Kestävyyden rakentaminen lähetystyössä (BRIM)

Missionin kaupunki koostuu Missionin pikkukaupungista ja sitä ympäröivästä maaseutualueesta, joka sijaitsee noin 70 kilometriä Vancouverista itään, Brittiläisessä Kolumbiassa, Kanadassa. Se sijaitsee Fraser-joen pohjoisrannan rinteillä, josta on näkymät Fraserin laaksoon. Nopeasti kasvavan yhteisön väkiluku on tällä hetkellä noin 41 000.

In October 2011, the Vancouver-based Be The Change Earth Alliance, in cooperation with the District of Mission Restorative Justice program, presented an Environmental Symposium in Mission.  Following the symposium, about 10 people formed an Action Circle to meet for 2 hours every second Saturday afternoon.  There are currently 8 members.  Initially, the focus was on supporting each other as we worked on individual actions leading to personally and ecologically healthier life-styles.  We then expanded our actions into the community with several Transition-like events.

In the summer of 2014, the Be The Change Circle decided that its next project would be the creation of a Transition Initiative in Mission.  We began in July with 2 awareness-raising events – first a booth at the local Farmers’ Market then 2 weeks later a booth at a street festival.  The intention was not to be the Transition Initiative but to be the catalyst in its formation.

On March 28, 2015, about 40 citizens attended a public meeting to introduce the Transition concept to Mission.  A couple of short videos explained the principals of Transition.  Then, a panel of 3 representatives of local Transition Towns (Golden Ears TI, Village Surrey and Village Vancouver) described the goals, activities, problems and successes of their Transition initiatives.  This was followed by a panel of 4 local community members who explained how they see the Transition Town initiative benefiting existing and future community activities.  The concept was enthusiastically received and a follow-up meeting on April 11 attracted about 25 people interested in seeing this venture proceed.  The result of this meeting was a Core Group of 6 people who will form the Transition Initiative and another 14 who expressed willingness to volunteer at events or provide any help when needed.

Ydinryhmä ja Be The Change -toimintaryhmä (TI:n aloitteentekijät) ovat kokoontuneet kolme kertaa. Ensimmäinen päätös oli TI:n nimi, joka on nyt nimeltään BRIM - Resilienssin rakentaminen lähetystyössä.

Sadly, the energy of this group gradually died off and there was only one person left.  After few years of inactivity (especially during Covid), a new group of people has revived BRIM. The most popular project by far is the monthly “Repair Cafe” held at the library.  We intend to introduce other projects and to become more of a hub for like-minded community groups.