Showing of “In Transition” Sunday October 23

Posted on October 18, 2011 by bart

In Transition 1.0 – movie and discussion

From Oil Dependence to Local Resilience

‘In Transition’ is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun.

Following the 50 minute film, Debbie Mytels of Acterra will describe the local Transition/Resilience movement and will lead a discussion about how to get involved locally.

Sunday, October 23, 7:30 PM
Fireside Room, Unitarian Universalist Church
505 E. Charleston Road, Palo Alto
Free and open to all. Contributions will be requested. Wheelchair accessible.

Co-Sponsored By
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center

and

Action Council, Unitarian Universalist Church

Free group workshops: “Conversation, Community, and Calling” Dec 14, 21 and Jan 4

Posted on December 10, 2010 by bart

We’ll be following up our Conversation and Community group with three sessions, led by Cecile Andrews of Transition Palo Alto

Admission is open and free.

Conversation, Community, and Calling
Tuesdays, Dec 14th, 21st, and Jan 4th
7-9
World Centric, 2121 Staunton Court
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Free

Based on the practice of good, effective conversation, in this three session series we’ll examine how you can use conversation and community to advance your vision of cultural change. Among other things, we’ll explore Jeremy Rifkin’s idea of the empathic civilization, the new gross national happiness movement, and ongoing efforts for wealth equality.

The presenter is Cecile Andrews, author of Circle of Simplicity, Slow is Beautiful, and Less is More

Join us to read The Transition Handbook

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Paul Heft

Transition Palo Alto is sponsoring our fourth book discussion group. Join us to read The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience by Rob Hopkins (founder of the Transition Movement).

We will meet weekly for six weeks to learn about Transition and consider personal and community responses to the threats of peak oil and climate change. The groups so far have inspired a vital interactive hands-on community of resourceful and talented people.

Our first meeting will be Thursday, January 20, 2011, from 7 to 9 PM. If you are interested, please let us know by sending an e-mail message to Emily Rosen (mlerosen at jps dot net), and she will send out the details.

More information about the book is below. Hope you can join us!

Description of The Transition Handbook: http://transitionculture.org/shop/the-transition-handbook/

Another useful, short introduction by Transition US: http://www.transitionus.org/transition-101

Online version of The Transition Handbook (PDF): http://transitionus.org/sites/default/files/TransitionHandbook_freeeditVersion.pdf

An outline of The Transition Handbook: https://transitionpaloalto.org/2010/03/21/outline-of-the-transition-handbook-with-notes/

We will use a study guide (developed by Transition Seattle): http://transitionseattle.com/resources/discussion/

Developing Conversation and Community Building Skills – Workshop November 16

Posted on October 31, 2010 by bart

Developing Conversation and Community Building Skills
Workshop November 16

Cecile Andrews, Simplicity author/lecturer will lead a workshop showing ways to build community and examining the essential ingredients of good conversation.

Tuesday November 16 7:00 – 9:00 pm
World Centric, 2121 Staunton Court, Palo Alto
(behind JJ&F, just off El Camino Real, in College Terrace)

Free

Saving the planet means creating a caring culture. Social ties are central to health, happiness, and civic life. Yet our frantic, distracted culture makes it difficult to maintain and deepen social connections. Trust and civil discourse are in decline.

Have better conversations
Improve your satisfaction with the communities you’re in
Be more effective in engaging people
Ideal for business, non-profits, activism
Follow-up group for those interested

Led by Cecile Andrews, author of Less is More, Slow is Beautiful, and Circle of Simplicity. Cecile will also be speaking at the Green Festival at 11am on Sat, Nov 6th.

Cecile Andrews has her doctorate in education from Stanford where she teaches in the Stanford Health Improvement Program. She is on the board for Take Back Your Time, and is active in Transition Palo Alto and Seattle’s Gross National Happiness Project.
Information: cecile@cecileandrews.com

Sponsored by Transition Palo Alto, World Centric and Silicon Valley Action Network (SVAN).

Event PDF for posting and printing

Follow-up activities for Film Series

Posted on June 29, 2010 by bart

Dear Film Series attendees,

Thanks for participating in our fabulous Films of Hope and Vision Film Series! At our potluck on June 18, we talked about ways to learn more and take action. Please read on for information and group contacts. If you’d like to be on the list for a group, just drop the group leader a email message.

We hope to see you at our next Film Series (tentatively scheduled for September). And we’ll let you know about any other activities of interest!

Gardening/Foot Production/Slow Food
The group shared interests, including lawn conversion, fruit trees, apartment gardening, agroecology, tinkering, and information sharing. We are considering an intergenerational gardening project in San Jose that would give us a chance to be involved with gardening and local community members. If you’re interested in keeping in touch on this project or other related activities that come up, please write to William Mutch at permifree AT yahoo DOT com.

Learning More About Transition
Motivated by the film series, about 10 of us will start reading the “The Transition Handbook” as a book group in July. An email message will soon go out to those who have signed up. The group will be co-chaired by Bart Anderson, Paul Heft and William Mutch of Transition Palo Alto. If you are interested (and haven’t signed up already), please write to Bart Anderson at bart AT cwo DOT com.

If your summer is already full, don’t worry. Another group will be starting later in the fall. Also, the “Transition Handbook” can be ordered through local book stores. We’ll probably put in a group order through one of them, to get a discount. Other ways to learn about Transition:

Transition Handbook: http://transitionculture.org/shop/the-transition-handbook
Transition Palo Alto: http://transitionpaloalto.org

Film Series and Community Building
We talked about starting a new film series on Energy/Transportation in September. To do so, we’ll need to identify and preview films. Our first group assignment is to work on ideas. Then we’ll get together starting in July to preview and select films. Also, group members expressed an interest in activities over the summer to continue community building. If you have ideas or would like to help with film series planning or other activities, please write to Barbara Weinstein ( barbara AT ontrk DOT com ).

All the best,
The Films of Hope and Vision Planning Team

movieattendees mailing list
To add/remove yourself from this list, follow this link:
http://www.svanetwork.org/mailman/sub/movieattendees

Planning for an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP)

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Paul Heft

Rob Hopkins added a post at Transition Culture, “Energy Descent Action Plans for cities: some thoughts…”. That post and its comments raise good issues about planning for an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP). See my summary, Planning for an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP).

Outline of The Transition Handbook, with notes

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Paul Heft

Outline of The Transition Handbook with Notes

Introduction: Tantalizing glimpses of resilience

Resilience refers to the ability of a system to hold together and maintain its functions in the face of change and shocks from outside. The book argues that building local resilience is key. A resilient culture thrives by living within its limits, and can function indefinitely.
The Achilles heel of economic globalization is its degree of oil dependency. Moving away from oil dependency, toward more localized energy-efficient and productive living arrangements, is inevitable.
Our culture is underpinned with cultural myths, misleading and harmful stories, which we must replace.
The book favors generating a “sense of elation, rather than the guilt, anger and horror that most campaigning involves.” The book advocates a “sense of anticipation, elation and a collective call to adventure … positive engagement and new storytelling … [exploring] the possibilities of applied optimism …” It offers a vision of “an extraordinary renaissance—economic, cultural and spiritual … making a nourishing and abundant future a reality.”

Continue reading →

Reading group on: The Transition Handbook

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Paul Heft

A group of us met every week or two to discuss The Transition Handbook. Afterwards a few attended a “Training for Transition” workshop.

Key Features of Transition Initiatives, from Transition Santa Cruz

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Paul Heft

Transition Santa Cruz has published a good list of key features of Transition Initiatives:

Transition initiatives…

are rooted in community and are not dependent on any one person
find common ground among the many individuals and groups who care about the well-being of the community
are inclusive; avoiding “us and them”
use peak oil awareness as a tool to help people think about living with low energy usage and with local resilience
provide forums for people to dream of positive outcomes, and create a vision of an abundant future
create a sense that something new, fascinating, and transformative is happening
address widely held concerns
move forward flexibly, with ideas reworked regularly
incubate many specific projects; in many cases by working with other community groups
respond to both the need for practical life skills and for psychological training in how to cultivate positive visions and deal with fear, discouragement, etc.
keep an emphasis on personal responsibility, and use advice as recommendation, not prescription

Four Key Assumptions

Life with much lower energy consumption is inevitable and it’s best to prepare.
We currently lack the resilience we need to cope with a lower-energy future.
We have to act collectively now.
With our collective genius we can design an energy descent that features better ways of living than our current lifestyle.