The Transition Towns concept has been growing in popularity around the U.K. since Rob Hopkins unleashed "Transition Town Totnes", in Totnes, Devon in Sept 2006. There are now 24 official "Transition Towns" and more than 200 towns/cities in the U.K., and beyond, who are currently "mulling it over", of which Oxford is one.

A local "seeding group" has evolved, which organised the event on 29th November 07 and which is working towards making Oxford a Transition Town / City. Below is a brief report of the evening, written by Charlie Morris-Marsham.

 Rob Hopkins Talk: "Planning for Life After Oil - The Transition Concept"

** DOWNLOAD A PDF OF ROB'S SLIDES HERE **

Rob started with some imagery of oil as a "magic potion" (a la Asterix) which has enabled our society to perform beyond its normal capabilities for more than 100 years.

He showed some powerful graphs highlighting the diminishing global oil resource (of 98 oil-producing countries, 60 have already peaked) and highlighted some areas around the world where peak oil is already a problem: countries, such as the Yemen, which now cannot afford the diesel to pump oil into their country.

He highlighted the insecurity that this situation creates and mentioned that predictions about the future climate change have already been dramatically exceeded (Referenced "The Big Melt: Lessons from an Artic Summer 2007")

He emphasised our need to "build local resilience" (Principle 1 of Transition Towns) and how this vision is not only essential but can also be attractive. He developed this idea by looking into the ‘principles of' and ‘steps towards' the Transition Towns concept.

The Principles of a Transition Town / City

1)     Building Local Resilience (referenced the film "The End of Suburbia" as a call to arms)

2)     Visioning: creating an enticing vision to enthuse people about a post oil future. In Totnes they interviewed local children about their visions (see "Transition Tales" on You Tube)

3)     Inclusion: drawing parallels with a "wartime effort" philosophy; that we need the collective strength and skills of all sectors of a community

4)     Awareness Raising: to develop support / context for a locally specific transition.

5)     Psychological Insights: that sometimes facing climate change and peak oil can be depressing and scary, that one of the best antidotes to this is to do take actions as a community

6)     Credible & appropriate solutions: as opposed to apocalyptic doom mongering and then suggesting that people replace their light bulbs!

The 12 Steps Towards a Transition Town

1)     Form a steering group and plan its demise!

2)     Raise awareness of Peak Oil, Climate Change and the alternatives, through films, etc. In Totnes the "Totnes Pound" generated a lot of publicity and awareness, as well as encouraging people to support their local economy!

3)     Lay Foundations: work with businesses and local landowners, in particular help them to analyse their "Oil Vulnerability".

4)     Official Unleashing: an event that commemorates the historic nature of turning away from fossil fuel dependence.

5)     Form working groups: such as Arts, Food, Energy, Economics, Local Government, Psychology (of change), Health, Housing, etc.

6)     Use Open Space Technology: where participants involved in the working groups can create their own agenda for sessions, allowing diverse and/or large groups to participate effectively in planning the transition.

7)     Develop a visible manifestation: nut trees were planted in Totnes as a symbol of the future appearance / function of their towns spaces.

8)     Great Re-skilling: disseminating and expanding the towns skills in both old and new technologies.

9)     Bridge to Local Government: LG seen as a supporter of the TT movement rather than a driver of it.

10)  Honour the Elders: tap into pre-fossil fuel dependence experiences.

11)  Let it go where it wants to go: there are an almost infinite number potential projects such as renewable societies, youth festivals, garden swaps, lending libraries, business waste swap shops, etc.

12)  Develop an energy descent plan: use the learning experiences from steps 1-11 and make it an attractive and achievable vision.

Discussion

We had a number of interesting questions for Rob covering car use, the financial ‘tipping point' of peak oil, how oil and gas prices are integrally linked, and a question from about how to stimulate interest in the issues from a "rock bottom" level of interest.

This led on to a discussion about how groups have managed to raise awareness in Oxfordshire, with contributions from Sustainable Wallingford, Low Carbon Wolvercote, North Oxford, and South Hinksey.

The meeting ended with groups gathering by Oxford City / County area and making new links in their own community. Contact details of groups and individuals were then written up and further details were collected from the contact sheets left on each seat.

Next Steps

* If you'd like to get more involved in Transition Oxford, we'd love to hear from you. Email  transitionoxford@gmail.com or see http://www.transitionoxford.org.uk/  for more info.

* If you would like to be kept informed please contact mim@coinet.org.uk. For more information on Transition Towns visit http://www.transitiontowns.org/ and request the Transition Towns Primer.

Related Climate-X pages

• Low carbon communities - Across Oxfordshire, individuals, neighbourhoods, villages, and towns are taking the low carbon challenge into their own hands. Meet some of them here, get inspired and watch as the ideas spread and grow.