transition town
In most communities that aspire to become transition towns, the main objectives revolve around sustainability in different spheres. In this regard, these individual members in a community aim at achieving self-sufficiency and shun overreliance on various contemporary sources that are detrimental to the environment (Orr, 2013). Again, these communities aim at attaining resilience. In the wake of unpredictable climatic conditions and climate change, communities are building grounds capable of achieving resilience in different ways. Finally, the emergence of transition town is borne out of the desire of the community to embark reduced carbon emissions aimed at reducing the ongoing environmental degradation.
One of the problems that the transition community faces is adapting to the initiatives proposed in the transition model in place (Orr, 2013). In most cases, change is a spontaneous process that takes place over some time. However, in the transition initiative, the proposals often call for radical changes that significantly disrupt the ordinary lives of individuals. The other instances are insufficient resources to realize the aspirations of the community. Individuals spearheading the transitional town initiatives are mostly the financers of the initiative in different ways. In this regard, the lack of direct government support translates to insufficient resources that hamper the implementation of these initiatives.
One example of a prosperous transition town is in Derbyshire, UK, where individuals have created a food hub as a result of the transition town initiative. In Derbyshire, the transition initiative in the region embarked on encouraging the inhabitants of the town to grow vegetables on the back of their houses and the back gardens (Totnes, 2006). The motive behind this development was to ensure that the inhabitants in the locality are self-sufficient, able to embark on economically viable initiatives through growing of the crops and having affordable food alternatives to the ones available in the supermarkets.
The transition town movement is a timely movement that remains relatively positive towards attaining various sustainable development goals in different perspectives. The objectives of the transition towns are as varied as they are distinct. Through the bid to achieve self-sufficiency, enhance resilience, and combat the impacts of environmental degradation, the transition town initiatives are, to a great extent, aligned to the attainment of sustainable development goals. Again, the fact that the transition town initiative continues to elicit interest among millions of individuals and its positive contribution towards resilience and independence shows its effectiveness in attaining the tenets of sustainable development.
A low carbon future is achievable if the correct interventions are put in place. Therefore, the proponents of the transition towns in the country should embark on initiatives such as wind and solar energy to attain the goals of clean energy. The energy emanating from wind and sun is renewable energy. It does not have any harmful effects on the environment as opposed to fossil energy and other non-renewable energy sources. Again, the individuals could embark on advocacy to ensure that laws are formulated to reduce the carbon emission rates from the companies and other large polluters in the community.
References
Orr, D.W. (2013). Security, Resilience, and Community (Links to an external site.). Centre for Ecoliteracy.
Totnes. (2006). Transition Town Totnes. https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/