[Dialogue] ICA-USA dialogue

Mon Sep 13 09:10:52 CDT 2010

Sorry that I didn't complete my thought before my msg got sent.
If the seeds we scatter and the training we provide isn't supported by a
strong model for making the work financially sustainable, we haven't learned
enough from our past HDP efforts.  The "economic" was always part of our
plans, and our story, but in many instances I believe we were naïve in our
eagerness to serve - and the long range future of the HCP's suffered.  So I
wanted to toss this question into the dialogue.  We know how to support
ourselves, how does "the work" support itself (which, I think, is a big part
of what would make it able to be "replicated".  

Geri Tolman

-----Original Message-----
From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net
[mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Terry Bergdall
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 9:10 AM
To: Colleague Dialogue
Subject: [Dialogue] ICA-USA dialogue

First, I want to thank Jack for his reflections. Yes, we want to encourage a
widespread dialogue. 

Second, I want to briefly touch on a couple of particulars, namely
university interns as mentioned by Jack and the Transition Movement as
mentioned by Ellie Stock (below). We envision a collaborative approach as
ICA-USA moves forward and current activities are making this a reality. We
will have our first group of students (perhaps as many as 25) at 4750 in
October from a small college in Kentucky. James Addington is playing an
important role in coordinating the (1) contextual "curriculum," (2) the
social engagement, and (3) the community life that make-up the heart of our
"service learning program." We hope that among the social engagement
activities will be work with Transitions Rogers Park. This is a group in a
neighborhood north of Uptown that sees itself as being a part of the
Transitions Movement. Karen Snyder and Pam Bergdall (and to a lesser degree,
myself) have been working with Transitions Rogers Park for almost a year.
They definitely can benefit from our organizing and facilitation skills.
This coming fall, we hope for ICA-USA to play exactly that role. And as I
mentioned, we hope for it also provide a practical platform for engaging
students in the "service learning program." Next step is to help establish
other Transitions groups across neighborhoods in Chicago. Beyond that, ICA
could promote and play a similar role across the country (and, through our
partnerships with member organizations of ICA International, the world).
Though it is just a beginning, it offers a practical illustration about the
collaborative nature of our future programming work.

Terry Bergdall   

On 12 Sep 2010, at 17:44, Af wrote:

> After reading Jack's email re the future of the ICA, I was just wondering
if any colleagues had run into "The Transition Movement".  Our daughter
Chenoa encountered/learned about it at a New Cosmology/Earth Literacy
training at The Genesis Farm in Blairstown, NJ, led by Sr. Miriam MacGillis.
The Transition Movement in that area offers training sessions at the Genesis
Farm.  See article below.
> Ellie Stock
>  
> The Transition Movement:  From Oil Dependence to Community Resilience, 
> One Community at a Time by Michael Brownlee*
>  
> It is heartening to discover that there is now emerging on our planet a
most unusual grassroots-to-grasstops movement. It is mobilizing communities
all over the world to reclaim their power locally, to make the transition
from dependence on life-destroying globalized systems to local networks of
resilience and self-reliance, to wean themselves from fossil fuel
dependence, and to rebuild capacities to meet their essential needs locally.
>  
> The Transition Movement--focused on relocalization--began in Totnes,
England, in 2006, as Rob Hopkins considered how to apply the principles and
ethics of permaculture (a deeply Earth-based discipline incorporating
indigenous wisdom from around the globe) to the daunting challenge of
preparing whole communities for the local impacts of converging global
crises, especially fossil fuel depletion, global warming, and economic
contraction.
>  
> The inspirational process that has evolved from Hopkins' early work in
England has spread rapidly to some 320 officially recognized transition
Initiatives in 16 nations, including more than 70 in the US.  These are
joined by thousands of other communities who are just beginning their jouney
to adopt and adapt the process, making this perhaps one of the
fastest-growing social change movements in recent history.
>  
> Within a particular community, Transition Initiatives at first may 
> visibly manifest themselves with a marked increase in local organic 
> food production--from home gardens, to community gardens, to vibrant 
> family famrs and farmers' markets.  Meanwhile, more mature initiatives 
> may launch new local currencies to keep economic vitality from leaking 
> out of their communities.  Others are stimulating local efforts to 
> reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to retrofit homes and businesses for 
> greater energy efficiency, and to offer "re-skilling instruction in 
> fundamental life skills that will be increasingly importnat in a 
> post-oil society (e.g., food production and preservation. 
> beekeeping,home and clothing repair, etc.)
>  
> The core of the Transition process begins as a small group of passionate
volutneers (an "initiating group") who launch a campaign of
awareness-raising and networking with existing groups in the area,
articulating the need for adopting and adapting a Transition approach, and
demonstrating ways to "unleash the collective genius of the community."
>  
> As this early group grows, ad hoc working groups naturally self-organize,
addressing key areas of local concern, such as food, energy, transportation,
housing, education, etc.  These groups will then develop assessments,
explore plans, and create practical projects that can contribute to the
overall relocalization effort, loosely coordinated or facilitated by the
Transition Initiative.
>  
> When the initiative has progressed sufficiently, it embarks on an intense
community-wide planning process, which results in a long-term Energy Descent
Action Plan (EDAP) for the community.  This part of the process, which
includes local government, involves researching the strengths and
vulnerabilities of a local system, assembling a compelling and inclusive
vision of a possible future, and actually mapping the pathways to true
sustainability and low-carbon emission.
>  
> Once the EDAP is drafted--which may take a couple of years--implementing
this comprehensive plan becomes the initiative's primary project, sharing
successess and failures along the way with those in other Transition
Initiatives who are attempting to follow the same path.
>  
> Transition and the New Cosmology
>  
> Answering a deep inner calling (and often with little or no previous
experience in activism or community organizing) many leaders of Transition
Initiatives are finding themselves exploring innovative ways to anchor,
deepen, and support their efforts.  For instance, at Genesis Farm in New
Jersey--a center fostering Earth Literacy and Transition Culture, founded by
Sr. Miriam MacGillis (www.genesisfarm.org)--Transitioners are exploring how
the New Cosmology inspired by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme can enhance
their work, connecting them more deeply to an Earth-based sense of the
sacred.  Here, as in many locations, they also explore the Inner Transition,
the "Heart & Soul" work that is helping Transition groups to deepen
relationships and avoid burnout or "crisis fatigue."  By integrating
creative techniques such as those of deep ecologist Joanna Macy and others
into ordinary organizational processes, they hope to cultivate deeper
communication and promote community healing.  At Genesis Farm, transitioners
are in effect becoming students of Emergence, the evolutionary process by
which the universe self-organizes, finding profound and practical lessons in
how to catalyze Transition in their communities.  While Emergence may not be
a traditional part of the Transition orientation, it perhaps demonstrates
that the movement represents an opening where breakthrough understandings
and processes can readily emerge and make significant contributions.  After
all, since no one has yet successfully relocalized a community, it is quite
likely that both new and ancient approaches will be needed.
>  
> *Michael Brownlee is co-founder of Transition Colorado, the first
officially recognized Transition Initiative in Northm America.  He is also a
co-founder of Transition U.S., and served on its original board of
directors.
> 
> 
>  
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