"Transition Towns" - a new life......without oil.

[Dover]

Transition Towns-the environmental solution we've all been waiting for!

Transition Towns is a movement that began in Totnes, England in late 2005, and since then has been spreading across Britain at a startling rate, and even to other countries including parts of the US. There are already 126 officially recognised Transition Towns, and a great many more which haven't yet gained official status! That's unbelievable for a movement less than 3 years old.

Me and some friends started the Cambridge (England) branch of the Transition movement less than a year ago, and already it has over 500 members, over 50 of whom are actively working on making our vision a reality. We won an award for environmental achievement and also the support of our local council.

We were inspired by other transition towns in England, and in turn we inspire more towns. The more the movement grows, the more it grows in publicity and respect. It has already spread to other countries including the US. The Scottish authorities have made £250,000 available in funding for transition towns in Scotland.

That's why I believe it's the answer, because it has the power to inspire more people to action than any other environmental initiative before it. A common approach is to scare people with horror stories about how terrible the future will look if we -don't- take drastic action to prevent global warming, prepare for peak oil etc, which causes a lot of people to despair, switch off or go into denial. What's special about the Transition Towns movement is that it motivates people to get involved by showing them how great the future can be if we -do- take action.

The solutions not only help us to reduce our impact on the planet, but also prepare us on a local level to be reliliant against the effects of climate change, peak oil (global oil supplies are officially predicted to plateu in 2020 and subsequently decline, see this video for details www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/15/oil-peak-energy-iea) and economic recession. They also bring communities together and are a lot of fun! In other words, people are also motivated by feeling that they have much to gain on a personal and community level, even if they doubt that the rest of the world can change. The solutions even make sense if you don't believe in climate change or peak oil.

A couple of examples are: community gardens/orchards to produce our own food so we needn't rely on imports, and community windfarms (the first one of these has actually been set up recently in Totnes).

Transition Towns is so easy to get involved in. People can contribute as much or as little as they feel ready to if there's a transition group in their area. If there isn't a transition group in your area, all it takes is a small group of committed people to start one. To do so, just visit www.transitiontowns.org for all the necessary info to get started, together with the contact details of people who can help you....cont'd

http://greenhome.huddler.com/forum/thread/963/transition-towns-the-environmental-solution-we-ve-all-been-waiting-for

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This Thursday, 1pm

This week, KO.OP's Environmental Talk program SHADES OF GREEN (1p.m Thursday @ 91.7 FM - Austin, TX.) begins a series of radio programs exploring models of Planning for communities without an oil economy.
Listen online: http://koop.org/index.php

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Communities plan for a low-energy future

Transition initiatives,’ begun in Britain, aim to empower people to tackle effects of climate change and decline of oil.

A year ago, Pat Proulx-Lough felt so overwhelmed by reports about climate change that she couldn’t even listen to the news. “My husband was finishing a dissertation on water resources, and I became hopeless and fearful,” says Ms. Proulx-Lough, a therapist in Portland, Maine.

Fast-forward to summer ’08 and Proulx-Lough is not just hopeful, but excited about the future.

What happened? She tapped into the Transition movement.

Transition Towns (or districts, or islands) designate places where local groups have organized to embrace the challenge of adapting to a low-oil economy. As the movement’s website (www.transitiontowns.org) states, it’s an experiment in grass-roots optimism: Can motivated citizens rouse their neighbors to act in the face of diminished oil resources and climate change?

“We don’t know if this will work,” says Ben Brangwyn of Totnes, England, who in 2007 helped launch the Transition Network to support Transition Towns worldwide, “but if we leave it to the government it will be too little, too late. If we do it on a personal level, it won’t be enough. But if we do this as a community, it may be just enough, just in time.”..cont'd

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/09/11/communities-plan-for-a-low-energy-future/






Totnes England, Transition Town

Totnes is the UK’s first Transition Initiative, that is, a community in a process of imagining and creating a future that addresses the twin challenges of diminishing oil and gas supplies and climate change, and creates the kind of community that we would all want to be part of.

The challenges presented to us today by global warming and peak oil (and gas) are perhaps the greatest that humanity has faced. This time brings a great opportunity for rethinking the way we live and making conscious choices about what kind of community and world we would like to live in. Change is coming whether we like it or not – and a planned response to the change will leave us in a much stronger position than if we wait until change is upon us.

http://totnes.transitionnetwork.org/

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Transition Towns WIKI -- Transition Network/Communities
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionCommunities

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[Indiana_Dem]

1. Wonderful thread! I believe in it 100%. I just wish others would follow suit. nt

[Dover]

2. Maybe if you initiate it...they will come.

Not sure why you are assuming others wouldn't follow suit.
If YOU believe in it 100% there are probably others who do too.
In fact that is in evidence in these articles.
I think many are moving in similar directions...toward sustainable living.
Working in community, though, feeds us and we need that nourishment.
There are many more benefits to creating new communities than just changing the oil economy.



**edited to say what I really mean.

[jwirr]

3. My small extended family is working on many of the same aspects

that this idea holds. However, we are rural. Are any of the transition towns rural communities? When I finished college in the 70s I was headed toward the back to the earth movement but my family was not dedicated to it. Only my own children and younger brother are still moving toward that kind of goal. I am very interested in this new idea.

[Dover]

8. I imagine some of the towns are quite small and pretty rural.

Probably has its pros and cons compared to a more urban area.

The interest in a more sustainable way of living has been around for quite some time (at least since the 60's), so we're not exactly starting from scratch. It seems back then these ideas of alternative living were more a reaction to the status quo of materialism/consumerism whereas now, although driven by many of the same feelings, sustainable living seems much more an urgent necessity. And maybe this time our values truly are shifting in such a way that we can embrace
these alternative lifestyles.

[jwirr]

12. I hope so. I am doing what I can to talk to people.

[Delphinus]

4. I'm reading this book right now.

It's a challenge, to say the least. Glad to know knowledge of it has made it to DU!

[Dover]

5. I love synchronisities! I hope you'll share some of what you're learning.

We need people to just start creating models of all sorts of new ways of living, and
just take the lead.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. I went to Findhorn and my brother in law lived in Kristana

Sounds like something to explore.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Findhorn_Foundation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania

[Dover]

7. Oh I'm envious! Would you mind sharing your impressions of Findhorn?

And when were you there?

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Findhorn in 79

At that time, I found that they were working on
finding a symbolistic, synergic relationship with their plant production that increased
their supply of food for the project.

I did look at it as a living experiment
and they did too for the most.
I mean that in scientific terms, taking science to its limits
while embracing open thought.

Wind Generation and tidal energies where the talk of the
town back then as were expressions of the possibilities
of healing this planet and each other.

Findhorn


I was in my youth.......... What can I say?

[Dover]

11. Thanks. Yep, they've been at it a looooong time and have a lot to share

about alternative living...such as their EcoVillage which was probably not even on the
drawingboards when you were there. They even have their own bank and currency.

http://www.ecovillagefindhorn.com/

[Dover]

10. USA Transition Towns

According to their WIKI list:

USA

Boulder, CO, USA
Sandpoint, ID, USA
Ketchum, ID
Lyons, CO
Santa Cruz, CA
Montpelier, VT, USA
Portland, ME, USA
Sebastopol, CA, USA

To link to each town's website go to: http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionCommunities