Transition Town Lewes will host a workshop ‘Connecting Up The Dots’, organised by members of the Transition Network, to create a network of Transition groups across the south east. There are 19 Transition groups in East Sussex who do not all know about each other or have contact. The aim of the workshop is for representatives from each group in the area to share experiences, hopes, successes and failures, and explore if and how a regional network could work.

It would be great to have a group of representatives of TTH there if anyone would like to go!

Book tickets here: Tickets on Eventbrite

And Facebook here: Lewes Workshop Facebook

What?

South East Region Transition Town Workshop in Lewes.

This day workshop has been developed out of work carried out in London and the South East where groups came together and co-designed a functioning regional network. This network developed through using a series of exercises to come up with ideas and plans and it is these exercises that form the basis of the workshop. London now has a really thriving network that meets regularly, shares information and has arranged events together. We want to help other networks to develop based on the great stuff that has happened there to create thriving networks throughout England.

Full outline of workshop at bottom.

Where?

The workshop is being held at Subud Hall, 26a Station Street, Lewes, BN7 2DB on . Their website is here

When? Saturday 24th June, 11m start through to 5pm

Here’s the schedule:

10.30-11am: Teas and coffees

11am Workshop begins (see outline schedule below)

LUNCH – we’ll be providing a big pot of chickpea curry with naan bread, you’re most welcome to bring along something to complement that if you like.

5.00pm Workshop ends

5.30pm: suggested time from which to book transport home.

How?

We have an outline for a participatory workshop, facilitated by Michael and I. The workshop will mean that we get to design in a way that everybody designs what a network might look like in your area and what the first practical step would be in making it happen. We’ll explore what you love doing and what areas of your work may benefit from working together.

Details.

It would be wonderful to have as many folks there as are interested. I realise it’s short notice, but please do encourage someone from your Transition Initiative to come along, if you’re not already coming.  I appreciate that although we are offering this workshop for free, there is still transport costs to consider, I hope this isn’t a barrier to attendance.

Regional networks development workshop – outline.

This day workshop has been developed out of work carried out in London and the South East where groups came together and co-designed a functioning regional network. This network developed through using a series of exercises to come up with ideas and plans and it is these exercises that form the basis of the workshop. London now has a really thriving network that meets regularly, shares information and has arranged events together. We want to help other networks to develop based on the great stuff that has happened there to create thriving networks throughout England.

• You design your network

Workshop facilitators Mike Thomas (Transition Network) and Richard Couldrey (Transition Town Tooting) have both been involved in the development of the London and SE hub. They believe that Transition groups in a region will know how best to define what their regional network does and how it functions. This workshop has been designed to facilitate this happening. At the end of this workshop, you and the other groups involved will have explored whether there is energy for a regional network, what it function should be and how to develop it.

• We also want to learn from you and share your innovations

As part of this project, Richard is also carrying out research into scaling up grassroots social innovation to affect greater change. The workshop will also feedback into this process to seed the next steps of the project which includes strengthening and developing regional networks in preparation for a workshop about a National Hub later this year.

• What to expect from the workshop

The following outlines the one day workshop in more detail to give you an idea of what to expect, this may develop between now and the workshop day.

Session 1: Physical mapping exercise

• The whole group will position themselves in the the room based on questions related to the region, i.e. location, time group going, links to other groups, projects you are doing etc.

This is a great short exercise that will help you to quickly get a picture of where people are from, how they are doing and more.

Session 2: Thrives/barriers/local connections exercise

You come together in groups to discuss:

• What do I really enjoy about Transition, what activities do i find myself naturally attracted to

• What saps my energy and tends to lead to burnout / conflict?

• What helps my group to thrive

• What are the barriers to our group being successful

• What connections do we already have in our area

This session explores why you do Transition, what you enjoy about it and what helps your group to thrive, what the barriers are to being successful and the connections that you already have in your area. Doing this helps you to think about the common issues that affect all groups and what can be done to make Transition a nurturing experience. It also helps people to gain more of an understanding about each other and what their groups are doing, which you can then chat about over lunch.

BREAK. Lunch.

Session 3: Brainstorm/mindmapping of themes and role of a Regional Network:

• This exercise helps you to to identify the themes and areas for the Give and Gain wheel  to inform the overall shaping of your network.

This session enables all people present to begin to identify and design what a regional network could do in your area and how it could benefit your group. This is really important session as it allows everyone to shape what a regional network could be, which will then feed into the next exercise.

Session 4: Give and gain activity:

• This activity enables you and the group to state what you are interested in and how much energy you are willing to give to tasks.

This session looks at the potential activities that a regional network could carry out and then analyses as a group what they are interested in and what they would be willing to give energy to. This is where you begin to assess whether a regional network is a feasible project and if it is worth doing.

Session 5: Emergent themes:

• We will be asking the question: what’s the purpose? What’s the activity? What’s the modus operandi?

• This also helps articulate what the network is and what it does – a definition of vision and mission if you like.

• Defining what should be the next steps for your network, what will you spend time on?

• This enables you dig into the detail of the emerging themes to understand them operationally, how might they play out over time.

• This helps with visioning how the network might develop through understanding what your first priorities are.

• We could imagine those who, in the Give and Gain wheel, identified an area of special interest might gravitate towards that area in this bit.

This final session, then takes the outcomes from the Give and Gain activity to decide on next steps together, considering who will do what and how this will happen. Then it is up to you to develop your network together into the future.

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