Transition Town Tooting

Tag: Climate

  • TTT’s experience of the Climate march weekend in London and Paris – our personal responses

    We’d like to share our responses to the Sunday 29th Climate Justice march in London, and to actions that replaced the banned march in Paris. 
    And we’d like to share news of the Transition Network day in Paris on Saturday 28th.
    All these events and more are urgently linked with the COP21 Climate talks in Paris which are running until December 13th.

    We’re sharing three blog posts: 

    • this post on some of our personal reactions
    • then a post about community-level responses
    • and finally a post about the global view 

    This is a snapshot of the experience we felt as participants….

    What did taking part mean to us personally?

    London

    Hilary: It was hugely reassuring to see so many other people willing to give up a cold and windy day to marching

    The march began, for us, at Tooting Bec Tube. We didn’t know how many would come, after putting out the invitation via our blog. On the day, 7 of us met, with the world on one head and giant sign saying, “urgent”.

    We emerged in the centre of London and spotted one or two other likely groups – I guess this is how a march begins, with intentional meeting of friends and colleagues with a common cause. By the time we arrived at Park Lane, we realised that there were many common causes to put under the banner of “Climate March” – vegans, community energy, anti-oil, anti-fracking, save the polar bears, Greenpeace, revolutionaries, drummers, fundraisers and photographers…

    We even had apples thrust until our palms from those campaigning against waste food! Delicious they were too.


    6 of us from Tooting joined with 49,994 others from everywhere else, resolved to make our voices heard in London.

    Hilary: I didn’t realise till afterwards how many others I knew were there as I spotted their twitter and Facebook posts – and found they must have been only yards from us on the day.

    Richard: My experience of the march was one of carnival, as seen in the pictures, juxtaposed with serious energy and desire that COP21 negotiations will be a success.

    Paris
    In Paris the Sunday 29th march was banned and there were two alternatives that Charles joined: 
    “I’ll describe one which had a very personal impact. 
      
    In place of marching, last week the call went out for pairs of shoes to be donated and assembled in the Place de la République. 

    Pictures went around the world…gifts of empty shoes from France’s diverse cultures. They represented people denied a voice to meet make their points together about climate justice.

     

    As well as being playful, the shoes had poignant associations of the debris and personal effects gathered after a disaster. A few hundred metres away the ad-hoc memorials to the Paris terrorist shootings look just like this.  
    I thought of the displays in prison camps…

    In the early afternoon passers-by began to shift the shoes, creating walking lines along the streets….“.
     
    Whatever the personal purpose or impact of taking part in a public demonstration; we are used to being able to express ourselves. Plenty of people around the world do not have that agency and voice.

    Do come along to any of our TTT meetings and events if you would like to explore any of this together in more depth. Or please email us, comment on facebook or tweet.

  • TTT’s experience of the Climate march weekend in London and Paris – the global view

    Our third post in response to the Climate march weekend, COP21 and Transition’s contribution

    Thinking about impact and action – the global view

    Paris 
    Charles: Another of the replacements for the banned Paris march was the ‘human chain’ – a line kilometres long where participants linked hands (for a short while…until the stewards said ‘C’est fini’ as the whole action was ad-hoc and not police-approved).

    Here’s some of Transition links in the chain. We‘re holding copies of the pages of ’21 Histoires de Transition’, strung like bunting.

    All along a street with several Metro stations – just like Balham to Tooting Broadway – there were theme clusters in the chain, where you could pop out of the Metro and group around global issues such as Energy, or Justice, or Nature, or Solutions. 

    There were other chains worldwide – including Brussels, just emerging from 4 days of public lock-down, and also replacing a banned march.
    The chain was ephemeral but we still came together to witness what we wanted to express in the planned march...along with a few mexican waves.
    Finally from Paris: two images from the Metro. The City of Paris filled the stations with motivational posters: yes very simple, but moving alongside the ads for Adele and Asus. Some private sector companies contributed too: here is Ben and Jerry’s offering a very strong message (more on their climate justice website – who knew?)“.

     

    London
    Hilary: On a global scale, it was great to return home and see all the pictures of marches around the world.


    After a day of action before the London Climate March, it was clear we were one part of a common voice across the world. 785,000 people marched in 2300 events in 175 countries (Avaaz). From the vulnerable Pacific Islands to the so-called “developed” nations, the difference in context makes you realise how unified the people of the world are, and how we, as individuals, as communities and as a global population care about our future, and that of our children, not to mentioned the 1000s of species perishing along the way.

    London’s march was one of 2300 globally

    Its well worth having a look at the images from around the world, written up in Avaaz’s report here . They called it “The Largest Climate mobilisation in history”.

    The following day, 190 global leaders arrive in Paris and began talks. 

    Globally, there are of course urgent challenges and campaigns which link us all, and link our wellbeing to our communities to the natural world and our activities on the planet.
    Some of the resources we use to keep in touch with global and local progress are:

    There are many more: 0ver 140 organisations are contributing to civil society climate-related actions in Paris.

    We will look for an early opportunity to show the brand new film ‘Demain‘ (‘Tomorrow’), premiered last evening, in which 6 people in their 30s travel the world looking at creative sustainability solutions that are happening now.

    Do come along to any of our TTT meetings and events if you would like to explore any of this together in more depth. Or please email us, comment on facebook or tweet.

  • TTT’s experience of the Climate march weekend in London and Paris – a sense of community

    Here‘s our second blog post in response to the Climate march weekend, COP21 and Transition’s contribution

    Some ‘community-level’ responses

    London
    We marched with the Transition bloc. Inherently local, it is affirming to feel part of a wider community form time to time. Sunday gave space for us all to talk to each other in a different context compared with many other occasions. This wasn’t about delivering a project, although ultimately it is, but did give space for strengthening bonds that will bear fruit in the future.

    The Transition gang, including friends from Lewes, Crystal Palace and Kingston
    Transition Town Huddle by Deborah Mason

    Paris

    Transition France and Transition groups in Paris co-hosted a free workshop day on Saturday 28th. 
    Here, we met in the huge (and unheated….) ‘La Générale’ space for an afternoon of sharing experience, eating and drinking, and then an evening conference.
     

    Charles: “For 13 hours I was immersed in a sharing community coming together with powerful intentions. The community included the everyday diversity of Paris with its mix of north african and mediterranean faces….different from the diversity we recognise at Tooting Broadway. It was affirming to feel that I could simply approach anyone and talk about shared ideas, ask for support or get some feedback.

    I hosted a workshop about TTT’s ‘Rooting in Tooting‘ project with CARAS, the Tooting charity working with asylum-seekers and refugees – aimed at valuing and including those people in our community. 
    (Notice our coats and scarves!)

    On the one hand not many participants had experience of working with the refugee community; on the other hand they offered many good reasons ‘why’ this project purpose is valuable. A strong message was ‘do this work because we are in our community together’. Yes we are experimenting with this project; it was great the group said it was inspiring and motivational to hear about.”

    The main event in the day was launching 21 Stories of Transition, the new book which illustrates 21 examples (and a few more) of sustainability actions being taken now by communities around the world…people who are not waiting for COP21 to agree. 

    Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition Town approach, led the session along with others who had conceived the projects described.

     
    Buy the book for Christmas! (Details here, it’s available in both English and French). It’s a thrilling insight into the wider community of transition groups and their creativity and hard work.

    I won’t include any spoilers, but do look out for M. Mensch, Mayor of Ungersheim in Alsace, who has helped to lead (probably 21!) sustainability projects locally.  
    He showed me their wonderful town community currency: enlarge the photo…yes it called ‘the radish‘. 

    What would we call a Tooting community currency?

    Do come along to any of our TTT meetings and events if you would like to explore any of this together in more depth. Or please email us, comment on facebook or tweet.

  • People’s March for Climate – This Sunday 29th November!

    TTT will be joining the Transition Bloc at the march, join us :
    11am at the entrance to Tooting Bec Underground Station on Sunday 29th November.

    More information from organisers, including a route map is on the Campaign against Climate Change page here

    This weekend marks the beginning of the 2 week International Climate Conference in Paris called COP21. As we all think about recent events in Paris and wish for peaceful resolution to conflicts the world over, the City hosts the World’s major leaders with hope to gain Global agreement to cut carbon emissions and prevent run away climate change.

    Our very own Jeni Walker at a similar march earlier this year

    This is the largest scale of negotiation on Climate Change mitigation and, if successful, has the highest possible positive impact for the future of us humans on this Planet we call home. However, politics is a tricky business with competing motivations and historical contexts, not to mention very well funded lobbying from those businesses that don’t want limits on carbon emissions.

    We must let those politicians know that we, the people, care. 
    Care that they go to the table with open minds, care they think about the long term, not the few years to the next General Election, care that they listen to the scientific evidence alongside the human suffering that comes from ever more frequent extreme weather events.

    You can read about our experience at the march earlier this year here

    And think about the reasons why you might want to march here

    Hope to see you there, Richard and TTT gang.

  • From the Local to the International – Journeys of imagination and generosity at the Transition Network International Conference

    Back in September, Charles Whitehead wrote a preview piece about 8 of us from Tooting heading to the Transition Network International Conference at Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot. We went by caravan, car share and train arriving the day before, early afternoon and late at night.

    You can read all about how we contributed to the conference in Charles’ blogpost here. Following the conference, we were all excited to share our experience of it as it had so much energy to give! Please do click on the links in the highlighted words, if they are of interest. There is also a Storify of the Conference and a blog on the Transition Network site.

    Tooting heads West!

    Home away from Home, with cake!

    After arriving, pitching our tents, siting and re-siting our caravan and finding our rooms, Jenny , Hilary and myself participated in the Transition Skills day, learning lots about Transition Thrive , designing a new economy in “REconomy” and how to “Become your own Developer” before the conference actually began.

    Meanwhile, Lucy was running her own workshop on Creative Engagement, she writes…

    “Once I’d recovered from the news that my main collaborator, Ruth Ben-Tovim (she of the Tooting Transition Shop from 2012), was sick and I would have to get on and run the day long Transition workshop on the arts and creating community on my own, I decided this Transition Conference (my 4th) was going to be about getting on and doing it with the resources I had to hand. I calmed myself by imagining the 14 strangers I was about to meet and wondering why they could be interested in learning about the craft of making things happen, and the art of creative participation. The knowledge they would all be doing this in a Transition context i.e. making the world we want to live in by modelling the changes in how we live where we live, immediately made me relax. I felt I could be myself and invite them to give all of themselves to the workshop, which they did! The day was astonishing for the rich diversity of their expertise, their generosity to give and gain from one another and the final artworks they created together. I was bowled over by how much creative ground we covered and my abiding faith in the central role our imaginations and creativity play in Transition. I have spent 3 years capturing this in the transition book in the arts, Playing for Time – making Art As If the World Mattered and it felt as if the book had in a sense, come home.

    This feeling of generosity, sharing and common goals was echoed by Jenny’s experience, she reflected later:

    “It was inspiring and encouraging to meet other people from around the world who share a vision for a fairer, more community-led world. A focus on collaboration, partnerships and relationship building was a common theme. It’s something we cherish in Transition Town Tooting and will continue to build in 2016. A Neighbourhood Plan, Foodival and our garden projects wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the generosity and energy of our partners and volunteers”.

    My experience during the Transition Thrive training was similarly applicable to our activity in Tooting and encouraged me to be active in looking after the wonderful volunteers and core group of Transition Town Tooting as well as offering the opportunity to participate to more people through Open Days and outreach.

    Our Workshops: Outdoor Learning with Young People and Creative Facilitation with FanSHEN

    Day 2 and the conference proper begins… Jenny, Charlie, Sharon and I hosted a workshop on Outdoor Learning with Young People. We shared our work in Outdoor Learning in 3 areas:

    • with children of Gatton Primary School at the Community Garden – both Reception/Year 1 and Year 6.
    • with teenagers, creating a garden space at CARAS.
    • with families during our regular Sunday sessions at the Garden and through our collaboration with FanSHEN during the 6 Field Days that ran through he summer. 
    We asked the group what Outdoor Learning meant to them and even got outside to share 3 Outdoor Learning exercises, including the Human Camera…
    What is Outdoor Learning?
    The Human Camera – one
    of 3 Outdoor learning games

    It was fascinating to bring it together for one workshop. Really valuable for us not only to present together, but also to hear each others experiences in a different way. It was also representative of the Conference as a whole that we had 7 participants from 7 different countries! Hearing their experiences gave us food for thought.

    Hilary’s reflections echo this:

    “The single best thing was the opportunities to meet and discuss with others in the Network Worldwide – supported by a great blend of facilitation and self-organisation. From the opening session were a group of 300+ individuals from 40+ countries met and mingled through to focused discussions in the workshop and Open Space sessions and the random conversations over meals, the programme provided every opportunity to connect and talk. Most of all, I enjoyed the capacity of Transitioners worldwide to self organise a room in moments – as demonstrated here!”

    The First Gathering, anticipation builds…

    Lucy goes on to say…

    “The next 2 days of the conference felt like a brilliant holiday! Meeting new people, feeling the pulse of so many international initiatives connecting worldwide; enjoying a session with Tom Crompton from Common Cause on intrinsic and extrinsic values; learning about COP21 in Paris in December and being in a home group with Alajie from Gambia, Pete from Perth and Gill from Transition Exeter. My highlights? Selling all the copies of Playing for Time and attending a brilliant bicycle maintenance workshop with Mike Jenner: as much about a philosophy of life about looking after things, community and compatibility as about chain tools and gear cogs.”

    Meanwhile, Dan and Rachel, aka FanSHEN – our collaborators in the Tooting Field Days – ran a workshop on Creative Facilitation with 50 attendees! Complete with hurling eggs and plasticine models.

    The shear variety of activity on offer was mind-blowing, as can be seen by our mind-map of things to follow up.

    The Paris Climate Change Conference: COP21

    One of those strands was COP21, the International summit on Climate Change happening in Paris. This conversation was convened by a participant of the Conference during one of two Open Space sessions, here’s Charlie’s digest of some key points:


    “The conference runs for the first 2 weeks of December: a vast stage-managed event where final negotiations are thrashed out, and at the same time citizens and groups worldwide watch the process – and make their feelings known, if possible. A good article to sum it all up can be read here. It’s even pretty optimistic!

    Paris is the 21st of these global conferences, and the Transition Network has commissioned the publication of “21 stories for COP21” – inspiring stories from around the world of transition groups taking practical action that has an impact now on carbon reduction, and social and environmental benefits. We’ll circulate that publication as soon as its ready.

    What should we do for COP21?

    At the Transition Conference in September, a very active group focused on what could be done in Paris to support visiting Transition groups who want to be close to the action – witnessing the talks, maybe adding their voices to the marches, and also running events and workshops to demonstrate what we are achieving together now. We’ll share those details.

    Of course there are many events in London too – workshops, films and a major Climate March on November 29th. Never “marched”? Have a look at the post on the TTT blog to consider what its like, and why do it. On the day described, 700,000 people marched all around the world. We’ll share details of a TTT group taking part.”

    Final Thoughts…

    The Valley view, early morning


    From a glass of wine overlooking the valley in brilliant sunshine to Local Entrepreneur Forums to co-creating a network across the world’s Megacities, it was a wonderful weekend. Lucy writes…

    “I came away glad to put so much of my life energy of the last 7 years into a movement that has taught me so much about the broad picture challenges we face, and the practical, immediate and enjoyable ways in which these challenges can be turned to opportunities working day-by-day over time with like minded people.

    Above all it was magic to be there with so many others from Tooting. What a place to come from and go home to! Onward!”

    And the last word to Sharon, who describes her experience of going to the Conference for the first time:

    “As a first-time conference goer, I was anxious about being out of my depth. However, I met lots of fascinating, friendly folk and felt I made valuable contributions – from the outdoor learning workshop I co-hosted, to the lively sessions on professionalising Transition work and creating livelihoods. It was also great to meet non-Transition people at the conference who shared similar goals, values and ideas. All in all, an exhausting yet very energising weekend.”

    All best, Richard

  • Time to Act on Climate Change – 7th March

    A group of a dozen of us from Tooting went to the Time to Act march on Saturday in London. 

    Why march? To express yourself, to be counted, to meet friends and strangers, to witness change in the making, to represent others, simply to be there. 





     
    Making and feeling the weight of your message in your hands – it’s unusual, active, and personal. Totally unlike holding a phone. 




    The sun was hot; the wind blew the banners so they tugged like sails.

     
    At one point in the march, between The Savoy and 
    Charing Cross, everyone sat down on the warm tarmac of the Strand. 


    For me that was a good moment – not quite touching the wild earth, but certainly feeling in touch with London, and valuing it as a physical place that shelters us. 

     
    None of us wants to be preached to, and I liked these diverse messages –  direct and also complex; creative and calling up so many associations.

    Why march, why do what we do locally in Tooting?
    Naomi Klein from the introduction to ‘This Changes Everything‘:
    “We know that if we continue on our current path of allowing emissions to rise year after year, climate change will change everything about our world. 
    And we don’t have to do anything to bring about this future.  
    All we have to do is nothing“
    – Charles 

  • Ethical Investment

    At last week’s Pension Power event, we had a very interesting discussion about how ordinary citizens can start to tackle the behemoth of the financial system, by making choices that avoid destructive climate consequences.

    Share Action‘s Sophia McNab presented some interesting data and ideas.  Sophia says:

    “To kick-off your pension fund activism, you can email your pension fund about your climate concerns. Our e-action makes it really simple; you can send off our template email or edit it to include your own questions: www.greenlightcampaign.org.uk  Beyond that, ShareAction is also coordinating meetings between pension funds and their customers – here is a video of the customers who met with Scottish Widows last week.”

    We were happy to have ethical investment advisor Barchester Green‘s John Ditchfield in the audience who explained some of the problems of changing an industry where so much is invested in the climate busting status quo.  He also forwarded this Guardian article about the “winners and sinners” in ethical investing. We dabbled briefly with SIPPS (self invested personal pensions) such as this one, where you chose the investments. It requires a bit of financial nous, but it does give you control.

    We hope to have more ethical investment events in 2015 and you don’t have to have a pension or indeed any money to be interested!

    This stuff affects us all but most of us tend to bury our heads in the sand don’t we?

    Almost everyone deals with a bank or building society for loans, current accounts or savings. How ethical is yours? Fancy funding the arms trade, big pharma, destructive mining or human rights abuse?  Most of the major banks do, however tacitly. And what about Wandsworth Council, where do they invest their millions of reserves?  Somewhere not very clever from an ethical standpoint I’d wager, but prepared to be proved wrong WBC!

  • Seize Your Pension Power To Save The Planet

    Your pension can change the world! 
    Right now, it’s funding climate change…

    On December 9th we are running an event with Share Action looking at how the gazillions sloshing around in the UK’s pension funds are invested in fossil fuel companies and other high-carbon industries which are driving the world towards dangerous climate change.

    This is our money and we should have a say in how it is used shouldn’t we? 

    By taking back control over the cash invested in pensions, we can make sure it’s supporting a better future.

    This workshop will cover the basics of how your pension is invested and how pension savers can take action to effect change. Join us for the evening to learn about your pension power can save the planet!
    Tuesday 9th December 2014, 7-9pm at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 7EW [poster to download]

  • Furzedown Low Carbon Zone: Film Night 22nd Oct

    All welcome to a Film Night hosted by our sister project, Furzedown Low Carbon Zone.

    Date: Wednesday October 22nd
    Venue: The Furzedown Project, 93 Moyser Road, SW16 6SJ
    Timings: Doors open at 7:30pm, and the showing starts at 8:00
    Booking: Please book a ticket on our booking page here. Tickets are £5.00. Under-16s and over-60s are free (please book in all the same)

    We’ll finish by 9:30, but conversation can always move to the pub! 
    Film is better with tea, coffee and cake – and if you came to the Tooting Foodival you know we make some great cakes.

    We’re showing ‘Disruption’:
    a brand new film about climate change and community 
    organisation in the face of apparent poltical apathy 


    The film also covers the background to the New York City Climate March last month.

    As well as fundraising for our activities, we’ll be sharing the proceeds of the evening with Furzedown FACE, a group that supports the local community. 


    The ‘FLCZ’ has been active for three years now
    Furzedown Low Carbon Zone is a community association dedicated to reducing the carbon emissions of Furzedown and surrounding areas. You may have seen us at Furzedown Big Day Out, at Tooting Foodival or on the Climate March.

    Two earlier FLCZ projects were carried out with many local partners including South Thames College, Eardley School, Furzedown enterprises and Transition Town Tooting. Do watch the project videos:

    1 ‘The Greener Jobs Alliance’ – watch it here

    2 ‘Better Choices for a Better Tomorrow’ – watch it here

    We’re proud that our first project won the Green Gown Awards ‘Best Newcomer’ category  in 2012 from The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges.


    If you’d like to find out about FLCZ activities, including our current focus on setting up a community renewable energy scheme, please contact us here.
    We look forward to seeing you.

  • A follow-up to the People’s Climate March

    A huge event worldwide – maybe the biggest of its kind, ever.

    Here’s a map from 350.org, one of the 
    campaign partners:

    The march in New York City:

    What’s happened afterwards (so far)?
    This article gives a good view from the UN:  ‘Five ways Ban Ki-moon’s summit has changed international climate politics forever’ http://gu.com/p/4xp6f

    Please join us to carry out relevant, rewarding and practical local activities together, here in Tooting.  
    Do get in contact with your ideas.