Draft Description of Transition Ottawa's Purpose, Principles & Goals

[Bill Shields]

At the first meeting of the Transition Ottawa formative group a few of us were asked to develop a first draft of what TO's purpose, principles and goals might be. The attached draft is offered for you to consider and provide feedback - don't hold back! All suggestions and questions are welcome.

We're hoping that this will generate some interesting discussion so post your thoughts as responses to this post. It would be great to get at least your first thoughts and reactions in the next couple of weeks.

Rebecca Aird, Kaia Knightingale and Bill Shields

[David Shackleton]

An excellent document, in my opinion - clear, concise, and very appropriate. Well done.

David Shackleton

[Andrew MacDonald]

Hi all and thanks to those who did the work of putting this together and giving those who weren't there the much easier job of critiquing.

I experience it as a call to green goodness. The initiatives in it are ones that we do need and that most of the converted, TO members are doing to some extent. While these ideas are positive and can and should be increased, much of this call to action is familiar to those of us who, like all the writers I expect, have been following green ideas for some time.

What I think should be added to it is a clarion call for infrastructure change. This vision may be hiding in the document but all the examples I think are, like David Suzuki urging more efficient light bulbs, content changes within the existing infrastructure. Recent reports - from the head of the IPCC at the time of the last report, James Lovelock, Dmitri Orlov, a revealing article from Monday's Guardian that I'll put on the TO blog - all say that it's too late for business as usual. The vision document starts off by saying we don't want business as usual but I read it as urging the small changes that groups have been discussing for a number of decades. That is business as usual albeit with new energy and social conditions that support it. I believe industry, government and military uses 3/4 or more of energy anyway (though we're all part of that); the point being that aggregating lone actions of citizen's won't be enough.

The thinkers above and many others feel we're now into a situation that will require adaptation to certainchange, not only action to forestall it.

Maybe we could have a "World Cafe" event for Ottawa. A world cafe event is a large conversation in which a large group of hundreds or a thousand people discusses a topic of important shared interest in small groups table discussions. People move from table to table at regular intervals with one person holding the history of the table . . . so everyone gets a sense of what's in the room. The room is brought back together later by a facilitator. Rent the Civic Centre, or Scotiabank . . .

Or an open space conference in which the participants put up the agenda on day 1. . .

Something to open the whole practice up so that we're reaching for something new that we don't know yet, moving in the dark.

I and I think "we" are so conditioned to the status quo that we just can't think beyond it. Yet we're being called to a future that is beyond what all our conditioning around normal tells us. Challenging ideed!

[Bill Shields]

Hi Andrew,
I agree that we need to be in preparation for 'adaptation to certain change' and have little energy for finding ways to preserve a modified version of 'business as usual'. I would be all for being less ambiguous about that in this statement of TO's purpose.

I think it will be challenging to find the balance between engaging in what we can do together in our communities and addressing the larger 'infrastructure changes' that are clearly needed. It's tremendously easy to become disempowered focusing on the changes that 'the powers that be' need to make. My hope is that being engaged in a local community that is alive and creating new ways of living without waiting for 'fill in the blank' will anchor us in a vitality that will make efforts at systems change more effective and less disheartening.

Your suggestions of a world café or open space event appeal to me - in my experience they tap into an amazing source of ideas and energy. Hopefully we can move in that direction fairly soon.

I look forward to meeting you soon, Bill

[Andrea Noriega]

Hello,

I just read the draft and I have nothing negative to say. I think its well organized and cohesive. Good job!

[Andrea Noriega]

Andrew,

As much a I like the draft, and thought it was well written, I'm going to have to agree with you. Perhaps we should be doing something greater, because it's no longer about stalling the process of what's to come, but reversing it, and the small efforts we put out at the individual level (such using energy efficient light bulbs) although well intended, are simply not enough. I love your world cafe idea! it's brilliant, and I would be willing to help organize it. How should we start?

[Andrea Noriega]

Hi Bill,

If you like the world cafe idea, maybe we should meet with Bill to do a little brainstroming? I happen to be very fond of the idea too...

[Andrew MacDonald]

Hi Andrea and Bill
Oh, I just saw you'd written here Andrea. I hadn't checked off where you see others' comments, and now I see Bill's written too. I'm pleased you share with me (and I'm sure we're not alone) a fondness for the World Cafe idea. Others who aren't familiar with it can quickly google for the excellent website and get the core ideas. Perhaps it could be a way to engage Ottawans in our transition . . . and exciting, stimulating and fun too.

I'd love to meet to discuss this with you two and anyone else. Right now anytime Friday is a best time. We could also do a chat if more than two can chat here. Or phone me, 613.820.1558 or after Friday for 3-5 days at 1.613.279.1966 (Sharbot Lake where I often am).

Woo-hoo! I'll check so I hear responses from you and perhaps others.
Andrew

[Andrea Noriega]

Hi Andrew!
I'm off to Florida tomorrow for two weeks! :) But I will certainly get in touch with you when I return. I agree, the World Cafe would be an excellent way to engage Ottawans in TO - now all we have to do is get Ottawans to participate in the World Cafe! ;)
I'll be in touch soon!
-Andrea

[Andrew MacDonald]

Have a successful trip!
Andrew

[Scott]

I like the draft, here are some minor comments.

• I would change ‘conventional energy’ to ‘non-renewable energy’.
• Personal initiatives should mention reducing your energy consumption as well as garden, solar hot water, etc. We need to start by reducing first before we spend.
• Under goals, I think the primary goal should be to highlight and bring awareness to the issues of climate change and finite oil resources (I am avoiding using the term peak-oil) to the community to encourage a more sustainable way of living.
• I would change ‘oil dependence’ to non-renewable energy dependence’.

Scott

[Daniel Bida]

I agree with Scott about reducing energy consumption and making efficiency improvements, but I think there should be more emphasis on community energy coops, and waste management.
TO can grow its own value by developing renewable energy out its own resources and selling it to the province.

[Don McMaster]

I have a few questions/ comments on the 1st Draft.
Transition Goals
Q1: It is not clear to me how TO will achieve the goals of : Social Inequality and Mind Spirit Integration or how these goals necessarily relate to reduced fossil fuel consumption?
In 3rd world countries where per capita fossil fuel consumption is a fraction of what it is here; we do not necessarily see reduced social inequality.
Q2: It is not clear to me what " Mind-Spirit Integration" means or how it can be measured?

From my perspective, as conventional fossil fuels become scarce, their prices will rise; thereby increasing the cost of resource consumption and transportation until the current consumption based society will be no longer affordable for the majority of Canadians. The Challenge is to find a smooth ( vs "Radical" ) transition from our current high energy economy to a low energy economy, without major social strife or the poverty and poor living conditions we see in many parts of the 3rd world.