The prospect of scarce, expensive oil in the future is daunting, but Somerset is one of the counties leading the way in dealing with this and the major issue of climate change.
People across the county are forming Transition groups to raise awareness of the challenges and to support activities and organisations which are helping to make the changes needed for communities to thrive in the future.
Rob Hopkins, the founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network, has very positive ideas and solutions for the future and will address a public meeting at the Regal Theatre in Minehead on 2nd April at 7.30pm.
Rob has taught permaculture and natural building for many years and has been involved in practical responses to environmental changes.
He is the author of the Transition Handbook, publisher of www.transitionCulture.org and was the winner of the 2008 Schumacher Award. He lives in Devon, writes and lectures widely on the Transition model, but is happiest when making compost or planting nut trees in his garden.
During his talk Rob will look at why we need to rethink many of the basic assumptions that underpin our planning for the future and why the end of the Age of Cheap Oil and of economic growth present a huge opportunity for redesigning our towns and cities to be more self reliant, more diverse and more resilient.
He will illustrate his talk with examples of what Transition groups around the world are doing, and will also set out some tools that Minehead could adopt in order to start such a process.
“We aim to get an audience of 350 at the Regal” said Graham Boswell of Forum 21.
He explained ”This is to support a new global campaign to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere down to 350 parts per million, which recent research has shown is the maximum sustainable level if we are to slow down the pace of climate change”.
Tickets for the talk are now available at £3 each from the Regal Theatre on 01643 706430 or by email at www.regaltheatre.co.uk. The box office is open from10 am to 3pm.The organisers stress that booking and collecting tickets in advance for the event is essential to avoid delays on the night at the box office. There is a risk that the speaker might have to shorten the presentation and questions session if the start is delayed.
The evening is hosted by Forum 21, the group working to combat climate change in West Somerset. Members of the recently formed Transition Minehead & Alcombe will be distributing information and will be available to discuss local initiatives.
There will be the opportunity for people to get involved or to join the mailing list. Transition Minehead and Alcombe can be contacted on tma2009@hotmail.co.uk or 01643 709478
