Round up of the week

Goodness, it’s nearly March already. The sun is out, the snow is gone, the chickens are foraging in the garden, and my mother is starting to send me Easter Eggs!

Keen-eyed readers will have noticed that there have been no “Notes from Monday’s meeting” this week. That is partly because I wasn’t at the meeting, and partly because the notes haven’t been written-up yet.

In 1965, when I was three years old, a researcher called Bruce Tuckman proposed that there are four phases essential to any successful group. He said that in order for any team to grow, face up to challenges, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results, it is necessary and inevitable that they go through four phases: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing.

It doesn’t matter whether the group is a sports team planning to win a world cup, a business team trying to make a profit, a couple trying to form a successful relationship, or a voluntary group trying to increase the resilience, prosperity, and vibrancy of the community in which they live(!), all four phases are essential if the group is to succeed.

Recently our group has been moving from the ‘Forming’ phase into the ‘Storming’ one. On Monday night the group sat down and talked, in what by all accounts was a very nurturing and productive meeting, and began the move into the ‘Norming’ stage.

The group discussed what had been happening and agreed what they wanted to see instead. These ‘norms’ are now being written-up and will be developed further as we move forward. They will help us to become a stronger team as we grow into the ‘Performing’ stage.

In other news this week, the Farnham Garden Share has continued to go from strength to strength.

There are now seven gardens in the scheme and we are starting to look for gardeners. Initiative-leader Ian Bysh has been interviewed by BBC Southern Counties Radio, and the interview will  be broadcast on Monday morning.

Also this week, Eloise Grey announced the launch of the Sustainable Fashion Group. Its Clothes Swap Party is being held in collaboration with the Purity boutique in Farnham’s Downing Street, and award-winning local stylist Chantelle Znideric.

If promises to be a lot of fun, and the date for this first event is March 5th.

Other sustainable fashion events are in the pipeline, and I hope Eloise won’t mind me saying that all this has been arranged at the same time as she has been preparing for her own first-ever exhibition at London Fashion Week, which starts today. We wish her luck!

And finally, other top blogs this week have talked about:

– the 125mph electric car
– how new ways of growing food can help create Food Forests and even green the desert
– an update from Transition around the world, and
– the Transition Conference 2009