Transition Southampton

Why Visioning?
Members of Transition Southampton wanted to look at visioning, a technique mentioned in Rob Hopkins' Transition Handbook and used throughout the Transition Towns movement.

On 24th April, we had an open meeting visioning, where people from all over Southampton got together to imagine a "compelling and engaging vision of a post-carbon world in such a way as to enthuse others to embark on a journey towards it" as the Handbook puts it. It was a wonderful event, leaving people feeling energetic about what was possible within Southampton and quite how much we already have going for us.

We wanted to use a similar process to talk about where Transition Southampton specifically was going, and how we wanted to get there. Rob Hopkins says "it is important that people can see where they are going and that they like what they see." With that in mind, we planned a visioning event that would help share our ideas for the future of Transition Southampton and help turn this vision into actions.

What is Solution-Focus?
Solution Focus is a technique used to get individuals or groups to consider what is already working, rather than what is 'not working'. A description some have used is "finding out what works and doing more of it."

In our approach, we've used ideas from the book "The Solutions Focus" written by Paul Z Jackson and Mark McKergow. There are a number of stages used to work out what we should be doing more of.

By discussing the "platform", you get a chance to examine the current situation. The group then considers what the perfect Transition Southampton group would look like--how would it work, how would people interact, etc. Scaling then asks members of the group to decide how close we are to that perfect solution--on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being that the group doesn't even exist yet and 10 being the ideal. Once you have an idea of where we are, you can discuss both the counters (resources, skills, experience, expertise, connections) that have got us to where we are ("why are we a five instead of a four?") and then discuss the next small steps to get us just one number higher on the scale. Counters are important because they help us realise that many aspects of the solution are at our fingertips and often being used already.

• Platform - where are we currently, and what is our history?
• Future Perfect  - what would an ideal Transition Southampton look like/act like?
• Scaling - where are we now compared to where we want to be?
• Counters - what resources, expertise, experience, skills and networks do we have already?
• Next small steps - what do we need to do to get just a little closer to our perfect vision?

1. We have a strong core
2. 6 subgroups, ranging from 2-15 people, at variable stages of development
3. We are good at putting events on, but it’s more difficult to set up more long-term projects
4. The food group is good at concrete projects – often includes a meal, directly links to people’s lives
5. Steering group: leads to some people going to too many groups/meetings and being overcommitted/overstretched
6. Surrounded by 400 email group which doesn’t get as involved
7. The universities are a sleeping giant
8. Active people in TS very diverse in terms of skills but not in terms of demographics
9. Engagement with the council – regular meeting with Sustainability Team but not clear how much they have bought into Transition agenda – 2 meetings so far = early days
10. Good web presence, facebook, tweet, blog posts, mailing list
11. Lots is online and perhaps not so much outside of that (like posters in town etc.), however, we put on lots of events, mostly film showings, drawing in some of new people, we also have had articles in the press
12. We had a very good AGM, many more people than we expected (they liked the great food)
13. Lots of interest and buzz but concern that key people are losing energy a bit – how to make the jump to a large group with lots of people involved?
14. We need more people who can give their time
15. We are a constituted body so that we can apply for funding
16. People have realised how hard it is to get things off the ground
17. A few successes would re-energise
18. We are looking for some quick wins interspersed with other longer-term projects/activities
19. After the AGM and the formation of the new coordination group, this group sometimes feels a bit “dry”, not quite a lively as before the AGM (perhaps have more “open” meetings to update people on the general list and newcomers about what’s going on and how they can get involved?)
20. We haven’t had anything guiding us for a while – no business plan

1. We are just a group of friends who meet for a drink (there is no more need for Transition...)
2. We have an office, and a coordinator organising an army of volunteers and interns and keeping everything ticking along
3. We have lots more enthusiastic good people doing what they undertake to do
4. Practical worldly people convinced of the need to do things differently have joined Transition
5. There are people in lots of neighbourhoods all over the city being active
6. We have good connections with all the other sustainability groups in Southampton
7. Less meetings and lots more action
8. We are involved with (or have helped to create) a series of community owned not-for-profit businesses doing retrofitting, renewable energy etc.
9. Everyone is taking responsibility to get on with it.
10. There are more 'big lunch' style events (helping neighbours to get to know each other)
11. Everyone is getting on with it and more people with time and motivation are involved
12. Transition Southampton can support and empower others (individuals, other groups and each other)
13. Several people have common ideas for a project and (we?) are flexible enough to accommodate this approach
14. Good contacts list - a social group of like minded people who can do things together
15. We have more interactive, two way communication with all our members/others
16. We host more socials, where people can meet, get to know each other, develop projects and generally help the process of Transition
17. We support other groups

Counters: What resources/skills/interactions/expertise/know-how do we have already? Remember—we already have most of the solution at our fingertips!
We have:

1. Awesome individuals
2. Compatible relationships
3. Good web / IT skills
4. Experts in almost every area (and so a good balance) - Renewable energy, Food, Waste, Council interaction/knowledge, Interpersonal, Public speaking, Organisational, Enthusiasm
5. Other networks in Soton
6. Other environmental groups outside Soton
7. Compact geographical area – able to meet up
8. Larger pool of people to draw upon
9. Interest in Local neighbourhoods
10. University: Research, Specialists (finance, PV, waste etc), Population, Events in schools, Transition University

Scaling: Where are we now?
People were mixed in this response. Some said we were a three or a four, some thought we were a five, and one person said that having seen quite a few other groups, she thought we were at a 7!
The key point with scaling is why we aren't one number less (i.e. whether you think we are a 3 or a 7, what do we have going for us that means we aren't a 2 or a 6?) and what specific small actions we can do in order to be one number higher (i.e. what do we need to do to be a 4 or an 8?). This also gives a nice time to reflect on where we're at, how much we've accomplished, and break down how far we still have to go into more manageable amounts (just one number increase at a time!

1. Sharing out the tasks coming from groups (eg those who work during the day can't always make phone calls)
2. Jobs board page on the website - make more use of this
3. Groups: increase more people (typically 3 or 4)

1. Make use of the fact that the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is in Eastleigh - Chris Huhne
2. Meet economic development team at Council rather than only sustainability team
3. We stick together over a number of years influencing incrementally
4. Draw on existing networks/Reach out to existing community groups
5. Build on community and reach out

1. Plan/ scheduling of events over say 1 year - look ahead further and coordinate
2. Have clear timescales in the run up to an event- get more help
3. Use simple spreadsheet which does date calculations back from then to the present in order to better plan events, publicity, etc.
4. 2 types of event: categories of event

General

1. Good to have more skills in running and recording meetings to make them more efficient
2. Be clear about what we want out of each meeting Become an official Transition Initiative
3. Groups need clear objectives - be specific
4. Skill sharing workshops- some might be delivered by existing groups - offers a nice way in
5. Take advantage of things like community land trusts - jump on opportunities

Coordination groups (issues: The group needs to deal with a packed agenda, Introduce some new people)
Solutions?

1. Maybe turn some into open meetings - as an American supper? a social and updates followed by some business/decisions
2. Meet once every 6 weeks with every other one as an open meeting?
3. Hold more open meetings to draw more people in
4. Reduce coordination group meeting by suggesting that all groups circulate updates periodically

- in newsletter?
- internally?
- New Forest transition newsletter avoids being too long by linking to the website for more info/event listing/etc.

Energy Group

1. issue: requires a lot of expertise (eg for community renewables)) need to have knowledge and follow-through

Food group

1. Big planning meeting leading to specific subgroups including some where people can be drawn in over short/limited period

Website

1. Home page for each working group is updated regularly by the groups
2. Website becomes a focus for news (both about the group and interesting stories outside (the ones we all e-mail each other!))
3. Allow it to be open access and anyone can put stuff on it
4. Run a group tutorial on how to update the website (and offer food)
5. Have videos/blog post summaries of things both big and small - capture ideas and enthusiasm
6. Make sure the website is a resource rather than just a source of news
7. Find more ways to make a website more open access - eg area for people to post recipes, add to discussions, etc

BIG ideas (not really small steps, but we wanted to capture them anyway)

1. David Mitchell (or another green celebrity!) - organise a concert/event in Southampton featuring him discussing environmental themes
2. Fundraising event: picnic in the park/concert etc. OR a series of fundraising event - do it by locale - service auction (sell services to highest bidder)