Transition Culture

On Sunday 18 June I visited the Institute of Imagination's 'Imagination Lab'. It was called 'Lab Live: Metropolis', and was an interactive, family event. The event was designed for children aged 3 – 12 and their parents and carers to create, play and tinker with different materials, shapes, sounds and functions. It aimed to bring cities to life through a host of interactive activities that enable children to explore their imaginations. While there I spoke to Imagination Lab Associate, Karien Stroucken and to Jennifer Coleman, Director of Development, as well as to some of the parents and children who were there. Find out more about the Institute's work at http://ioi.london/.

Hill Farmstead are one of the most imaginative breweries in the world. Rooted in Shaun Hill's family farm in Vermont, home of his family for over 230 years, they are brewers of remarkable beers that have pioneered 'farmhouse style' beers. Here he talks to Rob Hopkins via Skype.

Tony Whitehead works for the RSPB and runs regular dawn chorus walks. He is also a sound recordist, specialising in recording nature, particularly bird song. After a dawn chorus walk as part of Soundcamp 2017 on the Dartington Estate, we sat under a tree to talk bird song, imagination and the need for quiet.

The 2017 Local Entrepreneur Forum was the sixth, and the best yet. Pitching this year were The Apricot Centre, Woodland Presents CIC, Black Bee Coombe, Yew Media and The Potting Shed, Studio 45. About 150 people packed into the Ballroom, and the event was hosted by Jay Tompt and Hal Gilmore from REconomy, and local singer/performer, Katie Tokus. This podcast gives a flavour of the buzz at the event.

In May 2017, I visited a street in Bristol where a 'Playing Out' session was underway. I spoke to some of the parents, the kids, and also to Daniella Radice of Playing Out.

On the weekend of International Dawn Chorus Day, I attended Soundcamp on the Dartington Estate. After listening to a stunning dawn chorus, I talked to Tony Whitehead, ornithologist and sound engineer, who led the walk, and also to Shelley, Robert and Laura who joined me on the walk.

Martin Shaw is a mythologist, author and storyteller. He is regarded as one of the most outstanding new teachers of the mythic imagination. He is a Visiting Fellow at Schumacher College, and has devised and led the Oral Tradition course at Stanford University in the U.S. Any exploration of the imagination, its current state of health, and how we might best interact with it should include beating a path to the door of Martin Shaw (that sounded far more poetic than was intended). Which, a few weeks ago, one sunny Spring morning, I did.

What does it look like when the pieces of a local food economy start to fall into place? Saturday 29th April 2017 saw the official opening of the premises of Grown in Totnes. I popped along to this fascinating event, and interviewed Holly and Emily from Grown in Totnes, as well as John Letts, an expert on localised grain production who has supported the project. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/GrownInTotnes/.

Sunday 23rd April 2017 was the day of the Totnes Street Games Festival. In the recently-renovated Rotherfold square, parents and children gathered to remember, relearn and encounter street games. The square was filled with laughter, children dashing around, skipping ropes, bouncing balls, chalk drawings. In this podcast, I speak to the organisers, children and parents to capture a sense of the day and why it matters.

My reading of my blog, 'Why we need The Yellow House more than ever', published at robhopkins.net on 7th April 2017.

Josh Golin is the Executive Director of the Campaign for Commerical Free Childhood, an advocacy organisation that works to protect children from the harmful effects of commercialism and promote creative play. He lives in Boston. We chatted via Skype.

March 9th 2017 was the 10th anniversary celebrations of Transition Town Totnes. As part of an event in Totnes Civic Hall which also launched the town's Film Festival, Rob Hopkins gave a potted history of the project, and was joined by various people from the initiative's past and present to talk about some of the initiative's key projects. www.transitiontowntotnes.org

As part of a series looking at Donald Trump's 'America First' concept, we talk to Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at Post Carbon Institute and author of several books, including 'The Party's Over'.

Cormac is Managing Director of Nurture Development and a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute at Northwestern University, Chicago. He has trained communities, agencies, NGOs and governments in ABCD and other strengths based approaches in Kenya, Southern Sudan, South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia. He also gave a great TEDx talk that we loved. Here he talks to Transition Network's Rob Hopkins.

New Lion Brewery has collaborated with Grown in Totnes to produce an Einkorn Gruit. But what is Einkorn? And why would you make a Gruit with it? New Lion's Head Brewery Mat Henney and Grown in Totnes' Holly Tiffin tell the story, and what such a collaboration could mean for the future of brewing.

Rob Hopkins meets Rob Wilson of Toast to find out about a new social enterprise that's making bread from surplus toast. www.newlionbrewery.co.uk www.toastale.com

On Saturday 12th November in Totnes, Caring Town Totnes held an event that brought together 30 different organisations who offer care in the town. It gave the opportunity for people to meet them, to find out what they do, and to find out what opportunities exist for volunteering. Rob Hopkins popped along to find out more and started by asking organiser Fiona Ward why such an event matters.

Film maker Marie-Monique Robin discusses her new film 'Qu'est ce qu'on attend?' ('What are we waiting for?') with Transition Network's Rob Hopkins. The film tells the remarkable story of the Transition underway in the Alsace village of Ungersheim. Find out more at http://m2rfilms.com/qu-est-ce-qu-on-attend.

Wednesday, 12 October, 2016 - 20:00 to 22:00. With Rob Hopkins and Shaun Chamberlin. Already a key influence on the Transition movement, Green Party, New Economics Foundation and Soil Association, Fleming’s legacy is only set to grow with the posthumous publication of his astonishing masterpiece, Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It (link is external). Building on the tradition of E.F. Schumacher, his entertaining vision of a post-growth economy built on the play, humour, rootedness and reciprocal obligations of a rich culture has long inspired optimism and action. Rob and Shaun will share insights and anecdotes on his life, influence and enduring importance. We will also hear from the man himself, through recently unearthed recordings. Books will be available on the night. This is the full audio of the evening.

At the 7th International Sustainability Transitions Conference in Wuppertal, Germany, Rob Hopkins and Derk Loorbach took part in a session called 'Research and Practice Perspectives on the Governanace of Urban Transitions', chaired by Maja Gopel. Here is the audio recording of that session.