The idea was adapted and expanded through 2005, 2006 and beyond in Hopkins’ hometown of Totnes in Devon, where he is now based. The initiative spread quickly, and as of May 2010, there are over 300 communities recognised as official Transition Towns in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Italy and Chile. The term “Transition Towns” has morphed into “Transition Initiatives” to reflect the range and type of communities involved – e.g. villages (Kinsale), suburbs (Portobello, Edinburgh), through to council districts (Penwith in Cornwall) to cities and city boroughs (Brixton in London).

The main aim of the project generally, and echoed by the towns locally, is to raise awareness of sustainable living and build local ecological resilience in the near future. Communities are encouraged to seek out methods for reducing energy use, as well as reducing their reliance on long supply chains that are totally dependent on fossil fuels for essential items. Food is a key area, and they often talk of “Food feet, not food miles!” Initiatives so far have included creating community gardens to grow food; business waste exchange, which seeks to match the waste of one industry with another industry that uses this waste; and even simply repairing old items rather than throwing them away.

An essential aspect of Transition in many places is that the outer work of transition needs to be matched by inner transition. In order to move down the energy descent pathways effectively, we need to rebuild our relations with ourselves, with each other and with the “natural” worlds. That requires focusing on the heart and soul of transition.