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Monday 19 September 2011

The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times

Transition Network Special Announcement

Click here to view this announcement online

Hello,

This is a special announcement about Rob Hopkin's new book, the Transition Companion. You are receiving this mail as you have bought something on Transition Culture in the past, and we hope that you will be interested in the new book...

I thought you might be interested to know that my new book, ‘The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times’ is due to be published by Green Books on October 27th.
It is the result of a collaborative process involving thousands of people, possibly yourself included, over the past 18 months, and picks up where ‘The Transition Handbook’ left off. It sets out what Transition has become, packed with stories and photos from around the world, of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

What’s it about?

The Transition idea has gone viral around the world, from Italian villages and Brazilian favelas to universities and London neighbourhoods. In contrast to the ever-worsening stream of information about climate change, the economy and resource depletion, Transition focuses on solutions; on community-scale responses; on meeting new people and having fun.
The Transition Companion sets out what Transition is and how to do it in a far deeper, richer and more useful way than the Handbook did (fond of it though we are). It presents a collection of ‘ingredients and tools of Transition’, suggesting that Transition is like cookery, each initiative assembling ingredients in a way most suited to their culture and their community. Changing the world as a process that is delicious and self-organised? Why not. You’re going to love it...
It’s a big book! 320 pages, in full colour and large format, and much time and attention has been lavished on it to produce something that really does justice to what has become one of the most fascinating world-wide social experiments of our time, what Nicholas Crane, presenter of the recent BBC2 series ‘Town’, called “the biggest urban brainwave of the century”.

When’s it coming out?

The book will be officially released on October 27th, but you can already pre-order your copy from Transition Culture, as of today! Just follow this link, where you will also find endorsements from the likes of Richard Heinberg, Tim Jackson and Bill McKibben, as well as from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has also written a beautiful foreword.

Here is an idea of the timeline of events around its release:

  1. Tuesday October 4th: The official launch of the book will take place at Totnes Civic Hall (do come along, it’s free, and you’re very welcome).
  2. Thursday October 13th: I will be doing a ‘Twitter Book Launch’ (Green Books wanted to call it a ‘Twinterview’, but you’ll be glad to hear I put my foot down) where you will be able to ask questions about the book (keep an eye on Transition Culture for details)
  3. Thursday October 27th: The official launch date from when it is available in all good bookshops (and Amazon (boo hiss))
  4. We have also made a series of 10 short promotional films called ‘The Story of Transition in 10 Objects’ which will be posted over the days running up to the launch of the book. The first one, celebrating a jumper from Taunton, is already online.
Please use this book as an opportunity to support independent booksellers, to keep your High Street alive, to put localisation into practice, or if you buy The Transition Companion direct from TransitionCulture.org you can do so safe in the knowledge that you are supporting the website (which is funded only out of my pocket) and the author.
Many thanks for your support.
Rob

Newletter Contact

Rob Hopkins

Transition Network:  43 Fore Street, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5HN.
Email: info@transitionnetwork.org
Tel: 05601 531882
www.transitionnetwork.org

Saturday 3 September 2011

Shewood Forest:: Transition Network Newsletter August 2011

 
EXPLORING THE TRANSITION WORLD
An August Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition
Australia, Japan, Spain, Kinsale, Canada, Italy and the UK and more are included.
http://bit.ly/august11-roundup

US Edition Round Up
Some highlights of what's keeping Transition Initiatives busy across the US.
http://bit.ly/august11-roundup-USA

Let it go where it needs to go
A status report about Transition in Los Angeles
http://transitionus.org/blog/let-it-go-where-it-needs-go

Ruah Swennerfelt recounts her travels visiting Transition Initiatives in Belgium, Netherlands, and Sweden
http://transitionus.org/blog/visiting-transition-initiatives-belgium-netherlands-and-sweden
and then on to exploring Transition in England in Chesterfield and Bristol.
http://transitionus.org/blog/exploring-transition-england-part-one

A journey home – Seeking the essence of Transition in England
http://bit.ly/England-transition-essence

Transition Fujino — Prospects for a better future
In these difficult months following the 11 March quake and tsunami, it has been a time for reflection and an opportunity to ponder what the future holds in store for Japan.
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/transition-fujino-%E2%80%93-prospects-for-a-better-future/

Cycling to raise money for Transition and Sustrans
A 4,500 mile bicycle ride around the coast of Britain.
http://bit.ly/fundraising-cycle-coast


THINKING ALOUD
Coming Round The Dark Mountain Part 1: Uncivilisation
Last month Charlotte du cann went to Uncivilisation, a festival organised by the Dark Mountain project. Below is a writer’s cut of article she wrote for The Independent newspaper.
http://transitionnorwich.blogspot.com/2011/09/coming-round-dark-mountain-1.html

Coming Round The Dark Mountain Part 2: the Shaman and the Village
Here Charlotte explores the idea that Dark Mountain is something you can visit, Transition is something you live.
http://transitionnorwich.blogspot.com/2011/02/coming-round-dark-mountain-part-2.html

Why do so many people believe in the fantasy of infinite growth on a finite planet?
There are three honest (but bogus) reasons why we pursue economic growth past the point of effectiveness and reason.
http://bit.ly/infinite-growth-finite-planet

Five bummer problems that make societies collapse
A TED talk Jared Diamond gave has examples from the Greenland Norse. These were the unlucky Vikings who missed the boat to Normandy, where their more fortunate countrymen set up colonies.
http://transitionvoice.com/2011/08/five-bummer-problems-that-make-societies-collapse/

A Different Kind of Tea Party
What kind of teatime conversations are you having?
http://bit.ly/different-tea-party

Why I Don't Read Like I Used To
I have a confession. I don’t read books anymore. Or rather I read books very rarely, is this just me, or is it a symptom of our age?
http://transitionnorwich.blogspot.com/2011/08/benchmarks.html

Economic Resilience
In Sacred Economy, Charles Eisenstein poses the seemingly outrageous idea that money should be sacred
http://www.transitionus.org/blog/economy-possible-scenarios-future-3

Panic on the streets of London
Now is the time when we decide what sort of country it is that we want to live in.
http://energybulletin.net/stories/2011-08-09/panic-streets-london

A Discussion on Resilience
What does it mean, and what it looks like in practice? This video of a panel discussion at Sunrise Off Grid took a good hard look at the subject.
http://bit.ly/resilience-debate



NETWORK TRAINING
New Training section on the website
The how, what, where and how of Transition Training but didn't know where to look is now online.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/training

Transition Training survey: the results
Since October 2007 Transition Training has been offering a two day training course and a survey in May assessed the impact it has had.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2011-08-23/training-survey-results

A follow on to the 2 day course: Transition Thrive
A positive, no-nonsense exploration of the Transition model and process, tailor-made to fit the requirements of those people attending that we will be piloting shortly.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2011-09-02/follow-2-day-course-transition-thrive

Your thoughts needed: Where does equality fit in Transition?
We’ve come up with a possible new purpose statement to reflect which says: “Transition Network supports community-led responses to climate change, inequality and shrinking supplies of cheap energy, building resilience and happiness.” Do you feel strongly about this either way? If so, we want to hear your thoughts.
http://bit.ly/does-equality-fit-transition

The Road to Resilience in Low Income Communities,
23-25th September Chester
http://bit.ly/Road-to-Resilience-training



PROJECTS
Linen Project
A group in Australia has set about developing the skills and knowledge to produce and process fibre flax locally.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/projects/linen-project

Project sharing engine funding bid
Like the News Sharing Engine, its intention is to distribute the movement's project information to Initiatives' websites, enabling webmasters to easily embed all the functionality of our projects directory into their own sites.
http://bit.ly/project-sharing-engine-funding-bid

More projects and add yours here
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/node/add/project-profile



RESOURCES
Exploring Community Resilience
This new free publication from Nick Wilding and the Fiery Spirits CoP gathers a mix of experience and academic insight into how local communities are learning how to cope – and even thrive - through difficult times. Written in an accessible style its stories highlight experience from Cumbria to the Scottish Highlands, and from New Orleans to Tooting, London. Web links direct readers to topical references, and a practical guide shows how to run a community workshop on the topic.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/resources/exploring-community-resilience

The End of Growth; Adapting to Our New Economic Reality
Review of Richard Heinberg's new book
http://transitionvoice.com/2011/08/economics-has-failed-us-but-there-is-life-after-growth/

German military analysis of peak oil now available
The Bundeswehr has posted an English version (112 pages) of their extraordinary analysis of peak oil. The original German document was approved for public release last November, yet neither the complete German version nor the partial English translation has attracted interest from mainstream media.
http://t.co/lsENYBY


COMING UP
Transition Companion
At the end of October 'The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times by Rob Hopkins will be published. The launch timeline is here including the ‘Twitter Book Launch'!
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/transition-companion

Exploring the Ingredients for Transition
12th September - 3:00pm (BST)
An online conversation with Rob Hopkins where he will go more deeply into the "ingredients of Transition" as well as answering questions supplied by participants.
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/events/2011-09-12/exploring-ingredients-transition

Bill McKibben: Building Social Movements and Organising for Change
3-7th October Schumacher College, Totnes
http://bit.ly/bill-mckibben-building-social-movements

Transition Camp south east
7-9th October
http://there.is/transitioncamp/

German/Austrian/Swiss Transition (Un-)Konference
14-16th Oct. in Bielefeld/Germany now open for booking
Program, details and booking (in German) here:
http://www.transition-initiativen.de/page/2011-un-konferenz

More events here
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/events



Follow Transition Network on Twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/transitiontowns

Find previous editions of the newsletter here
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/tags/transition-network-newsletter

Read this newsletter online
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2011-09-02/september-2011-transition-network-newsletter