We had an excellent small group discussion last night with Alastair Lough and Pat Proulx who are recently returned from Maine after attending Transition Training in Totnes, UK.
The Transition Movment is picking up speed as a positive approach to creating a post-carbon reality from the ground up. It is truly a process of engaging community, honoring the best parts of human culture “pre cheap oil” and carrying those threads through to creating a vision and a reality that represents a improvement over life today. It addresses the twin threats of peak oil and climate change and puts the tools in the hands of the people who will make a difference as we enter a time of rapidly increasing change. Energy descent, powerdown, relocalization, transition.
Permaculture plays a big role in the creating of resiliance. We do no know what the future holds, but if we build resiliance into our communities then we can better withstand whatever is coming our way. Transition Towns (or cities or regions) are starting to spring up even here in North America and we certainly hope it catches on in the Portland area. As I often say, Portland (and Maine to some degree) still has 19th centure “bones.” (i.e. it thrived in many respects before the age of cheap oil) so we still have many assets, skills and resources than can make transition to a post-carbon future very tenable.
