About

What is “Hemel In Transition”?
In summary, it is a movement of concerned local people that aims to build resilient communities in Hemel Hempstead and the surrounding area that can withstand the challenges presented by peak oil and climate change through an approach to energy, food and transport consumption that is sensible and sustainable.

What is a Transition Town?

• The Transition Towns initiative aims to transform the way people live to help safeguard local communities for future generations
• A Transition Town is a community in the process of ‘visioning’ and creating a local future to address the twin challenges of climate change and diminishing oil and gas supplies
• the movement first began in England in Totnes, Devon. There are now more than 100 Transition Towns across the world (including neighbouring Berkhamsted and Tring)

Who should get involved?

• The whole community – residents, businesses, public bodies, community organisations and schools

So what’s this all about and why should it concern me?

• Global responses to climate change and peak oil will eventually affect everybody. A planned local response will put us all in a much stronger position to decide what is best for us.
• Modern communities like ours are highly dependent on external services for provision of fuel, food, transport etc. Supply disruptions could be very serious indeed.
• We have a great incentive and opportunity to rethink the way we live. We can make positive choices about the kind of community and world in which we live and raise our children.

What can we do?

• Take practical actions to lower our carbon emissions and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
• Move towards a healthier & more fulfilling lifestyle where:

1. our children play on safe streets
2. we know our neighbours
3. we eat local food
4. we work locally
5. we become more self sufficient
6. we protect ourselves against escalating energy prices

Will this be easy?

• Not especially; we tend to take things for granted and it is often difficult to persuade ourselves of the need for change.
• However as we do make changes to make our community more resilient and sustainable, our quality of life will also improve.

How can I help?
Why not attend one of our meetings to find out more? Perhaps you could help at events or find a project you would like to support?

• Perhaps you have a skill such as food gardening, cycle maintenance or poultry keeping which you could share with others.
• Or maybe you have other specialist or professional expertise which could prove invaluable as we move forward.
• You could put your name forward for a future skills session or sharing scheme.

We are aiming to gather momentum by holding a series of public meetings with talks, lectures and films on sustainability issues, leading up to a launch event in Autumn. If you would like someone from HiT to visit your group, please get in touch. You can email us at:

If you want to find out more, just get in touch and give us your details

Hemel in Transition is non-political, non-religious and not-for-profit.