Next Transition Durango Meeting, Wed, May 2, 11:30-1pm at Himalayan Kitche

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Why isn't UniTEA House a meeting place option?

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Next Transition Durango Meeting, Wed, May 2, 11:30-1pm at
Himalayan Kitchen
From: "Tom Riesing" <trie...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, April 26, 2012 1:04 pm
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
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Hello All,

The next Transition Durango meeting will be on Wednesday, May 2, from 11:30
to 1pm in the private dining room at the Himalayan Kitchen.

The topics of discussion will be:
1. Where will be meeting. Location options are: Himalayan Kitchen, Durango
Library, Discovery Museum and Back Space Theater.
2. How frequently to meet. We have been meeting every two weeks.
3. Day(s) of the week and time(s) for meetings. Until recently, all of our
meetings were Wednesdays from 11:30am to 1pm.
4. Discussion of project possibilities from from two of the strategies
identified in the County's CEAP plan:
Strategy 2: Develop renewable sources of energy
Strategy 3: Develop a multi-modal transportation system
(See descriptions of these stategies at the bottom of this Email.)

By way of background, for those of you who have not yet purchased a copy of
the Transition Companion, I've included the description of Forming an
Initiating Group from the Companion.(You can purchase a copy of the
Transition Companion at Maria's Bookshop with a 15% discount if you tell
them you are part of the Transition Durango reading group.)

PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL TO LET US KNOW WHICH DAYS OF THE WEEK AND TIMES
OF THE DAY YOU WOULD NORMALLY BE ABLE TO MEET. ALSO LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE
A PREFERENCE FOR OUR MEETING PLACE.

Thanks,
Tom Riesing


===================
Forming an initiating group

Starting a Transition initiative can feel like an overwhelming task. How
can this be made into a manageable process for one person or a group to
kick off?

Once a group of people have come together and decided they want to start a
Transition initiative, the best focus for that, that we have found so far,
is the concept of the initiating group.

The work of the initiating group starts the core activities of Transition:

n Building partnerships

n Awareness raising

n Visioning

n Reskilling

n Practical activities

n Attending to the well-being of the group and the people in it.

Use the tips in COMING TOGETHER AS GROUPS *(Starting out *1, page 92) as an
aid to setting up this group to work well together from the outset.

Bring together people with enough diverse skills that they cover most of
those above. People who know people and are well connected in the community
are vital. Ask who's missing, and talk to them about whether Transition
interests them. Check on the Transition Network website to see if there are
other groups near you to connect with or for mutual support. Also on the
site are events and projects that other groups have done, if you want
inspiration.

An initiating group serves to kick the Transition process off, its members
acting as the early pioneers who net­work and lay good foundations, until
another group takes over the reins of what has become an established and
wider-reaching Transition initiative.

What if Transition doesn't really take off, in spite of the best efforts of
your group? Don't be discouraged if it just doesn't seem to gain any
meaningful traction — perhaps it's not the right, time for your area, or
the model and ideas don't suit the way your community likes to work. Find
positive ways to use your energy in existing groups, or do the one project
that inspires or interests you the most!

In the Transition Handbook, it was suggested that an initiating group would
"design its demise from the outset", and some initiatives, such as
Transition Forest Row, who used their Unleashing to tell everyone who had
come that they were now handing the initiative over to whoever wanted to
drive the process forwards, have put this into practice. For some it has
worked really well— the initiating group's work ended at a launch, or an
Open Space event (see page 220) at which new working groups were formed,
and it then handed over running the Transition project to a new structure.
For others the process is more gradual—as new groups form, new people join
the group, and the initiators take a step back or move into a different
role, perhaps finally getting to do that practical project they wanted to
do, or organising a specific working group.
A list of skills your initiating group might need

from the Transition Training materials

· Facilitating meetings: Agenda, facilitation, decision-making,
communication skills.

· Running talks: Designing and facilitating processes — time for
conversations, feedback, digestion.

· Publicity: Press releases and media, web-site, designing posters and
flyers, blogs.

· Managing information: Email lists, website, `to do' lists.

· Event organising: Booking rooms, DVDs, speakers, projector and
screen, refresh­ments, facilitator, etc.

· Organisational skills: Finance, legal, insurance.

· Public speaking: At events and talks.

· Networking: Good connections with existing organisations and people
in your community and wider.

· Leadership: Taking responsibility and fol-lowing through. This may
be many people or just a few.

· Relationship and people skills: Passion and commitment, humour,
flexibility. Sensitivity: To both the community and the group.

· Celebrating and appreciating: The work of individuals and the group.

======================================


Strategy 2. Develop renewable sources of energy

Looking toward a future with increased regulations on, increased cost of,
and reduced availability of fossil fuel energy, communities across the
nation have begun to develop and implement sustainable energy plans that
aim to provide a variety of benefits. These benefits include many economic
enhancement opportunities, such as cost savings through energy efficiency
and resource conservation, stimulated job market within the new energy
economy, community-wide general economic development, attraction of
tourism, new business partnerships within the community and investment and
reinvestment into community projects. Examples of potential job creation
areas for renewable energy include: installers, electricians, engineers,
investors and maintenance personnel, among others. Other benefits include:
increased environmental stewardship, improved image and community branding
(regionally, nationally, and even internationally), increased retention of
residents and increased pride and self-reliance in the community.

Incorporating more locally generated sources of renewable energy into our
county’s energy portfolio will reduce our emissions and the detrimental
environmental impacts associated with a fossil fuel-based energy supply. It
will also increase the security of our energy future, lessen dependence on
foreign oil, and provide the previously mentioned economic and societal
benefits. The use of cost-saving energy efficiencies, effective
technologies, and creative investment strategies will assist in further
advancing renewable energy technologies in La Plata County.

Locally distributed renewable energy is important as it offers higher
energy efficiencies due to shorter distribution lines and thus less energy
is lost in the transmission of electricity to consumers. Moreover, locally
generated renewable energy increases consumers connection to their energy
generation, thus increasing the consumer’s consciousness of their energy
consumption.

It is noted that the environmental impacts of energy sources (fossil fuels
and renewable) should be evaluated on a life-cycle assessment basis.
Impacts include environmental, economic, and social consequences. This
approach takes into account the impacts associated with procuring the
materials to build the power generation facility (such as a solar panel or
a coal power generation station), the lifetime impacts of those materials,
how the materials can be recycled to new products, or the permanent impacts
due to disposal of the materials. As feasible, the impacts of using status
quo energy sources vs. the proposed renewable energy sources should be
considered in the detailed evaluation process that will be used when
implementing the proposed strategies for renewable energy sources.

The actions in the table below are designed to encourage and increase
renewable energy development and to transition toward a more sustainable
energy economy. The last two actions recommend additional studies that
could lead to further renewable energy supplies.

Hydropower, wind power, biofuel, and other methods of renewable energy were
not sufficiently developed locally to evaluate as a measure for the CEAP,
but should be considered for our county in the future.


Strategy 3. Develop a multi-modal transportation system

La Plata County is currently faced with the challenge of addressing both
urban and rural population growth and the associated growing demand for
transportation. These challenges are coupled with concerns for reducing GHG
emissions and pollution, while supporting a healthy environment and the
needs of a thriving and growing community.

Motor vehicles greatly contribute to the release of GHG emissions,
pollutants and toxins that are hazardous to human and environmental health.
GHG emissions from on-road vehicle travel are direct, occurring at the
tailpipe as the result of fossil fuel combustion in the vehicle’s engine.18

As of the 2005 inventory, GHG emissions from on-road vehicle travel in La
Plata County account for 411,000 tCO2e,19 making transportation the second
largest contributor of emissions, outside of the oil and gas industry.
Estimated vehicle miles traveled in the county each day were 2.2 million in
2010. Vehicle miles are projected to increase relative to population
projections to 3.6 million miles per day in 2030.20 The CEAP aims to reduce
the release of the harmful emissions associated with on-road vehicle travel
by increasing the efficiency of vehicles in our community and by developing
a multi-modal transportation system to decrease vehicle miles traveled.

The CEAP drafts a multi-modal transportation strategy for the county that
utilizes advantageous design mechanisms, such as Complete Streets21 and
Smart Growth22 urban and rural development. These mechanisms are designed
with the community in mind to reduce dependency on private vehicle use,
promote economic development and job growth, support and promote mixed-use
development, encourage more localization of community infrastructure,
support active living and increase community health.