When SEAG was formed back in early 2019, one of our long-term aims was to develop into a Transition Town. Don’t be put off by the name! We will explain on this page what a Transition Town is, their aims and how they can benefit communities as well as what Shipley Eco Action Group is doing as a Transition Town and how you can get involved.
- What is Transition Town?
- What can be achieved as a Transition Town?
- What is Shipley Eco Action Group doing as a Transition Town?
- How you can get involved
What is Transition Town?
Essentially Transition Towns are grassroot movements that have been growing since 2005 across the globe. It is about communities coming together to create solutions for the local challenges they face. They seek to nurture a caring culture, one focused on connection with self, others and nature. By doing this, Towns increase self-sufficiency an resilience to reduce the potential effects of climate destruction and economic instability.
COVID-19 has taught many of us the value and power of nature. The importance of community, how vulnerable we all are and reliant on so many things, seemingly out of control. We are living through a climate emergency with climate change affecting our health, economy, ability to grow food, housing, safety and work. Some of us are already more vulnerable to climate impacts, such as people living in small island nations and other developing countries.
Conditions like sea level rise and saltwater intrusion have advanced to the point where whole communities have had to relocate, and protracted droughts are putting people at risk of famine and the number of “climate refugees” is expected to rise. Transition Towns can help mitigate climate change by shifting production closer to home, supporting entrepreneurism, skill sharing, supporting local independent shops, growing food together and creating resilient communities.
What can be achieved as a Transition Town?
Up and down the Country there are Transition Towns achieving wonderful things for their communities. In Derbyshire there are established groups in Chesterfield, Belper and Wirksworth. Follow the links to read more about the types of projects they run and how they benefit the community.
Solutions can be small scale such as regular litter picking to larger scale such as community energy and sustainable housing projects. Transition Towns are often politically active campaigning for things that matter in their area for instance, improved walking and cycling infrastructure; green transport; climate change action and single use plastics.
Transition Towns are all about collaboration and supporting one another and will network with other local community groups, charities, businesses, government bodies and the public to build up a network of like minded individuals to take projects forward.
Here are just some potential projects that Transition Towns and SEAG could work to achieve.
What is Shipley Eco Action Group doing as a Transition Town?
As the lease was secured for land to be used as Shipley Woodside Community Garden very early on in SEAG’s formation in 2019 and the Coronavirus pandemic hitting the UK in the March 2020, our focus has naturally been on the Community Garden and Website resources as options were limited to progress other ideas with the nation being in lockdown. What this did mean is that the Community Garden really became a haven for a lot of the volunteers and what was a disused field was completely transformed into a working and productive Community Garden by the summer of 2021.
Just some of the things we have done are below and you can visit our calendar to find out what future events we have planned.
2019
Shipley Wood management clearing brambles to make way for Bluebells;
Lease secured for land to be used for Shipley Woodside Community Garden;
Community Quiz held in Shipley Parish Rooms
2020
Tatty Day held in Shipley Parish Rooms;
Supporting Save Cotmanhay and Shipley Green Belt Community Group in the fight to stop Erewash Borough Council’s proposals for Green Belt to be used for housing development;
SEAG Website launched including resources on how to live sustainably, recipes and local resources;
Friendship Bench launched at the Community Garden;
Volunteering and food production at the Community Garden;
Shipley Wood entrance clearing and maintenance.
2021
Greenfolk Festival at the Community Garden with demonstrations and talks on Transition Town, Beekeeping, how to make Beeswax Wraps, Bushcrafts with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Bee Bomb making with Weleda, Children’s Story Telling, Children’s Natural Play Area, Live Bands, Food, Plants and Handmade Crafts for sale;
Summer Solstice Community Picnic;
Veg on the Hedge scheme launched at Community Garden with surplus food free for passers-by;
Community Beekeeping demonstration at the Community Garden;
First Clothes Swap held;
Litter Picking;
Guided Moonlight Walk in Shipley Woods;
Networking Event held at Shipley Parish Rooms to share ideas with other groups about how we can support each other. Idea canvassed on having a community calendar for groups and organisations to use with a view to collaborating and supporting each other. Information shared about Transition Town. New connections made and ideas formed to work with other groups in the future for the benefit of the community.
How you can get involved
There is no criteria for getting involved! Anyone regardless of skills, interests and time available can volunteer. There are many different ways you could get involved from researching, networking, social media, event planning, volunteering at the Community Garden and events, plus much more!
Perhaps something particularly appeals to you in the ideas on this page or you have your own you would really like to share and pursue with SEAG.