Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric on May 18, 2009 at 11:41am

Transition Towns to me is our collective response to daunting economic/environmental problems sweeping this nation that are pushing people forward to question collectively what they can do to form resilience instead of our globalized efficiency.

At www.codegreencommunity.org there is a video of a Sustainability Series that Tarpon Springs, FL. has been hosting. We are a group of people working on behalf of the Environment that sustains us all.

Thanks,
Eric

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kathy Jacobson on June 19, 2009 at 6:13am

Hi Folks,
Here's my shot at it as folks in Ohio asked for something on the home page clarifying what the Transition Initiatives movement was about. It is probably more than a minute long if read out-loud but perhaps there's something in it that may be helpful. Let me know what you think and/or how it could/can be improved.
Love, kj

Welcome to Transition Ohio!

This Transition Ohio Ning site, and those for the other states, have emerged from the people, for the people. They are not official projects of the Transition US organization or the Transition Network; however the cooperative partnership is growing stronger all the time.

Tom Atlee, Co-intelligence Institute shares:
Perhaps most remarkable is that the Transitions Towns approach engages people NOT by scaring them out of their wits or telling them what to do, but by providing powerful motivations, possibilities, and ways for them to explore creative local responses for and among themselves. There is no blueprint. The guidance provided involves tools, ways of talking and co-creating together, visions, and links to other people and resources engaged in this effort. What we do with it is up to us.

May the wisdom and creativity of our hands, hearts and heads weave together into a well-supported vine; thriving upon the Transition Initiatives trellis.

So, what is this Transition Initiatives movement about anyway?

The Wikipedia entry for Transition Towns provides very basic information about the Transition Initiatives movement, including:
...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 ...

The key phrase there is shifting our mind-set, easy to say, not so easy to do especially since it is about lifting our veils of denial with regards to climate change, post-oil realities and other worse case scenarios. However, it is also about realizing that it is a lot more fun and effective to free the beast and compassionately take it by the horns while leading it onto a path that offers greener pastures; especially when in the company of very kind and caring folks!

It's about accepting that we as a society have been programmed into a way of life that is out of balance. It's about knowing that sustainability must, by definition, include the environmental, social AND economic sectors. It's about knowing that sustainability isn't just about basic survival, it's about building a civilization that will thrive and prosper for generations to come. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness for ALL!

It is about preparedness with an all-hazard approach, adaptation and strengthening local resiliency with a bottom-up/top-down systems strategy. It is about re-skilling in all arenas, including communication and collaboration. It is about collectively developing energy descent and other preparedness plans in our local area.
It is about developing self-sufficiency while building interdependent systems on the local level.

Some folks have found the frequently distributed Hopi Elders Speak message to be a nice place to start and a helpful reminder on this adventure.

However, the hardest part still remains...we need to shift the way we think, make decisions, interact with each other and all life on this planet. It's up to each one of us as individuals to accept responsibility and to take the steps needed to step aside from the programmed assumptions and established patterns. To strive to see things fresh, to learn new skills (including healthy communication) and to create a more balanced way of life on this planet while reaching out to our neighbors, rekindling the fires of local community and helping the blaze sweep across our bioregions and the planet as a whole.

The Permatopia folks have reported:
The most Important Issue: how to get our society to understand the need to make these shifts for us to survive and thrive.

As well as:
The permaculture movement has the right idea about transformation to mitigate the energy and ecological crises and to shift toward sustainable societies. But so far most permaculture efforts have been directed toward modest number of local food initiatives: community gardens, victory gardens, farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture. These are all excellent accomplishments, but the scale of what we are all facing requires several orders of magnitude more systemic community organizing, teaching of critical skills and networks to implement these good ideas.

It should therefore come as no surprise to learn that there is a strong link between Permaculture and the Transition Initiatives; the Wikipedia reports:
The Transition concept emerged from work permaculture designer Rob Hopkins had done with the students of Kinsale Further Education College in writing an "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.

The Transition Initiatives model is continually evolving but here are some links to Information and Guidance:
* What is a Transition Town (or village, neighborhood, watershed, forest or island)?
* Transition Culture
-- How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march?
*The Transition Primer, pdf file.
* Who we are and What we do, a pdf file.
* 7 Buts
* 12 steps
* Criteria for becoming an official Transition Initiative
*The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience by Rob Hopkins.

* Transition US is a newly established non-profit organization, that is working in close partnership with the Transition Network and the Post Carbon Institute to catalyze, inspire, encourage, network, support and train communities throughout the U.S. as they consider, adopt, adapt and implement the Transition model.

* Transition US therefore offers us Getting Started information.
* Transition US also facilitates official Training for Transition (T4T) programs around the country; including at the Wabi Community; hosted by Healing Heart Herbals on October 3 & 4th in Meigs County, SE Ohio.

Transition US reports:
These courses are designed to give a detailed introduction to the most important skills necessary to successfully set up, develop and run a Transition project in your locality. It is designed for people who are already in a group working to achieve this, or are thinking of creating such a group.

Prerequisites for these trainings usually include:
*** The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience by Rob Hopkins.
***The Transition Primer.
The Transition Network says: If you've read The Primer and are "mulling over" whether you might set up an initiative in your locale, then you may want to consider getting yourself onto one of the GoogleMaps ...

These maps can be accessed by clicking on these hotlinksGoogle map official Transition Initiatives and href="http://www.transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/Mulling">Mullers.

The Transition Ohio group:
The Mullers is a place for us to share thoughts and questions about the materials while also consulting and collaborating with each other regarding our respective efforts. The hope is that we will also develop an alliance of interdependency with clear communications and a unifed voice toward a common goal.

*** other recommended materials:
* The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James Howard Kunstler. There is also a wikipedia description about the book.
* Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines by Richard Heinberg.
Videos:
*** Crude Impact
Wikipedia offers a brief description and here is a 4 minute sneak peak of Crude Impact . There are also four video clip excerpts available in the Transition Ohio Video Library.
*** A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash. There are six excerpts available in the TO video library and a Wikipedia description.
*** The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
(It is available in 6 parts in the Transition Ohio video library)
*** Arithmatic, Population and Energy: Sustainability 101 by Dr. Albert Bartlett. (It is available in 8 parts in the Transition Ohio video library)

The Manpollo Project may also be of interest given that Transition Initiatives are inclined to take a dual driver approach that includes peak oil AND climate change. The creator of the Manpollo Project is a science teacher who presents information regarding climate change and risk management in a fun and easily understood fashion.

The Manpollo Project homepage offers links to the videos and other information. There are also quite a few in the TO video library.

The Manpollo home page reports: Our mission is to provide a risk-management perspective to the often political debate of global warming. We aim to quantify the possible consequences of various international, national, statewide, and personal actions (or inaction), based upon economic and climate models provided by top scientists in their respective fields.

Furthermore, we wish to shift the question often asked in popular culture from "Are we certain we're responsible for global warming?" to
"Given the risks and uncertainties of global warming, what is the best action to take?"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Eggleton on February 1, 2010 at 8:57pm

Just for fun:

Transition Towns are those whose people choose to renew and devise ways that are more or less local, their own. The ways will enable them to say, with understanding, certainty and joy, "We've not destroyed our old basket, but our eggs now are in various baskets and we know more eggs and baskets are coming. We are living in the Soil Age, no longer the Oil Age."

• ▶ Reply