Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP)

Many experts in peak oil planning expect that, as fossil fuels become ever more expensive, local economies will become more important, since we will need to supply as many of our needs as possible from a smaller geographical area. This shift away from the globalized economy is known as relocalization. Obviously, it is an enormous challenge to create a plan for sustainable development that takes into account the massive challenges posed by climate change and peak oil. Luckily, we have some very good models to learn from: Transition Towns like Kinsale and Totnes in the UK, and the fast-growing Post Carbon Cities network in North America.

What is an Energy Descent Action Plan?

"An Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) is a local plan for dealing with peak oil. It goes well beyond issues of energy supply, to look at across-the-board creative adaptations in the realms of health, education, economy and much more. An EDAP is a way to think ahead, to plan in an integrated, multidisciplinary way, to provide direction to local government, decision makers, groups and individuals with an interest in making the place they live into a vibrant and viable community in a postcarbon era."
(From Eat the Suburbs)

The steps to producing an Energy Descent Action Plan

The EDAP for our region

In order to create a plan for the Upper Sunshine Coast, we need to create working groups whose task will be to study a number of areas of concern for sustainability. We need to know where we stand with respect to each area, where the existing advantages and challenges lie,and how we can start marshalling our available resources, human and otherwise, in order to move in the direction of greater resilience and self-sufficiency.

Among the areas of concern are: