"Post Carbon Institute is clearly the first medic on the scene -
the first organized response to Peak Oil"

Richard Heinberg, author of Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World

Our most important initiative, the Relocalization Network, is working with groups of concerned citizens to prepare their community for an energy constrained future. These groups are Local Post Carbon Groups in the sense that they are community-based extensions of the Post Carbon Institute, operating autonomously while receiving guidance and electronic infrastructure from the Institute. Click here to visit the interactive map of Local Groups in the Relocalization Network. Local Post Carbon Groups work cooperatively in their local community with local government, business, NGOs, and educational institutions to put theory about living with less hydrocarbons into practice while sharing knowledge and experiences with the global network of people working on relocalization. Projects taken on by Local Post Carbon Groups are experiments for a hydrocarbon constrained future; we are almost as eager to find out was doesn't work as what does.

Join or start an new Local Post Carbon Group today

Our research suggests that the key response to energy peak is relocalization - that is rebuilding the culture, economics, and governance of our communities such that our essentials (e.g., food, water, energy) are produced locally for local consumption. Many groups are working on projects that are part of the relocalization puzzle. Local Post Carbon Groups are simply a starting point for intentionally beginning a relocalization process which hopefully will sprout into a parallel public infrastructure that serves as both a safety net for when the global economic system begins to unravel and also a launch pad for expanding these efforts into the general community. Prior to the onset of the inevitable energy crises, we hope every community has people with knowledge, tools, experience, relationships, plans, and working models that can scaled up to provide the community's needs.

Local Post Carbon Groups are in fact experiments themselves; they can be an existing group that wants to take on peak energy response as a new program area or a completely new group. The key is action - we recommend that groups get started quickly with small projects, try things out and share what works. Local Post Carbon Groups develop knowledge, infrastructure, and working relationships that will be valuable in the post-carbon world. Projects focus on making immediate improvements to your community such as urban farming, car share, and local money. Local Post Carbon Groups also organize events such as conferences and End of Suburbia screenings to raise the awareness of oil peak and decline and build a local movement in their community.

Considering energy peak along with rest of civilization's problems - ecological and otherwise, we collectively are confronted with an truly awesome challenge. The stakes are the survival of this project we call civilization. You are one of a small fraction of people worldwide aware of our collective predicament. Bearing this knowledge on one's own is heavy burden. If we are to have any chance of changing the course of civilization, we must work together to build a global and locally grounded movement. The Relocalization Network offers a way for you to collaborate with people in your community and in a worldwide network to raise awareness and work for a better, more local future. Should you decide to take this on, our intent is to support you in making an immediate positive difference in your community and having an enjoyable and rewarding experience. It won't be easy, but the potential upside - a future worth living for ourselves, our children and life on the planet - merits our every effort and deepest commitment.