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EVENT REPORTS
PAUL STRANGE reports on
PHILIP BOOTH AT THE AGM

FROM HIS Green political credentials down to his leaf-green shoes and vibrant green shoelaces, Philip Booth is clearly someone who has totally embraced the Transition Town ethos and is determined to turn it into reality.

As such, Philip – a Green councillor on Stroud District Council, an active environmentalist and a member of Transition Town Stroud – proved an inspired choice of speaker before Transition Town Exmouth’s second AGM on 28 June.

Speaking at a rattling pace, Philip detailed the ups and downs that TTS has experienced since it was established in 2006. There’s the Stroud Pound, the local currency, launched to benefit consumers, traders, businesses and local charities. The notes – which Philip passed round – aren’t just pretty; they are accepted by 40 Stroud businesses, including butchers, a bakery and a community store.

Then there are the various TTS food projects, such as the successful Farmers’ Market (40 stalls, plus live music, every Saturday), StroudCo (a food hub linking local farmers and consumers), the Stroud Communal Allotment and the Garden Share scheme. Less successful has been Stroud Community Agriculture, a veg-box scheme which collapsed due to crop failure.

There’s also TripSwitch (encouraging people to use forms of transport other than the car), a Green Travel Month and Changing Gear – a commuting-by-bike scheme, aimed at secondary-school pupils. And there’s the Open Homes scheme, where the public can see renewable energy in action, by visiting the houses of people who have taken significant steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

All in all, it was an inspirational 45-minute journey through everything that TTS has achieved since it was established nearly four years ago. Philip was then asked what he thought TTE had achieved in its two years of existence. ‘A great deal,’ he said. ‘Some TT groups don’t even last a year. You’ve done two years and are still going strong. From our experience, that’s a great achievement in itself, and one that you should be proud of.’

Food for thought indeed.
GILL WYATT attended the TRANSITION NETWORK CONFERENCE, 12-14 JUNE

I WENT to the TNC to network, find out what was working for other TT groups and to address queries about community engagement, communication and working collectively.

On Saturday morning I attended the group on Making Links with Local Government. People were interested in TTE’s role on the Community Organizations Liaison Panel and that we had been able to integrate the green agenda throughout COLP’s Strategy Document and Action Plan.

The first Open Space session I attended in the afternoon was on Dealing with Conflict to Work Collectively. Lots of groups were finding that personalities clashed and the dynamics that developed often nearly paralysed the group. It was good to share stories and realise our Umbrella group worked pretty effectively in comparison!

The second session was on Participatory Budgeting. This is when members of a community consider funding requests, working out criteria by which they will deliberate. Groups then present their specific projects and the community discusses them and decides how funding will be allocated to each.

The next session was about the way people with different values communicate and the need to translate the Transition Town agenda into the language of the people we are addressing: i.e., if the person you are talking to is an entrepreneur, use business terms!

On Sunday afternoon I attended a workshop on Energy Descent Planning. I learnt about different techniques Transition Town Totnes used to create their Energy Descent Action Plan, e.g. backcasting – establishing where you want to be in 2030 and using that information to work out how to get there. They emphasised: design a business plan; create indicators to gauge success; engage the community from the start: draw on existing information from Agenda 21 (a UN-sponsored sustainability programme) Strategic Partnerships and other community organizations.

The conference was great. I met some fascinating people and learnt a lot. I might not have answered all my questions, but made a start!

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