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An Update from Transition around the world
Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture

Last time I did this people seemed to really enjoy it, so here is a snapshot of news stories and Transition happenings from around the world over the past month or so, both successes and failures. Town Romsey launch a garden share scheme modelled on the one in Totnes, Transition Town Wivenhoe make good headway, but unfortunately, Malvern Council decide it is still too premature to endorse their local Transition initiative. In Northern Ireland, Transition Omagh are starting to stir, and in the US, peak oil blogger ‘Peak Oil Hausfrau”, is wavering between feeling despondent and getting involved in Transition.

There is an interesting discussion about Transition in Kildare, Ireland, Transition Eudlo in Australia are getting excited about the publication of the Australia/New Zealand edition of Transition Handbook, there’s a German review of the Transition Handbook, and the River Journal takes a look at Transition Sandpoint (Idaho) in the context of other local climate change initiatives. Up in Scotland, Transition Forres is struggling to find land for allotments, something also being pressed for by Transition Town High Wycombe, while Transition Keighley plan a hydro scheme on their local river and Transition City Lancaster venture out and do their first stall at an event.

Transition West Kirby have been busy planting trees. In Canada, Transition Peterborough have been working with their local school, and Sophy and Naresh’s Transition Training tour has made the local papers (see right). One of Scotland’s first Transition initiatives, Transition North Howe, is now unleashed! On an altogether odder theme, Transition Westcombe write beautifully about toast.

(16 February 2009)

Powerdown Toolkit #3: It’s All Connected
Graham Strouts, Zone5
It’s All Connected: Whole Systems Thinking and Permaculture

Systems theory is an interdisciplinary theory of how we can understand the world in terms of the dynamics of a system: a network of interrelating parts which themselves can also be seen as parts.

This idea of “parts within parts” has been referred to as a “holarchy”- a nested series of systems, one within the other like Russian dolls.

... Permaculture

It was from a study of ecological systems than Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren developed the concept of Permaculture in the 1970s.

Their understanding of the interrelationship between the soil, food production and energy made them realise that the emergence of industrial farming through the process known as the “Green Revolution” could only last a few decades before we would be compelled to adapt to less energy and declining soil fertility.

Permaculture Design Principles were devised as practical tools for applying the lessons learned from nature to the conscious design of human homes, gardens, farms and to guide our interaction with the landscape.{Holmgren,D. The Essence of Permaculture } The aim of this design process is to develop systems that require minimal inputs and are to a large degree self-sustaining.

... Response

One of the key ideas in systems thinking is to focus not so much on the constituent parts, but in the relationships between them: hence the adage “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

When we apply system thinking to communities we move away from the notion of sustainable development which fails to understand the system constraints of resources and environmental degradation, and focus instead on sustainable resilience which allows us to first identify, and then put in place, the system conditions for sustainability capable of withstanding the shocks that may be coming.

This is the introduction to the third week of the Powerdown Toolkit 10-week community learning course created by the Cultivate Centre in Dublin. It has an accompanying TV show with a 30-minute episode accompanying each week of the course, soon to be aired on Dublin Community TV.
(16 February 2009)

New HopeDance
HopeDance via Transition California
Many of the articles in the new issue of HopeDance are available in DOC and RTF. A PDF of the full issues is also available.

The issue has not yet been posted on the regular HopeDance website
(18 February 2009)

Green burials
Valerie Streit, CNN
A dying wish to be 'home for fish' ---
... The concept of "going green" has taken new life in the death care industry as eco-minded companies tap into the needs of those like Dunham.

From biodegradable caskets to natural burial sites, death is becoming less of a dark matter than a green one.

Dunham, an avid scuba diver, chose an eco-friendly company that would combine her cremated remains to form an artificial memorial reef.

"She loved the idea of always being in the water as an alternative to being cremated and scattered," said her daughter Nina Dunham.

Dying is arguably the most natural phenomenon in the world, but modern death rituals -- embalming with formaldehyde-based solutions and traditional burial in concrete vaults -- are not nature-friendly, according to environmentalists.

Along with its dead, the United States buries 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, 827,060 tons of toxic embalming fluid, 90,000 tons of steel (from caskets), and 30 million tons of hardwood board each year, according to the Green Burial Council, an independent nonprofit organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(17 February 2009)

Entropypawsed Chickens
EntropyPawsed Adventures In Sustainable Living blog
Chickens are great Permaculture animals. They require very little energy and time input, and they can convert unpalatable biomass to highly palatable and nutritious eggs and meat.

...On most days, we require less than five minutes committed to attending to the chickens. In return, they provide us with eggs. During most seasons, the eggs number in excess of what Bonnie and I can eat.

....Chickens are a good addition to any home that has some space to accommodate them...And they can be entertaining, too!
(17 February 2009)