Hermit's Bazaar - Transition Towns - Re-birthing the local community

Have you heard of Transition Towns? If not, this is a concept which has already reached 40 UK towns and which may be coming to the Bournemouth area in the not too distant future, so we thought it would be a good time to introduce it to you.

Here at Hermits Bazaar we are keen for our next step to be towards creating a greater awareness of issues surrounding the environment so that we can all help protect mother earth to the best of our abilities.

In looking at options to present to you, we discovered the Transition Towns Network – an amazing initiative which is only 3 years old and which aims to inspire, support and encourage communities to ‘keep it local’.

Globalisation has had its role to play but we now need to re-think the way we work and live, as we can no longer rely on oil indefinitely and CO2 levels are threatening the stability of our climate. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and one of the world's leading climate scientists warned recently that the EU and its international partners must urgently rethink targets for cutting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of fears they have grossly underestimated the scale of the problem. In April of this year he made a startling reappraisal of the threat and called for a sharp reduction in C02 limits.

Transition Town is the term used for a community which is rising to the challenge of living in a society which faces both the need to reduce carbon emissions, and the imminent threat of oil reserves which are at once dwindling in supply and rising in price, by pooling and maximising local resources. Sourcing local produce, trading with local businesses etc. As stated on the Transition Towns website, these communities have adopted a Transition’ model to respond to the twin challenges of Peak Oil and climate change.

So what does this all mean? Peak Oil is the term used for the situation we have now almost reached when oil and natural gas are no longer cheaply and readily available. The supply of cheap oil reaches its peak before production goes into decline with demand far outweighing supply ~ with all the consequences that will bring with it. For example, just consider how much we come into contact on a daily basis with items which used oil in their production. And just consider how little of the plastic packaging we are so used to using is thrown into landfill and not recycled. This isn’t just about cars ......

The idea of the Transition Town was conceived by Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Network. He has long been aware of the implications of our oil-dependent status, and has been campaigning to increase awareness of its impact. He successfully created an Energy Descent Plan for Kinsale in Ireland which was later adopted as policy by the town council, and then in 2005 he moved to Totnes in Devon and initiated Transition Town Totnes, the first UK town to address the issues of life after peak oil.

His mission, and the mission of the network which now exists, is for “communities to look peak oil and climate change squarely in the eye and unleash the collective genius of their own people to find the answers to this big question:

for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how are we going to:

· significantly rebuild resilience (in response to peak oil)

· drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change)? “

And the answer to this is in localisation. Communities which adhere to this new model believe that the impact of these twin issues of peak oil and climate change can be lessened if local communities source local materials, goods and services as much as is possible. Many of you may do this already ~ shopping at local farmer’s markets, or local farm shops for example. But it is also about working locally, encouraging local businesses to trade with each other rather than sourcing from outside, trying to use vehicles less and ensuring that as much waste as possible is composted and re-cycled.

It is a concept that requires a radical re-thinking of the way we work and live, but it IS possible to start small. For example creating smallholdings with your neighbours; cycling to work where possible; buying food that hasn’t travelled too far. And the beauty of the Transition Towns model is that you don’t have to do this alone. It is a community initiative and the Transition Network offers an infrastructure to support communities which decide to go down this road, offering free information packs on how to get started, plus training opportunities and much more at their website (see below).

There are now over 40 Transition Towns in the UK, with more joining as the idea takes off. The initiative is also taking off in other countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As Rob Hopkins writes in his newly published handbook ‘The Transition Handbook – From oil dependency to local resilience’,

“With little pro-activity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your town is not a Transition Town, this upbeat guide offers you the tools for starting the process. It is a process which is, as Richard Heinberg writes in his Foreword, “more like a party than a protest march”.”

In his book Rob Hopkins says, “We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities, which will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area.

The book has three sections, the Head, the Heart and the Hands. The Head explores the issues of peak oil and climate change…. It argues that the focus of our lives will become increasingly local and small scale as we come to terms with the real implications of the energy crisis we are heading into. The Heart looks at where we find the personal tools for responding to what can feel like overwhelming challenges. It argues that key to our success will be our ability to generate positive visions of future, to harness the power of engaged optimism, and overcome powerlessness. The Hands offers a detailed exploration of the Transition model, setting out its principles, its origins, the 12 Steps of Transition, how they were applied in the first year of Transition Town Totnes, as well as offering a taste of how the model has been applied in a range of other settings. The book also contains lots of ‘Tools for Transition’, exercises and activities that can help to deepen this work in your community.”

Amazing stuff ~and, as he says, all achievable with the right attitude and a positive outlook.

You might argue that oil shortages are an exaggeration but just check out the energy investment strategy website below to see that over 23 countries throughout Asia, Africa and South America are already facing shortages of natural gas, electricity and petrol. For many around the globe it is already about much more than grumbling about fuel prices. “We are just beginning to see the early demand destruction that will surely accelerate as fossil fuels start to become supply constrained. “

You may also argue that there are alternatives to oil but so far evidence suggests that bio-fuels, for example, use up too much arable land to be feasible as a long-term option and, in fact, the use of farming land to grow bio-fuels in some parts of the world is already having devastating effects on our food supply globally.

As the challenge of peak oil draws close, it’s worth casting your mind over the changes it would bring with it in terms of affecting our everyday lives and livelihoods.

Tackling the Fuel Crisis and Climate Change