Brighton became an official Transition Town (number 20) in early September. Since then, we have set up a coordinating hub, started our first transition programme (education and awareness raising) and established a website (www.transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk ).
We are now ready to set up interest groups to address specific areas like food, energy, transport, etc.
What is n interest group?
These groups specialise in a particular area of basic need, focusing on what materials, energy sources, technologies, knowledge or skill we use and what practices we follow to perform the necessary functions to meet these needs at each stage. For example food production practices (food growing or gathering, distribution, cooking, use of waste) for meeting our food and nutritional needs; buildings for shelter, energy for power and heat, transport for mobility etc. We focus on the functions and practices that relate to our common purpose, and have most impact, directly or indirectly, on green house gases emissions, energy consumption and use of oil, and on where we need to increase local resilience in meeting those basic needs. Having interest groups is seen to be necessary to concentrate expertise and focus action.
So far, the following interest groups have been suggested, based on the interests you have recorded in previous network meetings, data on impacts on climate change and of peak oil, and the experience of other Transition Towns and Cities:
• Food
• Energy
• Transport
• Buildings and Construction
• Waste and Resources
• Textiles and Clothing
• Health
• Urban and Land Use Planning
• Business and Economics
• Personal Lifestyle
• Science and Technology
What is the role of n interest group?
Transition Interest Groups help us achieve our shared purpose:
“To inspire, educate and support people in our city in mobilising community and personal responses to the challenges of climate change and peak oil. In doing this we seek to work in partnership with local government and business, other community and environmental groups, schools and universities, and neighbourhood associations, and to play our part in the change personally.”
We see interest groups in the Transition Towns Network generally:
• Being centres of knowledge in their areas, and providing advice to us all and to others in our city.
• Having a co-ordinating role in linking projects across the network that impact on or connect with their area
• Initiating, raising funds for, and managing projects of their own, often in partnership with other groups and organisations in our city, inside and outside our network, nationally and internationally, and in agreement with the principles of Transition Brighton and Hove .
• Advising us and providing input into the vision and plans we develop with others in our local community (local government, businesses, voluntary sector etc.) – including our Energy Consumption or Descent Action Plan
Initially we see specialist groups contributing to our education and awareness programme and advising in meetings with others in the city as needed.
How are interest groups going to operate?
In other transition towns interest groups have gone through these steps, following a problem solving and action method:
1) Start by understanding the impact that climate change and peak oil will have on their area, and how the way we currently live uses unnecessary amounts of energy and creates CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. To help understanding, we have the advice from our science and technology group, other groups and organisations within our city, as well as specialists around the world.
2) Find out with others inside and outside our network about the current state of our city in this area and generally (carbon emissions, energy sources and consumption, ecofootprint etc), making use of indicators in current use. And what is being done already or being planned (using our index of local organisations and links with local government – see www.oldsteine.co.uk ).
3) Then go on to create a vision of how we need to live and what would work in 20 years time. This will incorporate solutions in these areas coming from other towns and cities around the world as well as our own national network. This will input into personal change plans and our shared vision for our City.
4) Devise some action plans for this area: how to reduce and reverse carbon emissions and how to build or rebuild resilience to mitigate the effects of peak oil and climate change. Re-localising the way we meet our basic needs may well be part of this (“Small is Inevitable”)
Co-ordinating interest groups with the rest of the Transition Brighton & Hove network
Transition Interest Groups will need to have a coordinator, though this role may be split between two or more people. Coordinators co-ordinate the work they are doing in their transition interest group with other groups and the rest of the network. They moderate the website for their transition interest group: they advertise meetings and events relating to their group on the website, watch the discussions in their section of the forum for key facts, for core themes and for ideas for future actions. They may choose to participate in hub meetings as representatives of their group.
All members of all groups are invited to attend to whole network meetings, announced on the homepage of our website, and hopefully soon in local papers.
Attending whole network meetings will be the main way for all group representatives to make sure what they are doing is in line with the network as a whole – our purpose and approach, other activities etc. To get your issues or questions on the agenda of these meetings please raise it on our website in the Hub Discussion Forum, or if that is not possible, contact a Hub member.
Discussion forums on the website are open to all, regardless of what groups they belong to, and all members can participate in any discussion whenever they have useful input.
Hub meetings are open for all to attend and hub group meetings, agenda, dates, times and venues, on-line discussion and meeting notes are all posted in the Hub Discussion Forum on the website. You can all raise issues with those in the Hub this way and let us know you will be attending a meeting.
To know your way around the network as a whole, a map (“netmap”) has been drawn up and will be posted on the website.
Also you will be able to link with our national Transition Town network and any other wider networks of which we are a part for sources of info, funds etc., nationally and internationally.
So, how do I join a transition interest group?
You can register your interest in participating in a transition interest group in our website by following these instructions:
1. Visit our website at http://www.transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk
2. Click on "forum" to get to the forums.
3. Click on "Usergroups" on the top menu of the forums. If you are asked to log in, use the username and password for the forums you received in the email invitation to join the Transition Brighton and Hove forums. If you didn't get this email, you can register by clicking on "Register" on the top menu.
4. Pick a group from the drop-down menu and click on "View information"
5. Click on the "Join group" button to request membership.
The function group moderator then will approve your membership and you will be contacted for meetings, announcements, etc. If you have any problem in following the instructions, contact our web person (Chris Callard) at webmaster*at*transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk
Setting up Transition Interest Groups
