Rob Hopkins is one of the UK’s most influential environmentalists. He is co-founder of Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes, and a founder of the Transition movement, described by the BBC as “the biggest urban brainwave of the century”. He holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth where he is a Visiting Fellow, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of England.

He is author of The Transition Handbook (2008), The Transition Companion (2011), The Power of Just Doing Stuff (2013) and 21 Stories of Transition (2015), as well as producing two films about Transition, and blogging extensively about the movement and the thinking behind it on his internationally-read blog, Transition Culture.

In 2007, he formed the Transition Network to support, encourage, network and train the burgeoning number of Transition initiatives. There are now more than 1,000 Transition Initiatives in nearly 50 countries, with projects ranging from community currencies to urban agriculture.

His work has been recognised in a number of awards: the Schumacher Award (2008); Observer Ethical Award for Grassroots Campaigner(2009); the Guardian’s ‘Green Community Hero’ (2009): the European Economic & Social Committee (EESC) Civic Society Prize (2012). He is an Ashoka Fellow.

He is a Director of Totnes Community Development Society, the body behind the ground-breaking Atmos Totnes development, one of the most exciting community-led developments happening in the UK, and he is also a founder director of social enterprise the New Lion Brewery. He is a keen gardener and prides himself on his fine beetroot.

To learn more, you can follow Rob on his blog or on Twitter @robintransition