Transition Movement

Things have moved on!

This is a 2016 update on the Transition Movement. The latest thinking, following the discussions at the TNIC 2015, is that as a movement we should be more about desiring, imagining and making a sustainable world built on the values of compassion, care, tolerance and adaptability. This means that responding to the crises of Climate Change and Peak Oil is seen as an opportunity for cultural transformation; Energy Descent and Zero Carbon agendas are powerless without a cultural shift.

This takes us into deeper waters and moves Inner Transition issues up to the top of the ladder of engagement. Disconnection, isolation, loneliness and powerlessness are the sure signs of impacting global disruptors on our communities.  This is what people feel and it affects their personal lives: engaging with where people are and being significant for them now suggests a much more people-centred approach to external drivers of change.

In early 2008 Rob Hopkins published a book called “The Transition Handbook“.

In it he argued that:

• The twin issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change are with us now and need to be addressed
• Their impacts are too big for individuals to deal with, and too ‘practical’ and detailed for governments to handle
• The right scale at which to deal with them is the level of a town or local area
• We all have a historic opportunity to come together now and work together to re-localise the places where we live

The only thing we can be sure of in the next few decades is that there will be big change. So it doesn’t make sense to define one detailed vision and then head for that. Instead we need to set out on a journey — a ‘Transition’ — into a world that will use far less oil, gas and petrol than we do now.

We need to seize this historic opportunity to remake our lives and our communities the way we want them to be.

Every town is different and we must decide for ourselves what we want to do in Farnham. But we can learn from others in the Transition Network to find things that have worked elsewhere. Here are links to three well-established Transition Towns:

• Transition Totnes is in the town in south Devon where it all started
• Transition Lewes is a leading example in the south east
• Transition Stroud is a leading example in the west of England

They have done things like set up local food networks, insulate their homes, create energy descent action plans, and even launch local currencies.

There are more links to other Transition Movement Pages in the bar on the right hand site of this website. And you can also read the Transition Handbook.

Other Links:

Here’s a news extract on CBS4  in the USA:

Here’s a BBC video that summarises the Transition Movement. This page links to that video and has some other background information.

The full list of Transition Town initiatives can be viewed here.

Rob’s daily blog is hosted here.

There is a nice explanation of “Why Transition Culture” here.

And this page explains nicely how Nottingham (a much bigger town than Farnham, obviously) went about setting up their transition initiative.

If you find any more good links, please add them using the comment facility below.