A National Node of International Transition Movement

The Transition movement is alive and well in Chile, the weekend workshop of 7/8/2010 delivered by Mauricio Deliz was well attended by a broad mix of people from initiatives around the nation. A ste forward has been made toward creating a national node of the international Transition movement, an endogenous network, emerging as part of a globally connected learning community. One of these days the
capital might just wake up as Santiago en Transiciòn, or perhaps Aconcagua, Pucon or the region of BioBio. A fire has started.

40 something people from 20 to 60 attended the event in Santiago,
facilitated by Mauricio of Change the World, with the support of Ecoescuela El Manzano and the Institute of Permaculture. In Chile from Norway, and a trained teacher for the network in Europe Mauricio, was on a working holiday. This was the second of two training workshop he delivered, first to the municipality of Rancagua, and then in Santiago open to the public.

The workshop was attended by many from the Chilean permaculture community, with a lot of combined experience in the creation of transition and permaculture projects around the country. Founding members of initiatives in Puerto Aisen, Pucon, the region of BioBio, Aconcagua, Quillotta and around the city of Santiago were in attendance.

On home ground Mauricio shared his breadth of permaculture experience, and his credibility as a registered transition course provider. The locals are equipped to prepare their own transition initiatives, and to organise as a national network supporting the movement here. The weekend was spent developing relationships and building a shared understanding of Transition applied to Chile. A network met, face to face, shared food, and spent time in practical conversation about design, about shaping the world around us with intention.

The group was equipped with a range of new participatory processes, clarified the significance of the twin concepts of peak oil and climate change, and explored the wider systemic crises of unsustainability. They explored the power of vision, strategic planning, psychology of change, accreditation and more. In Open Space a range of strategies for organizing transition initiatives were developed, and next steps identified. Professional relationships formed and confirmed, recognition made, of the existing capacity in Chile to form and assist diverse transition initiatives.

Many were ``…inspired``, ``…impressed``, ``…reconnected``, and ``…empowered``.

This event was a healthy sign that the permaculture community in Chile is starting to make its voice heard in the screech of quake recovery and economic growth. As the network wakes up to the possible implications of global crises and discontinuity, it decides it’s work is not outside the system, but inside, working with existing groups, businesses and communities to build local resilience before or as social, climate, energy and economic conditions change, or the next
natural disaster occurs.

A basic premise of the transition approach is participatory design, that if we really put our minds to it, and really collaborated, we could change the structure of our societies, and the underlying values that maintain unsustainability. If we put our minds to it we might just make the transition from global dependence and vulnerability, to local resilience and healthy communities. The dominant western worldview may not need to be completely abandoned, but might be expanded to a more adequate global paradigm that sees itself as part of Gaia, and not a separate self interested entity.