Reflecting on Texpo - By Ashlea Jonesmith

The Transition Denman Island Steering Committee (TDISC) would like to send out a giant “THANK YOU” to the 30 amazing groups that turned out to participate at Texpo, as well as members of the public who dropped in for a visit. We were so pleased to have your support.
On Sunday, October 17th these 30 organizations, societies and clubs came out to begin what will be an exciting and challenging journey toward a fully self-sustainable, locally resilient community. The gathering was an opportunity for these groups to showcase what they are doing in the community and we were pleased to see so many well-thought-out presentations that exceeded our expectations. It was also an opportunity for active members of the community to network with one another, get a good understanding of all the initiatives currently under way, see where group interests connect and overlap and come up with new ideas to fill some of the gaps. For new members of the community like me, it was an enjoyable first-time look at many of the projects happening here on Denman.
The TDISC is now in the process of assembling a comprehensive directory of D.I. Groups to publish on our website so that anyone interested in getting involved with or finding out more about these groups can do so through our site.
This winter Transition Denman Island will be hosting “The Great Launch” at which the whole community will be invited to help come up with a grand plan for Denman Island. It will be a completely different format from Texpo. No more sitting still for long periods of time and talking business – we promise! The Great Launch will be more of a party than a meeting. We will all have the opportunity to envision a perfect and resilient community and share our ideas. We will also celebrate our official declaration that Denman Island is a Transition Town, joining the ranks of leading communities around the world.
As part of this celebration we hope to form action groups that will focus on specific goals such as sustainable transportation, local green energy, agriculture, health and well-being, the arts, entertainment and so on. We are hoping that these groups will benefit from the information shared and collected at Texpo, and that members of the action groups will be able to navigate and work together with organizations that are already active in the community.
The Transition Denman Island website is currently up and running at www.transitiondenmanisland.org and we would like to encourage you to surf over for a visit to find out what we’re all about.
Reflecting on Texpo, we can see that the transition thought process has truly begun in this community and we are excited about the future. Denman Island has solidarity! We can do this!

Transition Denman Island: Joining with TT’s Around the World - By Frances Honsinger

The Transition Town movement, which started in 2005, has spread to 300 communities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Italy, Chile and Canada. In BC alone, there are several official Transition Towns, including Nelson, Golden Ears, Powell River , Salt Spring Island , Vancouver and Victoria .
 
On Denman Island , we are part of this international movement that taps into the collective creativity of its community members. The main aim of the project is to raise awareness of sustainable living and to build local, ecological resilience in the near future. Communities are encouraged to seek out methods for reducing energy usage as well as reducing their reliance on long supply chains that are totally dependent on fossil fuels for essential items.
 
We are ahead of many communities in that we already have several groups on the island who are working toward these ends. The Transition Denman Island steering committee has been compiling information about the various groups to create a database which we will share with all those involved.
 
We will be holding a Transition Expo “TEXPO” in October for representatives from these groups to come together and learn from each other. In the new year, the whole community will be invited to become involved in projects that have the potential to make the future of Denman Island more joyful and sustainable. Your ideas, creativity, inspiration and participation will not only be welcome, but will comprise Transition Denman Island , as the steering committee dissolves and action groups engage the community in the transition process. These groups could include, for example: food, permaculture, transport, health, energy, education, water, economics and waste. Each of these action groups will look at their area to determine the best ways of building community resilience and reducing our carbon footprint. Their solutions will form the backbone of the Energy Descent Action Plan.
 
In September, members of the Transition Denman Island steering committee will be in the Blackberry Fair parade and will have a booth at the Fair. Come and play "Climate Change Challenge" to test your knowledge of environmental issues and win a prize. See you there!

TEXPO 2010

A Transition Expo

Sponsored by Transition Denman Island

Steering Committee

The Transition Denman Island (TDI) Steering Committee has invited all the groups/committees on Denman to a TEXPO on Sunday, October 17^th, in the Community Hall from 1-5pm.  The goal of this event is to:

• expose all the islands’ groups to each other’s mandate and work
• share information about what each group is doing towards TDI’s goals of resilience to climate change and energy dependency
• discuss how we can all work together collaboratively
• make plans to coordinate our efforts

Islanders who are not part of an invited group are welcome to come and view each group’s information table from 1-2pm then stay as silent Observers for the rest of the event.

At 2pm we will start by showing a short U-Tube clip of Rob Hopkins (Post Carbon Institute and the founder of Transition Towns) to give an overview of the Transition movement. Each group’s representative will present their information then a general discussion will be held on how we can all work together to become more resilient to the coming changes.  All ideas will be captured and our plan is to publish an Informational Directory of all the groups and an article in the November Flagstone.

All ideas will be brought forward at the Transition Island Visioning Event to be held in the New Year where all the community will be invited to bring their thoughts and ideas. 

We believe that this is the first time a representative from all the islands’ groups will be in the same room so it will be an exciting and informational event. If your group has not been contacted yet, please call Veronica (1828) or vtimmons@island.net.  The event will also be a fundraiser through sales of refreshments.

Veronica Timmons