Towns in Transition
What started out as school project a few years ago has grown into an international effort of creativity, forward thinking, and co-operation among individuals and groups with a view to the future. Not satisfied with the rhetoric of government, big business, or doomsday theorists these visionaries are proactively making a concerted effort to prepare their communities for the inevitable. They are not passing judgement, they are not getting entangled in spurious debates or mudslinging, and they are not promising miracles. They are creating Transition Towns.
In 2005 Rob Hopkins was teaching a class in the world’s first two-year program of permaculture at a college in Kinsale, County Cork a seaside community on the southern coast of Ireland. Permaculture, in theory and practice, is the idea of sustainable living and as part of his lecture series Hopkins showed the movie The End of Suburbia to his class. At a time when the price of oil was still around the $35 per barrel stage the implications of peak oil were not lost on the students and a proposal was drafted designing the Transition Town concept. The cleaner, greener, community based initiative was adopted by the Kinsale Town Council as proposed by student Louise Rooney and the project was underway.
The Transition Town concept is becoming more and more relavent, as the price of oil is now $135 a barrel, and deals with how communities will adapt, adjust, and flourish despite being faced with declining natural resources, rising fuel and energy prices or shortages, and climate change. There are currently 50 towns actively participating in this project and hundreds of others contemplating the idea of getting involved. Is your town or city considering the prospect? Check this list of communities around the globe.
A quote from Rob Hopkins’ website reads, "We are communities, a society, a world in transition, and to do that we need a culture of transition, but also we need the tools for manifesting it." Indeed we do Rob, indeed we do.
Rob
- Politics, Environment, Culture, Caoimhin, Health, Irish Culture, Irish Politics, Honesty, misc, All posts, Nature, Developers, Media and Journalism, freedom, World, Economy | Time: 1:00 pm (UTC+8)
Cao, long time no see! Come visit my War of the Worlds island, maybe we can grow some veggies on what is left after the Napalm.
Comment by Igor The Troll — July 2, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
Igor, you seem to be at war a lot! Shouldn’t you be called Igor the Warrior?
Comment by Cao — July 2, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Thank you for this story because it’s the kind of news that can make the world a better place to live if people hear and act. Our town here in the eastern Pyrenees is twinned with an Irish town, Ennis. We’re not sure what the status of that connection is these days, but we will find out. Who knows. Maybe our town and Ennis could get involved in this. Bravo! G. & L.
Comment by Grillman and Luna — July 6, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
Thanks Grillman! Let me know how you get on with Ennis!
Comment by Cao — July 7, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Having just moved back from Toulouse to Ennis recently, I’m interested in what Grillman & Luna are saying. I was also involved in setting up the Ennis Transition towns initiative which started “officially” on Sept 29th 2008. I see Grillman & Luna’s blog is invite only, if they see this can they get in touch. Our site for the moment is http://transitiontownennis.thisbetterworld.org/
Thanks / Colm
Comment by Colm O'Gairbhith — October 10, 2008 @ 3:20 pm
Having just moved back from Toulouse to Ennis recently, I’m interested in what Grillman & Luna are saying. I was also involved in setting up the Ennis Transition towns initiative which started “officially” on Sept 29th 2008. I see Grillman & Luna’s blog is invite only, if they see this can they get in touch. Our site for the moment is http://transitiontownennis.thisbetterworld.org/
Thanks / Colm
Comment by Colm O'Gairbhith — October 10, 2008 @ 3:21 pm