Thinkers on “How to Get From Here to There”
Check out our list of organizations actively involved in public education campaigns and legislative action adressing the climate crisis here. Scroll to the middle of the page.
Other Oganizations Offering How To Manuals, Conferences in Our Area and More.
Transition Towns is an international movement. There is also a Transition Towns USA web site. Greenfield is a Transition Town affiliate. Started by Rob Hopkins, who wrote The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, 2006. This is an excellent, easy to ready handbook for community organizers who are approaching the problem from a grassroots perspective. Short problem statement. Substantial discussion about the process of change in individuals and society. A 12-step action plan. Example of one-year in one-town in the UK. A second book called the Transition Time line is also very useful. New resources being developed all the time!
ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection. In 2007 Greenfield joined this international program. in 2008, 25% of all the people in the USA lived in “ICLEI” community. This program has a government orientation, and there is an annual fee. Among other things, they offer software to help towns do audits of their energy use. Greenfield completed its energy audit in 2008, and is now looking to write a Climate Action Plan. New resources are published often such as the Sustainability Planning Tool Kit, the STAR Community Index and more. The ICLEI web site has many success stories from around the world, and links to all ICLEI communities.
MCAN Massachusetts Climate Action Network links to communities addressing climate action in MA. See if your community is on the list, and learn who the key contact person is. They hold an annual conference for organizers.
Students for a Just and Stabile Future (formerly known as Power Shift and The Leadership Campaign,) have rapidly gown into THE conduit for youth’s voices! The Leadership web site says “The Leadership Campaign is led by Students for a Just and Stable Future and other concerned citizens dedicated to protecting humanity from the unprecedented threat of global destabilization as a result of rapid climate disruption.”
David Gershon & The Empowerment Institute has several “Handbooks” to help people move to more sustainable lifestyles. Written for families, these could be useful for green club activities since. Titles include Green Living Handbook, 2007 150pp; TheLow Carbon Diet, 80pp on how to lose 5,000 pounds (of carbon) in 30 days; and The Livable Neighborhood, 2000, which has some activities on how to green your neighborhood, build community, share resources and more.
Relocalization and Local Action:
Richard Heinberg author of many books including Relocalize Now, and The Party’s Over is the father of the Relocalization movement. Among other things, the Relocalize groups are advocating for a re-learning of the many skills that were commonplace not long ago. Richard Heinberg is now working at the Post Carbon Institute.
Permaculture offers a new way of thinking. It uses ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community development. Permaculture is built upon an ethic of caring for the earth and interacting with the environment in mutually beneficial ways. The Western Massachusetts Permaculture Guild is very active in Greenfield and the surrounding area.
Finding Resources and Your Thoughts:
New books are being published almost weekly! It is impossible to keep up! Many of us involved in Greening Greenfield have been looking for a readable, scientifically-based, systematic roadmap to a doable solution, but this has been difficult to find. If you find a bookthat you think is helpful – or if you have written something that you think can help us move forward, please let us know!