Alex Rankin explores how Falmouth is engaging the community in designing a vibrant low energy future to face the twin challenges posed by peak oil and climate change.

‘It blew my mind,’ declared Lorely Lloyd, who came across the idea of Transition Towns in September 2006 during the Permaculture Convergence Conference. Since then, Lorely and members of the Falmouth community in Cornwall, have put it into practice and begun to look at ways to reduce the town’s dependency on fossil fuels.

Transition Towns is a concept that was first created by Rob Hopkins, a lecturer of permaculture, out of his concern for the looming peak in oil production, and the necessity for us to rethink our energy needs and uses. He developed the idea of an Energy Descent Action Plan, EDAP.

‘It’s a practical way of planning,’ says Lorely. ‘We’ve created a problem, so what can we do about it? It’s a model that anyone can work with.’ As a town councillor, Lorely has been in a prime position to introduce the idea to council members, and they welcomed it with enthusiasm as a long-awaited but practical approach to sustainability.

The very first official Transition Falmouth meeting took place back in October and things have been moving forward ever since. The project has seen a number of sub-groups come together to look at different aspects of Falmouth life.

Inspired by a sustainable building project at Jubilee Wharf, in the nearby town of Penryn, a Building Group was set up. It aims to raise awareness of low impact building design through visits to inspirational projects and Planning For Real’ exercises.

The Food Group, which was also established, will be creating a Local Food Directory containing producers and growers in the area. They are also organising A Seedy Saturday, where gardeners can come and swap seeds and exchange advice on gardening.

One of the fundamental aspects of Transition Towns is the communal sharing of valuable information and new experiences, not just with fellow community members, but between projects in practise from other areas of the country. ‘If something works elsewhere,’ says Lorely, ‘we want to do it here too. It is a mutual support system. We’re all interconnected.’

Contact: Transition Falmouth,

c/o 45 Grenville Road,

Falmouth, TR11 2NP

Tel: 01326 317 587

Website: www.transitionfalmouth.org.uk

We will be writing more about

Transition Towns in future issues

so if you live in one, we would

love to hear from you

Falmouth Harbour at sunset

Photo: © Robert Colville