Transition Towns is a movement that began in the UK with the aim of changing urban development and urban lifestyles "from oil dependence to local resilience". The movement is built on the assumption that the age of fossil fuels and everything that depends on oil is coming to an end, and that the way to the future is to become more reliant on local and regional networks and low-carbon technology. The website for Transition Aotearoa (http://transitionaotearoa.org.nz/ ) brings people together "out of a desire to explore how we - and our communities - can respond to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil."
The Transition Towns movement rests on a number of philosophical assumptions: that collective action is necessary for adapting to climate change and peak oil; that individuals working at the local level can be more effective in bringing about the necessary changes than international organisations, national governments and big business; and that permaculture and sutainable production is necessary. Most transition towns advocates see practical action as the way to make changes; they practice permaculture principles in their own gardens, support local production and farmers markets and look for ways to make their housing and their lifestyles more ecofriendly and sustainable.
There are already a number of Transition Town groups in New Zealand, for example, groups in Auckland, Wellington, Waitakere, Christchurch and Dunedin as well as a number of smaller towns. (http://www.transitiontowns.or.nz )
A very influential book is The Transition Handbook: from Oil Dependency or Local Resilience, by Rob Hopkins.
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