Transitions Town Websites: Technologies of communication and power relations

Societies are developing initiatives and coordinating efforts across multiple scales – international, national, regional, community, and individual – to adapt to the changes precipitated by climate change and related large-scale problems like peak oil, pollution, and food and water security. International and national initiatives focus on setting targets, enacting legislation, and establishing frameworks for action, and are led by national governments and supra-national organizations such as the United Nations. Regional and community initiatives focus on a) informing and/or developing policy and legislation, and b) translating policies into actions that encourage (and/or compel) governments, businesses, communities and individuals to modify their behavior. Because the challenges associated with climate change are heavily entwined in the economic, social and cultural fabric of societies, successful solutions and strategies require holistic thinking and holistic action. The ‘Transition Towns’ initiative is a community-based, grassroots movement that espouses a holistic adaptation strategy to address the changes arising from climate change and peak oil. This initiative considers the key areas of life in a community, including food, energy, transport, health, economics, and livelihoods. The initiative aims to inform, involve and engage motivated individuals and small groups to develop creative, comprehensive, and positive solutions to building more sustainable communities. Conceived in 2005, Transition Towns have spread throughout the United Kingdom and into twelve countries, facilitated by word of mouth, traditional media, community events, and the Internet. The Internet is a primary source of information for most people with access to a computer and the World Wide Web. Websites are an effective and low-cost way for individuals, groups, businesses and governments to provide information to local and global audiences 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Since 2004, the web evolved considerably to support interactivity and user-generated content through blogs, wikis, established and viral media, file sharing, and social networking applications. Web-based design and communication have also evolved rapidly as the Internet has grown in sophistication and importance. The proliferation of free or inexpensive web design and publishing tools means the cost of ‘getting on the web’ is relatively low. However, it is no longer sufficient to have a simple website that passively displays information to an audience. Instead, organizations strive to create a web presence that engages people, and facilitates and motivates them to participate in the organization’s activities, be they commercial, recreational, social, and/or political. While visual design is important, usability, content quality, and interactivity are important factors in successfully establishing and maintaining a web presence