Transition Initiatives

The emerging Transition Initiatives is one narrative for rebuilding what are called resilient communities. A resilient community is a locally focused, self reliant (not necessary self sufficient) town, region, suburb, which can survive by itself in times of need without destitution and starvation, but imports luxuries where needed, and interacts with the rest of global society.

The initiative arises from the permaculture movement, in that the principles and philosophies of this elder movement give foundation to the later. It has arisen in response to the need to prepare human society to respond to the twin challenges of climate and global environmental change and peak oil.

Since the link between the values and behaviours that lead people to trash the environment are intrinsically linked to the creation and maintenance of socioeconomic inequity, the path to solving each is shared. Both challenge the neoliberal paradigm and its values of individualism and exploitation. Further the process for creating resilient, ecologically and socially sustainable society is applicable to rebuilding community and addressing socioeconomic inequity.

See: Rob Hopkins, the Transition Handbook, Finch Publishing, Sydney 2009,
ISBN: 9781921462009 (pbk.)
See: http://transitionculture.org/; and http://www.communitysolution.org/

Another relevant stream in Australia has been the NSW Community Building / Victorian Neighbourhood projects in the context of ‘fixing’ dysfunctional communities / neighbourhoods. The Healthy Cities Programs, Healthy Urban Development programs, and others are all happening and can be built on. I am sure there are other examples.

What has been lacking to some extent has been publicising the underpinning analysis and a meta-structure for coordination and exchange.

Peter Tait

We need a road map to an alternative order to neoliberalism

Following discussion at the recent Public Health Association Conference it became clear that we need a "road map" which give a clearer alternative to the dominant neoliberal paradigm in a manner whcih can guide action at a local, national and international level.

There is a concern that there will be a return to "business as usual" in spite of the opportunities created by the global economic collapse and this is partly due to the lack of an alternative that activists have ready access to and can explain easily to each other and the community more generally. Such a road map could include things like the importance of community controlled institutions, and workers controlled coportations and businesses as suggested at the end of Wilkinson's book - the Spirit Level. It would also need to inlcude key taxation reforms in progresive income taxes, consumption taxes, carbon taxes, the Tobin tax etc. It would need to say something about publicly funded universal education and health care.

It would also need to say something about the types of global institutions that are needed and how to reform the IMF, World Bank etc. There are many more issues. I think it needs to be a type of "Standard Treatment Manual" or "Best Practice Guidelines" for the type of social, economic and political system we need to try to create. It needs to be realtively simple and easy to read and understand - perhaps such a document exists and if so could someone enlighten me? (I am not even sure if this is the right way to use a Blog as this is the first time I have done this.)