PERMACULTURE
What is permaculture?
Permaculture
= permanent culture
■ A means to achieving sustainability on our
planet
■ A design system for creating sustainable
human settlements
■ Dana Meadows – Thinking in Systems, A
Primer
“A system is a series of inter-connected elements organized
in a coherent way in order to achieve something”
■ Bill Mollison – Permaculture, A Designer’s
Manual (and others)
Permaculture
“Design is the connection between things. It is not the
water, the chicken or the tree. It is how the water, the
chicken, and the tree are connected. It is the opposite of
what they teach us in school. Education looks at each thing
separately and highlights them, ignoring the connections
between them. Permaculture makes the connections ….
Because when you have the connections, you can feed the
chicken with the tree.”
Permaculture
The Permaculture objective
To create systems that are ecologically sustainable,
economically viable, satisfy needs, don’t exploit or
contaminate, and are self sufficient in the long term
and interdependent.
Permanent
Culture
There has been lots of talk about sustainability
Create systems that
are ecologically
sustainable,
economically viable,
that satisfy needs,
don’t exploit or
contaminate, and
are self sufficient in
the long term and
interdependent.
1962 Silent Spring
1968 Tragedy of the Commons
1972 Blueprint for Survival (The Ecologist)
1972 Limits to Growth report (The Club of Rome)
1974 the ‘birth’ of Permaculture
1983 Brundtland Commission
1987 Brundtland Report
1992 Local Agenda 21 (UN)
And we could keep going…
And recently about becoming regenerative
So, why are things still the way they are ?
The current system works
Conditioning
Why are we
now creating
camps of
sustainable vs
regenerative?
Cultural myths about ‘the
way things are’
Linear thinking
Fixed mental models
Not enough or wrong questions
Resources
Linear
Thinking
Mass
Consumption
Pollution
Resources
Appropriate
Technology
Systemic
Thinking
Conscious
Use
Other
Resources
Pollution
Permaculture
■ Directives
■ Rules
■ Ethics
Create systems that
are ecologically
sustainable,
economically viable,
that satisfy needs,
don’t exploit or
contaminate, and are
self sufficient in the
long term and
interdependent.
■ Principles
– Design
– Ecology
– Attitude
Prime Directive
To create systems
that are ecologically
sustainable,
economically viable,
that satisfy needs,
that don’t exploit or
contaminate, and
that are self
sufficient in the
long term and
interdependent.
The only ethical decision is to
take responsibility for our own
existence and that of our children.
The only ethical
decision is to take
responsibility for
our own existence
and that of our
children.
two directives
■Self-responsibility
■Cooperation
two fundamental rules
■Necessitous use
■Conservative use
The only ethical
decision is to take
responsibility for
our own existence
and that of our
children.
Directives:
Self Responsibility
Cooperation
How might our lives
be different if we
applied the
directives & rules?
Our world?
Rules:
Necessitous Use
Conservative Use
The only ethical decision is to take
responsibility for our own existence and
that of our children.
Ethics
Directives
Rules
Principles
* Design
* Ecology
* Attitude
Ethics
Good Design
To create systems
that are ecologically
sustainable,
economically viable,
that satisfy needs,
that don’t exploit or
contaminate, and
that are self
sufficient in the
long term and
interdependent.
People
Care
Future
Care
Limits to
consumption
and growth
Earth
Care
Fair
Share
Why do we have Ethics ?
■ Checks
■ Reminders
■ Vision
■ Criteria
■ Summary
People
Care
Earth
Care
Future
Care
If we do this well
But….
Does the Earth
NEED our care?
■ A means to
achieving
sustainability on
our planet
■ A design system for
creating
sustainable human
settlements
As a living system,
the Earth does not
need us in order to
survive.
So, this is really
about our PLACE in
this system.
1
Earth
Care
2
People
Care
2 & 3 naturally follow
3
Future
Care
Permaculture
Why do we need
Permaculture?
Permaculture Principles
principles
The only ethical
decision is to take
responsibility for
our own existence
and that of our
children.
■Ecological
■Design
■Attitudinal
Permaculture
Principles
Yield only limited
by imagination
Leave space
Only go where invited
Attitude Principles
Attitude Principles
■Work with, not against
– Lots of wind? Use it!
– Instead of fighting against
something we don’t like, work
towards, with, on, or for
something better.
Attitude Principles
■Yield is only limited by the
imagination
– Change the “I can’t” or the
“this is just how I am” to “I can
learn”, “I’m going to change”,
“I’m just going to do it’!”
Attitude Principles
■Everything affects everything
– Beneficial, symbiotic, parasitic
plants
– Our thoughts, actions and
words
Attitude Principles
■Observe, observe, observe
– If you don’t really know what’s
going in a given situation, how
can you possibly know whether
to intervene?
Attitude Principles
■Minimum effort for maximum
result (Min-Max)
–If you observe well, you can
find where a small
intervention can make a big
difference
Attitude Principles
■Only go where invited
–Observe – sometimes the
invitation is subtle, not
always spoken aloud. But be
careful with your
preconceived notions.
Attitude Principles
■Problem = solution
–Lots of rocks in the food
forest = construction
material instead of just a
problem to deal with
Attitude Principles
■Leave space
–We don’t know everything.
Let yourself be surprised.
Don’t try to cover off on
everything, harvest the
unexpected!
Attitude Principles
■Start small
–Learn by doing. We can’t
solve everything at once. Do
what you can and trust that
it’s enough.
Which attitude principle
most stands out to you
and why?
?
Design Principles
Design Principles
■Stacking
–In space and in time, like
when you plan the best
route and order for running
errands.
Design Principles
■Zones
–Analyze patterns of location
and intensity of use.
zones
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zones
Design Principles
■Relative location
–In time and space
–Between elements of your
design
Design Principles
■Sectors
–Analyze energy flows over
time and space
Design Principles
■Appropriate technology
–Don’t use a machete when a
knife would do just fine.
Design Principles
■Every element many functions
–How many functions does
this element of my design
fulfill?
Design Principles
■Every function many elements
–Every important function
should have various ways of
getting done.
Name some design
principles you’ve seen in
action.
?
Ecological Principles
Ethics on Natural Systems
■Oppose further disturbance of any
remaining natural forests where most
species are still in balance
■Rehabilitate degraded and damaged
natural systems to stable states
Ethics on Natural Systems
■Establish plant systems for our own
use on the least amount of land we
can us for our existence
■Establish plant and animal refuges for
rare or threatened species
Ecological Principles
■Use of natural resources
– Reduce waste, hence pollution
– Thoroughy replace lost minerals
– Do a careful energy accounting
– Make a biosocial impact assessment for
long term effects on society, and act to
buffer or eliminate any negative impacts
Ecological Principles
■Diversity & Connections
– Great diversity may create chaos or
confusion whereas multiple function brings
order and develops resources.
– Principle of Stability
■ It is not the number of diverse things in a
design that leads to stability, it is the
number of beneficial connections between
these components.
Ecological Principles
■Natural Succession
– Through design, natural succession can be
accelerated by placing most of the
elements in a single planting
Ecological Principles
■Natural patterns
– Understanding the basic patterns of
natural phenonema allows the designer,
once components have been collected, to
make a sensible pattern assembly of the
whole. This can help achieve a sustainable
yield.
Ecological Principles
■Edges
– Creating complex boundary conditions
creates spatial and temporal niches
■Niches
– In space or territory (nest & forage sites)
– In time – cycles of opportunity
– In space-time (schedules)
Ecological Principles
■Cycles
– Cycles increase opportunity for yield
– Cycles are diversion routes away from
entropy
– Life itself cycles nutrients, giving
opportunities for yield, and thus
opportunities for species to occupy time
niches.
Final thoughts on
what we covered
today?
?
THANK YOU!
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