Transition Initiative Introduction

Editor's Notes

• #2: Welcome to this introduction to Transition Initiatives – a contagious framework for individuals and local communities to take local action as they address global challenges.
• #3: We will briefly outline the impetus for the creation of Transition Initiatives, a short history of the first initiative and its chronicler,The principles which emerged,Structural suggestions,things you might see in an active transition initiative, the explosive growth of the movement, including what is happening locally,And what you can do now.
• #4: The Key Questions:For all those aspects of life that this community needs to sustain itself and thrive, how do we: dramatically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change); significantly increase resilience (in response to peak oil); greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?Nonetheless…each of these issues is but a symptom of deeper problems facing our world…
• #5: The underlying issues that we must face are: “It takes a lot of cheap energy to maintain the levels of social inequality we see today, the levels of obesity, the record levels of indebtedness, the high levels of car use and alienating urban landscapes. Only a culture awash with cheap oil could become de-skilled on the monumental scale we have.” —Rob Hopkins
• #6: One of my favorite comic strips is “Agnes” by Tony Cochran. This strip ran recently and I thought it would be appropriate to share it with you today as an illustration of the attitudes of too many people.Cindy will play the part of Agnes, and I will take the part of Agnes’ friend, Trout.
• #8: So far, what we do know is that, since the industrialization of the developing world, our population has grown at an exponential rate. By association, our energy and resource use, and thus our detritus of pollution and waste has also grown and an increasingly rapid rate. US has 4% of the world’s population yet uses 25% of the world’s resourcesWe are approaching what some call a Tipping Point.
• #9: As we look to the future, many see the growth curve approximating this shape. In my opinion this could at best be called a Techno-Fantasy (emphasis on Fantasy) that supposes that technology or new discoveries can accommodate our reckless behaviors.
• #10: However, if we continue to believe that “they” will take care of fueling our over-extended lifestyle, or that “science” will find a way to enable it…we are headed for a rude awakening (ala “Mad Max”) where we find ourselves in a desperate situation.
• #11: Of course there is the hope that Green Technologies, like wind, solar, geothermal and hydro energy will develop quickly enough to compensate for the demand and we will all become somewhat more conscious of our energy use. The key in this scenario is that our overall demand is brought into alignment with the available renewable technologies, in spite of increasing population rises.
• #12: The basis for the Transition initiative is that we have to make some long-term decisions and create what is called an “Energy Descent Action Plan” in order to make a deliberate move into a deep Earth Stewardship model of behavior. Through difficult choices, deliberate behavior, and life-affirming action we can together create a plan that will meet all our NEEDS in a fair, just and equitable manner.We need to be PRO-active rather than Reactive, whether “peak oil” is faced now or 100 years from now..
• #13: “I believe that a lower-energy, more localized future, in which we move from being consumers to being producer/consumers, where food, energy and other essentials are locally produced, local economies are strengthened and we have learned to live more within our means is a step towards something extraordinary, not a step away from something inherently irreplaceable.” —Rob HopkinsThe Transition Handbook
• #14: TTT began informally in late 2005, when Rob Hopkins and Naresh Giangrande initiated a series of talks and film screenings to raise awareness about the issue of peak oil.  This rapidly began to build momentum for some kind of a community response, and this was launched as Transition Town Totnes in September 2006, at an event called "The Official Unleashing" of TTT, attended by 400 people.  They have since delivered an extensive program of events with many of the leading speakers in the field of sustainability having visited Totnes.
• #16: Written in 2008, wrote The Transition Handbook to share the process that Transition Town Totnes and other communities, in a manner that would encourage other communities to creatively engage in proactive, local solutions to global problems.This book was written with the following question in mind: “How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march?”
• #17: “Transition is a replicable strategy for harnessing the talent, vision, and goodwill of ordinary people.”—Richard HeinbergThose of you who say this is impossible need to get out of the way of us who are doing it.
• #18: Three of the hallmarks of the Transition initiative are: the Great Unleashing – which is like a launching of a community’s intentions and dedication to each other in a move towards a more responsible lifestyle; the Great ReSkilling – which involves re-learning skills used by our grandparents (and their grandparents) like spinning & weaving, canning, gardening, herbal medicines, animal husbandry, bread-making and others – which incorporates the concept that we need to honor and engage our elders; and the creation of an Energy Descent Action Plan (alluded to earlier) which is a strategic map for the community describing what living with local energy, less energy, and renewable energy will look like – and how we will get there.
• #19: We use the term “typical” loosely…There are many different types of groups that have taken on the challenge of transition: there are Transition Towns, Cities, Colleges, Villages, Islands, Woods, Penninsulas and so on. Another of the unique aspects of a Transition initiative is that the original steering committee or initiating group intends that theyAre successful enough at establishing working groups, projects and plans that they will no longer be necessary and/or that the leadership will evolve away from a centralized committee.In a coming set of slides, we will share what some of the manifestations of the different working groups can be.
• #20: Deeply rooted in Permaculture principles and ethicsCultivates positive visioningProvides training in the practical skills needed for a post-oil societyRecognizes the psychological side of the process of changeEncourages inclusiveness, openness to peer-to-peer feedbackPromotes non-hierarchical, distributed decision-makingEnables sharing and networkingBalances inner/outer, left/right brain, masculine/feminine, young/oldProvides a replicable model, a clear pathwayEngages whole communities in the processScalable and adaptable to particular communitiesSpreads like wildfire!
• #21: Coming Together To:Raise Awareness and Encourage Discussion of Challenges of Climate Change, Peak Oil & Economic Instability.Create a Positive Vision for a More Self-Reliant, Sustainable, Resilient and Enjoyable Future.Unleash the Collective Genius of the Community in Designing New Initiatives that are Inspiring and Fun.Form Partnerships with Business, Local Government and other Organizations that Share Similar Goals.Create an Energy Descent Action PlanHow does Transition thinking foster behavior change:Integrates our thinking (Head), our values (Heart), and our actions (Hands)Provides a supportive environment for people to cope with a realistic assessment of the future and their role in becoming an agent of positive changeProvides information and resources about what other successful Transition Towns are doingEngages people in a positive way to create a future we all want to live intoIt is grassroots, creative, fun, action-oriented and democratic!
• #22: Resilience is being able to withstand a shock <use fist to hit palm, demonstrating the give and return to level position> without “Post Petroleum Stress Disorder”It used to be that all the ingredients for a healthy life were available locally: eggs, flour, fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats and so forth. And when something “special” was called for – like a cake, I ingredients could be bought from other communities. At this point, we have in our pantries all kinds of mixes, ready-to-eat snacks, frozen meals and so forth, and we make a special effort to bring in fresh fruits and vegetables and buy the rare locally milled flour or farm-raised meat. In this topsy-turvy current scenario, the locally produced items are the “special” items that we add to our diets.Resilient communities have strength in their localized systems for food, and also their energy, transportation, health and housing.
• #23: Localized Infrastructure Resiliency Indicators:Percentage of food consumed locally that was produced within a given radiusRatio of car parking space to productive land useDegree of engagement in practical relocalization work by local communityAmount of traffic on local roadsNumber of businesses owned by local peoplePercentage of local trade carried out in local currencyProportion of the community employed locallyPercentage of essential goods manufactured within a given radiusPercentage of local building materials used in new housing developmentsNumber of 16-year-olds able to grow 10 different varieties of vegetables to a given degree of basic competencyPercentage of medicines prescribed locally that have been produced within a given radius
• #25: Local food starts with living, naturally enriched soil – as opposed to over cultivated soil reliant on petroleum dependent and energy intensive fertilizers.
• #39: Visioning what MY community would be in 20 years using my senses and emotions.How can we best live in a community that is sustainable?Our vision is a future where life is more socially connected, more meaningful and satisfying, more sustainable, and more equitable in a greater community of relocalized communities…Where production and consumption occur closer to home…Where long and fragile supply chains—now vulnerable to surges in oil prices and economic volatility—have been replaced by interconnected local networks…Where the total amount of energy consumed by businesses and citizens is dramatically less than current unsustainable levels…
• #40: The rapid spread of the empowering Transition concept really illustrates for us this famous quote by Margaret Mead.
• #41: Where the Transition initiative has gone in less than five years is amazing…there are 283 initiatives (and counting) throughout the world. To give you an idea of how fast it is growing, when we gave this presentation on February 14th, there were 265 worldwide initiatives, and only 54 in the US.There are mullers in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Poland and Sweden
• #43: The map that you see here is accessible through the TransitionUS.org website. It is an interactive map where individuals and groups can post their initiatives, their personal interest, and where groups that are in the formative stages, or as they are called “Mullers,” can encourage others in their areas to participate You are welcome to go to this site and find folks in your area and/or post your own interests. And more springing up each day. The folks from Transition Anderson recently shared with us that there is a Transition Hub being established in the Cincinnati area to support the wide range of groups there.
• #44: As an example of interacting with local government, Transition Town Southeast Ohio participant Ben Shender talked about the initiative at a recent Athens Town Hall meeting.
• #46: And thus engage our heads, hands and hearts - indeed all our being.
• #47: The Head: Understanding Why Small is Inevitable, and being able to vision into the futureThe Hands: Creating and living into the future through Local Resilience BuildingThe Heart: Feeling Why Having a Positive Vision is Crucial and feeding those feelings through acknowledging and celebrating the successes we have along the way
• #48: A central tenet of this initiative is to wake up and be alive to that which makes you feel even more alive. And by following our passion for the long-term vision of what we want our lives and our world to be, and by coming together with others in our communities, we will fulfill our basic needs.
• #49: The Transition movement is the result of real work undertaken in the real world with community engagement at its heart. There’s not an ivory tower in sight, no professors in musty oak-paneled studies churning out erudite papers, no slavish adherence to a model carved in stone.This work, just like the Transition model, is brought to you by people who are actively engaged in Transition in a community—people who are learning by doing and learning all the time, people who understand that we can’t sit back and wait for someone else to do the work. People like you, perhaps…
• #50: We would be glad to share an eight page list of resources with you in a pdf format. Please write your name, zip code, and email address so that we can send this to you electronically (and save a few trees).