We have finally received some photos from when Grow Heathrow hosted ‘Waiting for Alice’ two weekends ago. The play was great and was beautifully set up in the backlands making for a very picturesque setting – here are the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47991844@N06/sets/72157627597309451/
Thankyou to Jabberwocky Theatre Productions for the amazing performance.
Last Friday 8th July, Dai and myself caught the train to Liverpool to attend the 2011 Transition Network Conference, which this year was held in the impressively tranquil grounds of Liverpool Hope University. This event provides an opportunity to catch up with recent developments from Transition Initiatives across the Transition Network, and is always well attended.
Friday evening was a chance to catch up with old friends and familiar faces. For me, one of the joys of being a transitioner (or transitionista as they say in Barcelona) is being able to pick the brains of people who are pioneering the new approaches to social change that will be needed in a future dominated by climate change and peak oil. Even though Friday was meant to be a relaxing way to break the ice and ease into the weekend, simply having a beer at the bar got me involved in a lively group discussion that managed to take in most of the hot topics that had been making noises in the network recently. One of which being the link between Transition and activism… but more on that later.
Having made sure to check the list of workshops in the program and sign up to the ones that looked most interesting, Saturday started the conference proper. A group session in the spacious University chapel started the day, with attendees treated to fine words from Peter Lipman, Rob Hopkins, and others intimately involved in the Transition Network. Lucy Neal of Transition Town Tooting told the first part of the story of the conference. Then on to the obligatory mapping exercise, which involved some tricky manoeuvring around the chairs as we tried to work out where everyone hailed from. This year, as well as the usual turnout from groups around the UK, the representation of international Transition Initiatives was notable, with visitors from as far afield as the USA, Brazil, and Hong Kong.
The first of the workshops I attended was an update on Local Currencies, with contributions from Transition Totnes, Transition Lewes and Transition Brixton, which have been leading the way with their attempts to establish local alternative currencies in their respective areas. Just the fact that the idea of a local currency could be accepted to the point where a run of banknotes could be printed and issued was impressive enough, but we heard from each speaker about the ambitious plans they were still hoping to put into practice in the near future.
Next up was the Transition and Activism ‘Hot Topic’. Both Dai and myself attended this session, since whenever this topic is discussed, Transition Heathrow is inevitably brought up as an example of a Transition Initiative that’s managed to successfully blend the usual Transition approach to social change with a strong undercurrent of confrontational direct action. At our Regional Gathering a few weeks previously we had addressed the topic in detail, so I felt that we could contribute a lot to the discussion. It turned out to be an extremely productive session where we explored what it meant to be an activist. There was input from veteran activists from the anti-roads movement, and we heard from people involved in Transition groups in Spain who had been an integral part of the recent #spanishrevolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXBjfsECy7k
Saturday ended with a fascinating talk by Jay Griffiths who explained the links between wildness and kindness, trees and truth. Later we returned to the bar, where Moving Sounds were making music that got the audience dancing until closing time, at which point the crowd spilled out onto the grass outside to continue the party. Like Harry Potter, I’m going to leave you hanging for Part 2, which will include more from the second half of the Conference, along with some general reflections from the weekend.
Last Saturday, the 11th June, Transition Town groups from across London and the Thames Valley region held a one day gathering at Grow Heathrow. Over 50 people attended throughout the day with representatives coming from transition groups as far afield as Hackney and Woking.
The day included speeches from Paddy Reynolds (Transition Heathrow) and Ben Brangwyn (Transition Network Co-Founder), 2 world cafe sessions, a workshop by Organic Lea on food growing, a direct action workshop from Seeds for Change and finally a discussion on the hot topic of the merging of transition and activism.
Ben Brangwyn has written a report on the Transition Network Website which can be read HERE. All the local papers have written stories on the day including the Heathrow Airport Newspaper ‘Skyport’ and here is our summarizing notes (with a big thank you to everyone who attended):
World Cafe 1 – What are the central issues for transition groups in our different areas?
World Cafe 2 – How can we be most effective in tackling climate change and peak oil?
Activism and transition debate
With June approaching that can mean only one thing for Transition Heathrow. Time for another newsletter to let everyone know what we have been up to for the past couple of months. It was a struggle to fit everything in over 2 pages but we managed it. You can download a copy from HERE or if you want a shiny colourfully printed one then come down to Grow Heathrow to grab a copy. Enjoy!
We’re only three weeks away now from the Transition Network Gathering for Transition Towns based in London & Thames Valley, to be held at Grow Heathrow.
So far we have had a good response with people signing up for the day but we still have room for more people and are welcoming anyone who hasn’t booked a place yet. What would be amazing would be to have at least one representative from every Transition Town across London and the Thames Valley region – so please do come on down if no one from your group has booked a place yet. We’re setting a deadline for registration as Monday 6th June as we need to know by then exactly how many people need catering for lunch – please send an e-mail to info@transitionheathrow.com to register.
Unfortunately Paul Chatterton cannot make it anymore but we have a few people we are asking that could fill in for him to talk about the “rocky road to transition”. On a more positive note, we are pleased to announce that Organic Lea are joining us for the day and will be running a workshop in the afternoon. Organic Lea are an amazing bunch of people who run a workers cooperative food growing project on London’s edge in Lea Valley. Check them out.
On Saturday 11th June, from 10am-5.30pm, Grow Heathrow will be hosting the Transition Network gathering for Transition Towns based in London & the Thames Valley area.
However small, large, successful, unsucessful any of your projects are going – everyone is invited to come and find out what each group has been up to and how we can collaborate together.
Speakers on the day will include Ben Brangwyn (Transition Town co- founder), Dr. Paul Chatterton, Seeds for Change, So We Stand and more to be confirmed. Visitors on the day will include local MP John McDonnell.
The day will use a variety of different organising methods to ensure participation from all and to be as inclusive as possible. Think World Cafe’s, consensus, popular education – we’re going to have it all.
Please come and spend the day with us to re-create and re-imagine possibilities on land that would have been tarmacced over for a third runway at Heathrow airport.
The full programme of the day can be found and downloaded HERE
Please RSVP to info@transitionheathrow.com to confirm your place as we need to know how many to cater for. Guests will be required to informally register in the morning.
