Jon notes “the govt is locked into a growth economy. I can’t think of any govt that isn’t. Or any voter who would vote for a govt that did NOT promise economic growth.”

Besides, most governments have been “locked” into a global concept of economic growth by binding agreements with world trade and the Breton Woods institutions.

The Govt could set in motion a thorough analysis of the transition culture and similar movements. As it already acknowledges “A” role for the communities, it could learn a lot more from local authorities and others about the power and depth of such community reflex ion. This bottom up approach would certainly help authorities to articulate these ad hoc initiatives into a national vision.

May be one day some Nations will have that visions and courage to force the revision and scrapping of the system, which basically glue as all into a whirlpool of natural catastrophes. Well we have to believe it.

“The golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right”.- Mahatma Gandhi

Some organize hunger strikes, prior to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
“Fast! is an international hunger strike taking place from the 1st of November 2009 to raise public awareness of the desperately urgent need for strong action on the climate crisis ……..will be a demonstration of the commitment and courage required of all nations and all global citizens if we are to equitably solve climate change. (http://www.climatejusticefast.com/).

In response to Shane Hughes’s comment, lobbying MPs and Councillors should be a very important part of what each community should be doing. If we had not lobbied our Councillors in Somerset the SCC would not have adopted the resolution to become the first Transition Authority and with the recent Council elections it is even more important that we continue doing this. Most Councillors are just regular people like you and me but most have very little understanding of the need for Transition. It is up to us to help make them aware of this and collaborate with them to bring about a bottom up approach through Direct Democracy to Transition facilitated over the Internet and by collaboration between local government and communities. The Sustainable Communities Act is the first step towards empowering communities and local government to bring about transition to a low-carbon economy, provided we grasp the opportunity. See step 9 of the 12 steps to transition.

With regard to a growth economy, the government can’t afford to acknowledge Peak Oil as paying off the national debt is depedent on a growth economy which can only grow with oil & gas to fuel it. To aknowledge peak oil is to acknowledge that we are essentially banckrupt and chaos would ensue. See my publication Strategies for “Local Government and Sustainable Communities” Section 3.1 Local Economy, available here:

http://www.alexmalcolm.co.uk/Sustainable.pdf

All the best,
Alex Malcolm
Tel: +44 (0) 1373 462158
Mobile: +44 (0)7798 572665
Blog website: http://www.alexmalcolm.co.uk/

I haven’t given enough thought to all of yours to say that I 100% endorse every one of them, but in the meantime here’s a small (personal) one of mine:

10. Allow the installation of solar panels as permitted development (without planning permission) even in a conservation area.

Shane

A micro to macro guide for local and national government. . . effectively a mini manifesto that just assumes everyone wants to deliver the same as we do but is not quite sure how.

Helping Communities Make the Transition:
A guide for listening governments to ensure a safe transition for communities everywhere in responding to PO and CC
in no particular order at the moment here’s 10 . . .

1. Support and encourage local land trusts and establish them where possible – for the benefit of and giving the responsibility to communities. Provide clear guidance to local and regional government planners to maximise access to land for food production, low impact community builds and promote CSAs.

2. Enshrine maintenance of soil fertility/biodiversity and soil carbon content as a legal requirement for all land owners (Carrot and stick: ensure fines and payments to improve on these measures are appropriate).

3. Promote through training and grants the development of diverse skills in community energy co-ops to 1. lower consumption and 2. sell surplus under a generous feed in tariff with a pump priming fund/loan scheme.

4. Measure government performance across departments primarily using well-being and ecosystem health indicators (including the impact on people and places of goods manufactured overseas).

5. Establish where possible and help develop financial and monetary systems that are diverse and stable and explicitly not debt/economic growth dependent (inc. LETS, Time-Bank, community credit unions, local currencies).

6. Recognise that an over all contraction in the consumer based economy is necessary to avoid major societal shocks through further climate change and energy scarcity.

7. Bring in re-distributive inheritance tax on land ownership hypothecated to a citizen’s pre-distribution scheme.

8. Set up a task force to help local authorities plan for the different educational needs, required to prepare the next generation for a lower energy, fossil fuel free more localised world.

9. Allow fast track process for putting under-utilised marginal land and unoccupied buildings into public ownership or local trusts with explicit aim to provide low cost low energy housing, organic local food production

10. Frame contract law to ensure utility companies provide services rather than sell ‘commodities’ so that it is in their interest to reduce resource use whilst providing a minimum basic provision, for free, to all.

Maybe it would be very different to this list but I think we should get something published as the elections will be upon us before we know it.

I am happy to collate and publish suggestions and responses in this vein.

The simple fact, which we have just forgotten is that we have to live within a life cycle, where nothing is lost but everything is linked and transformed. And this is the only way to remain sustainable.

“Environmental problems are mainly caused by a dysfunctional relationship between people and their environment”. The majority of humans have gradually drifted out of touch with the natural world. Hence the environment is no longer the main framework, wherein everything should fit in but it has been pushed behind many other preoccupations. It is also now the prerogative of experts. We do not relate and recognize any more the importance of keeping it healthy for the sake and survival of the human kind. This results in unconsidered decisions, which waste natural resources and damage the environment. The Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) is increasingly made on an ad hoc basis outside an integrated development definition. Hence, it is often sidetracked behind many other economical, social and political “considerations”.

Developmental problems are too often looked up in an un – integrated and uncoordinated manner (e.g water, global warming, agriculture, environment, social …) studied and dealt with separately. In other words, the tendency has been lately to disregard the major environment framework which should inform development. We now divide the latter in various sectors, for which people became “specialized”. This has caused that most of these activities have been planned separately and unrelated sometime overlapping, hence unsustainable.

Specialization prevents adequate considerations of linkages and holistic approach.

The Transition movement would therefore simplify greatly its task by using (as it should be) the life cycle as its main framework. The latter would inform all its actions and principles such as localised production, bottom – up community planning and work, renewable energies, permculture, holistic approach…..

These could never be wrong if all linkages have been thought through as it should be in a life cycle.

This would give a certain clarity and certainty to the movement. Moreover it would help rebuild the present “dysfunctional relationship between people and their environment”

Yes certainly the present type of “growth” and “wastage” will be found very much wanting in that framework.

I think rising energy prices will probably do a lot to sharpen people’s minds when it comes to conscious or unconscious waste.

Clearly therefore, reports such as this can only tinker with the problems and challenges we face because they do not address the fundamental principles at play in our relationships with the Earth, its resources, ourselves and each other.

It is only when we change our reality that we will change our actions to any deep and profound degree.

The first question therefore is not HOW we should change but WHY? Because if there is no meaning to our exitence then there is no consequence or reason to change.

It is also arrogant and human centric for us to think that we can somehow save the Planet with a shrewd and organic rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic!

The Planet will save itself no doubt, but will we?

In my view we don’t need need to save energy at all. Contrary to the report I believe we need to release as much energy as we can!
It’s just that it is a different energy source we need.
And that is the inner passion, moral and spiritual energy that causes all our hearts to beat, subpoenas us all to take the next breath we breathe, allows us to be moved and love and be loved and gives us the choice to treat the Planet we live on as sacred ground.
For sacred ground it would surely be if it suddenly started to disappear from beneath our feet! Why wait for that to happen!!

We won’t find the truth of our reality by stopping all the damaging and costly actions that have put us in the peril we find ourselves to be in. (Although it would be great if we did stop them!)

We will find it in the reverence and the awe that strangely the astronauts saw and felt when they went to the Moon. All of them say that being on the Moon was nothing compared to looking back at our island home floating through space.

They felt a reverence and an awe that somehow we have all since shared by proxy.
Despite NASA’s intense training they somehow had an external perception of what the truth of our situation really is, a for real experience of the saying – the heart of the matter can only be seen from afar.

Children feel that awe and wonder when they see something they have planted grow.

Sometimes I feel we look at the issues we face from too close to them to see what they really are.

Of course we each need to DO what we can to “be the change we want to see in the world.” But as Ghandi emphasised in that saying it is is important first for us each to BE the change first.

Wouldn’t it be great to see one of these politicians just get up and say – “You know I really, really love the fact that we live on this amazing, incredible, life affirming, awe inspiring, beautiful Planet. Let’s all therefore try and find how to celebrate that fact together and find out what works best in building a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship with the Planet and each other. I don’t know HOW to do it but I really want to try.”

Well for once maybe the politicians can take the lead from the people, so let’s not wait for them to get it right.

The task we all face looks impossible.
Terrific, let’s get started before it gets even more impossible!

(If you want to find out more about myself and my book “Who Owns the Future?” then go to http://www.whoownsthefuture.com)

There’s more to save there, I think!

Everyone willing to do a certain energy level supports everyone else doing it and reports back what it was like, receiving kudos for being amongst the first to attempt it in that locale.

They summarize all they’ve learned, tricks and mistakes etc., and their experience is used to design more and more people down to that level.

This has all of the ‘glory’ of a competition, because people doing it get to lead the way, but with no ‘losers’ and no limit on the number of ‘winners’. (Running things as a competition is only necessary when the prize is limited.)