About this archived event
A series of talks and workshops about change – and making it happen
The climate is changing faster than we are, but a growing number of people around the world are ready and willing to change.
Inspired by Swedish Activist Greta Thunberg, school climate strikes have spread around the globe, and the Extinction Rebellion movement has captured the public imagination, inspiring local councils and governments to declare a climate emergency.
As momentum for rapid transition in response to ecological and social challenges grows, this series of talks and workshops, brought to you by Transition Town Totnes, Schumacher College and the Dartington Hall Trust, will provide the opportunity to explore how we can come together to make a transition that meets the needs of people and the planet, locally and globally.
Drawing on a range of visiting tutors from Schumacher College, the series takes a holistic approach to rapid change – exploring ideas, models and solutions around values, economics, food, art, politics, culture and more – and aims to equip participants with fresh skills, inspiration and approaches to come together and make change happen where they are.
Each event will be participatory, generally opening with a short talk and Q&A with our guest speaker who will introduce the topic for the evening and offer their perspective. Together we’ll then explore how we can take action in our communities, work, lives and places by applying ideas, principles and approaches from what we’ve heard. After each event, you’re invited to continue the conversation over a drink in a local pub.
These events are for everyone who wants to create a socially and ecologically fairer world. Listen, take part, share your ideas and take action.
Want to know more? We caught up with the speakers in the build up to the programme launch >
Previous talks
Changing politics: How we can come together to transform politics where we are
Tuesday 25 February 2020, 7.30-9.30pm, The Grove School, Totnes
about this talk
Politics is the least-trusted profession in Britain. With many politicians seemingly self-interested and unable to respond to the range of challenges we face, it’s not surprising that trust is so low. Rather than waiting for politics to change, a growing number of people around the world are getting elected so that they can change the way that politics is done. These new municipalist movements have been experimenting with how to take – and transform – power in towns and cities, large and small. Women are at the forefront of many, creating new forms of engaged everyday politics that are transforming how we share resources to meet people’s needs. In this workshop, we’ll be joined by Laura Roth (via live video link), co-founder of Minim Municipalism and member of citizens platform, Barcelona en Comu, who’ll share how radical groups of citizens across the globe have been transforming politics where they are. Together, we’ll explore how we can come together to put the politics of everyday life back into the heart of communities.
Banking for a just transition – creating a community bank for the south west
with guest speaker: Tony Greenham, South West Mutual
thursday 30 January 2020, 7.30-9.30pm, Totnes Methodist Church, Fore St
about this talk
“This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it weren’t happy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Money is not the problem. Where we have failed is in the right use of money. And people, even bankers, don’t set out to trash the planet and their own communities when they arrive at work in the morning. And yet, in general, global banking institutions have funded ecological destruction, caused economic injustice and done little to preserve social fabric.
So what kind of new institutions do we need to ensure that money flows through our communities to where it’s needed to regenerate our local economies and ecological systems, enhance wellbeing and promote social justice?
Tony Greenham, co-founder of South West Mutual will explain how and why local mutual mission-led banking can change the world for good.
Changing climate at work: how to talk about the climate crisis at work and make change happen
with guest speaker and facilitator: Robin Webster, Climate Outreach
tuesday 22 October 2019, 7.30-9.30pm, Totnes United Free Church, Fore St
about this talk
Suddenly it seems as though everyone is talking about climate change. Talk isn’t enough, of course, but how we talk about climate change can fundamentally transform the possibility of action. This interactive talk, with climate communications specialist Robin Webster, will equip you with tools, techniques and understanding to bring conversations about climate change into your workplace in ways that resonate with people’s values and inspire transformation.
Changing our perceptions of each other: how to build compassionate communities
with guest speaker and facilitator: Tom Crompton, Common Cause Foundation
tuesday 26 November 2019, 7.30-9.30pm, Totnes United Free Church, Fore St
about this talk
We tend to lose hope in the potential for change because we don’t believe other people care. Groundbreaking research by the Common Cause Foundation found that most people actually care deeply about one another and the world around them, often valuing equality, compassion and kindness highly. This workshop with co-founder of the Common Cause Foundation, Tom Crompton, will show you appealing to people’s self interest can undermine change and how everyday encounters can bring the kindness, compassion and care needed for rapid transition out in the open.
Changing the politics of food: Food sovereignty, the climate and you
with guest speaker: Jyoti Fernandes, Landworkers Alliance
thursday 12 March 2020, 7.30-9.30pm, totnes Methodist Church, fore st
about this talk
Together, we all have a stake in the food system – whether we grow, produce, distribute, prepare or eat food – and we all have a right to good food. To realise this right we need to ensure that farmers are able to produce nutritious, ecological and healthy food, in a way that cares for the planet, and that guarantees access for all. In this workshop with farmer and Landworkers Alliance Co-Founder, Jyoti Fernandes, we’ll explore practical and political solutions that can put power back into the hands of producers and communities and build a fairer, more ecological food and farming system.
Changing economics: action planning for living in the doughnut
with guest speaker: Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics
tuesday 31 March 2020, 7.30-9.30pm, Totnes United Free Church, Fore St
about this talk
We know that we need to transform the way we live if we are to prevent climate and ecological breakdown, but we need to make sure that the transformation is socially just. This workshop with renegade economist and author of Doughnut Economics Kate Raworth, will explore planetary limits and social foundations and kick start action planning for your community that will help catalyse the transition to an ecologically sustainable, and socially just world. Get it right, and there might still be time to learn to live in the doughnut.
Art, transition & adaptation at a time of climate and ecological emergency
with guest speaker and facilitator: Ruth Ben Tovim, Culture Declares Emergency
Tuesday 12 may 2020, 7.30-9.30pm, The Grove School, Totnes
about this talk
The arts have a tradition of sparking cultural change and ‘speaking differently’: disrupting the status quo and creating space for new ideas to engage people at an imaginative level. Through its convening powers, the arts bring people together across differences of generation, heritage, gender, class and working expertise to find commonality: all perspectives can be drawn on to create the future we want to live in. Culture helps stir up our human response and create new stories and visions to live by. In this workshop, Ruth Ben Tovim works with us to explore the role of art and culture in transforming our world and looks at ways in which we can unleash our own creative force to respond to the climate and ecological emergency.
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