Finally I'm home and this is a good place to leaf through and start with.
Reading blogs the other day by Rob Hopkins of Transition Culture and the exchange between his responses and Alex Steffen's critique of Transition at WorldChanging is quite interesting. They provide two different views on Transition and raised a vehement debate among each other's supporters, which needs more devotion to get explicit understanding. However, one point is quite amusing to me when Alex offered to fly over to UK to have a debate with Rob face to face next year, while Rob replied I no longer fly and your coming here would be, at least in climate terms, somewhat conterproductive. That reminds me my own experience of travel, particularly the recent trip to UK.
I was on a research trip for ecological art development in UK. Many people I met and interviewed are environmental-minded souls. A lot of them told me they give up flying and don't travel abroad any more. Since I just flew a long way from Asia to UK, those remarks always made me quite jittering and feeling guitly. So it took me of surprise when I came across a handbook by Knowle West Media Centre provided by KWMC staff Misty, the "Active Travel -- supporting you to become MORE ACTIVE!" It immediately grasped my attention.
The booklet is beautifully handled and designed, with a cover page of grass-green background and bright red hand-written titles, some silhouettes of activities against a simple but idyllic patterns, nicely knitted together, delivering a soothing atmosphere.
Inside it uses very lively words and smart designs to keep you follow their thread of message. In fact the booklet is to promote travel by walking or cycling, riding a horse or on roller skates! To quote from the handbook: ... anything that is people powered! No wonder it is "ACTIVE"! You have to be very active to take the trip of travelling around by those means! It is a humorous way to deliver the message while making impressive sense on readers or audiences.
On the back page of the booklet, it gives such instructions:
How To Use This Handbook
● Keep it safe and use it whenever you need motivating
● use our handy quiz to work out what is realistic for you
● Use it together with support from the AT team
● Take one step at a time; be proud of what you do, not what you don't do
I feel particularly inclined to the last line, about being proud of what you do, not what you don't do. It shows the sympathy with people who are not ready yet but willing to take a try. No accusing fingers to shy off the hesitant but warm-hearted support. It also shows an attitude of building up positive responses instead of rejective feelings. THAT is really something won my heart over.
