The Transition Barrie Initiative is both inspired by and modeled after the international Transition Town movement that has been growing rapidly from its early beginnings in Kinsale, Ireland and Totnes, England in 2005-2006. Transition Barrie is also following the example of other progressive communities in Canada that are adopting the Transition model, and gaining support and participation from local government. For instance, Transition Town Peterborough was officially recognized by the Transition Network as Canada’s first official Transition Town, with official recognition by Peterborough City Council in May of 2009. Similar efforts exist in a growing list of Canadian Communities (Guelph, Dundas, Oakville, Ottawa, ON; Victoria, Richmond, Nelson, BC). We believe that the City of Barrie should be included in this growing, progressive movement.

The Transition paradigm is not one of prescriptive solutions. Instead, it offers a model for how a community can be engaged to find local solutions by drawing on local knowledge and talent using a positive, solutions-focused approach. Consideration is given to building a better sense of community in the process of bringing people together to address these problems we face together. In this the Transition Town model views these challenges as an opportunity.

Increasing resilience is a core theme of Transition. Resilience describes the ability of a system to absorb shocks without catastrophic consequences. Economic resilience is enhanced by localization of the production of essential goods thereby reducing the potential impact of transportation problems due to oil shocks. It is enhanced by teaching people how to grow more of their own food and by educating people how to make choices that increase energy efficiency. It is enhanced by teaching people how to become more self-reliant and to reduce the cost of living by re-discovering old skills (“re-skilling”). An economically and socially more resilient Barrie will be better able to handle the challenges that lie ahead.