Transition Sherborne Area (a transition town in West Dorset) is positively committed to tackling the twin challenges of climate change and fossil fuel depletion at the community level. At its heart, the transition process conveys that, with the right approach, a world beyond peak oil can be better than the one we find ourselves in today. We aim to do this by exploring and living in more sustainable, less carbon intensive and healthier ways. We are engaging our community (Sherborne town and the surrounding area) in dialogue, holding a number of events and exploring local solutions to the challenges we all face.
Transition is fluid! It is about local people doing local things.
The general aim behind the Transition Movement is to provide a local response to the twin issues of Oil Scarcity and Climate Change, while building Resilience – three topics that are likely to have a major impact on our lives this century.
The term Peak Oil refers to the top, or peak, of a time-based global oil production curve. The graph, when smoothed, looks like a standard normal-distribution curve (visually similar to an upside-down bell). It states that we have reached (or have already passed, or are just about to) the peak level of oil production. Or put more simply we have used half of the world’s oil reserves, and from now it will decline and become scarce. Existing oil wells have dried up and new fields do not contain enough to bridge the shortfall, or are in locations where it is difficult to extract (e.g. tar sands). To complicate things, we have become used to an oil-based existence meaning that demand is still high and with the emergence of developing nations such as China and India the demand is likely to increase. So with such a high demand for a dwindling resource, oil will become expensive. And it pervades so much of our lives, from transport to food production to the plastic bottles we keep our oil-based beauty products in.
Climate Change, or Global Warming, is widely publicised and received with various levels of scepticism. But not in the scientific community where it is generally regarded as fact: 99% of scientists agree that humankind is partly responsible for climate change compared to 40% of the general public.The general principle is that burning carbon-based material (oil, gas, trees) increases the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which traps solar energy and causes Global Warming, which in turn causes changes in the climate. More than two degrees Centigrade and these changes are catastrophic. There are other dangers, too; melting of the ice caps may lead to sea-level rises and changes to the ocean currents; defrosting of the tundra would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating the problem; changing rain patterns could lead to an increase in desertification.
Resilience is the ability of a system to withstand shock and sudden change without collapse. It is a principle of systems theory, and in our context applies to human society. Our ability, as a town, county, or country to sustain function under the influence of extreme events beyond our control. Such as a sudden rise in the sea-level, or seasonal drought caused by climate change, or petrol becoming scarce.
A good example of lack of resilience is the petrol strike of 2000, when in just a few days the supermarkets almost ran out of food due to the chain of supply, because they have become so reliant on continued transport and just-in-time storage. A local market garden, or more of us growing our own food, would have given us more resilience and better ability to cope.
Latest Transition Town News:
- Community Orchard Follow-up Meeting - 25 January 2012 - Jo
Following the success of our Invitation to Start a Community Orchard Event last October, the Community Orchard Group would like to invite you to a follow-up Meeting on Monday 30th January, 6.30pm – 7.45pm at Sherborne Abbey Primary School, Lenthay Road, Sherborne. The meeting will provide an opportunity for local residents to further discuss the potential for creating a Community Orchard and how ideas might be taken forward.
- Time for a Community Orchard? - 10 October 2011 - Ross
Always seeking new ways to encourage local, sustainable food initiatives which may benefit the community for years to come, Transition Sherborne have started a Community Orchard Group and are keen to work with local residents who are interested in setting up and running Sherborne’s first community orchard. Whilst searching for a suitable location, we have recently discovered a green space next to the allotments, between South Avenue and Lenthay Close which could prove an ideal site. This area already has some native trees and bushes and could have lots of potential for growing a wide range of delicious edibles!
- Green or Greed - 9 October 2011 - Steve
How can we create a globally fair community locally in Sherborne? Following on from the successful Love for the Future Lent study, Sherborne Baptist Church (with the help of Transition Sherborne) will be running an Open Space discussion afternoon at 2pm on Thursday 27th October at the Baptist Church, North Road, Sherborne DT9 3JN. The topic for discussion will be Green or Greed? How can we create a globally fair community locally in Sherborne? It is hoped that a community project will stem from the discussion. All are welcome and refreshments and a crèche facility will be provided.
- Permaculture Allotment Tour - 27 June 2011 - Steve
Tuesday July 19 7pm. Suggested donation £2. Our July event is a tour of Geoff's Amazing Permaculture Allotment. Geoff only recently took on his allotment and with little previous experience of permaculture has managed to create a very unique and productive patch. Permaculture is a design process that can be applied to farming/growing that works in harmony with nature rather than against it. The outcomes tend to be higher yield with less work! As well as describing his own allotment Geoff will show us some of the others there, so we can see firsthand the unique environment allotments create.
- Productive Planting 2 - 7 June 2011 - Steve
Tue 14 June 2011 7:00pm Dig Up Sherborne meets again, but this time at the Butterfly House in Castle Gardens. Steve Fry hoped last time to show us some of the larger productive plants available, but due to the impracticality of lugging whole trees to the Zest Café in the back of his car this has had to wait to this month’s talk. Do come and find out more about the sorts of plants you can plant in your garden that are both productive and beautiful. For regular attendees, please note the change of time and venue.
Contact: Transition Sherborne
12 Simons Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4DN
01935 814033
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