Sign up here for a fortnightly email bulletin listing events coming up and recent news from these pages. The next one is due on Mon 02/10/2023
To get your events and news listed on these pages, please tell us about them here. Submit on or before Fri 29/09/2023 to catch the next newsletter. Check our acceptance criteria here. Your item not listed? Check our NewsletterPolicy for when and how we include items in the newsletter
News up to the end of June 2015 is archived below and here's the old "Past Events" page.
Cambridge Sustainable Food needs your help next week! We are going to post and tweet photos of ourselves with our #leftoverlunch (lunch made from leftovers) as part of WRAP's Recyle Week (Mon 22 to Sun 28 June). Please help us to get as many as we can to create a bit of a buzz! If you are on twitter, tweet your photo (you and your leftover lunch - dressing up optional!) using the following hashtags: #leftoverlunch, #CamLFHW and #recycleweek. Also @FoodCambridge and @RecycleforCambridge. Please share this and take part next week!
22 Jun 2015
Thanks to some generous donations of money and space, we're now able to get the Transition Cafe back up and running, and we have two dates booked in: 7th July with Emily Dunning on her Seek the Change travels and 22nd July for a film showing "Pollinating Change" with the Buzz Tour. We're still looking for some help running the cafe side of things - please let us know if you could do this! And we could still add in one or two more evenings in July, so let us know if you have other ideas for cafe nights (or also for later in the year). The general idea is that we have a range of topics and activities, and that we create a friendly space for people to come along to meet fellow-Transitioners and find out more about Transition.
08 Jun 2015
Would you like to help us keep our web-site up to date by writing short pieces of text about past/future events/news? And/or would you be able to help up-date a few pages of our web-site if someone else provided the text/images? Our new web-site looks lovely, but we're not managing to keep the content as up-to-date as we would like. All help gratefully received! Please get in touch for more info. (The web content is in "pmwiki"; no experience necessary as this is very easy to work with and the template is all there, so it's just a matter of entering text/pictures in the right places.)
18 May 2015
There are lots of skillshares coming up, listed on the Greeniversity web-site, including films, talks, nature walks and bike rides - so take a look and see if there's anything that takes your fancy! Greeniversity is a project based in Peterborough, and the Cambridge Skillshare group (a partnership between Transition Cambridge and Cambridge Carbon Footprint) are the Cambridge arm of Greeniversity. Get in touch if you'd like to be involved, either helping to run the project, offering skillshares, or helping with our Repair Cafe coming up on 16th May.
20 Apr 2015
If you're interested in the wider Transition movement, take a look at the April Newsletter here, including articles on the creative response to climate change and "SWIMBY the musical". There is also a book review of the new Transition book "Playing for Time - Making Art as if the World Mattered" (read Charlotte Du Cann's blog post about writing the book with Lucy Neale). And this year, the Transition Conference is back, from 18 to 20 September in Seal Hayne in Devon (bookings not open yet but some info here and here). We've also been thinking about organising a regional Transition conference for East Anglian initiatives - we're looking for people who'd like to help organise, so please get in touch if you'd like to be involved! (Reply to the newsletter or e-mail us here.)
14 Apr 2015
We sometimes get asked questions that we're sure the Transition community could help answer, so we're going to trial an "ask a question" feature in the newsletter, where we post your questions and collate the answers we receive. The first question for this week, which often comes up when people are organising an event, is "How can I make a really good poster to advertise my event?". Send your answers to us and we'll post them in next week's newsletter and on our website. Thanks in advance for you replies! (Just reply to the newsletter or send your answers here.)
14 Apr 2015
We spoke of trams and bees, fruit wines and cyclepaths; connections were made and plans were made...
27 Mar 2015
The next Cambridge Repair Cafe is provisionally booked for Saturday 16 May at St Andrews Hall 2pm - 5pm. Feedback from last year's Repair Cafe and Restart Party was very positive, and we feel there's a real demand for repairing stuff and also learning how to repair stuff. So, if you'd like to get involved again, and can make Sat 16 May, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can decide whether to confirm the booking, hopefully in the next few days. Please also tell/remind us what your skills are, so that we can let people know what to expect. We're also looking for people to help run the cafe part of the event, and also help with the general organisation. So please get in touch if you'd like to help with any of this - thanks! From the Skillshare group.
23 Feb 2015
Transition Cambridge declared its support for Fossil Free Cambridgeshire at the launch on 14th Feb: spot TC members Kate Honey, Anna McIvor, Oscar Gillespie, Nicola Terry and Jacky Sutton Adam in this photo . We support this campaign because our vision of the future is fossil-fuel free. (We don’t mind dinosaur bones). Find out more here
17 Feb 2015
The Growing Spaces project has joined the Incredible Edible Network as an affiliated group. The Incredible Edible Network and its groups aim to support community resilience by using public food growing as a means for us to work and learn together as well as supporting local businesses.
If you are interested in growing food in public places in Cambridge, have a look at http://www.growingspaces.org/cambridge/.
Also feel free to join our Facebook goup, or sign up to the mailing-list.
15 Feb 2015
The Growing Spaces project has joined the Incredible Edible Network as an affiliated group. The Incredible Edible Network and its groups aim to support community resilience by using public food growing as a means for us to work and learn together as well as supporting local businesses.
If you are interested in growing food in public places in Cambridge, have a look at http://www.growingspaces.org/cambridge/.
Also feel free to join our Facebook goup, or sign up to the mailing-list.
15 Feb 2015
Keen to help make our local food system more sustainable? We are looking for volunteers in various roles: join us on our stalls at this year’s food events around Cambridge; help us with website content, entering events and / or creating member profiles for a few hours a week, ideally for 3-6 months; help us with social media (Facebook and Twitter); take on one of various volunteering roles for the new Sustainable Fish Cities campaign, which will be starting soon. These range from joining the core team to helping put together information packs.
Volunteering can involve as little as one afternoon’s time up to several hours per week. Email info@cambridgesustainablefood.org for more information.
23 Jan 2015
We really need some help with a few things at the moment, e.g. we're looking for an assistant treasurer while our treasurer is away for 2 months, and Romsey Community Garden is looking for two new coordinators. Also we're looking for someone to represent us on a new environmental coordination group in the city (working particularly with student/university groups). Interested? More info here or e-mail us to find out more!
21 Jan 2015
Read an interview with Dave Fox, who runs the Grow Your Own sessions on his allotment in Trumpington. In this interview with the Transition media group (aka Oscar), he talks about his passion for growing and saving seeds. Dave is also one of the organisers of Seedy Sunday this coming Sunday (25th January). Read more here.
20 Jan 2015
The Daily Bread Co-operative has confirmed a collaboration with the Growing Spaces project for raised herb and vegetable beds outside their store. If you are interested in helping with or supporting the project, let us know!
18 Jan 2015
As many of you know, we run on a shoe-string budget, and we generally find that we can do a lot with very little money at all. However, there are some basic costs we have to meet each year, and we'd be very grateful if you'd like to donate to help us meet those costs (here are our Treasurer's reports for 2013-2014 and 2012-2013 - the Treasurer's Reports are at the end of these AGM minutes). We have set up a local giving account as an easy way to donate, or you can also donate via bank transfer or cheque (details here). Donating via Local Giving means that you donation can also have Gift Aid applied. Thank you!
09 Dec 2014
A big thank you to everyone who came to our event with MP Julian Huppert last week, where we discussed how we can keep climate change and energy scarcity high up the political agenda. We had a very interesting evening, starting with a talk by Julian Huppert (video here), followed by a question and answer session (voice recording here), and then finishing with small group discussions (recordings here and photos of the notes sheets from the groups). A big thank you to Roly Beevor for organising, Antony Carpen for filming and recording the sound, and to Julian Huppert for speaking and taking questions. (We'd love to organise more events like this - please get in touch if you'd like to get involved!)
08 Dec 2014
Some years ago Martin Roach (Transition treasurer) put together this list of "Gifts that don't cost the Earth" which we updated with ideas given to us at last year's Mill Road Winter Fair. So take a look to find some inspiration for low carbon Christmas gifts this year! And if you'd like to add to the list, we'd love to hear your ideas (and if you find some bits that are out of date, please also let us know) - thanks!
08 Dec 2014
Read more about Wildlife Wandering's very successful November wander through the Bramblefields Local Nature Reserve. Read all about the flora and fauna they encountered from blackbirds, wood pigeons, spritely squirrels, but the highlight was a fungal extravaganza. Walks are open to the public. More...
02 Dec 2014
The Energy group has a new advice page for you on Low Energy Lighting. So if you couldn't go to the My Green Lighting forum - you may find your questions answered here. More...
02 Dec 2014
Want to know how the Nature Group got on a Anglia Ruskin University, building biodiversity gardens, then read all about it here at our blog post. You may like to use the ideas in your own garden. And if you would like to get involved, send Jade a message and she will add you to the mailing list. More...
30 Nov 2014
Would you like support to start off a local Bus Stop project, see if doctors' surgeries are up for planting fruit and veg on their premises, or help turn Abbey's Margaret Wright orchard into an engaging forest garden haven? Would you like to work with artists, businesses or schools?
If curious, contact Toni and Sandra or look up the existing spaces on our website.
30 Nov 2014
Transition Cambridge aims to be non-party political in all its activities. The skillshare with Julian Huppert MP was originally planned more than a year ago, and we invited him as Cambridge's current elected Member of Parliament. We have asked him to talk from a non-party political standpoint on the topic of how to ensure that climate change and energy scarcity issues remain high on the political agenda in central government. However, aware that people are starting to think about the elections coming up, we are happy to advertise public talks by any Cambridge parliamentary candidates on Transition-related issues, providing they will be speaking from a non-party political viewpoint. We will also be organising a hustings so that all the parliamentary candidates can present their views on Transition issues before next year's elections.
17 Nov 2014
Read the first in a series of mini-interviews with people involved in Transition Cambridge on the media blog - the first interview was with Patrick O'Donohoe from the Transition energy group, talking about how the energy group has helped him to reduce his own carbon emissions and how he enjoys helping others who want to do the same. If you'd like to be interviewed, please get in touch with Oscar. He'd love to hear from people involved in all the different TC activities.
17 Nov 2014
A new Abundance Group is forming in the CB4 area of Cambridge, with the aims of building community whilst harvesting and distributing locally grown food. We'll be looking for fruit, nuts and vegetables in the area just north of Jesus Green. You can read more about Abundance projects here, or for more information, please contact Karina. If you don't live in this area, you can still join the TC Fruit Harvest Group, or take part in various 'bring and share' veg activities with Rock Abundance (based around Rock Road off Hills Road, but with activities around Cambridge).
06 Nov 2014
Thanks to everyone who came to the AGM on 20th October 2014 and made it such a lively and inspiring event. The workshop at the end threw up a lot of surprising and interesting ideas - these are captured, albeit very conisely, in the minutes here (pdf 4Mb), along with the accounts. If you would like to take these (or any other ideas) forward - please let us know
03 Nov 2014
Here is a lovely blog post by Jade Cawthray about the Wildlife Wandering last Saturday in Clare Wood, with a few photos. Thanks to everyone who came along, and hope to see you at the next one on 22nd November (more details to follow...).
26 Oct 2014
Kate Boursnell, one of the Restart Party organisers, has written a blog post about the event here. There are also a few photos here, and here's the TV clip about it that was on Anglia news (made by Stuart Leithes). A big thank you to the Centre for Computing History for hosting it and the Restart Project for the idea and coming along to support us! Do get in touch if you'd like to help organise the next one!
14 Oct 2014
We have a beautiful new web-site - we hope you like it! A big thank you to Anna Williams, who designed it (and also our logo), Clara Todd, who has spent a huge amount of time implementing the design within pmwiki, and of course Nicola Terry, who set up the web-site in the first place and who keeps it all up and running. Feedback is very welcome (as is help keeping the web site up-to-date!) (Please note we are still working on it so some pages have yet to be updated, and we also intend to update some parts of the structure and content, but we haven't started on that part yet.)
13 Oct 2014
An incredibly exciting community bakery prospect has come up north of the river, with an opportunity to lease an existing, established bakery from the council. It has beautiful big ovens which could be for cakes, flat breads or pizzas as well as traditional loaves and there are lots of regulars who are missing their fresh local bread. Transition wants to put together a project which will grow this existing bakery into something really special with the hope that in future this could become a diverse community resource maybe with a community kitchen, an art space, bike repair workshops... Most importantly we want to make sure the bakery remains in the community and thrives as a business supplying the regulars with their morning crusts. Are you, or do you know, any enthusiastic experienced bakers who would like to be one of our resident bakers? Do you have any bakery experiences/thoughts that could help us get off the ground? We have about four weeks to submit our proposals to the council - so please get in touch! You can also see what we're up to via our facebook page. (We are also looking for help with lots of other things - more info soon!)
06 Oct 2014
Thanks to everyone who came along to our first Restart Party last Tuesday! Our fixers worked on everything from fans, speakers, laptops, mobile phones, to a liquidizer and some headphones. We didn't fix everything, but hopefully everyone learnt something. Here are a few photos, and here's the TV clip about it, made by Stuart Leithes for Anglia News (shown last Thursday). By popular demand, we are already thinking about when the next one will be... do get in touch if you might like to help organise it! A big thank you to the Centre for Computing History for hosting it, the Restart Project for the idea and coming along to support us, and to Peter Molnar for suggesting we do one in Cambridge!
06 Oct 2014
Have you been thinking about how to save energy at home? Would you like some advice? The Energy Group now have a tool to help you. Fill in the survey here to get a personalised checklist with ideas to help you save. The checklist links into our existing advice web pages and other resources. This survey and checklist was developed starting from Cambridge Carbon Footprint's Climate Friendly Homes materials so thanks to CCF for letting us use them. We would really like your feedback so after looking at your report please fill in our feedback form.
29 Sep 2014
Are you interested in applying your technical skills to Transition principles?
Have you been wanting to hook your arduino up to some sensors to make a smart meter or dreaming of implementing an app to study local traffic patterns or to monitor your own petrol usage? Would you like to make a device that improves your allotment planning?
Would you like to hang out with some like-minded folk? Or maybe find the basis for a start-up?
If this sounds interesting to you, contact Toni to say hi.
This group is in formation - please promote it far and wide - and is looking for a co-coordinator.
26 Sep 2014
Here's a summary of all the current Transition Cambridge activities, as well as some projects that have run or could run in the future (in case you're looking for ideas)! To hear more about all our current projects, come to our AGM on 20 October (Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane), when all the current projects will present what they've been doing over the last year. If there's anything missing from this sheet, please let us know, and if you'd like to get involved, or to make a start on something that we're not doing yet, you are very welcome!
22 Sep 2014
It's the season for apple and pear gluts, and Rock Abundance, the fruit and vegetable swap project, is looking for spare fruit for the upcoming pop-up swap stalls You can just pop along to one of the swap stalls with your spare fruit, or contact Rebecca beforehand. The Fruit Harvest Project has pickers standing by if you'd like some help with harvesting your tree.
15 Sep 2014
The next edition of the Transition newspaper, Transition Free Press, has arrived in Cambridge! It includes an article by Cambridge-based writer and filmmaker James Murray White on "Walking back home to Earth", and another article about Community Supported Agriculture with a photo from our CropShare project. Get your copy from Urban Larder on Mill Road (just over the bridge on the left) or at Transition Cambridge events and stalls. You can also find copies in the Cambridge libraries.
01 Sep 2014
Got a glut of vegetables, or looking for some fresh veg? The volunteer-run Rock Abundance project, which hatched from Transition Cambridge this summer, is arranging several produce ‘swap and share stalls’ at a variety of locations around Cambridge (the next one is on 13 Sept at the Food Garden and Produce Festival on Parker's Piece, and the others are dotted around Cambridge and listed here). See the website for more details, including write-ups and photos of the three stalls which have already happened. To help share excess produce throughout the year, several convenient ‘help yourself points’ have also been established across Cambridge. These have proved popular with produce donators and takers, and include sites around Cambridge (scroll down the page to find them). If you’d like to set one up, you can download an A4 notice (under "Promotional materials") or just make your own. Contact the volunteer co-ordinator if you’d like to be listed too. And do use them – they are free for anyone to enjoy.
01 Sep 2014
There will be "Bring and Take" stalls at the Transition Newcomers Meeting on 11 September and at the AGM on 20 October - bring things you don't need, take useful things home!
01 Sep 2014
Here are a few photos from our birthday picnic last Saturday, to celebrate that we've been going 6 years now! A big thanks to the organizers of Midsummer Common Community Orchard for letting us have our picnic there - it's a lovely space and definitely worth a visit.
30 Jul 2014
Are you interested in using music to promote the ideas of Transition and envision a sustainable future? There are plans afoot for a fun, mutually supportive group where people use music to explore and convey their emotions about climate change and sustainability. It's as free as it sounds! They may be some easy music and songs composed specially for the group, but people would be free to improvise and compose their own music, or just jam together, or just listen and share favourite songs/pieces. A focus for this group could be the People's Climate March: Global Day of Climate Action on Sept. 21st, organised by Avaaz. Up to a million people worldwide are expected to demonstrate for clean, renewable energy, with demonstrations in many major cities. It would be great to have a musical event in a public place on the day - whether singing songs together, playing instruments together or both. If you are interested please get in touch with Kate Honey.
30 Jul 2014
The Growing Spaces project is looking for a carer for the the fruit aisle on Wycliffe Court at the bottom of Coldham's Lane. This would involve checking on the space every month or so and letting us know if it needs weeding or doing so yourself and then enjoying the fruit harvest. If this might be you or if you are interested in the project in general, please contact Toni. More...
27 Jul 2014
On Tuesday 19th June we looked at how to reduce heat loss from older homes, including insulation, windows and what grants are available to help cover the costs. Full info here and here's the handout from the evening with links to all the speakers.
01 Jul 2014
A big thanks to the people who have volunteered to help with this! The new TC admin working party (which will endeavour to stay more like a party!) is still open to more offers of help, with the idea of meeting every couple of weeks for an hour or so. Please get in touch if you think you could give a little bit of time (even if only from time to time). Thanks!
29 Jun 2014
Can you offer 15 minutes to complete a Masters dissertation questionnaire? I am studying for a Masters in Science Communication at Imperial College London and for my dissertation project I am exploring some of the ways in which people engage with Transition. The aim of the research is to understand what role science plays in motivating and engaging people in climate friendly behaviours, so that we can better develop climate change communication methods. Participation in this research is completely anonymous and will take around 15 minutes. If you contributed to the pilot questionnaire last month, please do not complete this one. You can find the research questionnaire here. Thanks! (From Jade, who organizes the TC Wildlife Wanderings)
19 May 2014
Jade Cawthray (leader of Wildlife Wanderings) is studying for a masters in Science Communication, at Imperial College London, and is conducting her research dissertation on the Transition movement. She is looking for 20 Transition Cambridge members to volunteer to take part in a pilot study. Jade needs volunteers to give 20 minutes to complete an online questionnaire and feedback on how the questionnaire was to use. If you feel you can offer 20 minutes of your time this week, please contact Jade. Thanks!
14 Apr 2014
We're thinking of revolutionising our bulletin writing system, and possibly changing the frequency of bulletins, so if you have views on this (for or against, e.g. maybe having a fortnightly or monthly newsletter) we'd love to hear from you, or if you'd like to help create a new style of newsletter (more news and pictures perhaps?) then do get in touch!
07 Apr 2014
To find out more about what Cambridge Sustainable Food wants to achieve, do have a look at our Cambridge Sustainable Food Charter. We would love to receive your comments on it by April 18th and will be launching the revised version at the main Eat Cambridge event on Saturday May 17th
24 Mar 2014
Cambridge Sustainable Food is an exciting new alliance of over 30 public, private and community organisations (including Transition Cambridge) who care passionately about food sustainability - food that's good for us and good for the planet. You can also join as an individual member. It's free and you receive a monthly newsletter see here for February
March will be sent you when you join! We're looking forward to hearing from you!
24 Mar 2014
It has been suggested that we could run another hustings event before the elections for Members of the European Parliament in May, so that we can hear the views of the local MEP candidates to guide us in how we vote and to make sure they are aware of the issues that Transition works on. If anyone feels passionately about this and would like to help organise such an event, please get in touch (we have a lot of events coming up, and don't feel able to take this on without some help)!
10 Mar 2014
Transition Cambridge and Cambridge Carbon Footprint got together to organise a fantastic conference on sustainable food, with speakers, workshops and discussions. More...
26 Feb 2014
Cambridge Sustainable Food City (CSFC, of which Transition Cambridge is a member) is one of a number of organisations which have been chosen by The Cambridge Building Society and the Cambridge News to go forward for a pubic vote to receive some money to support our work. The vote runs from noon today to noon this Friday (21st February), so we need to get our skates on! CSFC is an exciting new organisation which supports sustainable food - food that is good for us and good for the planet. Our current projects include Creating a Sustainable Food Hub for Cambridge, a physical space where many of our initiatives can find a base and come together - this is generating quite a buzz at the moment!
Please go to this Facebook page and vote for Cambridge Sustainable Food City. Please also tweet and email and send this to your friends! As well bringing us money, doing well would raise our profile locally!
From: Food group 17 Feb 2014
Transition Cambridge is part of this exciting new Cambridge network. CSFC was accepted into the national Sustainable Food Cities Network last week, has a website, Facebook page and Twitter account and can be contacted by email. The new Cambridge Sustainable Food Charter can be seen here and we are keen to get your comments! Twitter: @FoodCambridge. Facebook: Cambridge Sustainable Food City. We are establishing three groups on the topics of: Creating a Sustainable Food Hub for Cambridge; Food Waste; Healthy and Sustainable Diets. Please get in touch if you are interested in being part of any of these. More...
10 Feb 2014
At Seedy Sunday we asked people to tell us their best seed-saving tips - you can read people's suggestions here. It's quite easy and you end up with more seeds that you can possibly use yourself - so more to bring along for next year's Seedy Sunday (25 January 2015)!
04 Feb 2014
This year’s Arbury Carnival will take place on Saturday 14th June 2014 from 11am to 5.00pm on the Town Park, Campkin Road, Cambridge. The theme will be “Musicals” and they're encouraging stallholders to decorate their stalls! Transition Cambridge has had a stall there in previous years - would we like to do this again? Please get in touch if you'd like to make this happen or to help out on the day. (We can also put you in touch with the right people if you'd like to have a stall about something different!)
04 Feb 2014
It is Big Energy Saving Week (27th - 31st Jan) so its a good time to check on our fuel bills. See Nicola on video giving some energy saving tips on Shape Your Place and there are lots more on our energy group advice pages
28 Jan 2014
You can see some photos from Seedy Sunday here |(scroll down - also available here on dropbox which may be easier to see). A big thanks to Jo for taking such lovely pictures! Also huge thanks to everyone who helped organise Seedy Sunday this year - it was a great day! For those who like to plan ahead, next year's event will be on Sunday 25th January 2015...
26 Jan 2014
We'd love some help on the Transition stall at Seedy Sunday on 19th January (1:30-4pm, Trumpington Village Hall) - if you could help out for an hour or two, please let us know or just come along on the day - thanks!
16 Dec 2013
Here are some photos of our stall at Mill Road Winter Fair - a big thank you to everyone who helped out!
16 Dec 2013
Thank you to everyone who contributed ideas for low-carbon Christmas gifts at our stall on Mill Road Winter Fair! Your ideas have been added to our list of "Gifts that don't cost the Earth". Our favourites are the offer of bringing your loved one tea in bed, home-made biscuits, a lesson in a skill e.g. crocheting, DIY, cycle repair or playing a musical instrument, a plant or vegetable from your allotment, amongst many other lovely ideas!
16 Dec 2013
Transition Cafe is changing its rhythm and will be moving to a once-a-month date from January 2014. These will be at our usual place - CB1 cafe, 32 Mill Road, on the first Thursday of the month (7.30 till 9.00pm). From time to time we may do an occasional 'Cafe special' on another date if something unmissable comes along. We have several great cafe evenings planned for the first part of 2014: January 9th - Introducing Transition Cambridge; February 6th - Forest Gardening; March 6th - Cropshare. And we have some interesting ideas for cafe evenings after that...keep an eye on the weekly bulletin. If you have a great idea or something you'd like to suggest for a cafe evening, get in touch [>https://www.transitioncambridge.org/mail-contact/sendmail.php?who=lsrc24 :]]. Hope to see you at one or more of these enjoyable and informative evenings!
[-From: Cafe team 16 Dec 2013
Our treasurer is off to Spain for 3 months in the new year, so we are looking for an assistant treasurer to help keep our books in order while he's away. If you might be able to help with this, please get in touch! We'd also very much appreciate some help with fundraising, in particular filling in an application form for a grant that is currently available (the grant would help fund a series of masterclasses in social and environmental activism, and possibly (separately) a new gazebo). In the longer term, we are also interested in raising funds for core costs that would allow us to rent an office with storage space and a meeting area to hold events and group meetings. If you could help us with any of these, we'd love to hear from you (e-mail us here). Thanks!
15 Dec 2013
Read all about it! Good and wholesome news that is, in the latest edition of the Transition newspaper, Transition Free Press. It's full of inspiring Transition news from the UK and further afield. You can collect your copy in Cambridge at our events and in Urban Larder (9 The Broadway, Mill Road). Congratulations to local author Suzie Webb who has written an article on easy ways to chop wood for the woodburner. You can find it on page 22 of this issue. Read it online here.
05 Dec 2013
The Seedy Sunday planning group welcome nice quality garden and seed related gifts for the raffle which will help to fund the event. Last year's raffle was a great success!
To make your offer, please do get in touch before January 11th 2014
27 Nov 2013
A big thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday, either to share your skills or to learn new ones! Here are some pictures of the event from Axel - if you have any more, do send them to us and we'll put them on-line. Thanks!
11 Nov 2013
The Energy group has published a new FAQ, this time with tips on how to reduce your heating bills. Given the steep rises in energy prices we have seen recently, this might be a good time to take a look. More...
04 Nov 2013
Have you been to the Trumpington Seedy Sunday and really enjoyed it? For the last 6 years Ceri has planned and organised this event. Due to increased family commitments, Ceri has had to take a step back and the 2014 Seedy Sunday won't happen unless we have some more volunteers to help out. If you feel this is an important event, please join us in the planning group so that this successful day continues to thrive. Come along to the next meeting on November 11th, 6.30 pm, in the upstairs room at CB2 cafe (Norfolk St.) to get involved! Seedy Sunday will hopefully take place on Sunday 19th January 2014 at Trumpington Village Hall this coming year. Read all about the previous years' events here. You can contact Ceri for more info on 01223 840 602.
28 Oct 2013
Our Annual Report is out, and it's amazing how much the different Transition groups have been doing this last year! It includes reports from all the different groups and projects, and is a great way to find out about what's going on in Transition Cambridge at the moment. You can read it here (high res version, 2.7MB) or there's a lower resolution version here (0.9MB). We hope you enjoy it!
22 Oct 2013
A new space for a community garden has become available in north Cambridge, very near the junction between Green End Lane and Milton Road - some community gardeners are needed to make this happen! Get in touch if you're interested, either to help coordinate or to come along and help with the gardening!
20 Oct 2013
Thanks to everyone who came along to our AGM last Monday, which turned out to be a very inspiring event as we heard about all the projects which the various Transition Cambridge groups are running at the moment. A big thank you to everyone for making all these wonderful projects happen! The minutes from the AGM are here (pdf format), and we aim to post our Annual Report here next week.
13 Oct 2013
The next Greeniversity classes will be on cycle maintenance (21 Sept) and sewing (29 September) - please book for these via the Greeniversity web-site as we expect them to be popular. If you'd like to share a skill, please get in touch as we are currently planning skillshares for this coming Autumn. And don't forget our next Skillsfest on Saturday 9th November!(We're also looking for people to help organise and publicise skillshares in Cambridge, so get in touch if you'd like to be on the organising team - thanks!)
02 Sep 2013
Read all about it! Good and wholesome news that is, in the latest edition of the Transition newspaper, Transition Free Press It's full of inspiring Transition news from the UK and further afield. You can collect your copy in Cambridge at our events and in Urban Larder (9 The Broadway, Mill Rd) or email us if you want to receive a copy by post.
02 Sep 2013
The energy group has now run forums on: Solar panels for electricity, Wood burning stoves (twice), Solid wall insulation, Draught proofing and Ventilation, Reducing Heat Loss from Walls and Window, Managing Your Home Heating - what do you think we should do next? What home energy topic - either generating power or saving energy - would be of most interest to you? Please fill in our survey to let us know.
28 Jul 2013
Transition Cambridge usually takes August off, so there probably won't be any newsletters during this time. So if you have any news or events that you would like to let people know about for August/early September, please let us know about them this week so they can go out in next week's newsletter - thanks! (News and events can either be entered into the events system on our website, from where they automatically go into the bulletin, or you can send us an e-mail here, and we will enter them for you. If you'd like to help with this last part, please get in touch!)
20 Jul 2013
Fancy winning a book to read on the beach or in the park this summer? We have 5 copies of 'The Power of Just Doing Stuff' to give away. Just write 250 words telling us what inspires you about the Transition movement and/or Transition Cambridge. (You can find more info about the book via this link, we also have some copies to sell, which we'll bring along to our cafe nights.) The deadline is 1st August, and we'll notify the winners after that. Submit your entries here. We look forward to reading them! We hope to put some of the entries up on our website (with your permission). (This competition is open to everyone who lives, works or studies in Cambridge, or within 20 miles of Cambridge.)
15 Jul 2013
A few ideas on buying local... At Rob Hopkins' talk in Swaffham, he mentioned a group that were encouraging people to pledge to spend £5 a week in a local business, as a way of supporting the local economy. This sounds a relatively easy thing to do in Cambridge, and there are a couple of recent initiatives to help. There is the Independent Cambridge web-site, which describes itself as "A guide to, and a celebration of, the City’s best independent traders, venues and events". It includes a directory of independent businesses in Cambridge (and there's also a booklet, available through their website). And then July is "Independent Retailers Month" in Cambridge (see news item in General News section), which includes various promotions. Buying local both supports the local economy and can help reduce carbon emissions by reducing the distance people and products have to travel.
15 Jul 2013
A big thank you to everyone who came along and/or helped out at the festival this Saturday! It was great to see so many people interested in learning new skills, and we had lots of delicious cakes, and our little pop-up cinema looked great! Here are some photos of the day. And we'll hopefully be in the Cambridge News today, so keep an eye out for an article/picture of the festival!
15 Jul 2013
The permaculture group have received an enquiry about whether we are going to be doing a full Permaculture Design Course locally. Could anyone who would be interested please let Ceri and Dave know.
01 Jul 2013
Do you want to spend One Year in Transition? One Year in Transition is a groundbreaking, low-cost, new programme from Transition Network for people in their twenties. If want to create and lead projects for personal and community wellbeing and establish a livelihood aligned with your core values, check out the Transition Network web-page. Applications before the end of July for September 2013 entry.
06 May 2013
The 2nd edition of the Transition Free Press is out now, and is packed with inspiring articles on Transition-related topics from around the country. We have 200 copies to give away in Cambridge - you can get your copy from the Transition Cafe nights fortnightly on Thursdays (CB1 cafe, Mill Road, 7-9pm), and we'll also try to make sure there are copies available at all our events and stalls. You can read earlier editions on-line here and here's the Transition Free Press web-site.
28 Apr 2013
It's that time of year when we're being invited to lots of summer fairs, so if you'd like to help us do these stalls and events, please let us know (or just reply to this e-mail). It's a fun thing to do, you get to meet lots of people, and we can give you some ideas on what to talk about (usually our leaflets provide plenty of talking points). And if you could help designing or making leaflets/posters, that would also be great! We are also planning a summer Transition festival so ideas and help will be welcome for that too!
15 Apr 2013
Would you like to be involved in creating a renewable energy community interest company? The Energy group is looking at some possible rooftop sites where we could install solar panels. The aim is to begin with a smallish project and then … who knows? Please contact the energy group and help us transition from exciting possibility to real reductions in green house gas emissions and economic success.
From: Energy group 24 Mar 2013
Here are some interesting Transition-related articles. Firstly, these's one from the Guardian about a large rise in carbon dioxide emissions last year, and then there's a more positive article based on a talk by Lord Stern (of the Stern Report) in Permaculture Magazine, which finishes with a stirring call to action. (If you see articles that you think others might be interested in, just forward us a link and we'll try to include them.)
11 Mar 2013
Spring is only just around the corner, and now is a good time to think ahead for sowing and planting for the coming growing season. The Garden Share Project is looking for more volunteer gardeners and more garden owners in all areas of the city, so if you would like to grow your own but have no land, or if your garden is too big and you would like to share the space, please contact Ann or Fausto. You can read more about the Garden Share project here and here is a lovely article about the project in the Cambridge News.
24 Feb 2013
We are looking for people with large cars/vans who would be willing to help transport Transition stuff to events and stalls. This would probably be very occasional e.g. about every 2 to 3 months, and less than that if a few people are able to share it. Any help you can offer will be appreciated! Please just reply to this e-mail is you are able to help.
24 Feb 2013
There are lots of volunteering opportunities within Transition Cambridge, and these are listed here - for example, would you like to help new groups get off the ground by acting as chair/secretary for their first few meetings while they find their feet? Or could you help us design or distribute posters for our events? Or perhaps you enjoy giving talks (we often get asked to do this)? Or could you help to reply to e-mails? We'd love to hear from you if you'd like to offer your time and skills!
11 Feb 2013
Martin Roach (who is a founder member of TC) gives his reflections on Transition Cambridge as we approach our 5th birthday in 2013. He reviews an academic study and looks at the conditions for making Eco Fen a reality alongside Silicon Fen. Read his blog article here. The Transition Network Social reporting blog has a large number of voices, reflecting on all kinds of transition-y issues - it's worth a read...
04 Feb 2013
Read it here!
04 Feb 2013
The 1st edition of the Transition Free Press is out now, and is packed with inspiring articles on Transition-related topics from around the country. We have 200 copies for you here in Cambridge - you can get your copy from the Transition Cafe nights fortnightly on Thursdays (CB1 cafe, Mill Road, 7-9pm). We'll also try to make sure there are copies available at all our events and stalls. The paper will come out every 3 months initially. It's also on-line here and here's the Transition Free Press web-site. If you enjoy what you read, you can become a Friend of TFP - their crowd-funding campaign ends on Feburary 14 and would welcome a boost (donate here). If you prefer offline donations, please contact Jay Tompt. Thanks!
03 Feb 2013
If you might be able to help us run our sound system at large events (probably not more than every couple of months) we'd love to hear from you so get in touch!
28 Jan 2013
Transition Cambridge now owns an apple press, and a crusher (to chop the apples up before putting them in the press). If you fancy having a go at making your own apple juice, or if you’re involved in a community project, you're welcome to borrow them.
The press is a 9-litre Vigo press – you can see more info and pictures of the press and 'classic crusher' on the Vigo website.
If you’d like to borrow the press and crusher, please email Liz.
07 Dec 2012
Transition's first newspaper is out and it's a joy to read - have a look here! The editors hope to publish 4 issues a year, and are looking to crowd-fund the printing costs - if you'd like to help, you can do so at their BuzzBnk page here. We (TC) anticipate having 250 copies of each issue to give away - if you'd like to help us distribute them, please get in touch. We will have them at events and stalls, and may be able to distribute them in other ways with your help and ideas.
04 Dec 2012
At the Transition Cambridge Permaculture meeting on the 7th November, members of the group discussed the way ahead for the coming year. The outcome was very positive and there are to be two themes. Members of the group that were present will host a meeting each month at their home or a place of specific interest/relevance to them. The focus of the meeting will be to look at an aspect of their permaculture practice with one particular principle in mind. The other strand will be to set up one or more ongoing Guilds so that interested members will have the support to deepen their practice. Dates, times and venues will be posted to the Permaculture group mailing list and Transition bulletin for the initial guild meeting and the first two meetings have been posted in the Transition events listings. For more information about the permaculture group, see their website here.
29 Nov 2012
Congratulations to Michele on winning an award from Cambridge University Entrepeneurs for the SustainableSouk project. He is one of the winners of £100 for 100 words - a good business pitch in 100 words. Only the best ideas can be condensed that small and still sound good so well done Michele. SustainableSouk is a virtual market place for locally made or grown food products. Sign up today! More...
19 Nov 2012
Transition Cambridge's Food Group signed up to join the campaign for Food Sovereignty recently,approving the 6 principles of the Nyeleni Declaration. These call for food as a right not a commodity, valuing food providers and localising food systems. It aims to put control of food locally, building knowledge and skills and working with Nature. For more info, check out our Food Sovereignty Principles page.
13 Nov 2012
Transition Cambridge Energy group held a stall in the market place outside the Guildhall with Switch - the university team who have written a book called 'A Brief Guide to Saving the World' about climate change and how to use less energy. Here is a write-up in the Cambridge news
13 Nov 2012
A couple of years ago, Martin and the TC Food group put together this great list of Christmas gifts that don't cost the Earth.
We hope you find it useful, and we'd love to update it, so please let us know if you have some more ideas for gifts with low/zero carbon footprints. Thanks!
12 Nov 2012
Switch is a group of 4 students with an unusual strategy to raise awareness of climate change issues. They have a booklet on the subject illustrated by children and an energy calculator which uses human effort instead of kWh. On Friday 2nd November the Transition Cambridge Energy group shared the stage with them at the Grafton Centre and the Mayor came to visit. She even tried out the exercise bike and pedalled long enough to make a couple of slices of toast! |
![]() Nicola on the left, then Carl and Patrick from Switch, Sheila Stuart the mayor, Yining from Switch and Michael Wiseman, director of the Grafton Centre |
03 Nov 2012
Transition Cambridge Permaculture Group will have been meeting for 3 years next spring and over that time, we’ve been pretty busy. In the spirit of the permaculture we have put together a survey using design principles to help us plan our way forward into 2013. If you have participated in the group in the past or hope to join us in the future it would be great if you could take a few moments to answer these questions and let us know what you'd like the group to be doing in the future. Download the questionnaire here (rtf file). Please email your responses to Ceri and Dave by 5th November or bring them along to the meeting on the 7th (see Events section). Thanks! For more information about the Permaculture group's activities, see their web-site here.
28 Oct 2012
Earlier this year Transition Cambridge held two visioning sessions to explore our vision for 2030. The results have been written up and are ready for reading and comment. You can access the document and contact information on the Transition website here.
From: Stephanie Ferguson 18 Oct 2012
If you would like to develop your facilitation skills for Transition projects this workshop on 27th October is just the thing for you. The advertised price is £55/£45 for waged/unwaged but if you are a member of Transition Cambridge (i.e. you are active with one of the subgroups) and you would like to go but are put off by the cost then please let us know - the hub has agreed we will subsidise up to 3 places so that the cost would be only £10. We may ask you also to come to a cafe night afterwards or write us a brief review, telling us how it went and what you learnt that will be useful. It is important for us to understand what sort of training works best to make our Transition Cambridge projects more effective and enjoyable for everyone. More...
12 Oct 2012
We have published our annual report for 2011/2012 and it's an impressive summary of what we have achieved recently: 15 active projects plus the website and newsletter publishing. Its no wonder we've all been busy. This also includes out annual accounts.Download the full report here (0.5 Mb pdf)
You can also read the minutes from our agm and see how we created our plans for the next year here.
03 Oct 2012
The Energy Group manned a stall at the Grafton Centre 'Live Green, Shop Green and Save' over Friday/Saturday 28th/28th September for the second year running. This year they tried out Nicola's new energy saving action cards and also energy opinion surveys to engage the public in discussion about energy and other sustainability issues. For the children, the SPEP model house proved a valuable draw - making it easier for parents to chat without distractions. |
![]() Mayor Sheila Stuart looking at the new Energy Saving Action cards. |
01 Oct 2012
Last week's successful Eat Buy Local event has appeared in the Cambridge News. Transition Cambridge's Food Group co-organised this event with CCF and one of the speakers was Paul Robinson, of Willow Farm near Lode, who hosts the Cropshare project. All reports say that the local food was delicious, and the local food movement is growing stronger...
Read more here.
28 Sep 2012
A garden owner in Toft, with a lovely garden including several fruit trees, is looking for a garden share partner to help and share the produce. If you are interested, please contact Ann, Garden Share Coordinator
26 Sep 2012
There are lots of ways to get more involved with Transition Cambridge. As well as attending our events, you can join a group or project - here is an up-to-date list of our groups and projects that we created for the newcomers evening last week. There are contact addresses for the different groups and projects, or just reply to this e-mail and we'll forward your e-mail to the relevant person. There are often specific tasks that we would like some help with and these are listed here. And if there is something you'd like to offer that isn't listed here, please get in touch too. We welcome everyone's involvement - Transition Cambridge is entirely run by volunteers.
24 Sep 2012
Cambridge Art Salon has a small plot of land we are keen to turn into a community art garden in the heart of Romsey. Looking for a volunteer garden co-ordinator and gardeners to turn the land into a veggie patch and green space with art, installation and a possible mural. All ideas welcome!!! Contact us by e-mail or phone 07969918355.
03 Sep 2012
Radio 4 are looking for the Best Big Food Idea. Their web-site says "We're interested in innovations that are improving the way good quality food is sourced and sold. It could be an initiative by a national supermarket, a wholesaler, a website, or a chain of food shops - any imaginative idea transforming our access to great food and drink." If you'd like to nominate Transition Cambridge Crop Share for the food and farming awards on Radio 4, here's the link.
06 Aug 2012
Read the Transition Network Newsletter here - including news about the network conference in September, various courses, book reviews, discussions e.g. on local currencies, events, and much more!
06 Aug 2012
If you would like more space to grow your own fruit and veg, and live in the Romsey Town area, the Garden Share project have garden owners / allotment holders who are looking for people to share their space. If you are interested, please contact Ann. For more information about the Garden Share project, see the web-page here.
06 Aug 2012
Sue, Dave and Jacky, members of the TC Food Group, spoke to the Cambridge News about the need for more allotments in Cambridge. You can read the article on-line here (Friday 3rd August). Contribute to the debate by writing a letter to the Cambridge News with your point of view!
06 Aug 2012
The new Greeniversity Project (aka Cambridge Skill Share) is looking for some help! In particular, we're looking for people who'd like to share their skills - all skills are welcome, e.g. mending tools or clothes, cooking or making preserves, growing veg or herbs, making vinegar or beer, keeping bees or chickens, or the hundred and one other skills that we need to make the transition to more sustainable ways of life! We're also looking for venues for the skill share events - the venues will ideally be free, possibly offices, shops, scout huts, cafes etc that are not used in the evenings/weekends/Sundays and are relatively central - do you know of somewhere that might be suitable? Please let us know if you do! We're also still looking for people to help set the project up - that will include being in contact with skill sharers, contacting venues, putting events into the web-based system, doing publicity and helping organise and run a launch event. So get in touch if you'd like to get more involved or know of venues (and thanks to those of you who've already got in touch, we'll be in contact soon!). Here's the Peterborough Greeniversity page so you can see how the project is working there.
06 Aug 2012
The Growing Spaces Project will be having a number of dig days in July to help us finish up a few more spaces this summer. If you would like to help plant some fruit bushes and herbs in public places and enjoy the fruits of your work for years to come, then join us! These will be in various locations around the city, and take place on July 4th, 8th, 11th and 15th. See the Growing Spaces page on our website for all the details. More...
From: Stephanie Ferguson 24 Jun 2012
At the 2030 visioning session, we were all invited to write a haiku of our vision of Cambridge in 2030. A haiku is a short poem in a Japanese style. Have a look at the haiku's that people wrote here.
19 Jun 2012
The new REconomy website provides the latest tools and resources that can help you build a local economy where you live. Have a look here.
19 Jun 2012
Transition Free Press has gone live! Have a look at a taster edition here and read more about the project here. This first edition is a blueprint of how the new Transition paper will look, showing the kinds of subjects we will cover every quarter – news with comment and context, features and reviews is going live today. We hope Transition Free Press will become a flourishing national newspaper for the Transition Movement. There is a whole new narrative out there, the happening story of Transition you might not see covered by mainstream media. That’s the story we’re aiming to tell. You can order a print copy on-line (bottom of the page) - or let us know and we can do a bulk order and bring them along to a Transition cafe night.
19 Jun 2012
We had a great turnout for the Transition Cambridge Transport Workshop last Thursday, despite the cold, the wind and the wet. We were looking at how we might get around in 2030 - post Peak Oil style. When the price of road fuel might be ……£5.00/litre? Five short snappy presentations from businesses, from advocacy and campaign groups and a community partnership; followed by tea and biscuits and, this being Transition, rounding off with an Open Space discussion! What else!! And all on a shoe-string budget.
We saw how cargo bikes are already making deliveries in the City. How Smart Travel interventions deliver better returns for the tax-payer than big infrastructure. How employers can help wean people off car-based commuting. How a small number of people cycling instead of driving can make a huge difference to congestion and – one for the future – how buses might offer an almost door to door service. The notes from the Open Space discussion groups are here - if there is enough enthusiasm we hope some of these ideas will get taken forward.
If you weren't able to come to the Workshop but want to help Cambridge prepare for a less oil-dependent transport future get in touch or come along to the next meeting, which will be on Thursday 21st June at 7:30pm at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, in the Aldren Wright Room. All welcome!
10 Jun 2012
Here are some photos of our stall at Strawberry Fair, including the workshop on making a solar panel from solar cells with Janis Freimanis from Transition Heathrow, stencilling designs onto T-shirts with Beejal Parekh, and Growing your own vegetables with Dave Fox.
09 Jun 2012
Here are some photos from our 4th birthday party - a big thank you to Wesley for taking these photos, and to everyone for coming along and helping out!
28 May 2012
Stalls - we'll have stalls at Strawberry Fair (2 June) and the Town and Country Fair (16-17 June) - reply to this e-mail if you'd like to help for a couple of hours
Garden share coordinator - join the coordinating group to keep this project alive and kicking. If you could spare an hour or two on a regular basis to help, e-mail Ann Mitchell for more details (also see here). It's a wonderful way of promoting veg growing and community!
Talk on Transition: we've been invited to give a talk to the residents of some sheltered housing (for the over 55s) on a weekday morning - we already have a powerpoint presentation, but obviously it will be helpful if you know what TC is up to!
Poster designers and/or distributors needed! We'd love some help making posters for our fortnightly cafe nights, and also some help putting them up around town.
We hope to include this section on a regular basis to let us know if there are other Transition projects that you are looking for some help with!
21 May 2012
The visit to NIAB which was planned for Tuesday has been postponed - the ground is so waterlogged that the fields are inaccessible (even in wellies!). So the visit will be rescheduled - keep an eye on the website for the new date (and let's hope the weather is kind!).
20 May 2012
Transition Cambridge is now four years old, and we celebrated on Saturday with a showing of the new film 'In Transition 2.0' and a wonderful party. Thanks to everyone who joined the celebrations, and to everyone who helped - cake-makers, bread-bakers, tea-people, stall-holders, and those who washed up afterwards! We hope the film has inspired you to get involved - as you can see there are lots more events coming up! And for those who missed the film, we'll be showing it again soon - it's a really inspiring collection of Transition stories from all around the world.
20 May 2012
![]() Question Time Panel, with chair Terry Macalister, energy editor of the Guardian, in the centre |
Cambridge Carbon Footprint and Transition Cambridge Energy group got together this year to organise Open Eco Homes Question Time. This event introduces Open Eco Homes 2012 - this is the third year and there are 25 diverse homes and buildings to visit, to see the energy/carbon saving features that have been used and talk to the hosts about what is involved. The Question Time panel included hosts with houses built from 1900 to 2010. About 100 people came to the event, not including the organisers and sponsors, and the whole place was buzzing throughout. From the feedback the event was thoroughly enjoyed by most people though there were a lot of complaints about the sound system - We had to bring in Transition Cambridge equipment at zero notice because the venue's PA failed. Unfortunately our system is not suitable for a hall that size. We do apologise for this but we did the best we could under the circumstances. Click here to see the handout, which gives some information about the Green Deal and about grants for Free insulation to all home owners from Cambridge City council. |
More...
From: Nicola 06 May 2012
The Garden Share project is looking for more volunteer gardeners or garden owners - we would especially welcome registrations from garden owners near the centre of the city, and volunteer gardeners nearer the outskirts (or who are willing to cycle a little way to the garden). So if you've got a garden that you'd like to offer, or you're looking for somewhere to grow things, then register on the Garden Share web-page and we'll try to link you up with a grower/garden owner near you!
22 Apr 2012
Last week at the Transition Cafe in CB1 we had a discussion about community-led housing. Adam Broadway, project manager for Cambridge's first community-led housing project in years, provided a summary of the current housing market and made the case for other housing solutions. The k1 project is an opportunity for people to come together to design their own home and community. k1 is a 2 acre site at Orchard Park owned by Cambridge City who are investigating demand and the viability of this unique housing idea. Over the past 6 months Adam and colleagues have been testing whether a scheme is deliverable at k1. It is hoped the City Council will support the project and formally agree for it to be set up in the early summer. If this opportunity to be part of a group who will design their own truly sustainable community is of interest, do get in touch. More info here.
26 Mar 2012
Green books are offering 35% off orders over £25 so if a few people would like to do a joint book order, we can get the following: The Transition Companion £13, The Transition Timeline £8.40, Communities, Councils and a Low Carbon Future £9.70, Local Monday £9.70 and Local Sustainable Homes £9.70. (Lots of other relevant books available too...) Let Anna know if you'd like to do a joint order (we already have some Transition Companions and Local Money books). You'd need to be able to collect the book(s) either from somewhere in town during the daytime or from near Mill Road at other times. These books are also available to borrow from our library. (Would anyone like to be the Transition librarian? Contact Anna for details!)
26 Mar 2012
If you'd like to get more involved in Transition Cambridge's activities, there are lots of ways of doing so! In particular, we would love to have an events team to organise social events for transitioners to get together regularly, e.g. in pubs, cafes, for walks, picnics etc. Get in touch to find out more!
22 Mar 2012
The Cambridge Transition Food Group is launching a project to develop a co-operative bakery using locally sourced ingredients and low carbon distribution. Please join us at 7.30 on Thursday 13th March in The Emperor Pub (upstairs room, 21 Hills Road, CB2 1NW). All ideas and know-how welcome!
05 Mar 2012
Our second screening of The Economics of Happiness at the Arts Picturehouse on Sunday afternoon sold out - and some of the enthusiastic audience joined us for a discussion in the bar afterwards, where we talked in small groups in order to hear one another over the background noise! We're thinking of showing the film again in the autumn. In the meantime, if you're wanting to buy the dvd and/or organise a screening in your community, go to their website: www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org.
19 Feb 2012
The Energy Group organised a question and answer forum for people thinking of buying a wood stove. It was one of our most successful forums yet - 65 people came and the feedback was excellent. More here. |
19 Feb 2012
If you missed the talk on 'engaged optimism' by the co-founder of the Transition movement, you can listen again here. And if you'd like to read Rob's notes for the programme, you can do so here. Rob Hopkins believes that "engaged optimism" is the best way to face the global challenges of the future, be it climate change, oil supplies running out or the economic downturn. He believes initiatives enabling people to produce their own goods and services locally - from solar powered bottled beer to micro currencies like the Brixton pound - are the best way to build community resilience. Four Thought is a series of talks in which speakers give a personal viewpoint recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London.
13 Feb 2012
From Dave: "This programme is a must listen for all those interested in alternative models of food production." Listen here.
24 Jan 2012
We're getting lots of requests for Transition stalls at various events - would you like to help with this? It's usually a couple of hours on a Saturday or Sunday. Our stalls are usually quite relaxed, and most of the people we meet are enthusiastic and interested. We'll organise a session on the sorts of things that people ask and some possible replies. Stalls coming up include one at Seedy Sunday this coming Sunday (29th Jan), one at the Alternatives to Economic Growth conference (18 Feb) and a stall as part of the university students' Green Week (10 Feb). It'd be great to get together a team of us to share doing these! Get in touch if you're interested.
23 Jan 2012
Growing Spaces was in the news this past week! We were one of seven recipients for a Sustainable Cities grant and had the chance to talk to the Cambridge News and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: Growing Spaces on BBC Radio Cambridgshire Breakfast Show (interview begins 1 hour 49 minutes in; available until tomorrow (Weds)) and Cambridge News article here (scan down to find Growing Spaces; 19th January, 2012). Find out more about the Growing Spaces project, and get in touch with Stephanie if you think you have a potential space in your neighbourhood!
From: Stephanie Ferguson 22 Jan 2012
Transition Cambridge is nearly 4 years old and has accomplished so much already. To keep us moving forward and working effectively, it would be beneficial to develop a long-term vision and strategy for our role in building local resiliency and sustainability in Cambridge. I am therefore looking for other members of Transition Cambridge who would be interested in leading this initative. Generally it would involve organising backcasting sessions, gathering visions and ideas for a future Cambridge into a document, and working with TC groups and projects to develop their strategies for contributing to and achieving this vision. What would eventually result would be an Energy Descent Action Plan for Transition Cambridge, hopefully to be approved by the next AGM this September. If this sounds like something you would passionate about and able to commit to for the next 8 months or so, please get in touch with Stephanie so we can get started.
From: Stephanie Ferguson 13 Jan 2012
If you're looking for some last minute Christmas gifts, here are some great ideas put together by Martin and the TC food group - most of them are easy to buy on-line, local and low-carbon! (and do let us know if you can think of other low carbon gifts that we could add to this list!).
20 Dec 2011
Insulating walls and windows has proved to be a hot topic with around 50 people coming to the forum on this subject 24th November 2011. Margaret Reynolds and Andy Brown gave expert advice and Sheila Stickley told an encouraging tale about how DIY insulation in her house made a huge difference - both to her family's comfort and to the bills. Sheila reported that insulation in combination with other measures including draught stripping cut their heating costs by 60%. Here are some pictures from the event.
![]() Stuart Dyer and Liz Knox looking at the samples of insulation materials |
![]() Sheila Stickley telling us her DIY insulation success story |
From: Transition Cambridge Energy Group 27 Nov 2011
The national Transition Network has just launched three exciting new resources, which represent a radical shift in how Transition is understood and communicated: the book 'The Transition Companion' (order here); the online directory: The Transition Ingredients and Tools; and the beautiful set of Ingredients and Tools Cards: to be used to better understand all this.
31 Oct 2011
The Transition cafe has been running fortnightly for about 3 years, and has recently moved to CB1 after the Cafe Project closed (hopefully temporarily). We'd love some help keeping it running - this basically means coming up with ideas for events (quite easy - there are lots of interesting people around to invite to give talks or lead discussions), advertising them (mostly in the TC bulletin) and then coming along to make sure everything runs smoothly (this could be every fortnight or every month, or even less often, depending when you can make it). Please get in touch if you'd be able to help with this, as we'd really like to keep the Transition cafe going! (We already have events lined up for the next few weeks, and we have lots of ideas for ones after that, we just need a bit of help making them happen...)
24 Oct 2011
It's the Transition Network Newsletter's 3rd Birthday, and it's a bumper issue with lots of interesting news and views, including articles on storing food, solar bridges, and a September round-up of what's happening out in the world of Transition...
09 Oct 2011
Here's a recent news article about Transition from the Independent (2 October).
09 Oct 2011
Here's a great article about a local currency in Germany from last week's Guardian. It looks like we may be ready to start on one in Cambridge soon too - get in touch if you'd be interested in helping make this happen.
27 Sep 2011
Cambridge Sustainable Food Alliance have got some new resources on sustainable food - have a look at them here!
27 Sep 2011
The Romsey Community Garden is doing really well - we've had lots of vegetables, and we have made a path and a compost heap, thanks to the enthusiasm of local residents and some transitioners who helped us get the project started (a big thank you to everyone!). We are now applying for some funding from Natwest Community Fund, and we need people to vote for our project in order to get it! Voting is open until 23rd Oct. Voting is a little bit complicated but doesn't take long: click here, click "register" in the top right hand corner, fill in your e-mail details and click submit, then click a link in your e-mail to register, login to their website and finally go back to our project page (http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/3332) to vote. Thanks for your support!
27 Sep 2011
Transition Cambridge has been going for more than three years now - thanks to the support and huge contributions from people like yourselves - and we find we are now grown up enough to need a little more formal structure than before - in short we have a constitution and we need to hold an AGM (this coming Monday, details above), where we vote for officers, and that means we need to make a register of members (we also need this for our insurance). Membership entitles you to vote at the AGM, to propose a motion or to stand for office. For now membership is free (although donations are always welcome!). Everyone is welcome to become a member – just let us know your name and e-mail and we will create a a membership card for you (to be given out at our AGM and other group meetings).
27 Sep 2011
The energy group is planning another home energy forum for 24th Nov, this time on reducing heat loss through walls and windows. As well as experts we like to have householders on the panel, to answer questions about their experiences. The builders and the architects only tell half the story! So, if you have relatively recently had work done on your house, and would be happy to tell people about it, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please email Nicola for more information. More...
04 Sep 2011
Nicola has put together a web page to show you roughly where you are losing most heat from your house. Try it on your house! It is based on the simple house heating model in her book.
From: Nicola Terry 02 Sep 2011
We have an author in our midst! Nicola Terry (our webmaster and an active member of the energy group) has recently published a book called "Energy and Carbon Emissions: the way we live today". It is an easy-to-read (in short sections mostly 1-3 pages long) comprehensive guide to the way we use energy and generate carbon emissions in our personal lives, and how we can reduce it. It also discusses our renewable energy potential. The retail price of this book is normally around £10 but Nicola is offering it for £7 including a £1 donation to Transition Cambridge at some of our events, including the Transition Cambridge AGM and the energy group social on 8th Sep. More...
22 Aug 2011
P&G's Future Friendly contest is now on and a Transition Cambridge project, Growing Spaces (working to create 30 community and public gardens in Cambridge) is shortlisted!
The project with the most votes in each region wins £1000 to support their project so please vote today and most importantly tell some friends! See the Growing Spaces page for more details! More...
28 Jul 2011
For over a year now, Emmanuel United Reformed Church have hosted our office on Cherry Hinton Road (for a very low rent), so a big thank you to them! They are about to start renovating the church, so we need to move out, and we are looking for a place to store our various resources, such as the gazebo, projector screen, poster boards, trestle tables and other assorted items needed for stalls and events. We are looking for a space in Cambridge which is on the ground floor and has easy access from the road. Ideally a few people would be able to have keys for access, and it would be reasonably dry and secure. So if you have a large cupboard, shed or garage that has some spare room, please get in touch. Thanks!
24 Jul 2011
As we wind down for our summer break, we'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped keep Transition Cambridge going these last months! All our events, stalls, projects and other activities are run by a host of wonderful people who are dedicated to creating a more sustainable and resilient way of life. So thank you all for your involvement, and have a lovely summer!
24 Jul 2011
The energy group ran a stall at this event for the whole 2 days 15/16th July. We had a new energy quiz, plug in energuy monitors, renewable energy fact sheets and the fruit map. There are some pictures here
17 Jul 2011
Ridgeons, the local timber and builders merchants, celebrated their centenary this year and amongst many other activities on the day they presented Transition Cambridge with ten trees, to be used for the benefit of the community. Our trees will contribute to biodiversity and the enjoyment of Cambridge residents at Wandlebury Ring. Jon Gibbs, ranger has promised to find them good places in the nature reserve there. More...
17 Jul 2011
Transition's Growing Spaces project is off to a great start with four spaces already transformed into food gardens and loads of interest in creating more around the city. It's too much for one person to manage, so Project Coordinator Stephanie is looking for a few interested volunteers who would like to commit a few hours a week, including a group meet-up every other week to help keep this project moving. No gardening experience is necessary, just enthusiasm, a little time, and a desire to learn and have fun! Please send Stephanie an email if you are interested. More...
From: Stephanie Ferguson 10 Jul 2011
The SkillsFest was a great success, with lots of people trying out new skills, learning to fix their bikes, attending workshops, or just enjoying the cafe and some delicious cakes! Here are some pictures of the event. A big thank you to all the people who shared their time, energy and skills on the day!
04 Jul 2011
The Association of Town Centre Management invited Transition Cambridge to run a workshop on the challenges and opportunities associated with peak oil and climate change at their Summer School last week - here's what we did, including a short presentation on peak oil...
04 Jul 2011
As the plums start to ripen, have a look at the Cambridge Free Fruit Map to see if there are any fruit trees near you that need harvesting! And if you see a tree in a public space with fruit that is not being picked, add it the map...
04 Jul 2011
Here's a new type of sub group for the lazy people, ones like me. It's different because we don't want your presence at meetings, we don't want your time or even your donations. We just want your thoughts. More precisely that's anything to do with building a sustainable world or pointing out the non-sustainable nature of this one. It can be funny, serious, positive or even uncomfortable. It doesn't matter, as long as it is honest and shows you care.
So why not take a look at the new Narratives webspage, where hopefully you will get some inspiration, and then send us your views. Then just sit back and see your name in print. Easy, isn't it?
14 Jun 2011
Here are some photos from Saturday's Cooperative Communication skills workshop, run by Kathryn and Hannah from Seeds for Change. They have produced some great resources on facilitating meetings and consensus decision making, as well as how to organise good meetings and lots of other useful topics related to community groups. A big thank you to Anne Lally (who's organising the onion crop-share project) and Gemma Sayers from the Food Coops project for organising this workshop (and have a look here to see their food coops toolkit).
29 May 2011
The Town and Country Fair is approaching again on 11th/12th June, and the food group are hoping to give away free vegetable plants to would-be vegetable growers - so if you have any spare, or are able to pop some spare seeds into some pots to grow by then, they will be very grateful. Just bring them along on the day!
23 May 2011
Growing Spaces has gained a new garden, at St. Regis House, buildings owned by Clare College. Residents will be converting a patch of grass into a food-producing garding this Wednesday and any spare seedlings you have would be appreciated to help get this little space going! Photos are on the growing spaces website, and you can get in touch with Stephanie to donate your plants.More...
15 May 2011
Our first digging day in Romsey Town's new community garden was a great success! Have a look at some pictures here. Our next digging day will be Saturday 21st May from 2-5pm (junction of Madras and Marmora Roads). If you'd like to get involved, come along, or get in touch!
03 May 2011
At the discussion on Freeganism in the cafe last Thursday, we watched a great little video introducing the idea and then shared our experiences of being "freegan" while enjoying some freegan chocolate brownies and cakes. We talked about the etiquette for "rescuing" food and other items from bins and skips behind shops (i.e. leaving everything tidy and as you found it), and heard about some people's freegan experiences (including getting stuck in a bin!). We also talked about how it's good to check that the previous owners are happy for you to rifle through their rubbish if they are around...
Other ideas included creating a "put and take" shelf outside your house to encourage local freecycling (thanks to whoever mentioned this at a Transition film night a while back), a skip-watch interactive on-line map (currently a work in progress), a "freegan day" a bit like the flea markets held on Queens Day in the Netherlands (possibly in early October) and lots more ideas!
If you're interested in trying this for the first time, have a look at the Cambridge freecycle group, which always has lots of great stuff and is a good place to give away things too. Many thanks to Beejal and Stephanie for hosting this cafe night!
03 May 2011
Take a look at a new Transition project called Growing Spaces. The Growing Spaces Project aims to increase the number of public and community spaces in Cambridge which produce food by 30 over the next three years (by the end of 2013). Read our new webpage for details and get in touch if you want to help out!More...
From: Transition Cambridge 21 Apr 2011
We now have an FAQ on wood burning stoves which tells you all about how to buy a stove, what you can burn in it, and where you can get wood from. Thanks to Stuart! Please do take a look (whether you have a stove or are thinking of getting one) and send Stuart your comments!
21 Apr 2011
In the face of the environmental and resource crisis, we must acknowledge and respect the wisdom and charity of the natural world. By learning to observe and interact with nature in a more respectful and sustainable way, we will not only gain better health and well-being, but also a more efficient food system and a more reliable supply of resources. Look at our new web page to find out more about what we'll be doing and how to get involved with nature in your area.
09 Mar 2011
If you live in or near Newmarket and are interested in Transition issues, please get in touch with Andrew Gillett, who is working to set up a transition initiative there. Also please pass this on if you know of others who might be interested. Thanks!
12 Feb 2011
The environmental crisis demands practical, ‘outer’ changes in terms of adopting lower carbon lifestyles, but what kind of inner transition accompanies this process? What does this mean in terms of how we experience ourselves, relate to others and build communities? The Heart & Soul Group offers spaces to explore our emotional responses to climate change and to support ourselves and one another through the transition process.
Over the coming months, we will be offering a regular group which we hope will be a safe and supportive place to share our “heart & soul” responses. We will also offer a range of one-of events that take different approaches to explore these issues and also give us opportunities to look after our wellbeing and build our community. Some of these might include The Work that Reconnects, massage, sandplay, dancing, singing, films, talks…
If there is something you would like to see or something you would like to offer an event or workshop then we would love to hear from you. Or if this group appeals to you and you would like to chat or get involved then please do get in touch with us. We look forward to meeting you.
29 Jan 2011
Here's a little youtube clip of a joint Lush/Transition Cambridge charity party. It's mainly intended for Lush shop managers, but it's a good introduction to what we do in Transition too.
04 Nov 2010
If you're looking for some environmentally friendly Christmas presents, then look no further! Here are some gift ideas with transition in mind: minimal greenhouse gas emissions, made locally - ideally both - and some of them cost very little or even nothing at all. These are the suggestions we have had so far - do tell Martin your ideas!
30 Oct 2010
Here's an article, entitled Oil, health and healthcare from the latest British Medical Journal about the effects of peak oil on health care. It also includes an excellent introduction to peak oil. And there's another related article here: Peak Oil: will it be public health's greatest challenge?. If you are interested in the effects of peak oil on healthcare, and more importantly what we can do to make the transition to a healthcare system that is less dependent on oil, then we hope to organise a discussion about this in the Transition Cafe in the next couple of weeks (will confirm when in next week's bulletin). You might also be interested in Cambridge Zero Carbon Society's conference on this topic on the 20th November in Cambridge - full info here.
04 Oct 2010
Here’s a short treat for a rainy day, a trailer for a film being made by Milpa Films called ‘Voices of the Transition’. Looks like it is going to be rather good….More...
08 Sep 2010
And here are some old news items from the Transition front page:
TRANSITION-RELATED NEWS IN THE MEDIA (more here)
![]() | Blog article by local architect Margaret Reynolds about Rob Hopkins' visit to Cambridge (posted on April 6th 2011). |
![]() | Article in the Guardian on-line, now in Business Green (7 March): "Oil prices: Urgent steps needed to wean UK onto other energy sources, MPs say" here |
![]() | Article in the Guardian on-line (3 March): "UK facing 1970s-style oil shock which could cost economy £45bn – Huhne" here |
![]() | Article in the Economist on 24 Feb: "Oil pressure rising: The world is badly placed to cope with another oil crisis" here |
![]() | Transition Town Totnes in this Sunday's Observer Magazine (6 Feb). Lucy Siegle writes: “Totnes: Britain’s town of the future: Totnes in Devon might be the most forward-thinking eco settlement in the world. As fossil-fuel reserves dwindle and the economy contracts, will resident-led Transition Towns become the way that we all live?”. Full article here. |
![]() | IEA acknowledges peak oil The IEA has acknowledged that production of conventional oil is never again likely to regain its peak from 2006, but demand will continue to rise. ''Unconventional oil is set to play an increasingly important role in world oil supply through to 2035, regardless of what governments do to curb demand....Unconventional sources of oil are among the more expensive available: they require large upfront capital investment, which is typically paid back over long periods. Consequently, they play a key role in setting future oil prices.' (World Energy Outlook 2010 executive summary) |
Archive news: From 2021 - From 2020->TranNews2020]] - From 2019 - From 2018 - From 2017 - From 2015/2016 - Earlier and archived news off the front page.