Wekerle Transition opens “The Commons”

 

It has been given the inspiring name of “The Commons” and it is a simple community cafe but with a big heart, hard-working-hands and a will to transform the place where it lives. In the words of Tracey Wheatley from Wekerle Transition, “it is a place where people can hang out and do something they like: eating.” And the ingredients are fresh and straight from the next door farmer. 

The main ideas behind “The Commons” is to serve mainly a plant-based menu to show the people how wide this diet is and the creativity and opportunities it creates. So in visiting the community cafe you’ll be served with tasty, affordable, accessible, seasonal food and very appealing to the senses.

Their presence in this local market has also the intuit of bringing attention to its importance to the district and to the local farmers. So the group is also working to attract more farmers to the market hoping that it can be open to the public more days than the current 3 days a week. 

To materialise “The Commons” community cafe, Transition Wekerle had to become a cooperative, so they could rent the place and pay the monthly utilities bill. Also the municipality has requested the group to develop community workshop programs,so now you can find there “climate related activities, cooking workshops like preserving and fermenting. Also we are regreening the area in front of the Cafe with the help of permaculturists and local people” explains Tracey.

This relationship is also pushing the municipality to widen their views on contracts and collaborations with the civil society. For this project to move forward they had to design a special contract for a community wellbeing action, something they were not bureaucratically prepared to do. The experience of this community as a pilot using the Municipalities in Transition system for a year has given the final push for its opening to the public. You can hear more about this community and other communities that have been through the pilot phase in this Voices from the Pilots video.

 

Photos by Gettó Márton.