RURAL Victorians are taking matters into their own hands to tackle climate change and dwindling global resources, writes KATE DOWLER

While politicians and industries continue to debate who should do what to curb waste and reduce carbon footprints, a grassroots movement is beginning to bloom in country Victoria.

The concept focuses on reducing inputs and the demand for energy.

The movement, which began in the UK, is called Transition Towns. Workshops introducing Victorian communities to the new way of planning for sustainability began a few months ago.

Now communities across the state, in areas including Hepburn, Geelong and Warragul, are beginning to plan locally for long-term sustainability in the face of climate change.

Transition Towns has its roots in ideas such as permaculture and concepts including food miles. Its aims are broad, but at its heart, it is about better using resources and wasting less locally.

Scientist and author Prof Julian Cribb has predicted the world will run out of food if wastage and population growth continue.

"Developed countries now waste a third to half of all food produced ... we have to start thinking more about what we produce where ... and local initiatives like Transition Towns are part of that," Prof Cribb said.

Founder of the permaculture movement, Daylesford's David Holmgren is also a supporter of Transition Towns.

He sums up the concept as "aiming to increase awareness of sustainable living, while building local ecological resilience of communities in the face of dwindling resources and potential climate change impacts".

Transition Towns has taken off in rural England and on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

A pivotal area of the concept is encouraging food to be produced and consumed locally.

Municipal Association of Victoria's sector development consultant John Hennessy said more than 30 Transition Towns workshops had been run by the MAV across the state.

"It really is a bottom-up planning process that gives decision-making back to the communities," Mr Hennessy said.

"It's very early days, but the response from communities across the state has been encouraging, people want to plan locally for a better future."

Workshop consultant Andrew Lucas said Transition Towns was different to the approach Federal and State governments had towards climate change.

While the governments were targeting outputs - cutting or offsetting emissions - Transition Towns was more about reducing the demand for energy and inputs.

"As energy prices continue to rise, it's appropriate to look at how we can reduce our energy needs and source things, like food, locally as much as we can," Mr Lucas said.

Baw Baw Shire environment officer Nicolette Davey said there were several groups starting in South Gippsland.

"This region has so much wonderful food produced locally, but most of it is sent out of the region," Ms Davey said.

"One thing we'd like to look at in future is how local people can access locally produced food from local farmers."

Australian Transition Towns pioneer from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Janet Millington, has worked with her local council, which has adopted an Energy Decent Action Plan.

These plans, which are central to Transition Towns, aim to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Several towns within the shire were already adapting the concept for themselves, she said.

Food production and sourcing also was a key area of the concept.

"Farmers are so important to the concept of Transition Towns," Ms Millington said. "Farmers have to know they can trust locals to buy their food, instead of them going for the cheapest, imported, food.

"Instead of farmers being forced to sell to multinational companies to get the best price, we need communities to change the way they think about the food they buy.

"We have to encourage people to actually think about what they are doing - instead of people looking at the local produce that may be say priced at $3/kg, and overlooking it and buying the cheaper, Chinese-produced product for $2.50/kg."

Ms Millington said people had forgotten what impact buying cheap imports had on Australia's society, economy and environment.

"We need to think long term, keep our food here, buy Australian made," she said.