Transition towns

[kaieteur]

Transition town model is something we can all follow and partake in, to bring together all the willingness of our communities to help our environment.
I have seen the community spirit that they are encouraging and the motivated people involved in helping make there own communities a better place.
Watch the transition town model spreading the country and globe.

From Transition Towns WIKI :: Main / HomePage

What is a Transition Town (or village / city / forest / island)?

A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

The resulting coordinated range of projects across all these areas of life leads to a collectively designed energy descent pathway.

The community also recognises two crucial points:

* 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
* 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.

[UKBullDog]

Is a transition town an eco or green town?

I read and followed the links and I can get what the contents of the websites mean but an ordinary person would not read it and it would go right over their heads. Which is a shame as they are the ones that need to be involved to move things forward.

[kaieteur]

Originally Posted by UKBullDog

Is a transition town an eco or green town?

I read and followed the links and I can get what the contents of the websites mean but an ordinary person would not read it and it would go right over their heads. Which is a shame as they are the ones that need to be involved to move things forward.

Your most probably right. I think the links on the left (on the transition town website) to particular towns and their initiatives are much better at describing what they are about, in more simple terms.
E.G.
Transition Brighton and Hove
Or
Transition Town West Kirby

My interpretation of a Transition town, is a group coming together to guide their town towards a more sustainable future, being less dependent on fossil fuel, helping their local community grow, by encouraging local food production encouraging their community to address climate change, encouraging more local production of energy using renewable energy, etc etc.

Yes i would say a transition town is an 'eco' town and a 'green' town
Regards

[Karl]

This site is a little more focussed on the "political" aspects of environment, but may still contain some interesting perspectives, opinions and discussions related to your ideas: (Preservation Institute: What We Believe)

[Sezbet]

I live in Penzance, Cornwall (GB), and we're part of Transition Penwith, which is our local area....it's too big. Well, in my opinion it is. I love the idea of Transition towns, the idea of working towards something (rather than away from) is a great one, but the area needs to be small enough that the individual feels she/ he can really make a difference.

Most people have never heard of Transition Penwith, I have a friend who's a part of it but he's frustrated because it seems that it's all talk and very little action.

The Permaculture Magazine has been following this movement closely, and gives very good explanations about what it's all about. And to add to Wikipedia, try this site - Transition Culture

[mybarnconversion]

Originally Posted by kaieteur

My interpretation of a Transition town, is a group coming together to guide their town towards a more sustainable future, being less dependent on fossil fuel, helping their local community grow, by encouraging local food production encouraging their community to address climate change, encouraging more local production of energy using renewable energy, etc etc.

Yes i would say a transition town is an 'eco' town and a 'green' town

Pretty much my assessment of transition towns - they are about tackling the two 'threats' of peak oil (in short dwindling oil supply) and climate change.

I guess that the risk of these initiatives is that they become cliquey talking shops (which from Sezbet's experience is what may be happening in Penzance). But nevertheless, they seem to present an interesting opportunity for society.

[isenhand]

Transition towns might help a little but I think they still miss the big issue. Why do we have these problems in the first place? Does it not result from they way we do things? Our need for continuous growth? From our socioeconomic system? Without tackling that, you don’t really get to the core of the problem.

.ui

[kaieteur]

Originally Posted by isenhand

Transition towns might help a little but I think they still miss the big issue. Why do we have these problems in the first place? Does it not result from they way we do things? Our need for continuous growth? From our socioeconomic system? Without tackling that, you don’t really get to the core of the problem.

.ui

I agree with you that the mess we seem to be in is due to the way most of us live our lives, our theory that financial growth is wealth.
The vid below highlights a bit more about transion towns


Or
Regards
Michael

[Karl]

An interesting website on the idea of "Transition Culture", which may assist in clarifying what this involves...> Transition Culture

[drainAge]

Hi,

Transistion towns are a bit new to me, although it turns out that I live within 10 miles of one (Totnes in Devon, UK). Totnes has always been eco, and had a world-renowned (?) arts college and eco-farm which definitely had an influence on the 'feel' of the town.
I'm presently on an MSc course in sustainable development, and now I know a bit about transition towns, I'm pleased to see that some students on the course are avid fans and want to work in the field of/promote transition towns.
I voted in the sustainabilityforum poll with the response that I felt that transition towns could help a bit. It may be that some communities just can't restructure easily, whereas Totnes pretty much had everything in place already. However, those transistion towns that exist seem to be successful 'proofs of concept'.
I noticed the 'waste of time' and 'cobblers' options in the poll. 'Transition towns is a waste of time' is obviously negative, but the reference to 'cobblers' does at least suggest you can get your shoes repaired there - something we would obviously want to encourage in a throw-away society.