The information here comes from many sources. Most important is the direct experience of Transition groups. These include local initiatives who have worked with researchers and had both positive and negative experiences, researchers who are also active in Transition, and Transition Network staff who have collaborated in projects and fielded innumerable enquiries from researchers over the years. It also draws upon established academic knowledge of approaches, ethics and challenge of participatory research, through the direct input of researchers experienced in collaborating with community partners and by drawing on published literature and toolkits in theis area.

The core of the research guidelines is a pattern language: a collection of reliable solutions to problems that regularly arise in Transition research. Not every pattern is relevant to every research project, but for every project there should be some combination of patterns that provides a reliable guide to action. A number of user interfaces are under development, that can help guide you to the patterns that suit your unique circumstances.

This is a work in progress, still in its early stages. A team of researchers and Transitioners is working on its ongoing development. See How to Contribute for details about joining this team, or use the links at the right to discover more about the language and explore its patterns.