Transition Enterprise discussion - Aug 10

What might a social enterprise founded on Transition principles be like?

In his July 18 conference call via Transition US, Rob Hopkins repeatedly mentioned relocalization as economic development. He hinted at the economic possibilities of new livelihoods, new training, new businesses, and how intentional relocalization could drive all this. And he referred to developing ideas within the Transition movement including social enterprise/Transition enterprise.

The concept of "social enterprise" has been gathering traction in the U.S. It's kind of like a hybrid of the business world and the nonprofit world. In its most basic form, there's the example of a gift store within a museum: the profits from the store fund the cause of the museum. In more complex forms, there are micro-loan businesses that fund third-world startups, bakeries that employ at-risk workers, and a myriad of creative examples.

The Transition folks in the UK have taken this idea several steps further to consider what the model might be like if it were founded around the types of business we need for a localized, post-petroleum, leaner economy world.

Would you like to join people who are discussing these ideas? Transition LA's Joanne Poyourow and John Tikotsky will be chatting about them and welcome you to join this informal circle on Aug 10.

prerequisite: read about Transition Enterprise here

Transition Enterprise informal discussion
Weds Aug 10, 7pm
Holy Nativity Church - possibly classroom 2 ??? (look for sign)
6700 W. 83rd, Westchester/LA 90045


Other potential resources

• Mission, Inc.: The Practitioners Guide to Social Enterprise (Social Venture Network) by Kevin Lynch and Julius Walls
• The Social Entrepreneur's Handbook: How to Start, Build, and Run a Business That Improves the World by Rupert Scofield
• To Build The Life You Want - Create The Work You Love - The Spiritual Dimension of Entrepreneuring by Marsha Sinetar
• REconomy
  
• Social Entrepreneurship For Dummies by Mark Durieux and Robert Stebbins

• Transition UK conference: Economics and business and social enterprise write up
• Transition UK conference: Economy business and social enterprise theme session write up
  
• Ingredients of Transition: Investing in Transition
  
• Ingredients of Transition: Community Supported Farms, Bakeries and Breweries
  
• Ingredients of Transition: Strategic Local Infrastructure
  

CicLAvia - Oct 10

LA's first street closure for a non-competitive bike/ped/fun event is coming Oct. 10th. Ciclovia's are happening regularly in cities all over the world, demonstrating the important role that our roads can play in creating a vibrant, healthy city. Public streets are our biggest repository of public space and it's time we begin to use them as a resource for more than just moving cars. (Google ciclovia if the term is new to you).

You can see the 7 mile route it will take if you scroll to the bottom of the CicLAvia blog:

http://ciclavia.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/ciclavia-will-be-ten-ten-ten/

Plans are also being made for a Ciclovia in Santa Monica this fall, possibly on the same day.

Seed Library for Los Angeles

"The Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA) has been brewing for some time – and it's not quite soup yet – there are hurdles still to cross. But it is closer to reality because The Learning Garden has taken on the challenge of making it happen.

"A seed library works very similar to a book library or a tool library. The main difference – and the real nut of the difficulty in making it viable – is that seeds are living entities having a life expiration that puts a whole new urgency into the program.

"Once you have joined a seed library – you check out seeds from them just like you would a book. You plant the seeds and grow out your crop, at the end of the season, you return fresh seeds, from your crop, to the library. The library benefits from being able to offer the next person fresh seed and you benefit from having free seeds. It's a win/win and it keeps Monsanto out of your garden and denies them profit from feeding your family.
(more)(contact SOLA)

Transition at Earth Day events

The Transition movement will be well represented at Earth Day events in many locations around the greater LA area. Stop by our table and say "hi!"

• Sat 4/17 - South LA Earth Day fair, tabling and mike (Joanne & Peter) 9:30am - 3pm
• Sat 4/17 - Topanga Earth Day fair, tabling (Don) 10am arrival
  
• Sat 4/17 Manhattan Beach Earth Day Fair at Pollywog Park 11am-4pm TSBLA (Dan and Janelle)
• Sat 4/17 - Raw Milk Event, Mar Vista (Vidya & Agnes) 2-4pm
  
• Sat 4/17 - Intro to Transition, Mar Vista (Vidya) 4-6pm Sat
  
• 4/17 - Ballona LETS kickoff at ECM (Joanne, Christine, Peter) - 5-7pm
  
• Sun 4/18 - Topanga Earth Day fair, workshop (Joanne &
  Bruce) 10am arrival, 12 noon workshop
  
• Sun 4/18 - Local foods event in Culver City (Kay) 12:30-3
  
• Thurs 4/22 - earth day events at The Learning Garden (Julie)
• Thurs 4/22 - looks like TSFV is tabling at the Valley Water Fair? 6-9pm
• Thurs 4/22 LA Green Drinks Earth Night Hollywood 7pm (Dan) contact TSBLA for details
  
• Thurs 4/22 - Quest game at ECM, 7pm
  
• Sat 4/24 - ??earth day events at The Learning Garden (Julie)
  
• Sat 4/24 - Gardens of Gratitude events, all over W LA
• Sun 4/25 - Gardens of Gratitude events, all over W LA
  
• Sun 4/25 - Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, Mar Vista at The Learning Garden & Vidya's personal garden (Vidya & Julie)
• Sun 4/25 - Peter is stepping in as host for an interfaith event; afternoon, near USC

Presenters: if you need handouts or displays, contact the TLA core team.

Topanga Earth Day - April 18

Core team members of Transition Los Angeles will be giving an "Introduction to Transition" session at the Topanga Earth Day festival.

The Festival takes place April 17-18. We are scheduled to present at noon on Sunday. If you or your friends are in the Topanga area, come see us!

The 11th annual Topanga Earth Day festival [is a] 90 percent waste-free non-profit event, [which] will unify people from around the world in celebration and promotion of ecological awareness, cultural respect and music on Saturday, April 17, from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., through Sunday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The festival takes place at the Topanga Community House Fair Grounds, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd, Topanga, California, 90290

TLA on KCRW

Listen to KCRW radio 89.9FM on Tuesday, March 30, 2:30 to 3pm for an interview with Transition Los Angeles' Joanne Poyourow.

more on Sustainable Health Care

Transition Mar Vista held a sustainable health care event on Saturday the 20th of March.

After the TMV event, Anneke Campbell, one of the TMV event organizers, wrote:

We invited people involved in the health care field, practitioners of alternative healing modalities and health care advocates, among them acupuncturists, ayurvedic, yoga practitioners, and homeopaths.

We started with people presenting to each other the connection to health care of each person in the room and also what gave people joy in their lives. After introductions, we brainstormed, speaking out loud our burning questions, passionate issues, great ideas.

Looking at all of our input, we decided that there were three main areas to discuss:

• The health care paradigm shift
• Education
• Direct care or treatment

These three breakout sessions met for an hour and 10 minutes and then presented their work to the group as a whole.

After this presentation, those people attending the last part of Saturday's program listed the following priorities:

• A monthly educational/support program at the yoga center where people with health issues can come together to learn from each other and find support.
• Monthly cultural health event - where we would invite diverse and indigenous folks to share their healing practices.
• Mapping our community health resources - creating a directory of practitioners
• Assessment of local needs and determining strategies to meet them.
• Upscaling existing solutions - providing greater access to alternative healing modalities to more people locally.
• Mobile health clinic
• Creating healing circles
• Story/telling: Recording healing stories and getting them out there - distribution
• A program that would nominate neighbors with good gardens and restaurants serving local and healthy foods and reward them with a rating system.
  

These next steps were agreed upon:

1. Those participants who want to continue in the group will familiarize themselves with the Transition Town movement. This could mean checking out Rob Hopkins book, or or coming to our April 17th event at the Sivananda Yoga center, in which we will show the 50 minute documentary "The Power of Community" and explain the principles of the Transition Town movement and hold a discussion.

2. A followup health care meeting was scheduled for Sunday May 16th in the afternoon, to reassess our priorities, narrow and refine goals and begin to discuss strategies.

We also discussed making sure that our meetings have a healing energy in themselves, (in the nature of a healing circle) so that we are being the change we want to see.

• You can connect with Transition Mar Vista and their Sustainable Health Care project here.
• The Transition Los Angeles City Hub coordinates communication between the many budding Transition Initiatives and mullers throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
• March issue of L.A. Yoga Magazine was about sustainable health care, and featured a front page, content-rich article with resources by Anneke Campbell