Transition Towns Australia: 2010

Dec 26, 2010

Transition Towns at Woodford

Transition Towns will be at the Woodford Folk Festival on Monday Dec 27 and Tuesday 28 in the GREENhouse.

Drop by and say hello!

On Monday we will be screening the Transition movie and on Tuesday we'll be talking about what's worked and what hasn't with Transition Town so far.

Cheers,

Sonya

Transition Sunshine Coast

Jun 8, 2010

Workshop this Thursday with David Holmgren

If you would like to book into a very special Transition Town workshop this Thursday at Eumundi with David Holmgren, please email for more information.

Transition Town groups from around the Sunshine Coast and South East Queensland and people interested in learning about Transition Towns are invited to attend this very special day.

Cheers,
Sonya Wallace
Transition Sunshine Coast
Coordinator

May 12, 2010

Transition Town Gathering in June with David Holmgren

A Transition Towns Gathering ~ for information and inspiration ~

A very special Transition Town event proudly presented by Transition Sunshine Coast

Thursday June 10 at Eumundi

Join world-renowned sustainability leader David Holmgren at Eumundi on Thursday June 10 for a day full of information and inspiration.

As part of his Sunshine Coast tour in June, David Holmgren and Su Dennett will be Transition Sunshine Coast’s very special guests at a day full of inspirational stories and wonderful opportunities for Transition Town networking.

Building on his visit to the Sunshine Coast in 2006, which sparked the beginnings of Transition Sunshine Coast and Australia’s first Energy Descent Action Plan, this is our opportunity to pause to celebrate just how far we have come and how much we have achieved.

Transition Towns from the Coast and our surrounding neighbours are invited to deliver a short presentation of what they’ve been up to and what they have achieved in their communities.

We will spend the day and evening together acknowledging and honouring the work we have already done, celebrating our successes, learning from each other and being inspired and energised to go back to our communities and achieve even more.

To cover David’s and Su’s time and travel expenses cost is: $75 per person

Accommodation: contact Janet Millington on 5442 7200 for a range of Eumundi accommodation options to suit your needs if you would like to stay overnight

Places are strictly limited, to secure your place:
email Sonya Wallace or call 0408 013 012

Mar 26, 2010

Transition Towns Nambour & Eudlo

More than 60 people turned up to Transition Town Nambour's first meeting and a steering group was formed. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 21 April at 7pm.

Transition Town Eudlo will be at the Eudlo Autumn Markets this Sunday morning held in and around the Eudlo Village Town Hall.

Mar 3, 2010

Transition Town Nambour - first meeting

Transition Town Nambour may be just around the corner...

Their first ever meeting will be on Wednesday March 24 at 7pm, kindly hosted by the Nambour Baptist Church on Coe's Creek Road.

Come along if you live in Nambour and would like to learn more - all welcome.

Feb 26, 2010

Transition Far North Queensland - website up and running

Hi Transitioners,

Visit www.tfnq.org for the latest information on whats on in Far North Queensland.

Tableland LETS
Our first Ravenshoe Trade and Info Night will be Tuesday 9th March at 6.30pm for a shared meal, 7.30pm for trading at 1 Ascham Street, Ravenshoe.

All Welcome, especially prospective members. A one-off $20 joining fee applies.

Please bring a plate of food to share. Bring goods or services you can Offer and a list of Wants.
http://lets.clearwater.com.au/

Seed Savers Up North - Meeting Notice
Seed Savers Up North is our local seed network – part of the Seed Savers Network Australia wide. It is a non-profit group of people who are passionate about saving our plant heritage and preserving the genetic basis of tomorrow’s food.

In our morning session we will be distributing seeds from our seed bank and planning our Autumn plantings in preparation for seeds for our workshops in September. Our afternoon session we will be viewing interesting Seed Saving DVD's .

We will be holding our next meeting:

WHEN: Saturday 13th of March 2010

TIME: 11am Seed Bank exchange, garden tour of Bood's interesting garden

1pm shared lunch, raffle, information circle

2pm - 5pm Selection of interesting Seed Saving DVD's, afternoon tea

WHERE: Bood, Lulu & Riley Hickson phone (07) 4097 2375

'Ballintaggart' 330 Patterson Rd Minbun (Patterson Rd runs off Kenny Rd, which runs off Millaa Millaa Malanda Rd.)

Minbun is between Tarzali and Millaa Millaa. follow signs

What to bring:

1) Seeds for the seed bank and any planting material to share, and folding table if possible

2) Chair and lunch to share, or afternoon tea to share if you are attending afternoon session

3) Something for raffle and fund raising table

4) Tea and coffee available

EVERYBODY WELCOME

This is a Seed Savers Network Event

seedsavers@hotmail.com

www.seedsavers.net

Happy Transitioning
Anne M

Feb 24, 2010

Transition Sunshine Coast delivers EDAP

Transition Sunshine Coast is very pleased to announce they have delivered their Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council. (as seen on Transition Culture)

The Sunshine Coast EDAP covers the entire region of the Sunshine Coast located in Queensland, Australia which has a population of 330,000+ and covers an area of more than 3100 square km.

Written by a small yet committed group of locals and facilitated by Transition Sunshine Coast founders Sonya Wallace and Janet Millington, the plan is the first step in creating opportunities for bottom up, top down cooperation between communities and council in response to peak oil and climate change.

“We’re so pleased to be able to deliver our EDAP to a receptive council. We’ve been working hard to build relationships within the community and with local government by raising awareness about the need to prepare for peak oil and the impacts of climate change and it seems that hard work has paid off,” Sonya Wallace said.

“Our progressive council recognises the need for community partnerships and embraces the EDAP and Transition Initiatives to further their sustainability objectives. This living document is now informing council policy,” Janet Millington said.

The plan delivers almost 400 positive actions, community projects and doable solutions for individuals, households, neighbourhoods, communities, businesses, regions and governments to take to prepare for a more resilient future.

Following the Transition Town model and the Kinsale EDAP, the Sunshine Coast EDAP identified and considered a wide range of areas that will be affected by energy descent such as;

food supply, water, energy, waste, infrastructure, transport and mobility, built environment and housing, communication, health and wellbeing, formal education systems and reskilling of the community, employment and economics, community governance, land stewardship and biodiversity and emergency preparedness in the context of energy descent.

The actions were delivered to the region’s Energy Transition Project Reference Group, formed in 2009 by council and with Transition Town representatives on board along with national climate change experts, ASPO representatives, energy experts, councillors and council staff, the group will create an Energy Transition Policy for the region in response to peak oil and climate change to be finalised by June 2010.

Transition Sunshine Coast will now begin the process of delivering the document to Transition Towns within the region and Transition Town Eudlo’s EDAP will be the first of many local EDAPs to be created within the regional one.

Transition Sunshine Coast will also endeavour to distribute their EDAP through the international Transition Network and add it to the steadily growing e-library of information available to other groups around the world.

For further information contact transitiontowns@yahoo.com.au

Transition Town Hervey Bay

Transition Town Hervey Bay update.

Celebrity visit

We have invited Jerry Colby Williams from ABC Gardening to visit us once again and he will give a talk at the USQ on Saturday 27 March 2010.

TIME 10.30am – 12.00Noon

Gold coin donation at the door.

Jerry is a curator, writer, executive member of Queensland Conservation Council, director of the Seed Savers' Foundation, a patron of ANZES (the Australia & New Zealand Solar Energy Society), and an ABC TV Gardening Australia television presenter. Trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Jerry is qualified in horticultural estate management, soft landscape design, horticultural and botanical sciences.

Projects completing – what next?

As Transition Town Hervey Bay draws near to the end of its 2 year project, its heartening to see so many new volunteers coming on board full of enthusiasm and great ideas. The Low Carbon Diet, the Energy Descent Action Plan and the TT Gardeners are all scheduled to wind up in June but there are calls already to go beyond that date, so it looks as though a new team will form.

Next Meeting Thursday 25 February at Images Training Restaurant, Wide Bay TAFE, Urraween Rd. A short film and social meeting.

Library Presentations

Transition Fraser Coast presentations at:

Maryborough Library Thursday 25 Feb 10am
Hervey Bay Library Friday 26 Feb 10am

BBQ

You are invited to the Transition Town Gardener’s very first BYO BBQ

When: Sunday 7 March 2010. 11am – 2pm

Where: At the Cottage, 16 Peter’s Lane, Pialba

Why: To share good food with good people in the wonderful garden that is evolving.

BYO everything (plates, cutlery etc) and mix with like minded people while you share recipes, gardening tips and make new friends. There will be a raffle, plant sales and an opportunity to meet one of Hervey Bay’s leading chefs. See you there!

Feb 20, 2010

Transition Town weekend a great success

The recent Transition Sunshine Coast training weekend set in the lush subtropics of the Sunshine Coast was a great success.

We had 23 people from around Australia take part and they were all very keen to dive in the deep end with us and explore Transition Towns and how they might be applied in their local communities.

Being a permaculture inspired event, the food was great too - and local and organic.

Group work is a big part of the weekend and people had the chance to put their own ideas on paper and talk to others about all things Transition.

We explored how climate change, peak oil and all the other pressures on the planet and society might lead to breakdowns or breakthroughs - an interesting exercise that got people thinking and more importantly sharing their thoughts with others, realising they're not alone.

Preparing their own toolkit of skills they need to balance the head, heart and hands of Transition work.

Hopes and dreams - setting the objectives for the weekend.

Our next training weekend is set for June this year, see above right for details.

Cheers,
Sonya Wallace
Transition Sunshine Coast
Transition Town Eudlo
Think Green Consultancy

Transition Town trainer, facilitator and consultant

Feb 4, 2010

Transition Town weekend starts tomorrow

Transition Sunshine Coast is hosting it's first Transition Town training weekend for 2010 and it kicks off tomorrow at Eumundi.

People are travelling from around Australia to spend the weekend with others who are working in or planning to start Transition Initiatives.

We're looking forward to an inspiring and stimulating weekend full of good ideas, great discussion and good food.

We plan to run another weekend mid-year and one more toward the end of the year, depending on demand.

If you would like to go on our course notification list, please email us.

Cheers,
Sonya Wallace
Transition Sunshine Coast
Transition Town Eudlo
Think Green Consultancy

Transition Town trainer, facilitator and consultant

Jan 23, 2010

Computer problems with bookings

Hi,

If you've tried to email us at our info (@) seac.net.au email address in the past week (between January 17 and 22nd) please resend your email to transitiontowns@yahoo.com.au

Due to technical difficulties, we haven't been able to access emails - so if you'd like to be part of our Transition Town Training weekend on February 5, 6 & 7 - email us and we'll get right back to you.

cheers,
Sonya Wallace
Transition Town trainer

Jan 12, 2010

Places filling fast for Transition Town training weekend

Here's some information on the training weekend we have coming up in a couple of weeks - places are filling fast, so please get in quick if you'd like to be part of this exciting Transition Town weekend on the Sunshine Coast. Email if you'd like a flier.

Other weekends are planned for mid-year and later in the year.

ABOVE - a photo of some happy workshop participants and Chippy the dog.

Dates:
Friday February 5 (from 5pm)
Saturday and Sunday February 6 & 7 (9am-4pm)
(We aim to be finished and out the door by 4pm Sunday)

The workshop:
We begin on Friday evening with a shared meal (as local and organic as we can get it) at 6pm with time to meet each other, chat, make connections and gently relax into our weekend of Transition Town training.

First thing Saturday it’s into the workshop. During the two days, we'll take you through a process that will enable you to confidently go back to your communities and either start or continue with your Transition initiative.

We focus on practical, doable and usable information, skills and techniques, bringing together our experience with Transition Towns both locally and from around Australia, years of research and development, and key lessons we’ve learnt along the way.

Learning activities include; powerpoint presentations, facilitated group discussion, small group activities, games (fun ways you can unleash the creative genius in your community!), including our famous Trans-Action and Carbon Dating games, mindmapping exercises, examples of world cafes and other techniques featured in the Transition Handbook and processes for starting, leading and developing your Transition Town.

We'll cover;
History of and introduction to the international Transition Town model

The language of Transition
The Transition Handbook and how best to use it
Transition Towns in Australia
The principles Transition Towns are built on
Finding your running mates
First steps
How to be not just ‘another bloody group’
Understanding the uniqueness of your community
Case studies of other initiatives (how they got started, what they are doing, what’s working)
Understanding group dynamics
Group facilitation skills
Strategies for raising awareness in your community
SWOT analysis of your community
Planning Pathways to Resilience
Defining domains and levels of action
Working with local government
Planning projects and making them happen
Energy Descent Action Planning
Your next steps and your personal pathway to resilience
Whatever else you need to get started…

Each course is tailored to meet the needs of that particular group – sometimes we have a group of people from one geographical area and they can work together on developing a core group and becoming an official Transition Town over the weekend.

Other individual participants will receive a detailed plan for how they can create community support to get their initiative up and running on their return.

Your facilitators:
Sonya Wallace and Janet Millington
Sonya and Janet have been working together in the realm of Transition Towns since 2006 and are the founders of Australia’s first Transition initiative (Transition Sunshine Coast) and local initiatives in their home towns of Eudlo and Eumundi.

They have created and run the world’s first Energy Descent Action Planning course (Time for an Oil Change), which led to the Sunshine Coast Energy Descent Action Plan, now being utilised by both the Sunshine Coast Regional Council in policy-making decisions and Transition Towns in the region.

Sonya’s background (pictured below right) is in state and local government communications, crisis management and community education. She has a Permaculture Design Certificate and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and is currently working toward her Diploma of Permaculture. Sonya has also completed courses in group facilitation focussed on Transition Town creation, development and longevity of group dynamics. She runs a small-scale organic farm at Eudlo, where she coordinates Transition Town Eudlo.

Janet’s background (pictured below left) is in education and permaculture. A qualified primary school teacher, she has been teaching and applying permaculture for many years both locally, nationally and internationally, working with people to develop community gardens, school gardens, permaculture groups and she also helped write the national Accredited Permaculture Training. Janet is an active community member in her home town of Eumundi particularly with the Eumundi Markets, which have recently become an official Transition Town initiative. Janet also has a Diploma of Permaculture and is a published author on outdoor classrooms.

BELOW - Sonya and Janet received a regional award for their work in Transition Towns.

Your booking:
To book, simply contact Sonya on 0408 013 012 or email transitiontowns@yahoo.com.au or contact Janet on 5442 7200 or miltech@bigpond.com for further information and to secure your place.

What to bring:
Please bring all you need for the weekend – comfortable cool clothes (weather will be hot in February), walking shoes, hat, sunscreen, notebook, pens, camera, water bottle, food for the Saturday and Sunday (shopping opportunity available Saturday morning at Eumundi Markets), musical instruments if you have them, and any plans, ideas or learning tools you’ve been working on in your own Transition Town. Also pack your creative genius to unleash on the weekend.

Cheers,
Sonya Wallace
Transition Sunshine Coast
Transition Town Eudlo
Think Green Consultancy

Transition Town trainer, facilitator and consultant

Jan 4, 2010

Transition Towns at Woodford Folk Festival

Transition Sunshine Coast and Transition Kurilpa (Brisbane) delivered a co-presentation on this year's Woodford Folk Festival.

Lots of friendly familiar faces in the audience and lots of new faces too wanting to know more about Transition Towns and how to get involved.

We arranged for space and time at the end of the presentation for people in the audience to get together in the 'meeting place' next door to the GreenHouse to swap email addresses and contact details and link up with people who live near them so they can start their own Transition Town initiatives.

It proved very successful and we look forward to next year when we'll hopefully see even more Transition Towns seeding out of the Woodford Folk Festival experience.

BELOW - the Chai Tent at Woodford facilitated by Robyn Clayfield

BELOW - Woodford provides plenty of opportunities for people to get together, talk and be part of the wonderful community that forms every year at the site.