So, you're an Oil Crisis Survival Project?
The terms "survival project" or "oil crisis"
are not ones we choose to use. Transition is about building a
better future. It is a positive vision. A better way. People
should choose this path because it will build a happier &
healthier community that is more resilient. How well High
Wycombe endures climate change, credit crunches and future
energy shocks will be the measure of our success. If we continue
to do nothing then we will remain vulnerable and get weaker. If
we transition we will become stronger, tackle climate change,
cope with peak oil, prevent fuel poverty and offer hope. Doing
nothing is not an option. Doing nothing is irrational. We plan
to do more than just survive - we plan to thrive! There should
be no crisis for a community in transition.
You are demanding sacrifices of us!
No, we are not. We have been asked if we will
stop people from flying. We have been accused of hypocrisy and
of wanting our pensioners to freeze in winter. Nothing could be
further from the truth. No one need sacrifice anything they
need, but they must be ready for the transition. The simple
truth is that it will soon be too expensive to fly. The price of
oil will see to that. Our pensioners will suffer from fuel
poverty unless we adapt to a low energy future. We wish to
prevent fuel poverty and hunger. The challenge will come all by
itself. Transition is about an action plan and a vision to
combat these inevitable changes.
So, this is an environmental thing?
We have links to environmental groups and
some individuals are members of both. We raise awareness of the
effects of Climate Change not only because it is an
"environmental" matter but because it will detrimentally effect
our community's well-being. In order to move forward we must
transition to a post-carbon society no longer reliant upon
fossil fuels for our food, energy and wealth. This change is
inevitable (regardless of climate change) as the depletion of
finite fossil fuels will force this change upon our communities.
So we must be ready. Instead of working on specific
environmental projects, such as the elimination of plastic bags
or the revitalisation of the Wye, we work on a broad spectrum of
civil society projects with the community. As such the
Transition Network almost defies traditional categorisation. We
don't fit inside any old comfortable pigeon hole. We are new and
without precedent. More a social movement than anything else.
This makes what we do incredibly exciting. It is groundbreaking.
But, what will you actually do?
'Transition' is not prescriptive. It is more
a journey than a destination. A means not an ends. First we will
raise awareness of the need to change. Then, once enough people
come to accept the need to change, we will work on our
Transition Plan. We will then gather into sub-groups to create a
'road-map' to where we need to be. This map takes into account
the unique features of the local community and local resources.
This plan will be different in High Wycombe from that for the
Wirral. No two plans should be the same but they will have
common features.
Just a plan? Is that all?
Plans need to be promoted and implemented.
You will see a physical manifestation of elements of the plan.
Indeed, there is not an option. The core of the plan will be the
'relocalisation' of our community's economy, ie, local food and
local energy. As a social movement we also need to educate and
change expectations. We will challenge misconceptions and
prepare people for the new path. This can involve a whole host
of initiatives that steer us clear of the old dying paradigms of
infinite growth, the consumer society and junk culture. We need
to refocus on that which matters the most. To do this we will
build a coalition of like-minded local organisations, societies,
charities, businesses, local government and community groups. We
will also seek help and advice from members of society that we
do not normally expect to get asked about the future - our
parents and grand-parents.
It sounds very backward looking.....
Far from it. Although we can learn from the
past we will not wallow in nostalgia or sentiment for bygone
days. This is not about returning to the stone age. We cannot
turn High Wycombe into a museum. It is a living community full
of diverse hopes and dreams for the future. Some of these
aspirations have a future. Some, sadly, do not. Our vision is
for a diverse, prosperous and vibrant community that is
self-reliant in all its essential needs. The past represents a
fragile society propped up with vast quantities of cheap fossil
fuel energy. The past represents unlimited consumption where
little or nothing is built to last. The past is disposable. The
idea of a future local community that can feed itself, keep
itself warm in winter, light its homes and sustain prosperity,
without shipping vast quantities of energy & 'stuff' from a
thousand miles away, is truly revolutionary. That is futuristic.
And it isn't a dream - it is a necessity. We will not thrive
without a transition.
But, you're against technology - right?
No. There can and will always be a place for
appropriate technology. However technology will only sustain if
it too can be sustained. A car won't go without petrol.
Likewise, if we can't build a wind turbine without oil then this
too has a questionable future. So we will witness a sea change
in our relationship to technology. Today we see it as a way of
producing non-essential, disposable, consumer products, made in
a factory on the other side of the planet. Tomorrow its role
will be to supply the essentials locally. Fifty years from now
it may be that we could have mobile telephones. However, each
phone will be very expensive & very simple. It will come from a
small factory maybe 100 miles away. All its components will have
been recycled or are biodegradable. If it breaks you could have
someone locally mend it for you. You may have the one phone for
twenty years before returning it to the factory for recycling.
The factory is powered by hydro-electricity. Last, but not
least, we will only have mobile phones after we have fed
ourselves, clothed ourselves, kept warm and had financial
security. Let's say that a mobile phone may not be high in your
list of priorities. You'll probably be spending your money on
solar panels, fuel, insulation and so on.... There will also be
renewed interest in what might be thought of as 'traditional'
skills, ie, making things with your hands. We'll see things
differently and will need to 'reskill' for this future.
Sounds like a vision of hell to me...
Technology without community is miserable. We
should start to focus on quality of life as well. Your
well-being does not increase with the more stuff you have.
Imagine that your house catches fire. What do you do? Rush your
TV & DVD player outside as top priority? Or do you rescue your
family and take them to a neighbour's house? You are nothing
without your family & community. Community is the solution.
It's wooly-thinking liberal nonsense.....
The Transition Network is a broad slice of
society which includes many accountants, economists, Business
men & women and so on. Few would describe themselves as being
particularly liberal. Preparing a plan for how your local
Community and local Business will adapt to climate change and
expensive fuel and food is hardly the mark of "wooly thinking".
It sounds coldly rational. A little like fastening your
seat-belt when you get in your car. If anything the
"business-as-usual" view is the last resort for the wooly
thinker. Ignoring the obvious is not rational. Preparing for it
is. There are
'intentional communities' (ie, experimental) all around the
globe that have set out to live sustainably. They are successful
and are populated by as many scientists & engineers as
horticulturists. The world has moved on since the 1960's. All
the technologies exists too. It can be done. It HAS to be done.
We just lack social & political will. We seek a way of rolling
sustainable living/thinking out to our communities so they can
benefit too. Not because it is nice but because we no longer
have a choice. Ironically the critics of the Transition ideal
are often those who feel uncomfortable with a truly inclusive
social movement that may appeal as much to members of the
Rotarians as attendees of climate camps. We welcome everyone.
Your local Transition movement looks forward to seeing you at
the next meeting so you can contribute your ideas... We don't
know better and don't seek to lecture. How about coming along?
Tell us why it will never happen so we can work on the problem.
Not transitioning is not an option. We need your solutions. |
