The Transition Handbook

From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience

Rob Hopkins

• Publisher: Green Books
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781900322188
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781907448706
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Energy Industry
• Index: Business

Move from feeling anxious about the oil crisis to developing a positive visions and taking traction action to create a more self-reliant existence with this ground-breaking book.

We live in an oil-dependent world, and have become reliant in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – and without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when the oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but the reality may not be as bad as we think.

The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead could have a positive effect. Written by permaculture expert Rob Hopkins, he discusses the possibility of a rebirth of local communities, which will generate their own fuel, food and housing. These will encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area, and unleash a local 'skilling-up', so that people have more control over their lives.

The growth in interest in the Transition model continues to be exponential. There are now more than 35 formal Transition Initiatives in the UK, including towns, cities, islands, villages and peninsulas, with more joining as the idea takes off. With little proactivity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your community has not yet become a Transition Initiative, this upbeat guide, filled with beautiful black and white photographs, offers you the tools to get started.

The Transition Handbook is the perfect manual to guide communities, as they begin this 'energy descent' journey.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Reviews
• Title page
• Contents
• Dedication page
• Copyright page
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Quotes
• Introduction
• Part One: THE HEAD
• Chapter 1: Peak oil and climate change
• Chapter 2: The view from the mountain-top
• Chapter 3: Why rebuilding resilience is as important as cutting carbon emissions
• Chapter 4: Why small is inevitable
• Part Two: THE HEART
• Chapter 5: How peak oil and climate change affect us
• Chapter 6: Understanding the Psychology of Change
• Chapter 7: Harnessing the power of a positive vision
• Chapter 8: A vision for 2030: looking back over the transition
• Chapter 9: Kinsale-a first attempt at community visioning
• Summing up Part Two
• Part Three: THE HANDS
• Chapter 10: The Transition concept
• Chapter 11: How to start a Transition Initiative
• Chapter 12: The first year of Transition Town Totnes
• Chapter 13: The viral spread of the Transition concept
• Appendix 1: The Oil Depletion Questionnaire
• Appendix 2: John Croft's 'Four stages that any project will go through'
• Appendix 3: Assignment Sheet: Energy Descent Action Plan
• Appendix 4: The Energy Descent Action Plan process
• Appendix 5: How to become a Transition Initiative
• Appendix 6: A sample press release
• Appendix 7: Transition Training
• References
• Resources
• Index
• Back cover