Buntingford ACTION on Climate Change and Sustainability was born in 2014 as Buntingford in Transition – an initiative to try to get local residents to imagine what they would like their town to look like in 2050. It was a time when the town had just been scheduled to double in size by some fairly high-handed planning decisions: people felt a need to channel their energy into positive actions into transitioning the town into a safe, sustainable community for their children to grow up in.

It was called Buntingford in Transition because it was part of the Global Transition Network founded in 2006. Transition projects are popular because they enable people to get to know their neighbours and feel like they are making a difference in the world. They make the world’s huge challenges – climate change, transitioning to a renewably fuelled, sustainable economy, social and economic inequality etc. – feel more do-able at a local scale. And they catalyse all manner of new projects, enterprises and investment opportunities, creating a new story for a community like Buntingford.