Chris Buse Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto CPHA May 27, 2014 Toronto ON The...

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%