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).