Transition Town Movement - impact on sense of place

- This movement has been growing since 2005

- Overall, it is about communities stepping up to address the challenges they face by

reclaiming the economy, sparking entrepreneurship, reimagining work and weaving webs

of connection and support

- The people behind the transition town movement focus on 3 Rs (as shown in Totnes,

Dorset):

●Resilience - the ability of a local community to withstand shock from the outside

(this could be economically advantageous to the local community)

●Relocalisation - promotes the idea of going beyond the concept of localism and

meeting the towns core needs, through locally sourced products, which could be

very beneficial for local economies, whilst reducing oil dependency and carbon

emissions

●Regenerative development - development of the district for public benefit, by

reducing reliance on scarce resources, to meet public needs, without affecting the

future generations

- The key to the transition town movement is to start local, including supporting local,

independent stores (boycotting chain stores if need be), encourage home grown produce

to reduce reliance on produce imported from outside the town, all to prevent the town

from becoming a ‘clone’ and allowing its uniqueness and independence to shine through.

- This movement is very dependent on the local community coming together for the greater

good. It’s very focused around supporting each other to make the local community a

better place.

- This movement has reached over 50 countries in:towns, villages, Universities and

schools

Main principles of this movement are:

➔Respecting resource limits - reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a very important

matter, by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, this will help immensely

➔Promoting inclusivity and social justice - rising prices in industries e.g. fuel, food and

shortages and extreme weather events, affect disadvantaged people in society the most,

so this movement aims to increase chances of all groups in society to live well, healthily

and sustainably

➔Sharing ideas and power - allowing each community to have an input and the power to

take ownership of themselves, to create an environment that everyone can enjoy, whilst

using their collective genius to develop and promote positive possibilities

Case study

- Transition Town Totnes (TTT), based in Totnes, Dorset, is a community lead charity

project working to strengthen the local community, reduce environmental impact, build

resilience for a future with less cheap energy and climate change

- Their work currently spans from affordable housing and creating livelihoods to growing

local food economy

- In 2012, Totnes won a major battle (which took over 6 months) to keep Costa coffee from

opening in its high street. Over 300 people wrote to the council, 8,000+ people signed the

petition against Costa opening and there were protests along the streets. The residents

explained that they ‘want to keep money circulating locally. We support family businesses

that use local IT companies, buy their food locally etc’.

Transition Town Movement

Human Geography

Sixth Form (A Levels)

High School - United Kingdom

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