A new research document called Green Shoots of Sustainability is available from the Transition Culture network.
This paper is truly interesting, it provides a fascinating snapshot of the Transition movement, and reveals a great deal about the character, origins, objectives, achievements, obstacles and more of the Transition groups working with this initiative.
A few excerpts from its introduction:
“The first UK Transition Town was Totnes, formed in autumn 2006 and by February 2009 there were 94 Transition Towns, Villages, Cities and Islands in the UK and a further 40 around the world, principally in Australia, New Zealand and the USA (ibid). The Transition movement has to date been very successful at replicating its model of community-led initiatives (Hopkins, 2008). In addition, Transition Network Ltd is a formally-constituted body which supports and coordinates activities among local groups (Hopkins and Lipman, 2009).
“Yet despite this phenomenal growth and the wave of positive publicity the movement has received, there has to date been very little empirical research into the development and character of these initiatives, or the impacts they have achieved and the barriers to be overcome. This information is vital for the continuing development of the movement, both for local Initiatives and for the Network and the movement as a whole. To address this need for knowledge, this report presents new empirical findings from the first survey of UK Transition Initiatives. It was a short survey which used open- and closed-ended questions to collect basic information about the origins, development, character and activities of the UK’s Transition Initiatives. The online survey was conducted during February 2009, with email invitations sent to coordinators of all 94 Transition initiatives in the UK. Two follow-up reminders were sent, and a total of 74 responses were attained (an outstanding response rate of 78.7%).”
The survey reveals several basic information about the movement, such as:
1. the main people and organizations involved in forming these Transition groups,
2. the diverse range of issued that are addressed by the transition initiatives,
3. the level of development and area of achievement of these initiatives, this is according to the 12 step guidelines provided by Rob Hopkins’ Transition Handbook,
4. the challenges they have faced
There is no doubt that the Transition Towns movement has become a major force for change to Resilience around the world. We just read in the past week that even the UK government has revealed their UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, where they talk about the Transition Towns movement.
To read and download this important document, visit the website:
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/21/the-2009-transition-movement-survey-essential-reading/
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