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Transition Island - Making Every Action Count
by Amanda Griffin for the Civic Trust Newsletter (August 2007)

The Isle of Man is a wonderful little place; 80,000 people on a land mass 221 square miles tossed into the middle of the Irish Sea. Within this independent jurisdiction, with its unique sense of identity and strong sense of community harnessing local people to aim for a sustainable future has a real chance of succeeding.

A small group of green thinking individuals set up a Permaculture Association in 1998 to promote and teach environmental sustainable living and growing techniques. The Isle of Man Association now provides one of the most popular and affordable Full Permaculture Design courses in the British Isles. This year’s course, to be held in September, is fully booked with over 20 students from across the world coming to be taught be Rod Everitt (of Middlewood in Lancashire) and Mill Millichap a co-founder of the Manx based group.

Throughout the year members of the association work together with schools - one ongoing project has a forest garden in part of a primary school’s grounds, visits to secondary schools link in with eco-days. Regular work parties find members planting trees, weeding, clearing brambles, creating footpaths on members’ land or in their chosen local sustainable project; they are also a great way to socialise!

Perhaps the most exciting development is the start of the Transition Island project designed to lead the Isle of Man in a direction allowing it to function sustainably into the future against the backdrop of an impending global energy crisis and climate change. Manx energy independence is currently a dream but one with particular significance - imports creates peculiarly high energy prices with geographical and political isolation themselves creating both a dilemma and an opportunity for Manx Government.

The communities that start acting now will be much better off in the long term as it will take time to make real transitional change happen. The Isle of Man has big advantage as it could get 100% of energy demand from renewables. The island of Samso (Danish but just off Sweden) now is nearly 100% renewable. Other islands like Iceland, Gotland (Sweden) and Bornholm (Denmark) are on path to net zero carbon.

The Island may be small but it means business. The Manx Government’s slogan for 2007 is “Freedom to Flourish”, The Permaculture Association (IOM) with the Transition Island steering group is working towards an island that will flourish in an environmentally sustainably way that sets an example to the rest of the British Isles.

If you would like to read more go to Transition Network (Peak Oil and Climate Change Response Website)