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Transition Leicester is a network of local people that aims to inspire action to make Leicester a thriving, low-carbon and resilient. It was created in 2008. It launch several projects promoting local food, renewable energy Permaculture design and more. I joined Transition Leicester in 2012 after finishing my master degree and moving to Leicester. During my studies, I was introduced to the Transition movement as a model supporting the transition towards a sustainable system of production and consumption and after my master thesis and the clear disenchantment I experienced after my interviews, I wanted to understand the role of grassroots communities in supporting change. When I first joined, I worked on a project about the money system by creating a local group for Positive Money, organising events and discussion as well as workshops in collaboration with Footpaths Leicester (a project which also started under Transition Leicester). My conversation with Footpaths Leicester led to the o...

Footpaths Leicester is a way for people to meet and support each other to reduce their personal carbon footprints. It offers a structured, supportive and fun environment in which people can work out what they want to change in your life to reduce your carbon footprint - and a community of like minded people to do it with.  They provide a structure course of eight meetings with two facilitators and people to do it with. Beyond the course, Footpaths provide support to support people to continue on improving their personal carbon footprint, through one off events, workshops and get together. How did I get involved with Footpaths Leicester? I wanted to find out how grassroots organisation support people through change to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable system of consumption and production. It was after joining Transition Leicester and starting a Positive Money project to improve literacy about the money system that I eventually met with Zina Zelter, founder of Footpaths...

Leicester Fixers is a community of citizens  that work together to mend the broken, reduce waste going into landfills, and campaign for the right to repair.  We operate under the umbrella of Transition Leicester which aims to create more resilient and sustainable communities. They do this by  Sharing tips and suggestions on how to repair  Promoting repair and upcycling businesses Organising Restart Parties and Festival - e.g. Green Festival of Making and Mending Delivering Outreach Programme to support citizens to start their own repair group - e.g. Leicestershire Community Repair Outreach Programme Delivering presentations and talks to inspire others to start their own repair community Contributing to research and discussion about the Right to Repair and the factors influencing prosumers to repair Delivering training and workshops Participating in National and International Days of Repair How can you connect with Leicester Fixers FB Group Instagram Restarters Footpa...

Growing up in the performing arts sectors, I have seen theatre professionals shipping projects and plays every year, touring them and closing them for good. What I liked the most while observing the process were the conversations, the questions they asked to one another and the reflection. With One Question Comes A Great Story - A Story of Change - A Story of Transformation. Here are some of the questions I asked myself over the years: Why do people consume so much when they know that the rest of the world is in a pitiful state? How can design support What is the role of designers in supporting the transition towards a circular economy? What is the role of local government in supporting citizens in their sustainable journey? What is the role of grassroots communities in supporting people in reducing their carbon footprint? What is the effectiveness of a community-based approach in raising awareness about sexual violence in a set community? What can we do better to raise awareness about...

One of Transition Leicester 's vision for Leicester in 2030 is to have the necessary infrastructures to encourage people to leave their cars and use other means of transports.    In this beautiful festive season, a small action to meet this vision was to thank the existing cyclists for riding their bicycle amongst the roaring cars and humming pedestrians.  Random acts of kindness can be simple as making some tags with some recycled christmas cards, paper cards, repurposed wool' strings and a bit of writing inspirations and some smiling volunteers.    30 bicycles were tagged. Good things!  Have a 'Wheelie' good Christmas and Ride Happily within the New Year. Drop some comments

A quick extract of an article I wrote after an event I've organised in Leicester with the support of Positive Money and Transition Leicester.  You can access the full article on  Positive Money Blog . ''In the last few months, I contemplated the idea of organising an event in Leicester about Money and the financial system. I first started by looking for a supportive group of individuals to do it with but after few unsuccessful  attempts in recruiting people and ensuring continuous involvement, it became clear that speaking was not enough but that I had to take action. I was letting go of my passive consumer shield to be more of an active citizen. With the full support of Transition Leicester and Positive Money, 5 knowledgeable key speakers were invited. 40 people managed to attend the event. Food, hot and cold drinks were available for everyone to share. The evening turned out not only to be fun and interesting but also educating. This was a moment we travelled in a l...

Transition Leicester is still here for anyone to come along and ask for support. You can, I can, we can. We have a bank account, an insurance and a track record of experience we can share with starting initiatives. So if you happen to live in Leicester, have an idea our already started a project. Get in touch info (at) Transitionleicester. Org

This is blog is for you if you are serving families, mother, father, children in Leicestershire to - To take care of what we have in common: The planet - To encourage them to be open and inclusive of others - To support them in sharing their gifts for the local economy to be more resilient. If you tick more than one of this boxes, i am inviting you - To Get inspired by the stories of people who are in Leicestershire trying to enact change and empowered people to direct their lives - To share those stories to people around you so they can get inspired - To submit your story. Why? Because the power of stories can change the world as long as they are shared widely. So get sharing! About me My name is Marie. I live in Leicestershire since 2012. In my first year of arrival, i engaged with Transition Leicester, Positive Money and Footpaths Leicester. I ran the positive money leicester group.  I organised events, a discussion group and the Money workshop to help people reflect ...

I recently participated in  a focus group for a master dissertation. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the strategies implemented by Transition groups to encourage the spread of low carbon communities. One of the question asked was how does Transition Leicester engage with communities? The truth of the matter is that Transition do not engage with communities. Transition engage with individuals who want to use our platform to express their vision for the future as well as their own identities. Communities only emerge out from individuals desires' for cohesion and belonging. It is within frame of reference or gathering of voices that connecions are created. As Seth Godin put it, we are not crowdsourcing energy, we are bobsourcing .

In line with my commitment of being FREE, I strive to be more economically literate. An event that I am trying to promote at the moment is the one below. Please share the word and be sure to be numerous. POVERTY, DEBT, INEQUALITY It is all about Money IMAGINATION, CHANGE, SOLUTIONS It is all about People PEOPLE and  MONEY DISCUSSION TIME IN LEICESTER TUESDAY 3 RD DECEMBER - FROM 6.30 TO 9PM At the Friends Meeting House, 16 Queens Road Leicester A gathering of people to discuss questions and issues about ‘Money as a currency and main driver of the economy’ as well as to share with imagination and inspiration, solutions and ideas for change. 4 inspiring and knowledgeable guests ·          Damon Gibbons – Director, Centre of Responsible Credit ·          Marco Sachy – Activist in the complementary currency movement Dyndy and the Bitcoin Community ·   ...

The Greenlight Festival on the 22nd of April in Leicester took place in De Montfort University. It is organised by a team of passionate volunteers and showcased the best of all things green in Leicester... through talks, workshops, performance, kids'activities and a whole lot more.  Positive Money, Footpaths and Transition Leicester were present. We've run a taster workshop on Money. It was an opportunity for people to get a taste of our One Day workshop to be run on Sunday 11th May in Leicester but mainly to kickstart the discussion about our relationship with financial issues.  We had in total 19 people participating to the workshop.  Money is definitely a topic worth talking about particularly in our time of austerity and environmental degradation. We were really pleased to welcome so many people all together. The value in exploring the question on the impacts money has on the world and our own personal development is high. Ultimately, money manageme...

In the Moneyless Manifesto by  Mark Boyle , I stumbled across ‘gift circles’ and we are going to give it a go at Riverside Festival on the 7th June 2014 at 3pm on the Bede Island by the Transition Leicester Marquee Gift circles are an organisational format to facilitate gift giving and promote community. For more info on its structure have a look here >  http://wiki.gifteconomy.org/Gift_Circle We need people who are happy to share contact details with one another. We are happy generally speaking for those who do not want to participate to the circle to listen and watch! Come directly on the Bede Island at the Transition Leicester and Green Light Marquee at 14:50 For more information, contact me directly on moneyleicester@gmail.com

Did you have many thoughts going through your head today and yet no idea what you could possibly write. You had the thought to possibly draft something and publish tomorrow. NO, there is always something worth sharing. This is what in my dry-spell, I came up with: [ - Living in Leicester? , learn the violin with Suzuki Violin instructor Zina Zelter, my main Footpaths partner in reducing carbon footprint. - Mindfulness in the making. ] [ - Transition Leicester is still alive - Ask me, I'll tell you ] [- OnlyWorn and Leicester Fixers discussing T-shirts, do you want to know more? ] [ - There will be some sewing repair at the next restart party in Leicester - 6th May - check facebook page] [ I dreamt of being a business/academic/fashion/laissez faire/actress - somewhere in my heart, there is a thirst to be on the stage somewhere in Broadway]

After the success of our first event, it was now time to convene together with a group of like-minded people to get the ball rolling. I launched my call for people to join me at De Montfort University - Room 0.07 at 7pm. I advertised the event online, shared the words in various groups, Transition Leicester, Permaculturists, Twitter and Facebook Communities. I sent the info to my mailing list but who knows what is going to happen. Among the Yeses & Apologies, some questions: One of the questions asked was whether the difficulty to spread the word via social media was due to general apathy or fear of the supposed complexity of the issue. With no judgement and bias, I do not know. But I am sure that the message is acknowledged by some. One of the second question was to know how many people would be present. Ultimately, I do not know. But as long as the people who are coming want to contribute and do something, it will be good enough. What I know is that by sharing inf...

I want to be debt-free. I am a taker for wealth. Having no money, plus debt is the worst social contract you can take with society, it forces you into slavery. To complete a Mdes in Design for Innovation and Sustainability at Cranfield University, I took a loan with a French bank for 12K to repay in 5 years. The month I completed the course, I started to repay the loan. I felt I made a pact with the devil. I sold my soul for worldly pleasure and now have to repay my debt to society by prostituting my mind and body by doing meaningless tasks. I managed to get a mentally stimulating job. I am a Customer Insight Officer at Melton Mowbray. It is probably not my dream job, however, it is a good experience. I keep dreaming about what to do next once I have cleared this debt and started accumulating capital. In the meantime, volunteering with Transition Leicester, Footpaths Leicester and Positive Money in Leicester allows me to meet interesting people. I just want to be happy and fr...

Published on Restart Project My name is Marie Lefebvre. I co-founded with Divya Pujara, Leicester Fixers in 2014 with the support of  Footpaths , a carbon footprint project,  Leicester Hackspace  and Transition Leicester. Other little things about myself, I am not a repairer yet I am absolutely delighted every time an electrical item gets opened and I can see inside it. I am also a Ph.D student at Loughborough University investigating the propensity of users of stuff to repair. I love each and every Restart Party because I always learn something new and meet lovely people.

Enjoying a magnificent journey with Footpaths, Positive Money and Transition Leicester, relationships are flourishing and inspired we are to help others to explore their relationship with Money and the rest of the world. It has been a fabolous experience to design the workshop. it is now time to share it with the world. Hope you will come numerous. Money:  Impacts, Perceptions & Actions A one hour taster session & one day workshop run by Footpaths and Positive Money Leicester One hour taster session: Greenlight Festival 22 nd March, 2-3pm, Queens building, De Montfort University. This is free. Advanced booking is recommended but not essential. One day workshop : Sunday 11 th May, 11am-4pm, Bishop Street, Leicester Please book early for this as places are limited. Suggested donation: £5 (low income) £10 (comfortable income) £15 if you feel like it. To book or for more information, contact Footpaths ...

Self-esteem is a term used to describe an individual's sense of worth or personal value. Low self-esteem can impacts an individual performance when studying, working, managing their personal affair or relationships. For me, low self-esteem is always on the corner, and everyday I need to work at it. let me tell you what causes low self-esteem, my personal stint with self-esteem and how I try to fight it off every single day. What causes low self-esteem? The way a person feels about themselves is linked directly to their experiences and how they deal with situations : Unsupportive family and carers play an influential role Friends with negative influence Stressful life events such bereavement, moving houses, relationship problems, losing a job  Ongoing stress Poor study or work performance Mental health problems Physical health problems Financial issues bullying or abused loneliness ongoing medical issues Experiencing prejudice, discrimination sigmas What's it...

My main purpose is to make the invisible visible: the talents, stories, passion and majesty of all the people that I meet.  I do this under the umbrella of Lightseekers for community arts projects and start-ups, Transition Leicester for environmental projects, Leicester Fixers for projects supporting repair. Depending on the focus of your project, I'll support you through planning and project delivery (Inc. Research, event management, curation, marketing and communication and more) - mentorship, training and consultancy as well as bid writing and fundraising + advertising opportunities. I have several packages for support with a first hour discussing your vision and what you are looking to achieve for free. Contact me via social media  and send me your email address with an idea of the projects you are looking to develop. I will then send you a list of all the offerings accordingly.

It was the second year I was participating in the Riverside Festival as a volunteer under Transition Leicester tent. It was a different but very satisfying experience compared to last year. The festival appeared to have grown in size. There were wonderful display of collective efforts both musical and colourful!  Some Pictures