I have recently returned from a family holiday in Falmouth, Cornwall.

As well as the great beaches and surfing, I was nicely surprised to find that Falmouth is one of a number of towns in the South West calling themselves Transition Towns. Transition Falmouth is part of a movement that is addressing the changing climate and declining oil production.

Developing a climate change strategy for Diss is a key Cittaslow goal. Like Falmouth, we want to engage local people in developing a vibrant low energy future for Diss.

Do we wait until it is too late or do we lead by example? Many people say they have little time to make their lifestyles greener.

One thing we could all do is to start by ditching plastic bags. We could begin by having a pilot project to replace conventional plastic bags with environmentally friendly bags. I would be interested to hear readers' comments on this and from any traders who want to be involved to test customer response.

So far we haven't been able to open the Cittaslow Centre as much as we would have liked.

This could be achieved if more people come forward as Cittaslow volunteers.

We will aim to open the Centre on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays, 10am-4pm.

Developments include plans to launch the Cittaslow Shop online, and the setting up of an inclusive and visible recognition scheme that promotes local businesses that support and adopt Cittaslow principles. We have placed a Cittaslow business survey on our website www.dissconnected.net.

We want to enhance the visibility and recognition of Cittaslow by encouraging the display of the Cittaslow Snail logo.

So, I am on the lookout for any large snail outfits that could be used at public events.

Does anyone have any? Any slack attendees at Cittaslow committee meetings will be first in line to test these out!

I passionately believe that Cittaslow solutions to some of the issues facing Diss will arise from engaging the creativity, imagination and knowledge of the people in Diss.

That's why we are having a public meeting and brainstorm about Cittaslow on September 21 at The Park Hotel, 5.30pm, with some local wine and cheese. All are welcome to attend.

Cynthia Schears is Diss Cittaslow co-ordinator and can be contacted at the Cittaslow Centre, 7 Cobbs Yard, Diss, IP22 4LB, on 01379 642002, 07828 123414 or by email at cynthiaschears@googlemail.com