Transition Towns Thread / (was called "Transition Towns Primer")
An initiative to relocalise our communities
(combined with, Steve Netwriter's):
Transition Towns, An NZ initiative to relocalise our communities
===========================================



Hi, I am a university student studying about Transition Towns. I have been set an assignment to obtain feedback from those people who have read the Transition Towns Primer, would you please comment on whether you think that it is an easy read? Do you need to read it all to understand the message? Does it get boring? Does it help? Could it be improved?

I thank you all in advanced for your help and reply.

(Added later):
What is a Transition Town (or village, city, forest, island)?

A Transition Initiative is a community that seeks to face up to the dual challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change and to discover ways to address this BIG question:

For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive (e.g. food, education, business, environment, community, etc.) how do we significantly increase resilience (to reduce the effects of rising oil prices) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to reduce the effects of climate change)?

+ + + + +

: RH's Handbook video : Interview : Transition Towns : 12 steps
Rob Hoskins, Founder of the Transition Network

NOTES - from his Nov. 2007 presentation at Oxford:

The Principles of a Transition Town / City
==============================
1) Building Local Resilience (referenced the film "The End of Suburbia" as a call to arms)

2) Visioning: creating an enticing vision to enthuse people about a post oil future. In Totnes they interviewed local children about their visions
(see "Transition Tales" on You Tube / LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU41s1PQK7Q )

3) Inclusion: drawing parallels with a "wartime effort" philosophy; that we need the collective strength and skills of all sectors of a community

4) Awareness Raising: to develop support / context for a locally specific transition.

5) Psychological Insights: that sometimes facing climate change and peak oil can be depressing and scary, that one of the best antidotes to this is to do take actions as a community

6) Credible & appropriate solutions: as opposed to apocalyptic doom mongering and then suggesting that people replace their light bulbs!

The 12 Steps Towards a Transition Town
==============================
1) Form a steering group and plan its demise!

2) Raise awareness of Peak Oil, Climate Change and the alternatives, through films, etc. In Totnes the "Totnes Pound" generated a lot of publicity and awareness, as well as encouraging people to support their local economy!

3) Lay Foundations: work with businesses and local landowners, in particular help them to analyse their "Oil Vulnerability".

4) Official Unleashing: an event that commemorates the historic nature of turning away from fossil fuel dependence.

5) Form working groups: such as Arts, Food, Energy, Economics, Local Government, Psychology (of change), Health, Housing, etc.

6) Use Open Space Technology: where participants involved in the working groups can create their own agenda for sessions, allowing diverse and/or large groups to participate effectively in planning the transition.

7) Develop a visible manifestation: nut trees were planted in Totnes as a symbol of the future appearance / function of their towns spaces.

8) Great Re-skilling: disseminating and expanding the towns skills in both old and new technologies.

9) Bridge to Local Government: LG seen as a supporter of the TT movement rather than a driver of it.

10) Honour the Elders: tap into pre-fossil fuel dependence experiences.

11) Let it go where it wants to go: there are an almost infinite number potential projects such as renewable societies, youth festivals, garden swaps, lending libraries, business waste swap shops, etc.

12) Develop an energy descent plan: use the learning experiences from steps 1-11 and make it an attractive and achievable vision.

R. Hoskin's : Slide presentation-Nov2007

/source :: http://climatex.org/articles/lo-carb-commu...s-oxford-event/

Do you have a link?
Tell us more about the purpose of the primer, and the purpose of your project, please.

Frankly, I think you have a bigger issue:
How popular is this subject? Those who care about the topic will need to find a way of convincing others that it is important.
== == ==
(in edit);

Transition Towns have become highly popular - Just look at this map of how many there are:


source: http://www.idea-porting.com/2009/10/07/transition-towns/

Transition Towns start off when a small collection of individuals within a community come together with a shared concern.

They begin by forming an initiating group with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative. A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look at problems squarely in the eye and address them.

After going through a comprehensive and creative process of: awareness raising, connecting with existing groups in the community, building bridges to local government, forming groups to look at all the key areas of life and kicking off projects aimed at building people’s understanding of resilience, 15-20 year projects are formed.

This results in a coordinated range of projects across all areas of life that strives to rebuild the resilience towns have lost as a result of problems such as cheap oil and carbon emissions.

The communities also recognise two crucial points: that they 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, 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.

Examples of existing Transition Towns can be found here. From the UK to Australia to New Zealand to Italy to Japan, Transition Towns are currently evolving everywhere.

http://www.transitiontowns.org/
== == == == ==

OTHER LINKS
=========
Chris Martenson's website :: http://www.ChrisMartenson.com
CM's Crash Course videos ::
Rob Hoskins interview ....... :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQF09NG00V8
End of Suburbia Film ......... :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3uvzcY2Xug
Active Group, in Oxford..... :: http://climatex.org/
Transition in Oxford, UK..... :: http://www.transitionoxford.org.uk

First of all, thanks for replying. The Primer can be downloaded from the following website:

http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwo...nNetwork#primer

The purpose of the primer is to get local communities to adopt a strategy to fight the rise in energy and carbon dioxide and the decline of oil resources.

The purpose of the project is subjected towards those people who have read the primer. It is an assignment to obtain feedback of how easy these people think it is to read the primer and implement the strategies suggested within their respected communities.

"We're hoping that through this work, communities across the UK will unleash their own collective genius and embark on an imaginative and practical range of connected initiatives, leading to a way of life that is more resilient, more fulfilling and more equitable, and that has dramatically lower levels of carbon emissions."

A noble effort - but at an early stage, perhaps.

A community that is doing something similar, but may be further along...

- Is this one : http://www.southlandsintransition.ca/

I especially like their use of videos: http://www.southlandsintransition.ca/media

This one, really captured my interest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25H_y4--ZHI

= =

BTW, I doubt that filling in a survey would appeal to many individual investors here.
(I may be wrong, if so, great.) It looks like you need to hook in with those involved
in town planning. have I got that right?

TRANSITION

This may be a "buzz word" that is not familiar to people unless they are currently in an academic or a town-planning setting. Maybe you should start by giving a definition- unless you are only interested in catching the interest of those who are already "in the know"

How broad is "the transition"? Are people ready to "write off and restructure" their suburban investments? Personally, I think many will need to do that. They will need to reorient their lives, and living arrangements AWAY FROM regular use of private automobiles. Are the "transition people" talking about something this radical yet?

BTW, my own effort to educate people about the need to do so, can be found in an article:
RESTRUCTURING AMERICA'S SUBURBAN DREAM:
The root cause of rising oil prices must be addressed
if we are to provide a Sustainable Future for Our Grandchildren

Transition - there's a whole industry riding on this new wave...

Title: The Green Transition Conference:
Sustainable Practices for a more Profitable Future
Date: April 3 & 4, 2008
City: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Location: Toronto Botanical Garden
Description: Get ahead of the GREEN WAVE! Attend this event and learn to apply sustainable development strategies and build an environmentally sound business.

SOURCE: http://www.enlightenedevents.ca/

##

BOOKS:

Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Transition By Jurgen Schmandt, Calvin Herbert
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id...Ee9r3k#PPA17,M1

Toward Sustainable Communities: Transition and
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id...jgUjyl06knyuGlM

= = =

In seeking a definition for "TRANSITION" in Answers, I didnt find much.
But under "SUSTAINABLE", I found this excellent passage:

Barriers to achieving ecological sustainability
Despite the arguably growing evidence that the human species is set on a population adjustment course of immense proportions, and despite long-standing and widespread public awareness of the seriousness of the consequence (e.g., Nelson, 1986; Yankelovitch, et al., 1983; Diamond, Jared (2005) ), it seems impossible to many that we could alter the course of our destiny.

Unruh (2000, 2002) has argued that numerous barriers to sustainability arise because today's technological systems and governing institutions were designed and built for permanence and reliability, not change. In the case of fossil fuel-based systems this is termed "carbon lock-in" and inhibits many change efforts.

Others, particularly Thwink.org, argue that if enough members of the environmental movement adopted a problem solving process that fit the problem, the movement would make the astonishing discovery that the crux of the problem is not what it thought it was. It is not the proper practices or technical side of the problem after all. Any number of these practices would be adequate. Instead the real issue is why is it so difficult to persuade social agents (such as people, corporations, and nations) to adopt the proper practices needed to live sustainably? Thus the heart of the matter is the change resistance or social side of the problem.

This is generally attributed to “change resistance” (see, e.g., Thwink.org), viewed as involving change in individual values, whether at personal, corporate, or collective levels (see e.g., Stafford Beer). Unfortunately, it has been frequently demonstrated, e.g., in the studies cited, that people’s values are, in general, in the right place. The problem is to enact them. This has led to the preparation of numerous “wish lists”—such as that compiled by Shah, H., & Marks, N. (2004)—drawing together many recommendations for government action.

Government and individual failure to act on the available information is widely attributed to personal greed (deemed to be inherent in human nature) especially on the part of international capitalists. But even Karl Marx did not suggest this, instead highlighting sociological processes which have been in operation for thousands of years. If fault is to be found with Marx's work it can be argued that it lies elsewhere. Because he believed that the collapse of capitalism was imminent, he never discussed how to run society in an innovative way in the long term public interest.

Two things seem to follow from this brief discussion.

+ It is vital to follow up the study of the sociocybernetic, or systems (see also systems theory), processes which, it seems, primarily control what happens in society.
+ We should use the social-science-based insights already available to evolve forms of Public management that will act on information in an innovative way in the long term public interest.

SOURCE: http://www.answers.com/sustainable?cat=technology

your replies are much appreciated. DrBubb, in response to your question, I think its more of a way to see how many people have read the primer, and if so, whether they think it is easy enough to read so that they may implement the strategies it shows within their own local communities. Once ive collected the relevant data ill be writiing up a report, based on the number of replies I recieve, on whether I think the primer is actually the right way to advertise the message emphasising the various changes we are being subject to now and the foreseeable future. At the moment, it seems that people are either not interested or they have not heard of it.

You could be right.
I believe it needs to be promoted better. There's simply not enough awareness about it IMHO

DrBubb, in an earlier post you said "A noble effort - but at an early stage, perhaps." with regard to the mission statement on the Transition Towns website. Would you please provide more clarity on this.

The canadians (on the site where I provided a link) seem to have taken this idea further.
Have you looked to see what they are doing?

Also, there doesnt yet seem to be widespread understanding and support from the public.
Perhaps that will come eventually

Transition Towns
An NZ initiative to relocalise our communities
==============================

I've just come across this.


http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/taxonomy/term/173

http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/


This seems to be the opposite to the great American suburbs.
I wonder whether there are other initiatives towards more sustainable living.


The one thing about that, and I suspect Chris Martenson, is that IMO they are including climate change (meaning a rising temperature) incorrectly.

I think that's unfortunate, although the changes needed are very similar anyway, so it's not such a bad mistake to make.

I think we have just peaked on temperature, and unfortunately we will now be seeing ever colder years. The reason that is important is that it means we'll be suffering from lower food production, which will compound the problem of peak oil & food shortages.

Don't you think that is far more likely, simply because a colder climate a peak oil would be the worst thing to deal with. I invoke Murphy's Law

A good idea.
But I hate the name., "transition towns".
It sounds like something very temporary, and experimental:

"Each transition group networks with their local community on a coordinated range of projects designed to transition from high energy to low energy lifestyles in a positive and creative manner. Our aim is to re-localise our communities, making them vibrant, resilient and truly sustainable"

Sensible steps forward, like this one:

#8. Facilitate the Great Reskilling
Give people a powerful realisation of their own ability to solve problems, to achieve practical results and to work cooperatively alongside other people.

I am trying do do this where I live.
Here are some excerpts from postings that I have made on the chatboard of my local community:

= 1/
That was quite a blow last night !

The typhoon no.9 warning was followed by some very strong winds last night, and we seem to have lost over one dozen 20-30 foot tall trees within the perimeter of Caribbean Coast.

This happened because the strong winds came before the newly-planted trees had properly rooted. The only support many had was a rooted section less than 2-3 feet wide, and some inadequate support in the form of props and guide wires. I hope the trees will be better supported in the future.

My immediate concern is saving the trees that are half fallen.

I think this can be done, by re-digging the holes where the roots are to go, and pulling the trees back into an upright position.

=2/
THIS IS SERIOUS === HK$300,000 per Tree !

That's a figure that someone quoted as the likely cost of replacing each tree.

If we lost 10 trees, that's $3 million to be added onto the management fees:
about $700 per flat !

I would rather save them. But I cannot do it on my own.

I visited the Management Office again today, and the ever-helpful, Amanda Lam, toild me that she has been in touch with both the CC Gardening people and the TC government office about the trees. She took me out to point out that many of the trees were outside the property boundary of CC, and so were the responsibility of the government. Nevertheless, she has asked the gardeners to water the roots. (That's a good suggestion, but it didnt look like they hade been watered.)

I thanked Amanda for her efforts, but as I continued my jog, I saw many fallen trees that look as if they are within CC boundaries.

I still think we should do something about this.
/see: http://caribbeancoast.org/forum/index.php/topic,608.0.html


HERE's the kind of nonsense that I am fighting:

There's a local group near me !!!

Sustainability in Christchurch, NZ
http://www.sustainablechristchurch.org.nz/home/

Transition Towns is a global thing

http://www.transitiontowns.org/

I like those big objectives, but sometimes they are hard to pull together

SAVING TREES is simple, immediate, and possible.
If only I can get the cooperation of our project's gardeners.

Once we have show we can work together on a small project like this,
our owners and residents can cooperate on bigger projects.

bump.

Perhaps I should combine this with the newer thread

Dr B, Please feel free to combine the new thread in with this one. maybe with Steve N's other thread as well. Keep it all in the same place.

I think I might need to get my eyes tested again, I couldn't find this in the search..... Thanks for digging it out, Much appreciated.

SR

From Chris Martenson's UK Travel schedule


I need to look into what Rob Hopkins is doing in the Transition Towns movement

+ + +


Rob Hoskins, presenting at a 2007 event in Oxford

NOTES - from his Nov. 2007 presentation:

The Principles of a Transition Town / City
==============================
1) Building Local Resilience (referenced the film "The End of Suburbia" as a call to arms)

2) Visioning: creating an enticing vision to enthuse people about a post oil future. In Totnes they interviewed local children about their visions (see "Transition Tales" on You Tube)

3) Inclusion: drawing parallels with a "wartime effort" philosophy; that we need the collective strength and skills of all sectors of a community

4) Awareness Raising: to develop support / context for a locally specific transition.

5) Psychological Insights: that sometimes facing climate change and peak oil can be depressing and scary, that one of the best antidotes to this is to do take actions as a community

6) Credible & appropriate solutions: as opposed to apocalyptic doom mongering and then suggesting that people replace their light bulbs!

The 12 Steps Towards a Transition Town
==============================
1) Form a steering group and plan its demise!

2) Raise awareness of Peak Oil, Climate Change and the alternatives, through films, etc. In Totnes the "Totnes Pound" generated a lot of publicity and awareness, as well as encouraging people to support their local economy!

3) Lay Foundations: work with businesses and local landowners, in particular help them to analyse their "Oil Vulnerability".

4) Official Unleashing: an event that commemorates the historic nature of turning away from fossil fuel dependence.

5) Form working groups: such as Arts, Food, Energy, Economics, Local Government, Psychology (of change), Health, Housing, etc.

6) Use Open Space Technology: where participants involved in the working groups can create their own agenda for sessions, allowing diverse and/or large groups to participate effectively in planning the transition.

7) Develop a visible manifestation: nut trees were planted in Totnes as a symbol of the future appearance / function of their towns spaces.

8) Great Re-skilling: disseminating and expanding the towns skills in both old and new technologies.

9) Bridge to Local Government: LG seen as a supporter of the TT movement rather than a driver of it.

10) Honour the Elders: tap into pre-fossil fuel dependence experiences.

11) Let it go where it wants to go: there are an almost infinite number potential projects such as renewable societies, youth festivals, garden swaps, lending libraries, business waste swap shops, etc.

12) Develop an energy descent plan: use the learning experiences from steps 1-11 and make it an attractive and achievable vision.

R. Hoskin's : Slide presentation-Nov2007

/source :: http://climatex.org/articles/lo-carb-commu...s-oxford-event/

Perhaps the "transition" town-by-town, as traditional towns shift to becoming Eco-towns

DEFINITION of Eco-town:
Devon, a new community in Cranbrook has proposed the idea of a prototype ‘Eco-town’.
The local authority is aiming for a high standard of sustainability and renewable energy usage on a green-field site with its own railway station. Affordability is intended to be a cornerstone of the project – 40% of Cranbrook’s first 2,900 homes should be Affordable Housing, and the New Community Partnership now believe they can exceed the ambitious target of 16.4% renewable energy set by the Council in 2006. Planning Officers have said they want Cranbrook to be as green as possible whilst taking a realistic attitude about what current existing technology can deliver. More about Cranbook’s plans can be found here.

And just recently in July this year, 4 more towns have made plans to turn into eco ones. They are Rackheath, Norfolk; north-west Bicester, Oxfordshire; Whitehill Bordon, East Hants; and the China Clay Community near St Austell, Cornwall.

The BBC article about this recent development can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8152985.stm

ECOBUILD,Earls court,London

Seminars > Urban planning & the public realm > Tuesday 02 March

16.00Sustaining Transition Town initiatives
With grass roots, the Transition Towns Initiative is now several years old, and this seminar considers the lessons learned so far, how to build and sustain public awareness and adoption, and its critics’ views.

chair: Liz Cox, Head of Connected Economies, New Economics Foundation

14.30 – 14.50 Transition Towns today and in the future
Rob Hopkins, Co-founder Transition Network and Co-founder Transition Towns Totnes, Transition Network and Transition Towns Totnes
14.50 – 15.20 Transition – the role for local economies and communities
Liz Cox, Head of Connected Economies, New Economics Foundation
15.20 – 15.40 Lessons from a Transition Town
Mark Brown, Chairman, Transition Town High Wycombe
15.40 – 16.00 Population growth, economic expansion, increased energy use: are they really a problem?
Alastair Donald, Urban Designer, mantownhuman

http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/seminars/urban-p...y-02-march.html

Something just clicked with me on the subject of trees.

During Rob's youtube message http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQF09NG00V8 he mentions what is the point of having non productive trees around 18 mins into the talk. You have to say what a perfect point, what is the use of plants round new developments, particularly industrial estates.

Same can be said of housing estates. Why not plant something that can be productive?

Like the idea of Walnut trees mentioned in Totnes - so i've just gone and ordered a couple to see how they go.

The majority of roads in West Germany that were either built or rebuilt after WWII were lined with productive trees such as fruit and nuts. The reason behind this was that if the Russians did attack then there was some possibility of food for refugees during some part of the year if there was another war.

Yes, that rings a bell too. We have always gone for apples and plenty of berry bushes on family land, purely down to liking the taste, without really thinking about the need to grow.

But thinking it through, everyone recognises those sources as food. Figure that unless you have an abundance of something, eg Greeks and their Olives, you attract attention with tall fruit trees. Kids go scrumping, well I always did

So I thought why not try something out the avarage scavenger would not easily recognise or appreciate. Hence WALNUTS!

As an addition to this thread (and certainly not to hijack) I wonder what benefit relaxation of laws against the cultivation of hemp would be to assist a transition resulting from resource depletion. I want to emphasise this is a post about industrial hemp and not canabis.


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


Hemp is a plant that was once grew extensively throughout the temperate zones of the planet and which helped support the growth of civilisation through it's versatility. It's supporter's make some claims on it's economic value that to me sound somewhat outlandish but reading through the wikipedia entry there seems some truth behind them. I confess, I know little of it's comparitive attributes except for the obvious cheeky little effect some strains can have on the conscious state, which seems the only justification for it's very strict control.

Historically, especially in the U.S, hemp cultivation has helped support it's population through hardship and in some countries, notably Australia, has helped it's population survive mass starvation.

My suggestion would be that in a scenario of resource depletion, or in the very least high inflation, this plant may actually be one of the more useful plants to cultivate to support local communities but as I have already confessed, I know little of the truths behind it's uses.

I intend to do some further research ( ) but wondered if any posters here can supply any pointers to a balanced opinion on the plant ?

I do also hope that some posters don't find the subject too much of a taboo and apologise in advance.

From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsqi_HewCNo


A video from the Gaia website showing a change in farming in Kenyan farming ideology. Though the narration links the cause of change to climate change (which I don't necessarily doubt) it also highlights global pricing pressures on produce as a reason for change.

Gaia are running various courses that may be of interest to some and details are available at http://www.gaiafoundation.org/

I believe Gaia were represented recently at the Chris Martenson presentation at the LSE.

From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDLiHJFPWsM


From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8t7jqis2Mc


From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZJSHYPkWbo


An interesting interview. It does centre a little too much on the 'drug' issue but then I suppose that is the barrier that needs breaking to allow the possibly ethical industry of Industrial Hemp to flourish. Most of the links I've followed so far have been plagued by the 'legalize marijuana' movement rather than a proper appraisal of Hemp.

There are also some arguments I've read suggesting hemp as an alternative currency.