Written by:
Sophia de Sousa
Our October Chat, Designing for Transformation, was co-hosted with Richard Couldrey of Transition Together. Since 2005, the Transition Network and movement has grown across the UK and globally. Transition groups bring together local people to make change where they live, how they live, in light of the climate and ecological emergency. This community-centric approach is slowly re-imagining the system through renewable energy projects, supporting local food production, incubating new businesses, nurturing our connection to nature and building strong networks between people, place and organisations. This Chat, which brought together both active members of the Transition movement in different parts of the country and those who were new to it, created a space to talk about the movement, share stories and get inspired.
Key Themes
Designing for Transformation began with a focus on the values and principles that drive the Transition movement, and the approach of “hope with its sleeves rolled up”. This was a conversation about grass-roots initiatives and people taking the decision to proactively contribute to a better future. This led to a really interesting discussion around how power, whether real or perceived, affects how and whether we take action. We also talked about the power of storytelling in the movement, and the importance of hearing and recognising each other and of contributing to a bigger story. We considered actions and initiatives of different scales, which act as threads, weaving together to form a tapestry of change, and collectively planting seeds of inspiration and hopefulness about the future.
Power, Real & Perceived
The Transition movement is not just about localised community action; it is also about system change. It empowers people to take action to improve their local environments whilst contributing to global shifts in culture, policy and practice. To achieve this, some in our virtual room felt like they were having to challenge and fight against existing power structures. Others gave examples of community-led and public sector initiatives coming together through collaboration across sectors. We considered the role that local authorities might play in enabling grass-roots action and agreed that sometimes, the most significant thing councils can do is to remove the barriers and obstacles over which they have influence and control.
Along with considering our sense of agency to act, we also spoke about the responsibility each of us has to do so. We agreed that sometimes this can feel daunting in the context of language such as “global climate emergency”, and individuals don’t really know where to begin. However, starting with the small actions that each of us can take, like repairing a toaster rather than throwing it away, and sharing food grown in allotments, everyone can play a role in the collective movement. Celebrating these small contributions alongside the large projects is an essential part of helping to nurture that sense of agency.
One powerful example of this was a festival, for which local people were encouraged to contribute food they had produced or made to a celebration event. One person arrived with a small bag of chillies he had grown in his flat. While it only represented a tiny physical part of the collective donations, his contribution rooted in a spirit of sharing with his community, was valued as much as all the others. Another example shared, at the other end of the spectrum of scale and power sharing, is the Path for Everyone initiative in North Yorkshire. This seeks to create continuous, uninterrupted walking and cycling routes that would help connect people across neighbouring towns and villages and with nature. This initiative, which begins with the simple idea of creating safer, more sustainable travel routes, is benefitting from a combination of grass-roots action with multi-agency cooperation.
Sharing Stories
Sharing stories was identified by our participants as an essential ingredient of the Transition movement. This can serve multiple purposes, whether to recognise and celebrate, to inform or inspire, stories about what people are doing serves as another way to communicate the ethos and activities of the movement and help encourage others to get involved.
One of the participants in the Chat was a filmmaker who is currently editing a film focusing on the Transition movement. He shared that he had been struck by the diversity of stories and that there are just so many parts that make up the bigger Transition story. As he and others in the Chat began to share their own stories and those they knew of, we all increasingly became inspired and encouraged by the number of things happening around the country. As one participant put it, “Some of these things are small, but they are happening all over the place.”
As stories accumulate and are shared, momentum grows.
Another participant , who had worked within the context of a local authority, told us about connecting with a local Transition group as part of a local council initiative. They were impressed by the fact this group “didn’t have a massive profile but were doing massive things.” This raised an interesting question about public awareness and perception of the movement. One participant, who did not previously know very much about the movement, reflected that they were probably involved with initiatives that might fall under the umbrella of transformative action but would not necessarily previously have seen this as being part of the Transition movement. This was not about rejecting the movement, but perhaps a lack of awareness or a sense of confusion about what it actually is or how you join it.
Again, participants agreed that storytelling could play an important role in shining a light on the movement, inviting people in, and helping to explain what it is all about.
Weaving Together Threads
Sharing and weaving together these stories helps combine localised action with a national, and indeed international movement. By bringing together the actions of individuals, new groups and networks form and initiatives grow.
Our co-host Richard Couldrey said that one of Transition’s superpowers is convening. Bringing people together is not only about galvanising collective action, but also about unearthing and mobilising, and importantly valuing, the different contributions those in the room can make. He gave the example of a poem that had been written by one person at a creative gathering, which he shared with our group. It was hugely powerful, inspiring, and has a role to play in driving change, just as the filmmaker in the group hopes to do with the film he is making.
Another beautiful example of convening came from a community that came together to “trample” a local field which was no longer being grazed by cows, and therefore losing some of its biodiversity. The efforts of the human herd had a tangible effect on the land, and demonstrated that contributing to local grass-roots initiatives can manifest in unexpected ways.
Wrapping up
This was a really inspiring Chat. It was about transformation on so many levels. It was about the rights and responsibilities that each of us holds and how that manifests in the actions we take to contribute to transformation. It also illustrated the power of both individual and collective action at any scale. The old adage that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts couldn’t be more true and appropriate. At this moment of immense upheaval and instability, perhaps we can all bring more balance to the world and to our local and hyperlocal communities by rolling up our sleeves and contributing to transformative action.
Further Information on the Transition Movement:
Richard has shared some links that may be of interest to readers:
- Transition Together: https://transitiontogether.org.uk
- Transition Assembly: https://transitiontogether.org.uk/postassembly/
- 3 years of Transition Together (Impact Report): https://transitiontogether.org.uk/impact/
- Transition Groups in the UK: https://transitiontogether.org.uk/groups/
- Transition Network International: https://transitionnetwork.org