Transition Bedford

Bedford will come together and vote on our new Mayor in the coming days. This article isn’t meant to answer the question “Who will be the next mayor?” nor “who should be the next mayor?”, that’s your choice. It’s a quick temperature gauge on the local political promises around climate change.

I put a question to each of the mayoral candidates via the Times & Citizen;  “I see a Local Authority’s approach to renewables as a kind of litmus test to just how seriously you take the issue of climate change, i’m not particularly interested in opinions on climate change, i’d like to know what specific policies you intend to implement to increase renewables in the area?” The Times & Citzen published a written edit of the response in last Thursdays edition. My initial response was one of dismay at how many of the answers seemingly missed the point. However, some of the content is lost in translation which is largely an issue of editing. I’ve since watched the video responses online. I urge you to take a look. The candidates mostly promise significant action. This article is a request that we hold to account who ever gets in.

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I came across this video on the Transition Culture blog. The narrator and creator of the “6 Steps of Community Engagement” is  James Samuel, a founder of Transition in New Zealand, and publisher of the blog Yesterday’s Future.  If you have seen ‘In Transition’, James is the guy discussing Oooby with the outrageous shirt.  He was recently asked to give a talk to a local CSA project, giving them some ideas for how to manage their project.  He developed a 6 stage process which looks like a good way of looking at creating successful projects.  You can see his presentation below, and read a transcript of it here on the Transition Culture site. If would be great to get everyone’s comments (both from Transition Bedford and from other Transition groups) on these ideas, as I’m sure all your insights will help us.