Transition Towns and Cittaslow

Transition Towns and Cittaslow Movement

Today in class I was first introduced to the Transition Town and Slow Movement concepts. In a way they are adaptable and tightly interwound with sustainability in mind. The first speaker was Michelle Colussi from the Victoria Region Transition Initiative. In her presentation, Michelle spoke to us about the transition town concept and how it is being spread around the Victoria area. The transition town concept works to engage communities on not being dependant on fossil fuels and being resilient to the readily changing world that exists before us. There are 3 evident situations occurring including economic instability and inequity, extreme resource depletion and global warming. The economic instability and inequity is creating more debt, costs and poverty to society. The inhumane resource depletion is producing a decline in the forest/fishery sectors and increasing fuel prices with the peak oil concept. Global warming is creating ever evolving impacts on food production, water resources, infrastructure and transportation. The image that stood out the most in my mind was the slide showing how people adapted to change 65 years ago and what is expected 65 years from now. The early settlers were very self sufficient and made resources last. And now today, we see a doom and gloom scenario where everything is directed towards disaster and we are waiting for it to occur before we do anything about it. I think the transition town movement can be a success if there is a constant effort put forward and a continual exposure to the general population of the concept. I think the main problem is that society is not educated enough and I think there main exposure method which is holding public seminars and conferences is the best way to put it in the face of the population and get the ball rolling.

The next presenter was Mara Jernigan, a chef whom introduced the Cittaslow movement to the Victoria Area. The Cittaslow movement operates based on the concepts of Europe and how the town centers were built to last and constructed for pedestrians which create interaction and community well being. These market squares are ran by locals and sell local ingredients and supplies to the community. This is far different from the western world where we have multiple corporate box stores which line the roads and provide unlimited amounts of parking for consumers to get in and get out quickly. The nearby community of Cowichan is promoting the idea of Cittaslow within their own businesses and has put through an application to Italy with the hopes of becoming Canada’s first Cittaslow. The local bakery in Cowichan has been converted to produce local goods with slow food such as red fife wheat. The front entrance of the store has been also transformed to encourage pedestrian interaction by altering the parking pattern and installing bike racks and larger sidewalks. They are keeping their values traditional and not allowing developers to establish quick money schemes by opening another Tim Hortons or Mcdonalds in their community. I feel that the Cittaslow movement is very unique and keeps communities “at home” with their culture and surroundings. Hopefully this trend is contagious and becomes an evident reality and disperses outward in Vancouver Island. As with the transition town concept, I feel like people need to be educated on Cittaslow as well. I have never heard of slow movement before but I definitely think it could become reality if people were exposed to it and explained on how it could benefit their own community and increase social capital within it.