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The best introduction to the concept of Transition can be found on the web site of Ron Hopkins, the man who created the concept and pioneered the path to implementing it. The site is TransitionCulture.org, and the introduction to Transition is at this location on that site.
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Briefly, Transition is a response to the fact that world
civilization is facing an enormous number of challenges.
Three of those challenges actually have the potential to
end human civilization:
*
The end of the age of cheap oil
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Global climate change
*
The global financial meltdown
and
others that,
while not civilization-killers, still pose serious threats to
human welfare.
Transition stands against all that, offering a way for us to face those challenges from an attitude of hope, rather than from an attitude of panic. It is possible for us to rid ourselves of our addiction to cheap oil, to stop - even reverse - the dangerous effects of global climate change, and to insulate ourselves from the meltdown of the global banking system.
The approach chosen by the global Transition movement is the Transition Initiative approach. In the words of the Transition Initiatives Primer (PDF), "The Transition Initiative approach represents a promising way of engaging people and encouraging communities to take the far-reaching actions that are required to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil and Climate Change. These relocalization efforts are designed to result in a life more fulfilling, more socially connected and more equitable for all."
Transition Initiatives can be implemented at the global, national, and local levels. Transition Austin is dedicated to imiplementing a Transition Initiative for Austin. The Transition Initiatives Primer says, "Local Transition Initiatives provide a process for relocalizing the essential elements that a community needs to sustain itself and thrive. The process builds local resilience in the face of the potentially damaging effects of Peak Oil while dramatically reducing the community's carbon footprint. In this way, it addresses both Peak Oil and Climate Change."
How a Transition Initiative gets implemented for a city - or, in the case of Austin, for a sector of the city - is covered by the Transition Initiatives Primer, which is freely available to read on the web; click the link above.
This web site has information and references about Transition and about several related ideas, such as Permaculture. Feel free to look around - and then, maybe join us!