How to start Transition: Developing an initiating group

Why do it
Getting Transition started in a community needs a group who can commit time and energy
and have a range of skills and experience. This group will carry out the first stage of the
Transition process and is often called the Initiating Group.

Forming the Initiating Group

A good number of people for a working group is 5 - 8. A few more is OK but not more than
12. If you’re just one or two people, you’ll need to find others. It’s important that the first
ones really understand Transition - through attending a training, reading books or the
website, or visiting and hearing from other Transition initiatives.

Here’s what we’ve learnt about good ways to get this to happen.

The Purpose of the Initiating Group

The group’s aim is to carry out the first phase of the Transition process by working through
the core elements of Transition - which are to:
 Work well as a group
 Build links with other groups in your community who can support Transition
 Develop a vision of Transition
 Engage more people in the Transition process
 Understand and include Inner Transition to create an enjoyable, sustainable, way of
working
 Do practical projects to get noticed, get results and have fun!
 Seed and support larger practical projects and Theme groups
 Connect with others in the Transition Movement

Research carried out on the Transition Movement has shown that groups that work through
these elements are more likely to succeed and avoid many of the problems that groups can
suffer from.

The Initiating Group’s work is complete when the group feels it’s done what it can using
these elements to get Transition started. In some places there will be many groups by then -
doing practical actions or organising a theme of the Transition process. In other places there
aren’t enough people coming forward for this, and the people in the Initiating Group carry
on - but acknowledging they are now in a different phase of the process.
Getting the right mix of skills in your group
Starting Transition successfully needs many different kinds of people. Here’s a list of skills or
qualities that are really helpful. If you’re a small group looking for some more members we
suggest you go through the list, find out what skills you already have and see if you can
bring in what’s missing - either by inviting other people, or getting training.
 Skills in organising - managing projects, getting a group to work well, coordinating
different people’s activities, working with volunteers.
 People skills - being friendly and welcoming, working with different outlooks, culture
and worldviews, knowing how to work well with differences and conflict. Having
effective, enjoyable meetings – setting up and running meetings, and developing
how the group works.
 Designing and running good events, public speaking, booking rooms, showing DVDs,
running Open Space, facilitating discussions.
 Connections with and knowledge of local community groups.
 Networking with existing organisations and people.
 Publicity – press, designing posters and flyers, writing blogs and using social media.
 Managing information – email lists, bulletins, phone lists.
 Designing and maintaining websites.
 Knowledge of local history and local issues.

It’s also helpful to find people who:

 Have some time to give - and it’s OK to be specific about this (half a day a week? a
day per month?)
 Know how to make this kind of work enjoyable!
 Do what they say they’ll do!
  Share some understanding of the reasons why Transition is needed, and what it is.
 Are realistic about what a group of volunteers can do, and pay attention to well
being.
 Are good at including others, so one or two don’t dominate the group or its
decisions.

You may well not have all these skills from the beginning, but you can actively seek out new
people who might bring them. Remember too that support is available through Transition
Training, the Transition Primer, and other Transition Network resources.

Getting the group going

Here are some ways people have invited or found others to join the Initiating Group:
 Contact friends, likeminded people or groups that are already doing similar things
 Publicise it through your networks and social media channels
 Put on a film, talk or other event and invite people to join
 Put an ad in the paper!
 Talk about Transition on your local radio station
 Go along to groups with similar aims and start to make connections

A good first step is to set a date for an initial meeting - so people can take a step in without
feeling they are signing up for a big commitment.

First steps to start a group

The aim of the few meetings is to get the group off to a good start, agreeing what you’re all
here to do, finding out about each other, establishing how you will work together. Some
groups try to get on with doing things really fast, but often come unstuck later. Let these
early stages take a bit of time so you have a solid foundation to build on.

Here are some things you might want to cover in your first few meetings.
 Get to know each other find out a bit about why each person is here.
 Develop a shared understanding of Transition.
 Decide what area you want your Initiative to cover.
 Register on www.transitionnetwork.org (or your national hub website outside the
UK)
 Find out what skills people have and other groups they may be linked to.
 If you have a programme of events planned involve people in helping with these - it’s
good to do some things together to find out how you work as a team.
 Actively develop the group, its relationships, understanding and ways of working.

Some groups start to do things right away – usually putting on events such as film showings.
Others take time to build the group before they start doing stuff. Either way is fine.

Develop an Understanding of Transition

Read as many of the Transition Materials as possible to get an understanding of Transition
so you can communicate the Transition idea to others:
 Check out the Infographic here
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/resources/transition-infographic
  Read the why, what and how on the Transition Network website -
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/why
 Watch In Transition 2 movie to get an overview of the Transition movement
 Read The Transition Companion
 Read through the basic core elements of Transition so you understand what you
need to do to develop your group

What area do you want your Transition Initiative to cover?

Getting the scale right is important for a Transition Initiative.
 Towns of a few thousand to tens of thousands seem to work well.
 Within a city it’s usually good to work within a neighbourhood, though some have
worked with a whole city of several hundred thousand.
 In rural areas you might have an Initiative that covers one or several villages.

To decide you need to consider:

 What feels manageable, and where you can have an impact?
 What is the recognisable identity of the place you live, is it a neighbourhood, a city, a
district?
 On the whole we recommend starting smaller and letting things grow – and inspire
your neighbours!

Register on Transition Network and contact nearby groups

As part of setting up your group it helps to register on the Transition Network website and
contact nearby Transition groups.
 All people involved in your group register as individuals on the Transition Website as
Individuals and sign up to Transition newsletter
 Register as a Transition group
 Contact nearby Transition Initiatives and talk to them about how they set up their
group and invite them to meet with your group or have a phone conversation if this
is not possible. Finding a way to get support from others doing Transition nearby is
often critical to a new Transition initiative’s success.

Next steps for the Initiating Group

Use the Project Support pages, Activities and FAQs to help your Initiative have the best
chance of success. All the information here is based on the experience of hundreds of
groups in different countries trying the Transition model out for themselves!
Most importantly don’t get disheartened if it all starts slowly. It often takes a few meetings
to get a good group of committed people together to be the Initiating Group.

Once your group is up and running you can be creative with all the core elements of
Transition to achieve the Initiating Group’s Purpose, which are to:
 Work well as a group
 Build links with other groups in your community who can support Transition
 Develop a vision of Transition
 Engage more people in the Transition process
  Understand and include Inner Transition to create an enjoyable, sustainable, way of
working
 Do practical projects to get noticed, get results and have fun!
 Seed and support larger practical projects and Theme groups
 Connect with others in the Transition Movement

In the early stages of the projects you’ll be making connections with organisations, groups
and individuals who are largely supportive, finding ways to put on events together and
promote each other’s work, and building the Transition Initiating Group to become effective
at working together. You might also take time to do some training or a workshop together –
learning about effective meetings, exploring “The Work that Reconnects” or attending a
Transition: Launch training (this is also available on-line)

As you engage more people you’ll be building a contact list, maybe setting up a website or
social media site such as a Facebook page, keeping people informed about what’s
happening and much more.

There are some questions that often come up in this phase – see the FAQs on Initiating
Groups for some answers to things like..
 Should the group be open or closed?
 When should we seek funding?
 Should we have a legal structure?

Meeting as the Initiating Group

You will need to meet regularly as the Initiating Group in order to plan events, public
meetings and small projects and to also work through the basics of the core elements. It is
important that these meetings are effective in getting things to happen, enjoyable, and
welcoming.

In the Develop your group element you will find information on

 How to run effective meetings
 How a group develops
 How to get and keep people involved in your Transition initiative
 Decision making

The How to run effective meetings guide covers a lot about how to run meetings but there
are some other things to think about as the Initiating Group.
 Initiating Group meetings may be more relaxed than big public meetings, but you
should still take them seriously and make sure that you decide on actions and agree
who will carry them out
 It is very important to decide as a group how you are going to make decisions, as you
will need to make lots of them
 Make sure to have fun as the Initiating Group, celebrate successes, value each
person’s contribution, and have a social side to your group as well as doing stuff
together! This might be the most important thing of all to do.
Sustaining the Group and Involving New People
When you have a good group of people you may want to close the group, so you can get on
with working together. This is fine – and you need to think about how people leave the
group, and how new people join.

There may be many people coming to your events who want to be involved – see if you can
find ways to do this without letting the Initiating Group get too large, or having new people
constantly coming in. Some Initiatives have created working groups to help with things like
an events programme, building partnerships, getting projects started, or to look at a
particular theme such as food. Events like Open Space can help people to get things started
for themselves.

Because inclusion is important in Transition some groups feel they have to accept anyone –
but some people don’t have the skills or personal qualities that enable them to contribute
positively to a coordinating group, and it’s fine to help them find a place in another part of
the whole Initiative.

When new people come to your group it’s good to think about what they need to know so
they can join in fully – and what you need to know about them! Will you accept anyone into
your group? Are there criteria for joining (Being able to give a certain amount of time?
Agreeing with the group’s mission statement? Signing up to the Code of Conduct?). You
might have a person in your group whose role it is to speak to new people before they come
to a meeting to give them an idea of what is expected and where the group is at.
 When new people come to meetings get everyone to introduce themselves and their
roles.
 Ask new people to give a brief overview of why they want to get involved in
Transition and what they can bring to the group.
 Explain at the start of the meeting how decisions are made and what you are
discussing.

Developing Transition can be chaotic, but don’t worry!

Don’t worry if it feels chaotic developing Transition in your community as any new project
when being set up has to find its own way. The core elements are there to help you do this,
but don’t let them constrict you or stop you doing stuff. Most of all have fun, enjoy the
challenges and build the future you want for your community.

This support resource was produced by Transition Network to see all our support resources
go to https://www.transitionnetwork.org/support.

This document is released under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/