Transition US Newsletter // May 2010

Greetings and Happy Spring! 

What a crescendo of inspiring events we have seen in these past few weeks: Great Unleashings in Whatcom County, WA, Carrboro-Chapel Hill, NC, Bloomington, IN and Laguna Beach CA; the first statewide Transition gathering in Vermont; and in our own backyards (literally) the rustle of people building gardens in the 350 garden challenge (in the end over 600 new gardens were installed)! 

Detroit will figure prominently next month as it hosts the US Social Forum, June 22-26. If you are going consider one of the workshops TUS Board Member Dave Room and Transition Trainers Tina Clark and Bill Aal will be facilitating on Building Community Resilience and Economic Well-Being and Social Equity. Our friends at Bay Localize will be there too.    

For those in California: Vote NO on Prop. 16! This is a PG&E monopoly protection scheme that closes the door to local clean energy. This kind of grab from local control has implications across the nation.

We’ll end with a reminder that TUS was given a challenge grant of $100,000. To all whose generosity has shone through with donations of $10 - $20 or $250 – Thank you!  We are $5,091.60 closer.

Transition Initiatives

Transition Initiatives are continuing to emerge in communities around the world. Browse the initiatives map and learn more about becoming an Official Transition Initiative. This month, we welcome two official Transition Initiatives:

• Transition Montague in Massachusetts
• Transition Silicon Valley in California

A May Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition
Some highlights of what's keeping Transition Initiatives busy across the country and around the world...(more)

Great Unleashings Across the Country
Recaps of the Unleashing events in Carrboro-Chapel Hill, NC, Bloomington, IN and Laguna Beach, CA ...(more)  

Vermont State Transition Organizers Meet
Organizers from Transition Initiatives in Vermont gathered in Montpelier, VT for the first Vermont State Transition Organizers Meeting...(more)

Growthbusters Film: Hooked on Growth
Transition US leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area were interviewed for a film that plans to feature Transition as an alternative...(more)

Transition Media, PA: Beginnings
Great article telling the story of how Transition Media in Pennsylvania got started by Art Carey, Inquirer Staff Writer....(more)

Tucson takes it up a notch: Cyclovia Tucson
 In Arizona, members of Sustainable Tucson, 29th Official Transition Initiative in the US, have been collaborating with the folks planning Cyclovia for Tucson...(more)

Big media in the big city
Transition LA has been capturing attention across the board from the South LA Earth Fest to the kickoff of their local LETSystem for community-based finances...(more)

Web Update

The Transition movement has grown in a large part due to the tools and connectedness made possible through the web. Its important for us to think about our dependence on the web in the work that we do and find ways to make our technology resilient just as we would think of other aspects of our community.

Ed Mitchell, Web Co-ordinator with the Transition Network provides an excellent overview of the recent developments with the Ning social networking platform and options for transition initiatives going forward. You can also join the discussion about options for current Ning site users following Les Squire's 'Open Message to all Transitioners' on the US Transition Ning social networking site.

Announcing Transition Drupal
At the April DrupalCon San Francisco conference the open-source Transition Drupal project was kicked off. Drupal is a popular website management system that specializes in creating social networks (its tag line is "community plumbing"). Most of the conversation about the project itself is taking place at groups.drupal.org/transition-towns (anyone can register for an account). There will be plenty of ways throughout the project to help. Learn more here.

Transition Network News

• Energy Descent Action Plans for cities: some thoughts…
• An Interview with Peter North, author of ‘Local Money: how to make it happen in your community’
• An Online Chat to the City of Edmonton
• A Chance to Learn How to Replicate Growing Communities in your Community
• Exclusive Interview: Chris Johnstone on Inspiration, Finding Your Power and Transition
• Valuable Research Explores the Growth of Transition in Dorset
• Totnes EDAP Launch Part Two: “the single most important book about Totnes ever published”
  

If you're interested in receiving updates from the Transition Network in the UK, where it all began, you can sign up for their newsletter here.

Partner Update: Post Carbon Institute

Visit www.postcarbon.org for more articles, reports and news

With the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shining a spotlight on the high cost of our oil dependence PCI offered 12 Fresh Angles on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, from our Fellows.

This month also saw the release of more of our PCI Fellows videos. Find out what inspired Brian Schwartz to devote his life to public health and how the realization that energy resources are finite led him to a deeper understanding of what will be the largest public health challenges in the future. (Photocredit:freefoto.com)

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