There is often confusion within the peak oil/Transition movement about the distinction between the terms ‘localism‘ and ‘localisation‘. On Energy Bulletin yesterday, Richard Moore’s piece, ‘The Emergence of Localism” was actually referring, I would argue, to localisation, not localism. In the UK, in the context of the government’s Big Society agenda, the two definitely mean very different things. Here is section from my forthcoming thesis which explores this distinction.
A few people have asked me what my thoughts are on the whole ‘Big Society’ concept being promoted by the new British government. I have attended a couple of events over the last week that have given me space to think about it all, so here I am with a few reflections. Last week I attended the Community Land Trust conference, and yesterday I was at the launch of the Sustainable Development Commission’s ‘The Future is Local’ report. So, for those new to the idea, the ‘Big Society’ idea is David Cameron’s big idea, focusing on localism, returning power to local communities, making central government smaller and shifting its role to the devolution of power wherever possible, calling for “a massive, radical redistribution of power”. Here he is talking about it….
I recently gave a presentation to a conference in Helsinki organised by the British Council in Finland, via. pre-recorded DVD. They then posted it online, so if you are interested, here it is…. .
Just finished reading, on the train home from the talk I gave last night in Godalming, the draft of Alexis Rowell’s forthcoming book, “Communities, Councils and a Low Carbon Future: what we can do if governments won’t”. It is shaping up to be an excellent immersion in how to engage with your local authority, in what is already happening in Councils across the country, and what it looks like when Councils and Transition groups work together. Anyway, for his book, we need to gather as many good pictures of Transition groups and local Councils interacting. If you have any pictures of events you have done with your local Council, posters, trainings, times when Council representatives have spoken at your events, and so on. Anything you’ve got, we’d love to see it. Email them to rob@transitionculture.org, and I’ll forward them to Alexis…. Thanks!
So the Queen’s Speech has set out the policy priorities for the new government, but were the policies announced a cop-out or do they set out a wartime mobilisation scale of response to climate change and peak oil? These reflections are based on the article about the speech that appeared in yesterday’s Guardian. Plans include setting up a green investment bank, which will make loans available to households for energy efficiency measures and renewable energy installations, the ‘pay-as-you-save’ scheme initially proposed by Ed Miliband. The exact amount of the loans that will be available has not yet been stated, although the Guardian speculates that it could be as much as £15,000. This is a great development, but I wonder if it could yet be taken further? How would DECC respond, for example, if a Transition group were able to get 100 people to take out loans of £15,000 each and club it together as £1.5million in order to finance a community-owned ESCO, an energy company designed to be owned by and financially benefit the community?
How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? This site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations
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There is often confusion within the peak oil/Transition movement about the distinction between the terms ‘localism‘ and ‘localisation‘. On Energy Bulletin yesterday, Richard Moore’s piece, ‘The Emergence of Localism” was actually referring, I would argue, to localisation, not localism. In the UK, in the context of the government’s Big Society agenda, the two definitely mean very different things. Here is section from my forthcoming thesis which explores this distinction. 
A few people have asked me what my thoughts are on the whole ‘Big Society’ concept being promoted by the new British government. I have attended a couple of events over the last week that have given me space to think about it all, so here I am with a few reflections. Last week 
Just finished reading, on the train home from the talk I gave last night in Godalming, the draft of Alexis Rowell’s forthcoming book, “Communities, Councils and a Low Carbon Future: what we can do if governments won’t”. It is shaping up to be an excellent immersion in how to engage with your local authority, in what is already happening in Councils across the country, and what it looks like when Councils and Transition groups work together. Anyway, for his book, we need to gather as many good pictures of Transition groups and local Councils interacting. If you have any pictures of events you have done with your local Council, posters, trainings, times when Council representatives have spoken at your events, and so on. Anything you’ve got, we’d love to see it. Email them to rob@transitionculture.org, and I’ll forward them to Alexis…. Thanks!
