Phase 0 -“Seed Phase”
Purpose:
YOU establish philosophies for a better future. These are formed based on knowing how things are in relation to how you feel they should be.
Physical:
At least one of 4 scenarios happen:
- You take no action.
- You find others like yourself but take no meaningful action.
- You find others like yourself who want to take action.
- You find a means to implement action either individually or within a group.
Social:
- You, and others like you, become unsettled by the constant societal pressures of the status quo and the direction society is going.
Intellectual:
- You educate yourself on the current systems in place as well as research possible solutions. You ask yourself, “What can be done to change our current situation?”
Phase I - Building Community/"Soil Phase"
Purpose:
- Contributors establish or join a BUD (Basic Unit of Decision-making) of like-minded people. (A BUD ideally consists of 5 to 15 people maximum.)
- Contributors take part in the development and use of the main virtual hub (Imagi-Nation CO-OPeration found on www.thetransition.org) for sharing information, presentations, solutions to problems, and designs for systems.
- BUDs have meetings regularly; weekly meetings are preferable, but once a month meetings are the minimum. In person meetings are preferred over virtual collaboration.
- A written Trust is established to govern each BUD which gives everyone clear understanding of their responsibilities and purpose.
Physical:
- BUDs use resources from their “Stone Soup” Inventory to develop Ephemeralization Projects.
Social:
- Contributors in each BUD come together to form their BUD’s “Stone Soup” Inventory.
- Ephemeralization Projects are proposed, assessed, and developed by BUDs to fully sustain the Basic Needs of the target population.
Intellectual:
- The Contributors from each BUD compile their knowledge and life experiences into a BUD “Stone Soup” Inventory, and then collectively for the Community “Stone Soup” Inventory for resource management and accounting:
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Intellectual property
- Systems designs, blueprints, digital designs, etc.
- Professional skills/Services (plumbing, electrician, nutritionist, etc)
- Legal Intellectual property (copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc.)
- Hobby knowledge
- Volunteer experience
- World data/events
- Physical property (3d printers, tools, vehicles, cookware, silverware, clothing, etc)
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Social Resources
- Contacts and networks
- Representation at Associations, Clubs, and Conferences
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Assets
- Contributed Income
- Savings
- Investments
- Donations
- Benchmarks are arrived at and used -via The Scientific Method- to empirically define efficiency ratings for resources as well as defining Environmental Limits.
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The Community Carrying Capacity is calculated and used to gauge Cultural Sustainability.
- A survey is done to see what resources are available in the Community “Stone Soup” Inventory
- Needs and wants of the Transitional Community are assessed
- Rates of Production are considered and improved (via Ephemeralization Projects)
- External Monetary Acquisition is any overhead that the Transitional Community needs to maintain the target population’s desired standard of living.
- Maximum Public Health is highest priority. Requirements for Maximum Public Health entail Maximum Cultural Sustainability and Maximum Ecological Sustainability - all variables are considered holistically in a System’s Approach.
- The BUD determines if Basic Skill Sets are available to form the new Transitional Community on a firm foundation:
- Food production and preservation
- Water collection and filtration
- Renewable energy systems
- Housing construction
- Clothing production/acquisition
- Education
- Automation and Closed-Loop systems
- Finance
- Marketing
- Nutrition
- Transportation
- Recycling systems
- Engineering
- Recreation
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Read morePhase II – “Weeding” (Community)
Purpose:
- A BUDthat wants to form a Transitional Community identifies all attributes of what sustains human life in an advanced community setting. Pre-existing information and research can be found on www.thetransition.org on the paid Contributorpages known as “Imagi-Nation CO-OPeration” on the site.
- Businesses, other streams of income, as well as goods libraries and open-access facilities are started.
- Ephemeralization Projects continue to be submitted and improved on to meet the Basic Needs of the population.
Physical:
- Property has been purchased or donated.
- Transitional Communities and/or Hybrid Co-op Businesses are formed and running.
- Cottage Industries (coffee shops, tailors, restaurants, CSA farms, art, stores, etc)
- Goods Libraries (books, media, tools, cameras, music instruments, transportation, etc)
- Bed & Breakfast/Retreats
- Conferences
Social:
- Individuals agree to move or temporarily relocate to help build a new Transitional Community or HybridCo-op Business.
- Each BUD “Stone Soup” Inventory is accounted and managed within the Community “Stone Soup” Inventory solely for the purpose of being decentrally organized. Resources are accounted for and managed from the bottom up.
Intellectual:
- A survey of Basic Needs (food, water, shelter, electricity, clothing, etc) is calculated on a per person basis (on average) and used as a Benchmarkfor how much production is required for Maximum Cultural Sustainability.
- Methods of production increase via Ephemeralization Projects submitted by Contributors.
- BUD participants that volunteer to work on Ephemeralization Projects submit proposals for approval by fellow The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN) Contributors on The Transition website www.thetransition.org.
- BUD participants that disagree with Project Proposals are free to voice their concerns by offering an alternative solution -arrived at via The Scientific Method- that may better address the issue or problem to the individual(s) who submitted the proposal. This way the person(s) who submitted the proposal may edit and re-submit their proposal to meet the needs, wants, and desires of all The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN) Contributors.
Transitional Communities and HybridCo-op Businesses collaborate and work together both physically and virtually via the Internet. They also participate in weekly Youtube “shows” known as Transition Tuesdays where they give updates of their developments to the Contributors of the site as well as the world at large.
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Phase III – “Harvesting” (Community)
Purpose:
- The Transitional Community consists of Contributors and Hybrid Co-op Business(es).
- The Transitional Community is fully sustainable in its Basic Needs except education; processes for education begin in this phase. The Hybrid Co-op Business(es) use money as exchange with entities outside of The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN), but is not required to use money or any type of debt/servitude transactions between other Hybrid Co-op Business(es) or Contributors within The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN), with the exception of dues. However, when a Transitional Community is established, Contributors are able to live physically on the land, and the Hybrid Co-op Business is cash positive, the Transitional Community will pay Contributorship dues on behalf of all Contributors that live there so the Contributors no longer need to pay their individual Contributor dues. The Transitional Community understands the full value of cooperation and the benefits it provides; therefore, Contributors share their skills and/or physical labour for the good of The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN) because, in this manner, each individual benefits – personal interest is equivalent to public interest.
Physical:
- All Basic Needs Production Systems are functioning and producing a sustainable amount of Basic Needs for Contributors and Hybrid Co-op Business(es). Housing is also able to meet the needs of the population and have been built or modified to use renewable energy sources.
- Products and services are sold or traded to entities not a part of The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN). Resources that can’t be produced within the Transitional Community are bought from the monetary-market system using funds from Hybrid Co-op Businesses that are added to the “Stone Soup” Inventory.
Social:
- Each Transitional Community’s BUDs has weekly meetings for progress updates on various projects (like outreach to the local area). They can also bring up non-urgent issues (non-emergency issues) at this time.
- The Contributors have an attitude of Maximum Cultural Sustainability and Maximum Ecological Sustainability through Egalitarianism.
Intellectual:
- The Transitional Community works to establish processes of creating the most efficient systems of Basic Needs for their community. Processes are in place to effectively solve physical problems/issues and complete current/ongoing projects.
Unschooling is the method of education within the Transition Community, but it is not required. A focus on teaching usable life skills via hands on learning versus teaching traditional subjects and methods through rote routine is preferred. (Some parent(s) may choose to send their children to public schooling systems within the monetary-market system).
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Phase IV – “Pollination” (Community)
Purpose:
- The Transitional Community gives any High Equilibrium goods/services it has to help other Transitional Communities within the The Transition Inter-Community Network (TIN).
- To help “pollinate” Phase I Transitional Communities, skilled Contributors volunteer to give hands-on help and ensure efficacy of their methods of production to meet standard Benchmarks. These Contributors are known as TIN men and women (or TIN persons).
Physical:
- Phase IV+ Transitional Communities help “water” Phase I Transitional Communities to get to their Phase IV “Pollination” Phase. If needed, extra funds are allocated to help purchase necessities for the developing Transitional Communities.
Social:
- The Transitional Community is functioning efficient enough to produce High Equilibrium of goods and services to share with other Transitional Communities.
- Interactions with surrounding monetary-market communities has begun. (Process of Phase 0 “Seeding” surrounding communities: “Why can’t we do this?”, “How do we do what you are doing?”, etc) The Transitional Community assists surrounding monetary communities to become Phase I Transitional Communities to then become Phase IV Transitional Communities. At this stage, the majority of Transitional Community Contributors are behaving and communicating with Communalistic principles.
Intellectual:
The Transitional Community creates and contributes pre-existing comprehensive blueprints and instruction guides, found on www.thetransition.org, on how to build sustainable communities.