Introduction to Paisley Transition Towns

Energy Descent Action Plan 2011

Welcome to Paisley Transition Town’s initial look at preparing Renfrewshire for a future with much less energy than we have today. This is the first part of a plan to reduce energy use in Renfrewshire. In the near future we will have to use a lot less energy than we do today because firstly oil is going to become far too expensive for most of us and secondly we need to produce much less CO2 to slow climate change.

The Transition Town movement is a loose international network of communities (over 300 in the UK alone) seeking local solutions to these huge global challenges. Although were are not yet recognised officially as a Transition Town, our group is closely guided by the principles and methods of the movement.

Paisley Transition Town was set up in 2008 to face the dualchallenges of climate change and of dependency on ever more scarce and expensive oil. We are acting to increase and promote locally-grownfood, and we campaign for town-centre renewal and for infra-structure changes in transport and power generation to reduce climate impact and oil dependency. We aim to inform and consult widely with local people to produce realistic targets, appropriate for Renfrewshire, with broad support. We are preparing for the transition from an oil rich society to an oil poor one. 

This Energy Descent Action Plan is incomplete. The first six chapters describe the challenges ahead and put them in a local perspective. However the last two chapters have yet to be written. These chapters are called ‘Where do we want to be in 2030?’ and ‘How will we get there?’ We intend to run a series of public meetings for you, the Renfrewshire public, to decide where we are going and how we are going to get there. We want as many local people as possible to have their say. We will then pull all your ideas together in a final Renfrewshire Energy Descent Action Plan.

This Plan can then be used by everyone from politicians and planners to businesses and individuals, to shape a better future for this generation and for those to come.

Read the full document here

We are holding meetings throughout Renfrewshire to discuss the EDAP deatails are here.

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