Business
Rob Hopkins is an environmental activist who’s written a number of books and also founded the Transition Town movement which he initiated in my hometown of Totnes, Devon in 2005. Here’s a bit of text from their website, Transition Town Totnes is a community-led and run local charity that exists to strengthen the local economy, reduce our environmental impact, and build our resilience for a future with less cheap energy and a changing climate.The global financial crash of 2008 made it clear that thriving communities need flourishing local economies to weather large global events. Economic growth, as measured by governments and mainstream economists, is utterly dependent on energy use. It always has been. Transition challenges the idea that we need economic growth in conventional terms. Transition proposes new ways to regenerate the economy by making things much more local again and really cutting down on fossil fuel dependence. This could be hugely economically advantageous to our communities, with significant potential for more local skills and employment.I was very excited to get Rob on the podcast. He has an overwhelming sense of optimism and enthusiasm for protecting and saving our environments that are being destroyed by the day. We chatted about loads of stuff - starting off with a book he's currently writing on imagination which has led him to conduct an extensive amount of research around that. We also discussed the Extinction Rebellion protest that has been going on in London which he attended - his wife got arrested twice! Here’s a few other things we covered: Climate change Totnes Transition Town Shopping for food locally Environmental optimism Smart phone addiction Positives from flying less Damages from climate increasing by 1°C Useful links:Totnes Transition TownExtinction Rebellion Fair PhoneYou can find more info on Rob by checking out his websiteEmil’s Website and Instagram