ReThink Red Deer

Transition Towns Training - Day 1 of 2

Location: Red Deer College - Cafeteria Board Room (1007A)

Friday April 16th, 2010
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of increasing costs of fossil fuels ("peak oil") and climate change?

They begin by forming an initiating group and then adopt the Transition Model with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative.

A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase our resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

After going through a comprehensive and creative process of:

• awareness raising around peak oil, climate change and the need to undertake a community-led process to rebuild resilience and reduce carbon
• connecting with existing groups in the community
• building bridges to local government
• connecting with other transition initiatives
• forming groups to look at all the key areas of life (food, energy, transport, health, heart & soul, economics & livelihoods, etc)
• kicking off projects aimed at building people's understanding of resilience and carbon issues and community engagement
• eventually launching a community defined, community implemented "Energy Descent Action Plan" over a 15 to 20 year timescale

This results in a coordinated range of projects across all these areas of life that strives to rebuild the resilience we've lost as a result of cheap oil and reduce the community's carbon emissions drastically.

The community also recognises two crucial points:

A) That we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there's no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope

B) If we collectively plan and act early enough there's every likelihood that we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.

TRAINING OVERVIEW: This 2-day, 12-hour course delivered by international-level trainers will cover the basics of Transition Towns and how to:

- Understand the context for Transition and how the model has evolved – from inspiration to working groups
- Gain knowledge of the main steps of Transition to work out a plan of action for yourself and your community
- Understand the inner and outer aspects of Transition in order to hold an inspiring talk on TT in your community

The event will include lunch and light snacks with coffee/tea breaks. The course is limited to 35 participants. Hosted by Sustainable Red Deer, RDC Green Campus, and Sustainability Resources Ltd.

REGISTRATION:

$220 + GST - RDC Students (valid ID req'd)
$250 + GST before and including April 2nd
$300 + GST after April 2nd

To Register:
Contact Ron Besuijen at 403-392-8758 or ron@homesynergy.ca - payable by Visa, MC, cheque, cash, or money order.

More info at www.sustainablereddeer.com OR www.transitiontowns.org

NOTE: all proceeds will go towards land stewardship
and economic localization projects in Red Deer & District,
led by TT-trained members of ReThink Red Deer.
(www.rethinkreddeer.ca)

Cancellation Policy:
In the event of limited resources or lack of registrants, we reserve the right to cancel the event by Friday, April 2nd. Full refunds will be issued if this happens.

If you need to cancel your registration for any reason:

If notified 7 days in advance we will refund your course fee but will deduct a $50 administrative fee;

Less than 7 days in advance we are unable to provide a refund but would allow you to send someone in your place

Instructor Bio:

William Aal is author with Margo Adair of Practical Meditation for Busy Souls. is co-director of Tools for Change. He uses deep reflection, story, heartfelt dialog and vision, to help people remember their interconnection and become effective change makers. He has extensive experience working with diverse populations. For the past 20 years, has been a trainer and organizer helping communities transform to be more just and sustainable. His passion is to work with diverse rural and urban communities, help transform the way we live - to be more just, sustainable and joyful. Pursuing ways we can reconnect to ourselves the land and each other, since the 1980's, he helped organize local, regional and continental Bioregional Congresses. He has worked closely with Joanna Macy, to facilitate workshops of the Work that Reconnects and is part of a network called Great Turning Northwest. In addition his has taught Social Permaculture in Earth Activist Trainings with Starhawk. He has been a gardener and advocate of sustainable agriculture, being on the board of the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network for 10 years and organize with a local organization on food justice issues. In all of this work he has sought ways to integrate the global economic, environmental and human aspects of the challenges we face. Tools for Change, 2408 E. Valley, Seattle, WA 98112 http://www.toolsforchange.org info@toolsforchange.org 206-329-2201