What is Transition Town High Wycombe? Transition Town High Wycombe ("TTHW") is an unincorporated Not-For-Profit (non-Charity) Association. You can read our Constitution here. From this our Aims are: ".....to promote a permanent, resilient and sustainable culture in High Wycombe within the “Transition Initiatives” framework. This includes (but not solely limited to): a) Raising awareness of the challenges & opportunities arising from declining resources, ie, peak oil, the subsequent limits to growth and the implications of such limits in a time of changing climate. Educating, involving and part-leading our community towards a low carbon, resilient, relocalised and sustainable future culture through community action. b) To provide the membership, other groups, and individuals with the encouragement, skills and support necessary to make the transition to that future culture. c) Creation, co-creation & implementation of an Energy Descent Action Plan, Carbon Reduction Framework or other, similar, multiple roadmaps to that future culture. d) Supporting and working with the Transition Network, other local Civil Societies, local Government, statutory bodies, voluntary organisations, Businesses and Community-led initiatives. e) Working with other Communities. f) The facilitation of sub-groups working on this Transition. g) Promoting a positive vision of a low carbon, sustainable, resilient, re-localised future culture via local food, local energy, local economics and other practical tools as may develop in the future. Letting Transition evolve naturally not as a prescription but more as a problem-solving initiative addressing genuine physical limits." Explain more... 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, spending cuts 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 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", "green" or "eco" thing? No. 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. Climate Change is a socio-economic opportunity. 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. More a "cultural team" than a "green campaign" group. 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. Examples will be 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. But what have you actually done? Have you ever borrowed an Energy Saving Kit from the Library? TTHW did that. Have you ever read the Local Food Guide ("Food On Our Doorstep")? We did that. Looking for a discount on Solar Panels? We provide that. Need advice? We can help. You can see us at community events through the Summer season and we are a regular fixture now at Pann Mill open days. We have a seat on the Wycombe Strategic Partnership Environmental Sub-Group which takes us into the heart of Council policy making. In 2008 we made a significant contribution to the Sustainable Prosperity consultation (later launched in January 2010). In 2010 we provided written & oral evidence for the WDC Carbon Reduction Framework. In August 2010 our demo home ("Super Home 59") opened in Totteridge offering a practical example of a retrofitted, state-of-the art, home with solar panels, biomass boiler and uprated insulation. This is the tip of the iceberg. Wait to see what we will do next.... Aren't you living in the past? 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 woolly-thinking liberal nonsense..... Have you noticed how the "Big Society" was a Tory idea not a Liberal-Democratic one? Wake up. Localism is the newest paradigm to sweep Whitehall and these ideas, that stemmed from right-wing think-tanks, have broad endorsement across the political spectrum. Our time has come. 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 "woolly thinking". It sounds coldly rational. A little like fastening your seat-belt when you get in your car. The "business-as-usual" view is the last resort for the woolly-thinker. Ignoring the obvious is not rational. Preparing for it is. We seek a way of rolling sustainable living out to our communities so they can become more durable. 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. | 
