Transition Initiative Introduction

Transition Initiatives
Local Actions Meet Global Challenges
Earth Month 2010
Ohio University
April 6, 2010
Athens, Ohio

Why
How
What
Now
Where
Who

We are concerned about

However, the roots of these issues are

This comic strip sums up our society’s attitude quite well:
AGNES

Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know.
- M. King Hubbert

Beyond Cheap Energy Sources
By whichever economic indicator (at left) we choose, we have grown at an exponential rate since the Industrial Revolution.
What will happen in the future?

Our “business as usual” model assumes that new technology or discoveries can accommodate our exploitive behaviors.

However, if we continue to believe that “they” will take care of our needs, we are likely to be faced with extreme shortages of fossil fuel and limited adaptive capability.

There is the hope that Green Technology will be developed quickly enough to compensate for a stabilized demand.

Or we can proactively move into a deep Earth Stewardship model through deliberate action.

“Inherent within the challenges of peak oil and climate change is an extraordinary opportunity to reinvent, rethink and rebuild the world around us.”
—Rob HopkinsThe Transition Handbook

The first Transition Town began informally in late 2005 in Totnes, England through awareness raising about peak oil. This built momentum for community-centered action based on a shared vision.

The awareness raising in Totnes brought the community to several Ah-Ha Moments:
Life with less energy is inevitable, and it is better to plan for it than be taken by surprise.
We have lost the resilience to be able to cope with energy shocks.
We have to act for ourselves and we have to act now.
By unleashing the collective genius of the community we can design ways of living that are more enriching, satisfying and connected.

Rob Hopkins, one of the initial founders of Transition Town Totnes, wrote The Transition Handbook in 2008 to encourage other communities to creatively engage in proactive local solutions to global problems.

…A creative, engaging, playful process, wherein we support our communities through the loss of the familiar and inspire and create a new lower energy infrastructure which is ultimately an improvement on the present.
What is Transition?

The Twelve Elements of Transition
Set up an initiating group and design its demise from the outset
Raise awareness
Lay the foundations
Organize a Great Unleashing
Form groups
Use Open Space
Develop physical, practical projects
Facilitate the Great ReSkilling
Build a bridge to local government
Honor and engage the elders
Let it go where it wants to go
Create an Energy Descent Action Plan

Typical Transition Town Structure
Initiating Group aka Steering Committee
Plans and Leads
Conducts Awareness Raising Projects
Examples of Transition Town Working Groups
Local Food
Energy & Transportation
Economics & Livelihood
Heart & Soul
Arts, Education & Other
Support
Local Transition Support Network
www.TransitionUS.org

7 Principles of Transition
Positive Visioning
Help Others and Trust Them to Make Good Decisions
Inclusion and Openness
Enable Sharing and Networking
Build Resilience
Inner and Outer Transition
Creativity and Celebration

Remember… we are encouraged toLet it go where it wants to go
Focus on the questions
Unleash the collective genius of the community
Any sense of control is illusory

A Purpose of Transition Initiatives is to buildResilient Communities
Communities that are self-reliant for the greatest possible number of their needs will be infinitely better prepared than those who are dependent on globalized systems for food, energy, transportation, health, and housing.

Resilience is based onRelocalization
Local production of food, energy and goods
Local development of currency, government and culture
Reducing consumption while improving environmental and social conditions
Developing an exemplary community that can be a working model for other communities when the effects of energy decline become more intense

Local Food

Living Soil

Living Food

Community Gardens

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Farmer’s Markets

Local Businesses

Good Food – by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkina film to awaken our taste buds and our courage!
(Bullfrog Films)

Transition Community
Other aspects may include…

Distributed Energy

Alternative Transportation

Local Currency
and Bartering

Re-Skilling: relearning practical skills

Building Community through Connection and Celebration

Visioning Our Future
Transition Initiatives are about
Creating a Plan to get there,
and Living into that Plan
Joyfully

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

Since 2008Transition Worldwide (285)
England - 135
Ireland – 3
Northern Ireland – 2
Scotland – 13
Wales – 12
Australia – 27
Canada – 12
Chile – 1
Denmark – 1
Finland - 1
Germany – 3
Italy – 1
Japan – 3
Netherlands – 1
New Zealand – 8
USA – 62
April 5, 2010

Transition US Official Initiatives
1. Transition Colorado Boulder County CO 2. Sandpoint Transition Initiative Sandpoint ID 3. Community Rising Ketchum ID 4. Transition CotatiCotati CA 5. Transition Town LyonsLyons CO 6. Transition Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA 7. Transition Town MontpelierMontpelier VT 8. Transition Initiative PortlandPortland ME 9. Transition SebastopolSebastopol CA 10. Transition Laguna Beach Laguna Beach CA 11. Pine Mountain's Let's Live Local Pine Mountain CA 12. Transition Town AshlandAshland OR 13. Sustainable BereaBerea KY 14. Transition PimaPima AZ 15. Transition Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 16. Transition DenverDenver CO 17. Transition WhatcomWhatcom WA 18. Transition Mount Shasta Mount Shasta CA 19. Sustainable NE Seattle NE Seattle WA 20. Transition LouisvilleLouisville CO 21. Transition NewburyportNewburyport MA 22. Transition Paso Robles Paso Robles CA 23. Transition PDX Portland OR 24. Transition SLO County San Luis Obispo CA 25. Transition Town HohenwaldHohenwald TN 26. Transition Ann Arbor Ann Arbor MI 27. Transition Town OKC Oklahoma City OK 28. Transition West Marin West Marin CA 29. Sustainable TucsonTucson AZ 30. Transition Greater New Haven Greater New Haven CT 31. Transition Town Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 32. Stelle Transition InitiativeStelle IL 33. Hancock County Towns in Transition Hancock County ME 34. Hardwick Area Transition Towns Hardwick Area VT 35. Transition Whidbey Southern Whidbey Island WA 36. Transition Culver City Culver City CA 37. Transition SunnysideSunnyside, Portland OR 38. Transition MediaMedia PA 39. Transition Carrboro/Chapel Hill Carrboro/Chapel Hill NC 40. Transition HoustonHouston TX 41. Transition OlympiaOlympia WA 42. Transition Town ChelseaChelsea MI 43. Transition AndersonAnderson OH 44. Transition AustinAustin TX 45. Citizens for a Sustainable Monterey County Monterey CA 46. Transition NorthfieldNorthfield MN 47. Transition LouisvilleLouisville KY 48. Transition ShelburneShelburne VT 49. Transition Van Buren-Allegan Fennville MI 50. Transition RenoReno NV 51. Transiton Town ManchesterManchester VT 52. Hay River Transition Initiative- HRTI Prairie Farm WI 53. Transition Westminster/Arvada/Broomfield Westminster CO 54. Transition BloomingtonBloomington IN 55. Transition San Francisco San Francisco CA 56. Transition Keene Keen NH 57. Richmond Rivets Richmond CA 58. Transition PGH Pittsburgh PA 59. Transition Albany Albany CA 60. Transition Micanopy Micanopy, FL 61. Transition Staunton Augusta Staunton, VA 62. Transition Town Putney Putney, VT

Ohioans in Transition
Transition AndersonAnderson, OH
Transition Central OhioColumbus, OH
Transition Town Southeast OhioAthens, OH
GreensilienceGreenville, OH
www.TransitionUS.org
TRANSITIONANDERSON

Transition Town Southeast Ohio
Athens Town Hall Meeting, 1/26/10

Our purpose is to engage and inspire people in central Ohio to learn about the Transition community, and to work together in local action that strengthens our community's resilience. We shall do this by engaging our heads, hands, and hearts in the work of transforming our communities.
www.SimplyLiving.org/Transition

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Howard Thurman

Cheerful Disclaimer
Transition is a social experiment on a massive scale; we don’t know if this will work!
If we wait for the governments, it’ll be too little, too late.
If we act as individuals, it’ll be too little.
But if we act as communities, it might be just enough, just in time.

Thank You!
Mary Cunnyngham
mary@renewableconcepts.net
614-571-4918
Cindy Parker
hhherbals@frognet.net
740-742-8901

Transition Initiative Introduction

by Transition Central Ohio on Apr 07, 2010

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Transition Initiative Introduction — Presentation Transcript