Transition Mulling Nov. 7, 2011

This was the third meeting to look at creating a Transition Initiative in Huntsville, Alabama.
Details of the meeting after the break.
Location: Randolph School, classroom of Michele Sneed.

Those in attendance:

• Ethan Chew
• Follin Clark
• Ben Clark
• Shannon McBride
• Alan Booker
• Michele Sneed

The main thrust of this meeting was to decide on a name for the group along with our mission statement.  Talking notes from this portion of the meeting included:

Name

Transition Catalysts of Huntsville

Tagline

Proactive individuals regenerating resilient communities.

Mission Statement

“Local, handing down, preparing, health, equipping, educate, seed, sow, connection, sustaining, heritage, weaving, resource base, preserving”.
The goal is to work together for a year cultivating discrete transition initiatives in smaller groups throughout the area. This work will culminate in neighborhood parties near the end of the year, kicking off the more local initiatives. At that point, the Transition Catalysts group will hand off the job to a hub of interested individuals made up of members from each local initiative. This group will act as the Transition Hub for Huntsville, Alabama.

Objective/Purpose

To catalyze resilient communities in the Huntsville area using the principles of the Transition Town movement.
From TT Primer – Initiate transition in Madison County area.

Scope/Initial Goals/Core Values/Principles

• Healthy Food
• Community building and collaboration
• Sustainability
• Preservation of community knowledge

Other items discussed

Shannon brought to our attention the work that had been started by the Green 13 group in compiling a report. This report shows work the local government would like to change; some of these are goals for the transition initiative.
Several other online resources were mentioned such as Huntsville Green Link and the Theory of Anyway, both put on our Links page.
Another item brought up but tabled to a later meeting is the setting of Foundational Principles to keep the group focussed.

Group Assignment

At the close of the meeting, we all agreed to work on a draft of the mission statement. Its current draft is used for the About page.
Also, we agreed to brainstorm events to add/host for next year's calendar. That way we can increase activities in the community and begin the process of networking to start local initiatives. Ideas along the lines of speakers, movies, permaculture events, and reskilling workshops were suggested.