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World in Transition

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Transition Starter Sheet

Phases 0–2: From idea to first project

worldintransition.net/act/roadmap/

0 Establish the container

Prevent the problems that destroy young movements before they start.

Checklist

  • Gather 4–12 initiators from different backgrounds, households, professions
  • Write a one-page charter: the local problem you are addressing, your operating commitments, what you will not do
  • Assign temporary roles (facilitator, record keeper, safety contact) with short terms and named backups
  • Create a conflict-of-interest register
  • Adopt a decision rule (consent for daily decisions, higher threshold for constitutional ones)
  • Set up an independent complaint route
  • Check legal requirements: insurance, safeguarding, food safety, licensing, disability access
  • Write a shutdown clause so shared assets cannot become private property
Ready for Phase 1 when: A newcomer can understand how decisions are made, how to leave, how to complain, who sees their data, and what happens to shared assets.

1 Listen, map, choose

Start from what the community actually needs, not what you assume.

Checklist

  • Survey community needs and assets — go to people, including those who never attend meetings
  • Map existing assets: skills, spaces, tools, organizations, surplus capacity
  • Publish a short needs-and-assets snapshot (anonymous, correctable)
  • Evaluate candidates: who benefits, risks, required competence, labor, likelihood of success
  • Choose one project that can show a visible result within six months
Ready for Phase 2 when: The chosen project addresses a real need identified by the community, not one assumed by the initiators.

2 First pilot project

Prove the group can deliver real benefit, learn, and operate transparently.

Checklist

  • Write a one-page operating sheet: how to access the service, who operates it, what is expected, how to report harm
  • Start small. Record demand and failure, not just success
  • Review at 30, 60, and 90 days: continue, change, pause, transfer, or stop
  • Stabilize before expanding: train backups, resolve legal issues, prove it survives the founder's absence

Example first projects

Tool library Food cooperative Repair cafe Care circle Skills exchange Community garden
Ready to grow when: The project has survived one leadership change, one significant problem, and one honest public review — and people outside the founding group are participating.

Ten operating commitments

Every Transition project should be able to affirm these:

  1. Voluntary participation and meaningful exit.
  2. Universal human worth. Access is not conditioned on productivity or identity.
  3. Nonviolence.
  4. Distributed, recallable authority. No permanent ruling class.
  5. Subsidiarity. Decisions by those most affected.
  6. Evidence and revision. Failures reported. Rules can change.
  7. Privacy. Minimum data. No surveillance.
  8. Accessibility and anti-discrimination.
  9. Ecological responsibility.
  10. Compatibility without capture. Use existing systems without being controlled by them.

Warning signs

  • The founder's interpretation overrides written rules
  • Urgency bypasses consent or safety
  • Criticism is treated as betrayal
  • Informal labor falls repeatedly on the least powerful
  • Services are offered without competence or safeguards
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