The Essential Guide to Doing Transition. The Essential Guide to Doing Transition. | Page 47

• People skills: being friendly and

welcoming, working with different

outlooks, culture and worldviews,

knowing how to work well with

differences and conflict

• Skills in running effective, enjoyable

meetings: setting up and running meetings,

and developing how the group works

• Designing and running good events: public

speaking, booking rooms, showing DVDs,

running Open Space, facilitating

discussions

• Experience of networking: with existing

organisations and people

• Publicity skills: contacting press, designing

posters and flyers, writing blogs and using

social media

• Managing information: email lists, bulletins, phone lists

• Designing and maintaining websites

• Connections with and knowledge of local

community groups

• Knowledge of local history and local issues

On Earth day 2015, Transition Granja Viana in Brazil spent the day with the kids from the local OCA Cultural School, learning about climate change, collecting waste around the school, ending with a lantern walk. Photo: Isabela Maria Gomez de Menezes

As well as gathering together the right skills, it’s also helpful to find people who are:

• Able to dedicate some of their time: and

it’s OK to be specific about this (half a day

a week? a day per month?)

• Fun: they know how to make this kind of

work enjoyable

• Reliable: they do what they say they’ll do

• On the same page: they share some

understanding of the reasons why

Transition is needed, and what it is

• Caring: are realistic about what a group of

volunteers can do, and pay attention to

well being

• Inclusive: they're good at including others, so one or two don’t dominate the group or its decisions - an awareness of issues around power, privilege and rank and how this impacts on both our groups and more widely

You may well not have all these skills from the beginning, but you can actively seek out new people who might bring them. Remember too that support is available through Transition Training, this Essential Guide and our 7 essential ingredients.