Chris Buse Dalla Lana School of Public Health

University of TorontoCPHA May 27, 2014 Toronto ON

The emergence of the transition movement in Canada: Implications for public health

Outline

• Emerging threats to health equity and public health practice in the 21st CE

• Transition Towns: A social movement preparing people to meet the challenge?

• Transition Emerging Study– Overview– Preliminary findings– Next Steps

Emerging Threats (to health equity)

Climate change

Ecosystem degradation

Widening socio-economic inequities

Resource depletion & energy insecurity

Implications for Public Health Practice

“Public health's role is to protect and promote health, prevent disease and reduce inequalities in health: Encouraging and supporting the transition to a sustainable, just and healthy

future is entirely consistent with this role.”

CPHA (2013) Global Change and Public Health: Addressing the Ecological Determinants of Health (Draft Report – August 9). Ottawa.

Integrated Healthy Settings Approach

Parkes et al. 2012

The Transition Town Movement: A Technology for Building Resilience

• Transition initiatives “are an emerging response: in essence, a powerful carbon reduction ‘technology’ and a new way of looking at responding to climate change and peak oil” (Hopkins 2008, p.1).

Goals of Transition Initiatives

Building Community Resilience

Transition to a low-carbon society

Reskilling

Emphasize connectedness

Re-localizing

production of basic needs

Resilience, Equity and the Development of Ecological Social Practices: Examining The Transition Town Movement in Canada

FUNDER: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 2012-2015

RESEARCH TEAM: Blake Poland (PI)(UofT), Paul Antze (YorkU), Randy Haluza-Delay (KingsUCollege), Cheryl Teelucksingh (Ryerson), Chris Ling (RRU), Lenore Newman (UFV), André-Anne Parent (ULaval), Chris Buse (UofT), Rebecca Hasdell (UofT), Rivka Kushner (UofT)

MOVEMENT ADVISORY GROUP CHAIR: Michelle Colussi (CCCR)

www.transitionemergingstudy.ca

Research Goal: "To understand the Transition Town movement in Canada as an attempt to meet a series of looming environmental and economic challenges by forming more resilient, equitable and locally engaged ‘communities of practice’ that foster a new ‘culture of sustainability’ among participants."

Methods Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Document Analysis Web scan (N=88) Internal Documents Update Webscan

e-Surveys Transition Initiative Founders (N=47)

TT Participants (N=289)

In-depth interviews

Local TT Founders/Leaders

(N=20)

Community key informants, municipal

councillors (N=10)

Key informants on equity in transition

in UK, US, Brazil (N=6)

Dialogic Workshops

Regional workshops

National KT summit

Components of TES Methodology

Distribution of Canadian Transition Initiatives by Province/ Region, up to and including 2012 (N=60)

Descriptive Statistics for Canadian TIs (N=47)Selected Variables  Categories CanadaTIs Identified Through Webscan 88

TIs Participating in Survey 47

Initiatives Registered on TT Network 37 (79%)Average Age of TIs in years 2.9Number of Organizers 5 or less 15 (33%)

6 or more 31 (67%)Frequency of Meetings 1-2 per year 4 (9%)

1 per 2-4 months 7 (15%)

1 per month 25 (53%)

> 1 per month 6 (13%)

Frequency of Events No events 2 (4%)1-2 per year 5 (11%)

1 per 2-4 months 10 (21%)

1 per month 18 (38%)

> 1 per month 9 (19%)

Perceived Local Political Climate Conservative 27 (58%)Progressive 18 (38%)

Perceived Impact of TI on Community3 Moderate 15 (32%)

Weak 25 (53%)None 4 (8%)

Event Focus (N=4695)Economics and Livelihood;

5%

Environmental Degradation & Remediation;

14%

Energy; 4%

Food; 32%

Health and Well-Being; 6%

Transport; 3%

Relationship Building; 16%

Building and Housing; 3%

Planning and Envisioning;

11%

Heart and Soul/Inner Transi-tion; 6%

Interest in health and well-being from a national survey of Transition participants (N=289)

Situating Health in Transition: Findings from a National Survey of Movement Participants (N=289)

• Relationship between: – Interest in health and food (Spearman’s = 0.281,

p<0.01– Interest in health and enviro degradation (Spearman’s

= 0.233 , p<0.01)– Health also associated with alternative transportation,

energy issues, inner transition, housing, planning• Longer lived in community, greater interest in

health (Spearman’s = 0.104, p<0.05)– Relationship not explained by age

Still a work in progress…• Lessons for public health include:

– Reframing of environmental threats as opportunities for community building and social connectedness

– Emphasize transformative learning, connectedness, resilience– Emphasis on entire communities as settings for health

promotion

• How do sustainable practices scale up and out?– It is a global movement, but to what extent does change in

one neighbourhood influence change in a city?

• How can strong interests related to health be leveraged for social change?

Thanks!

contact@transitionemergingstudy.ca

To what extent have initiatives discussed diversity?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Yes, A lot

Yes, Some

No, but we should

No, there are other priorities

Economics and livelihood

2%

Education22%

Energy4%

Food20%

Inner Transition1%Health and Well-

being2%

Heart and Soul5%

The Arts15%

Transport2%

Social11%

Com-mittee meet-ings10%

Climate Change7%

Building and Hous-ing1%

Activism1%

Distribution of Event Focus in Ontario (N=318), 2008-2012

workshops; book clubs; speakers; groups discussions; re-skilling;

conferences

garden share; seed and plant swaps; tree planting; community gardens; agriculture; food security; local food conference;

permaculture; farming

Events using arts to explore peak oil,

climate change, and transition; screens;

movie nights; films and discussion

Education 21%

Food 20 %

The Arts 15%