Find key areas where work is already being done
Often there is already sustainability work happening which you could complement with Transition. For example, the Estates/Facilities Management team are probably already monitoring the energy usage in university buildings, somebody might be revising the procurement strategy for university cafés, there is maybe already a university biodiversity plan waiting to be implemented. All of these types of things are opportunities for Transition to learn about, support, and further develop current action.
Physical location
Having a physical hub in terms of an office, a meeting space, and, importantly, storage space is essential for any successful project. It gives the project a hub to operate from, it makes it easier for people to engage as all queries and ideas can be processed in one place and most importantly people know where to go to get involved. This is something the university often is willing to sponsor your group with, if you manage to find the right person to ask. However spaces sponsored are unlikely to be offered on a permanent basis, so unless you have guarantees on this keep in mind that you might want your place-based project or decorative work to be portable if necessary.
Volunteers
A lot of projects will rely on volunteers, even if there is involvement of paid staff. It is important that volunteers feel empowered, have a say on priorities and how the project is run, especially as this work will also be competing with many other activities in students’ free time. Also, practical projects are a route to getting more people involved on the coordinating group, or for starting new projects, so it's good to have practices in place that encourage them to be more involved. For example, in Stirling they have a volunteer gathering, which lead volunteers have to attend, to provide feedback about projects. In St Andrews, they have a Volunteer Interns project, which gives small formal, defined roles which volunteers can receive references for, and often produce a report from. There is more information on the project here.
Transition Network Resources
On the Transition Network website there are the following resources under the Practical Projects section:
Developing practical projects: guide to developing practical projects
Small practical projects for the initiating group: examples of projects you can do
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