Transition Model

Abstract

Peak oil and climate change are two of greatest challenges facing humanity at the beginning of 21st century. They are urging humanity to re-think and consider changing on many personal, social, ecological, and economic fronts. Transition and resilience are key concepts initiating this change to prepare communities to forthcoming challenging times. Transition Movement and the claimed model behind it, Transition Model, have been established to overcome these challenges by transforming communities and settlements. Transition Movement is a community-driven initiative aiming to build ecology friendly resilient community and settlements. Its fast spread has sparked the attention of policy makers, academicians, and practitioners. Relatively little research has been done, however, to understand the dynamics of Transition Movement. Here, I focus on transition and resilience concepts in relation to socio-ecological and socio-technical systems, investigate Transition Movement and Transition Model, and analyze their characteristics and fundamental processes. I classify Transition Movement both as a socio-ecological and a socio-technical system. I claim that Transition Model is not a model but rather a methodology. I question its validity and sufficiency as a methodology and point the improvement areas from systems point of view. I introduce two, non-existent but necessary systems to adapt: a feedback mechanism, and an improvement cycle based on projects and resilient indicators. Finally, I comment on the future of Transition Model and suggest areas for further research. The chapter is concluded with the question how Transition Model can be adapted by the cities, transforming them into resilient communities, ready for the ecological and economical challenges.