Guides communities to begin an 'energy descent' journey to create a self-reliant existence.
We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process - without thinking ahead to plan for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities, which will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies, keeping money in the local area.
There are now over 35 formal Transition Initiatives in the UK, including towns, cities, islands, villages and peninsulas, with over 500 globally at the earlier stages of launching this process. With little proactivity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. Within peak oil and climate change is the potential for the greatest economic, social and cultural renaissance we have ever seen. If your community has not yet become a Transition Initiative, this guide offers you the tools to get started.
We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. This book guides communities to begin an 'energy descent' journey.
Recenzijas
If your town is not yet a Transition Town, here is guidance for making it one. We have little time, and much to accomplish * Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute, Santa Rosa, California, author of Power Down *
Papildus informācija
A guide for communities to face the challenges of climate change and begin their 'energy descent'. The argument that 'small is inevitable' is upbeat and positive and utterly convincing.
Foreword by Richard Heinberg
Introduction: tantalising glimpses of resilience
Part 1 - The Head: why peak oil and climate change mean that small is inevitable
Part 2 - The Heart: why having a positive vision is crucial
Part 3 - The Hands: exploring the transition model for building local resilience
Some closing thoughts
Appendices
Resources
Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network. He has many years' experience in education, teaching permaculture and natural building, and set up the first two-year full-time permaculture course in the world, at Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland, as well as coordinating the first eco-village development in Ireland to be granted planning permission.
He is author of The Transition Handbook: from oil dependence to local resilience and The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times, and co-author of Local Food: how to make it happen in your community (all published by Green Books / Transition Books); also Transition in Action: Totnes and District 2030: an Energy Descent Plan (co-author), Woodlands for West Cork! and Energy Descent Pathways.
The Transition Handbook has been published in seven other languages to date, and was voted the fifth most popular book taken on holiday by MPs during the summer of 2008. Rob publishes www.transitionculture.org, which has been voted `the fourth best green blog in the UK. He is the winner of the 2008 Schumacher Award, is an Ashoka Fellow and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, served as a Soil Association Trustee for three years, and was named by the Independent as one of the UKs top 100 environmentalists. He is the winner of the 2009 Observer Ethical Award in the Grassroots Campaigner category, and in December 2009 was voted the Energy Saving Trust / Guardians `Green Community Hero. He lectures and writes widely on peak oil and Transition, and has recently completed a PhD on Transition and Resilience at Plymouth University.
Central to The Transition Handbook and The Transition Companion is the concept of `resilience, which refers to the ability of a community to withstand external shocks and stresses. Rob argues that just cutting carbon emissions is insufficient: we need to rebuild the ability of our communities to provide for their core needs, and doing so will create huge opportunities for local economic regeneration. His books are about hope and optimism, and their untapped potential for engaging people in repairing their communities, their towns and cities, and, ultimately, their planet. The Transition Companion expands on the ideas in the Handbook, combining practical advice on starting and maintaining a Transition initiative with inspiring stories about groups across the world who are putting these ideas into practice.
Rob regularly features as a keynote speaker, and has participated at the following events: Community Land Trust Conference; WWF (talk to the various teams); Sustainable Consumption and Production Conference; Dorset Schools Eco-Summit; Eco-Build Summit; Princes Foundation Annual Conference at St Jamess Palace; Skype presentation to the Nova Scotia Planning Directors Association (NSPDA) Conference; Skype presentation for the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) conference.
He lives in Devon with his wife and four children. He has particular passions for cob building and walnut trees, and is staggered by the rate at which the Transition concept has spread.
