Wednesday, September 10, 2025

"Allowing Space for Nature: Rewilding to Heal the Earth." - Journal Publication.

This article is a much abridged version of a full paper [with 184 references] published (13-8-25) in the journal Ecological Civilization.

                        Rewilded region of the River Kennet in Reading, UK.


“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.” — George Gordon Byron (1788 – 1824).


1. Rewilding.

The term, rewilding, often elicits strong emotions, especially as presented in the media. Thus, anger is provoked that farmers will be forced to waste precious cropland, letting it return to the wild, or that dangerous animals will be released into towns and cities. Elsewhere, guerrilla rewilders are secretly breeding butterflies, birds and beavers, and illegally releasing them (e.g. “beaver bombing”) across the countryside.

However, while rewilding, as a subject, is now widely discussed, its linkage with ecological overshoot and planetary boundaries is far less addressed. And yet, as we show in our recent paper, this connection can offer a systems-level perspective for fixing the current global polycrisis. This is both as a critical component of Natural Climate Solutions and by influencing human behavioural change.

Thus, although rewilding is often thought of as keeping humans “away”, in fact, people must be integrated into much of the rewilding process, living alongside and allowing space for “wildness”.

Rewilding sets an advance from nature protection to recovery, restoration and regeneration, aiming to strengthen the adaptive capacity of ecosystems by restoring natural processes and minimising human management. The resilience of such ecosystems should also be considered, especially in regard to how the impacts of a changing climate may prevail upon them. It is not merely land abandonment, although the level of management intensity tends to be related inversely to the size of the area being rewilded.

Rewilding can act to support other natural climate solutions (NCS) [nature based solutions (NBS)] approach, in regard to the restoration and improvement of wetlands, grasslands, forests, agricultural lands, seascapes etc., and while exact definitions may vary, a key feature is that (after some initial support) it minimises the level of human intervention/management in a given region, instead encouraging natural processes to take the lead and self-manage, in the restoration, shaping and enhancement of natural ecosystems and of critical ecosystem functions. Indeed, it may be crucial for meeting 30x30 targets for countries such as the UK, i.e. protecting 30% of its land- and seascape by 2030.

(Re-)wilding is not necessarily bringing back what was there before (e.g. Pleistocene rewilding), but “making wild again”, so that new, thriving and regenerative, ecosystems can arise and flourish. It is a looser, systems-based, approach aiming to give nature the space and freedom to recover, grow and adapt on its own terms, expecting only that natural processes will drive change, leading to better functioning ecosystems and increased resilience. It looks to the future, not the past.



2. Nature Degradation and “Half Earth”.

The renowned American biologist, Edward Osborne Wilson (generally known as E.O.Wilson) regarded mass extinction as the greatest threat to Earth’s future, and once said that “destroying a rainforest for economic gain was like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal”. Wilson coined the term “biophilia” to suggest that humans have an intrinsic affinity (“love”) for other species, and was one of the first ecologists to estimate that we need to rewild roughly half of the Earth, an aim that he called “Half-Earth”. Since only 15 percent of the world is protected as nature preserves, this implies that by the end of the century, 50 percent of all species will go extinct. Alternatively, protecting half of the world will help 85 percent of species survive.

However, in a later interview, Wilson argued that, “the process of setting aside half the Earth doesn’t mean moving people out, but being creative with park designations, restoration, and encouraging private-public partnerships.” Indeed, since relatively little of the Earth’s land surface is free from human activities, people must be integrated into much of the rewilding process, living alongside and allowing space for “wildness”.

Rewilding Britain have presented an excellent flow-graphic which illustrates how rewilding might be used to heal the degraded British uplands landscape, building complexity, biodiversity and resilience, over a period of perhaps 50 years. Here, people are a critical partner and overall beneficiary of the overall plan. However, cities can also be included as an essential part of the Half Earth approach, since while more people are shifting from rural areas to cities, the ecological footprint of the latter is many times their geographic area, drawing in resources from wider regions.



3. Principles for Rewilding.

While it has gained in popularity, misuse of the rewilding concept runs the risk of alienating communities, harming existing biodiversity and undermining confidence in a methodology that offers enormous potential for ecological restoration. In an effort to avoid any such misunderstandings, 10 principles for rewilding have been defined as follows:

The 10 rewilding principles:

1. Rewilding uses wildlife to restore tropic interactions (i.e. food webs and food chains).

2. Rewilding employs landscape-scale planning that considers core areas, connectivity, and co-existence (i.e. that outcomes are to the mutual benefit of people and nature).

3. Rewilding focuses on the recovery of ecological processes, interactions, and conditions based on reference (i.e. similar healthy) ecosystems.

4. Rewilding recognises that ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing.

5. Rewilding should anticipate the effects of climate change and act as a tool to mitigate its impacts.

6. Rewilding requires local engagement and (community) support.

7. Rewilding is informed by science, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and other local (indigenous) knowledge.

8. Rewilding is adaptive and dependent on monitoring and feedback.

9. Rewilding recognises the intrinsic value of all species and ecosystems.

10. Rewilding is a paradigm shift in the coexistence of humans and nature.

As a simpler, and more pragmatic guide, Rewilding Britain have proposed “Five Principles of Rewilding”:

1. Support people and Nature together.

Rewilding is about all of us finding ways to work and live within healthy, flourishing ecosystems. Rewilding can enrich lives and help us to reconnect with wild nature while providing a sustainable future for local and wider communities.

2. Let Nature lead.

From the free movement of rivers to natural grazing, habitat succession and predation, rewilding seeks to reinstate natural processes. This includes reintroducing missing species where appropriate, particularly keystone species. It is not geared to reach any human-defined optimal point or end state. It goes where nature takes it.

3. Create resilient local economies.

Rewilding creates opportunities for resilient new nature-based economies. It’s about finding opportunities for livelihoods that thrive alongside and enrich, nature.

4. Work at Nature’s scale.

Rewilding is restoring ecosystems with enough space to allow nature to drive the changes and shape the living systems on which we all depend. Scale may come from single landholdings or through joining up nature so it can thrive from mountain top to doorstep, from source to sea.

5. Secure benefits for the long-term.

Rewilding leaves a positive legacy for future generations. Securing the continued, long-term benefits of rewilding areas is key to a healthy, prosperous future.



4. Rewilding and Food Security.

In a report by the WWF, it is posited that rewilding advocates have often not engaged appropriately with farmers, and accordingly are perceived as “elite” outsiders who do not really comprehend rural communities or environments. Media coverage has further driven this division, with the result that rewilding and farming are frequently regarded as being in conflict with one another. The WWF have proposed that, rather than it being seen that a simplistic binary choice exists between farming and rewilding, the latter should be thought of as part of a broad spectrum of approaches to help nature recover. This spectrum incorporates different kinds of “nature-friendly” farming, along with more “traditional” conservation techniques, with rewilding-type approaches sitting more towards one end of the range. Thus, aspects of cost-effectiveness, landscape fragmentation and stakeholder opposition are all part of the integrated discussion.

Some commentators fear that leaving land to regenerate for nature will compromise food production in the UK, and relocate our environmental footprint to other countries. Sustainable food production in the UK needs properly functioning nature – healthy soils, clean and plentiful water, and thriving insect populations, all of which are the foundation of successful farming. In 2021, the UK Government’s Food Security Report determined climate change and ecological breakdown to be the major challenges to food security. The report concludes that a more effective overall use of land is needed, including diets based more on plants and less on meat, along with reducing food waste.

Similarly, the Dimbleby Report (“National Food Strategy”) concludes that, “If we were to... increase productivity by 30% and reduce meat eating by 35%, we could produce the same amount of food from 40% less land. Both these scenarios free up enough land not just to achieve our climate goals but also to make space for nature, both in wilder areas and on our farms, without compromising our levels of food self-sufficiency.”

It is noteworthy that converting less productive agricultural land to rewilding can increase crop yields on neighbouring productive areas, an effect that improves further over time, as seen from a 6-year study. This happens because rewilding creates habitats that enhance natural pest control and soil protection, and increases beneficial species like pollinators, ultimately leading to higher yields and field productivity.

While record temperatures have been experienced during the past few years, it is predicted by the UK Met Office that, as compared to the UK’s climate in 1990, by 2070, winters will be between 1 and 4.5°C warmer, and up to 30% wetter. Summers will be between 1 and 6°C warmer, and up to 60% drier, depending on the region, with hot summer days being between 4 and 7°C warmer. This is likely to have significant effects both on health and food production, and some crops may not fare well under hotter and dryer conditions, while excessive rainfall/flooding of fields is a further issue.



5. Rewilding in a Changing World.

Svenning has proposed that rewilding should be central to the massive restoration efforts that are necessary to overcome the global biodiversity crisis and enlarge the capacity of the biosphere to mitigate climate change. Critical factors in achieving this include large areas being set aside for nature, the restoration of functional megafaunas and other natural factors to promote biodiversity, synergy with major societal dynamics, and judicious socio-ecological implementation.

Gardner and Bullock have extended the argument further, and concluded that, in the climate emergency, conservation must become “Survival Ecology”. They aver that, species and ecosystems are beginning to be subject to unprecedented conditions, which will likely undermine their continuing to exist in historical ranges; nonetheless, conservation remains largely directed towards returning species and ecosystems to an historical state, but where the deleterious impacts of humans are ameliorated.

In contrast, survival ecology reorients conservation efforts toward a future where humans and other species can coexist within a dynamic planetary system, acknowledging inevitable change, and actively shaping the world's forward trajectory rather than solely focusing on preserving a static past. They further advance that, since conservation science and advocacy have so far been insufficient to bring about change on the scale necessary, survival ecologists should also embrace non-violent civil disobedience.



6. Rewilding and Human Ecological Overshoot (Aspects of the Broader Canvas).

As we have seen, rewilding can help Nature to regenerate, and act to mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change. However, these are but symptoms of the wider underlying issue of human ecological overshoot, as noted by Ripple et al.

The tendency to focus on carbon emissions, with renewable energy as its antidote, misses much of the broader canvas of threats impinging on nature and society, and has accordingly been termed “Carbon Tunnel Vision”. Undoubtedly, to rapidly ameliorate increasing atmospheric CO2 (plus other greenhouse gases) concentrations is essential and critical, since they are causing ocean acidification, elevating air and ocean temperatures, melting of ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, rising sea-levels, and are interrelated with biodiversity loss.

In addition, we see collapsing fisheries and coral reefs, deforestation and habitat loss, the draining of fossil aquifers, rivers and lakes, soil erosion, desertification, massive species displacement and extermination, insect die-off, resource depletion, pollution of air, land and water – e.g. by microplastics and “forever chemicals” - all being driven by an unsustainable consumption of 100 billion tonnes of “natural resources” each year, thought to reach up to 184 billion tonnes in 2050. Hence, even if we could switch our energy from fossil fuels to “net-zero” emissions, current consumption by the human enterprise would still continue to exceed and degrade the Earth’s biocapacity.

Rees has proposed that on our present course, a “population correction is inevitable”. None of those listed above is a single, isolated problem, but components of a complex web of societal and biophysical processes, defined by a set of planetary boundaries, 6 out of 9 now exceeded. Hence, the overarching collective solution is to reduce current hyperconsumption, globally, for which a set of actions and timescales has been outlined.

The Global Footprint Network concludes that the human enterprise is using 1.78 “Earths” worth of resources (2024 data). In other words, we are liquidating “natural capital” 78% faster than the Earth can renew it - treating it as “income”, the dangers of which E.F.Schumacher warned about in his iconic book, “Small is Beautiful”, published in 1973. Hence, it is necessary to reduce global consumption by around 44%, although the reductions needed would vary considerably around the world, being greatest in the richest nations (up to 80%). Merz et al. have identified that the root of human ecological overshoot lies in a behavioural crisis, driven mainly by advertising, but that those same mechanisms may also provide means for healing the malady.


Although it is not a “cure” for the condition, the potential of rewilding (as part of a NCS approach) to restore and regenerate ecosystems, can play a significant role, directly, in addressing ecological overshoot in the following ways:

Restoring Ecosystem Services: 
Rewilding can bring back key species, repair damaged ecosystems, and restore natural processes that provide essential services like clean air and water, flood and fire prevention, soil health, pollination and carbon sequestration.

Increasing Biodiversity: 
By reintroducing native species and allowing natural processes to shape ecosystems, rewilding can increase biodiversity and resilience, leading to more stable and productive ecosystems. Healthy, diverse ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and human disturbance, and provide long-term ecological stability.

Reducing Reliance on Human Management: 
Rewilding allows Nature to take care of itself, reducing the need for human interventions and resource extraction, which can strain ecosystems. Rewilding helps to reestablish natural predator-prey relationships and nutrient cycling, reducing the need for human intervention (e.g. pesticides, irrigation).

Enhancing Carbon Sequestration: 
Rewilding projects, particularly those involving proforestation/reforestation, peatland, grassland and wetland restoration, which act as significant carbon sinks, can significantly help to mitigate climate change.

Promoting Sustainability: 
Rewilding can foster a more sustainable relationship between humans and Nature by demonstrating the value of healthy ecosystems and the importance of responsible resource management.

Addressing the Behavioural Crisis: 
Rewilding can also play a role in addressing the behavioural crisis that drives overshoot, by fostering a greater appreciation for nature and promoting more sustainable consumption patterns. It has also been proposed that rewilding can enable us humans to expand our consciousness, and better comprehend the limits to growth.



7. Rewilding as Part of a Larger Solution:

To begin fixing the overall global polycrisis, rewilding (and other NCS) must be part of a systems-level approach that includes the following strategies:

- Energy transition: Cut fossil fuel use (and emissions) by moving more to renewables and reducing (minimising) total energy demand.

- Degrowth/post-growth economics: Redefine progress and prosperity.

- Circular economy: Reduce waste and resource extraction.

- Behavioural/cultural change: Shift values from consumption to stewardship.

- Relocalisation: Change from global dependency to local resilience.

- Population: Amend the culture of pronatalism, to bring human numbers back within planetary limits.

- Policy: Land use, subsidies, and regulations must support regeneration over exploitation.


Wednesday, September 03, 2025

Transition Together Showcases "Transition Town Reading", in its September 2025 Newsletter.

                                              Transition Together.



                                                                                    3 September 2025.




This month we’re celebrating Transition Town Reading, a thriving group that’s been taking action and forging incredible partnerships throughout the town since 2009. Over the past 3 years the group has seen multiple spin-out projects flourishing, including a Repair Cafe, a Library of Things, and the Reading Community Energy Society. They have also built some great partnerships with the local council and University of Reading, helping to establish the incredible Reading Hydro, a microhydro electricity generating station that powers the local lido. 


With over 1,000 attendees at TTR events in the past year, the group has recently commissioned a new film to highlight their successes and inspire further action. The film will be screened at their local independent cinema - and we look forward to watching it too!

Reading Hydro was featured as part of the Running Out of Time relay, linking COP26 to COP27.

And Finally . .  

We leave you with some wonderful words of wisdom from Transition Town Reading - 

 

“It is members of the community, people, who are the force of change. By our own hands, hearts and minds, we make things happen. We can begin to shape our future, ourselves, and not just accept what governments may decide for us, or the prevailing paradigm throws our way.

Transition needs local people to get involved, lots of us – we can all help to build the story of our future, then act together to make it real. We do this for ourselves, for our children, and for our children’s children, who will inherit our Earth."

Chris Rhodes, Transition Town Reading 



Wednesday, July 16, 2025

What Advice Would a Generation 200 Years from now Offer Humanity?

This image serves as a reminder that there are other creatures on Earth, as well as humans, so what we do impacts on them too - all of us "Earthlings". It is also a jigsaw, from which interlocking pieces may be assembled or disassembled, providing a metaphor for the ecosphere, with humans looking on, but with the power to influence either a harmonious or discordant arrangement of the whole.

This is my first skirmish with AI:

I asked ChatGPT, " What advice would a generation 200 years from now offer humanity?"

I think its set of "10 commandments" are spot on. Below them, it then asked me what advice I might give if I were in their shoes?

I thought for a moment and offered, "Love and respect nature." Again, the list of "7 guidelines" appears very sensible. 

ChatGPT said:

That’s such an interesting question! If we were to imagine a generation 200 years from now, they’d likely have the perspective of having lived through some profound technological, environmental, and social changes. The advice they might offer humanity could blend both caution and optimism. Here are a few ideas:

1. "Honor the Earth’s Limits"

They might urge us to respect planetary boundaries, emphasizing sustainability over growth at all costs. Having witnessed the consequences of unchecked consumption, they could remind us that the Earth’s resources are finite, and humanity must prioritize balance—perhaps advising us to invest in long-term stewardship of the environment instead of short-term gain.

2. "Embrace Unity and Diversity"

The future generation could stress the importance of solidarity, not just within nations but across humanity as a whole. They may encourage us to celebrate diversity while recognizing that we're all interconnected, sharing a common home. They might also warn against division, knowing how fragmentation could lead to conflicts in the past.

3. "Keep the Human Touch"

They might emphasize that, while technology is essential, it’s crucial not to lose sight of what makes us human—compassion, empathy, and meaningful connections. Perhaps they’d caution against overreliance on AI and automation, urging us to maintain personal bonds, creativity, and spontaneity that technology can't replicate.

4. "Learn from History, but Don’t Dwell on It"

With the benefit of time and hindsight, they might suggest that while it's important to learn from past mistakes, we should avoid becoming shackled by them. They could offer advice on being forward-looking, emphasizing that humanity’s future lies in embracing possibility rather than being anchored in regret or fear.

5. "Focus on Collective Progress"

Recognizing the vast inequalities that have existed throughout history, they might advocate for systems that prioritize the well-being of all—encouraging global cooperation to lift people out of poverty, create equal access to technology, and solve crises together. They’d likely want to see less focus on individual wealth and more on collective prosperity.

6. "Balance Innovation with Wisdom"

They might urge caution in the face of rapid technological development. While new tools like AI, biotech, and space exploration could be life-changing, they’d likely encourage us to approach them with wisdom and ethics, always considering the long-term effects on society, the environment, and the individual.

7. "Adapt, Don’t Resist Change"

Given how fast the world is evolving, they might remind us that adaptability is crucial. Instead of resisting the future, they’d advocate for an open-minded approach to inevitable shifts in culture, work, and even human nature itself.

8. "Value Knowledge, But Question It"

They could advise us to continue pursuing knowledge, but also to develop critical thinking skills. The rapid advancement of information and misinformation alike may have taught them the importance of discernment in understanding what is truly beneficial for humanity’s growth.

9. "Ensure Well-Being for All"

Well-being might become the central measure of progress for them—pushing humanity to create societies where mental and physical health are prioritized just as much as economic growth. Their advice could center on creating systems where people have access to healthcare, education, and a healthy environment—reminding us that without well-being, nothing else truly matters.

10. "Leave Space for Wonder"

Lastly, they might remind us to never lose our sense of wonder or curiosity. That curiosity has propelled humanity through history, and it will continue to guide us to the stars—or even beyond.

It’s a mix of optimism about humanity's potential and a grounded sense of the real challenges that future generations will face. If you were in their shoes, what advice do you think you'd give us?

You said:
"Love and respect nature"

ChatGPT said:

I love that—“love and respect nature” feels like the foundation for so much of the advice future generations might give us. Nature is so much more than just the environment around us; it’s the life source, the backbone of everything that sustains us. If humanity could truly embrace that mindset, we’d probably see massive shifts in how we approach everything—from resource use to technology, from societal structures to personal behavior.

Here’s how they might expand on that idea:

  1. "Nature is not a resource to exploit, but a partner to nurture."
    Future generations might want us to see ourselves as part of the web of life rather than separate from it. If we treated the Earth as a collaborator instead of something to conquer, we might approach everything differently—our cities, our industries, even our daily habits.

  2. "Recognize the deep wisdom in ecosystems."
    They might encourage us to look to nature not only for its beauty but for its lessons—how ecosystems operate in harmony, how species adapt and evolve, and how cycles of regeneration can teach us resilience. There’s a lot of wisdom in the natural world that modern society has often overlooked in favor of short-term solutions.

  3. "Rediscover your connection to the Earth."
    Perhaps in the future, there’s a renewed focus on mindfulness and presence in nature—whether that’s through spending time outdoors, supporting sustainable agriculture, or simply paying attention to the natural rhythms of the seasons. That kind of connection might be seen as crucial for mental and spiritual well-being, just as much as physical health.

  4. "Honor indigenous knowledge and practices."
    They might remind us that many cultures have had a deep respect for nature for millennia, often with practices that are more sustainable and in harmony with the environment than modern methods. A future generation could encourage us to learn from these traditions and incorporate them into our own ways of living.

  5. "Preserve biodiversity, the fabric of life."
    With the loss of biodiversity being a critical issue today, the future might urge us to take stronger action to protect all forms of life—not just charismatic species like tigers or pandas, but even the tiniest microorganisms. They could emphasize that we cannot thrive without the full spectrum of life around us.

  6. "Sustainability is the only true progress."
    In a world constantly pushing for "growth" and "development," future generations might point out that real progress is measured in how well we maintain a livable world for future generations. This might mean redefining success and rethinking economic models that prioritize infinite growth on a finite planet.

  7. "Cultivate gratitude for nature's gifts."
    Nature provides us with everything—food, clean air, water, raw materials, beauty. If future generations could send us a message, it might be to appreciate and value these gifts more fully, understanding how fragile they are and how easily they could be lost.

It’s not just about preserving nature, but about living in a way that feels balanced with it, right? I think the future would tell us that we’re not doing nature a favor by protecting it; we’re doing ourselves a favor. What do you think would shift if we started living that way today—if we truly loved and respected nature in every decision?

As noted, this is my first serious "play" with AI. I think we can make of it what we will, but it's certainly interesting, and these responses seem very sensible. That said, for the most part, I think I'll carry on using my own "head" for thinking and writing articles. :-)

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Local Community Resilience: Braziers Park, Glaister Lecture (2025).

                               Braziers Park - main house, in "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style.

This was an excellent Glaister Lecture at Braziers park, given by Sarah Wood, about the trials and tribulations of running a community, and some of the history there. It is, overall, inspiring, but of course illustrates the complexity of the human being, and how we interact with each other. As many others experienced, the Covid pandemic added its complications and difficulties to life there, and created some divisions, among that culture of fear we all experienced then, while trying to deal with a strange external threat whose outcomes were not entirely clear.


I made a few remarks (about About 2.44.00 in, for a couple of minutes), as I now transcribe, on the importance of local community resilience in adapting away from our present ill-fated course:

“Well, I’m Chris, and yeah, I wonder to what degree actually, your tribulations in Braziers or any other community, becomes a kind of microcosm of how society is going to have to adapt, because there’s the mythology that, oh, it’s sometimes called “carbon tunnel vision”, that so long as we change our energy system away from fossil fuels, we’re using wind and all the rest of it, we’re fine... Ah Ah! ...

No, I think we’re going to have to change a whole lot of things about how we do things, our expectations. Basically we’re going to have to deconsumerise, and so thinking of – um – Donella Meadows, she was one of the co-authors of the Club of Rome paper, wasn’t she, “The Limits of Growth”, back in the early 70s.

And that was saying, right ok, we carry on the way we are, crunch!, it’s not going to get too good by about 2030. All we’ve done since then it follow the standard run, everything is along the lines of that prediction; a new analysis says, yeah it might be 2040, so really the way we are going, we have to get off that, and this is going to take human behavioural change.

And it’s going to take a hell of a lot of cooperation, and I think fundamentally, local community resilience is probably our best anchor, and our best stabilising force.

We’ve got to have that, we’ve got to build that where it doesn’t exist. So, I thought that [talk] was very inspiring, and I’m glad that Braziers is on the up, and going in that direction, and may well serve as a beacon for what other people can do [in their own community].”



Friday, April 04, 2025

Reading (UK) – A Town in Transition, and Local Community Resilience.

 Credit: Karen Blakeman.

Reading, Transition, and Transition Town Reading.

A large town, not yet a city, Reading (UK) is typically seen as a commuter hub, with thousands travelling into London every day to get to work. Reading itself may seem unexceptional, even bland, with not much going on there. But, on looking a little closer, Reading has real community, a group of local people who are coming together to create real change.

While many of our problems are global – e.g. the climate and biodiversity emergency, declining fossil fuels, dwindling resources, pollution, overconsumption, food insecurity, inequality – there is much we can do at the local level to make things better. This is what the Transition Town movement is about: a group of local communities that are reimagining our world at the local level.

These communities foster grassroots projects that focus on increased self-sufficiency, through relocalisation, especially in terms of local food growing and energy use, minimising unnecessary consumption and waste, and building strong, resilient communities, where neighbours know each other and act together to make things happen.

Transition is based more on envisaging a “better world” rather than “fear”. It focuses on positive outcomes, rather than doom and gloom – carrots not sticks.

An essential feature of this approach is to imagine how “the world we want” might look, sound, feel, smell, taste. Then work backwards, from a given future date to the present, to figure out the necessary steps to take, in order to make it happen. This is called “backcasting”.

The first Transition Town was founded in Totnes, in 2006, and became an inspiration for other groups to be created. The Transition Network charity was set up in early 2007, to support these initiatives. The movement has become global, with thousands of communities now involved in Transition initiatives in over 50 different countries. While the overall aims are closely aligned, the specific approaches of each group may vary, according to particular features of its local area.

Transition Town Reading began in May 2009, when Pete Wheat met Colin Pearson in the Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC), having made contact through a “register of interest” action advertised on the Transition Network website. Dave Allen was on board with TTR by September of that year, and hosted the group at Reading University. Essentially, TTR then grew by people in Reading gravitating toward the central idea of Transition. TTR screened the film “In Transition 1.0” in 2010, and by that stage its numbers had grown to about 25-30 active members.

Many projects have spun out from the original TTR group, based around energy, reducing waste, local food growing, and nurturing nature. In only the last 3 years, we have seen the establishment of Reading Hydro (a microhydro electricity generating station) on Caversham Weir, the further development of Reading Repair Cafe, the Reading Library of Things, and the Reading Community Energy Society (which puts solar panels on roofs of buildings, including schools and churches across Reading), and we connect with other Transition groups, e.g. Incredible Edible Reading has formed a collaboration with one based in Englefield Green, Surrey, and they have been awarded a “partnership” grant from the Transition Network to support this.

TTR also works with the local borough council through the Reading Climate Change Partnership/Reading Climate Action Network, and has forged links with the University of Reading in regard to soil health and renewable energy projects. More of Reading's citizens are now engaged with Transition activities, including energy saving, local energy generation, reducing overall resource use, curbing waste, and local food growing. The award of grants, some from the Transition Network and from the National Lottery, has enabled us to expand awareness and practical action in all these areas. We also now feel more connected with the broader Transition Network.

The DraughtBusters project has helped dozens of families across the town to reduce their energy bills and emissions by properly insulating their homes. Incredible Edible Reading and the Reading Food Growing Network (along with its “seed swap”) have encouraged and helped families to grow their own food, in collaboration with Reading Food4Families, and to reduce food costs. Some TTR members are highly active in outreach and explaining issues of climate change, peak oil and energy, to broaden awareness of the fundamental challenges confronting us, and where changes can best be made.

Reading Repair Cafe helps local people to learn about repairing items rather than just throwing them out, while the Reading Library of Things lends tools and other items within the community, thus avoiding the need for lots of people to buy the same devices, but which they may rarely use, individually. TTR’s connection with Reading Borough Council (RBC) enables us to make positive inputs to how things are run here, in regard to reducing emissions and resource use, supporting biodiversity, social equality, and in building community resilience.

 

Other great things happening in Reading....

The spirit of local community connection and involvement extends widely across many of the town’s activities:

Thus, Ethical Reading helps organisations in Reading to do the right thing by each other, the wider community and the environment and to thrive in the process. It is also a key player in planting trees across Reading, so expanding its green space.

The “RISC roof garden” is a permaculture forest garden, growing in just 30 cm of soil, actually on the roof of the RISC building in the centre of Reading. It serves both to insulate the roof, and hosts a huge range of biodiversity, among the 120 or so different species of perennial plants from around the world that grow there, including a few full sized trees! It is also highly educational, showing how space that we don’t normally think of using, can be made “green” and used for growing food and other plants, many with multiple uses, e.g. for medicine, fuel, fibre, construction, dyes, scents.

Nature Nurture focuses on the health and community benefits of spending time in nature, “Green social prescribing”, and also conservation with Eco-net, connecting the community with nature, school programmes, developing new waymarked walking trails with the community.

The Marshians” are a large number of people taking action to expand the biodiversity of the largest undeveloped area in Reading (The Kennett flood meadows – Fobney Marsh). This also helps to protect Reading from being flooded during periods of very heavy rainfall, of which we can expect much more as the climate changes.

The artwork on the Reading Hydro turbine house and by the Holy Brook Nook (where Nature Nurture holds events, and there are also raised beds, with herbs and vegetables for anyone to help themselves to, although they are also encouraged to join in with the growing) was painted by Commando Jugendstil (with help from local volunteers), who also received a grant from the Transition Network to produce a book “The Town that Could Be”, based on an imagined “Transitioned” vision of Reading in 2045, aimed to backcast from so it can be made real.

TTR also collaborates with the local independent cinema (“Reading Biscuit Factory”) to show films with Transition themes, which so far include: “Six Inches of Soil”, “Wilding”, “The Sequel”, “Living the Change”, and some locally produced films. TTR has also actually commissioned a new film, currently being produced (more details to follow), which we intend to screen there, as part of an event to stimulate further action in Reading’s Transition journey.

Refill Reading” is a grassroots campaign started by TTR. It aims to reduce the number of disposable coffee cups going to landfill (2.5 billion per year, just in the U.K.) by encouraging people to use reusable cups instead of disposable ones. This project has the support of the Reading Borough Council.

Lavender Place Community Gardens (a space set free by the demolition of the old RBC “civic centre” offices) was temporarily turned into a community garden by Food4Families (F4F), in partnership with Thames Valley Police, and later joined by members of the Forgotten British Gurkhas community. The F4F volunteers (at Lavender Place and in many of Reading's other community gardens) supplied fruit and vegetables to local organisations for food parcels and free meals during (and after) the pandemic. [In fact, they still do from Craven Road, Ardler Road and Southcote GrowAllot, amongst others]. F4F volunteers also look after the raised vegetable and herb beds at Holy Brook Nook. 

Health and environmental challenges for minoritised communities in Reading, including those from Nepal, are a focus of the Integrated Research and Development Centre (IRDC), while Reading HongKongers CIC was founded in 2022 to support Hong Kong nationals who have settled in the Berkshire, providing them with a diaspora network and helping them to integrate into the local community. Both groups have woven their activities around local food growing and wellbeing.

British Islamic Gardens (BIG) is based in Reading, and run solely by volunteers, to create garden spaces around mosques that grow in harmony with the environment, encouraging community cohesion without compromising on sustainability.

There is very much more happening in Reading, and the above merely provides a flavour of it all. For example, there is  the Reading Voluntary Action (RVA) website, which lists (under "Directory") all kinds of community and other local organisations that are looking for volunteers.


Relocalisation and community are the foundations of the future.

Resources are precious, and we can use them much better. We can become far less dependent on supply chains spanning the world, often to buy things we don’t really need. We can be more self-sufficient, and produce more energy and food locally, while wasting less of what we have. We can nurture nature, so she can nurture us. We can strengthen our communities.

Undoubtedly, we face many interconnected and systemic challenges, but it appears sage to plan away from the proverbial global village, and more toward a globe of villages. Thus, although Transition Towns thinking was initiated primarily from considerations about peak oil, it has been stressed that:

“All essential efforts toward re-localisation and community resilience may provide the strongest available single buffer against the many storms that are likely to prevail upon us.”

Reading is a town in Transition, and has its own character. The things we’ve managed to achieve here can be built on to become a place where we love to live, and the whole community of living beings thrives.

We hope that some of what we have done in Reading lights the way for others to see what they might also do in their own town, their village, their street.

It is members of the community, people, who are the force of change. By our own hands, hearts and minds, we make things happen. We can begin to shape our future, ourselves, and not just accept what governments may decide for us, or the prevailing paradigm throws our way.

Transition needs local people to get involved, lots of us – we can all help to build the story of our future, then act together to make it real. We do this for ourselves, for our children, and for our children’s children, who will inherit our Earth.