Schumacher in Copenhagen- Sustainable Living, Localism and Resilience

Schumacher College and the Transition Network yesterday delivered a joint participatory session on Sustainable Living, Localism and Resilience to an audience of several hundred Klimaforum09 delegates.

Lead by Jon Rae and Julie Richardson of Schumacher College, and Sophy Banks and Naresh Giangrande of Transition Network, the workshop opened with a practical mapping exercise to get the audience moving! Asked whether action would be lead by governments or communities, most delegates positioned themselves to indicate that the responsibility was shared, therefore underlaying the importance of a localised approach for radical change.

The panel then presented four future community scenarios (following the end of cheap electricity) which included business as usual, collapse, green tech stability and transition, after which the recently released film In Transition was shown. This was followed by a conversation between the audience and panel of the major issues surrounding community transition towards a low carbon and localised economy. Topics of particular interest included how to achieve transition in cities and participation of all sections of society. Members of the audience then shared their experiences of and views about the four scenarios which included the following:

“For myself and those I live with, every small step feels like a battle. I hope for positive transition but it’s hard.”

“We still eat food from around the world. I recently went to India and found Danish butter!”

“I come from a transition town on the east coast of Scotland. There is no way to convert everyone because for the majority the mindset is business as usual. However once people see positive things happen and that quality of life doesn’t relate to how much stuff you have the mindset starts to change.”

“I see business as usual…we use ‘green technology’ but it’s usually nuclear! I get angry and disappointed.”

“My community has a twice yearly bring and barter sale. People bring charcoal, jam, eggs and craft…its fun and involves the community sharing our produce. It’s a great way to show we don’t always need to exchange money.”

Relevant links

Click here to find out more about the movie In Transition

Click here, to read more about Klimaforum09 and the daily events.

After Copenhagen: Opportunities and challenges
1 – 19 March 2010

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