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<div><a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight:bold;font-size:18px;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" href="http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/"><font color="#EFF5F9">Transition Ireland and Northern Ireland</font></a></div>
<div style="font-size:12px;">the network for communities building local resilience</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>I was waiting on a report about the Change Nation event, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.changenation.org"><span>http://www.changenation.org</span></a>/, and it’s relevance to TINI before I messaged everyone but that is not ready yet so I am writing this as I remember it and as I perceive it. I hope it’s easy enough to understand and inviting enough for you to reply.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;">.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>Just over a month ago I was contacted by a Change Executive who was working with Ashoka for their recent event Change Nation. I didn’t really understand what was planned other than I was being asked some questions about the state of transition in Ireland. He said that Rob Hopkins was coming over for the event and if he was able to help us out what did I think he could do to most benefit the movement in Ireland. I had my say and asked that he contact some other members as I am not qualified to answer on behalf of everyone. Given his time constraints he asked for a few names and contact details.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>Next I knew the Change Executive invited a hand full of people to meet with Rob on the Thursday of the event. We had two hours to discuss the proposed ideas and prepare him for his attempt to help us while he was in the county. To be honest I still wasn’t sure how this would work but nonetheless I had my say. During the conversation a transition award was mentioned and we came up with Recognising Resilience. This is a way we feel we can acknowledge resilience building projects while showcasing what a resilience building project looks like. Everyone was taken by the idea and Rob went off about his business keeping “Recognising Resilience” as something he could get us assistance with. There were other points too; assistance with a mapping tool so that people could be directed to their nearest initiative and introduction to the Reconomy project among them. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;">.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>I didn’t see the practical point to all of this until Sunday. Some of us were invited to the closing event of the weekend in Farmleigh. When I went into the main arena there were pieces of board clipped up all around the walls of the tent. On each one was a “commitment” or an action. As I read them I began to understand the whole workings of the event. Over the course of the weekend, especially on the Saturday, the 50 social entrepreneurs mingled with people of influence in Ireland and other change makers. During the course of their conversations they committed to carry out actions that would advance the proven solutions of the entrepreneurs in Ireland. Here is a link to some images of commitments of relevance to us <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
href="http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/photo/albums/ashoka-change-nation-commitments?xg_source=msg_mes_network"><span>http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/photo/albums/ashoka-change-nation-commitments</span></a>. Here is a link to all of the commitments, which keep increasing as people continue to commit, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.changenation.org/actions"><span>http://www.changenation.org/actions</span></a>. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;">.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>This has all tied in to a previous conversation about the possible need to highlight transition initiatives as per comments by Tidy Towns. Tidy Towns judges had gone to Kinsale but could find no indication that it was a transition town. We had discussed a sign of some sort. We also discussed the fact that this would be done as a collaborative project. We will work with other groups who have sustainable development and resilience at their core. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;">.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>Now we have to set about working on our commitments. If you are interested in getting involved please reply to let me know so that I may set up a working group. This will require a good diversity of skills; admin, media, planning, collaborators, web creation and so on. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>Yours in transition</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:.5em;margin-top:0;"><span>Theresa :)</span></div>
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<div>Visit Transition Ireland and Northern Ireland at: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network">http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network</a></div>
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