The Transition Town movement is effectively a community-led response to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil. Transition towns start to imagine, plan and communicate this new world beyond oil dependency at a local level. Rob Hopkins, founder of the movement and author of "The Transition Handbook" argues that the right scale for dealing with these issues is at a town or local area level. The very process of getting together, thinking and doing is powerful as the community starts to cohere and therefore becomes more resilient in the face of inevitable societal changes ahead.  Each Transition Town has its own distinctive features, reflecting local issues and responses.

Within RSA South Central, for example, the Farnham Transition Town Group has been meeting since September 2008 and has done a lot of the envisioning required. The Group is at a point where there is a strong core group, and a wider discussion group and regular local press features. In Farnham, activity is dictated by the energy, experience and interests of participants. Recent examples of activities are a Garden Share Scheme and a Clothes-Swap Party.

Eloise Grey FRSA, whose professional interests encompass sustainable fashion and re-skilling, is happy to share her experiences of Farnham Transition Town with other RSA Fellows in South Central region, and also to encourage conversations at a pan-regional level. Please email or phone: 01252 705169

Further information is also available on the Transition Culture website