how a movement of communities is coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world 21 stories of transition harvested by rob hopkins “What the Transition movement does incredibly well is small-scale experiments which are practical, which resonate with local people, which look as if they’re doable, and that can engage people at a practical and meaningful level. It connects up the big issues and the local issues and shows you that change can happen at a local level”. Julian Dobson, author of ‘How to Save Town Centres’

“I was deeply disturbed and sad about the state of the natural world and society. Getting involved with Transition Pasadena has meant going from despair to community and being able to follow a passion and get help with it. It changed my relationship to the problems”. Laurel Beck, Transition Pasadena

“We don’t need governments to show us how to make the changes we need, but we do need governments to work with us to create the conditions within which change can flourish, scale and be embedded at a societal level”. Peter Capener, Bath & West Community Energy We produced this book as the Transition “movement’s contribution to COP21 (the 21st ‘Conference of the Parties’), the United Nations’ climate change negotiations in Paris in December 2015. We invited Transition groups to send us the stories they’d like us to share. From those, we selected the stories that make up this book. They represent the experiences of people from all around the world who have stepped up. We offer these 21 stories in the hope that regardless of decisions taken by world leaders, at COP21 and subsequently, they will inspire you to step up too. We hope also that this powerful and heady taste of what is bubbling up from the ground will enthuse decision-makers with new courage, new ideas and new possibilities. Something brilliant and historic is already underway, and our message to the Obamas, Camerons and Merkels of this world is that it’s already happening without them, and they need to support and enable it, but even if they do nothing, it will continue to grow, because it’s the future. The future is being written now, and these stories offer inspiration and clear direction, whether you’re reading this before, during or after the talks in Paris.

Rob Hopkins, Transition Network October, 2015 21 Stories of Transition How a movement of communities is coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world. First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Transition Network 43 Fore Street Totnes Devon TQ9 5HN 00 44 (0) 1803 865669 [email protected] www.transitionnetwork.org Designed by Jane Brady www.emergencydesign.com Printed by Cambrian Printers With thanks to Pocheco for providing mailing envelopes www.pocheco.com

©Transition Network 2015

4 21 Stories of Transition Contents

A Transition Manifesto 7 When history calls us to step up... 9 An Invitation 9 It’s not just about carbon 10 10 threads that run through our stories 12 Map showing locations of the 21 Transition stories 15 1. The Million Miles Project 16 2. The Rise of Community Energy 18 3. REconomy in Luxembourg 22 4. EcoCrew Environmental Awareness Programme 28 5. The Rise of Transition Currencies 31 6. Pasadena Repair Cafe 37 7. The Surplus Food Cafe 40 8. The Casau Community Garden 42 9. Caring Town Totnes 44 10. Zarzalejo Futuro: future scenarios 48 11. The Lambeth Local Entrepreneur Forum 52 12. Transition Town Media’s Free Store 56 13. Aardehuis (Earth House) Project Olst 59 14. Greenslate Community Farm 64 15. Potager Alhambra 67 16. Les Compagnons de la Terre 70 17. Harvesting Rainwater in São Paulo 76 18. Crystal Palace Food Market 80 19. Transition Streets 86 20. Scaling up Transition in Peterborough 90 21. Ungersheim, Village in Transition 93

21 Stories of Transition 5 thank you

In many ways, the real authors of this book are all the people who made its stories possible: Catriona Ross, Wendy Price, Peter Elbourne, Marion MacDonald, Richard Robinson, Martin Sherring and all at Million Miles project and Transition Black Isle Scotland. Agamemnon Otero, Peter Andrews, Peter Capener, Chris Rowland, Howard Johns, Andrew Collenette Community Energy. Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure for supporting the Transition movement, Katy Fox for her catalyst support to all our initiatives in the Transition platform, Norry Schneider, Marko, Pit, Sophie and Alex from TERRA, Abbes, Eric, Luis, Patrick, Mireille, Martina and Frenz from TM EnerCoop, Karine, Gary, Eric, Caroline, Stephan, David and Steve from Kilominett zero, the City of Esch for their support to the first REconomy Centre in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Nicola Vernon and Marshall Rinquest of Greyton Transition Town South Africa. Ciaran Mundy, Tom Shakhli, Charlie Waterhouse, John Elford, Melanie Shaw, Michael Lloyd- Jones, Mark Simmons, Eric Luyckx, Michèle Vander Syp, Marianne Lambrechts Local Currencies. Scoops Adamczyk, Sherine Adeli, Arroyo S.E.C.O. Network of Time Banks, Laurel Beck, Bob Brummel, Therese Brummel, Maelane Chan, Qrys Cunningham, David Cutter, Eric Einem, Mimi Fitzgerald, Mary Gothard, Rob Haw, Laura Henne, Sylvia Holmes, Peter Kalmus, Michael Kelly, Ginko Lee, Tera Little, Greg Marquez, Adelaide Nalley, January Nordman, Throop UU Church U.S. The volunteers, staff and all the businesses and people who donate food, time and money to the Transition Café Fishguard and Transition Bro Gwaun’s other projects Wales. Dominique, Johanne Christian, Sylvie, Marie Hélène, Melanie, Kitty, Maryse of Salies en Transition France. Frances Northrop, Fiona Ward, Carole Whitty (Caring Town Totnes), Bob Alford (Totnes Caring), Phil Norrey (Devon County Council) England. Andrea Ortiz, Jose Manuel Fenollar, Vero Hernandez-Jimenez and everyone at the Future Scenarios initiative, the Oasis experience, the CSA and Zarzalejo en Transición Spain. Duncan Law, Colin Crooks, Hannah Lewis, Emma Shaw, Jay Tompt and everyone who attended and made Lambeth Local Entrepreneur Forum happen England. Julie DiRemigio, Rhonda Fabian, Ellen Morfei, Emma Medina-Castrejon, Sari Steuber, Marie Goodwin, and all the wonderful Free Store volunteers! U.S. Paul Hendriksen, Aardehuisproject Olst Netherlands. Mandy Wellens-Bray and all at Greenslate Community Farm England. Sébastien Mathieu, Julien Bernard and all at 1000bxl en Transition Belgium. Christian Jonet and all at Liège en Transition Belgium. Isabela Menezes, Monica Picavea, Dimas Gonçalvez Reis, Katerina Elias and Edison Urbano of Transitions Brasilândia and Granja Viana Brazil. The founders and managers, Karen Jones and Laura Marchant-Short, and all the many stall holders at Crystal Palace Food Market England. Aaron Hodgson, Alicia Martin, Allan Evans, Ben Ewald, Cathy Stuart, Christine Bruderlin, Emily Grace, Gillian Harris, George Stuart, Graeme Stuart, John Merory, Julie French, Karen Toikens, Lesley Edwards, Liza Pezzano, Mary Stringer, Maureen Beckett, Max Wright, Phoebe Coyne, Rebecca Tyndall, Tony Proust, Will Vorobioff, Banyule City Council, The City of Newcastle, Hunter Water, Kingston City Council, all the Transition Streets contacts and participants and members of Transition Newcastle, Transition Banyule and Transition Streets Kingston who supported Transition Streets Australia. To the many dedicated, hard-working Transition Town Peterborough Volunteers who inspire our community and live transition daily, with gratitude especially to Fred Irwin and Joan Michaels Canada. La Comune d’Ungersheim, Jean-Claude Mensch, Marc Grodwohl, Roger Wintherhalter and the MCM, Jean-Sébastien Cuisnier, Xavier Baumgartner, Marie-Monique Robin France. All the Transition initiatives who sent in stories that didn’t make the final 21, Michelle Colussi, Carolyne Stayton, Anna Guyer, Angie Greenham and Trenna Cormack. The whole Transition Network team, in particular Sarah McAdam, Sophy Banks, Amber Ponton, Ainslie Beattie, Sam Rossiter and Filipa Pimentel. Special thanks to Peter Yeo and Roger Ross.

6 21 Stories of Transition 21 Stories of Transition 7 Transition is sometimes referred to as “hope with its sleeves rolled up”. “Hope” caravan in Place Louis Morichar, Brussels (part of a project by Karin Vincke). 8Photo: 21 StoriesJane Brady of Transition When history calls us to step up... What an extraordinary time to be alive this is. The systems that are meant to support and provide for us, and to enable us to flourish and thrive, are failing us spectacularly. This is increasingly self-evident to people, wherever they are within those systems. Yet all over the world, in creative, passionate and brave ways, and motivated by a tangible sense of what’s possible, people are coming together and creating something else. Something so much better. There is a global movement, driven not by think tanks or political parties, but by communities. It signposts a global movement towards resilience at a local level. This book will dazzle you with tales of personal responsibility and cooperation, and the idea that the changes required to re-imagine a positive future are not only top-down but also bottom- up. Grassroots movements are literally growing the foundations for a more positive, fairer, inclusive future that begins within the local context. This book contains inspirational stories from around the world of people who stepped up. We present it in the hope that regardless of decisions taken by world leaders, it will inspire you to step up too. We hope also that this powerful and heady taste of what is bubbling up from the ground will enthuse decision-makers with new courage, new ideas and new possibilities. The future is being written now. AN INVITATION We invite you while reading, to seek out the familiar in these stories. The people in them aren’t superhuman, or heroes. They are just people like you, who stepped up because these are times that demand that we do so. This movement is almost certainly already underway somewhere near where you are, and if it isn’t, perhaps you might gather a few people and get it started. As a citizen, we’d like to invite you, if you are inspired by the possibilities this booklet has placed into your hands, to have 10 conversations with neighbours, with work colleagues, or with friends. Tell them what it was in these stories that moved you, that you found interesting, and see how, together, you might support more of this stuff to happen. As a decision-maker, we’d like to invite you to consider what positive steps you might take to reimagine your role as being a community enabler, clearing the path for more initiatives such as these, supporting them in whatever ways you can.

21 Stories of Transition 9 IT’s not just about carbon It is vital that our leaders cut carbon at the scale demanded by climate scientists. But while the Transition movement started as an experiment in how to cut carbon, it has evolved into so much more. In our 21 stories you will read of 39 communities in 15 countries who have achieved the following in just a few years. These figures barely scratch the surface of the actual impacts, nor do they capture the deeper shift from despair about the future to hope that runs beneath them. As you read these stories, consider some of the less tangible aspects of building community resilience. What figures might we have put here for the number of relationships built, the increased sense of belonging people feel to the place and people around them, or the number of new skills learned? Between them, our 21 stories have...

raised £5,435 inspired in pledges to put £1,032,051 18,527 support new created 43 hours of worth of new social emergent complementary volunteer enterprises enterprises input currency into circulation

Harvest time at Terra CSA, Luxembourg. see page 22. Photo: Transition Luxembourg

10 21 Stories of Transition supported 19 farms harvested over 500kg saved 21 saved of fruit AS tonnes WELL AS 1,352,277 led to 74,196 of food miles vegetables from more miles for over 550 of car being walked landfill travel households per year per week Raised over run 13 Seed £13,155,104.88 produced Exchange Fairs for investment a year Worked with 350 17,800 MWh school children in renewable of renewable energy begun work leading to electricity a on building improvements led to 131,049 year, saving projects with in schoolwork more miles 7,450 tonnes of a value of and health CO being cycled 2 annually £5,150,371

21 Stories of Transition 11 10 threads that run through our stories

As you read through our 21 Stories, a small sample of what thousands of Transition groups, and a far greater number of other community activism groups are doing around the world, you may notice certain threads or common themes running through them. Given that similar stories can be found in towns, cities, villages, organisations, universities, schools, faith groups and businesses around the world, what might some of those threads be? While all our stories tell of the journeys towards personal and community resilience, here are 10 other threads that we’ve also noticed. The changemakers in these stories are: Reclaiming the economy Around the world communities and movements are building a new economy, rooted in fairness, A Transition equality, inclusion, a recognition that we live in a world of limits. workshop with As communities we can set about architects and bringing assets into community ownership, inviting community planners at investment, supporting local Luxembourg currencies, playing our role in creating a vibrant economy that Institute of Science works for everyone. and TECHNOLOGY. Photo: Rob Hopkins

12 21 Stories of Transition Starting local doesn’t someone do something Whole new career paths can Place matters in each of our about this?” The expectation is open up for people, who find stories. Local is the scale where often that change is something themselves doing things that they tackling the huge challenges that starts somewhere else, would never have dreamt of. we face becomes possible. generally initiated by those we Nurturing a caring culture It’s the scale where we can elect. But as you’re about to see feel involved, and can make a in our 21 stories, people and their Why do people do this? For all difference. These stories show communities are stepping up, the groups featured in these communities starting where coming together to take a more stories, the motivation for getting they are: celebrating their place’s active role in shaping their own involved, for taking action, is distinctiveness, its quirkiness, its future. rooted in caring. Care for their culture, and building the future friends, family and neighbours, Crowd-sourcing solutions from those foundations. It’s a for their community, their place, shift we can already see underway All of these stories tell of solutions for the wider world around them. in the explosion of local food, and activities that were only It’s there in creating dignified community energy and possible because people came work with a Living Wage, it’s there cooperatives. It’s the future. together to create them. in voluntary projects and new They could not have emerged businesses, in projects to help Sparking entrepreneurship from one person working alone. nature, old people and children. Where are the best places to By coming together, finding ways It’s there in how we take care of look to for the creativity, the of working together, inviting ideas, the living world. People bring that innovation, the flavour, the taste, being emergent and flexible, the desire to care to every one of these the community, the future of the solutions emerge clearly. projects, as you are about to see. new economy? Our stories tell Supporting each other Telling sticky stories of new enterprises being born, being imaginatively supported None of the stories you are about Few of the stories here tell of by local people, offering new to read happened by magic. They people doing what’s expected of opportunities for local investment, emerged from people working them. As changemakers, they have and thinking ambitiously about together in groups, usually as all paid some thought to creating their role in reimagining the local volunteers, in their spare time. a story that people will tell each economy. How might you apply As you will see, this is not without other, that become infectious. entrepreneurial thinking to the its challenges. Each group finds its The town that prints its own challenges your community faces? own strategies and approaches for money. The village that uses seed looking after each other, for giving diversity to rekindle its indigenous Reimagining work each person the support they language. The food market that Including qualities like enjoyment, need. Paying attention to this is reconnects the producer to the self development, a sense of a key aspect of success. buyer in a way that enables new belonging and dignity in the work conversations and relationships. Reskilling we create are essential to making The stories you’ll read here are so life meaningful and fun. What we Another strong thread running sticky, you’ll soon be sharing them see in Transition are people and through these stories is an with your friends... projects that deliberately meet openness to re-skilling, to noting material needs while also creating that people and groups may not a positive experience, one where have all the skills they need to how we do things is as, if not achieve what they want, but are more, important than the things open to learning them. You will themselves. read about people who never ran a business before learning how Stepping up to do it, groups realising they As our communities unravel and need help in resolving conflicts, our economies serve the interests communities recognising that of fewer and fewer people, we they need to understand how the often hear people say “why planning system works.

21 Stories of Transition 13 40Kw solar installation on Lycée Théorore Deck, the first Lycée en Transition in France, Ungersheim. Photo: La Comune d’Ungersheim

heading to a swop shop at the local school, greyton, south africa. Photo: Candice Mostert

jam-making workshop run by transition kensal To kilburn, london, uk. Photo: Jonathan Goldberg

transition workshop in luxembourg. Photo: Transition Luxembourg

14 21 Stories of Transition 21 stories of transition

1. The Million Miles Project 2. The rise of community energy 3. REconomy in Luxembourg 4. EcoCrew Environmental Awareness Programme 5. The rise of local currencies 6. The Pasadena Repair Cafe 7. Fishguard’s Surplus Food Cafe 8. The Casau Community Garden 9. Caring Town Totnes 10. Zarzalejo Futuro 11. Lambeth Local Entrepreneur Forum 1 12. Transition Town Media’s Free Store 13. Aardehuis Project Olst 2 14. Greenslate Farm 5 15. Potager Alhambra 14 16. Compagnons de la Terre 7 18 13 17. Harvesting Rainwater in São Paulo 11 16 18. Crystal Palace Food Market 9 15 19. Transition Streets in Australia 3 20. Scaling up Transition in Peterborough 21 21. Ungersheim, Village in Transition

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21 Stories of Transition 15 Photo: Julian Paren

1. Group: Transition Black Isle, Scotland. The Million Miles Local population: c. 13,000 Group started: 2009 Other projects: Two community gardens (Loch Project na Mhoid and Culbokie), an annual Potato Day, practical Is it possible that a gardening skills sessions, a bicycle hire enterprise, bottom-up, citizen-led Black Isle Active Travel Map, community wind energy approach could actually project, 3 food markets at make a substantial impact different locations. Project aim on levels of car use among The aim of the Million Miles project was simple: to cut car a mostly rural population? travel by a million miles (1% of the current total) through promoting Transition Black Isle set greener alternatives. This was done through 3 main approaches: out to find out. 1) Active travel (walking and cycling), 2) Greener car travel and 3) Public transport.

16 21 Stories of Transition Background The Black Isle is a peninsula in the Scottish Highlands bound by the Cromarty Firth and the Moray and Beauly Firths. Many of its Message for COP21 residents work in the nearby city of Inverness, resulting in high Local groups are best placed to devise and levels of car use, and the resultant levels of carbon emissions. “run campaigns to change behaviour, cut When it was announced that the carbon emissions and create community Kessock Bridge, the peninsula’s cohesion. To do this most effectively they need main connection to Inverness, needed repairs which would halve improved national and regional transport policies. its capacity for cars, Transition Marion McDonald, Million Miles Project Manager Black Isle decided to use it as the opportunity to try and do something about the levels of car use.

About the project Greener Car Travel: Energy have new bike racks, the highland. The project was funded through efficient driving training courses, liftshare.com website continues the Scottish Government’s highland.liftshare.com liftsharing to be used, the volunteer cycle Climate Challenge Fund, and website, journey-matching. trainers are still busy, Transition co-ordinated by Peter Elbourne Black Isle continue working with Public transport: and Marion McDonald. It was Bus other groups to try to improve launched on 28 August 2012 and vouchers, out-and-about events, the infrastructure for cyclists, and began with a baseline survey to bus bike racks. Black Isle Bicycles now exists as get a clear picture of the current Achievements and legacy a social enterprise, renting out levels of transport use before work bicycles and promoting cycling. began. Over the next 3 years it In the end, the project led to a ran a wide range of events and reduction of 1,352,277 miles, Challenges workshops with the support of saving 718 tonnes of carbon a One of the key challenges the team the local authority and a wide year, but it achieved much more faced was how to measure the less range of other organisations and besides. tangible impacts of the project, for authorities. Outcomes example the harder-to-measure benefits of an active lifestyle, The project was intentionally • 5,369 people attended 471 events over 30 months and the many positive changes designed to last 3 years, in people experienced other than recognition of the degree of • 600 people attended a Black just carbon reduction. Anecdotal sustained consciousness- Isle BikeFest evidence shows that during and raising required to shift travel • led to 74,196 more miles after the scheme, a deeper cultural habits, possibly one of our most being walked shift in attitudes towards lift entrenched behaviours. • 44% of respondents stated they sharing took place. Activities included: were now cycling more Active Travel: Community cycle • 131,049 more miles cycled as a trainers, 471 cycling events such result of the project as Bike Buses to get children to • Black Isle Travel Map delivered school and Dr Bike sessions, to 8,300 households loans of folding bikes, supporting • Lift Share scheme now has 726 applications for cycle paths, members, 23% of people now Black Isle Bike Fest, a cycling lift share more. conference, downloadable route cards and a travel map. As well as the impacts of the work A ‘slow cycle club’ in Cromarty, itself, there was also a longer aimed at improving health lasting legacy. The active travel and led by a retired GP, proved map and route guides are still particularly popular. widely available, many villages

21 Stories of Transition 17 2. the rise of community energy Energy generation is something done by huge energy companies, right? Wrong. Community energy is one of the key ways communities can start to take back control of their economy, and their energy supply.

18 21 Stories of Transition the community which can, in “Not many years ago we Community Energy turn, lead to infrastructure and were a few enthusiasts from Groups: Over 5,000 in the cultural change2. Decarbonising Transition Bath sitting UK, many more elsewhere. our energy system requires round a table with a Amount raised from decentralised renewables, great idea. Now only four community share offers which leads us to far greater years later we have been plus commercial finance: opportunities for community recognised as one of the £13,155,104.88 investment and involvement. leading community energy Amount of electricity And it brings people together, companies in the country”. generated: 17,800 GWh, and creates opportunities for BWCE’s Peter Capener on enough for 4,000 homes conversation, for parties, for receiving ‘Community Energy Amount of CO2 saved: 7,450 relationships. And it’s change Organisation of the Year at the

tonnes of CO2. people can see happening around Community Energy Awards them, which means the changes we need to make don’t seem so far Brixton Energy, which grew out off and impossible. Context of Transition Town Brixton, has: Around the world, the idea that Some UK examples: • installed 134.24 kW of solar communities install, own, and Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, energy across 3 schemes enjoy some of the benefits of Keymer, Ditchling Transition • raised a total investment of renewable energy is growing started HKD Energy. They have: £182,000 from local people fast. In Germany over 50% of • installed 307 solar panels through three share offers on Downloads School renewable energy being installed • Saved around 1275 tons of CO is in community ownership. In the Sports Centre 2 • Benefitted from 290 hours of UK alone, over 5,000 community • generated 80,000 kWh of volunteer input. groups have set up community electricity per year, saving 1 energy schemes since 2008 . 42 tonnes of carbon per year They are currently planning Many of these have been • raised £100,500 in shares from Brixton Energy 4, bringing the Transition groups, and the local people, with 83% of the electricity (solar-generated!) back schemes they have come up with investors living within a 4 mile to Electric Avenue, one of the have varied widely in terms of size. radius of the school. area’s best-known streets. Community energy “This project means a lot around the world Bath and West Community to us and our residents as In Japan, the Fujino Electric Energy, which emerged from it brings with it valuable Company has inspired another Transition Bath and Transition work experience for some 40 communities to start their Corsham: of our youth as well as an own energy companies, and in • have installed 3MW of solar PV investment opportunity Belgium, many Transition groups in their own community for residents and local are involved with community energy projects investors alike”. energy to varying degrees. For Mary Simpson, who has lived • have supported the installation example while Champs d’énergie in Brixton Hill for 26 years originated mostly from Gelbressée of 3MW of other community en Transition, Ferréole pre-dates energy groups solar PV Liège en Transition, but now • are in process of supporting the has many connections to the development of a further 10MW group. Our next story includes a of other community energy community energy co-operative groups solar PV in Luxembourg. • have raised and helped raise Why it matters £10 million through community This surge in community energy shares for their and their projects is a powerful story. partners projects The offer the potential for • have re-distributed £65,000 of greater democratic control, profits back into local carbon for shared benefits and for reduction and fuel poverty greater active participation of projects over the last 2 years.

Photos: (Top) Jonathan Goldberg, (Bottom) Peter Andrews 21 Stories of Transition 19 West Solent Energy Once the loans from local people “This just makes sense. Co-operative, started by that made it possible have been I learned about solar panels members of New Forest paid off, revenue will go into a Low and wind turbines twenty Transition, have: Carbon Local Development Fund years ago so I’ve always • raised £2 million in shares which will support a range of had an awareness for clean from local people local projects. energy and the benefits it can bring. So it’s fantastic • installed a solar farm that will The Ouse Valley Energy to see it happening on my generate approximately Services Company (OVESCO) doorstep, and to be able to 2.5 GWh each year will save was formed in 2007 by members be a part of it”. approximately 1,000 tonnes of of Transition Town Lewes. It’s Fay Gordon, resident of CO each year. first project was installing 545 2 Loughborough Estate, Brixton solar panels on the roof of the and Brixton Energy investor Transition Malvern Hills’ local Harveys Brewery. Since Malvern Energy Co-operative’s then, with the support of over 250 first project was installing solar shareholders, they have: panels on the Malvern Cube (the • put up 5 solar installations with town’s youth centre). A 30kW a capacity of 191 kWp, with an solar array was installed, and annual output of 185MWh most of the energy generated is sold to the Malvern Cube at a • saved 110 tonnes of CO2 reduced rate. per year • raised £441,000 of community Transition Bro Gwaun investment. (see p. 40) are part of a 50:50 joint venture with a local farmer for a They are currently working on a 225kW wind turbine which will: 5MW solar farm, and through the • produce around 528,000 kWh UK Government’s Peer Mentoring per year Scheme have supported 20 neighbouring communities to • save around 290 tonnes of CO 2 replicate their model. per year.

Message for COP21 Validate and nurture “local action through the policies, rhetoric and personal action you take, start by looking to your own community(ies) and get involved in change, to whatever level or in whatever way is feasible. Peter Capener, Bath & West Community Energy

Members of Totnes Renewable Energy Society. Photo: Jane Brady

1 Department of Energy and Climate Change 2 Capener, P. (2014) What is Community (2014) Community Energy Strategy, full Energy & Why Does it Matter? Community report: http://tinyurl.com/nw6ecba Energy England. http://tinyurl.com/p4d7sc8

20 21 Stories of Transition Bath and West Community Energy’s installation on Lewis House in Bath.

Photo: GB Sol

Installing one of Brixton Energy’s solar schemes. Photo: Jonathan Goldberg 21 Stories of Transition 21 22 21 Stories of Transition Group: Transition REconomy in Luxembourg (National Hub). Local population: 543,202 Luxembourg Year Started: 2014 In the country with Background Transition is a relatively new the world’s second arrival in Luxembourg (it started in 2011). Initially emerging from, and supported by, Centre for highest per capita gross Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL), the groups are founded domestic product and on the idea that collective action induces concrete and among the highest per significant systemic change. Transition Luxembourg, the capita GHG emissions, recently established national hub organisation, now receives a new collaborative funding from the Ministry of Sustainable Development and economic model is Infrastructure to support its rolling out of the Transition approach emerging based across the country. The Cooperatives on the REconomy So far, three new co-operatives have emerged through the work of approach and Transition Luxembourg: co-operative values. EnerCoop: Founded in 2013, through Transition Minett (South And it works. of Luxembourg), it has so far installed a solar project of 26,000 kWh/year – a second one of similar size is in development. These projects are funded through share launches, raising €50,000 for each project through shares costing €100 each. For 3. the first project, they all sold out in a matter of weeks. Under Luxembourg’s laws, these are the largest individual installations for which you can get a guaranteed feed-in fee (which is vital for such projects). They are committed to being “100% green, citizen-led and local”, and working with local enterprises to obtain services and source equipment that is produced and assembled as local as possible (such as sourcing their solar panels from Germany rather than China).

Photos on previous page: (top left) Transition Luxembourg /EnerCoop (Bottom right) Peace Advocate Photography, others: Terra CSA. This page: Terra CSA 21 Stories of Transition 23 A solar project installed by EnerCoop. Photo: Transition Luxembourg

Terra: In early 2014, three The role of Transition friends who wanted to start According to Norry, if Transition a Community Supported hadn’t taken root in Luxembourg, Agriculture scheme close probably none of the above would to Luxembourg city were have got started: “It is the positivity struggling to find land. They and positive storytelling that put out a call to see if anyone Transition brings which inspires had land, and were offered a people to take action, and which beautiful site overlooking the creates the willingness of people city, and two months later they to share and to network”. started growing, a sequence of events described by Transition The three co-operatives very much Luxembourg co-ordinator Norry share a sense of having the same Schneider as “miraculous”. A roots, seeing themselves as part of year later, and Terra have 153 the same family, each giving the members who received a weekly other profile and publicity. box of vegetables, as well as 84 ‘co-operators’, who support the group.

KiloMinett0: Began in 2015 and promotes local production through a Transition house that will open soon, with a shop, restaurant and bar that will also be serving as a meeting point and support space for Transition initiatives, and as an incubator for local food enterprises in the area. One of Terra’s co-founders, Marko Anyfandakis harvesting tomatoes.

Photo: Peace Advocate Photography

24 21 Stories of Transition Message for COP21 Trust the citizens. Usually our leaders don’t do it; they buy services “from large enterprises because those are serious guys and they know how to do things, and they don’t look locally for resources, knowledge or networks. Trust and empower citizens to undertake sustainable local projects, and give some power back to them. Norry Schneider, Transition Luxembourg

21 Stories of Transition 25 26 21 Stories of Transition what is REconomy? Like Transition, REconomy is about building community cohesion, ecological sustainability, and resilience by transforming local economics. How? By creating the conditions for new economic actors and relationships to emerge –local entrepreneurs, cooperatives, investors, supporters of all kinds, community ownership and accountability, complementary currencies, gift circles, sharing libraries. Everyone is included. www.reconomy.org Photo: Peace Advocate Photography

21 Stories of Transition 27 Chesadeck Rinquest, aged 5, insisted on planting his own fruit tree with Charity GreenPop.org. Photo: Candice Mostert4. EcoCrew Environmental Awareness Programme What kind of a role could Transition play in communities building an recovering from outdoor classroom the past impacts of at Green Park, apartheid, a present reclaimed from being the municipal where its young people dump by Greyton need support, and Transition town the future demands and EcoCrew. Photo: Marshall Rinquest of climate change?

28 21 Stories of Transition About the project the plight of African penguins Group: Greyton Transition Their EcoCrew environmental and Greenpop, a national tree Town, South Africa. awareness programme, planting charity to support Local population: 2,780. co-ordinated by Marshall their work in South Africa Year Started: 2012 Rinquest, offers children between (replanting an ancient Other projects: South 8 and 18 years outdoor activities milkwood forest on the south Africa’s first plastic bag- both during and after school. coast) and in Zambia (to help free town, Incredible reforest part of the country Edible Greyton, Air Miles Activities include: devastated by illegal tree Forest (local carbon/flights • Claiming back and felling). offsetting), a Community rehabilitating a large section • Setting up a trial humane Natural Building Programme, of the municipal dumpsite, education programme aimed River Bank Clear-ups, turning it into a Green Park, at inspiring empathy in Bartering system, planting 500 trees as part of children for themselves, their Trash to Treasure Festival the Greyton Fruit Forest, and friends, parents, teachers and (at the town dump). building an outdoor classroom the environment. using ‘Ecobricks’ (plastic bottles packed with non As well as the schools, Greyton recyclable plastic waste). Transition Town is able to do Background • Learning about permaculture what it does due to a wide range Greyton Transition Town is the and creating organic food of partnerships such as with first official Transition group in gardens in all six local schools, Greyton Conservation Society, Africa, initiated in December 2012 the produce enabling the Greenpop (a national tree planting by Nicola Vernon, who said “as schools to give good meals to charity), local council and regional a driver for social integration it’s their poorest students. government. the best I’ve encountered in 30 • Setting up ‘Swap Shops’ in local years of working in social welfare”. “I was always more schools: spaces where children Greyton is a beautiful town, visited conscious about these and their parents can bring by many tourists, but like many issues than my peers, and clean, dry, recyclable waste and places in South Africa, one that I wanted to pass that on. receive vouchers, which they still bears the scars of apartheid. The kids we work with can exchange at an on-site respond in the same way. As Nicola says: shop, to purchase essentials They now think twice about “The Group Areas Act of the 1950s such as clothes, toiletries, what they eat and what they declared some of the town’s blankets and school clothing. throw away”. people, those with a darker skin • Collaborating with other Marshall Rinquest than the others, to be ‘coloured’ organisations such as The Two and therefore to be removed to the Oceans Aquarium in Cape outskirts of the town where they Town to participate in a were placed cheek by jowl in mean ‘penguin waddle’ along the little houses on a rocky slope with coast to raise awareness about little soil”. The division this caused is still visible today. Many residents suffer from poverty, poor education, unemployment and deprivation. Greyton Transition Town is unusual in Message for COP21 being resourced by some of the profits of two businesses it has Anything is possible if you just put your mind established, an EcoLodge, offering “to it. We are always persistent in what we do. affordable accommodation, and a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. Whoever you are, as an individual, you can While the GTT team run projects make a change, people will see, people will with universal appeal, much follow, because it’s about the way you do of the focus of their work is on these things. environmental and humane education in local schools. Marshall Rinquest, Greyton Transition Town

21 Stories of Transition 29 Riaan Strydon, Greyton Transition Town volunteer, teaching EcoCrew youth about permaculture. Photo: Nicola Vernon

Achievements and legacy their students can actually by the end of this year Like many Transition groups, they become leaders and motivators • Funding has been found for could always do with more people, for a better, more humane and two full time and one part time more manpower, but still what the environmentally conscious member of staff. group has achieved is remarkable. society. As Marshall Rinquest puts it: Future plans include an eco- “People on low incomes come “Most problems with village within the town, with to our fresh local produce barter historically disadvantaged natural building approaches, table and they can connect with children in South Africa renewable energy and an people and see how we can assist stem from their lack of integrated community at the each other as people, not saying hope. They are not heart of its design. “I’m black and you are white”, motivated to study when or “I am rich and you are poor”, there is so little opportunity but seeing beyond that line as – only unemployment or humans. It’s not just a place a low paid job as a waiter, where you can barter, it’s a space gardener or domestic help. where you can see what we have All our children now have in common”. the EcoCrew to aspire to, it gives them hope and has Teachers report better grades, lifted the whole school”. improved behaviour, less bullying, Rodney Cupido, Head of Emil truancy and detention amongst Weder High School not only the eco-crew members but the whole school. Parents Outcomes report healthier, happier, more respectful children. The children • In two years the number of feel motivated, hopeful and children participating in the more confident. The school and eco-crew programme has teachers have started looking grown from 70 to 200 beyond matric to a point where • This is expected to reach 350

30 21 Stories of Transition 5. Photo: Jane Brady The Rise of Transition Currencies How Transition currencies are reimagining money as “wonderful invites to us all to step into a better future”.

21 Stories of Transition 31 The Bristol Pound, launched Number of Transition in September 2012, represented currencies: 11 in 5 countries, a major leap forward for the many more in development. concept. It generated massive Amount of Transition media interest, and was hugely currencies currently in supported by Bristol City Council, circulation: £1,032,051 with the new Mayor of the city, George Ferguson, announcing he would be taking his full salary in Bristol Pounds. Since then it was Background also announced that local people Local currencies aren’t a new idea. can pay their Council Tax in Bristol They have been a feature of life Pounds and can use them on back through the centuries, and the city’s buses. Thanks to a deal around 2,500 such schemes, in a with Good Energy, customers can variety of forms, exist throughout also now pay their energy bills with the world today. Although they Bristol Pounds, and will soon also be take a variety of forms, the basic able to use them to buy train tickets. idea is to enhance the ‘Multiplier Launch t-shirts. Photo: Brixton Pound Effect’, the observation that money spent with local businesses circulates more times and leads to greater benefits for the local economy. The Brixton Pound calls itself “money that sticks to Brixton”. They are ‘complementary currencies’, running in parallel to national currencies, rather than a replacement. ‘Transition Currencies’ in the UK What are increasingly referred to as ‘Transition currencies’ began with the Totnes Pound in 2007, initially modelled on an 1810 Totnes Pound banknote. That, in turn, drew its inspiration from previous alternative currencies such as the Wir and the Worgl from the 1930s, and Ithaca Hours and Berkshares (both from the US), more recent manifestations of the idea. The Totnes Pound, in turn, inspired the launch of the Lewes Pound, initially as a One Pound note, and then in a full set of denominations which included a £21 note. This was followed by the Stroud Pound, and then by the Brixton Pound in London. “People ask why we have “We have the seminal Brixton The Brixton Pound was the first to a £21 note in Totnes. My Pound £10 note featuring also feature a Pay-by-Text system, response to that question David Bowie. It’s possibly enabling people to use Brixton is ‘why not?’”. the world’s most famous Pounds on their mobile phones. Rob Hopkins local currency note”. Michael Lloyd-Jones at the Bristol Pound

32 21 Stories of Transition Jeremy Deller, winner of the 2004 Turner Prize, designed this £5 note to celebrate the Brixton Pound’s fifth birthday, described by Charlie Waterhouse of the Brixton Pound as “the most amazing currency notes ever produced. No exaggeration”. Photo: Brixton Pound

Ex-banker turned activist Mehul Damani describing the design of the Brixton Pound AS a reflection of the diversity and vibrancy of Brixton. Photo: Brixton Pound

21 Stories of Transition 33 The launch of Grez en Transition’s local currency ‘Les Bles’, April 2015. Photos: Michèle Vander Syp

34 21 Stories of Transition Message for COP21 We believe the evidence is clear; achieving a “low or carbon negative society requires localized, more transparent economies based on local ownership. The Bristol Pound is a powerful systemic driver that shortens supply chains, reducing dependence on the fossil fuel intensive transport infrastructure. It also sends a message about what the economy is there to serve. It’s empowering, democratic and delivering change here in Bristol. Transició in Querétaro’s ‘Kuni’ currency. Photo: Transició in Querétaro Ciaran Mundy, Bristol Pound

The level of media coverage by Turner Prize-winning artist The Bristol Pound issued a new generated by the launch of the Jeremy Deller to celebrate the 5th suite of notes in July 2015, and Bristol Pound led the Bank of anniversary of its launch (p.33). on tiny writing on them it read England to publish a statement “Keeping money out the Cayman clarifying its legal understanding The global spread of Islands (a well-known British tax of local currencies. It also led Transition currencies haven) since 2012”. The story of the to the formation of a Guild of The idea is spreading rise of local currencies is a story Independent Currencies to internationally too. Liege that is only just beginning. support the increase in interest en Transition in Belgium from elsewhere. The Exeter launched ‘Le Valheureux’. Grez Outcomes Pound, created through a coming enTransition, also in Belgium, Amount of local currency in together of Transition Exeter and launched Les BLÉS, and Transició circulation (where data Exeter City Council (for who the in Querétaro in Mexico launched is available): successful launch of an Exeter the Kuni (Kuni means “to knit” • Bristol Pound, £800,000 Pound is their second highest in Otomí indigenous language), a local currency whose notes • Totnes Pound, £13,800 economic priority), launched in • Brixton Pounds, £150,000 September 2015. As well as the are circular, and very colourful! usual suite of notes featuring well- Montreuil en Transition near • Lewes Pound, £20,000 known local characters, they also Paris called theirs the ‘Peche’ • Stroud Pound, £7,000 (named after the peaches which launched a £15 note to celebrate • Les BLÉS, £2,500 the coming to Exeter of the Rugby the town is famous for growing), World Cup. and Vilanova en Transició in Spain • Le Radis, Ungersheim launched a Transition currency (p. 86) £6,600 More are in the pipeline as called La Turuta. There are no • Number of businesses in the idea becomes increasingly doubt many others we haven’t yet Bristol accepting the Bristol mainstream. The Kingston Pound heard about too. Pound, 850. is coming soon, with schemes also emerging in Plymouth, Why Transition Hull, Oxford, Liverpool, Cardiff currencies matter and Southampton, although The rise of local currencies is a interestingly, few of those of formal powerful story. In a time where links to local Transition groups. money feels out of control, something done to us by others, At the time of writing, the something that shuts down Brixton Pound just released an possibilities rather than opening extraordinary £5 note designed them up, local currencies are ours.

21 Stories of Transition 35 The 2015 new issue of Bristol Pound notes from an exhibition poster: PAPER Arts

“The pounds Sterling in our “It’s easy to imagine such pockets are monochrome, notes being fetishized as dull and in thrall to history audiophiles do vinyl”. and hierarchy - designed Dan Crane, New York Times, to remind us that ‘our’ August 9th, 2015 money isn’t really ours at all. Brixton Pounds are the exact opposite. Joyous and empowering, they remind us that we can all make positive decisions about our spending, and make a real difference to the community around us. They’re wonderful invites to us all to step into a better future”. Charlie Waterhouse, Brixton Pound designer

36 21 Stories of Transition Photo: Sylvia Holmes 6. Pasadena Repair Cafe “I can’t believe the guy who built the Mars Rover just fixed my electric shaver!”

21 Stories of Transition 37 Group: Transition Pasadena, Los Angeles, USA. Local population: 139,731 Year Started: 2010 Other projects: Throop Church Learning Garden (winner of the Mayor’s Green City Award for Urban Nature 2013), Free Food Garden, ‘Low Energy Living is Fun’ workshops, ‘Mulch for the People’, The Work That Reconnects’ workshops, Fruit Trees in Public Places, Cool Roofs, ‘Just Doing Stuff Town Fair’. Repair cafe during pasadena Background earth and In 2010, Therese Brummel, cofounder of Transition Pasadena, arts festival. heard about a Repair Cafe in the Photo: Sylvia Holmes Netherlands and thought it was something that could work well in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles. isn’t the repair of things, it’s the the group: “You feel part of a In June of that year, Transition creation of community. community that is getting on Pasadena ran its first Repair Cafe. and doing things, and recycling. According to Greg: There’s a sense of welcome. A Transition Pasadena works on a “I announce to those waiting for “build it and they will come” basis, different sense. No-one wants tools to be sharpened that they anything from you. People just with members with ideas for good are sitting in the story telling projects finding that the interest, come together and help each chair, which in most cases is all other. There’s a welcome. We’re support and enthusiasm generally that is needed. People launch into comes in behind their ideas. glad to see people when they turn personal stories that draw smiles up with their broken stuff”. and much needed empathy from “I was deeply disturbed and those nearby, making the fulfilling Outcomes sad about the state of the of this often neglected area of our Since inception in late 2010: 4676 natural world and society. lives as important as a sharpened volunteer hours in the gardens, Getting involved with pair of scissors”. 500 kilos of fruits and vegetables Transition Pasadena has harvested, 2670 volunteer hours meant going from despair How does a Repair Cafe find its for Repair Cafe 831, volunteers to community and being repairers? According to Sylvia (major projects only), 2638 public able to follow a passion and Holmes, “we just ask. There’s attendees, 20 projects (mostly get help with it. It changed the San Gabriel Valley Hackers, ongoing), 32 planned workshops, my relationship to people who work at the nearby 30 ad hoc workshops, 9 film the problems”. CalTech (California Institute of screenings, 65 steering meetings, Laurel Beck Technology) … they come. People 400 subscribers to newsletter, 360 just know people. We make it fun”. Facebook Likes and Followers, Repairing tools … or Wider connections 2 retreats and 3 study groups. community? The Repair Cafe also has a close The Repair Cafes are generally run relationship with the local Time “Our planet needs help, at a different venue each time, and Bank. People earn Time Dollars and Repair Cafe is a small there are between 9 and 10 each while repairing things, and event. Yet much can be year, and the number of items someone from the Time Bank accomplished in many being brought for repair increases sits with a laptop and records localities by as few as each time. Greg Marquez from transactions during the day. two people; repairer and the group talks of how the most According to Laurel Beck from repairee. Energizing the important function of the Cafes

38 21 Stories of Transition sense of belonging and becoming more fully one’s self within the community is crucial to mobilizing our individual energies”. Greg Marquez, Transition Pasadena Group culture As Sylvia Holmes from the group told me, “We’ve learned to be careful about how many ideas we have because they’re a lot of work”. Transition Pasadena periodically consider whether a more formal approach to governance would help with conflict resolution and the management of their wide variety of projects, but so far the group embraces a horizontal structure with no leaders or followers – everyone’s ideas have equal weight. “Our strong bond gives us the strength to pursue projects we’re passionate about”, REuseable says Sylvia, adding “It can be a bumpy road, though we seem to signage – make it”. chalk on blackboards. Photo: Sylvia Holmes

Message for COP21 It can transform a relationship to serious “problems to something empowering that actually enriches your own life. That’s reason alone to get involved. You get permission to do meaningful work, with support, and it’s fun! Laurel Beck, Transition Pasadena

21 Stories of Transition 39 The Surplus Food Cafe The cafe that sees going out of business as a sign of success, and whose daily menu is determined by what local businesses throw away. Photo: Transition Bro Gwaun

to feed pigs, and realised how a questionnaire afterwards. The Group: Transition Bro much perfectly good food was overwhelming7. feedback was “we’d Gwaun (Fishguard), Wales being thrown away, and that that like a cafe please, with low cost Local population: 3,419 presented a huge opportunity. meals”. Year Started: 2008 Other projects: The The seeds of an idea “This project is more than TBG shopping bag, bike TBG’s Ann Bushell began thinking just a way of reducing food maintenance, new allotments, that there was a potential business waste. It’s an experiment – a 225kW community wind opportunity in looking at this an attempt to put carbon turbine, regular stall at local ‘waste’ in a different way, and the reduction, sustainability farmers market. idea of the Transition Community and community resilience Cafe/Surplus Food Project was at the heart of a social born. The local Co-operative enterprise and to make it a supermarket manageress pointed viable business suitable for Background out an empty building opposite, a low growth, sustainable Every year the UK throws away 15 owned by the Co-op, which had society. It depends as much million tonnes of food and drink, become a local eyesore, and on non-monetized ‘income’ half of which was perfectly edible suggested the group apply to e.g. from gifting, community when thrown away. Over a million take it on. Their first question exchange, reusing and people now rely on food handouts was whether a cafe serving food recycling, and volunteering and Food Banks. harvested from local surplus as it does on financial was something the community income”. Two members of Transition Bro wanted. So in a local pub, they ran Transition Bro Gwaun Gwaun (TBG) were visiting local two meals, invited the community shops looking for food waste and then asked them to fill out

40 21 Stories of Transition Work then began to turn the derelict old budget off licence into a thriving community cafe. The community rallied around to help, a local builders’ merchant Message for COP21 donated thousands of pounds worth of supplies and many local If world leaders came to the cafe for a visit, volunteers offered their time. The idea of a cafe serving surplus food “we’d show them all the entries in our Visitors’ hit a nerve, and the group started Book which tell how excited people get about attracting lots of press coverage. what we’re doing – how a simple, small, community They presented the idea at Hay Festival’s Future Green Dragons project can be so effective in changing attitudes, event and won, bringing a prize of modelling a new approach and enthusing people £10,000 home with them. to do something similar – and that people think About the project there should be lots more initiatives like ours. The cafe opened in June 2013, Chris Samra, Transition Bro Gwaun staffed by a mixture of 25 volunteers and a small number of paid staff. Perfectly good food is collected from local shops and They have to deal with people’s function anymore. That would be businesses and used in the cafe. expectations of what ‘surplus a success”. Any that can’t be used is sent to food’ will look like on a plate. Also, a biodigester or used for animal if they are donated 40 bottles of Outcomes feed. The cafe’s chefs need to be sugared fizzy drinks, do they serve The Cafe strengthens the local flexible and to think on their toes. them because they are a high- economy and improves social One week they might get a mass of carbon food that it’s a shame to capital by providing training, leeks, and on the week they were waste, or bin them because they employment and work experience interviewed for this book, they had are unhealthy? Their commitment opportunities for local people, just been given 160kg of bananas! to serving healthy food means particularly the young, the that they don’t serve burgers and disabled and the long-term As well as providing quality and chips, which excludes some of unemployed. It also: affordable meals, the cafe plays their potential audience. • prevents an average of 600 kilos an important role in providing training opportunities for local of food going to landfill Achievements and legacy each month young people. Many of their The cafe offers affordable meals volunteers have gone on to get for everyone in Fishguard, but • makes carbon savings of 21 jobs afterwards in an area where it also produces food parcels for tonnes per year. opportunities for work experience people in actual food poverty For me, the key learning has can be hard to come by. through the local food bank “ been the range of people scheme, and also through the you can involve in a project Challenges local Credit Union. Unlike most that is visible and which It’s not a project without its new enterprise models emerging makes common sense to challenges. Some local cafes through the Transition movement people. You can have all the have expressed the concern that however, the Surplus Cafe is one awareness-raising meetings the Surplus Food Cafe might that is happy to design for its own in the world, and you just undercut them. As Chris Samra, demise. As Trustee Tom Latter get all the same people one of the TBG’s Trustees puts it: puts it: “what we are trying to get across turning up. But the people who come and work here is the idea that we need to change “Already we are seeing local as volunteers come from a agendas, and that means everyone businesses giving us less food, as huge range of interests and re-evaluating how they operate they become more aware through backgrounds – many just in the context of climate change, working with us, they produce enjoy the social interaction . which can be challenging. What less waste. We like that idea of ” we serve is so different to most working our way out of business, Chris Samra cafes anyway that we’re not really that the ultimate sign of success a threat”. for us would be that we can’t

21 Stories of Transition 41 8. The Casau Community Garden A community project which links the loss of diversity of seeds with the loss of local languages.

42 21 Stories of Transition Transition also placed 4 wooden Group: Salies en Transition, containers at an elderly home, as France. therapeutic project. The garden Local population: 5,500 is seen as modelling diversity: of Group started: 2012 plants, of generations, of needs and abilities, of languages.

Outcomes About the project To date, the group have: The Salies en Transition group • Organised 13 Seed began through a series of meetings Exchange Fairs at the local bar where heritage varieties of seeds were exchanged. • Preserved 80 varieties The group started holding a series of vegetables of ‘trocs’, Seed Exchange fairs • Involved over 150 people. where people were invited to bring along heirloom varieties to Context exchange. They have now held 13 Diversity is important to of these, where over 80 varieties of Transition groups, one of the seed are distributed. People travel distinguishing features of from a considerable distance to resilience. Salies en Transition visit the exchange events. The are the first group to connect the names of plants are displayed in erosion of diversity in terms of French, in Latin, and in Béarnais. seeds with the loss of indigenous People are encouraged to speak languages. It is estimated that in Béarnais with older people who one language dies every 14 days, Message for COP21 still speak it on hand to help out. and that by 2100, nearly half of the 7,000 languages spoken in When you use As well as the trocs, Salies en the world will have been lost. “the knowledge of Transition has also created a Following the French Revolution, garden “Lo Casau” in a 3000 regional languages were outlawed, the citizens, then square metre site of a former with Parisian French being you can change railway station, on land made imposed nationally and Béarnais, the world. available by the Mayor. They have related to the language d’Oc, was placed 30 old wooden containers, banned from schools. The Salies en Transition group given by a local organic kiwi producer, and grow a range of local and unusual varieties of fruit and vegetables. They use a technique called ‘lasagna gardening’, using layers of different mulching materials which is a great way of maintaining moisture in beds and making productive use of organic matter! They also have a 3,000 litre water tank. The water comes from the roof of the old railway station.

The garden makes use of organic methods, crop rotation and building mulching. Four of the beds are cultivated by a local school for raised beds hyperactive children. for the casau A school that offers vocational training for young people community with special needs also grows garden. vegetables in the garden. Salies en

All photos: Kitty de Bruin 21 Stories of Transition 43 Group: Transition Town Totnes, England. Local population: 8,500 Group started: 2006 Other projects: Nut & fruit tree plantings, Transition Streets, Draughtbusting, Inner Transition, Transition Homes (a development of 25 houses), Local Economic Blueprint, Local Entrepreneur Forum, REconomy Centre, Skillshares, Open Eco Homes & Eco Homes Fair, Transition Tours, TTT Film Club.

Background There were three initial sparks that brought Caring Town Totnes to life. The first was Transition Town Totnes’ (TTT) 2012 Local Economic Blueprint, which identified the potential benefits to the local economy of adult social care done in a different way. The second was a strong belief that building resilience starts with personal resilience, and that deep cuts to local authority and NHS spending were hitting this really hard.

The last was a workshop run by Devon County Council (DCC) called ‘Tough Choices’ which invited public thoughts on where 9. the funding axe should fall. Participants were given a list of different services that could be cut Caring Town and given stickers to put on the ones that felt most dispensable. The workshop was attended by Totnes Frances Northrop and Carole Whitty of TTT, and was the only one of the workshops run by DCC When Transition uses in which participants refused to its ‘power to convene’ participate, such was the outrage. About the project to bring together those After discussions with a range of people in the town about the providing care to reimagine effects of the cuts and how a local response might be helpful to the County Council as an a different approach. alternative to “salami slicing” budgets, Carole and Frances met

44 21 Stories of Transition All photos: Encounters Arts with Phil Norrey, CEO of DCC, interested in the potential of looking at the possibilities of co producing solutions. One of the first outcomes from this meeting was the initiation of a programme within DCC to appoint Locality Officers in three towns, including Totnes, through the secondment of a senior officer, to give support and make the introductions needed to enable the work on the ground.

This led to the ‘Caring Town Conference’ attended by representatives of 60 organisations in the town who provide health and/or social care in some way. It was met with huge enthusiasm, with people being asked “if Totnes were the most caring town it could possibly be what would it look like?”

This was followed by a mapping of what was already happening, which enabled people to see where they fit and to make new connections. Message for COP21 Three things emerged that people Being able to find solutions to large, and most wanted to see: 1) a network “seemingly intractable problems benefits that facilitated people coming together, 2) a central point in town hugely from collaboration, between those that provided a home to some providing services and those in receipt of the services and signposting to others, respective service. While it’s vital that we respect and 3) a needs assessment of what people most wanted. professional knowledge, it is important that those in decision making roles remain informed about how Shortly after the event, a Health life is for most people, who are often the experts of and Welfare Day brought together all the groups in one their particular need. This way resources can flow place. From the outset, this was better and there is a reciprocal relationship rather not a TTT project but one to than people being ‘done unto’. We have learned the which TTT contributed its skills, experience and processes ;we importance of being able to develop relationships were the catalyst organisation but with a diverse range of organisations and to adapt recognised our need to work in our language and processes to a wide range of close partnership with other contexts in order to bring about sustainable local groups and organisations in order bring about sustainable and systemic change at both institutional and systems change. community levels. Caring Town Totnes received some Frances Northrop, Transition Town Totnes funding via the UK government’s ‘Our Place’ which enabled an operational plan to be created. This also enabled the creation

21 Stories of Transition 45 of the Needs Analysis, which began with a public consultation facilitated by Encounters Arts. Visitors were invited to reflect on the questions “what makes you well, and what makes you unwell?” The majority of responses were less to do with physical illness, rather focusing on stress, worry and finance.

One of the key insights of Caring Town is the breaking down of the barrier between the ‘vulnerable’ and everyone else. The reality is that we are all vulnerable, at different times and to varying degrees and so we all benefit from there being a supportive community around us.

The role of care in economic regeneration Caring Town recognises the interconnection of food, health, local economics and so on. “We don’t currently value caring as a thing that’s critical to us as a society”, Frances says. Plans are now underway for setting up ‘Caring Town Services’, a broker for care service commissionings and a marketplace for people with personal budgets and self funders. Another strand has been the pursuit of public ownership of the Mansion, a community education centre in the town, currently held in trust by DCC which also hosts the library and a nursery run as Caring Town Totnes is One guy who works for a a social enterprise. The intention “ “ also about creation of local institution came to here is to establish the central livelihoods where people our fourth meeting and I point for information for Caring live, and the fact is that asked him if I could put Town members to be able to at the moment the respect him down as a rep for his signpost local residents to what given to people who organisation, and he said they offer. provide paid and unpaid ‘oh no, they don’t know I’m care isn’t very high. here, I come here for We don’t value caring respite! It’s all negative as a thing that’s where I am - I come here critical and increasing and it’s full of positivity!’” respect for carers is a Frances Northrop fundamental part of this”. Frances Northrop

46 21 Stories of Transition Photos: Encounters Arts gathering the community’s thoughts on what makes them well and unwell, totnes high street.

21 Stories of Transition 47 10. Zarzalejo Futuro: future scenarios Politics in Spain is changing profoundly. What does it look like when Transition meets the 15M movement in the context Working on of a mountain village in the beehives near centre of Spain? Zarzalejo.

48 21 Stories of Transition Group: Zarzalejo en Transición, Spain. Local population: 1,500 Group started: 2010 Message for COP21 Other projects: Car share scheme with over If COP21 leaders came to visit us, we would 100 registered members, awareness scheme about “thank them for coming to visit a real project, community-owned renewable happening on the ground. We worry that often energy, a Community our leaders lose contact with what’s happening at Supported Agriculture scheme with 26 families, local the local level. One of the key questions they have oral history project, OASIS no answer to is how to make change contagious. social transformation. We are showing here how that is possible. What we are doing here needs support rather than all the resources going to huge, out-of-touch projects. Background Veronica Hernandez-Jimenez, Zarzalejo en Transición Remarkable changes are underway in Spain. The impacts of austerity and the economic situation are being acutely felt across the country: unemployment is running at 27%, nearly 40% in some places. One in three children in Spain are at risk from poverty. Evictions are widespread. At the same time though, something remarkable is stirring, and Transition is one part of that new emerging story. According to Juan del Rio, a set of activities which involve There are now around 50 co-ordinator of the Spanish dreaming the future and social Transition initiatives in Spain, Transition Network: “Zarzalejo en transformation, but combining and one of the most influential of Transición has been probably the it with practical activities), those is Zarzalejo en Transición. most important local Transition Zarzalejo Cuenta (a compilation Zarzalejo is a small village in the initiative in the central region of local history), and previous mountains near Madrid, and they of Spain. It has also catalysed and working groups from Zarzalejo in have done a lot of work to inspire inspired other initiatives and Transition (Food, Environment, the communities around them to projects in the same town Transport, Local Resources, take a similar approach. and region”. Culture and so on).

Madrid, like Barcelona, has About the project Drawing on the many partnerships seen a huge political shift which The group has co-coordinated that the group have already began with the 15M movement many different projects, the Future created with local government (Movimiento de los Indignados) Scenarios project being the most and other progressive associations in 2011, the massive movement recent one. Thinking about the (including Creasvi, Puentes4D, which occupied public squares past and the present, the group ObservatorioCulturayTerritorio across the country. Now, 4 years is convening people from across and others), the group are now later, Madrid and Barcelona’s the community to reimagine and expanding the future scenarios governments are run by those who to dream the place they’d like work to include a lot more came through 15M, and like many Zarzalejo to be in the future. people from the village, to create places, Zarzalejo’s council is now a tangible, real and sustainable managed by a citizen’s group. This project is based on former vision of the future for Zarzalejo. This is a shift which has opened ones like Oasis (which brings up huge possibilities. young people together, around

Photo: Alfredo Cáliz Illustration: From a Zarzalejo en Transición poster, ‘how do we see Zarzalejo’s future?’ 21 Stories of Transition 49 The Oasis visioning process underway in the square in Zarazalejo. 50Photo: 21 GSA Stories Madrid of Transition 21 Stories of Transition 51 The Lambeth Local Entrepreneur Forum An event which beautifully models what it looks like when a community gets behind its creative entrepreneurs and changemakers.

11.

52 21 Stories of Transition Photo: Mark Ovenden Impacts Group: Transition Town What was really striking was, for Brixton, London, England. an event about local business, Local population: 66,300 just how moving it was. While Group started: 2007 the posters for the event had said Message for COP21 Other projects: The “good ideas need investment”, Brixton Pound, Brixton anyone attending left with a very Local and positive Energy, Remakery Brixton, clear sense that making the new “is where it’s at. We a Wholefood Buying Coop, economy a reality requires a lot Community Draughtbusters, more than just hard cash. As one need to re-imagine the REconomy Project, including person said afterwards, “there was way we do everything, an Economic Evaluation a lot of love in the room, if love’s including global of Brixton. the right word”. Many of those pitching used the word “love” in change. Top down their reflections about how it felt doesn’t provide locally to pitch to the LEF. appropriate solutions Background Lambeth’s Local Entrepreneur “We leave with a lot more nor real engagement in Forum (LEF) drew its inspiration friends, and a sense that culture change. So find from the Totnes LEF, a Transition people do support and see ways to resource the innovation which began in 2012. the value in what we’re It’s a simple idea, an invitation doing and there is that spirit local change-makers to the community to get behind of generosity that can come who are building its entrepreneurs, and to support out when the space is positive projects that created for it”. them in a variety of ways. have the potential Investment in a business need not Hannah Lewis: Remakery be money, it can be offers of space, to engage 7-9 billion support, mentoring, website For those pitching, the support people in building the design, dog walking, massage, and went way beyond money. Colin post-industrial, post- many other things too. A LEF is Crooks, who compered the an event designed to maximise pitching session, spoke of “seeing capitalist, post-cheap- the offering of such support, a people light up as they offered energy paradigm”. support”, of the magical sense of community gathering around its Duncan Law, Transition changemakers. warmth created. “It’s tapping into a fundamental human value”, he Town Brixton About the project said, “and this (the LEF model) The Totnes LEFs have thus far is just a way of rehearsing what raised over £70,000 in support for we’ve always wanted to do, to emerging local businesses, while support people in our community. also building a strong community Everyone wants to do it, I think of innovative entrepreneurs. The we’ve just forgotten how”. Lambeth LEF presented 5 new entrepreneurs to the community Tom Shakhli, Manager of Brixton and invited their support and Pound, said “it was really nice to investment, in whatever sense see people responding to each people chose to interpret others’ generosity”. that word. Outcomes They included local food business • 5 enterprises pitched The Grain Grocer; Spiral, who • 140 people attended work with young people to give them access to work experience • £1,150 worth of cash pledges that develops real skills; Library • at least £4,335 of in-kind of Things, a tool/other stuff value pledges library; Remakery Brixton, • Library of Things subsequently our re-use centre including exceeded their crowdfunding training, workshop hire, business target of £12,000. development and more; and Kitchen Table Projects, who showcase and incubate artisan food producers. 21 Stories of Transition 53 54 21 Stories of Transition “We were just sat down afterwards and saying “well that was amazing, let’s go to loads of these, but I don’t really know where I would go now, because I think it’s probably quite exceptional, I’ve never seen another one!” Emma Shaw: Library of Things Photo: Mark Ovenden

21 Stories of Transition 55 How it works in practice Group: Transition Town You might imagine that a Free Media, Pennsylvania, Store would be emptied pretty USA. fast, but with their approach of Local population: c. 5,000 “bring and take only what you can Group started: 2009 carry”, they have far more donated Other projects: Media goods that they are able to fit Happiness Week, promoting on the shelves of the Store. This ‘Yardens’ (gardens in yards): abundance, in turn, leads to more Community Supported partnerships and networking, as Agriculture scheme: conversations arise with other supporting people to grow organisations who are able to food, to cook, bottle and can: make use of books and household strong Inner Transition group: items for the groups they serve. bike repairs: participation in local planning issues: building “The Free Store links to local business connects people and community. shifts their thinking”. Sari Steuber, Transition Town Media What is a Free Store? The FreeStore opened June 1, Impacts and legacy 2014. People bring things they no Every day at the Store is full of longer need or want that would stories about how this approach otherwise go unused or end up affects people. One day a woman in a landfill, and other people came in with two small children, can then take it, without paying. clearly in distress, in the middle of In an annex rented from the local a court case to escape an abusive Methodist Church, visitors can partner. She had left the family help themselves to anything in home with nothing. “You mean I the shop, and also donate things can just have these plates? And for other people. For the group these glasses? These books for the it is a project, with over 20 active kids? Does this toaster work? Can volunteers, that connects people I have that too?” It was a lifeline and shifts their thinking. “People when she most needed one. Every talk to each other differently in day brings stories like this. the Store”, they say. It’s a place where every day While a Free Store helps those in synchronicities occur. People need, it is not a charity and feels find the lid to a pan they love completely different from the that has been lidless for 30 years. nearby Food Bank, where giving People make new friends. People is a one-way street. The Free Store experience what its co-ordinators is a place for community call “a compassion-building exchange, where people can exercise”. facebook posts from relax and have conversations. the free store include: Volunteers talk about the delight Outcomes of the moments when the • 85 volunteers “Thanks for the free uninitiated come to the counter • 4,000 Facebook followers to ask how much something costs, canvas. Made my own and are told it’s free. • open 5 days, 23-33 hours/week (fewer in winter) masterpiece lol” The Free Store grew out of a Swap • 2 hour shifts, 2 persons per shift “BIG thanks to the Group organised by Transition • in past year, over $8,000 was put Town Media, an online space into the Free Store’s donation person that donated where people could offer things jar which more than covered this acupuncture mat. for free. The group found that of their expenses for the year. all their projects it had the biggest I use it to help my reach, connecting many people in chronic pain”. new ways.

56 21 Stories of Transition Photo: Emma Medina-Castrejon Transition Town Media’s Free Store A shop where everything’s free? How might that bring a community together, and how might it shift attitudes towards consumerism?

12.21 Stories of Transition 57 Challenges and group culture Opening a Free Store is not without its challenges. While for many people a sharing, Message for COP21 collaborative culture feels natural and exciting, for others it can raise Please keep in mind that people want to feelings of discomfort. A Free Store is a place where people came “do the right thing. They want to do things that face to face with their unconscious help each other. Programmes to tackle climate assumptions about ‘stuff’, about change should be inclusive, promoting self help, value, and about their own attachments. According to Julie, spontaneity, an improvisational approach. a volunteer at the Store, managing Come and volunteer at the free store. Dust some people who abuse the system, and shelves, flatten some cardboard. Another world whose experience of consumption is rooted in scarcity and fear, can is possible, it just takes some imagination. be a real challenge, as well as And some funding would be nice! an opportunity for discussion Sari Steuber, Transition Town Media and insight. Transition Town Media’s Core Group pay a lot of attention to strategies for managing their, and their volunteers’, burnout. Their meetings use Check-ins at the start of meetings, and other strategies for good communication, as well as alternating between Doing (task-focused) and Being (process-focused) meetings. They recognise that the volunteers at the Free Store also need strategies for burnout, and plan to bring those Core Group tools to the Free Store group.

Legacy Organisers tell of a very conventional, later middle-aged suburban woman whose hair dryer broke. She told staff at the Free Store, “the ‘old me’ would have gone out and bought 2 new ones. The ‘new me’ is in here A Typical Day in asking if anyone has one”. Free the Free Store. Stores have also emerged in Transition communities from Not as busy Berlin in Germany to Crediton in as some but a England, and they are spreading. In a world where people volunteer at increasingly measure their identity the desk, people in the context of their relationships to consumer goods, we may be shopping, people seeing a lot more Free Shops. chatting, etc. Photo: Emma Medina-Castrejon (taken by cell phone)

58 21 Stories of Transition Aardehuis (Earth House) Project Olst A key way Transition groups can increase their impact is by working in partnership with other groups or projects. Aardehuizen Project is a great example of that. 13.

Photos: (Top) Vereniging Aardehuis (Bottom) Marjanne van Arendonk 21 Stories of Transition 59 1,500 people have worked on the scheme as volunteers, and it is regularly visited by organisations, businesses, other municipalities Message for COP21 and nascent ecovillage groups. Many of those then leave with It’s high time building regulations and ideas for other projects, what Paul Hendriksen, who is involved in “building education reflected the urgency both TTD and Aardehuis calls a for zero carbon building and housing! “ripple effect”. Paul Hendriksen, Transition Town Deventer The Aardehuizen Project, as well as creating beautiful ecological homes, has also spawned several spin-offs: • The bulk-buying of solar panels for the scheme was opened to Working in partnership local people, so over 80 homes Group: Transition Town The initiative began life two in Olst now have solar energy Deventer, the Netherlands. years before Transition Town • The local economy has been Local population: 98,510 Deventer (TTD) became a reality, boosted due to the construction Group started: 2008 but the two projects have been work Other projects: Repair intertwined since then. After • A collective of eco-carpenters Cafes, Inner Transition group, a long search for a site, land has been formed Edible Deventer group (local was found in the neighbouring • Thanks to the trust built up food security projects and municipality of Olst, and a with the Municipality, the events) community energy partnership was formed between group has been invited to take company, ‘Groene Golf’ the Municipality, a social housing over a hectare of ground close (Green Wave), a centre - with provider (who financed the to Aardehuis to create an 97,000 square metres of building of 3 of the homes), a edible landscape recycling company (who provided grounds - a hub for practical • There will soon be a public sustainability and local recycled building materials) and the ecovillage group themselves. natural play area near resilience, REconomy events. the project TTD played a central role in • Another eco-cohousing project partnering with the project, for has been set up in Olst and will start building soon About the project example they have: The Aadehuizen Project is a • Organised information events • In 2012, thanks to the project housing development of 23 houses about the project Olst has won the regional and a Community Building, the • Used their extensive networks contest ‘Most sustainable first ecovillage project in the to generate interest in and village’. Netherlands. The original idea support for the project was for them all to be Earthships Outcomes • Run workshops on rocket (buildings with walls made mass heaters • Build time - 4½ years from tyres packed with rammed • Brought facilitation and • Built by 40 residents and 1,500 earth), but after 12 were built, volunteers from 27 countries they switched to straw bale walls, group skills to help the project’s given the labour-intensive nature meetings and organisational • Total cost €5 million of Earthship construction. Most culture • Most building materials from of the materials used in the • The Aardehuis Project has within 50km of the site construction were sourced from operated as TTD’s ‘Sustainable • 100% of energy needs within 50 kilometres, including Building & Cohousing Group’. met onsite. reclaimed materials such as tyres and scrap wood, as well as Achievements and legacy straw, cob and earth plasters. The The development has been a huge building work was completed success, and an inspiration to during the summer of 2015. many thousands of people. Over

60 21 Stories of Transition Photos: Vereniging Aardehuis 21 Stories of Transition 61 Volunteers building an “Earthship” wall (tyres packed with subsoil). 62Photo: 21 Vereniging Stories of Aardhuis Transition 21 Stories of Transition 63 Group: Billinge & Orrell Transition, England. Local population: c. 10,000 Group started: 2009 Other projects: Billinge 14. & Orrell Renewable Energy Hub (BORE), Billinge & Greenslate Orrell Allotment & Gardening Association, a Community Builder’s Yard, Upcycling Community Farm Point and Toolbank, Community Bakery A formerly derelict farm & Community Grocery. is being transformed Background into a community farm, Billinge and Orrell in Transition began in 2009 as an offshoot of providing a meeting place, the now largely dormant Wigan Transition Town. It’s a suburb caring services, an incubator of Wigan with a population of about 10,000 which has, over for social enterprises, good the last 40 years, changed from being semi rural to now being food and so much more. semi urban. It has gone from 4 butchers, 3 greengrocers and 4 bakeries to now just 1 butcher and a Cooperative supermarket. As Mandy Wellens-Bray, one of the group’s founders put it:

“It had become more of a commuter place. I could see the community fragmenting, people turning their backs on each other. They don’t talk the same anymore. I could feel the community going, and I felt we needed to step in”.

About the project The group have done many of the kinds of things Transition

64 21 Stories of Transition Message for COP21 As communities and individuals, we can change “the world. Just give us the opportunity. Put the opportunities in local people’s hands. Mandy Wellens-Bray, Billinge & Orrell Transition groups do, such as Seed Swaps have also spun off from the farm, from the local community as and starting new allotments. The a community energy company, well as those from the Recovery group also had their eyes on a vegan catering wagon and a Partnership, people recovering 30 acre farm owned by the local charcoal maker. from drug and alcohol addictions. Council which had stood empty They are also looking into the and neglected for 20 years. It Billinge & Orrell in Transition felt creation of genuinely affordable took 4 years of what Mandy calls strongly that their success would housing in an area where there “nagging” to persuade the Council depend on the creation of a Hub, is very little. In 2016 the group to finally make the site available a place where people could meet. plans to host a regional REconomy to the community using an Asset Now it exists. “People come, they gathering, in order to continue Transfer and a 25 year lease, as relax, they have conversations, promoting a wider culture of well as to provide them with set-up they say ‘wouldn’t it be great if...’ entrepreneurship in the area. funding. Greenslate Farm was born. and that’s where change starts”, Mandy says. Challenges and group culture With the Council closing many As a group which combines of the care services it formerly “It’s the thing that has volunteers and paid staff, burnout provided, Greenslate Farm was blown us away with this is always a risk, and balancing imagined as a ‘Care Farm’, which project. People come time and energy well is vital. led to funding from Wigan Council down at weekends, during The group found Transition via their Community Investment the week, and they are just Network’s Health Check3 very Fund (The Deal) and UnLtd, thrilled to get stuck in. useful, and are arranging providing a range of services The amount you can do with “nurturing swaps” with other local to people in need, from those volunteers is amazing”. groups, where they visit each other recovering from addictions to Mandy Wellens-Bray to be supported and taken care of. adults with additional needs. Monthly meetings are informal, A range of therapeutic activities Outcomes starting with a Check-In and are laid on at the farm which, • 7350 volunteer hours during including shared food. in part, cross subsidise other first 8 months aspects of the farm, such as the “This is fantastic. I would market garden. • £575,574 in grant funding never want to leave the support from various agencies area now. I just know that Impacts and funders. if anything goes wrong in The 30 acre farm was neglected, my life, doesn’t matter what covered in nettles and thistles, so Looking forward it is, there are now so many first arrivals were 6 large black pigs Future plans include a new, people I can turn to, to help who cleared land for 40 allotments L-shaped, load-bearing strawbale me get through the bad and a market garden. 18 acres building which will be host to a times. I just love coming of former barley field are now a professional kitchen, a community down here, the difference regenerating woodland which is bakery, a cafe, a shop area and a it gives from my normal being coppiced and infilled with dairy as well as two small offices. working life...”. new plantings. A polytunnel has Funding is now in place from Greenslate Farm volunteer gone up. Old farm buildings have Public Health England and Power been repurposed, and there is now to Change (a Big Lottery funding a schoolroom and a shop onsite. stream), and work will start soon. It will be built by volunteers Several other social enterprises 3 See http://www.transitionnetwork.org blogs/rob-hopkins/2015-02/have-you- done-transition-health-check-yet

21 Stories of Transition 65 Sébastien, “they recognised it as “We took the opportunity to turn a good idea, but we had to get all the blocks into something nice. the paperwork done, and then the But we don’t see them any more committees and their processes close to the garden. They’ve took a year and a half”. moved on”.

The garden was designed with The Potager has become an the Neighbourhood Committee attractor for social activity. and an architect, to include “From the first day people stop to 13 raised beds within a fenced ask questions, to have discussions”, area. Materials were gathered Sébastien continues. The group from across the city, and the are clear that they see the Potager municipality provided the as the first of many. They are compost. Over two weekends, already collecting names of other residents came out and built families or individuals who would Group: 1000 Bruxelles en the garden. Each of the beds is like to garden one of them, and Transition, Brussels, Belgium. managed by a different family. when they have thirteen, they’ll Local population: 1000 start another garden. Bruxelles: 177,000, Alhambra According to Sébastien: c.10,000 “Each family with a bed decides Outcomes Group started: 2013 what goes into it. We have 13 beds • 10 very active people Other projects: Repair Cafes, and 13 different ways of thinking regular film screenings, about gardening - 13 different • big meetings attract 20-30, Free Market (Gratiferia) styles in each garden. Some in a for some events 200-300 line, others in a big mess, some • on Facebook the group have flowers, some vegetables, all super 2000 friends. different. There are only 2 rules: Background you can’t already have a garden “Could we have done this Alhambra is a neighbourhood somewhere else, and you can’t use project before Transition in the centre of Brussels. Its pesticides”. came into our lives? I don’t population tends to be ex pats and think we would. It’s one tourists, although there are some Impacts and legacy year and a half we’ve Belgians too. It is an area that has The garden has had a big impact all been talking about suffered for years from being a red on the people living in the Transition almost every light district, with prostitution an neighbourhood too. Previously, week, and it’s very quickly unwelcome fact of life for local children couldn’t play in the changed a lot of things in residents: with kerb crawling and street, but now within a few our lives. For me, I stopped some of the other unpleasant minutes of someone starting to working a full week and things that go with that. “It’s not a work in the garden they are joined now work three and a half place you’d walk, and if you had to, by a few kids wanting to help out days a week. I would never you wouldn’t stop”, says Sébastien and to chat. And what about the have done that if I was not Mathieu, one of the group’s prostitutes who frequented the thinking about Transition founders. area? “The garden has never been and about the future”. about being against the girls”, says Sébastien Mathieu About the project Sébastien. In 2014, the local municipality decided that in an effort to stop kerb crawlers, they would block off some streets in the middle, preventing people from driving through them, forcing them instead to get out and walk. In some streets, the blocks were just Message for COP21 ugly blocks, and the 1000 Bruxelles en Transition group felt they We are ready for change. We have already could do better. So they began “ started it where we live in our neighbourhoods, a discussion with their public officials about making a garden and it’s great! instead. “The ‘yes’ came fast”, says Sébastien Mathieu, 1000 Bruxelles en Transition

66 21 Stories of Transition 15. Potager Alhambra A Brussels neighbourhood experiencing the daily impacts of being a red light district responds by creating a new food garden!

Photos (Top): Julien Bernard (Bottom): Bernard De Keyzer 21 Stories of Transition 67 68 21 Stories of Transition “It changed the street enormously because before it was never a street that you would walk by or stop in, and now I get to stop here and spend several hours a week taking care of my little plot of land. And even for the people who are not part of the group, it changed the perception of what a neighbourhood is. We see a lot more people smiling and stopping by to chat and spend some time here”. Sébastien Mathieu, 1000 Bruxelles en Transition

Photo: Rob Hopkins

21 Stories of Transition 69 16. Les Compagnons de la Terre In LiÈge, new local food enterprises are being considered in their wider context, that of a ‘Food Belt’ around the city, a joined-up learning network of microfarms.

Group: Liège en Transition, Belgium. Local population: c. 195,576 Group started: 2011 Other projects: Le Valeureux – a local currency scheme, Ceinture Aliment-terre (‘Food Belt’), a market stall, food purchasing groups.

Background Liège en Transition kicked off in November 2011, and Christian Jonet, one of its founders, recalls that the amount of interest at that point was “nearly overwhelming”. Several groups emerged, and projects started getting under way. “The food group began by visiting each other’s gardens”, says Christian, “but soon some of us began to get more ambitious in

70 21 Stories of Transition 16.

All photos (these and following pages): Liège en Transition

terms of the kind of change we Working with a number of partner studied. A pilot project of wanted to bring about”. organisations, Ceinture Aliment- Ceinture Aliment-terre, the new terre began with a huge launch cooperative Les Compagnons About the project event, supported by the Regional de la terre (‘Companions of the And so Ceinture Aliment-terre Government. The event asked Earth’) has created two food was born (French for “food belt”). the question “how do we manage, gardens. One, at Ecotopia, a 10 It recognised that meaningful in 25-30 years, to transform the acre (4 hectare) site on the edge change, on the scale of Liege, local food system to make it more of the city, already home to a needed to be systemic change, democratic, local and ecological?” group of artists, a Montessori and that required thinking Two strands to its work were Nursery School and a Community more entrepreneurially and identified, firstly creating Supported Agriculture scheme, professionally. In a city with “new intelligences” around is already providing enough food a long heritage of industry food production, new models for vegetable boxes for 40 families and steel production, much of and thinking, and secondly a week. A second garden, at a the land within the city is too creating real projects and new small ecological and pedagogical contaminated for growing food, infrastructure on the ground. farm, is also underway. At present so the idea was to reconnect the both are run by volunteers, but city with its peri-urban land, and Achievements and legacy by the beginning of 2016 the to use a revitalisation of local Several new enterprises are cooperative plans to have created food production to reimagine the already emerging, one growing 3 paid jobs. The project brings in local economy. The region has mushrooms on coffee grounds, a steady flow of volunteers who lost many of its small producers one producing seeds, and the haven’t previously been involved in recent years as intensive launch of a collaborative shop in Transition. In 2016, they plan to agriculture has grown. run by its members is being add a 74 acre (30 hectare) site too.

21 Stories of Transition 71 Their aim is to create 20 quality local jobs within 5 years, a model which, if replicable across the region of Wallonia, could create 44,000 jobs. This could generate €3.9 billion by feeding 3.5 million people on one third of the area’s agricultural land.

Future plans Les Compagnons de la Terre are nothing if not ambitious. Inspired by Vin de Liège, a co-operative which raised €2 million in shares to start a vineyard, the group have just launched their own “call for citizen investment”. Each share costs €250. If they reach €100,000 by the time of COP21, their regional government will double the amount. “You need to be ambitious”, Christian says, “we are happy to have big ambitions, to raise great hopes, because we want to make big change”. By July 2015 they had already sold €50,000 worth.

Their vision is for Liège to be surrounded by microfarms of 3-4 hectares (8-10 acres), creating many jobs. Being extremely democratic, the structure was conceived in a way that it cannot be sold to a corporate buyout, but rather is retained for the common good. Les Compagnons de la Terre feels like the beginning of something very remarkable.

72 21 Stories of Transition 21 Stories of Transition 73 Message for COP21 We need to move beyond the idea that there is, as Margaret “Thatcher put it, “no alternative”. We want to show that the alternative can be serious, professional, and a real substitute to the economic model that exists now. This can create jobs and it can feed people. Christian Jonet, Liège en Transition Photo: Liège en Transition

74 21 Stories of Transition 21 Stories of Transition 75 Photos: Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes Harvesting Rainwater in São Paulo Residents of two very different neighbourhoods come together to learn to safely harvest, filter and store rainwater in the face of the worst drought on record.

76 21 Stories of Transition 17. one too. Since most residents water tanks aren’t closed Groups: Transition in Brasilândia don’t have many properly, mosquitos lay Brasilândia and Transition material possessions they got their eggs on the water Granja Viana, São Paulo, creative and offered services for which encourages the Brazil. things instead e.g. a massage in spread of dengue. That’s Local populations: exchange for some seedlings. why here in São Paulo, we Brasilândia (c.266,000), Back in July 2014, when Brazil now have a dengue fever Granja Viana (c.50,000) was still hurting from the World epidemic”. Groups started: Brasilândia Cup, many people (outside the Isabela de Menezes, Transition 2010, Granja Viana 2009 mainstream media) were talking Granja Viana Other projects: Water and about an urgent need to tackle the Preservation group, Zero imminent water shortage crisis. For Isabela, the time was ripe to Waste, Barter Fair, Food Isabela decided to speak to all her do something about it, to start security group, Sustainably neighbours to make them aware of running workshops. The first two Health group, Art and Culture the crisis and to share knowledge ran in November 2014 in both group, Group of Urban about the importance of Granja Viana and Brasilândia Forest people (Brasilândia): storing rainwater. and were led by Professor EcoFeira (weekly market Edison Urbano who has created of local and organic food), This was not always an easy task a system which safely filters AUescambAU (Barter fair), in her neighbourhood as all the and stores rainwater straight CinePapo (cinema, popcorn homes have internal water storage from the roof. Soon, Isabela’s and socialising), Caronetas tanks and many did not see the husband Guilherme also learnt da Granja (car sharing), ‘My water crisis as an urgent cause how to assemble these systems waste is my business’ group, for concern. Her intention was to and started assisting friends and spicing your memories change people’s perceptions of neighbours and being part of group, Our Daily Bread group water – that fresh water is a finite the workshops. (Granja Viana). and vulnerable resource, that it’s much better to reduce the use “Brasilândia is very creative. of fresh water by using captured They have this amazing rainwater for things which don’t capacity to do things their Background require pure water such as own way, to manage and São Paulo is a city suffering from washing the floor, watering the adapt things to their own a chronic water crisis, what some plants etc. environment. Transition are calling “hydric collapse” as Brasilândia continues the city experiences a record three Life in Brasilândia was very to change and evolve year low in rainfall, with 2014 different, with residents because sometimes group being a record-breaking drought. sometimes going without water members get a better job And due to deforestation around for up to ten days. In the favelas, their financial position the city, when it does rain, it can very few of the homes have water changes and they leave for turn into violent torrents that storage facilities. People get their another neighbourhood. end up not filling reservoirs but water direct from the pipes so if no Old members leave and new causing other problems. This has water is flowing through the pipes ones come in – this also made life for people in the city then they simply go without. As a keeps them creative!” extremely difficult. Brasilândia result, many people in Brasilândia Isabela de Menezes, is well known as a favela (slum) took matters into their own hands Transition Granja Viana whilst Granja Viana is a middle/ by building their own water upper class area. These two very collection systems but these did Impacts and legacy different neighbourhoods within not filter or close the water tank After the success of these São Paulo (population c.12 properly and as a result many workshops, more have taken million) are home to two sister people were getting seriously sick place and more are planned. On Transition groups. with dengue fever and Isabela’s street in Granja Viana, other illnesses. nearly every house now has a About the project water harvesting system. The Isabela de Menezes of Transition “People were getting dengue street has become a test pilot Granja Viana (TGV) says this fever and other diseases which has now spread to other relationship with Brasilândia because they were storing streets in the neighbourhood. came about after residents there water without filtering The next workshop, which is heard about the TGV Barter/ it first, without the right being run in partnership with The Exchange Fair and wanted to do knowledge. In addition, if Rotary Club, will install a system 17. 21 Stories of Transition 77 hands-on rainwater harvesting workshop run by transition Granja viana. Photos (this page and next): Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes

78 21 Stories of Transition in a local school. The plan is then Resources Institute and Transition to roll this out to all the schools Brazil) is in the final planning/ in Granja Viana. They have also fund raising stage for a Brasilândia invited builders, developers and test pilot project which will enable contractors to the workshop so at least 30 residents to attend Message for COP21 that they can take the ideas away workshops and then generate and replicate them in their own income via installation and communities. maintenance services. The impact Our main message of the project will be monitored “is that water falls In Brasilândia, a water harvesting and evaluated through indicators from the sky and it’s system has been installed in a and continuous contact with the FREE. It’s terrible that community centre. In the height of community. Project results will summer when there was no water be published as a first step to the country doesn’t flowing to their homes, Noêmia, development of an Adaptation use this resource. We the centre’s leader witnessed Project Manual in Urban would show them how many children going to the centre Communities in Brazil. to take a bath! poor houses and Overall the aim is to reduce the middle class houses A project and funding proposal community’s vulnerability and and upper class in conjunction with six partner increase their capacity to adapt to organisations (including World a water crisis. houses can learn the importance of this resource and use it in a positive way. And also how beautiful and creative we can make it. Isabela de Menezes, Transition Granja Viana

21 Stories of Transition 79 callum of margosa cooking his sri lankan curry. Photo: Karen Jones

Group: Crystal Palace Transition Town, London, England. Local population: 12,432 Group started: 2011 Other projects: Patchwork Farm, the Palace Pint, Palace Trees, Palace Preserves, 7 community gardens including the award-winning Westow Park, Palace Power, Local and Fairtrade, Bugs Club, Handmade Palace, Palace Pick-up, Transition Kids, Transition Babies, Green Drinks, Skillshares, Group bike commutes.

Background A question arose at Crystal Palace Transition Town’s (CPTT) 2012 AGM. “How could we bring more local and sustainable food into Crystal Palace?” From the subsequent discussion, the idea of a food market was mooted, and Karen Jones and Laura Marchant-Short, supported initially by Rachel de Thample and Joe Duggan, stepped up to try and make it happen. For the first 18. year they held weekly planning Crystal Palace meetings and conversations about how the market should be, and visited other markets. One of those was the Growing food Market Communities market in Hackney, one of their key inspirations. They An award-winning urban food talked to founder Kerry Rankine who has run it for 10 years. market which “stands as a As Karen tells it: “She said ‘you do know you have powerful reminder about what to be mad to do this?’ She looked me in the face, and said, ‘hmm, can happen when people dare to yes, you do look mad enough’. put a dream into reality”. She asked us four questions which

80 21 Stories of Transition we now tell everyone who asks us They now both earn the London “It’s like your local pub. how to start a market like this: 1) Living Wage for their work on the You come here on a Saturday “Who are you going to do it with?” market. and you always know you’re 2) “What do your community going to see someone think?” 3) “What networks are Traders pay 10% of what they you know and want to talk you part of?” 4) “What are your take, calculated on a trust basis. to. It’s the highlight of my principles?”” As Laura puts it, “there’s always a week. Last year I was made way to work with people, because redundant, and this was The principles the market was we want people to succeed”. 13 my lifeblood, being more founded on are: new enterprises have begun involved, putting in more • supporting small because of the market, and volunteer hours with the sustainable farmers Laura and Karen often provide stall and with the gardens”. mentoring and support to traders. Robyn, The Patchwork Farm • supporting local food This is a fundamental part of the producers culture of the market. The market has a number of • promoting local growing anchor businesses who are • promoting community “You have to be clear what there every week: meat, fish, 3 • creating local employment. you are from the start vegetable & fruit sellers, a baker, and you have to be bloody the Grain Grocer (see the Lambeth minded and support LEF story), local cheese, british Through contacts in the CPTT each other and your stall charcuterie, raw organic dairy, a group, a site was offered by the holders. We will fight for local deli, herbs and bee friendly owners of a local recording studio/ our stallholders. Once plants, as well as Handmade cafe and an existing second-hand you’re in here you’re part Palace & the Patchwork Farm market, which was decided to be of a family. We fiercely look (see pages 84-85). Handmade perfect. Laura and Karen didn’t after each other”. Palace gives local artists (15 need to go looking for businesses, Laura Marchant-Short each week) the chance to sell the initial stallholders approached their creations in exchange for them, drawn by the market’s just a 10% commission. The rest clear principles. All the farms As Karen puts it: “People are used of the stalls rotate, so as to give supported are either organic to not being helped. People are more businesses the chance to or biodynamic, and local food used to people saying “no you participate, including community businesses commit to moving can’t do that”, and making people stalls, alcohol, cakes, gluten “towards organic” over time. feel bad for some reason. We don’t make people feel bad. If free produce, street food, pasta, condiments, organic beauty/ The market opened on May 11th they’re scared, we’ll sit with them health products. 2013. On the day, as Laura puts it, and help them. People have these “we were so scared, and we were funny blocks in their heads. What run ragged”. It started well, but they need is someone to hold their “We want the children in then over following weeks, takings hand through the blocks. Then our community to grow began to fall away. It was tough you watch people blossom”. up thinking this is normal. but they stuck with it, the traders There are three year olds stuck with them, and then the Ongoing challenges included walking around the market takings began to rise. Laura and managing windy days, and like they own the place, and Karen worked as volunteers for managing those who didn’t like they do! They have never the first year, an approach which the idea of an organic market. But known anything different. was clearly unsustainable. “We they have persisted, running the It only takes a generation to were working all hours to run the market every week whatever the make a change”. market, but I couldn’t afford to weather. And they’ve found that Laura Marchant-Short buy anything at it!” Laura recalls. people turn out in any weather.

21 Stories of Transition 81 Group culture and managing burnout Given that organising a market can be stressful and exhausting, what kind of support do Karen and Laura get? How do they manage the risk of burnout? “At the end of each market we sit and talk to each trader when they come to pay. We ask “how did it go for you?” We listen to their stories. Then we go and sit and have a cider and discuss the day”. Support comes from many directions. As Laura puts it, “the community loves us, they are so pleased with it. We also have the whole of Transition Town, this big network of people”. Transition Town Crystal Palace meetings make use of a number of Inner Transition tools such as Check-Ins and affirmations which celebrate what different people in the group have done.

“I live 4 minutes away. This is my community. I buy my flour from 37 miles away, how local do you want it? I like to keep it local. Local, local all the way”. Chas of Chas & Momo Artisan Bread Bakers

Achievements and legacy The quality of what they Message for COP21 have produced has not gone unrecognised. They were awarded Encourage people to take the initiative Time Out magazine’s ‘Locals’ “and give them the tools to do so. You might Choice’ award in 2014, and were runners up in the BBC Good Food be surprised what they can achieve. It is possible Awards in 2015, as well as being to create bottom up infrastructure that can recently named as ‘Best Market in the UK’ by loveFOOD. deliver locally sourced sustainable food on a significant scale. Over the long term, we can make changes that can have significant impact on the carbon footprint of food in an area. We are doing what we can. Are you? Karen Jones and Laura Marchant-Short, Crystal Palace Transition Town

82 21 Stories of Transition kate wilkinson, local resident and glasshouse manager at chelsea physic garden, running a workshop on potting seedlings at the patchwork farm stall.

Photos: (this page) Guy Milnes, (next page) Patchwork Farm map: Ursula McLaughlin

21 Stories of Transition 83 Hill 34 35 The

patchwork farm Wood 23 Mayow Road 30

Gipsy Hill Sydenham Road Sydenham Road Westwood

Gipsy Farquhar

Crystal Palace Hill 31 Norwood Park Park Road 37 Road Seasonal Salters Hill local produce Dale Crown Central Crystal Palace Park from SE19 & The market has also enabled 2 1 Crystal apples Palace CPTT to build many connections Crystal Palace Parade very nearby Hill Park Museum and partnerships. For example, Rockmount Primary Lunham Rd WestowWestow Street Hill aloe vera School waste food from the market goes 39 M Anerley Hill 36 i

The l 12

3 e to the Salvation Army lunch club, Pytchley 4 Triangle 10 Chevening Stone Rd apple chutney 42 Haynes and a weekly collection for the Orleans Lane 38 9 Cres Upper NorwoodRockmount Rd 11 v High Street local Food Bank has resulted in Rec Ground Rd Road Park A Rd 28 5 Road half a tonne of food being donated bramley apples wardine Park 8 Pleydell Hermitage Rd Bed 24 Orchard 20 Cintra 32 Rd so far. And what of the future? Are 29 Westow Park Belvedere Rd Thicket Road they planning to franchise the cabbage Beulah 25 Anerly Beckenham Tudor Rd market, expand it across London? Fox 13 Hill 19 Karen says no. “This is just the courgette seedlings Hill Anerley right size as it is now. Of course 40 Hamlet Rd Rd 14 41 there’s always change, but at the herbs and salad Waddington6 Church Mowbray Rd heart of it, we’re looking after our berly 18 Booth 26 William May own community. We want to sweetcorn seedlings 7 Way Road Rd. Beulah 15 stay sane!” Spa Hill Sylvan Spa Hill Road 17 Road quinces Allotments Road Garden Rd 16 Outcomes Auckland 33 • Turnover: Weekly spend is Cres wild garlic m Spa Cl a 21 h s

now around £10,000, meaning e h that £510,000 is spent on local C 22 27 Chesham Rd food, much of it organic, in Croydon Crystal Palace each year • Started with 12 stalls, now 1 The Permaculture garden 9 Karolina’s garden 16 St John the Evangelist 25 Sarah’s garden 34 Paula’s garden have 23 2 Rachel’s windowboxes 10 Grape & Grain tipsy garden 17 James Dixon Primary School 26 Vanessa’s garden 35 Eve’s garden • 13 new business startups 3 Rockmount Primary School 11 Kalina’s garden 18 Laura’s front garden 27 Tim’s garden 36 Sue’s garden • 14 farms are supported by the market. 4 Crystal Palace food market 12 Crystal Palace Park Museum 19 Mehul’s garden 28 Malcolm’s garden 37 Norwood Park 5 Anne’s front garden 13 Karen’s garden 20 Clare’s window box 29 Imran’s garden 38 The Little Escape

6 Laura’s garden 14 Maberley Road allotments: 21 Jean’s allotment patch 30 Lorraine’s garden 39 Antenna Cafe Khoria 7 Spa Hill allotments: Adrian 22 Winsford Gardens 31 Lyn’s garden 40 Vanessa’s garden Ambrose Bob Brown The Conrad Family 23 Sydenham Garden Resource Centre 32 Maureen’s garden 41 Fiona’s garden 15 Mark’s garden 8 Edible garden 24 Sylvia’s back garden 33 Renae’s garden 42 Caroline's garden

84 21 Stories of Transition Hill 34 35 The patchwork farm Wood 23 Mayow Road 30

Gipsy Hill Sydenham Road Sydenham Road Westwood

Gipsy Farquhar

Crystal Palace Hill 31 Norwood Park Park Road 37 Road Seasonal Salters Hill local produce Dale Crown Central Crystal Palace Park from SE19 & 2 1 Crystal apples Palace Crystal Palace Parade very nearby Hill Park Museum Rockmount Primary Lunham Rd WestowWestow Street Hill aloe vera School 39 M Anerley Hill 36 i

The l 12

3 e Pytchley 4 Triangle 10 Chevening Stone Rd apple chutney 42 Haynes Orleans Lane 38 9 Cres Upper NorwoodRockmount Rd 11 v High Street Rec Ground Rd Road Park A Rd 28 5 Road bramley apples wardine Park 8 Pleydell Hermitage Rd Bed 24 Orchard 20 Cintra 32 Rd 29 Westow Park Belvedere Rd Thicket Road cabbage Beulah 25 Anerly Beckenham Tudor Rd Fox 13

Hill 19 courgette seedlings Hill Anerley

40 Hamlet Rd Rd 14 41 herbs and salad Waddington6 Church Mowbray Rd berly 18 Booth 26 William May sweetcorn seedlings 7 Way Road Rd. Beulah 15 Spa Hill Sylvan Spa Hill Road 17 Road quinces Allotments Road Garden Rd

Auckland 16 33 Cres wild garlic m Spa Cl a 21 h s

e h C 22 27 Chesham Rd Croydon

1 The Permaculture garden 9 Karolina’s garden 16 St John the Evangelist 25 Sarah’s garden 34 Paula’s garden

2 Rachel’s windowboxes 10 Grape & Grain tipsy garden 17 James Dixon Primary School 26 Vanessa’s garden 35 Eve’s garden

3 Rockmount Primary School 11 Kalina’s garden 18 Laura’s front garden 27 Tim’s garden 36 Sue’s garden

4 Crystal Palace food market 12 Crystal Palace Park Museum 19 Mehul’s garden 28 Malcolm’s garden 37 Norwood Park

5 Anne’s front garden 13 Karen’s garden 20 Clare’s window box 29 Imran’s garden 38 The Little Escape

6 Laura’s garden 14 Maberley Road allotments: 21 Jean’s allotment patch 30 Lorraine’s garden 39 Antenna Cafe Khoria 7 Spa Hill allotments: Adrian 22 Winsford Gardens 31 Lyn’s garden 40 Vanessa’s garden Ambrose Bob Brown The Conrad Family 23 Sydenham Garden Resource Centre 32 Maureen’s garden 41 Fiona’s garden 15 Mark’s garden 8 Edible garden 24 Sylvia’s back garden 33 Renae’s garden 42 Caroline's garden

21 Stories of Transition 85 Groups: Transition Newcastle, Transition Banyule (Melbourne), Transition Streets Kingston Pilot (Melbourne), Australia. Local population: 308,308 (Newcastle), 118,306 (Banyule, Melbourne), 151,686 (Kingston, Melbourne). Groups started: 2008 (Newcastle), 2009 (Banyule), 2014 (Kingston). Other projects: Transition Photo: Tricia Hogbin Newcastle: Nourishing Newcastle Urban Tucker Stall, Transition Newcastle Pantry, 19. Transition Newcastle Skills Hub, Fair Share Festival, film Transition Streets nights and other awareness raising events. Transition Banyule: Banyule Bike Communities in 2 Australian Train Tour, Banyule Edible Garden Tours, Banyule Urban cities support each other to cut Orchard, monthly veggie swaps and awareness carbon emissions, save money, raising events. and build community Background in unexpected ways. Transition Streets is a great example of what happens when you have an international network of thousands of groups around the world, and one group creates a great resource to share. In late 2010, Transition Town Totnes developed Transition Streets, which it describes as a “tried- and-tested, award-winning (it won the Ashden Award for Behaviour Change in 2011) behaviour-change project to cut energy use and strengthen your neighbourhood”.

Participants meet 7 times in each other’s homes, looking one week at energy, the next at food, then water and so on. In Totnes, 500 households got involved, on average cutting their carbon emissions by 1.3 tonnes and saving participants around £600 a year per household. In follow- up research, the most common benefit reported was feeling more connected to neighbours and to community.

86 21 Stories of Transition Photo: Karen Whitelaw The idea spread fast. There is now Melbourne, the national workbook beyond carbon. They have now a US version created by Transition was completed in early 2015. run it in another 6 streets and are US which is now being used in 12 Working together, the groups were preparing to expand it. communities. Transition Belgium each able to draw inspiration and created a French-language ideas from working together. “And you realise how version. It is also emerging in everybody’s trying to do Italy, France and Sweden, as well Impacts and legacy their best with what they’re as in individual communities In the evaluation of the initial pilot doing. And then you find elsewhere. The story of its in Newcastle, participants rated that someone’s doing this emergence in Australia offers a themselves more highly after the and that and, ‘Oh I haven’t useful insight into how Transition program than before it in terms thought of doing that. I spreads and grows. of their: should try that’”. • Understanding of sustainability Transition Streets participant, Working together Newcastle Melbourne and Newcastle are • Motivation to, and knowing 1000km apart, but have both how to, reduce their In Banyule, the group emailed played an active role in the environmental footprint their list and 60 people attended emergence of Transition Streets. • Relationships with an event to learn more, and of Transition Newcastle (New South their neighbours them, 58 signed up to take part. Wales) heard about Transition • Feeling part of a community Many of those people then went Streets and decided to create which is trying to become door knocking on their streets their own version, initially calling more sustainable. to try and gather interest. In it ‘Transition Streets Challenge’ the end, they decided that the but later dropped the ‘Challenge’ Transition Newcastle was highly best approach would be to bring part because feedback indicated commended (a runner up) for people together not as streets but some people felt it suggested Transition Streets at the 2013 NSW as neighbourhoods. competition. Their version of Sustainable City awards. They have Transition Streets was piloted on found that some of the impacts “Transition Streets has had an 5 streets and very well received. were not those anticipated. impact not only on people who are just learning about sustainability, Initially Transition Newcastle In one street, the relationship but also on people who have received some funding support between local residents and been involved for years. Many from their local Council for a student house on the street of the streets are inspired to take design and printing, and a local hadn’t been the easiest, the collective action such as a bicycle- water authority also helped out. students keeping different hours powered film night, a street garage Meanwhile, 1000km away in and having different ideas of sale, regular cooking afternoons Melbourne (Victoria), a resident acceptable noise levels. Transition and erecting scarecrows in a of Kingston (a suburb of the city) Streets brought them together, and shopping strip to promote local saw a screening of the film In one of the things that emerged food sources”. Transition 2.0, which included was that many residents felt mention of Transition Streets. vulnerable walking home at night, Inspired, he obtained a copy given that the area had high rates of the Totnes version and set of mugging and street crime. The about trying to adapt it to the students were able to play a more Australian context. He then found active role in keeping an eye out that Transition Newcastle had for people, who were then able to already created a local version feel safer. and were thinking about how to make it more widely available. He As one participant wrote, “an also discovered that Transition overall sense of safety was Banyule, also in Melbourne, were created… in one instance the interested in Transition Streets. students ran out of the house Photo: Graeme Stuart Rather than work in isolation, they to protect a neighbour who was decided to share their experience about to be assaulted”. It’s the Challenges and group culture in order to create a generic kind of unexpected spinoff that Running Transition Streets Australian version. can arise from the simple act of in both places has not been getting neighbours to sit down and without its challenges. Trying Created collaboratively by meet each other which Transition to recruit people to do it has Transitioners in Newcastle and does so well. Spinoffs that go way been tricky, with the approach of

21 Stories of Transition 87 doorknocking being problematic, funding was used to pay a skilled and it being difficult to frame the facilitator, enabling the facilitator invitation in a culture with high to work with those convening levels of climate scepticism. In Streets groups, supporting them in suburban areas there is often a how to run and group, how to deal Message for COP21 very individualistic culture, people with difficult people and so on. don’t tend to have much to do Many found this very useful. with their neighbours. The groups Convenors also met each other as “It’s time. We cannot in Melbourne and Newcastle are a kind of support group, to share “keep leaving our taking a pragmatic approach to challenges and issues and to offer children to respond spreading Transition Streets. each other support. to the challenges of Reflecting on its future direction The Australian version of climate change. It’s Graeme Stuart of Transition Transition Streets is being made time to stop worrying Newcastle suggests: “Hang in freely available through a Creative about short-term there and let it go where it wants Commons licence. “It’s not a good to go. We’re looking at changing business model”, says Graeme, interests and to start from how it was originally “but it’s much more consistent focusing on long-term envisaged, to using it in schools, with our values!” impacts. It’s time to and various other settings. It’s about keeping going and show real leadership being willing to adapt and to in the transition to give things a go”. Another a low carbon, more challenge has been supporting those people facilitating the sustainable future”. groups, to prevent burnout. In Graeme Stuart, Banyule, part of the Council’s Transition Newcastle

learning breadmaking through transition streets. Photo: Graeme Stuart

88 21 Stories of Transition the watson street transition Streets group creating a new garden. Photo: Graeme Stuart

21 Stories of Transition 89 20. Scaling up Transition in Peterborough What kind of thinking and processes might enable a community Transition initiative to really scale up Its impact? celebrating the purple onion at the purple onion festival. Photo: Transition Peterborouh

90 21 Stories of Transition Message for COP21 Localise as much of your economy, as fast as “you can. It cuts your carbon footprint in food, it supports continued business in your community, you build community resilience and strength with people helping each other, communicating with each other. You change peoples’ thinking, so that they think more locally, they act more locally. This may fly in the face of what economists want to hear about growth but it’s absolutely necessary in these transition times. Cheryl Lyon, Transition Town Peterborough

keep your economy running and Embedding local money: Group: Transition Town people employed in the delivery of Approaching the City Council Peterborough, Canada. your essentials of life, you cannot to see if they might take over Local population: 78,698. adapt to climate change and you running of the local currency Group started: 2007 won’t have a resilient community. the Kawartha Loon, accepted by Other projects: Kawartha For example, building local food more than 110 businesses. At Loon (local currency), Purple security creates more jobs and the moment it is backed by the Onion Festival, Dandelion cuts carbon emissions”. $60,000 thus far exchanged for Day, Greenzine, Transition The group’s magazine, ‘Greenzine’, the currency. If it were backed Skills Forum, 25% Shift Local now in its seventh year, is by the City’s estimated $30 Food Taskforce, Local Food distributed to 5,000 households million deposits, the reach and Month. from 50 distribution outlets across impact of the scheme would the greater Peterborough area. increase hugely. Self-funded by advertising, it enables Transition thinking The 25% Local Food Shift: Background and ideas to reach a wider cross- Working with students of the two Like many Transition, and other section of the community. All of local post-secondary institutions changemaking initiatives around TTP’s projects, from their very and a number of not-for-profit the world, Transition Town popular annual ‘Purple Onion partners, including Farms Peterborough (TTP) has been Festival’, to Local Food Month at Work, TTP has published giving some serious thought to and the Transition Skills Forum, research showing that a 25% how it might scale up its impacts are about broadening the group’s shift in spending towards locally and its ambitions. As a group impact and appeal. produced food would benefit founded in 2007, but built on the local economy, in 10 years REconomy principles long before Steps to scaling up time, by $400 million Cdn a year. the term ‘REconomy’ was even TTP is focused on “changing ideas Having a robust economic case used, entrepreneurship has always and world views, and the creation hugely helps making the case for been at the heart of what they do. of practical demonstration intentional localisation As founder Fred Irwin puts it: projects”. But given the relatively small all-volunteer group, and Broadening the group’s “Our general thinking is that it’s their strong desire to scale up communications: Through so important to do the ecological their impacts, they have decided the Greenzine, the group is part, and the social part, both very it would be most skilful to focus always seeking ways to reach very important and intimately their energy on the following: more people. A recent shift connected. But unless you can in messaging “scale” in the

21 Stories of Transition 91 Greenzine was the move from a Buy Local publication in support of locally-owned businesses, to a consumer magazine with Living Locally as the theme printed on each page and with one quarterly edition dedicated to the adaptive changes required to Live Locally. The magazine is also carries a strong positive message, a sense of what could be achieved. As TTP’s Cheryl Lyon puts it, “we don’t want the catastrophe to do the work for us”

Reskilling: this is a very successful TTP initiative (in terms of reach). In its seventh year, the Transition Skills Forum

invites citizens to host sharing Photo: Transition Peterborough a broad range of resilient and adaptive skills e.g. bread-making, edible wild foods, green building Following the publication of TTP’s Group culture etc. The Forum has been run ‘25% Local Food Shift’ study, Other key elements of scaling up from the beginning as socially there was a major shift of focus are good group culture, and skilful inclusive pay-what-you-can in the City and County Economic hosting of volunteers. The group policy of $5 Cdn or KL’s (the Development Strategy, away from have mastered the art of Board local currency) and is sponsored trying to attract bigger businesses meetings that are fun, and which by the local Trent University’s into town and toward ‘building a also allow room for flexibility. As students’ sustainability local economy’. In spite of offering Cheryl puts it, “we support each association. no suggestion as to how it might other by living in ambiguity.” But achieve this, nor any money to the group recognises they could Scaling up does not aim at making support the work, for TTP, this bring more to embed some of TTP bigger but at having the shift in language signals a real the Inner Transition approaches message of transition through breakthrough. “We believe we to their work: “It’s something we the interrelated eco-social and definitely had an influence,” need to take more seriously”, economic impacts of climate says Fred. says Cheryl. change understood and acted upon in adaptive, positive and “We can start things and fail In terms of volunteers, each constructive ways throughout the like no other organisation Greenzine includes a very clear community and by many different can. We’re all about ask, inviting people to volunteer groups, not just TTP. entrepreneurship, but in very specific roles. For many we’re also about taking young people, being able to put Impacts and legacy risks that no-one else will such experiences on their CV The group’s approach is starting take. They first have to has done a lot in terms of making to have an impact. Cheryl Lyon sit and write a project them more employable. from the group talked about a for funding. We now have presentation she recently gave to enough money in the bank, the City Council’s invitation for after 7 years, that we public input into the municipal can risk $1,000 and budget.“I said ‘I don’t want this, start something”. that or the other expenditure in Fred Irwin, Transition Town the budget. What I’m proposing is Peterborough that you think differently, and that every item that comes forward for the budget be looked at from the point of view of whether it create a resilient community that is adapting to climate change.’”

92 21 Stories of Transition Ungersheim, Village in Transition Transition is a process led by, and owned by, communities. But what might it look like if a Mayor decides to run with the idea and really make it happen? 21.

An area of La comune d’ungersheim’s ‘helio parc 68’, the largest solar project in the alsace region, located on a former mining waste site.

Photos: La Comune d’Ungersheim 21 Stories of Transition 93 area in an ‘Atlas of Biodiversity’ Alsace. The site is a former Group: La Comune • Returning a former waste heap mining waste site owned by the d’Ungersheim, France. created by mining to nature Comune, which has been cleared Local population: c. 1,972 and levelled and transformed Project started: 2011 • Installing a 120m2 solar into what will become a business thermal installation at the park, with the thousands of solar swimming pool panels, the biggest single solar • Installing a wood biomass installation in the Alsace, mounted Background boiler which also heats the pool on structures that could, as some Ungersheim is a village in the and several adjoining buildings already have, been fitted out as Alsace region of France, close to • Changing all the public lighting industrial units. the borders with Germany and in the village to low energy Switzerland. For many years it bulbs, leading to a 40% Les Jardins de Cocagne was dependent on mining potash, reduction in energy use, as well The Comune has made available used to make potassium for as turning some street lights off an 8 hectare site that it owns to Les fertilisers and salt for use on roads after midnight Jardins de Cocagne, an organic in winter. The mining closed down • Assessing all public buildings gardening enterprise which around the turn of the century. It for their energy consumption works with unemployed young is an area renowned historically people. The gardens produce 64 for its rich pastures, the village • Making land available (land varieties of vegetables, provide emblem being 3 clover leaves. owned by the Comune) to a 250 baskets of food for local Jean-Claude Mensch, Mayor of PassivHaus co-housing project families each week, and run stalls Ungersheim, first heard about of 9 homes, Eco-Hameau at 5 markets every week. They Transition in 2011 when he hosted Le Champré recently erected a wind turbine a visit by an organisation called • Completely banning all built by local school children and the General Assembly of the pesticides and herbicides in course participants. Currently Citizens of the World, at which public areas under construction is a beautiful the film In Transition 1.0 was • Replacing all cleaning products complex of buildings built by the screened. He recognised it as in public buildings with eco Comune, using local timber, straw, what he calls “a different, inclusive cleaning products clay and timber shingles which and fraternal economic model”. will be leased back, rent free, for • Buying a working horse to help It led to a conversation in the the processing and storage of with local food production, and Comune along the lines of “we’re food grown on the farm. The farm also to act as a ‘bus’ to take already doing a lot of that, let’s supplies the now-organic primary local school kids to school become a Transition town”. school among other things, a great And so they did. • Changing the catering example of what they call “short arrangements so that the local circuit”, shortening the distance Achievements to date primary school now serves between grower and consumer. The list of achievements, and the 100% organic meals (much of it sourced locally, see below), sense of what can be achieved ‘La Semaine Solaire’ every day, including snacks when local government throws At the Mayor’s invitation, an extra something behind the • Starting a food preservation a Greenpeace group from implementation of Transition, business, canning locally- Switzerland recently worked with is impressive. The Comune have produced food so as to extend a group of teenagers from the local embarked on 21 key initiatives, its availability. Lycée, mapping every roof in the including: town, analysing elevations, size • Introducing more participative It’s a story that has attracted and so on, concluding that if every democracy national and international roof that could take solar PV were • Becoming a Fair Trade town attention, as well as inspiring to do so, they would meet 77% of the town’s energy needs. • Forming a citizens forum many communities around about renewable energy and Ungersheim to start their own It was a project that had a huge campaigned for the closure of Transition initiatives. As well impact not just on the young the nearby Fessenheim nuclear as some of the above, a few key people involved, but also on the power station projects really stand out. Greenpeace activists. Most of their • Launching a local currency, Helio Parc 68 work has been around saying no to ‘Le Radis’ (the radish) This is a 5.3MW solar installation, things, campaigning and resisting, • Mapping the biodiversity of the the largest solar project in the and this shift into taking practical

94 21 Stories of Transition local schoolchildren now travel to school by horse power, a magical experience. Photo: La Comune d’Ungersheim

beautiful food processing/ storage centre under construction at Les jardins de cocagne using local timber, clay and straw. Photo: Rob Hopkins

21 Stories of Transition 95 steps was something that touched A key factor in being able to do them deeply. This also coincided this is having inspiring, replicable with the school launching its new solutions that people can point to, 40Kw rooftop solar PV installation, and can relate to. To be able to do which the students helped to put this at a local authority level clearly Message for COP21 in place. takes a pretty remarkable person, but in Jean-Claude Mensch we If world leaders “The Transition concept, have that. Being able to point to which addresses the vital Ungersheim, where the Mayor “visited Ungersheim, physical and psychological and the Comune are making so I would show them that needs of the inhabitants, many amazing things happen is community excitement is the key to the solving very powerful, and worthy of being is the yeast and also the our challenges. A village, our final story. Ungersheim truly a neighbourhood of 2000 represents a ‘place of possibility’. spearhead of Transition, to 5000 inhabitants, is generating the capacity the right scale. From We’ll leave the last word to to take back your destiny acorns grow oak trees. Mr Mensch: “This commitment The programme we has a positive impact on our in your own hands, what elaborated can easily be economy, on our jobs. we call resilience. reproduced elsewhere. It guarantees a healthy tax balance I would show them our We need to stand together, through the use of renewable be daring and in anything energy, it ensures the survival of achievements in this we do, put people first”. our ecosystems. But most of all, village, made possible via Jean-Claude Mensch we establish solid ties between the reorientation of public the inhabitants through a policies and citizens’ Reflections re-discovered well-being”. Blazing such a pioneering trail real sense of ownership. hasn’t all been an easy process. It’s about stopping As Jean-Claude Mensch puts superfluous and useless it, “changing behaviours while being confronted with immense expenses while addressing consumerist pressure, amplified people’s real needs, and by the harassment of advertising, thereby building a more is not a simple task. At every step, we bumped into violent reactions, fraternal economy. often of the lowest level. With the Jean-Claude Mensch support of the citizen movement, by giving civil society a voice and the ability to contribute, we are gradually opening up the way to Transition. Voters seem to agree with our approach by giving us a majority for 27 years now”.

Like many areas of Transition, the edge between Transition and local government is just that, an edge. Can it be said that Transition should never be initiated by a Jean-Claude Mensch. Photo: La Comune Mayor or local government? d’Ungersheim

Given the urgency for change, it is clear that we need to see Transition happening everywhere, and very rapidly.

96 21 Stories of Transition staff at the cannery, a social enterprise started by the mayor to preserve local food and extend reliance upon it. Photo: La Comune d’Ungersheim

the food season is also extended through the production of jams and preserves, which additionally creates employment. (Top) Caption. Photo: Photo: La Comune d’Ungersheim Caption. Photo: 2121 StoriesStories ofof TransitionTransition 97 97 98Photo: 21 Vereniging Stories of Aardhuis Transition “It’s more than a garden, it’s a new place in the neighbourhood where we can stay and have a few words with the neighbours, people you normally pass by. We are seeing all different people talking to each other, all ages, from children to old people. It’s a social meeting point”. Sébastien Mathieu, 1000 Bruxelles en Transition

“We create more wealth because less money leaves Bristol and gets lost in complicated global financial systems.Sterling isn’t loyal; it goes wherever it can make more of itself, accumulating in tax havens, in big executive pay packets or with distant shareholders. Bristol Pounds stay working on the ground for us. They stick to Bristol creating stronger communities and a greener economy”. Ciaran Mundy, Bristol Pound

“Transition is about caring: caring for the Earth, caring for each other. It comes from a place of love. It’s also about creation of livelihood where people live, and the fact is that at the moment the respect given to people who care isn’t very high. We don’t value caring as a thing that’s critical. Increasing respect for carers is a fundamental part of this”. Frances Northrop, Caring Town Totnes This book celebrates local action and the how a myriad of possibilities that it can unlock. Millions of people are already taking the kind movement of of personal steps that world leaders continue communities to debate in order to reduce the world’s is coming carbon emissions. As you will see from these 21 stories from 39 together to communities in 15 countries, these communities are finding themselves better connected, happier, reimagine more fulfilled, and also feeling like they are making a meaningful and measurable difference and rebuild to their community, to their own lives and to the our world world. Welcome to the world of Transition.

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Not for sale on Amazon Front and back photos: Jonathan Goldberg