Community action/Totnes
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Totnes.
News
[edit | edit source]- World's first mobile library of things is on its way, Jan 30, 2020...@shareable
- Totnes pound: Currency killed by 'cashless economy', Mar 6, 2019...bbc.co.uk
- ShareFest brings people together to share, repair, swap and make, Dec 7, 2018...Network of Wellbeing
How community projects are building a brighter future for British farms, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Nov 11, 2025) - As pine martens are reintroduced to south-west England, a new study shows why local people need to be involved, theconversation.com (Sep 09, 2025) — "...more collaborative relationships can be developed when people are involved in making plans for reintroduction."
- ‘They’re beautiful’: 13-year-olds lead audacious project to save harvest mice in Devon, theguardian.com (Aug 28, 2025)
- Met Office issues rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday, theguardian.com (Jun 22, 2026)
- Rights of Nature movement grows, with the Wye and Ouse subject to new protection charters, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Jun 18, 2026) — Nature sits at the heart of several new sets of rights and charters; it’s even headlining a festival this summer. Is the way that we view and value Nature within our political and cultural frameworks at a turning point? asks Hannah Marsh
- This city had a flooding problem. So it turned to an animal that had been extinct there for 400 years, edition.cnn.com (Jun 18, 2026)
- Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
- How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe, theconversation.com (May 15, 2026)
- Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary, theguardian.com (May 07, 2026)
- Collaborative Finance (CoFi): rethinking finance for the commons, growingcommons.substack.com (Jun 07, 2026) — What finance looks like when communities build and govern it themselves, Michel Rauchs
- Radical change can lead to a fairer and greener world, says new report, positive.news (Jun 04, 2026) — A major new study argues that rising living standards, shorter working hours and a liveable climate are not competing dreams, but parts of the same future – if the world is willing to tackle extreme inequality
- Dutch kids declared the world’s happiest (again). Here’s why, positive.news (Jun 02, 2026) — Dutch children are consistently ranked the happiest kids in the developed world. What is the Netherlands getting right? And does the humble bike have something to do with it?
Networks and sustainability initiatives
[edit | edit source]- Transition Town Totnes, Video: Transition Town Totnes: where we've come from, 2016, youtube.com, TransitionTownTotnes channel on youtube.com
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Rural sustainability UK, Community energy UK, Community action/Argyll and Bute / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
UK and international events
[edit | edit source]UK events
Jul 1 - 14, 2026 (Wed - Tue) — Community Energy Fortnight, communityenergyengland.org- Jul 02, 2026 (Thu) — Cycle to Work Day, cyclescheme.co.uk
- Jul 17 - Aug 9, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Big Butterfly Count, bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
- Jul 19 - 25, 2026 (Sun - Sat), The theme for 2026 is JOY — Community Centre Week, octopuscommunities.org.uk
- Jul 24 - Aug 2, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Love Parks Week, Keep Britain Tidy
Global or international events
- July 2026 — Plastic Free July, plasticfreejuly.org
- Jul 04, 2026 (Sat) — International Day of Cooperatives (CoopsDay), 1st Saturday of July. The celebration aims to showcase co-operatives’ role in building ‘inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities’, coopsday.coop
- Jul 18, 2026 (Sat) — Mandela Day, global celebration 18 July annually, to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. A call to action for individuals, communities, and organisations to take time to reflect on Mandela's values and principles and to make a positive impact in their own communities, mandeladay.com
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Totnes video
[edit | edit source]
Food activism
[edit | edit source]- How to set up a squash growing co-op, Shareable, Feb 25, 2019
- Food in Community, rescues and sorts surplus fresh fruit and vegetables, and delivers boxes to charities and community groups in and around Totnes
Community energy
[edit | edit source]Totnes Renewable Energy Society
Land activism
[edit | edit source]Past events
- March 21, 2015, A Land Conference, Totnes
Towards sustainable economies
[edit | edit source]- REconomy centre Totnes, a workplace for a strong local economy. Home of the Totnes REconomy Project, and a Local Entrepreneur Forum, added 15:19, 14 December 2020 (UTC)
- Atmos Totnes, first project to be led by Totnes Community Development Society, an Industrial and Provident Society committed to pioneering community-led development in a way rooted in local economies.
- Local Economic Blueprint highlights potential of community resilience, March 28 2013
Community resources
[edit | edit source]Share Shed, a 'library of things' based in Totnes
Health and wellbeing
[edit | edit source]- Caring Town, local network of public, voluntary and private organizations and groups working together for health and welfare in Totnes & District
- Network of Wellbeing, organisation based in Totnes
Community currencies activism
[edit | edit source]Funding community action
[edit | edit source]Totnes Wellbeing Fund, networkofwellbeing.org
Video: Totnes Wellbeing Fund, 2015, youtube.com
Ethical consumerism
[edit | edit source]Sustainable transport activism
[edit | edit source]Totnes railway station is situated on the Exeter to Plymouth line, and has trains direct to London Paddington, Penzance and Plymouth, and as far north as Aberdeen. Nearby, Totnes (Littlehempston) railway station is at the southern end of the South Devon Railway Trust which runs tourist steam locomotives along the line that follows the River Dart up to Buckfastleigh. Since the River Dart is navigable to seagoing boats as far as Totnes, the estuary was used for the import and export of goods from the town until 1995, and there are still regular pleasure boat trips down the estuary to Dartmouth. Bus services connect the town to Dartmouth, Plymouth, Torbay and Newton Abbot. W
Cycling activism
[edit | edit source]Community Electric Bikes available! Transition Town Totnes
Education for sustainability
[edit | edit source]Bioregional Learning Centre, located in Totnes
About Totnes
[edit | edit source]
Totnes ( TOT-nuhss or tot-NESS) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England. It is about 5 miles (8 km) west of Paignton, about 7 miles (11 km) west-southwest of Torquay and about 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Plymouth, adjacent to the South Devon National Landscape. It is the administrative centre of the South Hams District Council. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 8,241.
Totnes has a long recorded history, dating back to 907, when its first castle was built. By the twelfth century it was already an important market town, and its former wealth and importance may be seen from the number of merchants' houses built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Today the town has a sizeable alternative and New Age community and is known as a place where one can live a bohemian lifestyle, though in recent times it has also gained a reputation as being a UK hotspot for conspiracy theorists.
News archive
[edit | edit source]2018-2020
World's first mobile library of things is on its way, Jan 30, 2020...@shareable
- Totnes pound: Currency killed by 'cashless economy', Mar 6, 2019...bbc.co.uk
- ShareFest brings people together to share, repair, swap and make, Dec 7, 2018...Network of Wellbeing
- Community potlucks: Shared meals help build deep ties among residents in Totnes, Dec 5, 2018...Shareable
2017
- How the Share Shed in the UK is Building Community, Jul 5...@Shareable
- Earth.Food.Love Puts UK On Map Of Zero-Waste Grocery Stores, May 30...progrss.com
- "I'm welling up just talking about it": the marvel of Totnes LEF6, May 16...Transition Network
- Caring Town: Fiona Ward, May 3...farnearer.org
- How 'Grown in Totnes' are reimagining the local food economy, May 2...Transition Network
2013-2014
- Atmos Totnes creates national precedent, September 26, 2014...Transition Network
- Calling all local food growers and processors to join a new outlet in for local producers in Totnes, July 2, 2014...Transition Town Totnes
- Totnes to Trial New Electronic Currency, May 21, 2014...Totnes Pound Blog
- Frances Northrop on 'Healthy Town Totnes', May 12, 2014
- Simple steps towards local prosperity, March 28, 2013...Living with rats
Near you
[edit | edit source]See also
[edit | edit source]| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2017–2025). "Community action/Totnes". Appropedia. Retrieved June 24, 2026. |