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The terms transition town, transition initiative and transition model refer to
grassroot A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
community project A community project is a term applied to any community-based project. This covers a wide variety of different areas within a community or a group of networking entities. Projects can cover almost anything, including the most obvious section of conce ...
s that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of
peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; whil ...
, climate destruction, and economic instabilitythrough renewed localization strategies, especially around food production and energy usage. In 2006, the founding of Transition Town Totnes in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
became an inspiration for other groups to form. The Transition Network charity was founded in early 2007, to support these projects. A number of the groups are officially registered with the Transition Network. Transition initiatives have been started in locations around the world, with many located in the United Kingdom and others in Europe, North America and Australia. While the aims remain the same, Transition initiatives' solutions are specific depending on the characteristics of the local area.


Etymology

The term, "transition town" was coined by Louise Rooney and Catherine Dunne. The transition model can be applied to different types of places where people live, such as villages, regions, islands and towns. The generic term is "transition initiative", which includes transition neighborhoods, communities, and cities, although "transition town" is in common usage.


History


From Kinsale to Totnes

In 2004,
permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principl ...
designer
Rob Hopkins Rob Hopkins is an activist and writer on environmental issues, based in Totnes, England. He is best known as the founder and figurehead of the Transition movement, which he initiated in 2005. Hopkins has written six books on environmentalism ...
set his students at
Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 ( ...
Further Education College the task of applying permaculture principles to the concept of
peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; whil ...
. The output of this student project was the ‘Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan'. This looked at across-the-board creative adaptations in the realms of energy production, health, education, economy and agriculture as a "road map" to a sustainable future for the town. Two of his students, Louise Rooney and Catherine Dunne, developed the ''Transition towns'' concept. They then presented their ideas to Kinsale Town Council. The councilors decided to adopt the plan and work towards energy independence. Hopkins moved to his hometown of
Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, where he and Naresh Giangrande developed these concepts into the transition model. In early 2006, Transition Town Totnes was founded and became the inspiration for founding of other Transition initiatives.


Transition Network founded

In early 2007, the Transition Network UK charity was co-founded by
permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principl ...
educator Rob Hopkins, Peter Lipman and Ben Brangwyn. Totnes based, it was initiated to support the Transition initiatives emerging around the world. It trains and supports people involved with the initiatives. It also disseminates the concepts of transition towns.


2008 to present day

In 2008, the number of communities involved in the project had increased with many localities in the process of becoming "official" Transition towns. This was also the year that the ''Transition Handbook'' was published. The initiative spread and by May 2010 there were over 400 community initiatives recognized as official Transition towns in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
. The term ''transition initiatives'' became common to reflect the range and type of communities involved – e.g. villages (
Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 ( ...
), neighbourhoods of cities ( Portobello, Edinburgh), through council districts (
Penwith Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after ...
) to cities and city boroughs (
Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...
). By September 2013, there were 1130 initiatives registered (462 Official, 654 Muller) in 43 countries.


Influences

Influences include
permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principl ...
concepts as described in
Bill Mollison Bruce Charles "Bill" Mollison (4 May 1928 – 24 September 2016) was an Australian researcher, author, scientist, teacher and biologist. In 1981, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for developing and promoting the theory and practice o ...
’s ''Permaculture, a Designers Manual'' (1988) and
David Holmgren David Holmgren (born 1955) is an Australian environmental designer, ecological educator and writer. He is best known as one of the co-originators of the permaculture concept with Bill Mollison. Early life Holmgren was born in Fremantle, Weste ...
’s ''Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability'' (2003), as well as David Fleming's work on community, culture and resilience.


Organization

Each transition town or initiative has a high level of
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...
. However, to be called an official initiative certain criteria must be met. Additionally, there is nothing to stop an 'unofficial' initiative using ideas inspired by Transition towns. Further, there are various 'hubs' to coordinate work at a regional level.


Transition Network

The Transition Network (TN) is a UK charity set up to support Transition initiatives. It has published books and films, trained people and facilitated
networking Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...
. The TN's website contains a listing of the initiatives that have registered, some of which are officially recognised. Some of the material has been translated and adapted to other languages/cultures, including Portuguese, Danish,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, Dutch, Spanish,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Hungarian,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, Japanese and Irish. TN has run seven conferences: Nailsworth (2007), Royal Agriculture College, Cirencester (2008), Battersea Arts Centre (2009), Dame Hannah's at Seale Hayne (2010), Hope University, Liverpool (2011), Battersea Arts Centre (2012) and Dame Hannah's at Seale Hayne (2015).


Transition US

In the United States, transition initiatives have been started in many communities. Transition US is the national hub. Its stated vision is "that every community in the United States will have engaged its collective creativity to unleash an extraordinary and historic transition to a future beyond fossil fuels; a future that is more vibrant, abundant and resilient; one that is ultimately preferable to the present". The stated aim of Transition US is to be a resource and "catalyst for building resilient communities across the United States that are able to withstand severe energy, climate, or economic shocks while creating a better quality of life in the process". They plan to accomplish this by "inspiring, encouraging, supporting, networking and training individuals and their communities as they consider, adopt, adapt, and implement the transition approach to community empowerment and change". A large number of state sites have also been set up using the Ning social networking platform. These state sites, under the umbrella of a national Ning site, were set up to help facilitate, network, inform, monitor, and house regional and organizational transition initiatives. Thus, furthering the spread of the transition movement while networking related organizations, projects, ideas and activities.


Guidance for new groups

Some projects use the TN's guide the '12 ingredients', or the 'revised ingredients', when setting up their group.


Features

The Transition Network's (TN) stated aim is to promote awareness of sustainable living and building local
ecological resilience In ecology, resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Such perturbations and disturbances can include stochastic events such as fires, flooding, windst ...
.


Peak oil and local resilience

''The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resiliency'' by Rob Hopkins provides much of the framework behind the Transition Initiative and outlines ways for local Transition Towns to get involved.


Transportation

Communities are encouraged by The Transition Network to seek out methods for reducing energy usage as well as reducing their reliance on long supply chains that are totally dependent on fossil fuels for essential items (see environmental calculator).


Food production

According to The Transition food is a key area for transition, sometimes the slogan "Food feet, not
food miles Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food. The concept of ...
" is used. Initiatives so far have included creating community gardens or replacing ornamental tree plantings with fruit or nut trees to grow food.


Waste and recycling

Business waste exchange seeks to match the waste of one industry with another industry that uses that waste material, sometimes referred to as
industrial symbiosis Industrial symbiosis a subset of industrial ecology. It describes how a network of diverse organizations can foster eco-innovation and long-term culture change, create and share mutually profitable transactions—and improve business and technic ...
. It is suggested that this process can help companies increase profitability by reducing raw material and waste disposal cost, reducing carbon emission, making their by-products a source of revenue to be bought by other business. It also suggests that repairing old items rather than throwing them away should be considered.


Psychology

The Transition Network proposes an alternative from business as usual, or from 'shocked/doomladen' reactions to
peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; whil ...
and an end to unlimited economic growth. According to Southend-on-Sea in Transition, ::by shifting our mind-set we can actually recognise the coming post-cheap oil era as an opportunity rather than a threat, and design the future low carbon age to be thriving, resilient and abundant — somewhere much better to live than our current alienated consumer culture based on greed, war and the myth of perpetual growth." A theme of the Transition Network is acknowledging the emotional impact of changing to a low energy world. Some Transition Network groups have 'Heart and Soul' groups to look at this aspect.


Energy descent action plans (EDAP)

Transition towns aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and one way they do this is by developing an EDAP. The term "community" is defined here as including local people, local institutions, local agencies and the local council. The first comprehensive plan was created for Totnes in 2010, entitled ''Transition in Action: Totnes & District 2030''. In
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, where the movement is called ''Villes et Territoires en Transition'', the association négaWatt provides a theoretical support to the transition movement.


Economics

After the 2008 global financial crisis, the Transition Network added financial instability as further threat to local communities (alongside peak oil and climate change). It suggested a number of strategies could help, including fiscal localism and local food production. Further, it sees the creation of local complementary currencies as reinforcing moves toward sustainable low carbon economies as well as being socially beneficial. Additionally, Hopkins also wrote that the movement does have an understanding of global economics and is critical of its systemic problems such as being "growth-based". Some transition towns have been involved in launching local currencies including the Totnes pound, the Lewes pound, the Stroud pound and the Brixton pound. To help further these aims the Transition Network setup up the REconomy Project, circa 2012. Launched in 2007, the Totnes pound, which was redeemable in local shops and businesses, helped to reduce
food miles Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food. The concept of ...
while also supporting local firms. In 2008, the idea was also considered by three
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
transition towns, including Cardiff. The Stroud pound and Totnes pound became defunct in 2013 and 2019 respectively. As of November 2019, the Lewes pound and Brixton pound are active.


In popular culture

Transition towns have been featured in the plot line of the long-running
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
series ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural set ...
''. This is an example of mainstream media attention the movement received a few years after being founded.


Publications


Books

A number of books have been published on specific topics, including: how communities can develop their Transition town initiative. Unless stated, the following books were published as a collaboration between Green Books and the Transition Network (under the label ''Transition Books''): * ''The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience'' (2008) – by
Rob Hopkins Rob Hopkins is an activist and writer on environmental issues, based in Totnes, England. He is best known as the founder and figurehead of the Transition movement, which he initiated in 2005. Hopkins has written six books on environmentalism ...
* ''The Transition Timeline: for a local, resilient future'' (2009) – by
Shaun Chamberlin Shaun Chamberlin is an author and activist, based in London, England. He is the author of ''The Transition Timeline'', co-author of several other books including ''What We Are Fighting For'', chair of the Ecological Land Co-operative, and was ...
* ''Local Food: how to make it happen in your community'' (2009) – by Tamzin Pinkerton and Rob Hopkins * ''Local Money: how to make it happen in your community'' (2010) – by Peter North * ''Local Sustainable Homes: how to make them happen in your community'' (2010) – by Chris Bird * ''Communities, Councils and a Low Carbon Future What We Can Do If Governments Won't'' (2010) – by Alexis Rowell * ''Transition in Action: Totnes & District 2030 – an EDAP'' (2010) Transition Town Totnes – (scripted) by Jacqi Hodgson with Rob Hopkins * ''The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times'' (2011) – by Rob Hopkins * ''The Power of Just Doing Stuff'' (2013) – by Rob Hopkins In 2008, the ''Transition Handbook'' was the joint 5th most popular book taken on holiday during the summer recess by the UK parliamentary MPs.


Films

Two films have been created by the movement about the movement. They document the progress of various initiatives: *''In Transition 1.0'' (2009) *''In Transition 2.0'' (2012) Emma Goude (Director), Transition Network and Green Lane Films (Production)


Critique and research

In 2008, the Trapese Collective published a critique called ''The Rocky Road to a Real Transition'' to which Hopkins replied. The debate was partly about how social change is brought about. A number of academic paper have been published looking at the concept's progress: * *


See also

*
Carfree city A carfree city is a population center that relies primarily on public transport, walking, or cycling for transport within the urban area. Districts where motorized vehicles are prohibited are referred to as carfree zones. Carfree city models have ...
*
Circles of Sustainability Circles of Sustainability is a method for understanding and assessing sustainability, and for project management directed towards socially sustainable outcomes. It is intended to handle 'seemingly intractable problems' such as outlined i ...
*
Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
*
Community currencies In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, while a community curre ...
*
Degrowth Degrowth (french: décroissance) is a term used for both a political, economic, and social movement as well as a set of theories that critique the paradigm of economic growth. It can be described as an extensive framework that is based on crit ...
*
Electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes ch ...
* Energy descent * Fairtrade Town * Food swap * Great Transition * New Economy movement *
Peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; whil ...
*
Petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
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Books

* ''David Fleming (writer)#Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy, Surviving the Future'' * '' Power Down: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, Power Down'' * '' Winning the Oil Endgame''


Organisations

* Green Drinks * Open Source Ecology *
New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth ...
*
New Economy Coalition The New Economy Coalition (NEC) is an American nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, formerly known as the New Economics Institute. It is a network of over 200 organizations based in the US and Canada working for "a future where ...


References


External links


Transition NetworkTransition United StatesREconomy Project
{{Use dmy dates, date=July 2019 Community development Economic development Environmentalism Peak oil Climate change Self-sustainability Sustainable communities Totnes Simple living Articles containing video clips