Background

Transition Movement starts from the belief that the two toughest challenges currently facing humankind are Climate Change and Peak Oil, plus the greed of bankers, more on which in the Forum.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change is well documented in the media, although it is often not realised just how drastic climate effects may become. Whilst there is a lot of talk about reducing emissions to curtail CC to an acceptable level, the truth is that a decade later emissions are still growing and showing no sign of any reduction, let alone reduction of the required magnitude of 80-90% of 1990 levels.

On current trends we are heading straight for the melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets leading to 18 meter rise in sea levels, thus flooding many of human population centres and much of the most productive agricultural land. Further more, even a modest increase in global temperature is likely to lead to the release of enormous quantities of Methane, currently frozen beneath the permafrost of Siberia and Northern Canada, which would greatly contribute to the further warming of the planet, making all but the far North and Antarctica uninhabitable. In short, Climate Change has the potential to become a species extinction type event.

PEAK OIL

Peak Oil, on the other hand, remains under the radar for most people. Yet Peak Oil, heralding the era of ever-declining fossil fuel availability, has already started to challenge the economic and social stability of our society and the whole world.

As Peak Oil bites and energy becomes scarce the effects are likely to include steeply rising energy prices leading to the end of growth and beginning of century long economic decline, stock market and financial meltdown, bankruptcies and pension collapses, much reduced public services incl the NHS due to collapsing government income, breakdown of transportation and supply chains, shortages of food and other basic commodities and perhaps even breakdown of law and order.
In short, Peak Oil has the potential to destroy our current civilisation.

TRANSITION

The Transition Movement aims to mitigate many of these effects by helping local groups to supply much of their own local food and services, local energy, and rediscover the spirit of mutual support.

Look through these pages, discover what is likely to happen and why. See what YOU can do about it and join us in helping North Cornwall to transition to low energy future.

In the Forums section you will find a place where you can get in touch with other people in your locality, perhaps help organise a local meeting, start planning actions that will help you and your friends and neighbours.

Maybe you would like to come to one of our presentations/ film screenings or other events, or ask us to help you stage an event in your Parish. The Forum sections contains a calendar of many forthcoming events, various resources and other helpful sections, as well as a separate section for each Parish in North Cornwall.

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The purpose of this website is to help you set up and run a local Transition Group in your area or Parish, to communicate with other Groups and individuals involved in the Transition Movement and to share information across North Cornwall.

Initially, the main point of the website is to allow people interested in Transition from each location to find each other. I would therefore ask you to find time to
register (click on 'create new account' in the left column) and then to
'reply' to the 'Contacts' section in the Forum of your own Parish. Forum is one of the options in the left hand column.

You will then hopefully see others in your Parish to contact.

Start a discussion in your Parish. Tell us what's happening in your local area. Share the links and resources that have been most useful. Describe your successes, and things you've tried that didn't work. Your "field notes" will be indispensable to others.

Feel free to invite people from your area or further afield to visit www.TransitionNC.org and to contribute to these discussions or to join Transition North Cornwall (via the 'Contact' section in the left hand column).

Good luck and watch this space!
Better still watch the Forum, where all eventsnews items and comments go.

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What is the Transition movement?

It is part of a global movement initiated by the work of Rob Hopkins, who developed the first Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) in Kinsale, Ireland in 2004.

Rob designed the EDAP in partnership with students from Kinsale Further Education College and the local community as a visioning tool that planned Kinsale's pathway down from the oil peak. His work was primarily informed by Richard Heinberg's Power Down model and the work of permaculture founders David Holgrem and Bill Mollison.

The EDAP model has since been adopted by communities around the world. Rob Hopkins moved to Totnes, Devon in 2005 and set up Transition Towns Totnes, as a way to initiate an EDAP in the Totnes community.

How was Transition NC set up?

On 16th January 2008 there was a public meeting 'Decline in Oil: Are you worried about the rising price of oil?' in Wadebridge, with Rob Hopkins from Transition Culture and Anthony Gibson from the NFU as speakers.

On 6th February 2008 there was a follow-up meeting in Wadebridge Town Hall. At the end of that meeting six people volunteered to be on the steering group of Transition North Cornwall.

On 23rd March 2009 the original unincorporated society has been replaced by Transition North Cornwall Ltd (TNC Ltd), a not for profit company limited by Guarantee not having a share capital, which was created by the Steering Group in order to protect all members and officers from the unlimited personal financial liability associated with an unincorporated society. This was approved by an overwhelming majority of the society members.

TNC Ltd now has over 40 members and over 500 'friends' on its emailing list. TNC Ltd operates this website, which has over 300 registered users, all of which can contribute articles, news stories, events or coments at any time, as long as the items are in some way related to Transition and are respectful of other members and users. The website is accessed by 60 people per day on average and has had well over 300,000 hits in 2009.

What are the aims of Transition NC?

To increase awareness about Peak Oil, Climate Change and Transition solutions.
To support the development of local Transition groups in North Cornwall
To act as a communication network for Transition work in North Cornwall

We have also agreed that:

We shall follow the Transition Primer.
We shall work bottom up.
We shall be non-party-political.
We shall focus on the positive aspects of going towards a new future.
We shall focus on "Peak Oil and Climate Change" for our awareness events. We need to make people aware that Peak Oil is not a theory but an observation.
We shall work with the TCN (Transition Cornwall Network).
We shall inform, motivate and inspire people by putting on events ourselves and speaking ourselves.

Further information on Transition North Cornwall Ltd can be found in the 'Administration' section