The Story of We make transition!

Sustainability challenges are complex and intertwined with environmental, social, economic, cultural and historical factors. There is a need to enhance holistic and systemic understanding. All levels of society should be engaged to prioritise actions and develop new cooperation. Various civil society actors – associations, social entrepreneurs, cooperatives, communities and individuals are sources of social innovations that foster ecological and social sustainability. However, their voice and ideas are not heard properly in decision-making.

We make transition! organised 12 local transition arenas

We make transition! project (2023-2025) engaged a great number of regional and local authorities, civil society actors and social entrepreneurs from the Baltic Sea Region. Project partners from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany and Norway cooperated with 12 cities and municipalities in implementing ‘local transition arena workshop processes. Transition arena is a series of workshops that include co-creation of a joint vision, pathways towards the vision, concrete actions and initiatives. WMT! arena topics were related to food, nature & biodiversity, social sustainability and circular economy. Each location defined their transition arena topic bottom-up based on the local cooperation needs.

The following transition arenas were organised: 1) Hämeenkyrö Agriculture Arena, 2) Helsinki-Uusimaa Circular Transition, 3) Sustainable Future in Kimitoön, 4) Uusikaupunki – Nature in my Neighbourhood, 5) Tartu Circular Economy Transition, 6) Organic Food Transition in Bremen Schools, 7) Organic Food Transition in Vidzeme region, 8) Trondheim Local Sustainable Food System, 9) Tampere Future Arena of Sustainable Life, 10) Sustainability Transition in Education, Lääne-Harju, 11) Gdynia Cross-sectoral Sustainability, 12) Namsos Circular Initiatives.

Transition arena processes strengthen the local sense of community, empower local actors, and initiate jointly developed and agreed actions towards the desired future. Transition arena results provided new perspectives and were integrated into regional/local strategies. The learnings from participatory approach and listening to the views of different actors were taken into use.

Some examples of the transition arena results:

• Trondheim municipality, federal state of Bremen, Vidzeme region and Hämeenkyrö municipality had the focus on promoting local food (Bremen and Vidzeme especially organic food). In all locations the idea of involving various food stakeholders from all levels to enhance sustainable local food system was adapted at strategic level (e.g. Vidzeme regional food strategy, Bremen food strategy, Hämeenkyrö climate plan). Vidzeme region empowered local actors to co-create Bioregion with actions for promoting organic local food in schools, organising farm visits for children and improving cooking skills. An annual Bioregion Forum was started and the region achieved international visibility with the Bioregion brand that engages local actors.
• In Tampere the Culture Center of Sustainable Life -pilot that was co-created by the city and various local actors in a vacant urban space received plenty of good feedback and the Center will get support from the city also after the project. It provides an excellent model of a community building space with urban farming and repair workshops that welcome all citizens of different ages and backgrounds. The idea is that anyone can feel welcomed in meaningful activities, no matter of societal status or political thinking.  Culture and art exhibitions attract various people to join.
• In Uusikaupunki the local group of biodiversity promoters was created and will continue meetings and activities in cooperation with the city. Informational signs designed to raise awareness of biodiversity in unmanaged private yards were produced and distributed to locals.
• In Lääne-Harju, Estonia a new Education Strategy was co-created together with education stakeholders from different levels, youth and parents. For example, organising more education in the nature, promoting sustainable mobility and involving students in decision-making are now strategic principles in the Lääne-Harju schools.

A manual for practical use of the transition arena method

As the main outcome, We make transition! project produced a manual for applying the transition arena method in a simple and practical way to enhance common ground and cooperation between local actors from different levels. The manual helps any actor to implement the key elements of transition arena process.

BSR Vision of Sustainable Life

We make transition! project invited a group of change agents from the Baltic Sea region to co-create a sustainable vision about how does the sustainable future 2035 looks from the grassroot point of view. The publication also includes recommendations for local authorities and decision-makers.

Case studies of civil society making sustainability transitions

Case studies compile 18 inspiring success stories related to social sustainability, circular economy, biodiversity, sustainable food and lifestyle from six Baltic Sea region countries. It showcases the power of civil society initiatives and reveal the fundamental value of active civil society for social innovations and sustainability.

Programme Manual Online

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