Around the world, societies are facing the prospect of a future with dwindling oil reserves, an unstable climate and unpredictable food production. The Transition movement, already well established in the UK, is now in initial but rapid development here. It provides an effective model for ways we might engage our local communities to create a more sustainable future and move away from dependency on oil.

Download a flier with a great overview of the Transition process. Here are some more links to introduce you to the process of transition planning.

What are Transition Towns and how do they work?

There is a Transition Towns Wiki for an overview.

Its really important to understand the 12 steps of the process and there is a lot of information about the establishment of a Transition Town in the Primer - its like the instruction manual :)

How many Transition Towns are there and where are they?

Here's a link to the fancy Sunshine Coast website - They were the first Transition Town in Australia and their plan has was ratified by the regional council before Christmas 2008.

There is a google map of all the registered groups in the world. Check out Top End Transition's big blue dot!

The Transition Handbook

There is now an Australian edition of the Transition Town Handbook, which includes profiles of Australian and New Zealand initiatives currently underway and shows the necessary steps to establishing a transition town in a local area, providing an achievable model for people who would like to transform the life of their community. These local accounts (together with inspiring reports from the UK) show how individuals have responded with their local communities to the twin threats of Peak Oil and Climate Change. This practical book explains how we can ‘transition'from fossil-fuel based communities to ones that are more self-reliant and generate less carbon emissions. It shows how such changes will result in a greater development of local food, local economies, local water harvesting and energy generation - and so create more sustainable communities in the longer term.

They are available at cost price ($25) from topendtranstion@gmail.com. This book will be discussed over the coming months at Coordination Gatherings to inform our planning process. Anyone can attend the Coordination Gatherings on Monday nights.

What others are saying about The Transition Handbook:

"This is a rare book. Not only does it educate and inspire you on the path to sustainability, it also shows you how to get their by being a great "how to do it" manual. It has already had an impact even before it's release here. Towns from Katoomba in the Blue Mountains of Australia to Nelson on the coast of New Zealand are amongst the many communities already influenced by Rob Hopkins's work. This local release is sure to inspire many more."

PAUL KLYMENKO, Planet Ark

"The Transition Handbook clearly sets out the unprecedented and looming challenges climate change and peak oil ose for our civilization, and makes it clear that a concerted community response is our only option. And yet, the book is a profoundly positive - even joyous - read because it tells us how working together as communities and facing these challenges head-on will give us the capacity not just to survive but to actively build a future that is better than our alienated and oil-fuelled present. ... [It] is your invitation to join a clear-eyed, community-based, worldwide movement of grounded visionaries who choose hope and action over denial and apathy."

NICK HEAP and DAVID SUZUKI, The David Suzuki Foundation