by Cat Henley

“Until the late 20th century, every generation throughout history lived with the tacit certainty that there would be generations to follow.  Each assumed, without questioning, that its children and children’s children would walk the same earth, under the same sky.  Hardships, failures and personal death were encompassed in the vaster assurance of continuity.  That certainty is now lost to us, whatever our politics.  That loss, unmeasured and unmeasurable, is the pivotal psychological reality of our time.”  ~ Joanna Macy

I was fortunate to attend the ‘Training for Transition” two-day training seminar in San Francisco the weekend of December 6-7, offered by Naresh Giangrande and Sophy Banks from the Transition Town Initiative founded in the UK.  I was asked by Bob Banner to share my experience.

I started this posting with the quote from Joanna Macy because it’s obvious her work is near and dear to the Transition Town founders.  They used several of her exercises within the training and referred to her quotes many times.

I was impressed with both Naresh and Sophy.  They have dedicated their lives to this movement for years.  They helped to establish Totnes, the first Transition Town in the UK in 2005.  Naresh is an unsung hero, in my opinion.  He is modest, and yet he was the one sitting in the pubs with Rob Hopkins hammering out the whole TT concept only a few years ago. 

Sophy’s background is in psychology, and many of her contributions helped us with our feelings about the material we were processing.

Fifty-two people attended the training.  What a lot of awareness and caring in one room!  Each person brought his or her own strength, perception and knowledge.  Many have written books.  Several of the Transition Town Steering Committees from different towns used to be Peak Oil Activist groups.  Others have backgrounds in psychology or architecture design for sustainable living.  All have one thing in common, though: the desire to make their communities locally sustainable, to wean them off oil dependency; and to recreate a loving and close community.

This is what the Transition Town initiative is all about – doing the necessary work to help towns reclaim their local power and resources to offset dependency on the larger machine.  And by doing this, the larger machine becomes smaller and more sustainable.  Everyone in that room knows it can’t continue as it is now, or there will be collapse. 

The training was carefully put together, and this wasn’t easy considering the important topics to be discussed.  How do you do a two-day workshop discussing the immanent collapse of all things as we know it, and how we can prevent collapse from happening?

Much of the material was powerful and gritty, with detailed graphs and charts on peak oil and climate change (it was suggested to say climate disruption rather than climate change).

Then there were exercises to help the attendees deal with the sadness and frustration that comes with processing this difficult information.

We as a society are addicted to consumerism, and they addressed this problem with psychological models used to treat addiction.

But it all wasn’t just doom and gloom.  A lot of time was allowed for community and for sharing ideas and dreams.  One of the exercises we did was “Visioning.”  One person shares with another what his or her town looks like after it has been “transitioned.”  They stressed the power of visioning.  Naresh showed some articles that Rob Hopkins wrote (which are also in the Transition Town handbook) visioning the future, and how some of those visions have actually come true!

We also had “Open Space” brainstorming sessions to discuss various topics, such as how to establish Transition Town committees and sub groups, and how to present this material so the public will be comfortable with it.

It was especially exciting to hear about the now established models of Transition Town in so many areas of the UK.  Naresh said that people are contacting him to find out which towns are Transition Towns.  They want to live where they know they will be sustained!

Again, it was so powerful for me to have so many aware people together in one room visioning a future that will carry humankind through the difficult times approaching.  It is wonderful to feel hope and be a part of such a sensible solution.

The following is a quote on the Transition Culture website (transitionculture.org) from a Blog on November 18,2008 by Naresh, called “Transition Training Goes on Tour, Blog #1”:

“We are bringing something tangible and intangible to other parts of the world, and most obviously we are bringing hope. I guess the message, ‘You are not alone,’ is what we bring, along with the ideas, thoughts, and practice of all those who are embarking on this path of hope and inspiration. We are all inspiring each other, and certainly I am inspired by all that I see happening, all that participants bring with them on the many trainings we have facilitated.

“Some of the feedback we have received from the training is of the richness of the meetings that happen with other participants – for many, a relief from the sense of isolation they reside in during their regular jobs, with family or friends who don’t share their worldview. I was talking to a journalist from the Times this morning who commented on how Transition Towns created hope in people who feel the futility of doing things on their own.

I do feel a sense of great hope by participating on the Transition Town Steering Committee for Santa Barbara.  As many of the people at the training have agreed, we are in a time where there is a huge awakening of consciousness.  People are waking up to the fact that we can’t go on like we’ve been, and know in their gut that something needs to change.  I appreciate that I can be a part of the change and have had the opportunity to hear this information “straight from the horses mouth.”

Other attendees at the training were Jennifer Gray, who co-founded Transition Penwith UK (http://www.transitionpenwith.org.uk) and now has moved to the United States to start the Transition Network for the US, and Michael Brownlee and LynetteMarie Hanthorn who founded the first “Transition Town” in the US, Transition Boulder County (http://www.bouldercountygoinglocal.com)

We live in exciting times, and the Transition Town movement has just begun in the United States.  So much to do and so much to look forward to!

Cat Henley has been living in Santa Barbara for 20 years, works for SB County Dept of Social Services as a computer systems administrator, and is currently on the Santa Barbara Transition Town Steering Committee.