About Transition Town MK

About Us

The Transition movement is made up of vibrant, grassroots community initiatives that seek to build their community resilience in the face of such challenges as climate change and the economic crisis.

Community-led Transition groups like ours operate all over the UK (and the world) working for a low-carbon, socially just future that is built on resilient communities, more active participation in society, and a caring culture that is focused on supporting each other. 

With an approach based on the Transition Principles, we use participatory methods to imagine the changes we need and want to see by creating local projects that support social and environmental change. 

Almost a decade ago, a few committed people got together to form Transition Town Milton Keynes (TTMK). Since then the group has grown to be a fundamental and important part of the green environmental community of Milton Keynes.

The TTMK voluntary group comprises of local people who aim to connect and support individuals and community groups to build strong and resilient communities in Milton Keynes.

As a central hub and a facilitator of various environmental and socially responsible projects around the city, our work ranges from raising awareness of climate change and environmental issues through film nights and talks, helping to set up (permaculture) community gardens, and to organising litter picks, coordinating tree planting days, hosting community events (like the Green Fayre), and working together with other groups in assisting MK Council to declare a climate emergency and follow up on it.

Our Constitution

Read our constitution by clicking here.

Get Involved

Transition Town Milton Keynes is always looking for new people to join us!  You can get involved in a number of ways:

  • Join our planning sessions – Transition Town Milton Keynes is led by a steering group who meet monthly to plan activities and talk about all things Transition. We meet on the first Wednesday of every month from 6pm – 6.45pm either on Zoom or in-person at the office space generously hosted by Aiimi Ltd (near Central Milton Keynes railway station). Contact us to sign up or find out more.
  • Attend our monthly Social Evening – If you’ve ever wondered what you can do to make a difference in response to the climate crisis, or where you can possibly start in your own life, this is the social event for you! Come along to meet new friends, hear from experts on sustainability themed talks, and generally explore how we can make a difference together. Our social takes place at Aiimi Ltd every first Wednesday of the month from 7pm – 8.15pm, with doors open from 6.45pm for drinks, snacks and lots of chat.

  • Support our events and projects – Some of our dedicated volunteers run practical events and projects which aim to support our community. Contact us or explore our website to learn more about how you can get involved.

Contact us 

Contact us at email: contact@transitiontownmk.org or speak to our chairman, Michael Sheppard, on 07981 192770.

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More about the origins of the Transition movement 

Back in 2004 a permaculture study group organised by expert Rob Hopkins and based in Kinsale (a small coastal town in Ireland) looked at the current state of the environment including natural resource depletion and ecosystem destruction. They concluded that drastic changes to our everyday lifestyle were inevitable – major changes were going to be forced upon us all by external circumstances due primarily to the impacts of environmental destruction and human induced climate change.

The Transition movement was borne out of an attempt to face up to this situation. It’s one answer to the question. How should we respond to the three major interconnected challenges of resource depletion, climate disruption and economic instability?  

At first sight there is an obvious simple answer – start making all the many changes that need to happen here and now before it’s too late. 

The study group sought to understand why this wasn’t happening and the conclusion was reached that they use the permaculture approach in order to try and understand what would be needed to make their town less energy hungry and ultimately self-sufficient in energy. 

At the heart of Transition is the idea of community-led change. Key to this, is to think of the process not just of destination – we know we need to decarbonise the economy but that’s just the destination. Suppose we introduce a process of local actions that are small steps on the road to decarbonisation, increased self-reliance and increased resilience.

Suppose these steps towards this involved people getting together, getting to know each other and enjoying the power of just doing things that make a difference to the problem. Thus, bringing about a strong sense of community spirit and weaving webs of connection and support.

Shortly after this (2006) Rob Hopkins moved to Totnes, Devon and the idea took root there and started spreading to towns and cities in the UK and then all over the world. There are now about 4000 active Transition Town groups all over the world and about 800 of these are in the UK.

To find out more visit the Transition Network website.