we’ve already heard and the turning of the year is a good opportunity to do just that. As we reflect, we’re holding a few additional questions of our own, including:

- What different expectations of the future exist within the Transition movement and how do these expectations influence a conversation about impact, relevance and potential?
- What are the feelings that underpin and influence the stories, questions and comments that we’ve heard? When and how might it be useful to express and explore these feelings collectively?
- Where are we hearing silence and what is being ignored?

**What next?**

Those who came to the online discussion groups told us that it felt heartwarming and energising to connect with people from other places and explore together what it means to be part of the Transition movement in these uncertain and fast-changing times.

We plan to provide more opportunities for such connections in 2021\. We will share feedback about our analysis of the fully set of survey responses and identify different ways that people can help us tease out and better understand the emerging themes. Our aim is for the whole process to be as open and interactive as possible. We hope that some of the questions and issues we highlight might prompt discussions in Transition hubs and Transition groups which can also feed into our collective evaluation process. If you have ideas or questions about any of this, contact us on [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

**A moment to celebrate**

As we come to the end of what has been an exceptionally hard year for so many people, we invite you to take a moment to celebrate the spirit, values and activities of the Transition movement. Our survey gave us another opportunity to marvel at how many people are putting huge amounts of time, energy and creativity into supporting positive change and building regenerative cultures across the world. We heard from a rich diversity of voices and perspectives while noticing so many things on which we’re aligned. And, as many people have reminded us in their responses, the Transition movement is part of a much broader and even richer ecology of social change. It’s good to let ourselves feel the resilience, solidarity and space available when we connect to that bigger picture.

Here’s a word cloud, generated from responses to the survey question ‘What is the Transition movement really good at, that is needed widely or urgently now, and over the next few years?’ (all responses translated into English).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Evaluation-word-cloud.png

**Calling researchers!**

Are you a Masters or PhD student with an interest in a particular characteristic of the Transition movement or community-led action on sustainability? We have gathered a substantial amount of data and supporting material and want to explore creative and collaborative ways to carry out further analysis and research. If you are interested, contact [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org) telling us about your field of study, capacity, timescale and needs. Please be aware that we are a small and busy team and may not be able to work with everyone who has something to offer.

###### Feature photo by[ “My Life Through A Lens”](https://unsplash.com/@bamagal?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on[ Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)
### Training for Transition – Moving Into 2021
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/training-for-transition-2021/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:28.000Z
*Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português*

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

Puedes usar esta herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Entendemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Las horas propuestas reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y los probables presentadores de los estudios de casos. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentran en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener un debate sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de casos, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Pueden usar esto para organizar su propio debate sobre el tema. ¡Nos encantaría escuchar tus comentarios si eliges esta ruta!

**Colaborando**

Sabemos que a muchos de ustedes les gustaría tener mejores conexiones entre sí y poder compartir más fácilmente sus experiencias, desafíos y soluciones. Los Nodos de Transición, Transition Network y los miembros de otros círculos del movimiento de Transición, incluido el Círculo de Entrenamientos, están **desarrollando conjuntamente una Plataforma de Colaboración en Línea** en la que los entrenadores/facilitadores tendrán un área para crear y participar en una comunidad de práctica continua. Este será un lugar para compartir ideas, noticias, ofrecimiento de cursos, materiales y recursos útiles, seminarios web y oportunidades de desarrollo profesional. También podrá apoyar el camino de aprendizaje profesional y la mentoría de pares para ayudar a más personas a convertirse en entrenadores/facilitadores de Transición. Tardará algún tiempo en estar disponible, sin embargo, queríamos hacerles saber que este proyecto está en desarrollo.

**¿Quién es un entrenador de Transición y qué es un entrenamiento de Transición?**

El Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición está trabajando en **nuevos documentos guía** que ayuden a responder a las preguntas **“¿Quién es un entrenador/facilitador de Transición?”** y **“¿Qué es un entrenamiento u oportunidad de aprendizaje para la Transición?”**. Nuestro objetivo, basado en los aportes del movimiento, es esbozar y apoyar un enfoque más flexible, inclusivo y accesible que las anteriores rutas de certificación para los entrenadores de Transición. Además, estamos creando directrices que apoyarán y facultarán a los entrenadores/facilitadores para desarrollar, evolucionar e iterar las oportunidades de aprendizaje/entrenamientos y para que éstas sean más flexibles y adecuadas a los diferentes contextos y grupos. Lo anterior, sin dejar de estar dentro de algunos principios y parámetros ampliamente acordados. Compartiremos esos borradores de documentos con ustedes a principios del 2021 para que hagan sus aportes.

**Esperamos poder apoyar y amplificar su trabajo!**Compartiremos todos los detalles sobre cómo reservar en los seminarios web en el nuevo año.Si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos aquí – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

Puedes usar esta herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Entendemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Las horas propuestas reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y los probables presentadores de los estudios de casos. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentran en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener un debate sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de casos, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Pueden usar esto para organizar su propio debate sobre el tema. ¡Nos encantaría escuchar tus comentarios si eliges esta ruta!

**Colaborando**

Sabemos que a muchos de ustedes les gustaría tener mejores conexiones entre sí y poder compartir más fácilmente sus experiencias, desafíos y soluciones. Los Nodos de Transición, Transition Network y los miembros de otros círculos del movimiento de Transición, incluido el Círculo de Entrenamientos, están **desarrollando conjuntamente una Plataforma de Colaboración en Línea** en la que los entrenadores/facilitadores tendrán un área para crear y participar en una comunidad de práctica continua. Este será un lugar para compartir ideas, noticias, ofrecimiento de cursos, materiales y recursos útiles, seminarios web y oportunidades de desarrollo profesional. También podrá apoyar el camino de aprendizaje profesional y la mentoría de pares para ayudar a más personas a convertirse en entrenadores/facilitadores de Transición. Tardará algún tiempo en estar disponible, sin embargo, queríamos hacerles saber que este proyecto está en desarrollo.

**¿Quién es un entrenador de Transición y qué es un entrenamiento de Transición?**

El Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición está trabajando en **nuevos documentos guía** que ayuden a responder a las preguntas **“¿Quién es un entrenador/facilitador de Transición?”** y **“¿Qué es un entrenamiento u oportunidad de aprendizaje para la Transición?”**. Nuestro objetivo, basado en los aportes del movimiento, es esbozar y apoyar un enfoque más flexible, inclusivo y accesible que las anteriores rutas de certificación para los entrenadores de Transición. Además, estamos creando directrices que apoyarán y facultarán a los entrenadores/facilitadores para desarrollar, evolucionar e iterar las oportunidades de aprendizaje/entrenamientos y para que éstas sean más flexibles y adecuadas a los diferentes contextos y grupos. Lo anterior, sin dejar de estar dentro de algunos principios y parámetros ampliamente acordados. Compartiremos esos borradores de documentos con ustedes a principios del 2021 para que hagan sus aportes.

**Esperamos poder apoyar y amplificar su trabajo!**Compartiremos todos los detalles sobre cómo reservar en los seminarios web en el nuevo año.Si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos aquí – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

Puedes usar esta herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Entendemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Las horas propuestas reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y los probables presentadores de los estudios de casos. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentran en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener un debate sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de casos, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Pueden usar esto para organizar su propio debate sobre el tema. ¡Nos encantaría escuchar tus comentarios si eliges esta ruta!

**Colaborando**

Sabemos que a muchos de ustedes les gustaría tener mejores conexiones entre sí y poder compartir más fácilmente sus experiencias, desafíos y soluciones. Los Nodos de Transición, Transition Network y los miembros de otros círculos del movimiento de Transición, incluido el Círculo de Entrenamientos, están **desarrollando conjuntamente una Plataforma de Colaboración en Línea** en la que los entrenadores/facilitadores tendrán un área para crear y participar en una comunidad de práctica continua. Este será un lugar para compartir ideas, noticias, ofrecimiento de cursos, materiales y recursos útiles, seminarios web y oportunidades de desarrollo profesional. También podrá apoyar el camino de aprendizaje profesional y la mentoría de pares para ayudar a más personas a convertirse en entrenadores/facilitadores de Transición. Tardará algún tiempo en estar disponible, sin embargo, queríamos hacerles saber que este proyecto está en desarrollo.

**¿Quién es un entrenador de Transición y qué es un entrenamiento de Transición?**

El Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición está trabajando en **nuevos documentos guía** que ayuden a responder a las preguntas **“¿Quién es un entrenador/facilitador de Transición?”** y **“¿Qué es un entrenamiento u oportunidad de aprendizaje para la Transición?”**. Nuestro objetivo, basado en los aportes del movimiento, es esbozar y apoyar un enfoque más flexible, inclusivo y accesible que las anteriores rutas de certificación para los entrenadores de Transición. Además, estamos creando directrices que apoyarán y facultarán a los entrenadores/facilitadores para desarrollar, evolucionar e iterar las oportunidades de aprendizaje/entrenamientos y para que éstas sean más flexibles y adecuadas a los diferentes contextos y grupos. Lo anterior, sin dejar de estar dentro de algunos principios y parámetros ampliamente acordados. Compartiremos esos borradores de documentos con ustedes a principios del 2021 para que hagan sus aportes.

**Esperamos poder apoyar y amplificar su trabajo!**Compartiremos todos los detalles sobre cómo reservar en los seminarios web en el nuevo año.Si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos aquí – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

Após dez meses incubando o renascimento e reenergização de oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem de Transição, ouvindo o movimento e colhendo suas vozes nesta Pesquisa, estamos muito felizes em retornar a você com mais informações e convites.

Como primeiros passos para o desenvolvimento de uma comunidade de prática ativa para treinadores / facilitadores, realizaremos uma série de 6 webinars a partir do final de janeiro até o início de abril. Neste eventos, serão apresentados modelos de sucesso e estudos de caso relacionados à oportunidades de treinamento / aprendizagem em todo o movimento global. Ficaríamos muito felizes em contar com a sua presença, portanto, agende as datas em que tiver interesse de participar.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

Puedes usar esta herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Entendemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Las horas propuestas reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y los probables presentadores de los estudios de casos. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentran en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener un debate sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de casos, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Pueden usar esto para organizar su propio debate sobre el tema. ¡Nos encantaría escuchar tus comentarios si eliges esta ruta!

**Colaborando**

Sabemos que a muchos de ustedes les gustaría tener mejores conexiones entre sí y poder compartir más fácilmente sus experiencias, desafíos y soluciones. Los Nodos de Transición, Transition Network y los miembros de otros círculos del movimiento de Transición, incluido el Círculo de Entrenamientos, están **desarrollando conjuntamente una Plataforma de Colaboración en Línea** en la que los entrenadores/facilitadores tendrán un área para crear y participar en una comunidad de práctica continua. Este será un lugar para compartir ideas, noticias, ofrecimiento de cursos, materiales y recursos útiles, seminarios web y oportunidades de desarrollo profesional. También podrá apoyar el camino de aprendizaje profesional y la mentoría de pares para ayudar a más personas a convertirse en entrenadores/facilitadores de Transición. Tardará algún tiempo en estar disponible, sin embargo, queríamos hacerles saber que este proyecto está en desarrollo.

**¿Quién es un entrenador de Transición y qué es un entrenamiento de Transición?**

El Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición está trabajando en **nuevos documentos guía** que ayuden a responder a las preguntas **“¿Quién es un entrenador/facilitador de Transición?”** y **“¿Qué es un entrenamiento u oportunidad de aprendizaje para la Transición?”**. Nuestro objetivo, basado en los aportes del movimiento, es esbozar y apoyar un enfoque más flexible, inclusivo y accesible que las anteriores rutas de certificación para los entrenadores de Transición. Además, estamos creando directrices que apoyarán y facultarán a los entrenadores/facilitadores para desarrollar, evolucionar e iterar las oportunidades de aprendizaje/entrenamientos y para que éstas sean más flexibles y adecuadas a los diferentes contextos y grupos. Lo anterior, sin dejar de estar dentro de algunos principios y parámetros ampliamente acordados. Compartiremos esos borradores de documentos con ustedes a principios del 2021 para que hagan sus aportes.

**Esperamos poder apoyar y amplificar su trabajo!**Compartiremos todos los detalles sobre cómo reservar en los seminarios web en el nuevo año.Si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos aquí – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

Após dez meses incubando o renascimento e reenergização de oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem de Transição, ouvindo o movimento e colhendo suas vozes nesta Pesquisa, estamos muito felizes em retornar a você com mais informações e convites.

Como primeiros passos para o desenvolvimento de uma comunidade de prática ativa para treinadores / facilitadores, realizaremos uma série de 6 webinars a partir do final de janeiro até o início de abril. Neste eventos, serão apresentados modelos de sucesso e estudos de caso relacionados à oportunidades de treinamento / aprendizagem em todo o movimento global. Ficaríamos muito felizes em contar com a sua presença, portanto, agende as datas em que tiver interesse de participar.

After ten months incubating the rebirth and re-energisation of Transition training and learning opportunities, listening to the movement and harvesting your voices in this [research](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Training for Transition Circle would like to share an invitation with **Trainers, Facilitators and** [**Transition Hubs**](https://transitioninitiative.org/hub-list/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As some first steps towards developing a lively **community of practice** for trainers/facilitators, we will be holding a **series of 6 webinars** in late January to early April. These will showcase successful models and case studies of training/learning opportunities from around the global movement.

You can use this tool to convert to the time zone in your region – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

We recognise that these dates and times may not suit all groups or time zones and we apologise for this. The proposed times reflect the availability of the hosts and likely case study presenters. For those of you in other timezones, or who would prefer to hold a discussion on these topics in your own language, we can provide a recording of the case study presentations, and/or possibly subtitles or a translated transcription if needed. You can use this to host your own discussion around the topic. We would love to hear your feedback if you choose this route.

**Collaborating**

We know that many of you would like to have better connections with each other and be more easily able to share your experiences, challenges and solutions. Transition Hubs, Transition Network and members of other Transition movement circles, including the Training for Transition Circle, are **co-developing an online collaborative platform** where we expect trainers/facilitators will have an area for creating and engaging in an ongoing **community of practice**. We hope this will be a place to share ideas, news, and offers for course outlines, helpful materials & resources, webinars and professional development opportunities. It may also support professional learning journeys and peer mentoring to help more people become a transition trainer/facilitator. It will take some time to become available, however we wanted to let you know that this project was under development.

**Who is a Transition trainer and what is Transition training?**

The Training for Transition Circle are working on **new guideline documents** which help to answer the questions **‘Who is a Transition trainer/facilitator?’** and **‘What is a Transition training/learning opportunity?**’. Our aim, based on input from the movement, is to outline and support a more flexible, inclusive and accessible approach than the previous certification routes for Transition trainers. In addition, we are creating guidelines that will support and empower trainers/facilitators to develop, evolve and iterate training/ learning opportunities, which are more flexible and appropriate to different contexts and groups, while still within some broadly agreed principles and parameters. We will be sharing those draft documents with you in early 2021 for your input.

**We look forward to supporting and amplifying your work!**

We’ll share full details of how to book onto the webinars in the new year.

If you have any questions you can contact us here – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

# **Entrenamiento para la Transición – acercándonos hacia el 2021**

Después de diez meses incubando el renacimiento y revitalización de los entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, donde hemos escuchando al movimiento y cosechado sus voces en [esta investigación](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reporte-Final-en-Espanol-Sept.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), el Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición quisiera compartir esta invitación con los **Entrenadores, Facilitadores y Nodos de Transición (Hubs).**

Como primeros pasos para desarrollar una viva **comunidad de práctica** para entrenadores/facilitadores, celebraremos una serie de **6 webinarios/seminario virtual** desde finales de enero y principios de abril. En ellos se mostrarán modelos exitosos y estudios de casos de entrenamientos u oportunidades de aprendizaje del movimiento global de Transición.

Puedes usar esta herramienta para convertir a la zona horaria de tu región – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Entendemos que estas fechas y horas pueden no ser adecuadas para todos los grupos o zonas horarias y nos disculpamos por ello. Las horas propuestas reflejan la disponibilidad de los anfitriones y los probables presentadores de los estudios de casos. Para aquellos de ustedes que se encuentran en otras zonas horarias, o que prefieran mantener un debate sobre estos temas en su propio idioma, podemos proporcionar una grabación de las presentaciones de los estudios de casos, y/o posiblemente subtítulos o una transcripción traducida si es necesario. Pueden usar esto para organizar su propio debate sobre el tema. ¡Nos encantaría escuchar tus comentarios si eliges esta ruta!

**Colaborando**

Sabemos que a muchos de ustedes les gustaría tener mejores conexiones entre sí y poder compartir más fácilmente sus experiencias, desafíos y soluciones. Los Nodos de Transición, Transition Network y los miembros de otros círculos del movimiento de Transición, incluido el Círculo de Entrenamientos, están **desarrollando conjuntamente una Plataforma de Colaboración en Línea** en la que los entrenadores/facilitadores tendrán un área para crear y participar en una comunidad de práctica continua. Este será un lugar para compartir ideas, noticias, ofrecimiento de cursos, materiales y recursos útiles, seminarios web y oportunidades de desarrollo profesional. También podrá apoyar el camino de aprendizaje profesional y la mentoría de pares para ayudar a más personas a convertirse en entrenadores/facilitadores de Transición. Tardará algún tiempo en estar disponible, sin embargo, queríamos hacerles saber que este proyecto está en desarrollo.

**¿Quién es un entrenador de Transición y qué es un entrenamiento de Transición?**

El Círculo de Entrenamiento para la Transición está trabajando en **nuevos documentos guía** que ayuden a responder a las preguntas **“¿Quién es un entrenador/facilitador de Transición?”** y **“¿Qué es un entrenamiento u oportunidad de aprendizaje para la Transición?”**. Nuestro objetivo, basado en los aportes del movimiento, es esbozar y apoyar un enfoque más flexible, inclusivo y accesible que las anteriores rutas de certificación para los entrenadores de Transición. Además, estamos creando directrices que apoyarán y facultarán a los entrenadores/facilitadores para desarrollar, evolucionar e iterar las oportunidades de aprendizaje/entrenamientos y para que éstas sean más flexibles y adecuadas a los diferentes contextos y grupos. Lo anterior, sin dejar de estar dentro de algunos principios y parámetros ampliamente acordados. Compartiremos esos borradores de documentos con ustedes a principios del 2021 para que hagan sus aportes.

**Esperamos poder apoyar y amplificar su trabajo!**Compartiremos todos los detalles sobre cómo reservar en los seminarios web en el nuevo año.Si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos aquí – **training@transitionnetwork.org**

Após dez meses incubando o renascimento e reenergização de oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem de Transição, ouvindo o movimento e colhendo suas vozes nesta Pesquisa, estamos muito felizes em retornar a você com mais informações e convites.

Como primeiros passos para o desenvolvimento de uma comunidade de prática ativa para treinadores / facilitadores, realizaremos uma série de 6 webinars a partir do final de janeiro até o início de abril. Neste eventos, serão apresentados modelos de sucesso e estudos de caso relacionados à oportunidades de treinamento / aprendizagem em todo o movimento global. Ficaríamos muito felizes em contar com a sua presença, portanto, agende as datas em que tiver interesse de participar.

Você pode usar esta ferramenta para converter para o fuso horário da sua região – [https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/](https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Reconhecemos que essas datas e horários podem não se adequar a todos os grupos ou fusos horários e pedimos desculpas por isso. Os horários propostos refletem a disponibilidade dos anfitriões e prováveis ​​apresentadores de estudos de caso. Para aqueles de vocês em outros fusos horários, ou que preferem ter uma discussão sobre esses tópicos em seu próprio idioma, podemos fornecer uma gravação das apresentações do estudo de caso e / ou possivelmente legendas ou uma transcrição traduzida, se necessário. Você pode usar isso para conduzir sua própria discussão sobre o tópico. Gostaríamos muito de ouvir seus comentários caso você escolha essa opção.

**Plataforma de Colaboração**

Sabemos, por meio da pesquisa realizada meses atrás, que muitos de vocês gostariam de ter melhores conexões entre si e de compartilhar mais facilmente suas experiências, desafios e soluções. O grupo Hubs, TN e membros de outros círculos do movimento de transição, incluindo o círculo de treinamento, estão cocriando uma plataforma colaborativa online onde os treinadores / facilitadores terão uma área para criar e se engajar em uma comunidade de prática contínua. Este será um lugar para compartilhar ideias, notícias e ofertas de resumos de cursos, materiais e recursos úteis, webinars e oportunidades de desenvolvimento profissional. Também será possível, pela plataforma, apoiar jornadas de aprendizagem profissional e mentoria de pares para ajudar mais pessoas a se tornarem treinadores / facilitadores de transição. Vai demorar um pouco para ficar disponível, porém gostaríamos de informar que este projeto está em andamento.

Relacionado a isso, o círculo de treinamento está trabalhando em novos documentos de orientação para ajudar a responder às perguntas ‘Quem é um treinador / facilitador de transição?’ E ‘O que é um treinamento / oportunidade de aprendizagem de transição?’. Nosso objetivo, com base na contribuição do movimento, é delinear e apoiar uma abordagem mais flexível, inclusiva e acessível, do que as rotas de certificação anteriores para instrutores de Transição.

Esse foi um item recorrente na pesquisa que realizamos, e reflete o que a comunidade de transição nos disse. Além disso, estamos criando diretrizes que apoiarão e capacitarão os treinadores e facilitadores para desenvolver, evoluir e iterar oportunidades de treinamento e aprendizagem, que são mais flexíveis e adequadas a diferentes contextos e grupos, embora ainda dentro de alguns princípios e parâmetros amplamente aceitos dentro do Movimento de Transição. Estaremos compartilhando esses rascunhos de documentos com você no início de 2021 para sua contribuição.

**Estamos ansiosos para apoiar e ampliar seu trabalho!**

Compartilharemos todos os detalhes de como reservar os webinars no ano novo.

Se você tiver alguma dúvida, pode nos contatar aqui – **training@transitionnetwork.org**
### Transition: Bounce Forward – What Next Summit
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-next-summit/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:29.000Z
It's been an exciting few months for the [Transition Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund to support Transition community responses in England in the wake of Covid-19.

**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-next-summit\\/#arve-youtube-cpbsifjtcfm","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/cPBSifJTCFM?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Seed funding**

Alongside this creative thinking we are also going to give practical support to Transition groups in England through seed funding grants. These grants will enable groups to bounce forward from Covid-19 and take practical action in their groups and wider communities.

We’ve had over 200 applications for our seed funding, and will be awarding £140,000 to amazing projects across the country tackling issues such as food poverty, sustainable transport, solar power, building resilience in the local economy, creating new community hubs, repair and reuse cafes and empowering communities to have a stronger voice and work with Local Authorities who have Declared Climate Emergency.

We will be publicly announcing successful seed funding grant recipients on Monday 21st December.

**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-next-summit\\/#arve-youtube-cpbsifjtcfm","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/cPBSifJTCFM?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Seed funding**

Alongside this creative thinking we are also going to give practical support to Transition groups in England through seed funding grants. These grants will enable groups to bounce forward from Covid-19 and take practical action in their groups and wider communities.

We’ve had over 200 applications for our seed funding, and will be awarding £140,000 to amazing projects across the country tackling issues such as food poverty, sustainable transport, solar power, building resilience in the local economy, creating new community hubs, repair and reuse cafes and empowering communities to have a stronger voice and work with Local Authorities who have Declared Climate Emergency.

We will be publicly announcing successful seed funding grant recipients on Monday 21st December.

**What Next? Summit Save the date!**

Coming up in early 2021 we have our **What Next? Summit** from **3rd-20th of March.**

This online summit is not to be missed! Working with our partners [CTRLshift](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) it will build the power of community led action throughout the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists who are already making change happen, so together we can have a bigger impact. It will be a space to empower us to create our own future, through inspiring each other, making new connections and sharing knowledge to build a stronger movement that creates the change we want to see in our communities.

The summit will run over a period of three weeks, to enable people to dip in and out as they wish and to allow space for learning, reflection, the building of relationships and concrete pathways of action.

The summit will be taking place in March rather than February, as originally planned, to enable us to collaborate with a wider range of organisations and community activists to curate a truly exceptional programme.

Each week we will have a different focus, following the flow of What Is? What If? What Next? We’re still working on the detail but here’s a general overview of the timeline – save the dates!

Make sure you’re following Transition: Bounce Forward for updates and events as they happen:

W – [transitionbounce-forward.org](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
T – [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
F – [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionBounceForward/)

**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-next-summit\\/#arve-youtube-cpbsifjtcfm","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/cPBSifJTCFM?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Seed funding**

Alongside this creative thinking we are also going to give practical support to Transition groups in England through seed funding grants. These grants will enable groups to bounce forward from Covid-19 and take practical action in their groups and wider communities.

We’ve had over 200 applications for our seed funding, and will be awarding £140,000 to amazing projects across the country tackling issues such as food poverty, sustainable transport, solar power, building resilience in the local economy, creating new community hubs, repair and reuse cafes and empowering communities to have a stronger voice and work with Local Authorities who have Declared Climate Emergency.

We will be publicly announcing successful seed funding grant recipients on Monday 21st December.

**What Next? Summit Save the date!**

Coming up in early 2021 we have our **What Next? Summit** from **3rd-20th of March.**

This online summit is not to be missed! Working with our partners [CTRLshift](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) it will build the power of community led action throughout the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists who are already making change happen, so together we can have a bigger impact. It will be a space to empower us to create our own future, through inspiring each other, making new connections and sharing knowledge to build a stronger movement that creates the change we want to see in our communities.

The summit will run over a period of three weeks, to enable people to dip in and out as they wish and to allow space for learning, reflection, the building of relationships and concrete pathways of action.

The summit will be taking place in March rather than February, as originally planned, to enable us to collaborate with a wider range of organisations and community activists to curate a truly exceptional programme.

Each week we will have a different focus, following the flow of What Is? What If? What Next? We’re still working on the detail but here’s a general overview of the timeline – save the dates!

Make sure you’re following Transition: Bounce Forward for updates and events as they happen:

W – [transitionbounce-forward.org](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
T – [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
F – [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionBounceForward/)

**What has been**

Since launching in September we have run 8 webinars exploring [What Is?](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) the situation and context we find ourselves in now; [What If?](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) how to use the power of imagination and collective visioning to unlock ideas and potential in ourselves and the wider community; and last but not least we have been exploring our ongoing theme of social justice by asking – [why is our movement green, but mostly white?](https://youtu.be/cPBSifJTCFM?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) And how can UK environmental movements become actively anti-racist?

You can watch any of these webinars, including Nick Anim’s presentation on environmental movements and anti-racism on our [Youtube channel here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v-yIznW6D57LK8p%5FZtmXQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-next-summit\\/#arve-youtube-cpbsifjtcfm","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/cPBSifJTCFM?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Seed funding**

Alongside this creative thinking we are also going to give practical support to Transition groups in England through seed funding grants. These grants will enable groups to bounce forward from Covid-19 and take practical action in their groups and wider communities.

We’ve had over 200 applications for our seed funding, and will be awarding £140,000 to amazing projects across the country tackling issues such as food poverty, sustainable transport, solar power, building resilience in the local economy, creating new community hubs, repair and reuse cafes and empowering communities to have a stronger voice and work with Local Authorities who have Declared Climate Emergency.

We will be publicly announcing successful seed funding grant recipients on Monday 21st December.

**What Next? Summit Save the date!**

Coming up in early 2021 we have our **What Next? Summit** from **3rd-20th of March.**

This online summit is not to be missed! Working with our partners [CTRLshift](https://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) it will build the power of community led action throughout the UK by bringing together hundreds of community activists who are already making change happen, so together we can have a bigger impact. It will be a space to empower us to create our own future, through inspiring each other, making new connections and sharing knowledge to build a stronger movement that creates the change we want to see in our communities.

The summit will run over a period of three weeks, to enable people to dip in and out as they wish and to allow space for learning, reflection, the building of relationships and concrete pathways of action.

The summit will be taking place in March rather than February, as originally planned, to enable us to collaborate with a wider range of organisations and community activists to curate a truly exceptional programme.

Each week we will have a different focus, following the flow of What Is? What If? What Next? We’re still working on the detail but here’s a general overview of the timeline – save the dates!

Make sure you’re following Transition: Bounce Forward for updates and events as they happen:

W – [transitionbounce-forward.org](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
T – [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
F – [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/TransitionBounceForward/)

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Screen-Shot-2020-12-15-at-12.56.57.png
### Some reflections on the difference between ‘Yes, but’ and ‘Yes, and’
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/yes-but-and-yes-and/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:30.000Z
###### ***First published by [Rob Hopkins ](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/10/23/some-reflections-on-the-difference-between-yes-but-and-yes-and/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)in October 2020.***

Near the end of my recent visit to [Luxembourg,](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/transition-days/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by a reporter who is the country’s leading political interviewer. Think Jeremy Paxman or Andrew Neill – her job is to hold politicians to account. It was the first time I have ever done an interview like that, and it was a pretty intense and adrenalin-filled hour of my life.

About half way through the interview I started to notice a pattern. Every time she asked me a question she would start it with the word ‘but’. For me it felt like it dismissed, and swept aside, everything that I had been saying up that point, offering the next question as a kind of ‘gotcha’. I tried my best to respond to each question with a positive mixture of stories of things I’ve seen in the world, trying to open up possibilities and bringing the best evidence I know of to support what I was saying. It felt like I would build, and then she would undermine and knock down, I would build, she would undermine and knock down. It was pretty exhausting. You’ll know the kind of thing, we see it on TV political shows every time we turn them on.

While we were talking, I found myself thinking about the difference between ‘Yes, but’ and ‘Yes, and’. I learned about ‘Yes, and’ when I studied improv theatre. ‘Yes, and’ is when someone makes an offer, a suggestion, and you build on it. You might say to me “do you like my hat?” You’re not actually wearing a hat, so I could just say “yes, but you’re not wearing a hat”, which kills any possibility of interaction and play stone dead.

Or, I would say “yes, and wow, what a beautiful hat. What does that handle on the side do?” I am allowing myself to be changed by your invitation, and then opening up new possibilities. You might then say “yes, and look what happens when I turn it!”, inviting me to respond again. Which we do over and over, building wild and inspired new narratives.

As [Deborah Frances-White](https://www.robhopkins.net/2017/12/11/deborah-frances-white-imagination-crisis-what-imagination-crisis/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and Tom Salinsky write in their book ‘The Improv Handbook’, “saying yes to your partner’s idea represents a risk. You have to let an alien idea in, and if you have to build on it, you have to let it influence you. You can’t plan your offer in advance, it depends on what your partner offers”. Saying “yes, but” allows us to stay safe, whereas “yes, and” means learning to trust people, and interact with people, and to co-create something that could only have arisen from that interaction. We open ourselves to being changed by that other person.

Just before lockdown, I had spent a couple of days with staff from Patagonia, the international outdoor clothing company, at a team retreat in the German mountains. It is a story I tell in more detail [here](https://www.robhopkins.net/2020/01/28/the-snowy-walk-of-what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), but in essence, on my second day with them, we did an exercise called ‘A Walk of What If’. They went out in groups of 6, with the invitation to think of as many ideas for how Patagonia could act, in everything it does, as though this was a climate and ecological emergency.

There were just 2 rules. The first was that they were to not feel constrained by existing policies, budgets, organisational culture, rather to think in big, bold leaps. Secondly, they were not allowed to respond to What If questions with ‘yes, but’, only ‘yes, and’, to listen to and build on the ideas of others. Off they went for an hour in the snow, and when they returned they were almost in an altered state of consciousness, clutching a great wad of What If questions, and with bright eyes and excited chatter.

It was the spirit in that room in the mountains that came back to me as I sat being grilled during that interview in Luxembourg. I found myself wondering if I would actually pull the interviewer up on her starting of every single question in the interview with the word “but”. Would it be outrageous to challenge one of Luxembourg’s leading journalists during her own interview? I decided I would. After all, it wasn’t like I was likely to get asked back at any point.

So when she asked her last question, I started by saying “I just want to point out that every question you have asked me has started with the word ‘but’. It really closes down discussion and possibility. How different might this interview have been if, instead, you had started by saying “yes, and” and we had then built off each other’s ideas and had a constructive discussion to which we both contributed? I’m not a politician. I can get that if you are interviewing Donald Trump, then “yes, but” is needed to try to hold him to account, but for me wouldn’t it have been better for us to have a constructive conversation?” (this is not a literal account of what I said, rather my recalling of the general gist of it).

Once the interview was over, she said to me “I’m sorry, I’m so tired, I slept so badly last night”. Then she added “you know, it is very very hard to sustain any hope for the future when you spend all of your time interviewing politicians”. I sympathised, and said that I could easily imagine that that was the case, and that she had my deepest commiserations. I suggested that perhaps next year, she and I might go on a road trip across Europe to visit projects where people are doing amazing things, in order to try and rebuild her sense of hope and possibility. We’ll see if she takes up the offer.

It left me thinking how different our media culture would be if we were to engage in discussions that offer more space for building ideas off other peoples’ ideas and trying to find inspired common ground, rather than debates where people don’t listen to each other and just ‘Yes, but’ each other continually, sucking all of the possibility out of the conversation. While I entirely appreciate that ‘Yes, but’ has a role in holding those in power to account, it also suffocates and stifles and undermines. Just for those few moments, I allowed myself to imagine how our political debates might look if they had ‘Yes, and’ at their heart. I liked what I saw.
### Webinars – Exploring the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/webinars-evaluation/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:31.000Z
**Let’s reflect on the past, present and future of our movement**.  
  
How is the Transition movement having an impact in different parts of the world? Where do we see energy and potential and where are we struggling? How is our movement responding to the current context of rapidly deepening and accelerating ecological and social crises? And how might the Transition movement evolve and adapt, so that we can get even better at supporting resilience and regeneration in the times that are coming?

Transition Network is supporting a collective evaluation of our distributed, international movement. We’re currently using a survey in multiple languages ([https://survey.transitionnetwork.org/](https://survey.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) to gather broad feedback from Transitioners and our allies across the world. And now we’re running three online events to enable people in different time zones to go a bit deeper.

How is the Transition movement having an impact in different parts of the world? Where do we see energy and potential and where are we struggling? How is our movement responding to the current context of rapidly deepening and accelerating ecological and social crises? And how might the Transition movement evolve and adapt, so that we can get even better at supporting resilience and regeneration in the times that are coming?

Transition Network is supporting a collective evaluation of our distributed, international movement. We’re currently using a survey in multiple languages ([http://survey.transitionnetwork.org/](http://survey.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) to gather broad feedback from Transitioners and our allies across the world. And now we’re running three online events to enable people in different time zones to go a bit deeper.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/evaluation-event-covers-1.png

How is the Transition movement having an impact in different parts of the world? Where do we see energy and potential and where are we struggling? How is our movement responding to the current context of rapidly deepening and accelerating ecological and social crises? And how might the Transition movement evolve and adapt, so that we can get even better at supporting resilience and regeneration in the times that are coming?

Transition Network is supporting a collective evaluation of our distributed, international movement. We’re currently using a survey in multiple languages ([http://survey.transitionnetwork.org/](http://survey.transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) to gather broad feedback from Transitioners and our allies across the world. And now we’re running three online events to enable people in different time zones to go a bit deeper.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/evaluation-event-covers-1.png

Tue 1 December 14:00 – 16:30 UTC – [Register here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-the-impact-relevance-and-potential-of-the-transition-movement-tickets-129846906593?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Mar 1 de diciembre – [registrarse en español](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/explorando-el-impacto-relevancia-y-potencial-del-movimiento-de-transicion-tickets-130269522649?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Wed 2 December 08:00 – 10:30 UTC – [Register here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-the-impact-relevance-and-potential-of-the-transition-movement-tickets-129862741957?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Thurs 3 December 17:00 – 19:30 UTC – [Register here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-the-impact-relevance-and-potential-of-the-transition-movement-tickets-129864069929?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

These will be interactive events. We’ll share emerging themes from the survey and explore them together, inviting experiences and perspectives from different contexts. We’ll use breakout rooms and create opportunities for you to follow your interests.

Our aim is to identify and deepen our understanding of the key tensions, questions and possibilities currently alive in our movement. We aren’t expecting definitive answers, but hope you will feel nourished and stimulated by the conversation and the connections!

The outputs from all three online events will feed into the wider evaluation process and be shared back with the movement.

Session 1 will be co-facilitated in English and Spanish and we will use English as the main working language/s for sessions 2 and 3\. You will be asked about language needs on registration and we will do our best to respond with creative self-organisation.
### Ten years of Transition in Luxembourg
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/ten-years-of-transition-in-luxembourg/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:32.000Z
###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-1-scaled.jpg

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-1-scaled.jpg

Eine hoffnungsvolle Note schlägt Transitions-Vordenker Rob Hopkins in seinem 2020 erschienenen Buch „From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want“ an. Darin resümiert er das Credo der Transition: „Wenn wir auf die Regierungen warten, dann wird es zu spät sein. Wenn wir als Individuen handeln, dann wird es zu wenig sein. Doch wenn wir als Gemeinschaft handeln, dann könnte es gerade reichen und gerade rechtzeitig sein.“

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-1-scaled.jpg

Eine hoffnungsvolle Note schlägt Transitions-Vordenker Rob Hopkins in seinem 2020 erschienenen Buch „From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want“ an. Darin resümiert er das Credo der Transition: „Wenn wir auf die Regierungen warten, dann wird es zu spät sein. Wenn wir als Individuen handeln, dann wird es zu wenig sein. Doch wenn wir als Gemeinschaft handeln, dann könnte es gerade reichen und gerade rechtzeitig sein.“

>  
>  
>  

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-1-scaled.jpg

Eine hoffnungsvolle Note schlägt Transitions-Vordenker Rob Hopkins in seinem 2020 erschienenen Buch „From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want“ an. Darin resümiert er das Credo der Transition: „Wenn wir auf die Regierungen warten, dann wird es zu spät sein. Wenn wir als Individuen handeln, dann wird es zu wenig sein. Doch wenn wir als Gemeinschaft handeln, dann könnte es gerade reichen und gerade rechtzeitig sein.“

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CELL-blog.png

###### ***By Wolf von Leipzig- first published in [Télécran](http://telecran.lu/DE/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in September 2020.***  
***Translated by Norry Schneider (German version below).***

In 2010, after the failure of the Copenhagen World Climate Summit, a new idea paved the way: *Transition*. Ten years later, the movement has also taken root in Luxembourg. Today there are dozens of initiatives throughout the country. *Télécran* gives an insight and overview.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

# Think globally, act locally

When people talk about environmental and climate protection, they think of Greenpeace, the ecological movement or, more recently, *Fridays For Future* and *Extinction Rebellion*. The Transition movement is less well known, yet it is extremely present in Luxembourg. But what does it actually stand for and what exactly does it do?

Transition was born out of the perception that the world and society are facing enormous upheavals in the years to come, particularly with climate change and the end of cheap fossil fuels. With the apparent failure of politics in recent years to act decisively against this acute threat and to take effective measures, the hour of the Transition movement came.

Instead of waiting or clinging to a utopia, Transition stands for action in the here and now. It is about showing that through concrete and positive action everyone is able to act, be creative and use their abilities: Citizens who create their own currency, cultivate their own vegetable patch, develop alternative economies, build differently or set up an energy cooperative.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres.jpeg

# Story of disappointment

The origins of the Transition movement in Luxembourg go back a decade, when Katy Fox from Luxembourg founded the Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) in 2010 with a number of like-minded people.

The idea came from the UK, where she holds a doctorate in anthropology. One important impetus was the “Copenhagen shock”, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen World Climate Summit: “It was a terrible disappointment,” says Norry Schneider, CELL coordinator, “and the question arose: What can be done now anyway? So we first set ourselves a goal and then looked at how to get there. The aim is to make Luxembourg society less dependent on fossil fuels in order to be able to respond better to climate change and the resulting problems”.

# Initiatives at local level

Transition is a “grassroots” movement, supported by citizens and organised in a decentralised way. Its main objectives are: To reduce the consumption of energy and resources, and thus greenhouse gas emissions, in order to limit the consequences of climate change; to strengthen the “resilience” of the earth by “relocalising” the economy, starting with food production; to promote cooperation and solidarity between local actors and to support the acquisition of practical skills, thus strengthening local autonomy.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett.jpeg

CELL is the core of the movement. This is where the various initiatives in the country come together to promote environmental, social and economic change. “We are a movement that does not see itself as politically tinged,” explains Schneider. “But it has become clear that we need to professionalise and have a common platform so that the whole thing doesn’t fall apart again all at once,” Schneider explains.

The first two local groups in this country were set up in Esch/Alzette with Transition Minett, focusing on community gardens, nutrition and energy, and in Luxembourg also with a focus on community gardens. This has resulted in the *Terra* cooperative on the *Eecher Feld*, the community gardens in Esch and in the Petrus valley, the *Maison de la Transition* in Esch/Alzette and the TM Enercoop energy cooperative. In addition, local initiatives such as *Transition Bonneweg* and *Transition Westen* have been developed.

“The cooperative is the form of society that best suits our ideas,” explains Schneider. In 2016, we opened the Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette – out of the consideration that we need a place where citizens can think about and try out the world of tomorrow – in short, a house where the future is shaped. The restaurant and the shop make it easy to get started. The idea is actually that places like this should be created everywhere, whether it is a restaurant or something else.

# Äerdschëff and Bamhaus

The *Transition Luxembourg* platform, launched in 2010 on the initiative of CELL, is now made up of many regional groups (Luxembourg City, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen, etc.), various themes (permaculture, urban gardening, seeds, energy, economic models, do-it-yourself, repair cafés) and field projects (Äerdschëff, Climate Pact and citizen participation, REconomy, Earth our Garden and intercultural gardens).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-scaled.jpg

In 2014 a convention was signed in which the Ministry of the Environment mandates CELL to support the municipalities in the country in implementing the Climate Pact, especially in the area of citizen participation.

Today the CELL employs almost 20 people, some of them part-time. Most of them work in the Maison de la Transition and the Facilitec Centre in Esch/Alzette, some for *Äerdschëff* in Redange and others in the creative workshop *Bamhaus* in Dommeldange.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-scaled.jpg

The co-founder of the Transition movement Rob Hopkins strikes a hopeful note in his book *From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want*. In it, he sums up the credo of Transition: “If we wait for governments, it will be too late. If we act as individuals, it will be too little. But if we act as a community, it could be just enough and just in time”.

>  
>  
>  

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-Team-2020-©CELL-scaled.jpeg

# **Transition Coordinator Norry Schneider:**

# **“Everyone can make a contribution to change”**

Norry Schneider is co-founder of Transition Minett and since 2015 coordinator of the Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), also known as Transition Hub Luxembourg. He is also Vice-President of Luxembourg’s High Council for Sustainable Development.

**What does the Transition movement stand for?**

It wants to shape and cushion the transition to a society that is more supportive, fairer and more ecological. This cannot be done with a crowbar, but it must be done quickly, because the problem is that the window of opportunity is closing more and more.

**Can the climate be saved at all?**

We have passed a number of “tipping points” and cannot go back. Until recently we might have been able to do so, but we have missed that opportunity. That is why we have to find other ways forward. The climate, biodiversity, water supplies and other resources are increasingly threatening to lose their balance.

**Where does the transition start?**

Our starting point is to strengthen the social competence of a society. We talk about communities. That does not mean that people should withdraw. A community can be a school, a company, a neighbourhood, a local authority. At this level we have lost a great deal over the past decades, and there is much to build here.

**Is there an example of this?**

When we started ten years ago, permaculture was a big issue. And so some people started to create community gardens. We try to create gardens where they are not isolated, but preferably in the middle of a neighbourhood. However, because of the great demand, we are no longer able to do the projects ourselves, but only to accompany them.

**How are the projects financed?**

Our work is largely financed by the Ministry of the Environment. Support also comes from the OEuvre Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, from etika, and from some local authorities, including Wiltz (in the north of the country). The city of Esch/Alzette (in the south) also finances many Transition Minett projects, such as Facilitec, a centre for circular economy, and subsidises the Maison de la Transition. We are cautious about financing from private sources such as foundations and companies, but one should “never say never”.

**What exactly is the role of the CELL?**

We want people to be inspired by practice, as in the film documentary “Eng Äerd”. People are aware of the problems, only they ask themselves: What can I do as an individual in the big picture? They do not know how to balance their contribution to change, their work and their family. And that creates a lot of stress.

**Is that enough to make a difference?**

We are sometimes not take seriously because what we do is “small and cute”, while the challenges are enormous. Of course, we don’t make much of a difference on our own, but it helps to gradually take things to the next level by making a real difference through people. The issue of “resilience” in the food system has led to the creation of a Luxembourg Food Council and a national strategy “Urban Farming”. We bring with us the practical experience that other actors sometimes lack. So there is real complementarity.

# Zehn Jahre Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg

2010, nach dem Scheitern des Weltklimagipfels von Kopenhagen, bahnte sich eine neue Idee ihren Weg: die „Transition“. Zehn Jahre danach hat die Bewegung auch in Luxemburg Wurzeln geschlagen. Heute gibt es Duzende Initiativen im ganzen Land. „Télécran“ gibt einen Ein- und Überblick.

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gemeinschaftsgaart-Breedewee-Esch-2015-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

# Global denken, lokal handeln

Wenn von Umwelt- und Klimaschutz die Rede ist, denkt man an Greenpeace, Mouvment écologique oder jüngst auch „Fridays For Future“ und „Extinction Rebellion“. Weniger bekannt ist die Transitionsbewegung, und doch ist sie gerade in Luxemburg überaus präsent. Doch wofür steht sie eigentlich und was macht sie genau?

Die Transition ist aus der Wahrnehmung entstanden, dass die Welt und die Gesellschaft in den kommenden Jahren vor enormen Umwälzungen stehen, die insbesondere mit dem Klimawandel und dem voraussichtlichen Ende billiger fossiler Energie einhergehen. Mit dem augenscheinlichen Versagen der Politik, in den vergangenen Jahren entschlossen gegen die akute Bedrohung vorzugehen und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, kam die Stunde der Transitionsbewegung.

Statt abzuwarten oder einer Utopie anzuhängen, steht die Transition für ein Handeln im Hier und Heute. Es geht darum zu zeigen, dass durch konkrete und positive Maßnahmen jeder in der Lage ist, zu handeln, kreativ zu sein und seine Fähigkeiten zu nutzen: Bürger, die ihre eigene Währung schaffen, ihr Gemüsebeet bestellen, anders „wirtschaften“, anders bauen oder eine Energiegenossenschaft gründen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ENERCOOP-TM\_Esch-@PatrickGieres-1.jpeg

# Geschichte einer Enttäuschung

Die Ursprünge der Transitionsbewegung in Luxemburg reichen ein Jahrzehnt zurück, als die Luxemburgerin Katy Fox 2010 mit einer Reihe Gleichgesinnter das Centre For Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) gründete.

Die Idee dazu brachte die promovierte Anthropologin aus Großbritannien mit. Ein wichtiger Anstoß war der „Kopenhagen-Schock“, das Scheitern des Weltklimagipfel von Kopenhagen 2009: „Er war eine schreckliche Enttäuschung“, sagt Norry Schneider, Koordinator des CELL. „Es kam die Frage auf: Was kann man nun überhaupt noch machen? So setzen wir uns zuerst ein Ziel und schauten dann, wie wir dorthin kommen. Ziel ist es, die luxemburgische Gesellschaft weniger abhängig von fossilen Brennstoffen zu machen, um damit besser auf den Klimawandel und die daraus resultierenden Probleme reagieren zu können.“

# Initiativen auf Lokalebene

Die Transition ist eine „Graswurzel“-Bewegung, die von den Bürgern getragen wird und dezentral organisiert ist. Hauptziele sind: Den Verbrauch von Energie und Ressourcen und damit den Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen zu verringern, um die Folgen des Klimawandels zu begrenzen; die „Resilienz“ (Widerstandsfähigkeit) der Erde zu stärken, indem die Wirtschaft, angefangen mit der Lebensmittelproduktion „relokalisiert“ wird; Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität zwischen lokalen Akteuren zu fördern sowie den Erwerb von praktischen Fähigkeiten zu unterstützen und so die lokale Autonomie zu stärken.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MaisondelaTransition2016-©TransitionMinett-1.jpeg

Das CELL ist der Kern der Bewegung. Hier laufen die verschiedenen Initiativen im Land zusammen, die sich für ökologische, soziale und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen einsetzen. „Wir sind eine Bewegung, die sich nicht als politisch gefärbt ansieht“, erklärt Schneider. „Doch hat sich die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass wir uns professionalisieren müssen und eine gemeinsame Plattform brauchen, damit das Ganze nicht auf einmal wieder auseinanderbricht“, führt Schneider aus.

Die ersten beiden lokalen Gruppen hierzulande entstanden in Esch/Alzette mit Transition Minett mit den Schwerpunkten Gemeinschaftsgärten, Ernährung und Energie sowie in Luxemburg auch mit dem Schwerpunkt Gemeinschaftsgärten. Daraus haben sich die Kooperative „Terra“ auf dem „Eecher Feld“, die Gemeinschaftsgärten in Esch und im Petrusstal, die „Maison de la Transition“ in Esch/Alzette sowie, die Energiegenossenschaft TM Enercoop entwickelt. Zudem sind in lokale Initiativen wie „Transition Bonneweg“ und „Transition Westen“ entstanden.

„Die Kooperative ist die Gesellschaftsform, die unseren Vorstellungen am Besten entspricht“, erläutert Schneider. 2016 haben wir die Maison de la Transition in Esch/Alzette aufgemacht – aus der Überlegung, dass wir einen Ort brauchen, wo die Bürger die Welt von morgen denken und ausprobieren können – kurzum, ein Haus, wo die Zukunft gestaltet wird. Das Restaurant und der Laden erleichtern den Einstieg. Die Idee ist eigentlich, dass überall solche Orte entstehen, egal ob das nun ein Restaurant oder etwas anderes ist.

# „Äerdschëff“ und „Bamhaus“

Die 2010 auf Initiative von CELL initiierte Plattform „Transition Luxembourg“ besteht heute aus vielen regionalen Gruppen (Luxemburg-Stadt, Minett, Uelzechtdall, Norden, Our, Osten, Westen usw.), verschiedenen Themen (Permakultur, städtischer Gartenbau, Saatgut, Energie, Wirtschaftsmodelle, Do-It-Yourself, Reparaturcafés) sowie Feldprojekten (Äerdschëff, Klimapakt und Bürgerbeteiligung, REconomy, Urban Gardening, Earth our Garden sowie interkulturellen Gärten).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aerdscheff3sept2020-©RodrigoVergara-1-scaled.jpg

2014 wurde eine Konvention unterschrieben, worin das Umweltministerium das CELL mandatiert, die Gemeinden im Land bei der Umsetzung des Klimapaktes, vor allem bei der Bürgerbeteiligung, zu unterstützen.

Heute beschäftigt das CELL fast 20 Menschen, einige davon in Teilzeit. Die meisten arbeiten in der Maison de la Transition und im Facilitec Zentrum in Esch/Alzette, einige für „Äerdschëff“ in Redingen“ und andere in der Kreativwerkstatt „Bamhaus“ in Dommeldingen.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Facilitec-2019-@-CELL-1-scaled.jpg

Eine hoffnungsvolle Note schlägt Transitions-Vordenker Rob Hopkins in seinem 2020 erschienenen Buch „From What Is To What If. Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want“ an. Darin resümiert er das Credo der Transition: „Wenn wir auf die Regierungen warten, dann wird es zu spät sein. Wenn wir als Individuen handeln, dann wird es zu wenig sein. Doch wenn wir als Gemeinschaft handeln, dann könnte es gerade reichen und gerade rechtzeitig sein.“

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CELL-blog.png

# Transitions-Koordinator Norry Schneider:

# „Jeder kann einen Beitrag zum Wandel leisten“

Norry Schneider ist Mitbegründer von Transition Minett und seit 2015 Koordinator des Centre For Ecological Learning (CELL), auch bekannt als Transition Hub Luxembourg. Daneben ist er Vizepräsident des Conseil supérieur pour le développement durable („Nohaltegkeetsrot“).

**Wofür steht die Transitionsbewegung?**

Sie will den Übergang zu einer Gesellschaft gestalten und abfedern, die solidarischer, fairer und ökologischer ist. Das geht nicht mit der Brechstange, aber es muss rasch geschehen, denn das Problem ist, dass das Zeitfenster sich immer weiter schließt.

**Ist das Klima überhaupt noch zu retten?**

Wir haben eine Reihe „Kipppunkte“ überschritten und können nicht mehr zurück. Bis vor kurzem hätten wir das vielleicht noch hinbekommen, doch diese Chance haben wir verpasst. Deshalb müssen wir andere Wege gehen. Das Klima, die Biodiversität, die Wasservorräte und andere Ressourcen drohen immer mehr aus dem Gleichgewicht zu geraten.

**Wo setzt die Transition an?**

Unser Ansatzpunkt ist, die Sozialkompetenz einer Gesellschaft zu stärken. Wir reden von Gemeinschaften. Das bedeutet nicht, dass sich die Menschen zurückziehen sollen. Eine Gemeinschaft kann eine Schule, eine Firma, ein Viertel, eine Gemeinde sein. Auf dieser Ebene haben wir in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten sehr viel verloren, und hier bleibt viel aufzubauen.

**Gibt es ein Beispiel dafür?**

Als wir vor zehn Jahren angefangen haben, war die Permakultur ein großes Thema. Und so haben einige Leute begonnen, Gemeinschaftsgärten anzulegen. Wir versuchen Gärten dort anzulegen, wo sie nicht isoliert sind, sondern möglichst mitten in einem Viertel. Wegen der großen Nachfrage können wir die Projekte heute jedoch nicht mehr selbst machen, sondern nur noch begleiten.

**Wie werden die Projekte finanziert?**

Unsere Arbeit wird größtenteils vom Umweltministerium finanziert. Unterstützung kommt auch von der Oeuvre Grand-Duchesse Charlotte, von etika, und von einigen Gemeinden, darunter Wiltz. Die Stadt Esch/Alzette finanziert ebenfalls viele Projekte der Transition Minett wie etwa Facilitec, ein Zentrum rund um die Kreislaufwirtschaft, und bezuschusst die Maison de la Transition. Vorsichtig sind wir bei Finanzierung von privater Seite wie Stiftungen und Firmen, doch soll man „nie nie sagen“.

**Was genau ist die Rolle vom CELL?**

Wir wollen, dass die Menschen sich durch die Praxis inspirieren lassen, wie in der Filmdokumentation „Eng Äerd“. Die Leute sind dich der Probleme bewusst, nur fragen sie sich: Was kann ich als Einzelner in dem Großen und Ganzen tun? Sie wissen nicht, wie sie ihren Beitrag zum Wandel, ihre Arbeit und ihre Familie unter einen Hut bekommen. Und das schafft einen ganz enormen Stress.

**Genügt das, um etwas zu bewirken?**

Gelegentlich werden wir belächelt, weil das, was wir machen, „klein und niedlich“ ist, während die Herausforderungen enorm sind. Allein bewegen wir natürlich nicht viel, aber es hilft, die Dinge nach und nach auf ein anderes Niveau zu heben, indem Menschen ganz konkret etwas bewegen. Das Thema „Resilienz“ im Ernährungssystem hat zur Gründung eines Luxemburger Ernährungsrates und zu einer nationalen Strategie „Urban Farming“ gwführt. Wir bringen den Praxisbezug mit, der anderen Akteuren teilweise fehlt. Es besteht also wirkliche Komplementarität.
### Tell us about the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/evaluation-survey/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:33.000Z
**Launching our international survey!**

As introduced [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network is working with the international Transition Hubs Group to support a collective evaluation of what the Transition movement is achieving and how it might need to adapt to respond to current and emerging challenges. We know many groups and hubs are already exploring the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. Now you have an opportunity to contribute to a broader conversation and hear the perspectives and experiences of people in many different places.

Here is a [**survey**](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that we will be sharing far and wide throughout November. It’s currently available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish thanks to the speedy work of translators drawn from across the Transition movement (please contact evaluation@transitionnetwork.org if you might be able to help us add a new language to this list).

**We encourage you to complete this survey however long you have been involved in the Transition movement and however deep your connection.**  We want to hear from people who are active within Transition hubs and groups, Transition trainers, people connected to the Municipalities in Transition project and people who consider themselves allies, but who are not currently participating in Transition activities.

We encourage you to focus on the questions that feel most interesting and relevant – don’t feel you have to answer every one. Also, please complete the survey in the language you are most comfortable using – we can arrange translation.

As introduced [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network is working with the international Transition Hubs Group to support a collective evaluation of what the Transition movement is achieving and how it might need to adapt to respond to current and emerging challenges. We know many groups and hubs are already exploring the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. Now you have an opportunity to contribute to a broader conversation and hear the perspectives and experiences of people in many different places.

Here is a [**survey**](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that we will be sharing far and wide throughout November. It’s currently available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish thanks to the speedy work of translators drawn from across the Transition movement (please contact evaluation@transitionnetwork.org if you might be able to help us add a new language to this list).

**We encourage you to complete this survey however long you have been involved in the Transition movement and however deep your connection.**  We want to hear from people who are active within Transition hubs and groups, Transition trainers, people connected to the Municipalities in Transition project and people who consider themselves allies, but who are not currently participating in Transition activities.

We encourage you to focus on the questions that feel most interesting and relevant – don’t feel you have to answer every one. Also, please complete the survey in the language you are most comfortable using – we can arrange translation.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Please-complete-this-survey-by-1-December-2020.-300x200.png)](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

As introduced [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network is working with the international Transition Hubs Group to support a collective evaluation of what the Transition movement is achieving and how it might need to adapt to respond to current and emerging challenges. We know many groups and hubs are already exploring the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. Now you have an opportunity to contribute to a broader conversation and hear the perspectives and experiences of people in many different places.

Here is a [**survey**](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that we will be sharing far and wide throughout November. It’s currently available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish thanks to the speedy work of translators drawn from across the Transition movement (please contact evaluation@transitionnetwork.org if you might be able to help us add a new language to this list).

**We encourage you to complete this survey however long you have been involved in the Transition movement and however deep your connection.**  We want to hear from people who are active within Transition hubs and groups, Transition trainers, people connected to the Municipalities in Transition project and people who consider themselves allies, but who are not currently participating in Transition activities.

We encourage you to focus on the questions that feel most interesting and relevant – don’t feel you have to answer every one. Also, please complete the survey in the language you are most comfortable using – we can arrange translation.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Please-complete-this-survey-by-1-December-2020.-300x200.png)](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

As we start this evaluation exercise we can draw on feedback that Transition Network has already received in recent months, from different parts of the movement. We hope that hearing some of this feedback might stimulate your ideas and encourage you to share your own perspective and experiences.

This [summary document](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZzNTKtts-GGAt6N6ou67wSCuh1wVSZF/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) brings together and begins to analyse recent feedback from various parts of the movement (including a strategic evaluation conducted by Transition US, the recent survey carried out by the new international circle for Training for Transition and last year’s survey of Transition groups in Britain). It also draws on an ongoing review of over 250 academic papers on Transition published in the last 5 years.

We know that these different sources only represent part of the picture, and that there are gaps. So we’d be really interested to hear if you are seeing or feeling something different in your place? If some of the themes we have identified make sense to you, what are your examples and stories that can help us illustrate them better? Please contribute your stories, perspectives and experiences via **the survey.**

**Why a survey … and why now?**

Here are just a few of the reasons why we are conducting this survey in 2020

- This has been a year of rapid change for so many people. The Covid-19 crisis has caused widespread suffering and disruption, while highlighting and deepening the faultlines of existing inequalities. The world’s response to Covid-19 demonstrated that rapid social change is possible, but how can we ensure that it is the type of rapid social change that we are all longing for? It feels important to reflect on this together, finding a way to hear from as many perspectives as possible.
- The climate crisis continues to worsen and reach critical tipping points and is only one aspect of the accelerating, interlinked crises to which the Transition movement is seeking to respond. We want to explore our collective understanding of the complex challenges we are facing and identify what will help us stay connected, resilient and impactful in these times.
- Responding to a series of preventable tragedies, the Black Lives Matter movement has exposed how historical and colonial injustices are alive and impacting individuals and society today. We want to find out how the Transition movement is being shaped by, and contributing to, other movements for social justice.
- Transition Network works to attract resources into our distributed grassroots movement and we know that people at every level of scale are constantly trying to raise funds and demonstrate the value of their activities. For this we need strong evidence and compelling stories. This evaluation process is designed to help Transition Network and others across our movement secure the resources we need to continue our work and have greater impact.
- Thankfully, Transition is not the only movement that is supporting a transition to a safe and just space where we can meet the needs of all people equitably, and within ecological resource limits. Within this rich and evolving ecosystem of social change, how can we in the Transition movement find the best match between the skills, practices and approach we have developed over the years, and the pressing needs of our times? Through this survey and follow-up conversations we want to support good decisions about where to focus energy and attention and try to reach a clearer collective sense of the contribution that our movement makes to the wider ecology of change.

The survey is one very important part of a broader evaluation process. We will also identify specific case studies to explore in more detail and organise online discussions in late November and early December. You can use the survey to suggest interesting projects as case studies, tell us the stories that feel most important to you and express an interest in further evaluation activities.

If you have questions, comments or ideas that don’t fit easily into the survey, please email us at [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

With special thanks to Alina d’Amelia, Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda, Andrea Giraldo López, Catherine Pizani, Deva Fatima, Frank Braun, Krisztina Olasz, Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes, Shahaf Margalit and Yoav Egozi who helped translate the survey into multiple languages and to people within the Hubs Group who are sharing it across their territories.

As introduced [**here**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), Transition Network is working with the international Transition Hubs Group to support a collective evaluation of what the Transition movement is achieving and how it might need to adapt to respond to current and emerging challenges. We know many groups and hubs are already exploring the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. Now you have an opportunity to contribute to a broader conversation and hear the perspectives and experiences of people in many different places.

Here is a [**survey**](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that we will be sharing far and wide throughout November. It’s currently available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish thanks to the speedy work of translators drawn from across the Transition movement (please contact evaluation@transitionnetwork.org if you might be able to help us add a new language to this list).

**We encourage you to complete this survey however long you have been involved in the Transition movement and however deep your connection.**  We want to hear from people who are active within Transition hubs and groups, Transition trainers, people connected to the Municipalities in Transition project and people who consider themselves allies, but who are not currently participating in Transition activities.

We encourage you to focus on the questions that feel most interesting and relevant – don’t feel you have to answer every one. Also, please complete the survey in the language you are most comfortable using – we can arrange translation.

[![](https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Please-complete-this-survey-by-1-December-2020.-300x200.png)](https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/iKB8WO?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

As we start this evaluation exercise we can draw on feedback that Transition Network has already received in recent months, from different parts of the movement. We hope that hearing some of this feedback might stimulate your ideas and encourage you to share your own perspective and experiences.

This [summary document](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZzNTKtts-GGAt6N6ou67wSCuh1wVSZF/view?usp=sharing&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) brings together and begins to analyse recent feedback from various parts of the movement (including a strategic evaluation conducted by Transition US, the recent survey carried out by the new international circle for Training for Transition and last year’s survey of Transition groups in Britain). It also draws on an ongoing review of over 250 academic papers on Transition published in the last 5 years.

We know that these different sources only represent part of the picture, and that there are gaps. So we’d be really interested to hear if you are seeing or feeling something different in your place? If some of the themes we have identified make sense to you, what are your examples and stories that can help us illustrate them better? Please contribute your stories, perspectives and experiences via **the survey.**

**Why a survey … and why now?**

Here are just a few of the reasons why we are conducting this survey in 2020

- This has been a year of rapid change for so many people. The Covid-19 crisis has caused widespread suffering and disruption, while highlighting and deepening the faultlines of existing inequalities. The world’s response to Covid-19 demonstrated that rapid social change is possible, but how can we ensure that it is the type of rapid social change that we are all longing for? It feels important to reflect on this together, finding a way to hear from as many perspectives as possible.
- The climate crisis continues to worsen and reach critical tipping points and is only one aspect of the accelerating, interlinked crises to which the Transition movement is seeking to respond. We want to explore our collective understanding of the complex challenges we are facing and identify what will help us stay connected, resilient and impactful in these times.
- Responding to a series of preventable tragedies, the Black Lives Matter movement has exposed how historical and colonial injustices are alive and impacting individuals and society today. We want to find out how the Transition movement is being shaped by, and contributing to, other movements for social justice.
- Transition Network works to attract resources into our distributed grassroots movement and we know that people at every level of scale are constantly trying to raise funds and demonstrate the value of their activities. For this we need strong evidence and compelling stories. This evaluation process is designed to help Transition Network and others across our movement secure the resources we need to continue our work and have greater impact.
- Thankfully, Transition is not the only movement that is supporting a transition to a safe and just space where we can meet the needs of all people equitably, and within ecological resource limits. Within this rich and evolving ecosystem of social change, how can we in the Transition movement find the best match between the skills, practices and approach we have developed over the years, and the pressing needs of our times? Through this survey and follow-up conversations we want to support good decisions about where to focus energy and attention and try to reach a clearer collective sense of the contribution that our movement makes to the wider ecology of change.

The survey is one very important part of a broader evaluation process. We will also identify specific case studies to explore in more detail and organise online discussions in late November and early December. You can use the survey to suggest interesting projects as case studies, tell us the stories that feel most important to you and express an interest in further evaluation activities.

If you have questions, comments or ideas that don’t fit easily into the survey, please email us at [evaluation@transitionnetwork.org](mailto:evaluation@transitionnetwork.org).

With special thanks to Alina d’Amelia, Anahí Beatriz Pacheco Araneda, Andrea Giraldo López, Catherine Pizani, Deva Fatima, Frank Braun, Krisztina Olasz, Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes, Shahaf Margalit and Yoav Egozi who helped translate the survey into multiple languages and to people within the Hubs Group who are sharing it across their territories.

###### *Feature image by [Volodymyr Hryshchenko](https://unsplash.com/@lunarts?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on Unsplash*
### Help us to evaluate the Transition movement
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/help-us-to-evaluate-the-transition-movement/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:35.000Z
***Join a global conversation about the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement***.

(Update: You can now access the full survey here – [https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/evaluation-survey/](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/evaluation-survey/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))

What impacts are the Transition movement having in different parts of the world? Where do we see energy and potential and where are we struggling? How is our movement responding to the current context of rapidly deepening and accelerating ecological and social crises? And how might the Transition movement evolve and adapt, so that we can get even better at supporting resilience and regeneration in the times that are coming?

These are questions that we are hearing from across our global network. In the coming months, we will support a structured and creative collective exploration of these subjects. We hope you will participate!

Transition Network, the charity that supports the Transition movement is working on this evaluation project with the [Transition Hubs Group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our intention is to help Transition groups, Hubs and trainers better understand the impact, relevance and potential of their work and find out more about how their particular piece of the puzzle fits within the wider picture. We want to celebrate, reflect together and share the learning from experiences across the movement. We believe this will help each individual and group identify where they want to put their energy and attention. And we will share outputs freely to support all those who want to design, secure funding for and implement future activities.

During the design process for the evaluation work, we realised that if we are to assess the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement, we need some shared understanding of what unites us and what we are trying to achieve. There is no single central document that captures this, because the Transition movement has spread geographically and evolved organically over the past 12 years, adapting to what’s needed and what’s possible in different places and at different times.

Bringing together many sources, including the [Transition principles](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/principles-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [essential ingredients](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/starting-transition/7-essential-ingredients/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team compiled the following list of characteristics of the Transition movement. We do not suggest that all these characteristics are equally present in every Transition Group and Transition Hub, but this is an attempt to describe the areas where the Transition movement collectively is seeking to have impact.

People in the Transition movement come together to:

- **Raise awareness –** support people to engage with the interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy);
- **Create positive narratives** – create and share positive, motivating visions and narratives of a healthy, resilient and equitable future;
- **Support inner transformation** – build psychological resilience and wellbeing through connection with ourselves, others and the natural world and explore how mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;
- **Take practical action** – design and implement practical projects which reduce carbon emissions and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, mutual aid, disaster relief;
- **Connect and care for each other** – practice and celebrate creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;
- **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovate and collaborate to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;
- **Broaden & deepen participation** – model and promote approaches to participation and decision making which value and accommodate multiple perspectives and life experiences;
- **Bring people together** – convene and energise broad alliances which agree and work towards a common purpose;
- **Address injustice** – increase awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and find ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

During this evaluation process, we will be testing and listening to feedback about these characteristics of the Transition movement.

**Does this list feel good enough as a description of the parameters of Transition? Do you feel that a core characteristic or critical area of focus is missing? You may want to add a comment below or send an email to evaluation@transitionnetwork.org.**

Very soon we will be sharing a survey to ask for your thoughts and experiences about the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. This will be an important stage in the evaluation process and we are hoping that as many people as possible from very different places around the world will take time to share their views.

We are working with the Transition Hubs Group to get the survey translated into as many languages as possible – please email **evaluation@transitionnetwork.org** if you might be able to help with this.

(Update: You can now access the full survey here – [https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/evaluation-survey/](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/evaluation-survey/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org))

What impacts are the Transition movement having in different parts of the world? Where do we see energy and potential and where are we struggling? How is our movement responding to the current context of rapidly deepening and accelerating ecological and social crises? And how might the Transition movement evolve and adapt, so that we can get even better at supporting resilience and regeneration in the times that are coming?

These are questions that we are hearing from across our global network. In the coming months, we will support a structured and creative collective exploration of these subjects. We hope you will participate!

Transition Network, the charity that supports the Transition movement is working on this evaluation project with the [Transition Hubs Group](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/international-hubs-circle/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). Our intention is to help Transition groups, Hubs and trainers better understand the impact, relevance and potential of their work and find out more about how their particular piece of the puzzle fits within the wider picture. We want to celebrate, reflect together and share the learning from experiences across the movement. We believe this will help each individual and group identify where they want to put their energy and attention. And we will share outputs freely to support all those who want to design, secure funding for and implement future activities.

During the design process for the evaluation work, we realised that if we are to assess the impact, relevance and potential of the Transition movement, we need some shared understanding of what unites us and what we are trying to achieve. There is no single central document that captures this, because the Transition movement has spread geographically and evolved organically over the past 12 years, adapting to what’s needed and what’s possible in different places and at different times.

Bringing together many sources, including the [Transition principles](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/principles-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [essential ingredients](https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/starting-transition/7-essential-ingredients/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), the Transition Network team compiled the following list of characteristics of the Transition movement. We do not suggest that all these characteristics are equally present in every Transition Group and Transition Hub, but this is an attempt to describe the areas where the Transition movement collectively is seeking to have impact.

People in the Transition movement come together to:

- **Raise awareness –** support people to engage with the interconnected challenges of our times (climate change, loss of biodiversity, social injustice and other impacts of the global growth economy);
- **Create positive narratives** – create and share positive, motivating visions and narratives of a healthy, resilient and equitable future;
- **Support inner transformation** – build psychological resilience and wellbeing through connection with ourselves, others and the natural world and explore how mindsets, attitudes, emotions and worldviews can contribute to or block social change;
- **Take practical action** – design and implement practical projects which reduce carbon emissions and increase local resilience e.g. in areas such as food, energy, waste, transport, shelter, mutual aid, disaster relief;
- **Connect and care for each other** – practice and celebrate creativity, mutual support, fun and friendship, bridging divides and decreasing polarisation to create caring and equitable communities and cultures;
- **Contribute to a wellbeing economy** – innovate and collaborate to create economic models and opportunities focused on wellbeing and inclusion e.g. new social enterprises, currencies, livelihoods;
- **Broaden & deepen participation** – model and promote approaches to participation and decision making which value and accommodate multiple perspectives and life experiences;
- **Bring people together** – convene and energise broad alliances which agree and work towards a common purpose;
- **Address injustice** – increase awareness of social justice issues within and beyond our movement and find ways to decolonise, heal and make reparations for historic and current injustices, becoming good allies to those who have been doing this work for many years.

During this evaluation process, we will be testing and listening to feedback about these characteristics of the Transition movement.

**Does this list feel good enough as a description of the parameters of Transition? Do you feel that a core characteristic or critical area of focus is missing? You may want to add a comment below or send an email to evaluation@transitionnetwork.org.**

Very soon we will be sharing a survey to ask for your thoughts and experiences about the impact, relevance and potential of Transition. This will be an important stage in the evaluation process and we are hoping that as many people as possible from very different places around the world will take time to share their views.

We are working with the Transition Hubs Group to get the survey translated into as many languages as possible – please email **evaluation@transitionnetwork.org** if you might be able to help with this.

###### *Feature image: [Balcony Concerts created by Catherine Cordasco](https://unsplash.com/photos/gMPsl1ez-Ts?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives – help stop the spread of COVID-19.*
### Transition: Bounce Forward – Visioning the Future and Seed-funding
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/bounce-forward-what-if/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:36.000Z
Moving from *What Is* to **What If** to *What Next*.

# **What If? – Visioning Exercise**

Times of great change invite us to rethink where we are at and what might need to be transformed in our communities.

As part of Transition: Bounce Forward’s work in Great Britain, we invite you to join together with your group to explore:

- **What Is** – what is the context for our work given all of the changes we’ve experienced in the last 12 months?
- **What If** – what are our visions for our communities in 2030?
- **What Next** – what next steps will enable us to move from What Is to What If?

A step-by-step guide will help you to develop a vision of the future that could become lasting change.

This first version of the visioning process will soon be available to download and can be facilitated with your group and close collaborators online. Later in the course of the project we will introduce you to a general version of the visioning exercise that can be used for wider community engagement.

**Why take part?**

- It’s a great opportunity for your group to come together and really work through what is going on at present where you live. The process will help you to develop a shared vision for your community, as well as the areas/themes you would like to focus on during further community engagement.
- Trying this out first with your group will help you to feel comfortable with running this session online, in preparation for expanding it out to wider local participation.
- We will be hosting a Transition: Bounce Forward ‘What Next’ summit in February which may impact on your group’s vision and how you might make it happen. We recommend doing this version of the process with your group first, and then organise a wider community visioning process for after the summit.
- This version has a ‘What Next’ section which gets you to explore who you will invite to a community visioning process after the summit. You can then begin to make contact with those people and groups, giving them plenty of notice to encourage their attendance.

We have produced a comprehensive facilitation guide to enable you to run this session. We’ll launch the guide at our [upcoming webinar on 11th November](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transition-bounce-forward-visioning-exercise-and-seedfunding-launch-tickets-126421731803?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in which we will introduce the ‘What If’ components of our Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain in more detail. The guide will be available to [download here](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from 12th November.

It may be that you’ll need resources to help you to run a local or regional visioning process – that’s just one of the things our seed-funding grants can help with.

# **What If? – Visioning Exercise**

Times of great change invite us to rethink where we are at and what might need to be transformed in our communities.

As part of Transition: Bounce Forward’s work in Great Britain, we invite you to join together with your group to explore:

- **What Is** – what is the context for our work given all of the changes we’ve experienced in the last 12 months?
- **What If** – what are our visions for our communities in 2030?
- **What Next** – what next steps will enable us to move from What Is to What If?

A step-by-step guide will help you to develop a vision of the future that could become lasting change.

This first version of the visioning process will soon be available to download and can be facilitated with your group and close collaborators online. Later in the course of the project we will introduce you to a general version of the visioning exercise that can be used for wider community engagement.

**Why take part?**

- It’s a great opportunity for your group to come together and really work through what is going on at present where you live. The process will help you to develop a shared vision for your community, as well as the areas/themes you would like to focus on during further community engagement.
- Trying this out first with your group will help you to feel comfortable with running this session online, in preparation for expanding it out to wider local participation.
- We will be hosting a Transition: Bounce Forward ‘What Next’ summit in February which may impact on your group’s vision and how you might make it happen. We recommend doing this version of the process with your group first, and then organise a wider community visioning process for after the summit.
- This version has a ‘What Next’ section which gets you to explore who you will invite to a community visioning process after the summit. You can then begin to make contact with those people and groups, giving them plenty of notice to encourage their attendance.

We have produced a comprehensive facilitation guide to enable you to run this session. We’ll launch the guide at our [upcoming webinar on 11th November](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transition-bounce-forward-visioning-exercise-and-seedfunding-launch-tickets-126421731803?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in which we will introduce the ‘What If’ components of our Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain in more detail. The guide will be available to [download here](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from 12th November.

It may be that you’ll need resources to help you to run a local or regional visioning process – that’s just one of the things our seed-funding grants can help with.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/122502202\_149823103403860\_7503973148654409154\_o.jpg

# **What If? – Visioning Exercise**

Times of great change invite us to rethink where we are at and what might need to be transformed in our communities.

As part of Transition: Bounce Forward’s work in Great Britain, we invite you to join together with your group to explore:

- **What Is** – what is the context for our work given all of the changes we’ve experienced in the last 12 months?
- **What If** – what are our visions for our communities in 2030?
- **What Next** – what next steps will enable us to move from What Is to What If?

A step-by-step guide will help you to develop a vision of the future that could become lasting change.

This first version of the visioning process will soon be available to download and can be facilitated with your group and close collaborators online. Later in the course of the project we will introduce you to a general version of the visioning exercise that can be used for wider community engagement.

**Why take part?**

- It’s a great opportunity for your group to come together and really work through what is going on at present where you live. The process will help you to develop a shared vision for your community, as well as the areas/themes you would like to focus on during further community engagement.
- Trying this out first with your group will help you to feel comfortable with running this session online, in preparation for expanding it out to wider local participation.
- We will be hosting a Transition: Bounce Forward ‘What Next’ summit in February which may impact on your group’s vision and how you might make it happen. We recommend doing this version of the process with your group first, and then organise a wider community visioning process for after the summit.
- This version has a ‘What Next’ section which gets you to explore who you will invite to a community visioning process after the summit. You can then begin to make contact with those people and groups, giving them plenty of notice to encourage their attendance.

We have produced a comprehensive facilitation guide to enable you to run this session. We’ll launch the guide at our [upcoming webinar on 11th November](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transition-bounce-forward-visioning-exercise-and-seedfunding-launch-tickets-126421731803?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in which we will introduce the ‘What If’ components of our Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain in more detail. The guide will be available to [download here](https://transition-bounceforward.org/what-if/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) from 12th November.

It may be that you’ll need resources to help you to run a local or regional visioning process – that’s just one of the things our seed-funding grants can help with.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/122502202\_149823103403860\_7503973148654409154\_o.jpg

# **Transition: Bounce Forward Seed-funding for Transition groups in England**

Do you have a project ready to go, supporting Transition activity in your community under the shadow of Covid-19? Perhaps you have but you don’t know it yet! Or you may have ongoing Transition work that’s really giving value to your community, particularly during this pandemic, that needs support.

Thanks to [funding from The National Lottery Community Fund](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-if-what-next/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) we can announce the opening of the Transition: Bounce Forward seed-funding for Transition groups in England.

The funding is part of the Transition: Bounce Forward project that started in September with four [“What Is” webinars](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) mapping out the wider context in which Transition activity is operating around climate reality, wellbeing and social justice. These went on to look at what Transition initiatives like yours are doing, and how Transition work is adapting during the global pandemic.

We know Transition groups are doing fantastic work responding to the challenges of climate crisis, social injustice and inequality. We also know that there are very real capacity and resource needs for doing this vital work, and even more so under the changing circumstances of Covid-19.

**Why “seed”?** The National Lottery Community Fund have generously given Transition Network funding that can be given as seed-funding grants to Transition groups in England. We’d like as many Transition groups as possible to benefit from this £140,000 pot, and we’ve heard that some Transition groups will find even a small amount of funding very useful. We hope it helps Transition groups now, to unblock and release your activity to thrive whether it be maintaining work you were already doing or starting something new that addresses real need where you are.

**So how’s it going to work?**

We developed the seed-funding structure with a fantastic group of Transitioners and hope it really is light touch and open enough to support what you’re doing. The funding is divided in two pots –

- 140 micro grants of up to £500.
- 20 full grants of up to £3500.

To be eligible for a seed-funding grant you first need to be registered as an initiative on the Transition Network website, a simple gateway to tell us that you understand and practice Transition Principles in your work. It also means that you’ll appear on the [Transition Near Me map](https://transitioninitiative.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) – one of the most visited pages on our website and a great way for potential new members and collaborators to find you.

The micro grants of up to £500 are designed to be super light touch. We simply want you to let us know what you want to do through one short written paragraph, or short audio or video description. You might apply if you need to book a room, pay a facilitator, buy new garden equipment, make some signage or buy tools for a repair café, for example. The micro-grants are all about unblocking low cost solutions that only need a small amount of money to help you get on with what you do best, where you are. Projects need to be completed by the end of September 2021.

Full grants of up to £3500 are available to address larger challenges, longer processes or bigger events. Although we appreciate this is still not a large grant, we hope £3500 enables you to exercise your Transition muscles, particularly around social justice, collaborating with local partners and practicing [Transition Principles](https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/principles-2/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). We’re going to ask you to tell us a bit more about how your project relates to these areas of focus and you’ll need to complete the projects by the end of September 2021.

If you’re thinking about applying for the micro grants or the full grants, the deadline for application is the same – **30th November 2020**. To find out more, and to apply, check out the [seed-funding page](https://transition-bounceforward.org/seed-funding/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) on the Transition Bounce forward website.

We’ll be hosting a seed-funding Q&A at our [upcoming webinar on 11th November](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transition-bounce-forward-visioning-exercise-and-seedfunding-launch-tickets-126421731803?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in which we will introduce the ‘What If’ components of our Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain in more detail.

You’ll notice that the seed funding is directed at groups in England only – Transition Network is delegated to distribute seed-funding from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Covid-19 emergency response programme, which specifically supports communities in England. We’d like to give our thanks to National Lottery players for making this possible.

# **For the latest news on Transition: Bounce Forward**

**Website:**[ **https://transition-bounceforward.org/**](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Facebook:**[ **@TransitionBounceForward**](https://www.facebook.com/Transition-Bounce-Forward-110862000633304/)

**Twitter:**[ **@TTBounceForward**](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Newsletter:**[ **https://mailchi.mp/53e828726cf4/transition-bounce-forward**](https://mailchi.mp/53e828726cf4/transition-bounce-forward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Transition: Bounce Forward – What If · What Next?
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-if-what-next/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:36.000Z
Thanks to National Lottery players, The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £267,113 to Transition Network which will be used to provide support and strength to our response to COVID-19.

Transition Network has secured funding from [The National Lottery Community Fund](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) to deliver a 6 month project in England, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, that will support groups to provide more on the ground activity through a small grants scheme. This will be combined with a series of online events exploring how communities can respond to crises, including a visioning process inspired by Rob Hopkins book [*‘From What is to What If’: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’*](https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

As [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) recently stated in their newsletter:

“*We cannot afford to revert to “Business As Usual” and “life as normal” because the normal we knew is destroying the planet and that threat, while not immediate like Covid, is rapidly becoming an irreversible reality. Transitioners are well placed to help get this message across through our own activities and our alliance with the many organisations, petition sites and social and political movements which are working for fundamental social and economic change*.“

# **Why the focus on England?**

Transition Network supports the international Transition Movement, but because Transition originated in Britain we have continued to act as an informal Hub for groups in England and Wales.

As part of a plan for helping an autonomous Transition Hub to emerge in England and Wales we were supported by the The National Lottery Community Fund to develop a 4 year project which we hoped to have been able to start delivering in Great Britain from July of this year. You may have seen or responded to the surveys we carried out last year with British groups that informed this funding bid. However, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic this funding stream has been put on hold until at least next year, though we are still hopeful that our bid will be successful in the future.

For now, The National Lottery Community Fund are prioritising funding projects and organisations that will support communities through the Covid-19 pandemic. We were invited to quickly develop a 6 month project that would help groups and communities in England to respond and adapt to the pandemic and its impacts.

In true Transition form our vision was not to ‘bounce back’ to how things were before, because we know that this crisis has brought into clear focus many of the societal and community issues that we already faced. Instead, we’re committed to how we can [**bounce forward**](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/bounce-forward/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

While The National Lottery Community Fund funding is restricted to work in England, our recent ‘[What Is](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/what-is-webinars/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ and upcoming ‘What If?’ and ‘What Next?’ online events will be open to individuals and groups from across Great Britain, through our ongoing relationships with the Transition Scotland Hub and groups in Wales. In addition, the resources we develop will be available to anyone across the world.

# **Transition: Bounce Forward**

Transition: Bounce Forward will support Transition groups in England through strengthening and supporting them to respond with activities that contribute towards a more equitable, resilient, caring and environmentally sustainable future. The project will also engage Transition groups and wider sustainability and social justice networks in a larger conversation about the changes needed now, and in the future, as we respond to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

# **How Will We Do This?**

## Seed funding

We are developing a small grants scheme that Transition groups in England will be invited to apply for. There will be two types of grant – one between £350-£500 to support small scale activity and another up to £3,500 for more substantial projects.

These grants will support groups to:

- Develop existing and new projects that offer community responses to the Covid-19 crisis:
- Transition projects relating to local economy, community resilience, neighbourhood mutual aid, support for disadvantaged groups, local food growing and more.
- Capacity support for groups to continue to respond through the Covid-19 crisis.
- Peer-mentoring to help create and develop these projects.
- Run *What if* visioning processes.
- Engage with their Local Authority in developing Just Recovery plans which also respond to the climate and ecological emergency.

## What If · What Next?

The visioning process we have created is inspired by Rob Hopkins’ most recent book ‘*From What is to What If: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want*’, and is open to groups in England, Wales and Scotland.

***What Is*** delved into what is happening right now during the pandemic, what it has uncovered and taught us, and what inspiring responses Transition groups and collaborators have already developed.

***What If*** will be an active and imaginative visioning process that a Transition group can use to explore what we want to Bounce Forward to. (November 2020)

***What Next*** is an online summit being developed with [CTRLshift](http://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) that will bring all this thinking together. We will join with others from outside of the Transition movement to explore how we can advocate for wider and ambitious societal changes towards a just recovery, and make our visions our reality. (20th-28th February 2021).

# **Get Involved**

There will be lots of online events and activities happening throughout this process and we don’t expect you to be able to take part in them all – though brilliant if you can!

Now would be a great time to check in with your Transition group to think about how you might engage with the events, as well as the seed-funding opportunities which will be announced in November.

We’ll be sharing updates and information on the Transition Network website and socials, but now’s a good time to follow Transition: Bounce Forward so you don’t miss a thing.

Website: [https://transition-bounceforward.org/](https://tbf.transitionmovement.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Facebook: [@TransitionBounceForward](https://www.facebook.com/Transition-Bounce-Forward-110862000633304/)

Twitter: [@TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

Newsletter: [https://mailchi.mp/53e828726cf4/transition-bounce-forward](https://mailchi.mp/53e828726cf4/transition-bounce-forward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

**Our thanks to National Lottery Players, and The National Lottery Community Fund for enabling us to Bounce Forward!**
### Transition: Bounce Forward – ‘What Is’ webinars
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/what-is-webinars/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:37.000Z
Last month Transition Network took a dive into ‘What Is’, an inspiring, fascinating, and at times challenging immersion in the Transition movement and the challenges that lie ahead for us. We hosted four webinars, in the context of our ‘[Transition: Bounce Forward](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’ series. The focus was on initiatives in England and Wales, but the lessons and insights were universal, and participants joined from around the world, including the US, Canada, Brazil, and Iran. The first one, held on September 7th, was entitled ‘**What is the context for the next 5 years of Transition**’ and featured 3 guests, Kevin Anderson, Nick Anim and Eva Schonveld, and was chaired by Transition Network's Rob Hopkins. https://youtu.be/GTz81KZCScg **Kevin Anderson**, one of the most honest and outspoken advocates for rapid action on the climate emergency, began by stating “to understand what action is needed, we must recognise where we’re starting from”. And we are not starting from a good place. He presented a recent paper he had published (summarised in [this article in The Ecologist](https://theecologist.org/2020/jun/08/beyond-climate-comfortable-ignorance?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) which showed that when aviation and shipping generated by imports are taken into account, the scale of cuts we need to make in order to stay below a 1.5 degree rise isn’t the 2-3% a year proposed by the UK government, but closer to 9 or 10%. “In 2020”, he stated, “climate change has become system change”, before setting out a series of challenges the Transition movement needs to address. Time with Kevin is like an appointment with a doctor who tells it to you straight, and his honesty and clarity was much appreciated by those participating. The second guest was **Nick Anim** from [Transition Town Brixton](http://www.transitiontownbrixton.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (sporting a very fine TTB shirt). He has spent the past 5 years exploring, through research, why it is that, as he put it, “environmental movements tend to be green but mostly white”. Among his findings are that the Transition movement and the wider environmental movement haven’t been attentive enough to durable inequalities that marginalised groups face every day. He concluded his talk by saying that the Transition movement is “a Trojan Horse of revolutionary possibilities … we operate under the radar but we also must join hands with other movements in our localities such as XR and Black Lives Matter”. **Eva Schonveld** focused on the role of inner Transition and how important the role of inner is for both Transition and for activism in general. She talked about the impact of trauma on our ability to respond to what is going on around us, touching on the role of colonisation and power and the need to recognise the role of trauma, and design processes to address it. She shared many insights from her recent [article](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/politics-trauma-and-empathy-breakthrough-to-a-politics-of-the-heart/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), co-written with her partner Justin Kenrick, which was re-published by Transition Network last month. Participants were then put into small groups to discuss what they had heard and to formulate questions for the speakers. The Q&A was far reaching and fascinating and a couple of our highlights from the discussion were:

>  
>  
>  
>  

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

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**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

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**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

Once COVID arrived, Think and Do moved online, hosting over 40 webinars on very diverse topics. The group remain aware of the possibility that they are being used to ‘greenwash’ the Council (“what about the other 16 recommendations?” Debbie asked), but feel that their involvement is yielding very real results. They have been involved in creating a ‘barrier-busting’ unit at the Council and Debbie concluded by saying “let’s set up Think and Dos everywhere!”

A few standouts from a great Q&A conversation were:

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

Once COVID arrived, Think and Do moved online, hosting over 40 webinars on very diverse topics. The group remain aware of the possibility that they are being used to ‘greenwash’ the Council (“what about the other 16 recommendations?” Debbie asked), but feel that their involvement is yielding very real results. They have been involved in creating a ‘barrier-busting’ unit at the Council and Debbie concluded by saying “let’s set up Think and Dos everywhere!”

A few standouts from a great Q&A conversation were:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

Once COVID arrived, Think and Do moved online, hosting over 40 webinars on very diverse topics. The group remain aware of the possibility that they are being used to ‘greenwash’ the Council (“what about the other 16 recommendations?” Debbie asked), but feel that their involvement is yielding very real results. They have been involved in creating a ‘barrier-busting’ unit at the Council and Debbie concluded by saying “let’s set up Think and Dos everywhere!”

A few standouts from a great Q&A conversation were:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The final session was entitled ‘**Reinventing and revaluing projects in changing times’** and was presented by Transition Network’s Yaz Brien.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-bk5pza7fe1g","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/BK5PzA7fE1g?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Karen Jones** and **Laura Marchant-Short** of [Crystal Palace Transition Town](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about two projects, the [Crystal Palace Food Market](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/food-market.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [Library of Things](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/library-of-things.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The market was established in 2013 and, just before lockdown, had grown to 30 stalls of established farmers and producers as well as new entrepreneurs. The Library of Things is a library of tools and other resources that people can borrow.

Both projects were hugely impacted by the pandemic. When the lockdown began the market was closed and they looked for ways to adapt it for safe use. Using permaculture principles they redesigned the physical market, completely reimagining how it was laid out, spreading it over different days, with stencils on pavements and many other measures. They also harnessed their website to enable traders to do delivery schemes. In June they reopened properly, completely redesigned, in a form that could stay open even in a lockdown.

The Library of Things similarly had to be completely redesigned. Demand was high as many people wanted to get on with projects and activities during the lockdown. So the Library was reimagined as ‘Things on Wheels’, where things were delivered to people’s homes. It required a lot of work to set up, but it has ensured the survival of the Library and met the needs of the local community. “It has been creative thinking that has saved our projects”, Karen said. “People trust us and people want us to succeed” added Laura.

**Chris Turnbull** of [Hythe Environmental Community Group](http://hytheenvironmental.community/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about their work in several different areas. One of their projects is Hythe Hops, where over 120 people grow hops for making into a local beer. The main project he wanted to share is their gleaning work, done in collaboration with other local organisations, where food that isn’t economic for the farmer to harvest is collected by volunteers and distributed to people experiencing food poverty. They have harvested over 12 tonnes of food since April, usually by 6-9 gleaners each time. They also do urban gleaning, especially of fruit trees.

**Anita Roy** and **Helen Gillingham** of [Transition Town Wellington](https://ttw.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) found that before lockdown all of their projects – community allotment, gardening training, Repair Café, tree plantings and more – were starting to get a lot more interest and traction and enthusiasm. When lockdown arrived their trainings moved online, and they started working with Transition Town Taunton and others to create a campaign around allotments. They mapped all the allotments and found huge evidence of need for new allotment space and are now lobbying and pushing the Council to create more.

They have planted many fruit and nut trees around the area and struggled to maintain them. Over the course of the last year, especially since the pandemic, said Anita, “we have really worked hard to work with a wider range of groups and people”. “Come to Wellington”, she said, “and we’ll show you around!”

A few key quotes from the Q&A session:

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-fp5fpwsxois","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/fP5fpwSxOIs?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-jf0dsldf0ly","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/jF0dSLDf0LY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-xacuu2jk2oc","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/xaCuu2Jk2Oc?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube--isixocpbm0","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/-isIxoCPBm0?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

Once COVID arrived, Think and Do moved online, hosting over 40 webinars on very diverse topics. The group remain aware of the possibility that they are being used to ‘greenwash’ the Council (“what about the other 16 recommendations?” Debbie asked), but feel that their involvement is yielding very real results. They have been involved in creating a ‘barrier-busting’ unit at the Council and Debbie concluded by saying “let’s set up Think and Dos everywhere!”

A few standouts from a great Q&A conversation were:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The final session was entitled ‘**Reinventing and revaluing projects in changing times’** and was presented by Transition Network’s Yaz Brien.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/what-is-webinars\\/#arve-youtube-bk5pza7fe1g","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/BK5PzA7fE1g?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

**Karen Jones** and **Laura Marchant-Short** of [Crystal Palace Transition Town](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about two projects, the [Crystal Palace Food Market](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/food-market.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [Library of Things](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/library-of-things.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The market was established in 2013 and, just before lockdown, had grown to 30 stalls of established farmers and producers as well as new entrepreneurs. The Library of Things is a library of tools and other resources that people can borrow.

Both projects were hugely impacted by the pandemic. When the lockdown began the market was closed and they looked for ways to adapt it for safe use. Using permaculture principles they redesigned the physical market, completely reimagining how it was laid out, spreading it over different days, with stencils on pavements and many other measures. They also harnessed their website to enable traders to do delivery schemes. In June they reopened properly, completely redesigned, in a form that could stay open even in a lockdown.

The Library of Things similarly had to be completely redesigned. Demand was high as many people wanted to get on with projects and activities during the lockdown. So the Library was reimagined as ‘Things on Wheels’, where things were delivered to people’s homes. It required a lot of work to set up, but it has ensured the survival of the Library and met the needs of the local community. “It has been creative thinking that has saved our projects”, Karen said. “People trust us and people want us to succeed” added Laura.

**Chris Turnbull** of [Hythe Environmental Community Group](http://hytheenvironmental.community/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about their work in several different areas. One of their projects is Hythe Hops, where over 120 people grow hops for making into a local beer. The main project he wanted to share is their gleaning work, done in collaboration with other local organisations, where food that isn’t economic for the farmer to harvest is collected by volunteers and distributed to people experiencing food poverty. They have harvested over 12 tonnes of food since April, usually by 6-9 gleaners each time. They also do urban gleaning, especially of fruit trees.

**Anita Roy** and **Helen Gillingham** of [Transition Town Wellington](https://ttw.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) found that before lockdown all of their projects – community allotment, gardening training, Repair Café, tree plantings and more – were starting to get a lot more interest and traction and enthusiasm. When lockdown arrived their trainings moved online, and they started working with Transition Town Taunton and others to create a campaign around allotments. They mapped all the allotments and found huge evidence of need for new allotment space and are now lobbying and pushing the Council to create more.

They have planted many fruit and nut trees around the area and struggled to maintain them. Over the course of the last year, especially since the pandemic, said Anita, “we have really worked hard to work with a wider range of groups and people”. “Come to Wellington”, she said, “and we’ll show you around!”

A few key quotes from the Q&A session:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

>  
>  
>  
>  

The second webinar, the following day, was titled ‘**The Opportunities These Times Present’**. It featured presenters from Transition Town Liverpool, Transition Town Letchworth, and Transition Llandrindod Wells and was chaired by Transition Network Trustee, Peter Lefort.

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**Paul Riley** talked about how [Transition Liverpool](https://transitionliverpool.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) have had a resurgence recently, with new people and a new sense of energy in their activities. He acknowledged that it is harder to build momentum in a large, complex city like Liverpool, where 1 in 3 people are below the poverty line. They found though that when COVID hit, “we found possibility everywhere”. “I watched love and imagination become the most important things in the world”, he said. They are working on a project called sParkIt, a takeover of carparking spots across the city, and are currently [crowdfunding](https://www.spacehive.com/sparkitliverpool?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) for it (if you have any spare pennies) – working with many organisations and architects (‘sParkitects’) to make it happen. “We are finding that our imagination is becoming the superpower that we always thought it was”, he said.

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**Dorienne Robinson** and **Catherine Smedley** talked about the [Incredible Edible project in Llandrindod Wells](http://www.transitionllandrindod.org.uk/projects/incredible-edible-llandrindod?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). It emerged from an event about food security and then formed under the umbrella of Transition Llandrindod Wells. They set out to work with their local council and built a good relationship that ended with the Council offering them a former tennis court. They also created a GardenShare scheme to open up more land for people who want to grow food, and have been running online training courses. Catherine discussed the Seed Library that they have created, for edible plants and bee-attracting flowers. During COVID, Dorienne said “we have seen the emergence of a strong mindset in the town for food security”.

**Julia Sonander** from [Transition Town Letchworth](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) discussed how the group have been working, during lockdown, on their promotion of [a Cycle Network for the town](http://www.transitionletchworth.org/cycling-in-letchworth/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). They worked with other local organisations to create a cycling plan to connect parts of the town together, and have since been pushing to make it a reality. They have also been working on their community allotment, as well as other established projects that have been running for some time in Letchworth.

There then followed a fascinating Q&A discussion. A few key quotes from that:

>  
>  
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>  
>  
>  

The third webinar featured representatives of Ealing Transition, Transition New Mills and Transition Kentish Town and was presented by Hilary Jennings of Transition Town Tooting.

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**Trevor Sharman** of [Ealing Transition](https://ealingtransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), an area where much of the employment is linked to Heathrow Airport, told us that the group formed in 2009 and has hosted over 90 events and run a number of projects in the area. They manage an open space which provides a community garden, allotments and a pizza oven, as well as managing two community orchards, a forest garden and Incredible Edible patches throughout Ealing. They run a CSA vegetable box scheme which has 50 shareholders. They also act as a broker for community energy schemes, working with the Council, schools and other bodies and as a result 22 schools, a children’s centre and a hospice have solar systems in place.

They have given a lot of time to creating a good working relationship with their local council, taking opportunities when they present themselves. They pressed the Council to declare a climate emergency, and have built good relationships and are trying to hold the Council to being bold and imaginative on this.

**Phil Frodsham** from [Transition New Mills](https://transitionnewmills.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about how, before lockdown, the group had run an amazing ‘[community conversation](https://transitionnewmills.org/nm2030/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ to develop a vision beyond the climate emergency declaration. Around 85 people attended, including local councillors and ‘provocateurs’, and ideas for what they want to create were turned into a [‘New Mills 2030’ book](https://transitionnewmills.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/new-mills-2030-book.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Two weeks later lockdown arrived! The work of implementing the ideas continued online though, and many projects are now underway, including Nature New Mills, Pedal Forward and Home Farm New Mills, a project focused on growing historical grains. They also want to create a Civic Imagination Office in the town, and to make their community conversation an annual event.

**Debbie Bourne** joined us from [Transition Kentish Town](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a group that has been active for 10 years now. Last year Camden Council ran [the UK’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzWc5wMQ6s&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), which generated 17 key recommendations, one of which was about deeper connection to the community. Lawyer and activist Farhana Yamin came up with the idea of turning an empty café on the High Street into a [Think and Do](http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/portfolio/thinkdo-climate-action-pop-up/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), in collaboration with the local Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth groups as well as Transition Kentish Town.

What emerged was an amazing imagination space which ran for 6 weeks and in which there were almost constant workshops and other events taking place for a wide range of groups. The Council’s involvement was key, and many Council workers took part, often meeting Council workers from other departments for the first time! Think and Do hosted 80 events in 6 weeks.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20191129\_175007-scaled.jpg

Once COVID arrived, Think and Do moved online, hosting over 40 webinars on very diverse topics. The group remain aware of the possibility that they are being used to ‘greenwash’ the Council (“what about the other 16 recommendations?” Debbie asked), but feel that their involvement is yielding very real results. They have been involved in creating a ‘barrier-busting’ unit at the Council and Debbie concluded by saying “let’s set up Think and Dos everywhere!”

A few standouts from a great Q&A conversation were:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

The final session was entitled ‘**Reinventing and revaluing projects in changing times’** and was presented by Transition Network’s Yaz Brien.

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**Karen Jones** and **Laura Marchant-Short** of [Crystal Palace Transition Town](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about two projects, the [Crystal Palace Food Market](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/food-market.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and the [Library of Things](http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/library-of-things.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The market was established in 2013 and, just before lockdown, had grown to 30 stalls of established farmers and producers as well as new entrepreneurs. The Library of Things is a library of tools and other resources that people can borrow.

Both projects were hugely impacted by the pandemic. When the lockdown began the market was closed and they looked for ways to adapt it for safe use. Using permaculture principles they redesigned the physical market, completely reimagining how it was laid out, spreading it over different days, with stencils on pavements and many other measures. They also harnessed their website to enable traders to do delivery schemes. In June they reopened properly, completely redesigned, in a form that could stay open even in a lockdown.

The Library of Things similarly had to be completely redesigned. Demand was high as many people wanted to get on with projects and activities during the lockdown. So the Library was reimagined as ‘Things on Wheels’, where things were delivered to people’s homes. It required a lot of work to set up, but it has ensured the survival of the Library and met the needs of the local community. “It has been creative thinking that has saved our projects”, Karen said. “People trust us and people want us to succeed” added Laura.

**Chris Turnbull** of [Hythe Environmental Community Group](http://hytheenvironmental.community/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) talked about their work in several different areas. One of their projects is Hythe Hops, where over 120 people grow hops for making into a local beer. The main project he wanted to share is their gleaning work, done in collaboration with other local organisations, where food that isn’t economic for the farmer to harvest is collected by volunteers and distributed to people experiencing food poverty. They have harvested over 12 tonnes of food since April, usually by 6-9 gleaners each time. They also do urban gleaning, especially of fruit trees.

**Anita Roy** and **Helen Gillingham** of [Transition Town Wellington](https://ttw.org.uk/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) found that before lockdown all of their projects – community allotment, gardening training, Repair Café, tree plantings and more – were starting to get a lot more interest and traction and enthusiasm. When lockdown arrived their trainings moved online, and they started working with Transition Town Taunton and others to create a campaign around allotments. They mapped all the allotments and found huge evidence of need for new allotment space and are now lobbying and pushing the Council to create more.

They have planted many fruit and nut trees around the area and struggled to maintain them. Over the course of the last year, especially since the pandemic, said Anita, “we have really worked hard to work with a wider range of groups and people”. “Come to Wellington”, she said, “and we’ll show you around!”

A few key quotes from the Q&A session:

>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  

Our thanks to all our guests, to the Transition Network team who made it possible, to our great presenters, and to everyone who participated.

We look forward to sharing more Transition: Bounce Forward news and activities in the coming weeks – watch this space!

W: [https://transition-bounceforward.org/](https://transition-bounceforward.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)  
F: <https://www.facebook.com/Transition-Bounce-Forward-110862000633304/>  
T: [https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward](https://twitter.com/TTBounceForward?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)
### Re-energising Training for Transition: Feedback from Webinars
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-training-feedback/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:39.000Z
Desplácese hacia abajo para español / Role para baixo para português

In August we shared an [update](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the international work to re-energise training for Transition and extended an invitation to join a webinar to hear a presentation of the research report and for us to hear your thoughts on next steps.

During August and September six webinars were held in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and we would like to share some of the many insights and questions that were harvested from these meetings.

**Networking and Communications**

- Concerns were shared about how we can work well together as a community of practice and keep updating the group about what is happening in every region.
- We heard the need to keep a good mailing list of trainers and to contact them more often – sharing experiences, videos and webinars that can keep this community connected and updated with advances in our movement. This includes sharing information and news with and from Transition Hubs worldwide, including through webinars, so that we can have an exchange of knowledge and experiences in our global community.

**Decolonisation & Diversity**

- Many people talked about the need to decolonise learning opportunities and allow for greater regional autonomy, whilst keeping a common framework and principles.
- Others asked how we can bring more diversity into our circle of trainers and Transitioners, and this was very connected to our ongoing need to respond to inequalities, healing wounds of colonialism, collective trauma, consequences of unequal power distribution and racism more directly.

**Being a Trainer**

- A number of facilitators talked about the valuable experiences they have gained through the years, and what it means to be a certified trainer.
- A question arose as to whether there would be a virtual Training of Trainers, and there was interest to create/design educational material, cards, videos and handbooks to support the learning opportunities process.
- Some people thought about what it would mean to become a facilitator for Transition – how to certify people not just based on training but also taking into account experience, action and transformational learnings.
- We heard voices sharing the idea of having peer-to-peer certification. There are already some honorary trainers that are doing an amazing job in the field but who are not certified trainers. There are also times when Transition Network hears the need for trainers in certain areas, but there is no-one available to take this work on.

**Relevance & Evolution of Transition**

- Questions were asked about the relevance of the Transition movement and how we can be more relevant – to be clear about Transition culture and what we can bring to these unique times. This included updating or reinforcing Transition’s soul, to help bring clarity and to co-create a good new narrative to thrive.

**Training Content, Format & Language**

- We were told of the importance of having clarity on the objectives of learning opportunities and clear signposting for learning journeys.
- We heard about the need to be clear about what would need to be shared in the development of training/learning opportunities. The importance of respecting local diversity, giving people from different regions the freedom to adapt tools to their contexts and cultures whilst also honouring the learning objectives.
- The webinars in Spanish highlighted the importance of offering learning journeys/training in regions’ own common languages. Spanish is vital for the Transition movement in Latin America and the idea of a training facilitated by trainers from across the Latin American Hubs emerged, with the idea of inviting Spain and maybe Portugal to join in.
- In the Spanish language webinars there was also interest in supporting Mother Earth Rights as a political movement in Latin America.

**We also heard feedback on specific learning topics and collaborators:**

- The importance of Inner Transition training/learnings, and how experiences of The Work That Reconnects can allow for paradigm shifts.
- Local Laboratories of Transition in food security and local economy, linked with regenerative projects.
- Interest and need on training about Municipalities in Transition (MiT) considering its potential impact and scale.
- Collaboration with organisations with shared principles such as Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- On the topic of circular economies there was some concern that these do not always question infinite growth.

**Next Steps**

We took all of these questions and ideas back to the Training Circle and we are using them to design our next steps. One of these steps will be to arrange a new round of webinars to co-create solutions to many of these questions, and we will share information about how you can take part as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have any questions please send an email to: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

In August we shared an [update](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the international work to re-energise training for Transition and extended an invitation to join a webinar to hear a presentation of the research report and for us to hear your thoughts on next steps.

During August and September six webinars were held in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and we would like to share some of the many insights and questions that were harvested from these meetings.

**Networking and Communications**

- Concerns were shared about how we can work well together as a community of practice and keep updating the group about what is happening in every region.
- We heard the need to keep a good mailing list of trainers and to contact them more often – sharing experiences, videos and webinars that can keep this community connected and updated with advances in our movement. This includes sharing information and news with and from Transition Hubs worldwide, including through webinars, so that we can have an exchange of knowledge and experiences in our global community.

**Decolonisation & Diversity**

- Many people talked about the need to decolonise learning opportunities and allow for greater regional autonomy, whilst keeping a common framework and principles.
- Others asked how we can bring more diversity into our circle of trainers and Transitioners, and this was very connected to our ongoing need to respond to inequalities, healing wounds of colonialism, collective trauma, consequences of unequal power distribution and racism more directly.

**Being a Trainer**

- A number of facilitators talked about the valuable experiences they have gained through the years, and what it means to be a certified trainer.
- A question arose as to whether there would be a virtual Training of Trainers, and there was interest to create/design educational material, cards, videos and handbooks to support the learning opportunities process.
- Some people thought about what it would mean to become a facilitator for Transition – how to certify people not just based on training but also taking into account experience, action and transformational learnings.
- We heard voices sharing the idea of having peer-to-peer certification. There are already some honorary trainers that are doing an amazing job in the field but who are not certified trainers. There are also times when Transition Network hears the need for trainers in certain areas, but there is no-one available to take this work on.

**Relevance & Evolution of Transition**

- Questions were asked about the relevance of the Transition movement and how we can be more relevant – to be clear about Transition culture and what we can bring to these unique times. This included updating or reinforcing Transition’s soul, to help bring clarity and to co-create a good new narrative to thrive.

**Training Content, Format & Language**

- We were told of the importance of having clarity on the objectives of learning opportunities and clear signposting for learning journeys.
- We heard about the need to be clear about what would need to be shared in the development of training/learning opportunities. The importance of respecting local diversity, giving people from different regions the freedom to adapt tools to their contexts and cultures whilst also honouring the learning objectives.
- The webinars in Spanish highlighted the importance of offering learning journeys/training in regions’ own common languages. Spanish is vital for the Transition movement in Latin America and the idea of a training facilitated by trainers from across the Latin American Hubs emerged, with the idea of inviting Spain and maybe Portugal to join in.
- In the Spanish language webinars there was also interest in supporting Mother Earth Rights as a political movement in Latin America.

**We also heard feedback on specific learning topics and collaborators:**

- The importance of Inner Transition training/learnings, and how experiences of The Work That Reconnects can allow for paradigm shifts.
- Local Laboratories of Transition in food security and local economy, linked with regenerative projects.
- Interest and need on training about Municipalities in Transition (MiT) considering its potential impact and scale.
- Collaboration with organisations with shared principles such as Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- On the topic of circular economies there was some concern that these do not always question infinite growth.

**Next Steps**

We took all of these questions and ideas back to the Training Circle and we are using them to design our next steps. One of these steps will be to arrange a new round of webinars to co-create solutions to many of these questions, and we will share information about how you can take part as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have any questions please send an email to: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

In August we shared an [update](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the international work to re-energise training for Transition and extended an invitation to join a webinar to hear a presentation of the research report and for us to hear your thoughts on next steps.

During August and September six webinars were held in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and we would like to share some of the many insights and questions that were harvested from these meetings.

**Networking and Communications**

- Concerns were shared about how we can work well together as a community of practice and keep updating the group about what is happening in every region.
- We heard the need to keep a good mailing list of trainers and to contact them more often – sharing experiences, videos and webinars that can keep this community connected and updated with advances in our movement. This includes sharing information and news with and from Transition Hubs worldwide, including through webinars, so that we can have an exchange of knowledge and experiences in our global community.

**Decolonisation & Diversity**

- Many people talked about the need to decolonise learning opportunities and allow for greater regional autonomy, whilst keeping a common framework and principles.
- Others asked how we can bring more diversity into our circle of trainers and Transitioners, and this was very connected to our ongoing need to respond to inequalities, healing wounds of colonialism, collective trauma, consequences of unequal power distribution and racism more directly.

**Being a Trainer**

- A number of facilitators talked about the valuable experiences they have gained through the years, and what it means to be a certified trainer.
- A question arose as to whether there would be a virtual Training of Trainers, and there was interest to create/design educational material, cards, videos and handbooks to support the learning opportunities process.
- Some people thought about what it would mean to become a facilitator for Transition – how to certify people not just based on training but also taking into account experience, action and transformational learnings.
- We heard voices sharing the idea of having peer-to-peer certification. There are already some honorary trainers that are doing an amazing job in the field but who are not certified trainers. There are also times when Transition Network hears the need for trainers in certain areas, but there is no-one available to take this work on.

**Relevance & Evolution of Transition**

- Questions were asked about the relevance of the Transition movement and how we can be more relevant – to be clear about Transition culture and what we can bring to these unique times. This included updating or reinforcing Transition’s soul, to help bring clarity and to co-create a good new narrative to thrive.

**Training Content, Format & Language**

- We were told of the importance of having clarity on the objectives of learning opportunities and clear signposting for learning journeys.
- We heard about the need to be clear about what would need to be shared in the development of training/learning opportunities. The importance of respecting local diversity, giving people from different regions the freedom to adapt tools to their contexts and cultures whilst also honouring the learning objectives.
- The webinars in Spanish highlighted the importance of offering learning journeys/training in regions’ own common languages. Spanish is vital for the Transition movement in Latin America and the idea of a training facilitated by trainers from across the Latin American Hubs emerged, with the idea of inviting Spain and maybe Portugal to join in.
- In the Spanish language webinars there was also interest in supporting Mother Earth Rights as a political movement in Latin America.

**We also heard feedback on specific learning topics and collaborators:**

- The importance of Inner Transition training/learnings, and how experiences of The Work That Reconnects can allow for paradigm shifts.
- Local Laboratories of Transition in food security and local economy, linked with regenerative projects.
- Interest and need on training about Municipalities in Transition (MiT) considering its potential impact and scale.
- Collaboration with organisations with shared principles such as Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- On the topic of circular economies there was some concern that these do not always question infinite growth.

**Next Steps**

We took all of these questions and ideas back to the Training Circle and we are using them to design our next steps. One of these steps will be to arrange a new round of webinars to co-create solutions to many of these questions, and we will share information about how you can take part as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have any questions please send an email to: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

**Re-energizando los Entrenamientos para la transición: Retroalimentación recibida en los Webinarios**

En agosto compartimos una [actualización](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) del trabajo realizado a nivel internacional para revitalizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, a través de varios webinarios en los que se realizó una presentación del informe de investigación y se invitó a los participantes a compartir sus visiones y reflexiones en relación a los próximos pasos.

Durante agosto y septiembre se celebraron seis webinarios en inglés, portugués y español, y nos gustaría compartir algunas de las muchas ideas y preguntas que se recogieron en estas reuniones.

**Redes y Comunicaciones**

- Se compartieron inquietudes sobre cómo podemos realizar un buen trabajo juntos como Comunidad de Práctica y seguir actualizando al grupo sobre lo que está sucediendo en cada región.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de mantener una buena lista de correos de facilitadores y de contactarlos más a menudo – compartiendo experiencias, videos y webinarios que puedan mantener conectada a esta Comunidad de Práctica y actualizada con los avances de nuestro movimiento. Esto incluye el intercambio de información, materiales y noticias con y desde los Nodos/Hubs de Transición en todo el mundo, incluso a través de webinarios, para que podamos tener un intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias en nuestra comunidad mundial.

**Descolonización y Diversidad**

- Muchos hablaron de la necesidad de descolonizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje y permitir una mayor autonomía regional, manteniendo al mismo tiempo un marco referencial y principios comunes.
- Otros preguntaron cómo podemos aportar más diversidad a nuestro círculo de facilitadores y transicioneros, y esto estaba muy relacionado con nuestra necesidad permanente de responder a las desigualdades, curar las heridas del colonialismo, el trauma colectivo, las consecuencias de la distribución desigual del poder y el racismo de forma más directa.

**Ser un entrenador/facilitador**

- Varios facilitadores hablaron de las valiosas experiencias que han adquirido a lo largo de los años y de lo que significa ser un instructor certificado.
- Se planteó la cuestión de si habría una capacitación virtual de facilitadores ToT, y hubo interés en crear/diseñar material educativo, tarjetas, videos y manuales para apoyar el proceso de estas oportunidades de aprendizaje.
- Algunas personas reflexionaron acerca de qué significa convertirse en facilitador para la transición, es decir, cómo certificar a las personas no sólo sobre la base del entrenamiento recibido, sino también teniendo en cuenta la experiencia previa, la acción realizada y los aprendizajes transformadores vivenciados.
- Escuchamos voces que compartían la idea de tener una certificación entre pares. Ya hay algunos capacitadores honorarios que están haciendo un trabajo increíble en el campo pero que no son capacitadores certificados. También hay ocasiones en las que la Red de Transición escucha la necesidad de entrenadores en ciertas áreas, pero no hay nadie disponible para asumir ese trabajo.

**Relevancia y Evolución de la Transición**

- Surgieron preguntas sobre el impacto y propósito actual del movimiento de Transición y de cómo podemos ser más relevantes. Lo anterior con el objetivo de tener clara la cultura del Movimiento de Transición y lo que podemos aportar a estos tiempos tan únicos. Esto incluía actualizar o reforzar el espíritu de la Transición, para ayudar a traer claridad y co-crear una buena nueva narrativa para florecer.

**Contenido, formato e idioma de la formación**

- Se nos dijo la importancia de tener claridad en los objetivos de los “viajes de aprendizaje” (entrenamientos) y una clara visibilización (signposting) de los viajes de aprendizaje.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de tener claridad sobre lo que se necesitaría compartir durante los viajes de aprendizaje (entrenamientos). La importancia de respetar la diversidad local, dando a las personas de diferentes regiones la libertad de adaptar las herramientas a sus contextos y culturas y, al mismo tiempo, cumplir los objetivos de aprendizaje.
- Los webinarios en español destacaron la importancia de ofrecer viajes de aprendizaje/formación en las lenguas comunes de las regiones. El español es vital para el movimiento de la Transición en América Latina y surgió la idea de una formación facilitada por formadores de todos los Nodos/Hubs de América Latina, con la idea de invitar a España y tal vez a Portugal a unirse a ella.
- En los webinarios en español también hubo interés en apoyar los Derechos de la Madre Tierra como movimiento político en América Latina.

**También escuchamos retroalimentación sobre temas específicos de aprendizaje y colaboradores:**

- La importancia de la formación/aprendizaje de la transición interior, y cómo las experiencias del “Trabajo que Reconecta” pueden permitir cambios de paradigma.
- Laboratorios locales de Transición en seguridad alimentaria y economía local, vinculados con proyectos regenerativos.
- Interés y necesidad de capacitación sobre Municipios en Transición (MiT), considerando su potencial impacto y escala.
- Colaboración con organizaciones con principios compartidos como Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- En el tema de las economías circulares hubo cierta preocupación de que éstas no siempre cuestionan el crecimiento infinito.

Llevamos todas estas preguntas e ideas de vuelta al Círculo de Entrenamiento y las estamos usando para diseñar nuestros próximos pasos. Uno de estos pasos será organizar una nueva ronda de seminarios web para co-crear soluciones a muchas de estas preguntas, y compartiremos información sobre cómo puedes participar tan pronto como se confirmen.

Si tienes alguna pregunta, por favor envía un correo electrónico a: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

In August we shared an [update](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the international work to re-energise training for Transition and extended an invitation to join a webinar to hear a presentation of the research report and for us to hear your thoughts on next steps.

During August and September six webinars were held in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and we would like to share some of the many insights and questions that were harvested from these meetings.

**Networking and Communications**

- Concerns were shared about how we can work well together as a community of practice and keep updating the group about what is happening in every region.
- We heard the need to keep a good mailing list of trainers and to contact them more often – sharing experiences, videos and webinars that can keep this community connected and updated with advances in our movement. This includes sharing information and news with and from Transition Hubs worldwide, including through webinars, so that we can have an exchange of knowledge and experiences in our global community.

**Decolonisation & Diversity**

- Many people talked about the need to decolonise learning opportunities and allow for greater regional autonomy, whilst keeping a common framework and principles.
- Others asked how we can bring more diversity into our circle of trainers and Transitioners, and this was very connected to our ongoing need to respond to inequalities, healing wounds of colonialism, collective trauma, consequences of unequal power distribution and racism more directly.

**Being a Trainer**

- A number of facilitators talked about the valuable experiences they have gained through the years, and what it means to be a certified trainer.
- A question arose as to whether there would be a virtual Training of Trainers, and there was interest to create/design educational material, cards, videos and handbooks to support the learning opportunities process.
- Some people thought about what it would mean to become a facilitator for Transition – how to certify people not just based on training but also taking into account experience, action and transformational learnings.
- We heard voices sharing the idea of having peer-to-peer certification. There are already some honorary trainers that are doing an amazing job in the field but who are not certified trainers. There are also times when Transition Network hears the need for trainers in certain areas, but there is no-one available to take this work on.

**Relevance & Evolution of Transition**

- Questions were asked about the relevance of the Transition movement and how we can be more relevant – to be clear about Transition culture and what we can bring to these unique times. This included updating or reinforcing Transition’s soul, to help bring clarity and to co-create a good new narrative to thrive.

**Training Content, Format & Language**

- We were told of the importance of having clarity on the objectives of learning opportunities and clear signposting for learning journeys.
- We heard about the need to be clear about what would need to be shared in the development of training/learning opportunities. The importance of respecting local diversity, giving people from different regions the freedom to adapt tools to their contexts and cultures whilst also honouring the learning objectives.
- The webinars in Spanish highlighted the importance of offering learning journeys/training in regions’ own common languages. Spanish is vital for the Transition movement in Latin America and the idea of a training facilitated by trainers from across the Latin American Hubs emerged, with the idea of inviting Spain and maybe Portugal to join in.
- In the Spanish language webinars there was also interest in supporting Mother Earth Rights as a political movement in Latin America.

**We also heard feedback on specific learning topics and collaborators:**

- The importance of Inner Transition training/learnings, and how experiences of The Work That Reconnects can allow for paradigm shifts.
- Local Laboratories of Transition in food security and local economy, linked with regenerative projects.
- Interest and need on training about Municipalities in Transition (MiT) considering its potential impact and scale.
- Collaboration with organisations with shared principles such as Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- On the topic of circular economies there was some concern that these do not always question infinite growth.

**Next Steps**

We took all of these questions and ideas back to the Training Circle and we are using them to design our next steps. One of these steps will be to arrange a new round of webinars to co-create solutions to many of these questions, and we will share information about how you can take part as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have any questions please send an email to: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

**Re-energizando los Entrenamientos para la transición: Retroalimentación recibida en los Webinarios**

En agosto compartimos una [actualización](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) del trabajo realizado a nivel internacional para revitalizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, a través de varios webinarios en los que se realizó una presentación del informe de investigación y se invitó a los participantes a compartir sus visiones y reflexiones en relación a los próximos pasos.

Durante agosto y septiembre se celebraron seis webinarios en inglés, portugués y español, y nos gustaría compartir algunas de las muchas ideas y preguntas que se recogieron en estas reuniones.

**Redes y Comunicaciones**

- Se compartieron inquietudes sobre cómo podemos realizar un buen trabajo juntos como Comunidad de Práctica y seguir actualizando al grupo sobre lo que está sucediendo en cada región.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de mantener una buena lista de correos de facilitadores y de contactarlos más a menudo – compartiendo experiencias, videos y webinarios que puedan mantener conectada a esta Comunidad de Práctica y actualizada con los avances de nuestro movimiento. Esto incluye el intercambio de información, materiales y noticias con y desde los Nodos/Hubs de Transición en todo el mundo, incluso a través de webinarios, para que podamos tener un intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias en nuestra comunidad mundial.

**Descolonización y Diversidad**

- Muchos hablaron de la necesidad de descolonizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje y permitir una mayor autonomía regional, manteniendo al mismo tiempo un marco referencial y principios comunes.
- Otros preguntaron cómo podemos aportar más diversidad a nuestro círculo de facilitadores y transicioneros, y esto estaba muy relacionado con nuestra necesidad permanente de responder a las desigualdades, curar las heridas del colonialismo, el trauma colectivo, las consecuencias de la distribución desigual del poder y el racismo de forma más directa.

**Ser un entrenador/facilitador**

- Varios facilitadores hablaron de las valiosas experiencias que han adquirido a lo largo de los años y de lo que significa ser un instructor certificado.
- Se planteó la cuestión de si habría una capacitación virtual de facilitadores ToT, y hubo interés en crear/diseñar material educativo, tarjetas, videos y manuales para apoyar el proceso de estas oportunidades de aprendizaje.
- Algunas personas reflexionaron acerca de qué significa convertirse en facilitador para la transición, es decir, cómo certificar a las personas no sólo sobre la base del entrenamiento recibido, sino también teniendo en cuenta la experiencia previa, la acción realizada y los aprendizajes transformadores vivenciados.
- Escuchamos voces que compartían la idea de tener una certificación entre pares. Ya hay algunos capacitadores honorarios que están haciendo un trabajo increíble en el campo pero que no son capacitadores certificados. También hay ocasiones en las que la Red de Transición escucha la necesidad de entrenadores en ciertas áreas, pero no hay nadie disponible para asumir ese trabajo.

**Relevancia y Evolución de la Transición**

- Surgieron preguntas sobre el impacto y propósito actual del movimiento de Transición y de cómo podemos ser más relevantes. Lo anterior con el objetivo de tener clara la cultura del Movimiento de Transición y lo que podemos aportar a estos tiempos tan únicos. Esto incluía actualizar o reforzar el espíritu de la Transición, para ayudar a traer claridad y co-crear una buena nueva narrativa para florecer.

**Contenido, formato e idioma de la formación**

- Se nos dijo la importancia de tener claridad en los objetivos de los “viajes de aprendizaje” (entrenamientos) y una clara visibilización (signposting) de los viajes de aprendizaje.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de tener claridad sobre lo que se necesitaría compartir durante los viajes de aprendizaje (entrenamientos). La importancia de respetar la diversidad local, dando a las personas de diferentes regiones la libertad de adaptar las herramientas a sus contextos y culturas y, al mismo tiempo, cumplir los objetivos de aprendizaje.
- Los webinarios en español destacaron la importancia de ofrecer viajes de aprendizaje/formación en las lenguas comunes de las regiones. El español es vital para el movimiento de la Transición en América Latina y surgió la idea de una formación facilitada por formadores de todos los Nodos/Hubs de América Latina, con la idea de invitar a España y tal vez a Portugal a unirse a ella.
- En los webinarios en español también hubo interés en apoyar los Derechos de la Madre Tierra como movimiento político en América Latina.

**También escuchamos retroalimentación sobre temas específicos de aprendizaje y colaboradores:**

- La importancia de la formación/aprendizaje de la transición interior, y cómo las experiencias del “Trabajo que Reconecta” pueden permitir cambios de paradigma.
- Laboratorios locales de Transición en seguridad alimentaria y economía local, vinculados con proyectos regenerativos.
- Interés y necesidad de capacitación sobre Municipios en Transición (MiT), considerando su potencial impacto y escala.
- Colaboración con organizaciones con principios compartidos como Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- En el tema de las economías circulares hubo cierta preocupación de que éstas no siempre cuestionan el crecimiento infinito.

Llevamos todas estas preguntas e ideas de vuelta al Círculo de Entrenamiento y las estamos usando para diseñar nuestros próximos pasos. Uno de estos pasos será organizar una nueva ronda de seminarios web para co-crear soluciones a muchas de estas preguntas, y compartiremos información sobre cómo puedes participar tan pronto como se confirmen.

Si tienes alguna pregunta, por favor envía un correo electrónico a: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

In August we shared an [update](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) about the international work to re-energise training for Transition and extended an invitation to join a webinar to hear a presentation of the research report and for us to hear your thoughts on next steps.

During August and September six webinars were held in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and we would like to share some of the many insights and questions that were harvested from these meetings.

**Networking and Communications**

- Concerns were shared about how we can work well together as a community of practice and keep updating the group about what is happening in every region.
- We heard the need to keep a good mailing list of trainers and to contact them more often – sharing experiences, videos and webinars that can keep this community connected and updated with advances in our movement. This includes sharing information and news with and from Transition Hubs worldwide, including through webinars, so that we can have an exchange of knowledge and experiences in our global community.

**Decolonisation & Diversity**

- Many people talked about the need to decolonise learning opportunities and allow for greater regional autonomy, whilst keeping a common framework and principles.
- Others asked how we can bring more diversity into our circle of trainers and Transitioners, and this was very connected to our ongoing need to respond to inequalities, healing wounds of colonialism, collective trauma, consequences of unequal power distribution and racism more directly.

**Being a Trainer**

- A number of facilitators talked about the valuable experiences they have gained through the years, and what it means to be a certified trainer.
- A question arose as to whether there would be a virtual Training of Trainers, and there was interest to create/design educational material, cards, videos and handbooks to support the learning opportunities process.
- Some people thought about what it would mean to become a facilitator for Transition – how to certify people not just based on training but also taking into account experience, action and transformational learnings.
- We heard voices sharing the idea of having peer-to-peer certification. There are already some honorary trainers that are doing an amazing job in the field but who are not certified trainers. There are also times when Transition Network hears the need for trainers in certain areas, but there is no-one available to take this work on.

**Relevance & Evolution of Transition**

- Questions were asked about the relevance of the Transition movement and how we can be more relevant – to be clear about Transition culture and what we can bring to these unique times. This included updating or reinforcing Transition’s soul, to help bring clarity and to co-create a good new narrative to thrive.

**Training Content, Format & Language**

- We were told of the importance of having clarity on the objectives of learning opportunities and clear signposting for learning journeys.
- We heard about the need to be clear about what would need to be shared in the development of training/learning opportunities. The importance of respecting local diversity, giving people from different regions the freedom to adapt tools to their contexts and cultures whilst also honouring the learning objectives.
- The webinars in Spanish highlighted the importance of offering learning journeys/training in regions’ own common languages. Spanish is vital for the Transition movement in Latin America and the idea of a training facilitated by trainers from across the Latin American Hubs emerged, with the idea of inviting Spain and maybe Portugal to join in.
- In the Spanish language webinars there was also interest in supporting Mother Earth Rights as a political movement in Latin America.

**We also heard feedback on specific learning topics and collaborators:**

- The importance of Inner Transition training/learnings, and how experiences of The Work That Reconnects can allow for paradigm shifts.
- Local Laboratories of Transition in food security and local economy, linked with regenerative projects.
- Interest and need on training about Municipalities in Transition (MiT) considering its potential impact and scale.
- Collaboration with organisations with shared principles such as Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- On the topic of circular economies there was some concern that these do not always question infinite growth.

**Next Steps**

We took all of these questions and ideas back to the Training Circle and we are using them to design our next steps. One of these steps will be to arrange a new round of webinars to co-create solutions to many of these questions, and we will share information about how you can take part as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have any questions please send an email to: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

**Re-energizando los Entrenamientos para la transición: Retroalimentación recibida en los Webinarios**

En agosto compartimos una [actualización](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) del trabajo realizado a nivel internacional para revitalizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje para la Transición, a través de varios webinarios en los que se realizó una presentación del informe de investigación y se invitó a los participantes a compartir sus visiones y reflexiones en relación a los próximos pasos.

Durante agosto y septiembre se celebraron seis webinarios en inglés, portugués y español, y nos gustaría compartir algunas de las muchas ideas y preguntas que se recogieron en estas reuniones.

**Redes y Comunicaciones**

- Se compartieron inquietudes sobre cómo podemos realizar un buen trabajo juntos como Comunidad de Práctica y seguir actualizando al grupo sobre lo que está sucediendo en cada región.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de mantener una buena lista de correos de facilitadores y de contactarlos más a menudo – compartiendo experiencias, videos y webinarios que puedan mantener conectada a esta Comunidad de Práctica y actualizada con los avances de nuestro movimiento. Esto incluye el intercambio de información, materiales y noticias con y desde los Nodos/Hubs de Transición en todo el mundo, incluso a través de webinarios, para que podamos tener un intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias en nuestra comunidad mundial.

**Descolonización y Diversidad**

- Muchos hablaron de la necesidad de descolonizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje y permitir una mayor autonomía regional, manteniendo al mismo tiempo un marco referencial y principios comunes.
- Otros preguntaron cómo podemos aportar más diversidad a nuestro círculo de facilitadores y transicioneros, y esto estaba muy relacionado con nuestra necesidad permanente de responder a las desigualdades, curar las heridas del colonialismo, el trauma colectivo, las consecuencias de la distribución desigual del poder y el racismo de forma más directa.

**Ser un entrenador/facilitador**

- Varios facilitadores hablaron de las valiosas experiencias que han adquirido a lo largo de los años y de lo que significa ser un instructor certificado.
- Se planteó la cuestión de si habría una capacitación virtual de facilitadores ToT, y hubo interés en crear/diseñar material educativo, tarjetas, videos y manuales para apoyar el proceso de estas oportunidades de aprendizaje.
- Algunas personas reflexionaron acerca de qué significa convertirse en facilitador para la transición, es decir, cómo certificar a las personas no sólo sobre la base del entrenamiento recibido, sino también teniendo en cuenta la experiencia previa, la acción realizada y los aprendizajes transformadores vivenciados.
- Escuchamos voces que compartían la idea de tener una certificación entre pares. Ya hay algunos capacitadores honorarios que están haciendo un trabajo increíble en el campo pero que no son capacitadores certificados. También hay ocasiones en las que la Red de Transición escucha la necesidad de entrenadores en ciertas áreas, pero no hay nadie disponible para asumir ese trabajo.

**Relevancia y Evolución de la Transición**

- Surgieron preguntas sobre el impacto y propósito actual del movimiento de Transición y de cómo podemos ser más relevantes. Lo anterior con el objetivo de tener clara la cultura del Movimiento de Transición y lo que podemos aportar a estos tiempos tan únicos. Esto incluía actualizar o reforzar el espíritu de la Transición, para ayudar a traer claridad y co-crear una buena nueva narrativa para florecer.

**Contenido, formato e idioma de la formación**

- Se nos dijo la importancia de tener claridad en los objetivos de los “viajes de aprendizaje” (entrenamientos) y una clara visibilización (signposting) de los viajes de aprendizaje.
- Escuchamos la necesidad de tener claridad sobre lo que se necesitaría compartir durante los viajes de aprendizaje (entrenamientos). La importancia de respetar la diversidad local, dando a las personas de diferentes regiones la libertad de adaptar las herramientas a sus contextos y culturas y, al mismo tiempo, cumplir los objetivos de aprendizaje.
- Los webinarios en español destacaron la importancia de ofrecer viajes de aprendizaje/formación en las lenguas comunes de las regiones. El español es vital para el movimiento de la Transición en América Latina y surgió la idea de una formación facilitada por formadores de todos los Nodos/Hubs de América Latina, con la idea de invitar a España y tal vez a Portugal a unirse a ella.
- En los webinarios en español también hubo interés en apoyar los Derechos de la Madre Tierra como movimiento político en América Latina.

**También escuchamos retroalimentación sobre temas específicos de aprendizaje y colaboradores:**

- La importancia de la formación/aprendizaje de la transición interior, y cómo las experiencias del “Trabajo que Reconecta” pueden permitir cambios de paradigma.
- Laboratorios locales de Transición en seguridad alimentaria y economía local, vinculados con proyectos regenerativos.
- Interés y necesidad de capacitación sobre Municipios en Transición (MiT), considerando su potencial impacto y escala.
- Colaboración con organizaciones con principios compartidos como Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Global Ecovillage Network, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- En el tema de las economías circulares hubo cierta preocupación de que éstas no siempre cuestionan el crecimiento infinito.

Llevamos todas estas preguntas e ideas de vuelta al Círculo de Entrenamiento y las estamos usando para diseñar nuestros próximos pasos. Uno de estos pasos será organizar una nueva ronda de seminarios web para co-crear soluciones a muchas de estas preguntas, y compartiremos información sobre cómo puedes participar tan pronto como se confirmen.

Si tienes alguna pregunta, por favor envía un correo electrónico a: **training@transitionnetwork.org**

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/agence-olloweb-Z2ImfOCafFk-unsplash-scaled.jpg

**Reenergizando o Treinamento para a Transição: Feedback dos Webinars**

Em agosto, compartilhamos uma [atualização](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/training-report/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) sobre o trabalho internacional para revitalizar o treinamento para a transição e estendemos o convite para participação em um webinar, onde foi feita uma apresentação do relatório de pesquisa e onde pudemos ouvir sua opinião sobre as próximas etapas.

Durante os meses de agosto e setembro, seis webinars foram realizados em inglês, português e espanhol, e gostaríamos de compartilhar alguns dos muitos insights e perguntas que foram colhidas destas reuniões.

**Rede e comunicações**

- As preocupações foram compartilhadas sobre como podemos trabalhar bem juntos como uma comunidade de prática e manter o grupo atualizado sobre o que está acontecendo em cada região.
- Ouvimos a necessidade de manter um bom mailing de treinadores, atualizado e contatá-los com mais frequência – compartilhando experiências, vídeos e webinars que possam manter esta comunidade conectada e atualizada com os avanços do nosso movimento. Isso inclui o compartilhamento de informações e notícias sobre os Hubs de Transição em todo o mundo, inclusive por meio de webinars, para que possamos ter uma troca de conhecimentos e experiências em nossa comunidade global.

**Descolonização e Diversidade**

- Muitas pessoas falaram sobre a necessidade de descolonizar as oportunidades de aprendizagem e permitir uma maior autonomia regional, mantendo ao mesmo tempo uma estrutura e princípios comuns.
- Outros perguntaram como podemos trazer mais diversidade para nosso círculo de treinadores e membros do movimento, e isso estava muito conectado à nossa necessidade contínua de responder às desigualdades e curar as feridas do colonialismo, traumas coletivos, consequências da distribuição desigual de poder e racismo de forma mais direta.

**Ser um treinador/facilitador**

- Vários facilitadores falaram sobre as valiosas experiências que ganharam ao longo dos anos e o que significa ser um treinador certificado.
- Questionou-se se haveria uma Formação virtual de Formadores e houve interesse em criar / desenhar materiais educativos, fichas, vídeos e manuais para apoiar o processo de oportunidades de aprendizagem.
- Algumas pessoas pensaram sobre o que significaria se tornar um facilitador para a Transição – como certificar pessoas não apenas com base no treinamento, mas também levando em consideração a experiência, ação e aprendizados transformacionais.

**Relevância e evolução da transição**

- Perguntas foram feitas sobre a relevância do movimento de Transição e sobre como podemos ser ainda mais relevantes – sobre como podemos ser mais claros sobre a cultura de Transição e o que podemos trazer para estes tempos únicos. Isso incluiu atualizar ou reforçar a alma da Transição, para ajudar a trazer clareza e co criar uma boa nova narrativa para prosperar.
- Algumas pessoas pensaram sobre o que significaria ser um facilitador para a Transição – como certificar pessoas não apenas com base no treinamento, mas também levando em consideração a experiência, ação e aprendizados transformacionais.
- Ouvimos vozes compartilhando a ideia de ter uma certificação ponto a ponto. Já existem alguns treinadores honorários que estão fazendo um trabalho incrível na área, mas que não são treinadores certificados. Também há momentos em que a Rede de Transição ouve a necessidade de treinadores em certas áreas, mas não há ninguém disponível para assumir esse trabalho.

**Conteúdo, formato e idioma do treinamento**

- Falaram-nos sobre a importância de termos clareza acerca dos objetivos das oportunidades de aprendizagem e uma sinalização clara para seus percursos.
- Ouvimos sobre a necessidade de clareza no que precisa ser compartilhado ao desenvolvermos as oportunidades de treinamento / aprendizagem. A importância de respeitar a diversidade local, dando às pessoas de diferentes regiões a liberdade de adaptar as ferramentas aos seus contextos e culturas, respeitando também os objetivos de aprendizagem.
- Os webinars em espanhol destacaram a importância de oferecer jornadas de aprendizagem / treinamento nos idiomas comuns das próprias regiões. O espanhol é vital para o movimento de transição na América Latina e surgiu a ideia de um treinamento facilitado por formadores de todos os pólos latino-americanos, com a ideia de convidar a Espanha e talvez Portugal a aderir.
- Nos webinars em espanhol também houve interesse em apoiar os Direitos da Mãe Terra como um movimento político na América Latina.

**Também ouvimos feedback sobre tópicos de aprendizagem específicos e colaboradores:**

- A importância dos treinamentos / aprendizados da Transição Interna e como as experiências do The Work That Reconnects podem permitir mudanças de paradigma.
- Laboratórios Locais de Transição em segurança alimentar e economia local, vinculados a projetos regenerativos.
- Interesse e necessidade de formação sobre Municípios em Transição (MiT) considerando o seu potencial impacto e escala.
- Colaboração com organizações com princípios compartilhados como Gaia Education, Gaia University, Gaia U Latina, Rede Global de Ecovilas, CASA Latina, Extinction Rebellion.
- No tema das economias circulares, havia a preocupação de que nem sempre são questionados os paradigmas do crescimento infinito.

Levamos todas essas perguntas e ideias de volta ao Círculo de Treinamento e as estamos usando para planejar nossas próximas etapas. Uma dessas etapas será organizar uma nova rodada de webinars para co-criar soluções para muitas dessas questões. Nos próximos dias compartilharemos informações sobre como você pode participar assim que forem confirmadas.

Se você tiver alguma dúvida, envie um e-mail para: **training@transitionnetwork.org**
### Transition Days and Nights in Luxembourg and France
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/transition-days/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:40.000Z
##### **News, articles, interviews and stories from Rob Hopkins' Covid-secure recent tour.**

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-nd30zn80\_9e","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nd30zN80\_9E?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-nd30zn80\_9e","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nd30zN80\_9E?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-qprejdxcf98","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/qPREjdxcF98?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-nd30zn80\_9e","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/nd30zN80\_9E?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-y3drwbdztr4","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Y3drWbdZTr4?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994760\_10157554465960869\_1215945368152666152\_o.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994760\_10157554465960869\_1215945368152666152\_o.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120026912\_10157554466510869\_8479992681598303788\_o.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994760\_10157554465960869\_1215945368152666152\_o.jpg

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120136076\_10157556537765869\_1553443305780453721\_o.jpg

The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994760\_10157554465960869\_1215945368152666152\_o.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120026912\_10157554466510869\_8479992681598303788\_o.jpg

Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120136076\_10157556537765869\_1553443305780453721\_o.jpg

The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200923\_181126-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120136076\_10157556537765869\_1553443305780453721\_o.jpg

The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_162051-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684228\_683200948944732\_8745757183909568247\_o.jpg

We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_134106-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_145939-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171057-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171640-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_171845-scaled-1.jpg

We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_151531-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200916\_132214-scaled-1.jpg

Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

{"@context":"http:\\/\\/schema.org\\/","@id":"https:\\/\\/transitionnetwork.org\\/news\\/transition-days\\/#arve-youtube-fb6w6a0s-jy","type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\\/\\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\\/embed\\/Fb6W6A0S-jY?feature=oembed&iv\_load\_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0"}

And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

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Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

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After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200918\_183157-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119950988\_10157547527100869\_415164013998712544\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119994416\_10157547527460869\_5282151693459388593\_n.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EiT6DhsXgAEXM9p.jpg

The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120008259\_1025564734542221\_7830862441761254730\_n.jpg

Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200927\_121449.jpg

Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/120540942\_1032944710470890\_5495183235486277709\_n.jpg

Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200923\_181126-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200923\_181137-scaled-1.jpg

To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_161935-scaled-1.jpg

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119644054\_683200988944728\_1677739783074868062\_o-scaled-1.jpg

I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

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Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

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After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200924\_095512-scaled-1.jpg

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_105109-scaled-1.jpg

The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119684907\_683200965611397\_8142707979750455357\_o.jpg

Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

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Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

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Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

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After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

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When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183458-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200915\_183608-scaled-1.jpg

Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_100442-scaled-1.jpg

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20200917\_101846-scaled-1.jpg

I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/119709346\_10157545108695869\_6174937817880149284\_n.jpg

Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

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Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

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Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

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After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

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The very last stop on the tour was Mazan. First stop there was a secondary school where I was invited to speak with a group of about 50 14/15 year olds. Never the easiest crowd, but they had some questions, and it was an interesting conversation. At the end, just as we were about to leave, a few of the more interested of them asked it they could ask me a couple of questions in the playground. We ended up having a great discussion about anarchism and anarchist politics stood in a school playground, exactly the kind of conversation I would have wanted to have at that age!

That evening was the last talk of the tour, in an amazing venue, built mostly of local timber. It smelt amazing. We had some time before the talk, so I was able to have a much-needed snooze on a sofa backstage…

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

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The very last stop on the tour was Mazan. First stop there was a secondary school where I was invited to speak with a group of about 50 14/15 year olds. Never the easiest crowd, but they had some questions, and it was an interesting conversation. At the end, just as we were about to leave, a few of the more interested of them asked it they could ask me a couple of questions in the playground. We ended up having a great discussion about anarchism and anarchist politics stood in a school playground, exactly the kind of conversation I would have wanted to have at that age!

That evening was the last talk of the tour, in an amazing venue, built mostly of local timber. It smelt amazing. We had some time before the talk, so I was able to have a much-needed snooze on a sofa backstage…

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When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download-1.jpg

Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/download.jpg

Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

https://transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rob-hobkins.jpg

After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

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The very last stop on the tour was Mazan. First stop there was a secondary school where I was invited to speak with a group of about 50 14/15 year olds. Never the easiest crowd, but they had some questions, and it was an interesting conversation. At the end, just as we were about to leave, a few of the more interested of them asked it they could ask me a couple of questions in the playground. We ended up having a great discussion about anarchism and anarchist politics stood in a school playground, exactly the kind of conversation I would have wanted to have at that age!

That evening was the last talk of the tour, in an amazing venue, built mostly of local timber. It smelt amazing. We had some time before the talk, so I was able to have a much-needed snooze on a sofa backstage…

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The evening was a fitting finale to the tour – a very powerful Time Machine exercise, in spite of having two gigglers (it happens sometimes), lots of ‘jazz hands’, and the first talk where the Q&A didn’t include any “but surely it’s too late and all of this is a waste of time” questions. I loved it, a fitting end to the tour.

Then a night in another hotel room with even noiser and crazier air conditioning which rumbled and groaned all night to the point where I had to get moved to another room at 1.30 in the morning!

And that was that. My deepest thanks to Xavier and Rachel for trying to keep with my gabble and for being such great company, to Julien and Magali for making it all possible, to Stephane and everyone else at Sans Transition, the amazing team who put everything up and packed it all down again and who worked so hard and so late and whose work meant everything felt so beautiful supported and held. And to all of the sponsors who made it possible, to the local municipality folks who took such care of us, to everyone who hosted us, fed us, and most of all to everyone who came to the talks.

The whole tour felt a bit like one of those disaster movies where the hero is running fast while behind them everything is exploding and collapsing but they just manage to outpace it. As COVID cases rose on both sides of the channels and lockdowns loom, and as new restrictions were put into place and venues closed, if felt like this tiny window in which this tour could have happened had to be seized with both hands, and seize it we did. Right, now to sleep for a week.

When COVID first arrived and the UK and most of Europe went into lockdown, all my proposed trips to France, Belgium and other places vanished overnight. All the speaking tours and events lined up to promote the publication of the French version of ‘From What Is to What If’, retitled as ‘[Et Si](https://www.actes-sud.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines-et-sociales-sciences/et-si-liberait-notre-imagination-pour-creer-le?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’, disappeared. Months passed. Then September arrived, and the dates to which those talks had been tentatively rescheduled loomed closer and closer. Would they go ahead?

With cases rising on both sides of the Channel, and lockdowns looming, it was decided that they would go ahead, but with the appropriate measures in place. And so, at 6am one September morning, I boarded the train in Totnes, the first I had set foot on since mid-February, and headed to London, boarded a half-filled Eurostar to Brussels, and from there to Luxembourg. Mask on all the way, regular hand-sanitising, you know the drill.

In Luxembourg I was the guest of [CELL](https://www.cell.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg), who have been the organisation promoting Transition in Luxembourg since 2009\. They are pretty unique among national Transition Hubs in that they are funded by the Sustainable Development Ministry in the country, and have a team of around 20 people working on a range of different projects and offering support to initiatives on the ground.

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The next 3 days were rather a blur, and were part of the launch of their ‘[Transition Days](https://www.transitiondays.lu/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ festival, so here are some of the key impressions and the key moments:

I was interviewed for Luxembourgish TV by one of the country’s leading political journalist/interviewers, a kind of female Jeremy Paxman, the first time I’ve had an interview like that. It was fascinating. I might write it up separately as it was a fascinating experience.

Bits of the interview were then used in a show called “Kloertext”, and used to promote conversation between the Minister of Economy Franz Fayot, the general secretary of CSV (Christian-Socialist party), Blanche Weber (president of Movement écologique), government energy minister Claude Thurmes and René Winkin (director Fedil: Federation of Luxembourgish Industries). You can see the show [here](https://www.rtl.lu/tele/kloertext/a/1585067.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

A social evening party in a former steel works meeting Transitioners and other activists…

I did a lot of press interviews while I was there. Here is a selection. With [the podcast Delano](https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/newsmakers-podcast-rob-hopkins-power-communities/211637?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with [WOXX](https://www.woxx.lu/initiator-der-transition-bewegung-der-normalzustand-war-ein-desaster/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), with Infogreen (‘[An interview with Mr Transition](https://www.infogreen.lu/entretien-avec-mr-transition.html?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)’), in The Journal ([‘Imagining another world’](https://www.journal.lu/top-navigation/article/imaginer-un-autre-monde/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)) and with [Quotidien](https://lequotidien.lu/politique-societe/rob-hopkins-de-transition-network-imaginer-le-futur-et-le-construire/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)…

I visited the Äerdschëff Luxembourg Project, co-ordinated by CELL and funded by the government, an amazing Earthship structure consisting of over 900 tyres in its retaining wall, with local timber frame, hemp block flooring. Amazing. Created by a mixture of volunteers and professionals and very beautiful…

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We went to visit an emerging community urban gardening project on a former steel works, growing a diversity of produce in containers given the contamination of the ground, as much a social work project for the neighbouring community as a food garden…

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Had a morning conversation/workshop with about 20 people involved in different Transition projects in Luxembourg discussing issues they are facing, which ended in us doing a shared ‘Time Machine’ exercise, followed by some What If question creating. Fascinating to get a flavour of how Transition working in Luxembourg.

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I did a filmed conversation/dialogue with José da Costa at ErwuesseBildung (a Christian organisation redesigning itself to be in service of Transition), as part of their ‘Making Sense of Life’ series:

[http://https://youtu.be/XB\_0YEfdcpQ](http://https//youtu.be/XB%5F0YEfdcpQ?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)

I ran an afternoon workshop on imagination with 20 participants which was a lot of fun, lots of silliness and games as well as more serious reflections on imagination. Rather than playing ‘Potato Monsters’, a favourite of mine, we started with ‘Conker Monsters’, due to Norry and I finding a conker tree in the centre of Luxembourg and filling a hat with conkers. Some ridiculous monsters ensued. Thanks to everyone who came to that. A lot of fun.

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We called into Mesa for lunch, also known as the Transition House. It is a café on a high street, serving great food, in a building owned by the municipality which the Transition group are renovating to turn into a mixture of retails, café, workshop space, hot-desking and so on. Very cool place who also do a fine quiche.

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Visited an office complex called ‘Solar Wind’, a pioneering ‘green’ office building that generates all of its own energy, has living walls, wind turbines on the roof, an intriguing pure timber top floor with clay plasters, and some amazing reuse and recycling of materials.

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Opposite where I was staying was the ‘Old Monastery Garden’, and incredible terraced urban food garden, a stunning example of what a city full of food production could look like, and how it would transform our experience of that place.

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I did a talk (you can see the film of it below). It was the first talk I had done since lockdown, and I noticed an immediate problem. Speaking to a room full of people with masks on means you lose the ability to see how what you are saying is resonating because you can’t see their faces. Are they grinning or grimacing?

So that first night I started by teaching them ‘jazz hands’, familiar to anyone involved with Transition or [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.global/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org). The idea is to wave your hands if I say anything that resonates, or that you agree with, or that you like. It works a treat. The evening is filled with flutters of hand-waves, sometimes a forest of hands, it is a beautiful way to work around the masks.

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I went to the pre-premiere of a new film about Transition activities in Luxembourg called ‘Eng Äerd’ (‘One Earth’) which was rather good. It included one beautiful animated sequence of an urban landspace being transformed into a garden which I loved so much that the producers very kindly allowed me to have a clip of to use in the rest of the talks on the tour…. Here is the trailer:

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And I got to have some very enjoyable time hanging out with Transitioners getting to know them and discussing Transition and many other things too. Thank you all, and thanks to Norry, Rita, Delphine, Marine and all the rest of the team for making it so smooth and enjoyable.

And then I moved on to France.

The trip was organised again by [Sans Transition magazine](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) who also organised the two previous tours I have done, hence this one being entitled ‘Transition Tour #3’. They had created [a special edition for the tour](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/kiosque?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), featuring one of my lino prints on the cover! It also featured [a big interview](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/societe/interview-rob-hopkins-faire-vivre-cette-autre-vision-du-futur?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) they did with me a couple of months ago. It started in Lannion in Brittany, alongside my interpreter, the brilliant Xavier Combe who I have worked with before.

The venue for the talk was a huge hall with all the seats set out at 2 metre intervals. Before the talk, we ate supper prepared by a local sustainable cookery school and met with members of the local administration. It started with a Round Table discussion with some local activists and campaigners (you can see the film of that [here](http://www.sans-transition-magazine.info/debat/replay-table-ronde-sur-la-transition-lannion-avec-rob-hopkins?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)), and then the talk went well, good questions and answers and a good start to the tour. I also signed a lot of copies of ‘Et Si’, and met many people.

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Day Two featured a lot of time on the train, travelling with Xavier from Lannion to Paris and from Paris, on a very hot train, to Toulouse. Travelling so far with a mask on feels like sitting in a sauna with cotton wool stuffed up your nose. And I ran out of water after an hour and there was no bar on the train!

The venue for this evening was a huge tent put up by the municipality for big public events. After a few interviews (below is one them) and meeting with some of those responsible for sustainability work in the local council, we did the talk.

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It was one of my favourites from this tour, really dynamic, people really engaged. There was a good contingent from [Toulouse en Transition](https://toulouse.entransition.fr/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and from the local EnerCoop, lots of jazz hands and we had a great discussion and questions. It was an evening where the ‘Time Machine’ exercise I do felt really powerful, like being in a room full of people who really had travelled to 2030\. Pretty magical.

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The next day took us to Gignac for an afternoon talk. Gignac is a small town, and the talk took place in a theatre there. It was very hot! Lots of people fanning themselves during the talk. My thanks to the local Transition group who fed us delicious home made food, local wine, and courgette and chocolate cake before we were dashed to Montpellier to get the train to Paris, where we arrived late at night.

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Next morning was a Paris day, hosted by Actes Sud, the publishers of ‘Et Si’. Two press interviews in the morning, then off to the offices of FranceInter, to be a guest on Mathieu Vidard’s radio show ‘La Terre au Carré (which literally means ‘The Earth Squared’). As someone who makes a podcast, it is always amazing to see professional broadcasters at work, quite a skill. You can listen again to that show [here](https://t.co/oORGuJ8pS5?amp=1&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

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Then we went to a different studio to prerecord an episode of ‘[De Cause À Effets’](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/saison-24-08-2020-27-06-2021?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), a regular show on environmental issues, hosted by Aurélie Luneau, along with a second guest, Justine Davasse, who has written a book about ‘zero movements’. We had a great conversation. You can hear it [here](https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/de-cause-a-effets-le-magazine-de-lenvironnement/de-cause-a-effets-du-mardi-22-septembre-2020?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).

After the interview I was a speaker at a conference on urban agriculture offered by Vinci. Vinci are a huge company in France who do many things that are incompatible with a low carbon world, building roads, car parking and so on. They also have an innovations and foresight department, exploring new ideas, and they were hosting an event on urban agriculture. I spoke about the power of urban agriculture to unlock a revival of the imagination. Some good questions afterwards.

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Then a really poor night’s sleep in a hotel room due to an air conditioning unit that clicked and made random noises all night even in spite of being turned off. Grr.

Next morning began with an interview at Le Train Bleu, the incredible restaurant at Gare Montparnasse with two reporters from the newspaper *Liberation*. [Here](https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/09/29/un-exode-urbain-pourrait-renforcer-les-inegalites%5F1800859?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) is the link to the final article…

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Then the train back south to Avignon (yes, this was a tour that included a lot of zigzagging on trains across the country). This time I was travelling with Rachel, the interpreter for the second leg, who replaced Xavier at this point, like some kind of interpreters baton race.

In Vedène, on the edge of Avignon, we were doing three things. The first was to be part of a press conference to mark an amazing announcement by the local municipality. Here is more detail about that from a post I put on Facebook about it which I reprint in full as it was rather fascinating…

“I was in Vedène near Avignon yesterday, where I was part of the launch of something really rather fascinating, an intriguing spin-off from the Transition movement, and something I haven’t seen before. [La Roue](https://laroue.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) (‘The Wheel’) is the local currency for that region which has been in existence for almost 9 years now. Local currencies in France have developed a different model to those in the UK, most of the early pioneers of which no longer really function.

In France, local currencies are supported by a bank called NEF bank. When Euros are exchanged for La Roue (for example), those Euros are put into a fund, and that fund is then used by the bank to support local projects, so there is a double bonus for communities. The press conference I had been invited to be part of was presented by Grand Avignon, the association of all the local authorities including the city itself and all of the surrounding areas and suburbs (association of metropolitan areas). They were gathering to make an announcement about the local currency that was fascinating.

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Grand Avignon were announcing that, as part of their local economic plan launched on June 9th, one of its 15 measures which formed a ‘recovery plan’ for the area, that they would be actively supporting La Roue. The currency would now be recognised by law, and seen as a key part of how the authority planned to support and boost local economic resilience, to boost what they called ‘the real economy’.

The first speaker, Joel Guin (the Président of Grand Avignon) stated that they felt it was now “time to put the spotlight on La Roue. The association of metropolitan areas would be supporting the scheme so that €10 would be converted into 12 Roue, a boost for the currency paid for by the authority.

The next speaker, M. Moureau (Vice-president for the sustainable and united economy) talked about how they were aware that the growth of hypermarches and out of town shopping had decimated local economies and that that trend needed to be reversed. So they were giving La Roue a budget to enable them to properly promote the scheme. An advertising scheme will begin promoting La Roue as ‘Our Currency’. From 2021 payment will be accepted in La Roue for a number of public services, along with more incentives to use it.

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Anne De Michelis, the spokesperson from La Roue, called this support from the authority “a big recognition”. The scheme, she said, had been kept running for 8 years by volunteers, and that, in a quote that could sum up the entire Transition movement, “it is very difficult when you have a good idea too early”. Laetitia Vinuesa, director of economy and tourism, pushed this idea for some time before it gained traction.

“Why use La Roue?” Anne De Michelis asked. “It stays locally, it creates more wealth. You cannot store it. It is our own currency”. Research shows that Euros in a local economy are exchanged on average twice before leaving. Local currencies are exchanged between 6 and 12 times, bringing much more wealth to the local economy. Using a local currency, she said, is like voting for a different economy, a different future.

It was fascinating to see this level of institutional support for a local currency, and the extent to which the association of metropolitan areas saw it as being a key strand of their post-COVID recovery strategy. Will we see other local authorities in France following this example? Might it be that local money has finally come of age?

Might it be that such a move might just be the first step in local government here starting to level up the playing field in terms of resilient local economies and extractive ones? Might it offer a taste of creative approaches local government could take to support rapid transition at the local scale. We’ll see. But sitting there it felt like a pretty important step forward”.

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After this there was a meeting for local business people and activists, where I spoke about Transition and about REconomy, and people asked questions and we had a great conversation about how the future of business and of joined-up action could look in that area in the future. In the evening I did a big talk there in the Opera House on the edge of Avignon, lots of people and a really great engaged evening. My thanks to BioCoop for our delicious evening meal and to Romain, who at the end of each of the final few talks on this tour, when I was signing endless copies of ‘Et Si’, always managed to put a cold locally brewed beer into my hand. Appreciated.

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Tuesday began with another train ride, this time to Saint-Etienne, and from there to Clermont-Ferrand. First port of call was a huge bookshop in the centre of town, where I did a short reading from the book, followed by a very lively question and answer session and then some book signing.

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The evening talk was in the most amazing venue of the whole tour. This time it really was an opera house, Volcans et à l’Opéra, an Italian style opera house, with an amazing painted ceiling, just beautiful. People felt really close to the stage and on several levels.

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To begin with the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anyone, so I asked them to bring up the house lights a bit so I could see everyone and then it was a lot better. The ‘Time Machine’ exercise felt especially powerful that night, really focused and deep. It was one of those nights you walk off stage feeling sparkles in you, a kind of electricity. I love it.

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Once that was all done, we drove about an hour up into the hills in the Loire, so spend the night in a house in the woods in the hills. It was so beautiful, after so long in a mask in hot trains and dashing around in city centres, to smell forest smells, to walk on the earth and to see the distant horizon. A much needed breath of fresh air at that point.

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The very last stop on the tour was Mazan. First stop there was a secondary school where I was invited to speak with a group of about 50 14/15 year olds. Never the easiest crowd, but they had some questions, and it was an interesting conversation. At the end, just as we were about to leave, a few of the more interested of them asked it they could ask me a couple of questions in the playground. We ended up having a great discussion about anarchism and anarchist politics stood in a school playground, exactly the kind of conversation I would have wanted to have at that age!

That evening was the last talk of the tour, in an amazing venue, built mostly of local timber. It smelt amazing. We had some time before the talk, so I was able to have a much-needed snooze on a sofa backstage…

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The evening was a fitting finale to the tour – a very powerful Time Machine exercise, in spite of having two gigglers (it happens sometimes), lots of ‘jazz hands’, and the first talk where the Q&A didn’t include any “but surely it’s too late and all of this is a waste of time” questions. I loved it, a fitting end to the tour.

Then a night in another hotel room with even noiser and crazier air conditioning which rumbled and groaned all night to the point where I had to get moved to another room at 1.30 in the morning!

And that was that. My deepest thanks to Xavier and Rachel for trying to keep with my gabble and for being such great company, to Julien and Magali for making it all possible, to Stephane and everyone else at Sans Transition, the amazing team who put everything up and packed it all down again and who worked so hard and so late and whose work meant everything felt so beautiful supported and held. And to all of the sponsors who made it possible, to the local municipality folks who took such care of us, to everyone who hosted us, fed us, and most of all to everyone who came to the talks.

The whole tour felt a bit like one of those disaster movies where the hero is running fast while behind them everything is exploding and collapsing but they just manage to outpace it. As COVID cases rose on both sides of the channels and lockdowns loom, and as new restrictions were put into place and venues closed, if felt like this tiny window in which this tour could have happened had to be seized with both hands, and seize it we did. Right, now to sleep for a week.

###### **(Photos, unless otherwise credited, by Rob Hopkins)**
### The Roots of White Supremacy Are In Our Bodies – Part Four
URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/the-roots-of-white-supremacy-are-in-our-bodies-part-four/
Last updated: 2026-03-17T18:36:44.000Z
This is the fourth instalment from guest writer Madelanne Rust-D’Eye, originally published on her [website](http://bodyintelligence.ca/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) in July 2020\. You’re encouraged to read Parts [One](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/roots-white-supremacy-bodies/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), [Two](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/the-roots-of-white-supremacy-are-in-our-bodies-part-two/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and [Three](https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/the-roots-of-white-supremacy-are-in-our-bodies-part-three/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) first.

## ***The Oldest Story***

Dominance is a nightmare. It is founded in a dysregulation and distortion of our neurobiological, psychological, and spiritual design as human beings. It perpetuates disconnection when the very thing we are most fundamentally wired up to do is to *connect*.

*So how do we white folks collectively reorient towards a better way of being? How do we restore our capacity for connection?*

Riane Eisler, who articulated the concept of Dominance in her paradigm-shifting work, “The Chalice and the Blade,” identified a second primary way that we organise as humans. She called it **Partnership**: a cultural system in which power arises through the bonds of mutual benefit. In this system, power is negotiated via *connection*. According to Eisler’s research, Partnership systems have predominated throughout human history; it is only in the past 3,000 years that Dominance has become widespread on the human scene, and it is only since the colonisation of the formerly indigenous nations of Europe by the Romans (and then, of course the colonisation of much of the rest of the world by the Europeans) that it has taken such a hold in what we now call “the West.”

Partnership is profoundly resonant with our neurobiological design. Our human neurobiology primes us to develop our sense of self and relationship within an attuned matrix of embodied connection.**\[1\]** It is this very matrix that allows us to attach to our caregivers and our cultures; that supports our brains and bodies to fully and robustly develop; and which allows us to have authentic, fulfilling and meaningful relationships with others. Along with other mammals, our Nervous System is designed to function in this state of **Social Engagement** (see Stephen Porges’ “Polyvagal Theory”) most of the time. States of defensive activation are meant to last only for short periods – just long enough to save our lives. Only in Social Engagement can we rest and restore our bodies, create new memories, and connect empathetically with others.

I believe that we white-bodied people can invoke this notion of Partnership, and the neurobiology that supports it, as an **anchoring framework** for a restored cultural somatics. In proposing this, I want to emphasise that I don’t believe that Partnership was “invented” by Eisler, or that white people will be blazing new trails by adopting it. The benefit of Eisler’s work is that she articulates a concept that is very ancient (our human connectedness to the world and to the beings we share it with is at the heart of many if not all indigenous traditions) in a way that brings it (restores it?) into the European language, conceptual framework, and lineage. I would say the same for Neuroscience. Both are telling an old, familiar story of humanity – possibly the oldest story in existence – only this time using words and concepts that can be integrated within the psyche of contemporary Europe and her diaspora without appropriating from other lineages.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-200x300.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-scaled.jpg)

Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash

Having an anchoring framework, however, is not enough. Dominance is sneaky, and it is entirely possible to be speaking and believing Partnership while embodying and enacting something very different. And so, *I believe that the very first, critical step we can take to move away from Dominance is to start to notice our bodies’ sensory experiences and responses to the world on a moment-by-moment basis.* And this is where the rubber really hits the road, because when we do this, many of us will likely discover an entire universe of experience, memory, and unconscious patterning that we never even knew existed. This could be delightful and empowering, or like the lid has been taken off a very large can of worms. Likely both. Either way, in order to keep our collective focus in the somatic realm long enough to pull out the roots of Dominance that are embedded there, we need more than concepts – we need some sensory, experiential guideposts. We need some landmarks in the cultural somatic landscape of Partnership.

The landmarks I will describe here are drawn from my training and lineage in somatic psychology. This is a lineage with diverse cultural origins and applications, both white-identified and Black/Indigenous/People of Colour (BIPOC). Some of these same landmarks and practices are being engaged for healing in BIPOC communities; they are no way unique to the white-bodied context. However, I feel confident to recommend them here, for white-bodied people, because I have seen first-hand their restorative impacts in my work as a somatic and trauma-oriented psychotherapist and group facilitator working with mostly white-bodied folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK. I have come to perceive that these are the key somatic skills which, when developed, enable my white-bodied clients to safely integrate the intensity of personal trauma and restore their capacity for connection.

Developing these skills – and unwinding the pain of past experience – is never a linear or predictable process; it is an intensely personal journey with many turns in the road and detours along the way. However, I believe that these skills themselves are effective guideposts for the cultural somatic reorientation we white-identified folk as a whole are attempting to make. I believe that they are the very same skills we require as a collective to process a very deep well of dysregulation, and to turn the tides towards a more connection-oriented future.

## ***The Oldest Story***

Dominance is a nightmare. It is founded in a dysregulation and distortion of our neurobiological, psychological, and spiritual design as human beings. It perpetuates disconnection when the very thing we are most fundamentally wired up to do is to *connect*.

*So how do we white folks collectively reorient towards a better way of being? How do we restore our capacity for connection?*

Riane Eisler, who articulated the concept of Dominance in her paradigm-shifting work, “The Chalice and the Blade,” identified a second primary way that we organise as humans. She called it **Partnership**: a cultural system in which power arises through the bonds of mutual benefit. In this system, power is negotiated via *connection*. According to Eisler’s research, Partnership systems have predominated throughout human history; it is only in the past 3,000 years that Dominance has become widespread on the human scene, and it is only since the colonisation of the formerly indigenous nations of Europe by the Romans (and then, of course the colonisation of much of the rest of the world by the Europeans) that it has taken such a hold in what we now call “the West.”

Partnership is profoundly resonant with our neurobiological design. Our human neurobiology primes us to develop our sense of self and relationship within an attuned matrix of embodied connection.**\[1\]** It is this very matrix that allows us to attach to our caregivers and our cultures; that supports our brains and bodies to fully and robustly develop; and which allows us to have authentic, fulfilling and meaningful relationships with others. Along with other mammals, our Nervous System is designed to function in this state of **Social Engagement** (see Stephen Porges’ “Polyvagal Theory”) most of the time. States of defensive activation are meant to last only for short periods – just long enough to save our lives. Only in Social Engagement can we rest and restore our bodies, create new memories, and connect empathetically with others.

I believe that we white-bodied people can invoke this notion of Partnership, and the neurobiology that supports it, as an **anchoring framework** for a restored cultural somatics. In proposing this, I want to emphasise that I don’t believe that Partnership was “invented” by Eisler, or that white people will be blazing new trails by adopting it. The benefit of Eisler’s work is that she articulates a concept that is very ancient (our human connectedness to the world and to the beings we share it with is at the heart of many if not all indigenous traditions) in a way that brings it (restores it?) into the European language, conceptual framework, and lineage. I would say the same for Neuroscience. Both are telling an old, familiar story of humanity – possibly the oldest story in existence – only this time using words and concepts that can be integrated within the psyche of contemporary Europe and her diaspora without appropriating from other lineages.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-200x300.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-scaled.jpg)

Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash

Having an anchoring framework, however, is not enough. Dominance is sneaky, and it is entirely possible to be speaking and believing Partnership while embodying and enacting something very different. And so, *I believe that the very first, critical step we can take to move away from Dominance is to start to notice our bodies’ sensory experiences and responses to the world on a moment-by-moment basis.* And this is where the rubber really hits the road, because when we do this, many of us will likely discover an entire universe of experience, memory, and unconscious patterning that we never even knew existed. This could be delightful and empowering, or like the lid has been taken off a very large can of worms. Likely both. Either way, in order to keep our collective focus in the somatic realm long enough to pull out the roots of Dominance that are embedded there, we need more than concepts – we need some sensory, experiential guideposts. We need some landmarks in the cultural somatic landscape of Partnership.

The landmarks I will describe here are drawn from my training and lineage in somatic psychology. This is a lineage with diverse cultural origins and applications, both white-identified and Black/Indigenous/People of Colour (BIPOC). Some of these same landmarks and practices are being engaged for healing in BIPOC communities; they are no way unique to the white-bodied context. However, I feel confident to recommend them here, for white-bodied people, because I have seen first-hand their restorative impacts in my work as a somatic and trauma-oriented psychotherapist and group facilitator working with mostly white-bodied folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK. I have come to perceive that these are the key somatic skills which, when developed, enable my white-bodied clients to safely integrate the intensity of personal trauma and restore their capacity for connection.

Developing these skills – and unwinding the pain of past experience – is never a linear or predictable process; it is an intensely personal journey with many turns in the road and detours along the way. However, I believe that these skills themselves are effective guideposts for the cultural somatic reorientation we white-identified folk as a whole are attempting to make. I believe that they are the very same skills we require as a collective to process a very deep well of dysregulation, and to turn the tides towards a more connection-oriented future.

### ***The Story of Interbeing as Told by the Body***

So, what does Partnership feel like? How does it live in our bodies and our cultural somas?

**It begins by kindling a sense of safety in our bodies.** This is not about creating safety in the outer world – that we cannot control. Kindling safety within ourselves involves noticing the sensory cues that tell us the Nervous System has become mobilised for defence and using simple, body-based practices that help our brains and bodies to relax and return to a state that is available for connection. I call this establishing “**Somatic Safety**” (you can find resources on Somatic Safety [here](http://bodyintelligence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Calming-the-Nervous-System-Activity.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or [here](http://bodyintelligence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Creating-Somatic-Safety-Activity.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). This is not always possible, of course – there are some situations of very real danger (experiencing an assault, for example) in which the Nervous System will unavoidably take the reins for a period of time. But on a day-to-day basis, it can be extremely powerful – even paradigm-shifting – for many people to start to build a more conscious and satisfying relationship with their Nervous System, and in some cases, to gain access to states of calm connection they may never have experienced.

**We restore our relationship to sensation.** Once we’ve created internal pathways to Somatic Safety, our bodies become able to “hold” an increasingly wide range of sensory experience without reacting to it (with mind or body). This “**holding**” is not like “holding your breath.” It’s more like how a parent might hold a newborn baby. It is a porous inner state of receptivity, of unconditional presence with whatever sensory experience is arising. Many of us must consciously work to expand the range of both positive and challenging sensations we can allow to happen within our bodies – and of course, to notice when an experience is triggering a defensive Nervous System pattern and go back to the basics of re-establishing Somatic Safety (it is no use trying to “hold” sensation in a body that is mobilised for defence, it will only increase the trigger). And repeat.

This back-and-forth between states of intensity (sensation) and restoration (Somatic Safety) is called **titration**. Over time and many repetitions, it creates a wider “**window of tolerance**” within ourselves, which enables us to receive and connect with more of our life experiences. Take a moment and drink in that possibility. A further gift we receive when we get really good at holding sensation is that we discover sensations shift and change of their own accord, opening up and informing us with new, often unexpected, information about ourselves and the world around us.

**We reconnect to the Inner Witness.** The part of the brain immediately behind the forehead, the Prefrontal Cortex, gives rise to some of our most precious human abilities (including empathy, but that’s for another article). One of the key things it enables us to do is notice and reflect on what’s happening inside us – both sensory *and* cognitive – and to make choices about what action to take. It’s like having a clutch that allows us to shift gears internally; to notice, for example, the early signs of Nervous System activation (an increased heart rate, or shallow breathing) and to take the necessary steps (such as shaking out the body, or taking a pause in the conversation) to return to Somatic Safety. Or, to notice an arising sensation and choose to hold it and stay curious rather than react.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/aaron-blanco-tejedor-ES1j5S7C6AM-unsplash-300x200.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/aaron-blanco-tejedor-ES1j5S7C6AM-unsplash-scaled.jpg)

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

When the Nervous System mobilises for defence, one of the first things that happens is that this Prefrontal area shuts down. By decreasing the reactivity of the Nervous System (by widening our window of tolerance), we regain access to this part of our brain and our consciousness. This has critical implications for our ability to connect with our fellow humans – particularly across difference – in a way that does not unconsciously impose Dominance-oriented interpretations or categories on them (or on ourselves).

Having the capacity to internally witness ourselves allows us to “**mind the gap**”: to hold at all times internal “space” for the possibility that the sensate responses we are having in our bodies are not necessarily representative of how other people and the world actually are.

The Inner Witness allows us to be 100% in connection with our sensory and cognitive experience of the world and other people while withholding the violence of (even subtly) imposing our interpretations, reactions, or past experiences onto them. It allows us to “see” our implicit/conditioned somatic responses as they arise and to instead choose more authentic and connective relational moves.

**We create new rituals.** Once a critical mass of people are embodying themselves in these ways, our cultural values and identity will radically change. We will start to *feel connected* to our fellow human and non-human beings in an ever-shifting, emergent way that utterly defies Dominance-based logic. We will start to experience a completely different kind of power arising from that very connectedness itself: a self-evident, meaningful kind of power that doesn’t need to do anything to anybody else in order to exist. This might at times be strange or overwhelming. It might awaken strong feelings in acknowledgment of what we lost – of what we destroyed – in the name of Dominance. At this point, we need to hold on to the tools and practices we have collected so far, so that we do not revert, in fear, to our previous ways. And, we need to develop new personal and cultural practices that link consciousness to sensation, power to connection in every aspect of our lives, in order to support us to sustain our capacity for Partnership into the future.

*Some of these practices will involve reclaiming our capacity to express life experience with and through the body and voice*. Our bodies and our voices are designed to help us hold and move our sensory experience of life. We are not meant to bottle it all up inside. Imagine, for example, the way joyfulness feels in your body. Perhaps your chest naturally lifts and expands, or your arms outstretch, or your voice wants to sing, or whatever else happens for you. Similarly, the feeling of great sadness can invoke its own range of movements and sounds. Our bodies and voices are designed to support our partnership with sensation and hence, with our life experiences and with each other. When we restrict our sound and our movement, our song and our dance, our capacity to feel and connect with life diminishes; by restoring them, we can expand the range of feeling – and hence, connection – we are able to have.

*Some of these practices will involve connecting to Nature.* The language of sensation, movement, and vocal sound that our bodies speak is our shared language with Nature. The rustling of a tree’s waxy leaves, the song of a bird, these things touch us and convey information to us via our sensory circuits. Not “information” in the way we (from our Dominance-based perspective) have come to understand the word, but as a kind of un-worded meaningful-ness that somehow touches, informs, and changes us when we encounter it. We are primed for exactly this kind of information; our bodymind and spirit thirst for it. By building practices that link us to Nature, our sensory systems will integrate all the more deeply, and we will access the cyclical blueprints for culture and community that it continuously makes available to us.

*Some of these practices will involve restoring our engagement with difference and conflict.* Only in Domination is difference something to be feared. Only in Domination does difference lead to yet another trip around the Drama Triangle, to the inevitability of lost connection, to (even subtle) acts of violence. The cultural soma of Partnership, rooted as it is in unconditional presence and Inner Witnessing, approaches difference as simply another shade or texture of information to be greeted and received. This does not mean that Partnership is without boundaries or difference; healthy and **authentic boundaries** support connection, support the enrichment of life, whereas the reactive defence of limited relational categories destroys it. Residing in a connected internal space will support us to communicate and receive boundaries and difference in a more respectful and co-creative way, which will allow the full truth and potential of any interaction to be revealed.

*Some of these practices will involve grief-tending.* Restoring our sensory relationship to the world and ourselves does not mean that we will walk around in a state of bliss every day. Many of the sensory experiences we have will feel challenging, will evoke infinite shades of grief, outrage, as well as joy and everything else. Particularly in this transitional moment, when so much damage and loss has not been fully felt or integrated (particularly by white-bodied people, as per this series), creating or learning practices to collectively feel, titrate, express, and integrate painful feelings will support us to welcome and fully receive the gifts of what we might call suffering (integrity and accountability, joy and restoration, and of course, connection) – which is an intimate and indispensable part of life – within the sphere of our collective reality.

### ***Conclusion***

Although I have presented these guideposts as if they happen one at a time, it is more often the case that they co-arise as folks learn to safely and fully connect with their somatic experience of themselves and their culture. This process is often highly non-linear, deeply personal *as well as* collective, and at times may require individual support (as from a somatic psychotherapist, bodywork practitioner, or other experienced healer) alongside group practices like Body-Informed Leadership. And, in addition to the guideposts I have listed here, there are undoubtedly countless other key features in the cultural somatic landscape of Partnership – relevant to white-bodied people and to BIPOC alike – which I hope that we can explore together.

I believe that our human story is one of distinct but inter-woven strands. In this series of articles, I have teased out one thread of this bigger story – the cultural somatic lineage which gave rise to white supremacy – so that people who identify as white can better understand and acknowledge where we have come from and the often invisible dynamics which shape us, and to hold ourselves accountable for the damage we as a collective have caused. I also hope this series will support us to hold ourselves deeply accountable to the cultural somatic *healing and restoration* that I believe we are capable of, and which must accompany broader systemic change. And finally, I hope that it offers some cultural somatic reference points to support the restoration of relationship with our BIPOC comrades, and with the beautiful braid of life we are all a part of.

## ***The Oldest Story***

Dominance is a nightmare. It is founded in a dysregulation and distortion of our neurobiological, psychological, and spiritual design as human beings. It perpetuates disconnection when the very thing we are most fundamentally wired up to do is to *connect*.

*So how do we white folks collectively reorient towards a better way of being? How do we restore our capacity for connection?*

Riane Eisler, who articulated the concept of Dominance in her paradigm-shifting work, “The Chalice and the Blade,” identified a second primary way that we organise as humans. She called it **Partnership**: a cultural system in which power arises through the bonds of mutual benefit. In this system, power is negotiated via *connection*. According to Eisler’s research, Partnership systems have predominated throughout human history; it is only in the past 3,000 years that Dominance has become widespread on the human scene, and it is only since the colonisation of the formerly indigenous nations of Europe by the Romans (and then, of course the colonisation of much of the rest of the world by the Europeans) that it has taken such a hold in what we now call “the West.”

Partnership is profoundly resonant with our neurobiological design. Our human neurobiology primes us to develop our sense of self and relationship within an attuned matrix of embodied connection.**\[1\]** It is this very matrix that allows us to attach to our caregivers and our cultures; that supports our brains and bodies to fully and robustly develop; and which allows us to have authentic, fulfilling and meaningful relationships with others. Along with other mammals, our Nervous System is designed to function in this state of **Social Engagement** (see Stephen Porges’ “Polyvagal Theory”) most of the time. States of defensive activation are meant to last only for short periods – just long enough to save our lives. Only in Social Engagement can we rest and restore our bodies, create new memories, and connect empathetically with others.

I believe that we white-bodied people can invoke this notion of Partnership, and the neurobiology that supports it, as an **anchoring framework** for a restored cultural somatics. In proposing this, I want to emphasise that I don’t believe that Partnership was “invented” by Eisler, or that white people will be blazing new trails by adopting it. The benefit of Eisler’s work is that she articulates a concept that is very ancient (our human connectedness to the world and to the beings we share it with is at the heart of many if not all indigenous traditions) in a way that brings it (restores it?) into the European language, conceptual framework, and lineage. I would say the same for Neuroscience. Both are telling an old, familiar story of humanity – possibly the oldest story in existence – only this time using words and concepts that can be integrated within the psyche of contemporary Europe and her diaspora without appropriating from other lineages.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-200x300.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/robert-anasch-h7dl6upIOOs-unsplash-scaled.jpg)

Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash

Having an anchoring framework, however, is not enough. Dominance is sneaky, and it is entirely possible to be speaking and believing Partnership while embodying and enacting something very different. And so, *I believe that the very first, critical step we can take to move away from Dominance is to start to notice our bodies’ sensory experiences and responses to the world on a moment-by-moment basis.* And this is where the rubber really hits the road, because when we do this, many of us will likely discover an entire universe of experience, memory, and unconscious patterning that we never even knew existed. This could be delightful and empowering, or like the lid has been taken off a very large can of worms. Likely both. Either way, in order to keep our collective focus in the somatic realm long enough to pull out the roots of Dominance that are embedded there, we need more than concepts – we need some sensory, experiential guideposts. We need some landmarks in the cultural somatic landscape of Partnership.

The landmarks I will describe here are drawn from my training and lineage in somatic psychology. This is a lineage with diverse cultural origins and applications, both white-identified and Black/Indigenous/People of Colour (BIPOC). Some of these same landmarks and practices are being engaged for healing in BIPOC communities; they are no way unique to the white-bodied context. However, I feel confident to recommend them here, for white-bodied people, because I have seen first-hand their restorative impacts in my work as a somatic and trauma-oriented psychotherapist and group facilitator working with mostly white-bodied folks in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK. I have come to perceive that these are the key somatic skills which, when developed, enable my white-bodied clients to safely integrate the intensity of personal trauma and restore their capacity for connection.

Developing these skills – and unwinding the pain of past experience – is never a linear or predictable process; it is an intensely personal journey with many turns in the road and detours along the way. However, I believe that these skills themselves are effective guideposts for the cultural somatic reorientation we white-identified folk as a whole are attempting to make. I believe that they are the very same skills we require as a collective to process a very deep well of dysregulation, and to turn the tides towards a more connection-oriented future.

### ***The Story of Interbeing as Told by the Body***

So, what does Partnership feel like? How does it live in our bodies and our cultural somas?

**It begins by kindling a sense of safety in our bodies.** This is not about creating safety in the outer world – that we cannot control. Kindling safety within ourselves involves noticing the sensory cues that tell us the Nervous System has become mobilised for defence and using simple, body-based practices that help our brains and bodies to relax and return to a state that is available for connection. I call this establishing “**Somatic Safety**” (you can find resources on Somatic Safety [here](http://bodyintelligence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Calming-the-Nervous-System-Activity.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) or [here](http://bodyintelligence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Creating-Somatic-Safety-Activity.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)). This is not always possible, of course – there are some situations of very real danger (experiencing an assault, for example) in which the Nervous System will unavoidably take the reins for a period of time. But on a day-to-day basis, it can be extremely powerful – even paradigm-shifting – for many people to start to build a more conscious and satisfying relationship with their Nervous System, and in some cases, to gain access to states of calm connection they may never have experienced.

**We restore our relationship to sensation.** Once we’ve created internal pathways to Somatic Safety, our bodies become able to “hold” an increasingly wide range of sensory experience without reacting to it (with mind or body). This “**holding**” is not like “holding your breath.” It’s more like how a parent might hold a newborn baby. It is a porous inner state of receptivity, of unconditional presence with whatever sensory experience is arising. Many of us must consciously work to expand the range of both positive and challenging sensations we can allow to happen within our bodies – and of course, to notice when an experience is triggering a defensive Nervous System pattern and go back to the basics of re-establishing Somatic Safety (it is no use trying to “hold” sensation in a body that is mobilised for defence, it will only increase the trigger). And repeat.

This back-and-forth between states of intensity (sensation) and restoration (Somatic Safety) is called **titration**. Over time and many repetitions, it creates a wider “**window of tolerance**” within ourselves, which enables us to receive and connect with more of our life experiences. Take a moment and drink in that possibility. A further gift we receive when we get really good at holding sensation is that we discover sensations shift and change of their own accord, opening up and informing us with new, often unexpected, information about ourselves and the world around us.

**We reconnect to the Inner Witness.** The part of the brain immediately behind the forehead, the Prefrontal Cortex, gives rise to some of our most precious human abilities (including empathy, but that’s for another article). One of the key things it enables us to do is notice and reflect on what’s happening inside us – both sensory *and* cognitive – and to make choices about what action to take. It’s like having a clutch that allows us to shift gears internally; to notice, for example, the early signs of Nervous System activation (an increased heart rate, or shallow breathing) and to take the necessary steps (such as shaking out the body, or taking a pause in the conversation) to return to Somatic Safety. Or, to notice an arising sensation and choose to hold it and stay curious rather than react.

[![](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/aaron-blanco-tejedor-ES1j5S7C6AM-unsplash-300x200.jpg)](https://news.transitionnetwork.org/content/images/2026/03/aaron-blanco-tejedor-ES1j5S7C6AM-unsplash-scaled.jpg)

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

When the Nervous System mobilises for defence, one of the first things that happens is that this Prefrontal area shuts down. By decreasing the reactivity of the Nervous System (by widening our window of tolerance), we regain access to this part of our brain and our consciousness. This has critical implications for our ability to connect with our fellow humans – particularly across difference – in a way that does not unconsciously impose Dominance-oriented interpretations or categories on them (or on ourselves).

Having the capacity to internally witness ourselves allows us to “**mind the gap**”: to hold at all times internal “space” for the possibility that the sensate responses we are having in our bodies are not necessarily representative of how other people and the world actually are.

The Inner Witness allows us to be 100% in connection with our sensory and cognitive experience of the world and other people while withholding the violence of (even subtly) imposing our interpretations, reactions, or past experiences onto them. It allows us to “see” our implicit/conditioned somatic responses as they arise and to instead choose more authentic and connective relational moves.

**We create new rituals.** Once a critical mass of people are embodying themselves in these ways, our cultural values and identity will radically change. We will start to *feel connected* to our fellow human and non-human beings in an ever-shifting, emergent way that utterly defies Dominance-based logic. We will start to experience a completely different kind of power arising from that very connectedness itself: a self-evident, meaningful kind of power that doesn’t need to do anything to anybody else in order to exist. This might at times be strange or overwhelming. It might awaken strong feelings in acknowledgment of what we lost – of what we destroyed – in the name of Dominance. At this point, we need to hold on to the tools and practices we have collected so far, so that we do not revert, in fear, to our previous ways. And, we need to develop new personal and cultural practices that link consciousness to sensation, power to connection in every aspect of our lives, in order to support us to sustain our capacity for Partnership into the future.

*Some of these practices will involve reclaiming our capacity to express life experience with and through the body and voice*. Our bodies and our voices are designed to help us hold and move our sensory experience of life. We are not meant to bottle it all up inside. Imagine, for example, the way joyfulness feels in your body. Perhaps your chest naturally lifts and expands, or your arms outstretch, or your voice wants to sing, or whatever else happens for you. Similarly, the feeling of great sadness can invoke its own range of movements and sounds. Our bodies and voices are designed to support our partnership with sensation and hence, with our life experiences and with each other. When we restrict our sound and our movement, our song and our dance, our capacity to feel and connect with life diminishes; by restoring them, we can expand the range of feeling – and hence, connection – we are able to have.

*Some of these practices will involve connecting to Nature.* The language of sensation, movement, and vocal sound that our bodies speak is our shared language with Nature. The rustling of a tree’s waxy leaves, the song of a bird, these things touch us and convey information to us via our sensory circuits. Not “information” in the way we (from our Dominance-based perspective) have come to understand the word, but as a kind of un-worded meaningful-ness that somehow touches, informs, and changes us when we encounter it. We are primed for exactly this kind of information; our bodymind and spirit thirst for it. By building practices that link us to Nature, our sensory systems will integrate all the more deeply, and we will access the cyclical blueprints for culture and community that it continuously makes available to us.

*Some of these practices will involve restoring our engagement with difference and conflict.* Only in Domination is difference something to be feared. Only in Domination does difference lead to yet another trip around the Drama Triangle, to the inevitability of lost connection, to (even subtle) acts of violence. The cultural soma of Partnership, rooted as it is in unconditional presence and Inner Witnessing, approaches difference as simply another shade or texture of information to be greeted and received. This does not mean that Partnership is without boundaries or difference; healthy and **authentic boundaries** support connection, support the enrichment of life, whereas the reactive defence of limited relational categories destroys it. Residing in a connected internal space will support us to communicate and receive boundaries and difference in a more respectful and co-creative way, which will allow the full truth and potential of any interaction to be revealed.

*Some of these practices will involve grief-tending.* Restoring our sensory relationship to the world and ourselves does not mean that we will walk around in a state of bliss every day. Many of the sensory experiences we have will feel challenging, will evoke infinite shades of grief, outrage, as well as joy and everything else. Particularly in this transitional moment, when so much damage and loss has not been fully felt or integrated (particularly by white-bodied people, as per this series), creating or learning practices to collectively feel, titrate, express, and integrate painful feelings will support us to welcome and fully receive the gifts of what we might call suffering (integrity and accountability, joy and restoration, and of course, connection) – which is an intimate and indispensable part of life – within the sphere of our collective reality.

### ***Conclusion***

Although I have presented these guideposts as if they happen one at a time, it is more often the case that they co-arise as folks learn to safely and fully connect with their somatic experience of themselves and their culture. This process is often highly non-linear, deeply personal *as well as* collective, and at times may require individual support (as from a somatic psychotherapist, bodywork practitioner, or other experienced healer) alongside group practices like Body-Informed Leadership. And, in addition to the guideposts I have listed here, there are undoubtedly countless other key features in the cultural somatic landscape of Partnership – relevant to white-bodied people and to BIPOC alike – which I hope that we can explore together.

I believe that our human story is one of distinct but inter-woven strands. In this series of articles, I have teased out one thread of this bigger story – the cultural somatic lineage which gave rise to white supremacy – so that people who identify as white can better understand and acknowledge where we have come from and the often invisible dynamics which shape us, and to hold ourselves accountable for the damage we as a collective have caused. I also hope this series will support us to hold ourselves deeply accountable to the cultural somatic *healing and restoration* that I believe we are capable of, and which must accompany broader systemic change. And finally, I hope that it offers some cultural somatic reference points to support the restoration of relationship with our BIPOC comrades, and with the beautiful braid of life we are all a part of.

**\[1\]** This phenomenon is well researched in the fields of infant attachment and interpersonal neurobiology.

Feature photo by [Marco Bianchetti](https://unsplash.com/@marcobian?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/s/photos/holding?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditCopyText)

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