Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age

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For Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of the Transition Network, meaningful change is now most likely not at the centre but through local government. The Transition movement began in Hopkins’s home town of Totnes, Devon, in 2006, when people began sharing ideas of how to move from a carbon-based economy to a healthier, more sustainable community. Community change often begins with food. “You don’t need anyone’s permission around food. It’s not expensive. You just need people, tools and a deadline,” Hopkins says. In Totnes, “it’s been a fairly lonely furrow for a long time. Finally the surrounding world is starting to catch up a little bit.” Now that 245 local authorities across the UK have declared a climate emergency, which requires tough new carbon-reduction targets, councils will require the practical ideas of the Transition movement. Sadly, there are no simple solutions for weathering ongoing and forthcoming supply chain storms. As uncertainty is set to continue on an international scale, with businesses needing to prioritise sustainability and environmental issues, the case for resilient localised supply chains is stronger than ever.

Arlem award The Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), in collaboration with its close partners and supporters, grants an award to a young entrepreneur at local level from the Mediterranean partner countries of ARLEM.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is launching a new call for best practices to its members and alternates, Young Elected Politicians (YEPs) and members the CoR network of local and regional councillors to collect and promote low-carbon and sustainable projects as well as climate commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from local and regional authorities across the EU. Does your region or city have a specific project that targets the objectives of the European Green Deal? Has your region or city set a target to reduce GHG emissions by 2030 or 2050? Then this new call is right for you.

Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) Territorial Impact Assessments (TIAs) aim to provide the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) rapporteurs with an analysis of the potential territorial impact of EU legislative proposals.

Regional Hubs The CoR launched a new generation of its Regional Hubs Network (RegHub). Its members monitor the implementation of EU policies on the ground and make sure that the voices of hundreds of regional and local stakeholders are taken into account when these policies are evaluated at European level. Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) The Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) is an assembly of local and regional representatives from the European Union and its Mediterranean partners. In the commissions, Members of the CoR produce opinions on UE legislative proposals and initiatives, as well as discuss other issues relevant to the work of Europe's more than one million local politicians.

The fact of the matter is, the effects of the pandemic have caused wholesale re-evaluation of supply chains, which has been exacerbated by further challenges, such as the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, subsequent sanctions, and shortages caused by Ukrainian farmers being unable to produce and export grain that the world has come to rely on.

Goinlocal would like to wish all its readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your continuing support in 2015. We look forward to seeing you all in 2016