On January 8th and 25th, we held our first public events – two film nights, designed to introduce the Transition concept to the community, raise awareness about climate change, peak oil and some possible solutions to them, and begin to discuss how a Transition Initiative might work in Guildford, and what sort of actions it might take. We had a fantastic turnout for both events, with around 20 people attending each, participating in some great discussions.
At the first film night we watched a TED talk on the Transition Movement by Rob Hopkins, who began the first Transition Town, followed by the Story of Stuff, a short animated documentary about excessive consumerism and the life-cycle of material goods, and finally Tipping Point Ahead, another short animated documentary which outlines the notion of climate tipping points, highlighting why urgent action on climate change is necessary.
At the second film night we watched the Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, a documentary about Cuba’s oil crisis in the 1990s and how it led them to become a much more resilient and self-reliant country in ways which we can learn from and be inspired by.
Based on the level of interest at these film nights, we are confident that we have enough interest to initiate a Transition Town in Guildford (and surrounding suburbs) and our next step is to set up small groups to look at how we might take action on issues such as food, transport, energy, heart and soul, etc.
We also have another film night coming up on the 8th of February, at the Guildford Primary School hall at 6.30pm. If you are interested in helping to start a Transition Town in Guildford or in the idea of Transition Initiatives in general, please come along!
Transition Town Guildford 