What are Transition Towns?

What are Transition Towns?

What are Transition Towns? Community Resilience Independence Permaculture Sustainability Local initiativeswww.transitionsunshinecoast.org

What are Transition Towns? • Transition, also known as Transition Towns,

or the Transition Movement, is a grassroots network of communities, working to build local resilience in response to global economic collapse, peak oil and climate change.

www.transitionsunshinecoast.org

What are Transition Towns? Following its start in Kinsale, Ireland the

Transition movement moved to Totnes, England where Rob Hopkins and others worked up the concept during 2005 and 6.

It now emphasises the building of community through the localization of finances, equipment and infrastructure, away from dependence on big systems and the peaking resources on which they depend.

In 2007 Janet Millington and Sonya Wallace set up Transition Sunshine Coast.


What are Transition Towns?

A Transition Initiative is a community-led response to the pressures of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and increasingly, economic contraction.

o There are thousands of initiatives around the world starting their journey to answer this crucial question:

o For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and

thrive how do we significantly rebuild resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil

and economic contraction)

o and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?

www.greenchoices.org

How do Transition Towns start?

How do Transition Towns Start?

Several Crucial Points to consider :

to a certain degree, we all experience a life disconnected from our living environment, disconnected from our communities and disconnected from our landbase .

that our energy-profligate ways of living have depleted our resource base to critical levels

that we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there’s no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope

that we have to act now, rather than wait for the government or “someone else” .

if we collectively plan and act early enough there’s every likelihood that we can create a way of living that’s significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.



It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern:

How can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil,

Climate Change, and increasingly, economic stagnation?

They engage a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative that is asking this big question.



They then usually do a few activities:

awareness raising around peak oil, climate change and the need to undertake a community lead process to rebuild resilience and reduce carbon

connecting with existing groups, including local government, in the community

forming groups to look at all the key areas of life (food, energy, transport, health, heart & soul, economics & livelihoods, etc)

kicking off practical projects aimed at building people’s understanding of resilience and carbon issues and community engagement

engaging in a community-wide visioning process to identify the future we want for ourselves rather than waiting for someone else to create a future that we won’t like

eventually launch a community defined, community implemented “Energy Descent Action Plan” over a 15 to 20 year timescale


Why are Transition towns important?

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Transition towns: focus on the positive - on ideas,

solutions and action strategies from and for the community.

link a community with local businesses, government and other key industries.

bring people together with a common goal of doing something significant and positive about climate change and peak oil.

empower people by positive visioning,

help people access good information

build resilience

trust people to make good decisions, being inclusive and open, sharing and networking,

address both inner and outer transition (not just the hands on things we need to do, but also the world views and belief systems we carry with us),

enable and support people to do what they are passionate about,

are a decentralised organisation where everyone is empowered and decisions are made at appropriate levels.



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Transition towns: Organise working bees to set up food

gardens

Car pool

School walking buses

Start food co-ops

Seed save

Care for neighbours

Hold street parties

Welcome people to the neighbourhood

Plant food trees on public land

Set up community compost centres

Community supported agriculture

Rain water tank bulk buys

Solar and wind energy bulk buys

Electric bike bulk buys

Dried organic food bulk buys

Publish ‘buy local’ guides

Run soil workshops

Set up Transition sections in public libraries

Run free film nights



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Transition towns: Support programs like walk against

warming

Build eco-villages

Hold creative writing workshops

Help neighbours build things

Get invited onto regional planning groups

Cooking workshops

Hold swap days – for clothes, tools, & materials

Recycle in their communities

Work with government to change legislation

Work with existing groups in their communities

Create Energy Descent Action Plans

Celebrate harvests, have parties

Contribute to the international Transition Network

Network, workshop and inspire each other

Teach others how to do it


How can I get involved?

How can I get involved?

If you live in the Sunshine Coast region,. contact us and we can let you know of any transition activity that might be happening near you

Talk to us: at the Big Pineapple on Saturdays

Call us : +61(7) 5442 2118 (Jeanette)

Email us: through our website

Google us: www.transitionsunshinecoast.org

Visit our blog: http://www.transitionsunshinecoast.org/blog/

Useful resources The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local

Resilience (by Rob Hopkins)

Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability (by David Holmgren)


www.thegreenjourney.com.au

Documents

What are Transition Towns?