The 4th annual Transition Network conference will be held in a Transition community for the first time this year. Taking place in Forest Row, East Sussex, on 29th-31st May, the theme will be Broadening: taking the Transition approach wider and deeper.

Forest Row, one of the earliest UK Transition initiatives, is on the edge of Ashdown Forest. Not only is this the largest free public access space in the South East but it is also home to Pooh Bear!

The conference will be held in the beautiful grounds of Michael Hall School — a Steiner Waldorf establishment. Last year, the event was held in Battersea, with delegates staying across London. This time, by contrast, there will be opportunities for camping and cycling to the venue will be encouraged. The Forest Way runs through the village and is connected to the Worth Way. This adds up to 20 miles of cycle track along the old railway line, between Three Bridges, East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells — part of Sustrans’ Cycle Route 21, from Greenwich to Eastbourne.

The conference will draw on the skills and food resources found in the surrounding area, including the two community supported bio-dynamic farms situated in the village.

In all the key fields of development, such as food, energy, transport, psychology of change and reskilling, there will be a great sharing of successes. This will allow new achievements to become the stepping stones for those that follow. Likewise, a sharing of the things that did not work so well will help the lessons learnt become tomorrow’s successes. The event will continue to build on the broad knowledge-base of Transition. Using video, blogs, audio, websites and that old favourite, face-to-face contact, the learning will also be spread across the whole worldwide network of transitioners.

‘Participants, from both home and abroad, will leave the conference infused with the ideas and enthused by all the efforts of their fellow transitioners. We will head home, inspired to continue tackling the huge task of rebuilding resilience in our communities, literally from the soil upwards,’ says Ben Brangwyn, from Transiton Network.

Contact: www​.transitionforestrow​.org

Transition Network Conference 2009,
at the Battersea Arts Centre
Photo: copyright Mike Grenville