Transition Maroubra Beach
Submitted by admin on Thu, 10/02/2011 – 20:22
We aim to be a fundamental part of a diverse, engaged and lively community that can continue to enjoy and care for Maroubra Beach together in the context of local and global sustainability. We want to demonstrate that genuine sustainability and resilience to the challenge of peak oil and climate change can be achieved by the community of Maroubra Beach, by increasing awareness and education and providing means to take action in the following areas:
○ Health, Heart & Soul
○ Biodiversity
○ Food
○ Consumption
○ Transport
○ Energy
○ Water
○ Waste
○ Governance
○ Economy
We want to nurture a strong, innovative and collaborative community that builds social capacity in the following areas:
○ empowerment & leadership
○ trust and respect
○ practical skills and trades
○ collaboration and partnership with other initiatives
○ negotiation
Maroubra Beach Transition Town is an open, friendly group which welcomes anyone who shares a mutual interest and respect for Maroubra Beach and its community. The group supports a diversity of opinions and perspectives and all interactions are to be constructive. The group will have a ‘steering committee’ to provide initial guidance. The steering committee will later dissolve and grow into working groups based around the objectives listed above. The group structure will remain flexible and adaptable as new opportunities arise. The local group will collaborate with the parent organisations on bioregional level (Sydney basin). Initially, there will be weekly gatherings on public ground, to be conducted as follows:
● Every Thursday 6:30-8pm.
● On the grass at Maroubra Beach, across the road from McKeon St.
● 1st half hour (6:30-7pm)
○ Introductions, collecting discussion ideas, show + tells, setting meeting agenda, deciding topics for 2nd half hour.
○ Format is a go-around with each person speaking once, perhaps just sharing something good that happened in their week or their motivation for being at the meeting, if nothing more specific.
○ Plus one ‘keynote’ talk for maximum 10 mins, given by a different participant on a different topic each week, e.g. omposting, peak oil, renewable energy…
● 2nd half hour (7-7:30pm)
○ Open space format. For description see http://transitionculture.org/2008/03/21/12-tools-for-transition-no10-how-to-run-an-open-space-event/
○ Several mats will be spread around the grass, one for each discussion topic.
○ People join the topic they are drawn to and are free to change their mind and move.
○ Discussion at each mat continues for as long as needed (maximum 30 mins).
○ One facilitator per mat.
○ Rough notes are taken of key outcomes to be reported back to the whole group
● 3rd half hour (7:30-8pm)
○ The whole group comes back together into one circle.
○ The facilitator from each topic mat shares the key outcomes of the discussion, e.g. plans for upcoming events, actions that participants can join…
○ A couple of questions may be asked on each topic if time allows.
○ We’ll finish with a closing round. Each person says what their next steps in the following week are.
This is our Mission Statement Version 0.1 – dated 22nd December 2010
Signatories: Emily Mitchell, Anne OBrien, Patrick Jeannerat, Celine Steinfeld
Contact: transitiontown2035[at]gmail.com