Transition Culture

An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent

Transition Culture has moved

I no longer blog on this site. You can now find me, my general blogs, and the work I am doing researching my forthcoming book on imagination, on my new blog.

Come find me at robhopkins.net

18 Mar 2008

Review of Transition Handbook from New Internationalist magazine

thbk“Since its inception just two years ago, the Transition movement has grown with a surprising rapidity. There are now nearly 40 official Transition Initiatives around the UK and some 600 at more formative stages around the globe. Put simply, the idea is that the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change mean we will be living lives that are less energy intense and much more local in the near future. Rather than impoverishing us, this change will actually lead to better well-being and more fulfilled lives. But we must start to design the change for ourselves now rather than waiting for the current system to collapse.

This beautifully designed Handbook brings together the insights and experience of Rob and his fellow pioneers. It’s a set of tools, perspectives and processes that can be drawn on and adapted as necessary, as opposed to a prescriptive set of answers. Together they represent new ways of thinking that have been able to engage people in action at the neighbourhood level instead of leading to isolated individual changes, despair or denial.

You’ll find information on how to start a transition initiative in your local area, the importance of a collective vision, permaculture principles and what a low-energy future might look like in terms of medicine, the economy, transport, education and housing. It’s all remarkably accessible, constructive and positive. The Transition movement is the best news there’s been for a long time and this manual is a goldmine of inspiration to get you started.

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

Comments are now closed on this site, please visit Rob Hopkins' blog at Transition Network to read new posts and take part in discussions.

2 Comments

Jennifer Bettencourt
3 Apr 9:57am

At this point I feel this will be a daunting task, and a generation or two will have to structure this project.

orlando
6 May 8:46pm

As a response to Jennifer, I’d say that, yes, it does seem like that at first. However, much of the book encouraged the notion that once groups of people are enthused the transition movement gains a heartening momentum. The other side to this is that supposing it does take a ‘generation or two’, that will only be the case if we begin the process now, and with vigour. ‘We are the ones we’ve been waiting for’, comments David Korten (see The Great Turning on http://uniteddiversity.com for footage of a tremendous speech), a phrase that really raises the spirits.