By: Brian Fritz

The first training for Transition Town in the United States took place in Boulder, Colorado, in September 2008.  Since then there have been multiple Transition Town Initiatives emerging throughout the country, with 15 of those in Colorado alone.
The Transition Town Initiative was developed in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Rob Hopkins, a permaculture teacher, as a practical model for allowing communities to reduce their dependency on a fossil fuel-based infrastructure, develop greater local resilience and re-localize the community resource base.  This includes all areas of the community resource: food and energy production, security and access, local economy, health care, education, transportation, etc.  Transition Towns emphasize grass roots involvement, public awareness raising (related to the emerging crisis of Peak Oil, Climate Change and Economic Instability which will initiate into our culture what James Kunstler has termed the “Long Emergency”), collaborating with existing social activist organizations, community re-skilling and developing local, practical, and effective solutions for meeting community needs.  It aims to re-build ‘community resilience’ so that we can withstand the inevitable shocks and disruptions that occur from being so dependent on external infrastructure.

One of the unique features of Transition Town is that it offers a positive, optimistic and upbeat approach which is meant to engage the collective intelligence and creativity of everyone in the community in addressing these serious challenges.  Rather than a time of ‘doom and gloom’ it can be a time of collective coming together to re-create a low energy, healthier future for all of us.
Transition Manitou Springs, which has been active for approximately a year now, has been building community momentum by offering monthly educational film series, classes on various areas of sustainability, and working with local existing social activist groups. This spring we will be organizing a ‘Training for Transition’ workshop for Southern Colorado to train individuals how to bring this Transition model to their local communities.

For more information on Transition Town please email Brian Fritz at tt.manitou@gmail.com or visit
www.transitioncolorado.ning.com.