Design & Transition What can designers learn from the Transition Movement?

Jody Joanna Boehnertwww.eco-labs.org

DesignHow can design facilitate -

‘a rapid transition to a more restrained

& elegant state called sustainability’ David Orr

?

Informed by ecological literacy design is now posed for a radical change.

The design industry must now prepare for a steep learning curve and look for methods which are leading change.

The Transition movement is a community design initiative that facilitates re-localization for mitigation and adaptation to post-peak oil and climate change.

Transition Town Initiatives 1. Totnes, England 2. Penwith, England 3. Kinsale, Ireland 4. Ivybridge, England 5. Falmouth, England 6. Moretonhampstead, England 7. Lewes, England 8. Stroud, England 9. Ashburton, England 10. Ottery St. Mary, England 11. Bristol, England 12. Brixton, England *** 13. Forest Row, England 14. Mayfield, England 15. Glastonbury, England 16. Lostwithiel, England 17. Forest of Dean, England 18. Nottingham, England 19. Wrington, England 20. Brighton&Hove, 21. Portobello, Scotland 22. Market Harborough, England 23. Sunshine Coast, Australia 24. West Kirby, England 25. Llandeilo, Wales 26. Bro Ddyfi, Wales 27. Whitstable, England 28. Marsden & Slaithwaite, England 29. Frome, England 30. Brampton, England 31. Isle of Wight, England 32. Waiheke Island, New Zealand 33. Orewa, New Zealand 34. Dunbar, Scotland 35. Rhayader, Wales 36. Seaton, England 37. Bath, England 38. Exeter, England 39. Isle of Man 40. Canterbury, England 41. Kapiti District, New Zealand 42. Carbon Neutral Biggar, a Transition Town 43. Presteigne 44. Wolverton 45. Leicester 46. Holywood 47. Westcliff-on-Sea 48. Isles of Scilly 49. Liverpool South 50. Norwich 51. Tring 52. Crediton 53. Boulder, CO, USA 54. North Howe 55. Lampeter 56. South Petherton 57. Armidale, NSW 58. Chichester 59. Bell, VIC 60. Bellingen, NSW 61. Berkhamsted 62. Forres 63. Sandpoint, ID, USA 64. Opotiki Coast, New Zealand 65. Newcastle, NSW 66. Chepstow

& over 150 March 2009

Can you imagine Brixton beyond Oil?

Climate Change is happening. Peak Oil is imminent. Our world is changing. Will we design that change or suffer the consequences of our inability to act?

RISING TO THE CHALLENGETransition Town Brixton is a community-led initiative, to engage all sectors of the community in designing our local pathway from oil dependency to a better low energy, low carbon future. Our aims are:•to raise awareness of Climate Change and Peak Oil.•to ‘vision’ a better low-energy future for Brixton.•to design the ‘Brixton Energy Descent Action Plan’.•to make it happen.

STORY SO FARDuring our first year TTB has held many events, film presentations, discussions, visionings, & working group meetings. TTB has worked with Lambeth on the FUTURE BRIXTON regeneration plan. TTB has initiated the ABUNDANCE Project; a green mapping & urban food growing project.

ONWARDSWe will continue raising awareness, visioning and research-ing future possibilities. We plan to actively involve more of the Brixton community. We will form more working groups to vision and plan towards creating the Brixton Energy Descent Action Plan. We will begin our Reskilling courses for a more localised, low energy lifestyle. We will create visible practical projects to realise the vision. We are working to revive the Brixton Local Exchange Trading Scheme, to create a Brixton Food Hub and many other projects.

We have regular meetings in Town Hall. All welcome. In the autumn we will be launching with the official Great Unleashing (see events programme backside).

To see what is happening elsewhere visit: www.transitiontowns.org

For more background information visit: www.transitionculture.org

T: 07958 635181E: info@transitiontownbrixton.org

www.transitiontownbrixton.org

PROGRAmmE OF EvENTSMay - November 2008

TransiTion Town

brixton

Rethink, Reconnect & Relocalise.

PEAK OIL & CLImATE CHANGE: Oil supply has peaked. In a world dependent on fossil fuels this will cause economic instabililty & conflict. A lower energy future is inevitable. Climate change is happening already & will continue. We must cut emissions drastically to avoid tipping into runaway warming and climate instability. We need a zero-carbon future. The solution to these twin challenges is the same...

... re-localization & energy descent.

Transition Town Brixton is hosting an exploration into how money and our globalised economy works (or doesn’t) and how localisa-tion could work. Key speakers in the morning, with discussion and hands-on exercises, some local trading at lunchtime, Open Space workshops in the afternoon to explore how we can build a more resilient localised economy with production, distribution, local cur-rencies and trading systems. Why is local important? And what’s in it for locals? How can we make it work here? - Join the TTB Busi-ness & Economy group: info@transitiontownbrixton.orgTTB acknowledges the support of Lambeth Council & nef (The New Economics Foundation)

TTB is working with locals at the Guiness Trust Estaste to encourage food growing & map potential growing spaces in Brixton. It is a focus for Permaculture education. This is a ‘growth area’. Contact TTB to get involved.

AbundanceAn Urban Agriculture ProjectTTB in partnership with UCL & Urbanbuzz

WWW.TRANSITIONTOWNbRIxTON.ORGinfo@transitiontownbrixton.org

THE TRANSITION HANDbOOK From oil dependency to local resilienceby Rob Hopkinsavailable from us or from Brixton Whole Foods

Ecological LiteracyThe first step in our endeavor to build sustainable communities must be to become ‘ecologically literate’, i.e. to understand of the principles of organization, common to all living systems, that ecosystems have evolved to sustain the web of life…

This systemic understanding of life allows us to formulate a set of principles of organization that may be identified as the basic principles of ecology and used as guidelines for building sustainable human communities...

Thus, ecological literacy, or ‘ecoliteracy’, must become a critical skill for politicians, business leaders, professionals in all spheres, and should be the most important part of education at all levels. Fritjof Capra, 2002

systemcrisis

Footprinting, lifecyle analysis,cradle to cradle, One Planet LivingTM, biomimicry, etc.

Researchers have created tools that can help designers grasp complex environmental information.

Transformation Design (The UK Design Council)

1 Defining and redefining the brief

2 Collaborating between disciplines

3 Employing participatory design techniques

4 Building capacity, not dependency

5 Designing beyond traditional solutions

6 Creating fundamental change

Transition Movement

The Transition movement is based on the assumption that we are approaching the end of the age of cheap oil, and that climate change and peak oil are twin challenges that must be addressed simultaneously.

Despite the big changes ahead, the Transition movement holds that the move towards localized energy efficient living could make a world that is better than our own.

4 Key Assumptions1. That life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable.

2. That communities presently lack resilience to withstand energy shocks.

3. That we have to act collectively.

4. That the collective genius of groups is powerful.

1. Energy Descent Peak Oil & Climate Change

2. Resilience to Energy Shocks

‘Climate change says we should change, whereas peak oil says we will be forced to change’. Hopkins

Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)

3. Collective ActionThe Transition approach attempts to engage entire communities in the process of change. New methods such as citizens juries or panels, round tables, visioning, charettes and new ‘consensus conferences’ have become necessary, and they arise from the realisation that environmental values are not preformed, but rather that they emerge out of debate.

4. Genius of Groups

6 Principles of Transition1. Visioning

2. Inclusion

3. Awareness Raising

4. Resilience

5. Psychological Insights

6. Appropriate Scaled

Solutions

1. VisioningCentral to the Transition approach is the idea we can only pro-actively move towards something if we can imagine it.The Transition movement also works with visioning scenarios (adaptation / evolution / collapse) to come to terms with factors driving change.

4 Energy Scenarios - based on work by Bryn Davidson: www.dynamiccities.square.com

Rapid Depletion Slow Depletion

Techno-fix

Burn-outCollapse

Lean Economy

Rea

ctiv

eR

esp

ons

eP

roac

tive

Res

po

nse

Rob Hopkins inverts the classic peak oil graph.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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11

12

Billion of B

BLS

/ YR

Years

1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 2075 2100

Our best chance will emerge from our ability to engage people in a vision of transition to a lower energy future as an

adventure, something in which we can invest our energy.

2. InclusionThe Transition movement seeks to facilitate dialogue between different groups.

3. Awareness RaisingThe Transition movement holds that the end of the age of oil is a confusing time. We are constantly exposed to and bewildered by mixed messages. The movement aims to set out its case clearly by giving people the key arguments.

How can we earn a living & still save the planet?Join Transition Town Brixton for an exploration into the economics

of local resilience and global sustainability. Local Economy Day asks:

how could a community using less energy be economically stronger

and provide a higher quality of life?Programme includes…o Key speakers:- David Boyle, New Economics Foundation, author of The Little Money Book

- Molly Scott Cato, author of Market Schmarketo Discussion and hands-on exercises & Open Space workshops Come and investigate…o How do money, credit, and our globalised economy work… or not?

o How does our economic system drive unsustainable carbon-intensive lifestyles?

o Is a more localised economy inevitable? o How has localisation worked successfully in other places around the world?

o How could a localised economy work here? How would it benefit locals? With your input Local Economy Day will be inspiring, active and practical –

helping us all gain knowledge and confi dence to take action to improve our

local economy.

Come and find out more:19 June at Lambeth Town Hallwww.transitiontownbrixton.orgtickets on sale from website. TTB acknowledges the support of Lambeth Council & nef (The New Economics Foundation) & Awards for All

TRANSITION TOWNBRIXTON

4. ResilienceResilience refers to the ability of a system to hold together and maintain its ability to function in the face of change and shocks from the outside.

5. Psychological Insights‘healthy functioning requires that we have faith in the

future, without this confidence; our trust in the world

is damaged. Damaged trust can lead to many neurotic

reactions, narcissism, depression, paranoia, and

compulsion’.

‘post- petroleum stress disorder’

5. Psychological Insights 6. Credible &AppropriateScale Solutions

Basis of Transition: PermaculturePermaculture, a design philosophy based on ecological principles and ethics for working with nature in building systems to support human existence.

Action

EnergyDescent

Plan

‘scalable microcosms

of hope’

www.eco-labs.org