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Transition Wolfville Area first got going in 2016, went into a dormant phase in 2018-19, and then sprouted anew to become incorporated as a non-profit in 2020, only to have its growth spurt stunted by the multiplying challenges of that year. Given the constant state of upheaval we all find ourselves in, it is all the more urgent that in 2021 we come together to find creative and local ways of living in more respectful, reciprocal, relational, and joyous ways. With that in mind, we are announcing our spring plans for Locavisioning with verve and verse!
We welcome all participation, be it in the form of infrastructure, such as shop windows, bulletin board spaces, Town posts (especially those at Clock Park and the Community Oven and Chimney Swift shelter in Wolfville*), or ideas: poetical word and picture ideas (the seeds of change) community members of all ages can display in/on these spaces throughout April. *We encourage other Villages and Towns in the area to join in too!
You are hereby invited to join in on this community effort however you can. The more of us there are, the better the results will be. Once the poetical “what-if seeds” are gathered up at the end of April, they will be celebrated and pondered in May, and followed up on throughout the rest of the year.
Transition Initiatives and Towns started in Totnes, England in 2006 and have since rapidly multiplied around the world as people recognized that their communities lacked resilience. According to Rob Hopkins, who started this movement, the best way to remedy this problem is with grassroots gatherings of our ordinary and abundant “collective genius” to “build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching, and that recognize the biological limits of the planet.”
The goal is an “emerging and evolving approach to community-level sustainability.” This goal is underpinned by rebuilding resilience through a holistic group approach based on hope, optimism, and creative proactivity. Our collective engagement, on a variety of levels and through the intentional design of a local economic renaissance, and a return to the sharing of arts, crafts, and hands-on skills of various kinds, will then rapidly move us to a carbon zero society.
The nature of Transition Initiatives is that they should be a hearty blend of playful and sagacious action, which simply means actions that are open, wise, intelligent, astute, and discerning.
We hope that anyone reading this whose interest is piqued will sign up on our mailing list or contact us to let us know what projects and ideas you have on the go—there are already a great many small businesses and groups doing work that is Transition-minded, and we would like to help bring these together under one umbrella so that the area and its inhabitants come to thrive through mutual aid. Check our website (transitionwolfvillearea.ca) and Facebook page for updates and further details.