Initiating Groups
Some key things to
think about
People.
We can't do this on our own. There certainly are lots of things we can do on our own, cutting energy use, eating more seasonal food and so on, and all that stuff really matters. But doing Transition needs more people than just us. You might already know some others who might get involved. They might be friends, colleagues at work or University. They might be members of a different group you are already part of. If you don't already know them, here are a few suggestions for how you might find people:
• Contact friends, like-minded people
or groups that are already doing
similar things
• Publicise it through your networks and
social media channels
• Put on a film, talk or other event and invite
people to join, find out how here: https://
transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/
starting-transition/7-essential-ingredients/
• Talk about Transition on your local
radio station
• Go along to groups with similar aims and
start to make connections
We were once contacted by a woman in Australia who bemoaned the fact that no-one else in her town would be interested in Transition, that she was the only person who cared about that kind of thing.
"Are you sure?" we asked her.
A month later she rang us back, her despondency replaced with elation. She had put an ad in her local paper, and had received over 120 replies, and thus her Transition group was born.
The Magic Number? 1? 12?
Or somewhere in the middle?
As we said before, if your group consists only of you, it is definitely too small. So how big is too big, and how small is too small? From our experience, the ideal group size is between 5 and 8. 12 is probably too many. Although it may sound obvious, it is important that those people are interested in Transition, interested enough to, perhaps, read this Essential Guide, or some of the other literature about Transition. Even better, they might have done a Transition Training, or perhaps visited an existing Transition initiative.
Who?
Starting Transition successfully needs many different kinds of people. Here’s a list of skills or qualities that we have found to be really helpful. If you’re a small group looking for some more members it is useful to go through this list, find out what skills you already have. Then see if you can bring in what’s missing - either by inviting other people, or getting people trained up. Don't let this list put you off as people can develop skills needed and you can always ask people for specific help.
• Skills in organising: managing projects,
getting a group to work well, coordinating
different people’s activities, working
with volunteers
Questions we hear a lot:
How can we put on events that are appealing and relevant to our community?
Some people will be interested in broad global issues like climate change or energy supplies. Many more are interested in local issues – health and well being, feeling connected in their neighbourhood, house prices, or unemployment. Making Transition issues relevant to local concerns is a real skill. How can you celebrate local history through stories from older people? Or create local food celebrations, healthy outdoor activities, projects which connect neighbours and allow people to feel safe in the own homes and streets?