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Transition US A Year in Review 2016 Transition US’s yearend campaign raised over $60,000!

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Page 1: Transition US · the world was watching and cheering them on, the needs and wishes of ordinary people were once again ... The number of participants that attended in real-time numbered

Transition US A Year in Review – 2016

Transition US’s yearend campaign raised over $60,000!

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Letter from the Transition US Team

We are now eight years into the Transition movement in the U.S. — a full decade deep into the global experiment

of Transition — and in that time, we’ve witnessed communities transform at a grassroots level in truly

extraordinary ways. With countless projects and working groups on topics from local food security and green

energy to “inner transition” and building the new economy, the 160+ local initiatives that have formed across

the United States have built a remarkable track record of solid and replicable projects for building truly resilient

communities.

This last year has been metamorphic and humbling in more ways than we can count. The global climate has,

once again, been hotter than any other year on record1. In an historic show of courage and dignity, indigenous

water protectors gathered in unprecedented numbers with a powerful reminder that “water is life” — but while

the world was watching and cheering them on, the needs and wishes of ordinary people were once again

overwhelmed by extraordinary force. And all the while (regardless of where each of us may sit on the political

spectrum) we’ve seen the flailings of a national political system in deep turmoil, in what feel like more urgent

times than ever. Clearly, if ever there was a need for a national movement of local people coming together to

build resilient community, that time is now.

In the locally-empowered grassroots movement that is Transition, we continue to witness much-needed

glimmers of hope. At Transition US in 2016, we’ve seen an expansion of increased social connection through the

neighborhood Transition Streets program, promotion of regenerative economic models through the REconomy

Project (including a new publication: 25 Enterprises that Build Community Resilience), and an ever-expanding

litany of local actions registered nationwide through the annual Community Resilience Challenge. Meanwhile,

we have invited greater participatory leadership in our Transition National Hub by launching a “Collaborative

Design Council” of local community organizers from initiatives across the country to work together in ramping

up our collective national efforts. We’ve also supported a cadre of volunteers who in 2016 contributed over 579

hours towards strengthening this national hub. Transition US also hosted and co-hosted 38 online trainings and

events (with 1,433 participants attending in real-time and 7,284 participating via recordings) — with one

participant expressing that our work “makes me realize that we are all part of this living network.”

With such widespread participation in meaningful work, Transition has continued to play its vital part in the

greater cosmic symphony of resilience, regeneration and renewal. This year, Transition US with the Collaborative

Design Council took the historic step organizing the first-ever Transition US National Gathering, which is currently

in the works for summer 2017! The theme of this gathering — and perhaps the theme of our work in Transition

moving forward — is “Growing a Movement for Local Resilience: Broadening, Deepening, and Scaling Up.”

Meanwhile, we’re expanding the leadership role of local community organizers from initiatives across the

country; we’re increasing the capacity of local Transition Towns and projects on the ground by providing seed-

funding opportunities and facilitating peer-to-peer mentoring, we’re stepping up the REconomy and Transition

Streets projects — and we're integrating it all with an updated and more relevant website and social media

presence that will be able to reach more people, share more transformational tools and success stories, and

ripple out this movement, spreading community resilience far and wide.

We hope you will join us in these efforts!

Carolyne Stayton Marissa Mommaerts Nils Palsson Executive Director Director of Programs Communications/Special Projects Coordinator __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-2016-warmest-year-on-record-globally

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2016 – A Year in Review

Mission and Vision

Our mission at Transition US (TUS) is to catalyze and strengthen a national network of citizen-powered groups

building local resilience though community action.

We accomplish this mission by inspiring, encouraging, supporting, networking and training individuals and

their communities as they consider, adopt, adapt, and implement the Transition approach to community

empowerment and change.

Ultimately, what we envision is a United States in which each community engages its collective creativity to

unleash an extraordinary and historic transition to a future that is beyond fossil fuels — a future that is more

vibrant, abundant and resilient, one that is ultimately preferable to the present.

To date 160 Transition Initiatives have formed in 38 states with many others are currently in formation.

Support from Volunteers

To supplement its modest budget and to achieve more impactful results, Transition US has both relied on, and

been bolstered by the expertise of, volunteers from within its network to support national organization activities.

The support hours provided by volunteers were above and beyond the many thousands of cumulative hours

that volunteers invested in their own local resilience-building activities.

In 2016, Transition US was fortunate to have volunteers who

contributed over 579 hours (487 hours of professional expertise

and 92 hours of non-professional support). Program

development, TeleSeminar presentations, Learning-Cohort

facilitation, organizational planning and strategy development,

mediation and legal counsel, graphic design, and data

infrastructure development, were all provided to Transition US

by experts in their fields. Non-professional support included

social media support, event staffing, compilation of data, and

much more. These examples provide a snapshot from the

palette of activities carried by volunteers.

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Financial Overview

With a modest budget and a committed core team of three part-time staff (supported by a gifted board and

talented volunteers), Transition US catalyzes and strengthens citizen-powered, resilience-building efforts across

the country. In 2016, our mission was achieved through: On-site and online trainings; the dissemination of

replicable models, guides, and tools; mirroring the movement to itself through website, TeleSalons, newsletters,

stories, and awareness-raising events; and crowdsourcing with the network to build collaborative programs such

as the first national Transition gathering scheduled for July 28-31 in St. Paul, MN.

In 2016, Transition US’s total income was $152,391 which included a $30,000 foundation grant received in 2015

for FY 2016, and a pledged $25,000 matching grant; all supplemented by the numerous in-kind volunteer support

hours as mentioned above.

We have also had the good fortune, over the years, to have several foundations stand by our side and provide

multi-year financial support to further the work of Transition across the U.S. We heartily acknowledge these

foundations for providing this backbone of support: Appleby Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, Harvey L.

Miller Family Foundation, Hidden Leaf Foundation, Kalliopeia Foundation, New Visions Foundation, Threshold

Foundation, and the Yavanna Foundation. We could not have done this without you!

From more than 200 individual donors, the organization received gifts of all shapes and sizes. Over the course

of the year these totaled more than $41,000 but in late 2016, when a generous donor offered Transition US a

year-end Challenge Grant of $25,000, contributions really took off. A modest crowdfunding campaign explicitly

for the 2017 national gathering, some small nonprofit grants, corporate contributions, and sales of books

provided additional income.

Trainings and Teleseminars

Since its inception in 2009, Transition US has offered a range of skill-building on-site and online trainings to over

11,000 participants.

On-site trainings include:

LAUNCH - a 2-day course that provides a detailed introduction to the most important skills necessary to

successfully set up, develop, and run a Transition project in one’s locale. In six years of operation, TUS has

worked with our network of trainers to deliver 116 LAUNCH trainings in a total of 35 states.

Effective Groups Training is a dynamic and engaging 2-day skills-

building training for individuals and teams which covers key skills for

building a culture of trust and collaboration, power-sharing, &

decision-making, balancing achieving goals with keeping your team

healthy and effective, managing conflicting needs and paradoxes,

both within and outside the team, and developing the skills &

mindset to cross stony ground without falling out with other

members of the team.

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TeleSeminars:

During 2016 Transition US hosted and co-hosted 38 on-line trainings and events. The number of participants

that attended in real-time numbered 1,433 (a 29% increase over 2015) while over 7,284 participated through

the event recordings. Since its first TeleSeminar in 2009, Transition US has offered 213 on-line events with

8,367 participating in real-time and a total of 52,419 through event recordings.

TeleSeminars featured guest speakers from across the field of resilience, and in a number of cases

showcased successful/replicable models developed within local communities in the United States or around

the world. Examples from the 2016 TeleSeminar series included:

Top Row from left: Doria Robinson, Trathen Heckman and Fred Brown. Bottom Row: Michael Nagler, Dr. Barbara Sattler and Dr. Chong Kee Tan.

Scaling up Community Resilience in the Shadow of Chevron - A conversation with Doria Robinson from

Urban Tilth who hires and trains residents to work with schools, community-based organizations,

government agencies, businesses, and individuals to develop the capacity to produce 5% of the

community’s food supply.

How to Transition to a Just Monetary System – Looking at climate change and extreme economic

inequality as two sides of the same coin, and seeing our current debt-based monetary system as the

enabler and driver of these two modern day disasters. If we want to successfully transition to an

environmentally sustainable future, we must tackle the transition to transforming our everyday

transactions with practical solutions that start in your local community. Presented by Scott Morris of

Ithacash and Chong Kee Tan of Bay Bucks.

Bridging the Urban Community with the Global Economy – using principles of “economic gardening”, a

strength-based approach to community development that spans socioeconomic strata, with

environmental justice leader from Pittsburgh, Fred Brown.

The Power of Conflict -Two TeleSeminars, exploring the transformational opportunities of conflict and

tips and tools on dealing with it effectively, were led by EcoVillage facilitators Ma’ikwe Ludwig, Alyson

Ewald and Jacob Corvidae.

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Person Power and the Roadmap to Nonviolent Action – with Metta Center’s Michael Nagler.

Nonviolence, when properly understood, is the basic force that Gandhi called “the greatest force

available to humanity” and when we ground ourselves in this force we can work out the structure of

its applications down to the most practical details.

A six-session series on Local Fundraising was offered to a cohort of community leaders from across the

country by Transition US Board Member and University of San Francisco educator, Dr. Barbara Sattler

Increase your Inspiration, Participation, Impact and Funding while having more Fun – Learning tips,

tools and models for how we can live our inspiration while growing high impact and financially

sustainable groups and networks as accomplished by the successful Daily Acts Organization founded

by Transition US’s Board President Trathen Heckman.

Community Leaders - Fellows

Some of the comments that TUS received from TeleSeminar participants this past year:

“Great Presentations. I will be using the concepts and practices.”

“Worth attending. Much of the material was not new to me, but some of the framing was thought-

provoking, and there were some ideas that I want to discuss and possibly help implement in my

community.”

“One of the best conferences I have participated in.”

“Great Presentations. Truly fascinating ... more from all of these speakers. I will be using the concepts

and practices.”

“So much information! I especially appreciated the 'steps' and 'key points' made. These were references

I could (and will!) look up, and then do what was suggested – create a small team and get to work in

my community!”

“One of my favorite things about these on-line events is the participants! What a wealth of knowledge

and experience there too! Love hearing from them (as well as the presenters). Makes me realize that

we are all part of this living network. What potential!”

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Building the Movement

Transition US offers its formed and forming Transition Initiatives (TIs) a broad continuum of support. In 2016 this

took the form of: Connecting emerging leaders with one another through online communications, TeleSalons,

and sharing platforms; providing skill-building resources through trainings, replicable models, organizing and

communications support; and sharing success stories and lessons learned through newsletters and websites. As

part of this continuum, TUS offered these specific resources to Transition Initiatives and community resilience-

building efforts:

TeleSalons and Learning Cohorts:

TeleSalons convene various community leaders in an exploration of a topic over one session or two. Learning

Cohorts are convened with various Transition leaders, usually around one community-building model or an

important skill. Three aspects make these successful: One is the topic expertise of the

presenter/facilitator/mentor, two is the peer-to-peer support, knowledge and skills sharing of the

participants, and three is the on-line platforms to share information and collateral.

In 2016 two cohorts were active. One was focused on local fund development and convened over 5 sessions

with peer support activities throughout. Another which began at the end of 2016 and is the REconomy

cohort focused on the support and development of Transition-oriented enterprises in the U.S.

Collaborative Design Council:

The Collaborative Design Council is an advisory body comprised of representatives from Transition Initiatives

across the country. With Transition US, this advisory group has:

Collaborated on overall movement strategy

Initiated a national network Growing a Movement for Resilient Communities conference to be held July

27-31 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota

Increased both organizational and movement resilience/capacity through distributed leadership

creating a more leaderful movement

Promoted and cultivated participation and connectivity locally, regionally and nationally

Cross-pollinated ideas, best practices, and various resilience-building models and processes

Photos: North American Permaculture Convergence in N. California (left and center), & Thriving Resilient Communities Collaboratory (right)

Raising Awareness: TUS staff presented, convened, or facilitated the following activities to raise overall

awareness about, and within, the Transition Movement:

Hosted a public presentation at the Sebastopol Grange called Reality 101 by a Post Carbon

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Institute fellows, Nate Hagens and Richard Heinberg.

Convened Dialogues Across Difference, a Bohm Dialogue discussion from various points of

reference to better understand different worldviews and ways of thinking.

Led various workshops at the North American Permaculture Convergence in Hopland, CA

including: Transition Streets, Permaculture Your Town, Effective Collaboration, Resilience in the

Face of Wildfires, Community Resilience is Emergency Preparedness, Building Resilient

Neighborhoods, and Reaching Across Community Divides to Grow Resilience Where You Are.

Hosted and presented at an evening of TEDx-style talks entitled: The End Beginning is Near to

provide context to these times and possible community solutions.

Transition & Social Justice:

The Transition & Social Justice TeleSeminar series was developed and launched in November 2015 with

a conversation on “Just Transition” with Mateo Nube of Movement Generation. The series was

completed in 2016 with Doria Robinson of Urban Tilth in Richmond, CA and Fred Brown, an

environmental justice leader and President and CEO of Homewood Children’s Village in Pittsburgh, PA.

All presenters shared their framing, struggles and successes. The series’ purpose was to raise awareness

within the greater resilience-building and environmental movements of the perspectives, replicable

models, and community resilience-building efforts within the social justice movement, to bridge these

efforts, and to provide pathways for courageous conversations and collaboration.

Inner Transition

In 2015 Transition US staff initiated “Big Picture Fridays” (BPF) on the first Friday of each month. This

was an opportunity for Transition US staff and board to step out of the day-to-day busyness and

contemplate big picture issues, and reflect on how we were doing as individuals, as a team, and as an

organization. BPF provided a steady pulse of this deeper thinking (reflect, listen, integrate, advance, and

repeat next month), gave that more traction within the everyday work being done, helped cultivate

compassion, and supported the development of Inner Transition offerings within the network.

In 2016 TUS continued the BPF tradition and deepened it by incorporating courageous conversations,

and pathways for personal growth.

Also in 2016 Transition US began offering Inner Transition TeleSeminars (Roadmap to Nonviolent Action,

The Power of Conflict to Transform) and co-convened public “Courageous Conversations” to bridge

differences and increase understanding.

Online Communications

Monthly Newsletter: TUS compiles and distributes a monthly

electronic newsletter with stories from the movement, as

well as resources and upcoming events. The newsletter has

been further syndicated by dozens more Transition Initiatives

and allies inside and out of the U.S.

Transition efforts around the Twin Cities have been featured in a rather detailed article on MinnPost.com. Unique Transition "Towns" exist now in several parts of the city, including Longfellow, Phillips and St. Anthony's Park, each with its own working groups, events, and vibrant social networks.

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Website, Blogs, Listserv: The main Transition US website and the newer Transition Streets website

continue to draw traffic, adding value for the Transition Initiative leaders whose stories are featured, and

for visitors seeking easy access to tools, inspiration, and replicable models. The listserv provides a base

for substantive and varied discussions amongst Transition leaders.

Social Media: Our Facebook presence has seen consistent growth and now has over 10,000 following, (up

1,000 from last year).

Community Action and Replicable Projects

In 2016, TUS expanded its Transition Streets and REconomy offerings. These programs have local, regional, and

national engagement.

Transition Streets is a neighborhood carbon-, water- waste- reduction project, adapted from UK’s Transition

Network by a host of extraordinary volunteers from across the United States convened by Transition US. The

Transition Streets project is comprised of: a seven-chapter curriculum of practical, concrete actions that

reduce household energy consumption; a set of facilitation and outreach guides; an online community

support platform, trainings (as needed), and ongoing mentoring and resources from Transition US. Its

success, in part, is that to implement Transition Streets one is encouraged to involve one’s neighbors. A

Transition Streets news story was published in the Sonoma Index Tribune.

A Transition Streets website http://transitionstreets.org/,

a short Transition Streets animation, a longer overview

video (on the left), a handbook and facilitator guides

(found on the website) enable neighborhood Transition

Streets coordinators to successfully implement the project

in their neighborhoods.

REconomy Project is both a set of criteria that ensures businesses

themselves strengthen a community’s resilience (through

improvements in environmental health, social equity, community

wealth, and minimal use of resources for maximum impact), and is a

process for engaging stakeholders, entrepreneurs and investors in

incubating these types of businesses. Following TUS’s REconomy

work of 2014 (in collaboration with Transition leaders in Portugal,

Germany, Brazil, Mexico and the UK), in 2016 TUS completed a

report highlighting examples of 25 Transition Enterprises within the

US: 25 Enterprises that Build Community Resilience.

Transition Streets explained in this 3.5 minute video

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Stories from the TUS Network

Below are several examples of accomplishments from the Transition movement in the US. As one of Transition

US’s roles is to mirror the movement back to itself, stories like these are generally found on our website, in our

monthly newsletters, and on social media.

The Suncoast Gleaning Project organized by Transition Sarasota, FL continues to grow each year, and

has donated over 200,000 lbs. of food to their local food bank since 2010. Transition Sarasota also hosts

a popular yearly Eat Local Week.

Transition Pasadena, CA’s award-winning Repair Café (featured in the LA Times) has inspired the growth

of similar projects: there are now Repair Cafés in Howard County, MD, New York’s Catskills and Hudson

Valley, and elsewhere.

Sustainable Berea, a Transition initiative that celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year, successfully

planted 159 raised beds in four days with their Victory Garden Blitz.

In Vermont, Transition Town Charlotte (TTC) has been building edible community by installing a series

of demonstration plots at local libraries, schools and churches. Local TTC organizer Ruah Swennerfelt

also published a celebrated new book entitled Rising to the Challenge: The Transition Movement and

People of Faith.

Regional organizing has continued to scale up across the country, with New England Resilience &

Transition (NERT) holding a Resilience, Resistance, and Regional Equity Convergence in Boston’s

Jamaica Plain neighborhood, and Transition US participating in extensive Bioregional organizing at the

North American Permaculture Convergence.

Transition Town Media, PA, home of the legendary FreeStore featured in 21 Stories of Transition, also

gained recognition for support the local community in developing clean energy solutions with their new

Solarize Great Media campaign.

Transition Asheville, NC celebrated its fifth anniversary

with a well-attended Skill Share Fair -- one of the many

Transition events out there (including Transition

Whatcom’s Cascadia Skill Share and Barter Faire in

Washington state and Transition Humboldt’s North

Coast Skill Share in California) to participate in the

ongoing Great Re-Skilling.

In Silicon Valley, Transition Palo Alto continues to attract

press (and new Transition enthusiasts) for hosting over

200 in-person events a year, including film screenings,

re-skillings, gardening shares, book discussion groups and classes.

In Northern California’s Sebastopol, the local Transition community started a new seed exchange

program and hosted its second Village Building Convergence, a 10-day placemaking festival.

Transition Streets continues to spread, with several pilot communities nationwide including seven

neighborhoods in Transition Charlottesville, VA (a Mid-Atlantic initiative that also hosts ongoing re-

skilling events).

Thank You for being so inspiring!

Transition Palo Alto

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Transition in the Twin Cities makes the news! Home gardens and resilient food in Longfellow, re-thinking transportation in St. Anthony Park, and climate politics in Powderhorn.

Over 110 people came together for the Resilience, Resistance, and Regional Equity Convergence in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The gatheringNew England Resilience & Transition (NERT) Network, a regional hub in the Transition movement.

Fixed! At the Repair Café in Pasadena

North America Permaculture Convergence and Transition Gathering in Hopland, California.

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Looking Forward to 2017 and Beyond

To fulfill our mission of catalyzing and strengthening a national network of citizen-powered groups who are

building local resilience through community action, in 2017 Transition US will work with Transition Initiatives in

the following programmatic areas:

National Conference

1. The “Growing a Movement for Resilient Communities: Broadening, Deepening, and Scaling Up,”

conference will be July 27-31 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

We expect around 250 community resilience builders from across the country to gather, build

connections, share skills and knowledge, and generate new ideas for how to collectively move toward

our shared vision of a resilient future of connected, localized communities free from dependence on

fossil fuels. We’re excited to be collaborating with a team of Transition organizers from across the

country to bring forth a dynamic event that will be inspiring, informative, participatory, and fun.

The main gathering will begin the evening of Friday, July 28 and end Sunday, July 30. We will be offering pre-gathering workshop intensives and activities Thursday, July 27 and Friday, July 28.

We aspire for this gathering to align with Transition values, including: Sustainability: we are striving to create a zero waste event with local, sustainably sourced food. In

addition, we are asking participants to make your travel plans as low-impact as possible (ex: carpool, train, etc.), to account for the environmental impact of your travel to the gathering, and to take action to offset your emissions in the near-term. We will also offer remote and virtual participation options for those who don’t wish or are unable to travel.

Inclusivity: we strive to make this gathering as low-cost as possible, and to offer a limited number of scholarships and work-trade positions to ensure cost is not a barrier to participation. We strive to create an atmosphere that is welcoming to all, including families with children.

Collaboration: this gathering is the result of a collaborative, co-creative process between Transition organizers across the country. Our goal is to create a participatory, empowering event that will strengthen our grassroots network and enhance our abilities to collaborate effectively.

2. Movement Strategy Retreat: On Monday, July 31, the Transition US Collaborative Design Council (comprised of representatives from Transition Initiatives from across the country) will be hosting a movement strategy session for active Transitioners to reflect upon and explore strategies for moving forward as a movement.

3. National Working Groups: An anticipated outcome of the National Conference and Movement

Strategy Retreat is the design and formation of several national working groups.

From Stories to Action Community leaders need clear community-engagement and resilience-building models that they can easily adapt, readily replicate, and scale-up as needed. With Shareable, Post Carbon Institute and New Stories (our collaborative partners), these models will be gathered and disseminated as inspirational stories. Next, community leaders will help select which stories to convert into how-to guides. These guides will both give instructions for re-creating these models in other communities as well as the deeper story of the principles and processes which led to the model.

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To help ensure success, community leaders interested in replicating any of the top five turn-key models will be supported in a learning cohort of peer “experts” and other peer implementers, cohosted by Transition US and New Stories. Through a series of online conferences hosts and learning cohort will:

Produce additional guides, steps or collateral (which will be added to the how-to’s and be available to the wider field of community organizers)

Develop accountability norms within the cohort that will help shape the group’s behavior towards success

Further the on-the-ground implementation of these models within their respective communities Create the metrics which measure the success of these models and share these more broadly

Inner Transition TeleSeminars. Based on last year, approximately 500 enjoyed our Inner Transition offerings and feedback was very positive. This year we will endeavor to again ‘listen’ to the field and provide skill-building Inner Transition TeleSeminars that are most relevant. We will explore offering a self-assessment process of reflective listening where Transition Initiative leaders identify how they as individuals show up in groups, and what their gifts and challenges are. Using a process for group-assessment these same Transition groups together identify how they are doing as a group their visioning, implementation of practical projects, networking and partnership development, community awareness-raising, group process (includes meeting core agreements and dealing with tensions and conflicts), and celebration of achievements.

Redesign Website with a new narrative that celebrates all that IS happening around the US and the world to build resilience, connection, and a better future. This work will require significant coordination of volunteer contributors, collating of materials, reorganizing of archives, and the development of a new story-based narrative. Within this will be woven the thread of Inner Transition and its resources. Transition Streets is a neighborhood carbon- water- waste-reduction project, adapted from UK’s Transition Network. In 2017 Transition US will:

1. Develop an Emergency Preparedness module as a prequel or sequel to the existing chapters energy,

water, food, waste, transportation. (Preview of existing chapters here).

2. Facilitate the spreading of the Transition Streets model to community groups and individuals in

implementing Transition Streets.

3. Provide ongoing direct technical assistance and peer-to-peer mentoring support to local organizers

who are implementing Transition Streets in their communities.

4. Complete an online evaluation tool to track carbon-, water-, waste- savings of Transition Streets

participants, as well as to track overall project impacts.

5. Adapt the curriculum for renters and low-income participants.

REconomy is a model that not only creates local businesses and all of the benefits those create, but fill real

community needs. REconomy enterprises are resource minimal (water, energy, etc.), they serve a mission

greater than profit -- holding the goals of providing decent livelihoods (including coops, collectives, worker-

owned business), invest profits into community, and provide affordable, sustainable products and services to

consumers. In 2017 Transition US will:

1. Offer REconomy learning cohorts to support clusters of 5-10 local Transition Initiatives in

implementing REconomy activities within their communities. Skill-building TeleSeminars, peer-

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mentoring TeleSalons, and an on-line interactive platform for sharing information and hosting

discussions will form the infrastructure for these cohorts.

2. Host content-rich REconomy TeleSeminars

Building the Capacity of the Network: Transition US is committed to strengthening the impact of local

Transition Initiatives. In 2017 Transition US will:

1. Offer skill-building TeleSeminars and peer-to-peer TeleSalons.

2. Convene a Collaborative Design Council to: connect local Transition leaders across the country to build

relationships; improve flow of communication between Transition US, local Transition Initiatives, and

Regional Hubs; share ideas & resources, provide feedback on Transition US activities; and to

collaborate on projects, fundraising, and capacity-development.

3. Continue to share replicable models and resources through our newsletters and website.

4. Capture stories, press coverage and metrics for the movement so that it can see itself and its effect,

then distributing these to inspire others to action

5. Link together for maximum benefit those new to Transition with those more senior, those confronting

similar issues (such as those that arise in an urban ecology), and those who are looking for others in

their locale with whom to create a Transition Initiative.

6. Continue the National Awareness and Action Campaign: the Community Resilience Challenge