While [Christopher Alexander] applies the approach to built environments, we are applying it here to the Transition process. The idea is that Transition would appear to move out through a series of stages:
Each stage represents a different phase in an initiative’s evolution. Based on observing a number of initiatives, it appears that these are roughly the stages they move through. Think of each ingredient, or ‘pattern’, as being like a piece of the Transition puzzle, how you assemble them is up to you, but in this model, wherever you land, wherever you start, you can get a sense of the context of what you are doing, and what are the other things you also need to bear in mind. This book offers an initial set of 63 patterns for your delectation. Exactly how these patterns work will be explored later, but for now, here are some thoughts as to how you can help with the development of this approach."
See Transition as a Pattern Language 
at Transition U.S. with the (work in progress – June 2010) (starting page 28)
See also Rob Hopkins, The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times, 2011 at The Transition Network