Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives: Working Together

Ralph Schmoldt

Portland, Oregon

July 12, 2011

Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives: Outline

• Local Background• Conceptual “Fit” • Similar Themes• What we have done to bring them together• What we’ve learned so far• What we want to do next• Other thoughts on bringing them together• Conclusion

Conceptual “Fit” Between Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives

• (Transition Initiatives): Transition means using our head, hearts and hands to build greater individual and community resilience

• (Resilience Circles): Resilience means transitioning from “old’ to “new” stories (learning = head), from isolation to working together (mutual aid = heart) and from helplessness to empowerment (social action = hands).

Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives: Similar Themes

• Importance of stories & need for new stories (especially new economic story)

• Importance of local community & small-scale solutions for large-scale problems

• It’s everybody or nobody• Honoring elders/involving youth• Cautious about leaders/experts• Positive visioning & empowerment • Open-source (make it up together as we go along)

What We’ve Learned So Far(about recruiting people to RCs)

• Start with familiar networks • Value proximity and place• Remember that getting people together is a skill• Consider the mix of people out there• Use triage• Remember that building an “ark” is as important

as filling it

How Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives Can Contribute to Each Other

Resilience Circles Transition Initiatives

Economic Downturn

(Short Emergency)

Peak Oil, Climate Change

(Long Emergency)

Security

Resilience

How Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives Can Contribute to Each Other

Resilience Circles Transition Initiatives

Neighborhood, Block,

Household, Small Group (Micro-Community)

City, Town, Village

(Macro-Community)

Mutual Aid

Reskilling

How Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives Can Contribute to Each Other

Resilience Circles Transition Initiatives

Existing System

New System

Activities and projects for learning, mutual aid & social action

Planning Process leading

to plan (EDAP)

How Resilience Circles & Transition Initiatives Can Contribute to Each Other

Resilience Circles Transition Initiatives

Mainstream population

Alternative lifestyle,

counter-culture, activists

Recruitment

Viral spread