Many in the environmental movement are aware of Transition Towns. This brilliant construct recognizes that two major juggernauts are going to change our world no matter what we do – that is climate change and the end of cheap oil. Rather than await these changes passively, Transition Towns offers community level tools to envision a future that is both better than what we are living now and is based on low-carbon/no-carbon energy, and then make it happen. The central feature of Transition Towns is re-localization, or developing local resilience. The founder, Rob Hopkins, wrote a handbook that is divided up into “the Head”, “the Heart” and “the Hands,” representing the scientific underpinnings of the changes we face, the emotional fallout from recognizing these facts, and practical tools and approaches that will allow each community to be proactive in redesigning themselves under the new conditions. It is an exciting model, and it has literally gone viral – now existing on all continents (except for Antarctica!). In the USA there are over 100 official transition towns (NC has 1 official town and several “mullers”) and the numbers are growing all the time.
NC IPL is very pleased to be partnering with United Church of Chapel Hill to co-sponsor the first ever Transition Congregations Training and Workshop. The Rev. Jim Deming, national United Church of Christ Minister for Environmental Justice, and Tina Clark, a senior Transition Towns Trainer, have developed a workshop specifically for people of faith using the concepts and techniques pioneered by Transition Towns. This unique offering will be piloted in a day long program on Saturday January 21, 2012 and is open to all communities of faith, lay and clergy. It will explore what preparing for peak oil and climate change means at the congregational level and how faith communities can be leaders and innovators as the world changes in the coming years and decades.
Registration is now open but space is limited. Please go to the NC IPL website events section for registration information. We are hoping for a truly interfaith group to experience this first training, build community throughout the state and give Jim and Tina feedback as well. We are very lucky that this is happening in NC and hope that there will be lots of interest and eager participation.
If you have questions, please contact Kathy@ncipl.org. We look forward to an exciting day.
–Dr. Kathy Shea, Co-Director, NC IPL
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