Transition to a Post Oil Culture
Do you think that our society is ready for a Post Oil future? Do we even really know what that means? I heard little sound bytes on the radio or the television every now and again but couldn't really put my finger on what "Post Oil Future" really means.
Especially, what it will mean for me and those that I love.
Then I started reading about the Transition Towns movement.
Now it started to make sense to me - perhaps I just needed some practical information and things to do to make it really sink in.
Leading up to hearing about the Transition Towns movement I read a book, a good few years ago now, by a man from Australia, called David Holmgren.
Now David, is pretty smart, committed to living sustainably and teaches extensively so that other people who want to can create sustainable lives too.
He was part of the duo who put the pieces together and created the Permaculture movement.
Type that word into your browser and just see what an impact those ideas have had on the planet.
This man is to be taken seriously.
So when he started to talk about Peak Oil, I listened.
Now, out of Permaculture thinking (and a lot more too) has come the Transition Town movement.
Beginning in England and the brainchild of Rob Hopkins (another thoughtful person) and now popping up all over the world.
Transition Towns.
That's an interest word, Tranisiton don't you think? I mean to me it's much softer than the word Change and yet, at it's deepest level it means much the same thing.
I realise it means change but it has so much more potential.
I used to work in a government department that was charged with organisational change - in those days that was shorthand for a lot of people losing their jobs and everyone else being jollied along to pick up the workload.
Transition on the other hand means change yes, but it also has the potential to mean "evolution" to something different and that has the potential to mean something better.
Now, my dictionary says that Transition is "the act of changing or passing from one form, state, subject or place to another.
" Now that sounds participatory and creative and interesting to me, whereas change sounds nasty, like a top-down decision that I'm just going to have to live with.
Transition sounds like it can be pulled of by anyone, with a little style even and that is what I think the Transition Movement which is spreading all over the world, is all about.
Now this movement under it's current guise, started in the UK but it began spreading itself around the world very quickly, anywhere there are "thinking people", it will find a home.
The basic premise of the movement is to come up with solutions to the massive issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change but the difference is that the solutions are being sought with the aim of making communities, local areas and regions strong enough, diverse enough, resilient enough to not just survive in a post oil society with a very different climate but to thrive.
If you go to the Transition Towns Movement website you can click and download the Transition Primer which will give you the heads up on the important aspects of this movement...
it's FREE so download it today and get to know all about this important issue.
Of course, there is a book and a website and a forum, so if you are the kind of person who just might be looking for a bit of a plan to help you develop the mindset, the skills set, the community connections and the enthusiasm to face to coming transition with a modicum of style rather than the mass panic developing around the place, these resources could be just the thing you need.
In David Holmgren's book, he suggested that we could continue along just as we have been, which I feel is akin to an ostrich with it's head in the sand or we could take a good hard look at what is really going on and take some pretty simple (but apparently radical) steps to face our demons (the loss of cheap, abundant fossil fuels) and make our descent into a low energy future with grace.
The alternative is certainly looking a lot more painful, bloodier and uncertain.
I hope you take the time to look around and read up a little on what Peak Oil, the Transition Movement and Permaculture mean, where they are headed and the value they could bring to your life.
It is certainly life changing for many people, who knows it may turn out to be life saving as well.
Especially, what it will mean for me and those that I love.
Then I started reading about the Transition Towns movement.
Now it started to make sense to me - perhaps I just needed some practical information and things to do to make it really sink in.
Leading up to hearing about the Transition Towns movement I read a book, a good few years ago now, by a man from Australia, called David Holmgren.
Now David, is pretty smart, committed to living sustainably and teaches extensively so that other people who want to can create sustainable lives too.
He was part of the duo who put the pieces together and created the Permaculture movement.
Type that word into your browser and just see what an impact those ideas have had on the planet.
This man is to be taken seriously.
So when he started to talk about Peak Oil, I listened.
Now, out of Permaculture thinking (and a lot more too) has come the Transition Town movement.
Beginning in England and the brainchild of Rob Hopkins (another thoughtful person) and now popping up all over the world.
Transition Towns.
That's an interest word, Tranisiton don't you think? I mean to me it's much softer than the word Change and yet, at it's deepest level it means much the same thing.
I realise it means change but it has so much more potential.
I used to work in a government department that was charged with organisational change - in those days that was shorthand for a lot of people losing their jobs and everyone else being jollied along to pick up the workload.
Transition on the other hand means change yes, but it also has the potential to mean "evolution" to something different and that has the potential to mean something better.
Now, my dictionary says that Transition is "the act of changing or passing from one form, state, subject or place to another.
" Now that sounds participatory and creative and interesting to me, whereas change sounds nasty, like a top-down decision that I'm just going to have to live with.
Transition sounds like it can be pulled of by anyone, with a little style even and that is what I think the Transition Movement which is spreading all over the world, is all about.
Now this movement under it's current guise, started in the UK but it began spreading itself around the world very quickly, anywhere there are "thinking people", it will find a home.
The basic premise of the movement is to come up with solutions to the massive issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change but the difference is that the solutions are being sought with the aim of making communities, local areas and regions strong enough, diverse enough, resilient enough to not just survive in a post oil society with a very different climate but to thrive.
If you go to the Transition Towns Movement website you can click and download the Transition Primer which will give you the heads up on the important aspects of this movement...
it's FREE so download it today and get to know all about this important issue.
Of course, there is a book and a website and a forum, so if you are the kind of person who just might be looking for a bit of a plan to help you develop the mindset, the skills set, the community connections and the enthusiasm to face to coming transition with a modicum of style rather than the mass panic developing around the place, these resources could be just the thing you need.
In David Holmgren's book, he suggested that we could continue along just as we have been, which I feel is akin to an ostrich with it's head in the sand or we could take a good hard look at what is really going on and take some pretty simple (but apparently radical) steps to face our demons (the loss of cheap, abundant fossil fuels) and make our descent into a low energy future with grace.
The alternative is certainly looking a lot more painful, bloodier and uncertain.
I hope you take the time to look around and read up a little on what Peak Oil, the Transition Movement and Permaculture mean, where they are headed and the value they could bring to your life.
It is certainly life changing for many people, who knows it may turn out to be life saving as well.
