Transition Towns part 2
8 February 2008
Two weeks ago you may have seen me covering the growing phenomenon of transition towns - a concept that will allow us to reduce the impact of the big crunch, when the production of crude oil cannot keep up with demand, and, finally runs out altogether. I discussed how this seems to be such a huge task that it appears almost impossible to accomplish, so many of you may be surprised to hear that Leamington Spa is already in the early stages of becoming a transition town.
February 2008 will mark the beginning of an awareness program that aims to bring the concept of transition towns to the people of Leamington and Warwick, and demonstrates that such an ambitious idea is not to far out of reach.
To backtrack a little further, the first transition town meeting took place in September 2007 with over 60 attendees from local government, business, environmental groups, churches and local residents. Since then the transition town concept has been gaining momentum and interest. Over the next month Action 21 will be taking an active role in raising awareness of transition towns and the environmental problems it relates to by organising three screenings of a documentary about Cuba's success in being the first country in the world to make the transition from a dependence upon oil.
The documentary, which is an hour long, is provocatively titled "The Power of Community" because it demonstrates how Cuba's solutions to the the heavy oil sanctions it faced, were found in community development and cooperation. The threat that declining oil supplies poses is very real, but this documentary also shows a real alternative to our current way of life.
The screenings of this film will be culminating in another open meeting which will take place at Dale Street Methodist Church on the 23rd of February at 7.30pm
The dates and places of the "Power of Community" documentary are as follows: Wednesday 13th February @ Brunswick Healthy Living Centre; Monday 18th February @ Lillington Community Centre; and Tuesday 19th February @ Robbins' Well. All of these screenings will begin at 7:30pm and last approximately an hour.
A diary of all these events can be found at www.action21.co.uk