Our Annual Planning session, held this year on Jan 14th, 2017, combines a look back at what we accomplished in the past year (see our 2016 Year in Review blog), a visioning exercise, and then a brainstorming session to elicit ideas for projects for the new year. Here is a taste of what we came up with this year. Of course we won’t do them all – probably only the top 1-3 in each category – but it will give you a sense of what kinds of things get us excited. See any you would love to be a part of? Send us an email and let us know – we’d love to have you join us!
We used a wheel divided into our 5 basic categories of projects: Economy, Energy, Food/water/land conservation, Heart & Soul/Inner Transition, and Neighborships. You can get an idea of the flurry of ideas by looking at this picture:
Economy: Free Store – helping get them started in other towns, TimeBank – adding FUSE Delco as a Community TimeBank, Resiliency Response (emergency preparedness as a community), reprising Free Market, Green Sunday and Bingo events, Gift Circle events, starting a Circle of Aunts & Uncles (community investing in local business), workers’ co-ops.
Energy: another solar project (possibly in Chester), student energy audit project through a local university, energy conservation, pipeline advocacy, Cyclovia event (street event for biking/walking/music – joint project with the Media Environmental Advisory Council (EAC)), natural gas information research.
Food/Water/Land: “Now We’re Cooking” (batch cooking for the Food Bank and other organizations), composting (joint project with the Media EAC), green space preservation, food activism, veggie gardening, agroforestry, water rights.
Heart & Soul/Inner Transition: Solstice/peace/happiness events, Inner Transition monthly meetings, elders, nature outings, sanghas, social events/”being” meetings, civic dialogues.
Neighborships (community building, relationship building): TTM as a “mothership” (sharing what we’ve learned, facilitating other groups in starting Transition Towns, Free Stores, etc; workshops at Transition US National Transition Gathering; putting on a Transition Training, table at March 18th Take Action Fair), reaching out to youth/people with disabilities/LGBTQ/intergenerational, partnering with more organizations, music events, reskilling events, progressive dinners, educational events.
Those are the highlights. Teams are hitting the ground running. Expect to see some great stuff this year! But better yet, come help us pull them off. Our Steering meetings are every 2nd Monday of the month, 7pm at HeadRoom, 24 Veterans Square, Media.
