Transition Ann Arbor

Summer/Fall 2009

In January 2009, Michael Brownlee and Lynette Marie Hanthorn of Transition Boulder County came to Ann Arbor to lead more than 50 people through Michigan's first Training for Transition. Read a description of the training here (PDF).  In May 2009, Transition Ann Arbor became the 26th "official" Transition Initiative in the U.S. (and the 161st in the world).

The Transition Ann Arbor initiating team (Nathan Ayers, Lisa Dugdale, Jeannine LaPrad, Jeanne Mackey, and Jeannine Palms) formed in March 2009.  As recommended by the Transition model, we agreed to do our best to ignite the Transition Towns movement in Ann Arbor, and to dissolve within a year, passing on leadership to representatives of the working groups that (we hope) will  form to start envisioning and preparing for Ann Arbor's low-energy future.  We were delighted to have Laura Smith join the team in November. Jeanne will be moving on in March 2010.

We've been busy since then, collaborating with others who took the Training for Transition in January, as well as a growing number of local folk who feel drawn to the Transition model.  This includes:

  • Movie screenings/discussions.  Our friends at Rudolf Steiner School (high school campus) were the first to get the ball rolling, kicking off their twice-a-month Transition film series with "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil."  We did a series of four screenings in May at Ann Arbor Friends Meeting and in June at Arbor Brewing Company.
  • Ann Arbor ReSkilling Festival.  Once again, the Steiner folk led the way,  conjuring up the brilliant idea of a free day-long reskilling festival at Steiner high school.  Reskilling is a Transition Towns concept about teaching each another the skills we need for low-energy living. The festival was a rousing success, with an estimated 150 people choosing from 27 sessions on skills for low-energy living, from hanging out clothes to building an earth oven to spinning and storytelling.  Check out some wonderful photos of the day by Laura Smith and Blanche Price and partner Stephen.  The second ReSkilling Festival in October 2009 had even more enthusiastic particpants. 
  • Transition Presentation/Discussions.  We've done several open public presentations on Transition at Tappan School, as well as presentations at Ann Arbor City Hall, a U-M social work class, and more.   We joined the discussion on WCBN's environmental talk show, "It's Hot in Here" and have been meeting with supportive individuals in city and county government.
  • Networking with Local Organizations.  We've started meeting with local organizations (starting with Michigan Peaceworks, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, and Slow Food Huron Valley) to explore collaboration possibilities. We're partnering with the Ecology Center on some 350.org activities.
  • Speaker's bureau, film library, book discussions, and picnics.  We collaborated with Transition Town Ypsilanti for a Transition Town picnic in Ypsi, led a book discussion on the Transition Town Handbook at Crazy Wisdom, co-sponsored a permaculture seminar with Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture.  We're working with a few hardy souls to form a Transition Town speaker's bureau, and have started a library of films on Transition themes (let us know if you'd like to host a showing in your home or neighborhood).  We've had Transition Ann Arbor tables at local events such as the Mayor's Green Fair.

What's Next?

See the events page for the latest on what we're up to.

Join Us

Let us know if you're interested in working with us, whether on an ongoing basis or for a specific event--getting out the word, helping to organize events, doing admin or publicity work, networking, etc.  Email info@transitionannarbor.org

 

 

 

 

“Our central survival task for the decades ahead, as individuals and as a species, must be
to make a transition away from the use of
fossil fuels – and to do this as peacefully,
equitably, and intelligently as possible”.  

-- Rob Hopkins