PROPOSED MEETING~ Wednesday 11th ~ CAN YOU COME?

[Kat]

Hi Everybody,

We've been envisioning a meet-n-greet so we can get to know each other a little better.

How about: WEDNESDAY EVENING - FEBRUARY 11th, 6:30 p.m.
GREENLIFE GROCERY, upstairs

It would be great if we could have a good turn out and get to know some of the local faces we see here on the group. Who all can come? Let us know if this will work for you!

If enough people are interested, we'll add it to the events calendar.

[Kat]

February 22 is probably a bit early for me but I think meeting at her location for some of the workshops could be a neat thing. Let's look at the calendar once it's posted and see what coordinates best.

[Kate]

I think I am in the wrong place. So far, I hear a lot of back and forth. Some folks want to give TT a chance to meet and grow, while assessing the skills and talents of its members (that would have my vote). Others want to jump right in and form alliances with other groups and "hook up" with folks before we even have a basis on which to base the hook. Seems like putting the cart before the horse.


I also agree that getting done what needs to be done for our precious Earth Mother is a huge task, but I feel that many smaller groups of folks, with smaller goals and similar ideals within each group, can get the job done more efficiently then lots of folks all running in many different directions.

So, I will sit back and see what happens with TT. Meanwhile I tend that little space that Mother has entrusted to me with gratitude and diligence. It's the most important difference I can make right now. I would like to network with folks who are interested in intentional communities, green housing, growing our own food, sharing it with each other and basically cleaning up our own corners first.

[Kat]

Hi Kate,

We are brand new, very young and loosely formed, so what you are witnessing at this point in time is enthusiastic people with different groups of their own and different foci -- yes, seemingly running in different directions.

As I understand it, that isn't the goal of Transition Tennessee. Those of us who first joined the network and created a Tennessee branch of Transition USA are interested in establishing a solid group cohesion with goals and some structure in place so that we can focus on exactly what you have spelled out: intentional community, green housing, growing our own food, sharing it with each other and cleaning up our own corners first. Very well put! This is my passion as well and reflects the goals of several here.

We change the planet by changing ourselves first. While we want community and are interested in networking and bridge-building, we are right at this moment seeking to solidify Transition Tennessee as a group that is focused on personal, individual transition as the basis for change. Sustainability and the environment is a common goal for everyone who has joined; however, the intended focus as we form a TT agenda is that we work on educating and inspiring others toward transition -- not just sustainable causes.

I was actually in the process of preparing a blog post to that effect -- discussing the differences between Transition and sustainability. We have been using them synonymously but there are some differences. And I think you pretty well pegged what I was going to describe: cleaning up our own corners first is what transition is about.

As I understand it, while we support, network with, can learn from, and can share with many Green groups in the area, TT is not setting up at this point to become an umbrella for all these various other initiatives.

[Lana Sutton]

Just because some members of TT are meeting and doing things and making alliances doesn't have to ruffle any other members' feathers.
It should energize them.
After all, TT is billed on its home page as "A networking coalition that promotes Transition Initiatives based on local production, renewable energy, efficiency & resilient communities."
Another way to say that is "activism" in the form of getting people to help transition an entire community. It's not just about sitting at home separating your recyclables, or forming a backyard mulch pile with your kitchen scraps.
Taking care of "our own corner" is the very least we can all do.
How else would one accomplish TT's community wide mission unless you form alliances with other groups? You'd need to talk with others to at least make sure your community-transitioning efforts don't conflict.
And if, as a fledgling group, you're not having meetings yourself, I don't see a hangup with attending groups that are actually meeting, and already have initiatives in the pipeline -- initiatives that do reflect TT's stated mission.
It's mission is plainly suggested by its banner: "Bringing communities together to transition to sustainability."

[Christine Chapin]

I'm sorry but I think you are missing several points. Yes, it is a coalition-oriented organization and we are not opposed to making these alliances but it is hard to represent ourselves as a group when we don't know each other yet and haven't explored each other's ideas. We must meet ourselves first. In order to cement alliances and work effectively we must have a viable, organized, goal oriented group, preferably with the same goals in mind.

I don't think folks are being ruffled, just put off a bit because people are jumping off into this without knowing who is in the group, what the goals are, and that Transition is about ENERGY DESCENT not green- in this movement Green is product of the process not the goal. If you read the Transition handbooks, guides and various blogs and sites, Green is not the goal– again it is a product, and Energy Descent is the goal .

There is not "group" at this time because we have not had time to meet and find out anything about each other etc. – but that is what we are working on. We have been polite and we have tried to explain what we want to do and how. I am sorry if it is difficult to respect our attitude and intentions.

We also have various levels of readiness ranging from just entering this arena, to those like John and myself, that have been active for over 15+ years in the principles of Green and Energy Descent. They are 2 different things but are not mutually exclusive. We recognize how they fit together, work together, and what the difference is between them. In order to be effective and provide what is needed to ALL our members, we need to know who they are and where they are in the process (skills etc).

[Kat]

Lana, "Taking care of your own corner" may seem like the little picture, or a myopic focus, but in the case of Chattanooga and Transition, this personal end of the spectrum is where we see a need for focus. Appearing as if it is but a small part of the picture is an illusion: its actually taking into consideration something far greater. Individual empowerment is a key.

When I first learned about Transition, I was overwhelmed with "how can we possibly transition an entire city?" The answer reminds me of the old joke, "how do you eat an elephant?" One bite at a time. In our case, we want to help transition the city by transitioning one person at a time, one neighhborhood at a time. It has a ripple effect. In the end, individual change itself results in changes to the system.

So I don't see our stated focus as being either at odds with the community-wide mission of TT, nor at odds with networking and forming alliances with other groups. We have tried to explain that plugging in to other initiatives is indeed part of the goal. Our concern at this time, as Christine posted above, is simply timing.

Let's not make assumptions about intentions, ideals, motives and conflict. That is simply fear and points to a worry that personal agendas will not be met. We aren't here for that– we are here to join efforts and work our various areas, interests and passions. It will all gel together, you'll see! :-)

We have a chance to create a good thing here, something that addresses a need that is not redundant with other groups but is in resonance. As we grow and TT is seen and heard in the public arena, it will be clear and alliances can be formed without any confusion.

[Lana Sutton]

Transition TN is designed to transition TN to a post-petroleum economy, And if ever there were a transition model being implemented to lower our carbon footprint, it's Chattanooga Green's 47-point work group meetings happening in April.
If TTs there in April, TT might have some authorship. If TTs still here heehawing about whether to have a live meeting next month, it won't.
But I'll be there trying to accomplish the same mission as TT is, whether its local members are ready for a live appearance or not.
If you're not there, you can just trust me to speak for you.
If you believe in the mission, then please join me.
The Transition movement specifically encourages alliance building. It recommends spreading out and enlisting ideas, enlisting people. It specifically mentions alerting groups about your presence and intentions.
Very obviously, this entire site is designed to add members and catalyze work groups. Notice the work groups being formed.
I think individual members should read about the actual mission of this group before re-imagining its mission statement:
What is a Transition Town (or village / city / forest / island)?

It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change?

They begin by forming an initiating group and then adopt the Transition Model (explained here at length, and in bits here and here) with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative.

A Transition Initiative is a community (lots of examples here) working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

After going through a comprehensive and creative process of:

* awareness raising around peak oil, climate change and the need to undertake a community lead process to rebuild resilience and reduce carbon
* connecting with existing groups in the community
* building bridges to local government
* connecting with other transition initiatives
* forming groups to look at all the key areas of life (food, energy, transport, health, heart & soul, economics & livelihoods, etc)
* kicking off projects aimed at building people's understanding of resilience and carbon issues and community engagement
* eventually launching a community defined, community implemented "Energy Descent Action Plan" over a 15 to 20 year timescale

This results in a coordinated range of projects across all these areas of life that strives to rebuild the resilience we've lost as a result of cheap oil and reduce the community's carbon emissions drastically.

The community also recognises two crucial points:

* that we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there's no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope
* if we collectively plan and act early enough there's every likelihood that we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.

If you want to find out more, check out the other menu items on the left hand site of the page.

\\!! Final point Just to weave the climate change and peak oil situations together...

* Climate change makes this carbon reduction transition essential
* Peak oil makes it inevitable
* Transition initiatives make it feasible, viable and attractive (as far we can tell so far...)

[Kat]

While I encourage all members to read the Transition Handbook and other Transition resources, we must remember that these are written theory. Application of that theory must be done with specific respect to the location and what initiatives are already in place. There is a spectrum of work to be done, and where TT is positioning itself along that spectrum will be further clarified here and in the public arena. As has been mentioned, we will be posting a meeting and workshop calendar shortly (I believe Christine said Monday).

[Christine Chapin]

exactly- TT is not an umbrella group- although in some states the transition group does function as such. However here we have a large number of active groups and TT will be better at plugging into existing projects. But again we need to know who we are before telling other folks who we are.... We aren't re-inventing the wheel, we are about helping to fill some of the gaps in the wheel- I have yet to see anyone offer basic sustainable living classes (there are quite a few more in depth workshops) or even address the fact that so many folks live in apartments or rentals- so something to think ... Remember there are many green groups that are national groups with national as well as local agendas and tend to be more politically attuned than practically attuned and that practical area is where our orginal intent lies.... other groups are more suited and experienced to deal with initatives in Chattanooga than we are - if you haven't read the set from the mayor's office please do- it heads Chattanooga in the right direction politically and legisltively... Transition in other areas has had to focus on this side of Transition to get the ball rolling- Chattanooga is already moving so we need to change Transition's focus here and start with teaching individuals the "how to's" of basic Transition as it relates to them... I hope this makes some sense..... or is this as clear as mud?