New England Transition & Resilience HUB Gathering at the Slow Living Summit, Brattleboro VT, June 5 – 8

New England Transition & Resilience HUB Gathering at the Slow Living Summit, Brattleboro VT, June 5 – 8


In conjunction with the Slow Living Summit and the Strolling of the Heifers


Calling all “Transition & Community Resilience” activists in the northeast! Transition Towns, environmental justice groups, local green economy groups… Let’s gather together for inspiration, celebration, story sharing and skills building. Invite your friends on Facebook


IF YOU REGISTER BEFORE MARCH 31st –You Can Get An Early-Bird Discount AND a Transition HUB Participant discount. REGISTER HERE! Then email info@localcircles.org to let us know you plan to attend.



DISCOUNT CODE FOR TRANSITION NETWORK MEMBERS (20%): Transitioner2013


SPEAKERS: Frances Moore Lappe, Judy Wicks, Steve Chase, Carlos Espinoza-Toro, Claire Wheeler and many more.


PLENARY: “Transition to a New Economy” Plenary Session (Friday morning 6/7 at 8:30 am): “Transitioning to a New Economy,” with Gus Speth, Tina Clarke and Chuck Collins


WORKSHOPS: There are many fabulous workshops planned for the Slow Living Summit on local food systems, permaculture, local business, and other topics relevant to what you care about. In addition, we will have our own track of “transition/community resilience building” workshops including:
Introduction to Transition Movement
Community Transition Initiatives Across the Race and Economic Divides
Transition Visioning Game
Emergency Preparedness and Regional Thinking for Transition Organizing


SLOW LIVING SUMMIT – SEE DETAILS


Schedule at a glanceDetailed scheduleSpeaker bios


REGISTER HERE - Then email info@localcircles.org to let us know you plan to attend


OTHER ACTIVITIES AT THE SLOW LIVING SUMMIT


We will have several meet-ups and gatherings of New England Transition HUB:


THURSDAY evening 6/6 6pm, “Stories of Community Resilience and Transition.” Meet and Greet at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro at 193 Main Street. All Welcome. We’ll hear stories and updates from local efforts around the region.


FRIDAY afternoon 6/7, Transition Caucus. As part of the final plenary session of the main Slow Living Summit, participants will form affinity causes. We will convene a Transition Caucus and then report back to plenary. Other break-out groups might be Local Food, Slow Democracy, Slow Money, etc.


SATURDAY 6/8 12-2:30, Meeting of the New England Transition and Community Resilience Building HUB. After the Strolling of the Heifers parade, we will convene a meeting for all in our network who want to help the NE Hub move forward. The purpose of this meeting is for our organizing team to gather in person to debrief, plan next steps, and think about future gatherings. Although this meeting is open to anyone who wants to help organize, we expect it will be mostly those on the team so far who make it a priority to attend.


IF YOU REGISTER BEFORE MARCH 31st –You Can Get An Early-Bird Discount AND a Transition HUB Participant discount. REGISTER HERE - Then email info@localcircles.org to let us know you plan to attend.


DISCOUNT CODE FOR TRANSITION NETWORK MEMBERS (20%): Transitioner2013


BACKGROUND


In October 2012, representatives of over 24 New England “community resilience building” efforts came together in Boston to share stories, learn skills and talk about ways to strengthen our regional work. These included transition towns, local environmental justice projects, and alternative business networks.


Participants were excited to gather again – and a steering committee was formed to take next steps. We formed an ad hoc “Transition & Community Resilience HUB” (aka, “Transition HUB”). We agreed to piggy-back on several existing events including the Slow Living Summit and a week-long family summer camp –“Camp Commons” – at World Fellowship.


The 3rd annual Slow Living Summit is a regional gathering taking place in Brattleboro VT from Wednesday, June 5 through Friday June 7, 2013. The organizers invited us to mesh our events and create a number of concurrent Transition events as part of the Summit. The Strolling of the Heifers is a community festival happening Saturday June 8th and Sunday June 9th in Brattleboro.


Our Goals:


1) Relationships: to reunite Transition Communities from across New England, to share stories, catch-up, celebrate, and learn together in the context of music, food, and workshops.


2) Regionalism: to discuss NE Transition & Resilience – ongoing projects and plans for future gatherings.


3) Outreach: to share Transition topics and strategies for launching Transition Initiatives.


WORKSHOP DETAILS


Introduction to Transition Movement


How do we increase our own resilience and strengthen our communities as energy costs rise, and economic and environmental problems deepen? Transition is a global movement in 34 countries, inspiring community projects on local food, buildings, energy, economy and culture that bring people together for positive, creative action and fun. How does the process work? How does it support existing local groups and leaders and help everyone collaborate? We’ll share experiences and successful models, and explore how communities can come together to thrive in changing times. Learn about the origins and key principles of this model for cultivating resilient communities through grass-roots, neighbor-to-neighbor initiatives. Information will be offered on regional and national resources to support starting up a new Transition Town.


Tina Clarke, trainer, Transition Massachusetts, Montague MA

Paul LeVasseur, Transition Putney, Putney VT


Community Transition Initiatives Across the Race and Economic Divides


Many transition initiatives are formed by people with a deep environmental concern about peak oil and climate change. But to build broadly participatory initiatives, we need to speak to local concerns about inequality, jobs, the cost of energy, youth opportunity, violence, food security and more. Come hear stories about community resilience building efforts that bridge class and race divides in our communities.


Carlos Espinoza, Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition

OTHER Speakers TBA


Transition Visioning Game


Join this engaging activity to plan in small groups around six key content areas. Participants will then creatively report back to the whole break-out session.


Steve Chase, Antioch New England and the Transition Keene Task Force

Katy Locke, Transition Keene Task Force

Sarah Harpster, Transition Keene Task Force


Emergency Preparedness and Regional Thinking for Transition Organizing


Food, energy and transit are part of regional systems. Similarly, when disaster strikes, we depend on regional response systems. Can emergency preparedness and regional planning be a way to engage people in organizing for community resilience and transition?


Conrad Willeman, Transition Newburyport

Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies


REGISTER HERE - Then email info@localcircles.org to let us know you plan to attend

Sustaining Ourselves: How Can We Best Meet the Needs of Today and Tomorrow?

Forum - Civic Engagement at the Keene Public Library:

Theme: Sustaining Ourselves: How Can We Best Meet the Needs of Today and Tomorrow?

Keene Public Library - Kay Fox Room
Saturday April 13, 2013, 9:30AM to 12:00PM

It seems clear that the America inhabited by our grandchildren will look different from the America of today. We need to address what aspects of our current lifestyle are important enough to keep and pass down, and what we could choose to do without. It is time to ask: How can we best meet our needs today without hampering our ability to meet those needs tomorrow?

Citizens have the opportunity to discuss this public issue in a moderated forum. To participate, please register by calling 603-352-0157.