Olympia, Washington Becomes 41st Transition Initiative in the US
by Joanne Lee As world leaders prepare for the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December of this year, they are hearing the strident cries of climate activists amidst the lullabies of 'business-as-usual-ists' urging them back to sleep. Between now and then – and whatever the outcome of those historic talks – we the people have chosen our paths and are making haste upon them. Olympia has chosen a path of becoming a Transition Initiative as part of the global and grass roots movement thriving in hundreds of communities around the world, including Australia, Canada, Chile, England, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, US and Wales. In September, after five months of activity, Olympia was awarded official status as the 41st Transition Initiative in the United States. The Transition movement began in England less than five years ago. Rob Hopkins a UK ecological designer and permaculturist, was the seed energy behind this effort that has taken root and grown because of its practicality, optimism and timeliness. It's a global idea being enacted locally with respect for each unique community that embraces it. One unusual feature of this movement is that while it encompasses the work we must do in the outer world, it invites and is a container for the inner work we must do to adapt to the unprecedented change asked of us at this time in our lives. Transition initiatives catalyze and connect the existing organizations and individuals within a community already doing the important work of transforming our "growth at any cost" culture into a sustainable culture. Olympia already has many well-established paths leading us individually and collectively toward resilience, sustainability and living simply. Resilience is a key concept in the transition movement, reminding us that systems that can withstand external shocks will survive and thrive, while those that can't, will collapse. We saw a dramatic example of this in the last year when our house of cards banking system with no internal resilience came perilously close to shutting down our entire economic system. The unfortunate reality of that debacle is that it did shut down many economies on a personal scale. The human species is facing never before experienced or even imagined threats from the combination of climate change, peak oil and economic disruption. While our politicians and economists tell us our recovery is beginning and we will be back to robust economic growth soon, those of us with an eye toward the limitations of physical resources and systems are saying, "Hell no, we won't grow!" The time of unlimited and thoughtless growth is over. The time has come for building environmentally, economically and socially just cultures all over the world. Creating this preferred future for our own local communities with clear fresh air, abundant clean water, healthy ecosystems and species, natural beauty surrounding a human scale, sustainably built world is possible. Hundreds of communities all over the world are moving swiftly in that direction, successfully following the Transition blueprint. The beauty of this blueprint is that it is a guide-book, not a rule-book. It provides inspiration from other communities but not a prescription for ours. It is more about building what we do want rather than protesting what we don't want. It's about having fun as we create community, something we intuitively know is essential to our well-being but that has eluded many caught in the illusions of mother culture. The Transition Movement is a hopeful, action-oriented, grassroots process for creating resilient communities – communities which are self-reliant, locally focused, lead low carbon lifestyles, grow most of their own food, support local businesses and trades people, barter for goods and services, share skills and in general thrive on a spirit of optimism and inclusiveness. Transition Olympia welcomes your voice, your energy, your ideas, your efforts, and your solutions to create the community we all know is possible. Transition Olympia is seeking to partner with other organizations and interested community members with whom we will ultimately join forces to create and enact an Energy Descent Action Plan to guide us down the slippery slope of dwindling petroleum resources. You can join with Transition Olympia in several ways: :
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