Category: Rehabilitation and Regeneration

Climate Resilience as a Learned Skill: Lessons from the Transition Movement

Transition Towns are grassroots community projects that aim to increase self-sufficiency and build local resilience to global challenges such as climate change, peak oil, and socioeconomic instability.

Photo by ZACHARY STAINES on Unsplash

The movement began at Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland, where permaculture teacher Rob Hopkins and his students developed an Energy Descent Action Plan to respond to peak oil. Hopkins later moved to Totnes, England, in 2006, where he helped found the first Transition Town– a community-led initiative to foster local resilience through projects focused on energy, food, and economy.

Since then, the Transition Network has expanded internationally to over 60 countries. Unique among environmental movements, Transition Towns emphasize not only practical solutions but also psychological and social change, nurturing skill development, connection, and collective action.

Skill Development and Behavioral Change: Building Lasting Climate Resilience

Central to the Transition movement is the facilitation of skill development as a key climate solution and resilience tool.

This process addresses the fact that many practical skills crucial for sustainability—such as food growing, clothing repair, and resource efficiency– have been lost over time as convenience culture has taken precedence over longevity.

Transition initiatives create hands-on workshops, courses, and community projects that revive these essential skills, enabling people not only to become more self-sufficient but also to share and pass these skills through families and neighbors.

For instance, in Totnes, the original Transition Town, a popular 10-week evening course called “Skilling Up for Powerdown” teaches participants about food, energy, water, and economics, all through the lens of enhancing local resilience.

An incredibly useful training for starting a Transition Initiative is Transition Launch, which teaches people how to set up and run a community-based change-making initiative right where they live.

Practical Workshops and Community Learning

There are also numerous smaller practical workshops, such as herbal walks, natural building, cooking, and cycle maintenance. These workshops are designed to be engaging and inclusive, drawing on the expertise of local elders, experts and practitioners to bridge knowledge gaps.

Through herbal walks, participants not only gain knowledge of local plants and wildlife but also strengthen their bonds with both their community and natural environment.

Natural building workshops teach participants how to construct buildings using sustainable, natural, and locally sourced materials like earth, straw, timber, and stone. These workshops emphasize eco-friendly techniques to build environmentally conscious structures that are energy-efficient, and healthy for people and the planet.

Meanwhile, cycle maintenance courses not only provide instruction on how to perform essential bicycle repairs and upkeep, but also help cyclists gain confidence and practical skills to be a safe cyclist on the road.

Skill-sharing fosters behavioral change by transforming abstract concerns about climate and energy into practical, achievable actions. Learning by doing builds a fundamental sense of “can do” and empowerment, replacing feelings of helplessness with tangible capabilities. These shared learning experiences help build adaptable, supportive networks essential for collective problem-solving and long-term sustainability.

By nurturing both individual skills and community connections, Transition Towns not only reduce ecological footprints but also strengthen the social fabric necessary to sustain environmental efforts over time. Furthermore, as skills are passed on within communities, they create a multiplying effect—giving the Transition Town movement a legacy of resilience that extends beyond any one person, project or generation.

Expanding Skill-Sharing Across the Network

Transition hubs across the transition network have run repair cafés, gardening courses, energy-saving workshops, local currency initiatives, and numerous practical projects that bring learning and action together. These efforts contribute to a culture shift where sustainability becomes normalized, encouraging ongoing participation and deeper engagement.

Repair Cafés: Repair Cafés allow community members to bring broken household items (clothes, small appliances, bikes) for free repair by skilled volunteers. The goal is to reduce waste, save money, and share repair skills. This promotes a culture of fixing rather than discarding, reducing landfill waste and fostering community sharing. Combined with the transition network’s focus on skill sharing, the number of skilled volunteers grows over time so no community member is overly relied upon to perform repairs. Transition Pasadena has run Repair Cafés in California since 2013, involving city staff and volunteers, and offering extensive repair activities for electronics, clothing, and household items.

Gardening Courses: Community gardening and food-growing courses equip participants with skills in organic cultivation, composting, seed saving, and sustainable garden design. In Transition Town Lewes, regular gardening workshops and community orchards help restore local food sovereignty while strengthening neighborhood ties through shared green spaces.

Crystal Palace Transition Town’s Community Garden offers another inspiring example. What began as a small local food-growing project has evolved into a thriving hub for gardening and food-related initiatives. Today, it regularly hosts events and workshops on composting, foraging, and permaculture, providing a space where residents can both learn and connect.

Energy Savings Workshops: Transition groups across the network have implemented hands-on energy projects that reduce emissions while empowering households and communities to take action. For example, Totnes, UK facilitated a street-by-street program where neighbors met in small groups to learn about energy, water, food, and transport. In its first year, around 550 households cut an average of 1.3 tonnes of CO₂ per year each (saving ~£570 per household).

Community Energy Cooperatives: Transition members in Lewes, UK helped establish OVESCO, a community energy co-op. Together they’ve installed around 6 MW of local solar power, and offer free energy-advice workshops and drop-in sessions on bills, home efficiency, and renewables.

Global Diffusion and Local Adaptation

From its UK origins, the Transition Towns model has spread to over 60 countries worldwide, including diverse contexts in Europe, North America, Australia, Latin America, and Asia. Each community adapts the core principles to its unique social, cultural, and environmental setting.

For example, in the US Southwest, initiatives in places like Joshua Tree, California focus on desert-appropriate permaculture and water conservation, while community efforts in Toulouse, France established “micro-forests” through the Miyawaki method to rapidly create dense, biodiverse urban ecosystems. The creation of these micro-forests expands on the city’s already established connection to Japanese landscaping as Toulouse is home to the remarkable Jardin japaonais Pierre-Baudis.

This flexibility allows the movement to thrive globally, making sustainability locally relevant while demonstrating how local priorities, cultures, and resources shape diverse transition projects worldwide.

Inner Transition: Emotional Processing for Collective Resilience

Transition Towns highlight that sustainable change requires transforming not only infrastructure and behavior but also values, emotions, and relationships.

“Inner Transition” is a concept and movement, often associated with the global Transition Network, that focuses on the psychological, emotional, spiritual, and relational changes necessary for people and communities to shift from unsustainable ways of living to more resilient, connected, and meaningful ones.

It emphasizes personal and collective well-being and aims to integrate inner work with external practical projects, ensuring the “head, heart, and hands” are aligned to foster sustainable change.

By integrating practices from psychology and social change with community action, they offer a holistic model of resilience. This approach unleashes collective genius, turning fear and uncertainty into hope and empowerment—a powerful narrative as communities worldwide adapt to global environmental challenges.

Confronting emotions directly helps participants build personal resilience, preventing burnout and sustaining long-term engagement. In this way, hope and imagination are cultivated as practical tools, inspiring members to envision and work toward a positive, sustainable future.

This emotional work transforms despair into “applied optimism,” motivating collective action.

How Transition Towns Foster Hope and Agency

Transition Towns empower citizens by fostering a sense of ownership over their community’s future and encouraging proactive, pragmatic solutions.

Participants develop new skills, launch local enterprises, and collaborate with community members to integrate resilience into local planning.

The movement encourages “doing stuff” and learning by experimentation, making resilience a learned skill.

The transition network offers online courses and events which can be found here with 2 upcoming webinars in October 2025.

Additionally, you can view where there may be transition groups, trainers and hubs near you with this map on the transition network website.

September 18, 2025
The Illusion of Green Growth: Why Degrowth is a Necessary Path to Sustainability

Many climate scientists, environmental activists, and researchers, including myself, now reject green growth models, not because of an opposition to progress or innovation, but because the promises of “green growth” in already high-income countries are fundamentally incompatible with the scale of ecological and social challenges present across the globe.

This preference toward degrowth is rooted in mounting scientific evidence, supported by a recent groundbreaking review published in Lancet Planetary Health titled “Post-growth: the science of wellbeing within planetary boundaries,” which challenges the assumption that economic growth is necessary or even desirable for societal progress.

Photo by Shelley Johnson on Unsplash

A central argument made by the authors is that the dominant narrative, which claims technological innovation and efficiency will allow for continued economic growth while reducing environmental harm, is not supported by the data. Efficiency improvements are consistently outpaced by the scale and speed of economic expansion, leading to increased resource consumption, pollution, and waste—a phenomenon known as the “rebound effect.” This effect directly undermines the idea that growth can be decoupled from environmental harm.

The belief that technological solutions alone can address today’s ecological crises exposes the use of binary thinking to address a multifaceted problem. This technological optimism can distract from the deeper, systemic changes needed to address how societies produce, consume, and define prosperity. Overreliance on technological solutions risks obscuring the fundamental drivers of climate change and social inequality. While technological shifts and innovation will play a role, it cannot substitute for the deeper structural changes needed to address how societies produce, consume, and define prosperity.

Research shows that market-driven approaches and the current economic system delay effective climate action by hindering the deployment of transformative technologies. Many promising climate innovations struggle to secure funding or scale because profit-driven systems tend to prioritize short-term returns over long-term societal and environmental benefits. Ironically, green growth models also rely on rapid technological deployment as a climate solution, while many proposed solutions are either unproven at scale or insufficient to address the magnitude of the problems.

Moreover, renewable energy and other sustainable technologies are not without environmental and social costs. The extraction of minerals essential for batteries and electronics, such as cobalt and lithium, is frequently linked to environmental degradation and human rights violations. This is not to suggest that clean energy should be dismissed, but rather that its deployment must be accompanied by systemic reforms. Without broader economic and policy changes, such technologies risk perpetuating existing patterns of overconsumption, social inequalities and human rights violations.

Crucially, the pursuit of endless economic growth is fundamentally incompatible with the Earth’s ecological boundaries. Humanity has already exceeded six of nine planetary boundaries, threatening the stability of Earth’s life-support systems. The drive for economic expansion, especially in high-income countries, is largely responsible for this overshoot, often achieved at the expense of labor and resources in lower-income nations. High-income countries, in particular, have a disproportionate impact on global emissions and resource use, and their current levels of consumption are unsustainable. If these consumption patterns persist, they are likely to precipitate ecosystem collapse and irreversible climate impacts across the globe. To avert ecological catastrophe and biodiversity loss, high-income countries must significantly reduce their material and energy use.

Green growth strategies tend to prioritize harm reduction through technological innovation and decarbonization, while neglecting the restorative practices needed to regenerate ecosystems.Even when labeled as “green,” economic growth models frequently fail to deliver meaningful social or ecological outcomes due to the fact that market-driven interventions often neglect ecosystem restoration that is viewed as “non-profitable”. A shift in priorities is needed—from GDP growth to enhancing human well-being, equity, and ecological regeneration.

True sustainability requires a deliberate reduction in material throughput, regeneration of depleted ecosystems, and advancement of social equity. It is not enough to simply shift to “greener” forms of production and consumption if they still enable the exploitation and oppression of nature and non-dominant groups.

As highlighted in recent research published in The Lancet Planetary Health, degrowth offers a scientifically grounded pathway to remain within planetary boundaries while improving health and well-being (Beyer et al., 2024). By intentionally reducing overall consumption and production—particularly in high-income countries—and reorienting economies toward equity, social cohesion, and ecological restoration, we can address the root causes of environmental degradation and social inequality.

The Lancet article emphasizes that degrowth is not about austerity or deprivation, but about prioritizing human flourishing, reducing unnecessary work and consumption, and ensuring that everyone’s basic needs are met. This approach has the potential to lower pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and restore ecosystems, while also improving life satisfaction, reducing stress, and strengthening community ties.

These findings point the way toward a healthier planet, fairer societies, and a higher quality of life for all—achieved not through endless economic expansion, but through a fundamental transformation of our values, priorities, and systems. It’s time to embrace a new vision of progress—one rooted in ecological balance, equity, and genuine well-being.

May 22, 2025
Exploring the Potential Use of Vegetation to Absorb PFAS
Soil health is the foundation of thriving ecosystems and food systems. But what happens when our soils are tainted by “forever chemicals”-the notorious PFAS that resist breakdown and threaten food safety? Scientists are turning to plants for answers, exploring whether nature’s green powerhouses can help regenerate soil and tackle PFAS contamination.

Photo by Silvan Schuppisser on Unsplash

PFAS are a large group of human-made chemicals found in everything from Topo Chico to firefighting foam. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily, accumulating in water, soil, and living organisms-including us. Exposure to PFAS is linked to health problems like high cholesterol, immune suppression, developmental issues, and even cancer.

Can Plants Absorb PFAS from Soil?

Yes-certain plants can absorb PFAS from soil, through a process known as phytoremediation. But the effectiveness depends on the plant species, the type of PFAS, and environmental conditions

Key Findings:
- Hemp (Cannabis sativa): Hemp has shown promise in absorbing some PFAS, especially the smaller, more water-soluble types.
  - Field trials at the former Loring Air Force Base showed that hemp could take up 10 out of 28 PFAS detected in soil. In the most successful plots, hemp removed up to approximately 2% of total PFAS from the soil, primarily accumulating these chemicals in its stems and leaves.
  - Laboratory and greenhouse experiments confirm that hemp can absorb PFAS like perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) into leaves, stems, and flowers, while larger, less water-soluble PFAS such as PFOS and PFOA tend to remain in the roots.
  - While hemp phytoremediation is not a comprehensive solution, it offers a promising approach to reducing PFAS levels in contaminated soils.
- Switchgrass
  - Switchgrass has been explored as a candidate for phytoremediation of PFAS-contaminated soils, primarily because of its robust root system and ability to grow in marginal soils. Its extensive root network may help stabilize soil and potentially uptake or immobilize contaminants.
  - Research indicates that switchgrass can absorb some PFAS compounds, but uptake levels tend to be lower compared to plants like hemp or leafy greens. The majority of PFAS absorbed by switchgrass often remains in the roots rather than translocating to shoots or leaves. This characteristic could be beneficial by limiting PFAS entry into the above-ground biomass, reducing risks if the plant is harvested or grazed.
- Leafy Greens (lettuce, kale, celery): These plants tend to accumulate higher levels of PFAS, particularly the short-chain varieties.
  - Leafy greens are known to accumulate high levels of PFAS, especially short-chain varieties, in their edible leaves. However, this high uptake is considered a food safety concern rather than a remediation advantage, since these crops are meant for human consumption and could introduce PFAS into the food chain.
The Limits of Vegetation Based PFAS Cleanup

While the idea is promising, phytoremediation isn’t a comprehensive solution for PFAS contamination.
- Partial Removal: Even the best systems remove only a portion of PFAS-sometimes up to 34% for short-chain types after 90 days, but often much less for long-chain PFAS, which cling tightly to soil.
- Slow Process: It can take multiple planting cycles to see meaningful reductions.
- Disposal Dilemma: Plants that absorb PFAS become hazardous waste themselves. There’s currently no safe way to compost or naturally degrade these chemicals after harvest.
- Not All PFAS Are Equal: Short-chain PFAS are more easily absorbed and moved into plant tissues, while long-chain PFAS mostly stay in the roots or soil.
Are PFAS-Absorbing Plants Safe to Eat?

No. Plants used to clean up PFAS-like hemp and leafy greens grown in contaminated soil-are not safe for human or animal consumption. They can concentrate PFAS in their tissues, posing health risks if eaten.

Even homegrown produce in contaminated areas can add to your PFAS exposure, especially if you eat a lot of leafy greens.

Safety Tips:
- Test your soil and water for PFAS before planting edibles.
- Use clean soil in raised beds if contamination is a concern.
- Limit consumption and distribution of produce from known PFAS-affected areas.
- Never consume plants grown specifically for PFAS cleanup.
Innovations on the Horizon

Researchers are experimenting with ways to boost plant uptake of PFAS, one method being explored pairs plants with fungi that can break down PFAS. Hybrid approaches utilizing fungi, microbes, and vegetation may one day make phytoremediation more effective and safer.

The Bottom Line

Plants like hemp and leafy greens can help reduce PFAS in soil, but they cannot eliminate all PFAS. Phytoremediation is best used alongside other cleanup methods, like soil washing or containment.

Safe disposal of contaminated plants remains a critical challenge.
May 1, 2025