In this age of growing concern about climate change and peak oil (the widely recognised theory that in the near future oil production will reach its peak resulting in ever increasing oil prices), many individuals, groups, businesses and communities are trying to ‘do their bit’ towards making a difference to the environment in which we live. Transition Towns was born out of this spirit and is about communities (be it a village, town, city or anything in between) trying to make a difference by combating these issues. The Transition Towns premise is for a community to answer the following 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 first of the ever-growing list of Transition Towns was Totnes in Devon which started the process in September 2006, and this community has been followed by many more, mainly in the UK. The list of communities wishing to take part in the Transition Towns initiative is also increasingly containing towns in other parts of the world, from Ireland to Australia
There is also now a Transition Towns Network which aims to offer support and training for communities wishing to become involved. Various resources are already available with more expected to follow.
For more information on Transition Towns visit the Transition Network website where you will also find a list of existing Transition Towns and Initiatives with links to their websites, as well as communities which have expressed an interest in starting the Transition Towns process (known as Mullers i.e. are mulling over the process).
Source: www.transitionnetwork.org 2011
