"We have the option to passively accept what life gives us or to actively engage in it -- to seek self-reliance and self-determination. I believe we must pursue that option. Society is the product of its members. The more humane its members, or at least its leaders, the more humane the society."
Banner photo by Bill Sharp Copyright (c) 2016
Transition Centre
"I think it is clear that to change the world you need to change yourself. There has to be a method, a school, for preparing more people to engage what many of us believe are inevitable challenges. That is not an easy task. A lot of people have and continue to work in that direction. The Cove Institute program seeks to synergize these efforts. "
The business we are in is: Prosperity and Quality of Life
That can be achieved today only through resilient local initiatives.
The Road to a Sustainable Future
We must ask what are the odds of achieving a sustainable future and what will it take to achieve the best that can be? What, for example, is the real likelihood of holding global warming to two degrees? We must ask if the classical definition of sustainability, to preserve the quality of life for the future, is still possible as global population continues to swell?
In response to these increasingly urgent question, Transition Centre has developed the theme of "The Road to a Sustainable Future." See link here.
Transition Centre is a Pennsylvania Nonprofit Corporation.
Bill Sharp (Linkedin) and Bob Flatley are co-founders of Transition Centre.
The Mission of Transition Centre:
Promote and develop an integral design for strong, local, human-scaled, self-sufficient and sustainable economies and communities that have resilience to overcome the inevitable challenges arising from economic uncertainty, climate instability and resource depletion.
The Vision of Transition Centre:
Adaptable and innovative communities with the resilience to meet the challenges of the day building on local resources, innovation and regenerative economic redevelopment.
The Objectives of Transition Centre:
- Transition Centre promotes the best practice model of an effective grassroots program for rebuilding local community economic sustainability and a growing level of self-reliance.
- An integral ecosystem architecture of the self-sufficient community and local economy.
- A comprehensive learning institute to prepare youth and adults for the challenges of a society in a state of increasing disequilibrium.
- Innovative leadership capable of guiding the transformation of communities, from villages to urban neighborhoods, to achieve sustainability.
- Provide materials and resources to assist communities to achieve sustainability.
What we do:
Transition Centre provides consultation, coaching, planning and workshops about building your community’s sustainable future. We offer:
- Transitional Awareness: Building awareness of why your community needs to create a resilient, sustainable economy to secure its future.
- Sustainability Master Design: A workable and doable framework for organizing all sectors of your community to secure a high quality future.
- Community Ecosystem Mapping: Identifying, connecting and mobilizing the resources of your community into a self-defining, self-sustaining network of collaborative action.
- Sustainable Economy: Leadership, enterprise and economic redevelopment to reinvigorate your local economy, that adapts to the rapid and erratic changes of the global economic system and that will secure a stable and viable future for your community.
Self-Reliance and Resilient Communities
Transition Centre has asked two tough questions:
- Do we know what has to be done to achieve a sustainable future?
- Do we have the capacity to do that?
There is then a third question we must ask: If not then what?
In response to these questions, Transition Centre is offering three programs:
- Resilient Communities
- Foodshed Strategy
- Integral Leadership
As seen in the quote on the right of this page, achieving the capacity to achieve a resilient community depends on leadership. We offer the first in a series of workbooks: Self-Reliance; Achieving Personal Resiliency and Independence. This book can be found on Kindle at this link.
Self-Reliance is founded on the principle that human beings appear to have been designed by nature to solve problems. Self-reliant, resilience personalities seek to maximize this potential. The book provides tools and practices to develop this capacity.
Four things are required of the resilient personality:
- Clarity and certainty about who and what you are.
- Ability to accurately perceive reality both internally and externally: WIGO – What Is Going On.
- Ability to accurate define problems.
- Knowledge and skills needed to effectively solve these problems.
For more on this theme go to the Cove Institute tab.