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2 Sep 2010

An Interview with Chris Bird, author of ‘Local Sustainable Homes’

In advance of the publication next week of Chris Bird’s Transition Book ‘Local Sustainable Homes’, I spoke to Chris about the book, and about what he set out to achieve in writing it.  The book will be available to order here at Transition Culture from next Thursday (the 9th).

So Chris, how does ‘Local Sustainable Homes’ differ from all the other green building books out there?

You could fill a bookshop with volumes on green building. There are so many works on sustainable design and construction and green materials that choosing what to read has become almost as difficult as deciding which spectacle frames to wear! But this book is different because it concentrates on how individuals, groups and communities are making it happen. Okay, I admit that in places the book does drift into looking at materials and construction methods but the bread and butter of the text deals with examples from around the country of how people are making sustainable homes a concrete reality – but without the concrete!

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Discussion: No Comments

Categories: Book Reviews, Climate Change, Community Involvement, Energy, Localisation, Natural Building, Peak Oil, Resilience, Transition Initiatives


1 Sep 2010

My Foreword to ‘Local Sustainable Homes’

Next week sees the publication of the next book in the Transition Books series, ‘Local Sustainable Homes: how to make them happen in your community’ by Chris Bird.  More details to follow (including how to order your copy), but as a taster, here is my foreword to the book:

In The Pattern of English Building, his seminal review of vernacular English construction techniques and the wide range of building materials that have defined English architecture – from flint and chalk to clay, oak and straw – Alec Clifton-Taylor wrote:

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Discussion: 3 Comments

Categories: Localisation, Natural Building, Oral History, Peak Oil


31 Aug 2010

Why ‘Green Wizards’ Get Us Nowhere New…

Transition Culture is back!  After a month of Cornish beaches, hemp lime plastering, wood store-building, cinema visits, catching up with friends, storytelling festivals, campfires and wrestling with cabbage white caterpillars, normal service is resumed.  Nice to see you again, you’re looking well.  I’m kicking off again with some reflections on John Michael Greer’s ‘green wizardry’ concept, which he calls “the current Archdruid Report project”, which will no doubt generate some interesting debate.  Greer, for those who don’t know, is a blogger and author whose work I usually admire greatly, whose excellent blog can be found here

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Discussion: 49 Comments

Categories: Climate Change, Community Involvement, Education for Sustainability, Energy, Energy Descent Planning, General, Great Reskilling, Localisation, Peak Oil, Research on Transition, Resilience, The 'Heart' of Energy Descent, Transition Initiatives


21 Jul 2010

An Update from Transition Training and Consulting

Transition Training and Consulting (TTandC) is the part of the Transition Network specifically designed to engage with businesses and organisations in our communities, and deliver transition-related training and consulting services. Run as a social enterprise, any profits go to support the work of the Transition Network. This is the first of a regular series of updates from TTandC. It aims primarily to keep transition folk posted about the work we are doing, the services we are developing,  opportunities to help, and upcoming training sessions if you wish to join us.

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Discussion: 2 Comments

Categories: Economics, Education for Sustainability, Energy, General, Localisation, Peak Oil, Resilience, Transition Network


14 Jul 2010

‘Transition Towns: Local Networking for Global Sustainability?’: a dissertation

Another piece of high quality research has just been produced, this time by Jonathan Balls of the University of Cambridge, entitled ‘Transition Towns: Local Networking for Global Sustainability?’

It is a very insightful and useful addition to the research literature about Transition.  One of his conclusions is: “I argue that it is the structure of Transition that is crucial to grassroots support.  As a brand and umbrella organisation, Transition is able to facilitate and foster networking potential and collective resources, which encourages participation in the model.  Yet equally important, the self‐organising nature of the model is a key attraction to people and places joining Transition.  This dual structure enables the establishment of a diverse discourse coalition, incorporated through a holistic approach to sustainability”.

You can download the document in full here.

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Discussion: 4 Comments

Categories: Climate Change, Community Involvement, Localisation, Peak Oil, Research on Transition, Resilience, Transition Initiatives