The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience (Transition Guides) (Paperback)

by Rob Hopkins (Author), Richard Heinberg (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review
I will begin this book "review" by telling you that I find nothing-absolutely nothing wrong with The Transition Handbook. If that then makes this article into a commercial for the book instead of a review, so be it.

For nearly a year I have been emphasizing in my writing that a positive vision must be held in consciousness alongside all of the abysmal events unfolding around us. Even as I have been insistent on staring down the collapse of civilization, I have embraced at the same time, what could be and have held in my mind and heart the threads of the new paradigm that so many of us are working to create.

Thus it has been with great pleasure and relief that I have looked deeply into the Transition Town movement and found it to exemplify everything that I believe comprises effective relocalization and the shaping of alternative economies and vibrant communities. Not only am I in awe of what the people of Totnes, the first Transition Town in the U.K., have accomplished, but more so, that the Transition Town model has become contagious and is spreading to a variety of places throughout the world, in the United States, and closer to my own local community here in Vermont. I'm additionally pleased that The Transition Handbook is now being distributed here in the U.S. by a Vermont publisher, Chelsea Green.

--Carolyn Baker, Owner of the Speaking Truth to Power website.http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/919/1/





Library Journal--

This book happily describes the British grassroots "Transition Towns" movement. Meant to be a guide and motivator, the handbook discusses how several U.K. towns are preparing for the twin threats of climate change and peak oil. Hopkins, a teacher of permaculture and natural building and a cofounder of the Transition Network, urges a community response—local sustainability made fun—in which groups grapple with issues like food, transportation, energy, building materials, and waste and even develop their own local currency. Hopkins takes our "addiction" to oil literally, and so we will read of "post-petroleum stress disorder," and see applied addictions psychology helping to ease the townies' withdrawal symptoms. It's a handsome book, thoughtfully designed, which may make its message a little more palatable to oil addicts on this side of the Atlantic. [ See the author speak about his book and ideas at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGHrWPtCvg0 ]

"This DIY manual for change is an intelligent and practical attempt to encourage people to think globally while acting locally."--P. D. Smith, The Guardian

"The book is a great guide for how we must live in a future world where the limits of nature are honoured, but so are the basic comforts and joys of communities coming together in a great common cause. There is no more important book than this one for any community seeking change toward ecological sustainability."--Jerry Mander, founder/director of the International Forum on Globalization and author of In the Absence of the Sacred

"This is much more than just a book. It is a manual for a movement. And not just any movement, but one which in avoiding the civilisational collapse threatened by the twin crises of peak oil and climate change could prove to be the most important social force humanity has ever seen."--Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees

"The Transition movement is the best news there's been for a long time, and this manual is a goldmine of inspiration to get you started."--Phil England, New Internationalist

"This book by the visionary architect of the Transition movement is a must-read, labeled 'immediate.' Growing numbers with their microscopes trained on peak oil are convinced that we have very little time to engineer resilience into our communities before the last energy crisis descends. This issue should be of urgent concern to every person who cares about their children, and all who hope there is a viable future for human civilization post-petroleum."--Jeremy Leggett, founder of Solarcentury and SolarAid, and author of The Carbon War and Half Gone

"If Hopkins is right about the viral spread of the Transition Town concept then he has to be a runaway contender for a Nobel prize."--Friends of the Earth’s Earthmatters magazine

"The Transition concept is one of the big ideas of our time. Peak oil and climate change can so often leave one feeling depressed and disempowered. What I love about the Transition approach is that it is inspirational, harnessing hope instead of guilt, and optimism instead of fear. The Transition Handbook will come to be seen as one of the seminal books which emerged at the end of the Oil Age and which offered a gentle helping hand in the transition to a more local, more human and ultimately more nourishing future."--Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association

"If ever there was a book that empowered the reader, this is it. I'm struggling here to escape metaphors about having a tankful of petrol in my belly, but that's just what it feels like. Rob tells us that fossil fuels multiply the physical force of each human being by 70 times. Well, this book can do the same, but in a social way rather than a brute mechanical way, and to a positive end rather than a destructive one. It's not only a powerful read, but an easy one too. It flows along like a well-written novel, full of illustrations, well designed and produced. Anyone who has met Rob or heard him speak in public will recognize in its words the humor, power and humility of this remarkable person. The book is of course a product of the cheap oil era. But if we can create things of this quality, when the post-peak times come we have little to fear."--Patrick Whitefield, Permaculture magazine

"The newly published Transition Handbook is so important that I am tempted just to confine this review to five simple words: 'You must read this book!'"--Richard Barnett, Ethical Pulse

"Rob Hopkins is the Gentle Giant of the green movement, and his timely and hugely important book reveals a fresh and empowering approach that will help us transition into a materially leaner but inwardly richer human experience. Full of reliable, readable, far-reaching scholarship, and warmhearted practical advice on how to instigate transition culture wherever you are, this book will energize and regenerate your commitment to place, community and simple living. There is no better call to action than this book, and no better guide to the hands-on creation of a livable future."--Dr. Stephan Harding, coordinator of the MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College and author of Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia

Product Description
We live in an oil-dependent world, arriving at this level of dependency in a very short space of time by treating petroleum as if it were in infinite supply. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies to keep money in the local area.

There are now over 30 “transition towns” in the UK, Australia and New Zealand with more joining as the idea takes off. They provide valuable experience and lessons-learned for those of us on this side of the Atlantic. With little proactive thinking at the governmental level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your town is not a transition town, this upbeat guide offers you the tools for starting the process.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green (August 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1900322188
• ISBN-13: 978-1900322188
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An accessible, smart guide to a resilient low-carbon future, September 11, 2008

By	Philippe Vandenbroeck (HEVERLEE, BELGIUM) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is a powerful current in our contemporary, post-industrial culture that is arguing for a simpler, more sustainable alternative to our wasteful, environmentally damaging way of life. Proselytisers rely on a varying mix of three sets of arguments: the environmental challenge posed by climate change, the energy supply challenge posed by peak oil and, finally, the spiritual challenge emerging from the newest science on personal wellbeing (in a nutshell: beyond a certain point more money and stuff doesn't make us happier.)

Rob Hopkins' Transition Movement is pragmatic attempt to come to terms with the disruptions that are heralded by climate change and peak oil. Thoughtlessly addicted as we are to fossil fuels, our societies are ill equipped to deal with the adverse implications of energy scarcity and a hotter, less predictable climate. According to Hopkins, what we need to develop is resilience: the ability to deal creatively and locally with energy supply and environmental shocks.

The Transition Handbook is a hands-on guide to help communities make that transition towards a resilient, low-carbon future. It is useful to distinguish three layers in the book.

The first layer encapsulates the three main parts of Hopkins' argument, focused on the head (the facts about climate change and peak oil you need to know), the heart (the need for positive vision and commitment) and the hands (practical guidelines for enabling resilient communities).

The second layer consists of a range of design principles that can be relied on to shape resilient communities. For example, in preparing for an energy-scarce future we need to know that resilience relies on a small scale, modular and decentralised infrastructure. We also need to invest in high-quality productive relationships, integrate rather than segregate and use the creative edges of systems to make the most of their potential. There are many more of these principles that have been lifted from an eclectic mix of disciplines, including systems science, ecology and the psychology of change. Hopkins himself was deeply influenced by the permaculture movement, a radical design approach to constructing "sustainable human settlements".

The third layer features a range of practical solutions that comply with these design principles. These solutions are meant to be the cornerstones of any resilient community and include a template for working towards a more energy-thrifty ("energy descent planning"), decentralised energy generation, local food sourcing, re-skilling of consumers into creative citizens and local currencies.

Transition thinking is not only a theory but it is also a social movement and the book features a number of UK examples of communities that have started going down the path towards resilience. Hopkins is acutely aware that the governance of the Transition movement needs to mirror the design principles underlying resilience. It would hardly be credible and effective to embody a Transition movement by a tightly-managed, centralised bureaucracy. So, Hopkins is only willing to give pointers to help people in facilitating bottom-up, small-scale, self-steering initiatives. Lots is left to emergence and action learning ("... where it all goes remains to be seen ..." is an often used phrase in the book).

The Transition Handbook is an accessible, smart guide to helping us deal with the challenges we may face as a result of climate change and peak oil. In itself the book doesn't offer anything new, but it rearranges familiar pieces of a puzzle into a compelling and coherent approach towards learning again to help ourselves and to do more with less.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a Problem but an Opportunity, December 10, 2008

By	John D. Croft - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rob Hopkins has tackled a complex inter-relationship between tow vitally important subjects in a completely new way. Looking at the problems of Climate Change and Peak oil together shows him, and then allows us to see, that relocalisation is the key to producing not just the answer to our problems, but the kind of high quality low consumption lifestyle we need in the future. He makes the future an attractive and exciting place in which to live and thus allows us to escape from the apocalyptic survivalist scenarios so common in the USA.

The best thing about this book is that it is not just a book that tells us what we need to do, it actually maps out multiple pathways for us to begin doing it. Rob is no starry-eyed idealist. Without minimising the difficulties, and acting in the face of uncertainty as to whether or not the differences he suggests will or not make the difference required, he clearly shows that we will not know the answer unless we really try. This book is a clarion call to shift beyond panic to engaging in positive action. It steps beyond finding scapegoats to blame, and shows that we can all play a productive role in confronting the biggest domestic and international issues of our times - Climate Change and Oil Depletion.

The idea of creating a "Project Support Project", of the group that begins activities planning for its own demise, and being a syndicate of initiative, fostering participation, inclusion and creativity, are all important themes of this book. Its readable, engaging and difficult to put down.

The only difficulty I can find is that it is a little repetitive in parts (for example the story of the Totnes Pound is repeated a little too much), which could have benefitted from a tighter editing process. Perhaps bringing the references together in a single section could have helped. Its good to see a German Edition already in print. Other languages should follow swiftly.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Important Handbooks of Our Time, September 15, 2008

By	Fickle Cat "Mags" (Westminster, CO) - See all my reviews

Rob Hopkins writes about the context for starting a transition town and then follows with step-by-step instructions on the action steps involved with bringing awareness and hope to communities. Transition towns spring from a grassroots initiative to do something positive and cooperative in response to the impending triple crisis of peak oil, climate change and global economic collapse.

It all starts with awareness and ends in an energy decent action plan. Every community is different, so Rob is very careful not to offer any practical solutions to how to grow food or get energy. He simply offers a guiding hand on how to talk to people about peak oil and transition and how to go about preparing communities to reskill and re-localize.