Rob Hopkins

The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it's more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it. In these times of deep division and deeper despair, if there is a consensus about anything in the world, it is that the future is going to be awful. There is an epidemic of loneliness, an epidemic of anxiety, a mental health crisis of vast proportions, especially among young people. There's a rise in extremist movements and governments. Catastrophic climate change. Biodiversity loss. Food insecurity. The fracturing of ecosystems and communities beyond, it seems, repair. The future--to say nothing of the present--looks grim. But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly--for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network--with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves. We do have the capability to effect dramatic change, Hopkins argues, but we're failing because we've largely allowed our most critical tool to languish: human imagination. As defined by social reformer John Dewey, imagination is the ability to look at things as if they could be otherwise. The ability, that is, to ask What if? And if there was ever a time when we needed that ability, it is now. Imagination is central to empathy, to creating better lives, to envisioning and then enacting a positive future. Yet imagination is also demonstrably in decline at precisely the moment when we need it most. In this passionate exploration, Hopkins asks why imagination is in decline, and what we must do to revive and reclaim it. Once we do, there is no end to what we might accomplish. From What Is to What If is a call to action to reclaim and unleash our collective imagination, told through the stories of individuals and communities around the world who are doing it now, as we speak, and witnessing often rapid and dramatic change for the better.

Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want

From What Is to What If

From oil dependency to local resilience

The Transition Handbook

Olandan Olasıya

The Transition Handbook is a ground-breaking book that shows how we can move from feeling anxiety and fear in the face of "peak oil" to developing a positive vision and taking practical action to create a more self-reliant existence.

From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience

There are an infinite number of possible futures that lie ahead of us—like threads stretching out into the distance. Rob Hopkins, cofounder of the international Transition Network movement, invites us to travel to future worlds we would actually want to live in.



In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of daily life, climate activist and Transition Network cofounder Rob Hopkins responded the way a lot of people did: by starting a podcast. But it wasn’t any ordinary podcast. In each episode, Hopkins and his guests would “time travel” together to the year 2030—walking down imagined future streets, talking with imagined future neighbors, visiting imagined future local businesses. While Hopkins’s guests came from all walks of life—economists, politicians, bakers, comedians, novelists and more—they all shared a willingness to suspend their worries about the future long enough to mentally inhabit and then describe a world they were thrilled to be a part of.



What Hopkins discovered was no less profound: this simple exercise of visiting a positive future forced him to rethink the work he’d been doing as a climate activist for decades.



How to Fall in Love with the Future is the result of that radical disruption—and Hopkins’s deep dive into the people and movements throughout history who have used visions of the future to inspire positive change on a large and dramatic scale. From the life and writings of musician Sun Ra and the history of Black utopian movements to the latest neuroscience on what goes on in our minds—and hearts—when we “time travel,” Hopkins brings essential new thinking to anyone overwhelmed with dread and anxiety for the future. He asks us to consider: what would the world look like if we all got to work imagining—and then building—a world we were deeply in love with?

“Rob Hopkins puts imagination back at the heart of future-dreaming, offering us an irresistible invitation to dream bigger and then make those dreams a reality.”—Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

A time traveler’s guide to changing the world

How to fall in love with the future

making your community more resilient in uncertain times

The transition companion

Packed with real-life examples and the voices of people who have created innovative local businesses and invested in all manner of new enterprises, this call for local action argues that the seed of a new economy—and the answer to the desperate search for a new way forward in an increasingly economically insecure and ecologically unstable world—is an understanding by individuals that change starts with them. The aim of the Transition movement is to galvanize people into taking action, whether on a large or a small scale, with the goal of creating communities that model a local economy rooted in place, in well-being, in entrepreneurship, and in creativity. While the book is primarily focused on food production and sustainable energy, the practical applications it offers also address how to rebuild a local community in the face of austerity due to a natural disaster or economic collapse. Eschewing political arguments of any kind, this discussion will appeal to readers of all persuasions who are eager to play a role in creating a more stable and healthier world one community at a time.

How Local Action Can Change the World

The Power of Just Doing Stuff

In 2008, the bestselling The Transition Handbook suggested a model for a community-led response to peak oil and climate change. Since then, the Transition idea has gone viral across the globe, from universities and London neighbourhoods to Italian villages and Brazilian favelas. In contrast to the ever-worsening stream of information about climate change, the economy and resource depletion, Transition focuses on solutions, on community-scale projects and on positive results. The Transition Companion picks up the story today, describing one of the most fascinating experiments now under way in the world. It shows how communities are working for a future where local enterprises are valued and nurtured; where lower energy use is seen as a benefit; and where cooperation, creativity and the building of resilience are the cornerstones of a new economy. The first part discusses where we are now in terms of resilience to the problems of rising oil prices, climate change and economic uncertainty. It presents a vision of how the future might look if we succeed in addressing these issues. The book then looks in detail at the process a community in transition goes through, drawing on the experience of those who have already embarked on this journey. These examples show how much can be achieved when people harness energy and imagination to create projects that will make their communities more resilient. The Transition Companion combines practical advice – the tools needed to start and maintain a Transition initiative – with numerous inspiring stories from local groups worldwide.

Making Your Community More Resilient in Uncertain Times

The Transition Companion

Move from feeling anxious about the oil crisis to developing a positive visions and taking traction action to create a more self-reliant existence with this ground-breaking book. We live in an oil-dependent world, and have become reliant in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – and without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when the oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but the reality may not be as bad as we think. The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead could have a positive effect. Written by permaculture expert Rob Hopkins, he discusses the possibility of a rebirth of local communities, which will generate their own fuel, food and housing. These will encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area, and unleash a local 'skilling-up', so that people have more control over their lives. The growth in interest in the Transition model continues to be exponential. There are now more than 35 formal Transition Initiatives in the UK, including towns, cities, islands, villages and peninsulas, with more joining as the idea takes off. With little proactivity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your community has not yet become a Transition Initiative, this upbeat guide, filled with beautiful black and white photographs, offers you the tools to get started. The Transition Handbook is the perfect manual to guide communities, as they begin this 'energy descent' journey.

Jeanneke van de Ven

Transitienetwerk Vlaanderen

Transition Towns Nederland

Pleidooi om het wonen, werken en leven in lokale gemeenschappen minder afhankelijk te laten zijn van olie, gevolgd door praktische aanwijzingen om dat te realiseren.

van olie-afhankelijkheid naar lokale veerkracht

Het transitie handboek

Dieses Buch wird klimapositiv hergestellt, cradle-to-cradle gedruckt und bleibt plastikfrei unverpackt. LASS UNS DIE WELT VERÄNDERN UND DIE ZUKUNFT NEU DENKEN: MIT MUT UND FANTASIE! Wir leben in einer Welt, die es uns NICHT GERADE EINFACH macht, DER ZUKUNFT VOLLER HOFFNUNG ENTGEGENZUBLICKEN: düstere Nachrichten zu Klimakrise, Artensterben, Ernährungsunsicherheit, dem Zerbrechen von Ökosystemen und radikalen politischen Bewegungen stehen an der Tagesordnung. Vertrauen in der Bevölkerung, dass sich alles zum Besseren wenden kann? Fehlanzeige. Aber warum scheint es eigentlich so schwierig, Lösungen für diese Probleme zu finden? Rob Hopkins gibt uns die Antwort: WEIL WIR VERLERNT HABEN, UNSERE WICHTIGSTE FÄHIGKEIT EINZUSETZEN: UNSERE VORSTELLUNGSKRAFT. Die einfache Frage zu stellen: WAS WÄRE, WENN? Um eine neue Welt zu kreieren, müssen wir sie uns zuerst vorstellen können. Wir müssen unsere Fantasie einsetzen. Und wenn wir das vollbringen, dann sehen wir sie plötzlich ganz klar, entdecken die Kraft unserer Gedanken, die uns zuflüstern, dass wir es – doch noch! – schaffen können. Hast du den Mut, dich darauf einzulassen? WAS, WENN ALLES RICHTIG GUT WIRD? Wie malt sich Rob Hopkins also diese neue, von Erfindungsgeist und Imagination sprühende Zukunft aus? Er sieht SCHULEN, IN DENEN NICHT MEHR WISSEN ABGEFRAGT, SONDERN DIE KREATIVITÄT DER KINDER GEFÖRDERT WIRD. Er sieht GRÜNE, BIODIVERSE STÄDTE, in denen an jeder Ecke Pflanzen und Gemüse in die Höhe sprießen und Verbrennungsmotoren und Straßenlärm ein Ding der Vergangenheit sind. Er sieht KLEINSTRUKTURIERTE, LOKALE UNTERNEHMEN, große SOLIDARITÄT, Unterstützung, ALLGEMEINEN WOHLSTAND. Und er sieht kommunale "Think tanks", Zusammenkünfte von Imaginations-Komitees, in denen alle Bürger*innen mitforschen, debattieren und sich eine bessere Welt für ihre Gemeinde ausmalen. Du denkst, das klingt unrealistisch und schwer umsetzbar? Dann hast du dich getäuscht: Das sind nämlich alles PROJEKTE UND IDEEN, DIE ES BEREITS GIBT. BRING DEINE WELT IN BEWEGUNG – UND STARTE DEN WANDEL! Genau deshalb ist dieses Buch SO UNGLAUBLICH MUTIG - UND SO WICHTIG. Rob Hopkins, MITBEGRÜNDER DER "TRANSITION TOWNS"-BEWEGUNG, zeigt uns, dass es Hoffnung gibt: dass sie da sind, die Lösungen, die genialen Ideen, die innovativen Einfälle. Völlig gebannt begleiten wir ihn und LERNEN MENSCHEN KENNEN, DIE ES GESCHAFFT HABEN, scheinbar unmögliche Gedankenexperimente IN DIE REALITÄT UMZUSETZEN. Klingt riskant? Gut so: Denn ohne Mut, Fantasie und Risikobereitschaft können wir radikale und dringend notwendige Veränderungen auf unserem Planeten nicht umsetzen. Also: Lass uns einen neuen Weg finden, unsere Probleme zu lösen und über unsere Zukunft nachzudenken. Der SCHLÜSSEL DAZU IST UNSERE VORSTELLUNGSKRAFT. Wenn wir unsere KOLLEKTIVE IMAGINATION BELEBEN, NÄHREN UND TRAINIEREN, gibt es nichts, was wir nicht planen, erarbeiten und umsetzen können. Bist du dabei, wenn wir die Welt auf den Kopf stellen? - WIE WIR DIE WELT VERÄNDERN KÖNNEN? MIT VORSTELLUNGSKRAFT! Wenn wir ihr erst freien Lauf lassen, können wir einfach alles schaffen. Also, stellen wir uns die simple, aber alles entscheidende Frage: WAS WÄRE, WENN? - UNSERE ZUKUNFT? ANDERS, KNALLBUNT UND GUT FÜR ALLE: Lies dieses Buch und gewinne den Glauben an eine chancenreiche Zukunft und die Möglichkeit zur Veränderung zurück. - UNGLAUBLICHE GESCHICHTEN, SCHOCKIERENDE FAKTEN, FASZINIERENDE MENSCHEN: Mitreißend erzählt Hopkins von Leuten, die ihre IDEEN VON EINER BESSEREN ZUKUNFT UMSETZEN – und zeigt, dass der Wandel nur eine Kopfreise entfernt ist.

Rob Hopkins

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