The Transition Timeline lightens the fear of our uncertain future, providing a map of what we are facing and the different pathways available to us. It describes four possible scenarios for the UK and world over the next twenty years, ranging from Denial, in which we reap the consequences of failing to acknowledge and respond to our environmental challenges, to the Transition Vision, in which we shift our cultural assumptions to fit our circumstances and move into a more fulfilling, lower energy world.

The practical, realistic details of this Transition Vision are examined in depth, covering key areas such as food, energy, demographics, transport and healthcare, and they provide a sense of context for communities working towards a thriving future. The book also provides a detailed and accessible update on climate change and peak oil and the interactions between them, including their impacts in the UK, present and future.

Use it. Choose your path, and then make that future real with your actions, individually and with your community. As Transition movement founder Rob Hopkins outlines in the chapter he has contributed, there is a rapidly spreading movement addressing these challenges, and it needs you.

The Author: Shaun Chamberlin is the founder of www.darkoptimism.org and has been involved in the Transition Network since its inception. He is a specialist in climate change and peak oil, and a member of the Transition Town Kingston Steering Group.