Communities concerned about climate change and peak oil will now be assisted by a newly formed group. Transition Canada will provide support, guidelines and training to facilitate this expanding initiative.
Ottawa, ON; March 1, 2010 — On a daily basis we are confronted with an array of issues that threaten our life styles and livelihoods. However there is a grassroots movement that is spreading rapidly around the globe which helps to address two potentially devastating concerns – peak oil and climate change. The Transition Town initiative which was formed in the U.K in order to facilitate community based action to combat these forces has spawned Transition Canada. On their own, Canadians are moving to a new level of sustainability and happiness.
This newly formed group, chaired by Fred Irwin of Transition Town Peterborough, will provide some much needed guidance to towns who wish to become transition communities themselves. The steering committee consists of volunteers from other transition groups who are dedicated to building strong local communities less dependent on fossil fuel and to create resilient environments for the future.
The numbers in Canada are growing rapidly which has sparked the need for an overall support group to answer questions, provide training and act as a central hub to assist people as they form groups to initiate the process. One of the founding principles of Transition Towns is that all living systems are dynamic which means that transition initiatives moue through a series of stages as the process evolves. Since it is a ‘bottom-up’ rather than ‘top —down’ process the idea is to draw on the wealth of skilis, knowledge and expertise that is unharnessed in our own communities. That is what makes this movement so positive and dynamic.
The Transition Town initiative, started by Rob Hopkins in Totnes, U.K., is the coming together of diverse members of our societies from local businesses, community groups and local authorities to share success, insights and best practices in order to empower people with the concepts of a resilient future. By raising awareness of peak oil and climate change an amazing network of human endeavor has resulted in 13 communities in Canada being officially recognized by the Transition Network.
The communities that are leading the way are: Salt Spring Island, BC; Barrie, ON; Vancouver, BC; Popiar Hill/Coldstream, ON; London, ON; Powell River, BC; Cocagne, NB; Ottawa, ON; Nelson, BC; Victoria, BC; Dundas, ON; Guelph, ON and Peterborough, ON. Many more groups are forming and the momentum is building as this movement expands across the country.
The strength of technological support will make it easier than ever to connect communities from British Columbia to Newfoundland and everyone in between. You can fend out more about the origins of the movement at www.transitiontowns.org. And then check out the action Gloser to home on the web page of any of the thirteen transition towns.
Transition Canada is a non-profit organization formed by passionate volunteers to provide support and guidance to the ground swell of community based transition initiatives from toast to toast. The transition movement is the people’s response to the need to raise awareness of the issues of peak oil and climate change.
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This month Canadian CED Network is featuring Magdalena Santa Maria Chimbor, a civil society leader, a CED activist, and a prominent member of the women’s movement in Chiclayo, Peru. She is one of the founding members of the Solidarity Economy Initiatives Group (GIES), which opened its first national branch in Chiclayo in 1999.
Our friend and colleague died today. Many of you knew Raymond DesRochers. Those of you who did not, I invite to pause to hear a brief testimony from one who did. A glimpse of this man’s life is a reminder of the values and qualities that have drawn so many of us to the task of strengthening communities across Canada and beyond. His return 14 years ago to his home community of Lafontaine, Ontario was accompanied by a burning desire to contribute to the renewal of this small francophone village and the villages adjacent. His journey can nourish and inspire us as we continue our own work, wherever we are.
Marichu Antonio is the Executive Director of the