Karen Studders, JD

Former Commissioner, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Core Group Member, Saint Paul MN USA Mulling Group

July 26, 2011

Engaging Local Government in Transition Work

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise

• Learn how Citizens engaged in Transition Towns might partner with other groups & Government during these times of dramatic change.

• Learn how to increase Government awareness about the Transition Towns Movement.

Goals for Today

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise

• Decreased Funding / Revenue• Fewer Hands / Jobs• More Regulatory Pressures• Increased Energy Costs• Increased Environmental Stresses• Public Dissatisfaction

Challenges Our Communities Face

1. Dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable.

2. Communities lack the resilience to recover from severe environmental, energy and economic shocks.

3. There is a need to act collectively & a need to act now.

4. The answer lies in our ability to harness the collective genius of those around us…in order to create a new plan…

Transition Towns Assumptions

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

INCREASING ENERGY COSTSINCREASING ENERGY COSTS

ENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL

STRESSESSTRESSESECONOMIC ECONOMIC INSTABILITYINSTABILITY

How will these affect us?

How do we prepare?

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Government IssuesGovernment Issues Citizen IssuesCitizen Issues

EnergyAir/Water/Land/EcosystemsSafe Drinking WaterSewage / Disease PreventionCars / Buses / RailFood SafetyWaste Disposal / RecyclingCitizen Education

Electricity / Heat / ACClean EnvironmentDrinking Water SanitationMobility / TransportationFood/Gardening/Urban FarmsComposting / RecyclingEmployment / Reskilling

We Need Each Other

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Transition Towns Engage Citizens In Another Way

We often think of two scales of response:

1. Citizens doing things in their own homes, -- OR --

2. Government acting on a regional or national scale.

The Transition Model explores the ground between these two and asks:

What could be achieved if we partner at a community level?

Transition Towns is Worldwide

(Proportionate – enlarged for presentation)

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

383 “Official” Groups Worldwide: 9 National Hubs: Canada, France, Ireland,

Italy, Germany, Norway, Portugal, UK, US Transition Towns is in 34 countries 422 Mulling Groups (registered)

94 “Official” Groups in the US: 29 States 140 Mulling Groups in the US (registered)

Emerging Groups

Transition Hubs, Initiatives & Muller Groups

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise

An international grassroots movement that builds community resilience in response to the challenges of increasing energy costs, environmental stresses, and economic instability.

See The Transition Handbook.

What is Transition?

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Transition is Built on Systems Thinking

Key Elements of a Resilient Community

Food

Water

Energy

Transportation

Arts

Education

Heart & Soul

Health

Recreation Currency

Waste Water

Land Use

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Road Map: Energy Descent Action Plan

1. Establish a baseline of current practices.

2. Obtain existing local community strategy plans.

3. Create an overall positive vision of the community 15-20 years in the future.

4. Create detailed visions in each work Group.

5. Backcast in detail.

6. Capture Transition Tales to tell the story through multiple creative sources.

7. Pull together the backcasts into an overall plan.

8. Create a first draft.

9. Finalize the Road Map.

10. Celebrate! Always a good thing to do.

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Conventional

Environmentalism

Conventional

EnvironmentalismTransition Approach

Transition Approach

Individual BehaviorSingle IssueSustainable DevelopmentBlanket CampaigningMan in the street = problemPrescriptive – advocates

answers & responsesCarbon Footprinting

Group BehaviorSystems ApproachResilience/RelocalizationTargeted InterventionsMan in the street = solutionCatalyzes – no fixed

answersCarbon Footprinting plus

Resilience Indicators

The Transition Concept

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Food & Production Food & Production Economics & TransportationEconomics & Transportation

Percentage of food grown locally

Proportion of compostable food "waste" that is actually composted

Percentage of essential goods (including medicine) manufactured within a given radius

Number of locally owned businesses

Proportion of community employed locally

Average commuting distances for workers in the town & for people living in the town but working outside it

Resilience Indicators Examples

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

As a Community Container / HostAs a Community Container / Host

Listen

Vision

Bridge

Honor

Coordinate

Celebrate

Where does Transition fit?

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Operating Assumptions of Transition

Continuous growth within a finite system is impossible.

Reductions in availability of fossil fuel energy is inevitable.

Our society is unprepared for sudden shocks to these systems.

Citizens want to help their communities prepare & thrive -- become energy, environmentally & economically sustainable.

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

It is better to plan for sudden shocks

…..than to be taken by surprise

We need to act collectively – and we need to act NOW

If we wait for the government to react, it'll be too late.

If we act as individuals, it'll be too little.

If we act as communities - it might just be enough, just in time.

Thank You

Sharing information and resources is a principle of Transition. Many of these slides were produced by others in the Transition

Network, Transition US, Transition Northfield, and Transition Twin Cities.

** Many thanks to those who helped co-create materials for a Transition 101 presentation made to local units of government in

Minnesota.

Special Thanks to Patricia Danielson, for sharing her expertise in PowerPoint and the use of her computer.**

It’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

Contact information:

Working with Government in Times of Dramatic Change / Transition

Karen Studders Seasoned Change Agent & Leader, adept at

problem solving, advising, negotiating, mediating, and facilitating. Extensive knowledge of and experience in energy, environment, agriculture, and government.

Available to advise Transition Communities on how to successfully work with local, state & federal government.

Mail: PO Box 16395, Saint Paul, MN 55116 Email: KarenStudders@gmail.com Phone: 612-386-1021

Transition US www.transitionus.org