"There is a great need for a culture of guerilla relocalisation—a movement that would have as its goal to partially prepare communities so that they may coalesce more readily into autonomous regions when the need becomes apparent."

 

—David M. Delaney, "What to do in a Failing Civilization"

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Relocalization: the process by which communities localize their economies and essential systems, such as food and energy production, water, money, culture, governance, media, and ownership.

Relocalization Network (from PostCarbon.org)

Post Carbon Institute is convening an ongoing global conversation on relocalization strategies and action among and within communities. The intent is to begin a networked movement that cultivates the seeds of a parallel public infrastructure with the ultimate goal of bioregions comprised of locally interdependent ecocities, eco-towns, sustainable food production, and wild areas. The seeds already exist in our communities – in the memories of the elders, the wisdom and practices of indigenous people, non-governmental groups working on localization, entrepreneurs that want to improve the community, dedicated local government officials and individuals who understand the importance of preparing for an energy-constrained future.

We envision a movement that connects stakeholders within communities and between communities into a networked whole that is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

When we say stakeholders, we mean:

• Community and neighborhood groups
• Local businesses
• Local government
• NGOs
• Educationals and other institutions

By integrating diverse local stakeholder groups, a self sustaining “ecosystem” of entities working on relocalization and with various economic flows within and between nearby communities, becomes a viable proposition. By connecting communities globally, the prospect for significantly reducing the time from project concept to implementation through information sharing and collaboration also becomes viable.

The relocalization conversation is already occurring and the relocalization network that we envision is forming.

Why Relocalize? Why start an Outpost?

Community groups are usually formed to address a need that has been identified or in response to a threat or opportunity that will have an impact on the lives of local people. For example, a group may form to respond to the need to provide or upgrade a play area, take on the responsibility for managing a community building or to oppose a decision to build a bypass.

In the case of Outposts, communities need to prepare themselves for the transition in to the Post Carbon Age. Communities will ultimately need to become locally sustainable. Forming an Outpost has many other benefits such as:

• Brings together a range of skills, ideas and resources
• Provides a focus for debate and the opportunity to consult with the wider community
• Develops self-help
• Enables direct action to be taken
• Provides the opportunity for local authorities and other organisations to involve and engage the views of local people
• Can attract money from inside and out the community.

Our most important outreach initiative, the Outpost Program, is working with groups of concerned citizens to prepare their community for an energy constrained future. These groups are Outposts in the sense that they are community-based extensions of the Post Carbon Institute, operating autonomously while receiving guidance and electronic infrastructure from the Institute. Outposts work cooperatively in their local community with local government, business, NGOs, and educational institutions to put theory about living with less hydrocarbons into practice while sharing knowledge and experiences with the global network of people working on relocalization. Projects taken on by Outposts are experiments for a hydrocarbon constrained future; we are almost as eager to find out what doesn't work as what does.

Join or start an new outpost today

Our research suggests that the key response to energy peak is relocalization - that is rebuilding the culture, economics, and governance of our communities such that our essentials (e.g., food, water, energy) are produced locally for local consumption. Many groups are working on projects that are part of the relocalization puzzle. Outposts are simply a starting point for intentionally beginning a relocalization process which hopefully will sprout into a parallel public infrastructure that serves as both a safety net for when the global economic system begins to unravel and also a launch pad for expanding these efforts into the general community. Prior to the onset of the inevitable energy crises, we hope every community has people with knowledge, tools, experience, relationships, plans, and working models that can scaled up to provide the community's needs.

Outposts are in fact experiments themselves; they can be an existing group that wants to take on peak energy response as a new program area or a completely new group. The key is action - we recommend that groups get started quickly with small projects, try things out and share what works. Outposts develop knowledge, infrastructure, and working relationships that will be valuable in the post-carbon world. Projects focus on making immediate improvements to your community such as urban farming, car share, and local money.

Outposts also organize events such as conferences and End of Suburbia screenings to raise the awareness of oil peak and decline and build a local movement in their community.

Considering energy peak along with rest of civilization's problems - ecological and otherwise, we collectively are confronted with an truly awesome challenge. The stakes are the survival of this project we call civilization. You are one of a small fraction of people worldwide aware of our collective predicament. Bearing this knowledge on one's own is heavy burden. If we are to have any chance of changing the course of civilization, we must work together to build a global and locally grounded movement. The outpost program offers a way for you to collaborate with people in your community and in a worldwide network to raise awareness and work for a better, more local future. Should you decide to take this on, our intent is to support you in making an immediate positive difference in your community and having an enjoyable and rewarding experience. It won't be easy, but the potential upside - a future worth living for ourselves, our children and life on the planet - merits our every effort and deepest commitment.