Rob Hopkins is co-founder of the Transition movement, one of the most widely replicated experiments in community-led change of the past two decades. His starting point was practical. While teaching permaculture in Kinsale, Ireland, he worked with his students on an “Energy Descent Action Plan” that asked a simple question: how does a town prepare for a future with less oil and a changing climate? After moving to Totnes in Devon, he co-founded Transition Town Totnes in 2006 and Transition Network in 2007. The model spread quickly, and Transition groups now work in towns, cities and neighbourhoods across many countries, building local food systems, community energy, and new forms of local economy.

Over time his focus moved from resilience to the conditions that make change possible at all. His book From What Is to What If (2019) argues that the climate crisis is also a crisis of imagination: a culture that can no longer picture a better future loses the capacity to build one. How to Fall in Love with the Future (2025) continues this inquiry by describing, in concrete terms, what a transformed 2030 could look and feel like. His earlier books include The Transition Handbook, The Transition Companion and The Power of Just Doing Stuff. He hosted 100 episodes of the podcast From What If to What Next and now runs imagination trainings for organisations, alongside “Field Recordings from the Future,” a music project with the artist Mr Kit.

Rob holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth and two honorary doctorates. He is an Ashoka Fellow, was named one of the Independent‘s top 100 environmentalists, and was made an Honorary Citizen of Liège in 2022. He lives in Totnes, where much of his thinking was first tested in practice.

https://www.robhopkins.net/