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Radical Learning  for Action

A bit about Permaculture and Social Permaculture
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https://permacultureprinciples.com/

Overview

Permaculture is a system of ecological design that looks to nature as our model. It originated in the ’70s with Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, who were looking to create a “permanent agriculture.” Now it has become a worldwide movement, and expanded to encompass “permanent culture.” Social Permaculture—What Is It? (ic.org)

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The ethics of earth care, people care and fair share form the foundation for permaculture design 

 

‘Permaculture is a creative design process based on whole-systems thinking informed by ethics and design principles. This approach guides us to mimic the patterns and relationships we can find in nature and can be applied to all aspects of human habitation, from agriculture to ecological building, from appropriate technology to education and even economics’ Permaculture Principles

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David Holmgren’s 12 permaculture principles:

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  1. Observe and interact

  2. Catch and store energy

  3. Obtain a yield

  4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

  5. Use and value renewable resources and services

  6. Produce no waste

  7. Design from patterns to details

  8. Integrate rather than segregate

  9. Use small and slow solutions

  10. Use and value diversity

  11. Use edges and value the marginal

  12. Creatively use and respond to change

Bill Mollisons 12 Principals

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Permaculture principles provide a set of universally applicable guidelines that can be used in designing sustainable systems.

These principles are inherent in any permaculture design, in any climate, and at any scale. They have been derived from the thoughtful observation of nature, and from earlier work by ecologists, landscape designers and environmental science.

The principles have recently been reviewed by David Holmgren (one of the co-originators of permaculture) in his book Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. We have decided to use this new set as a way of presenting more in-depth information and examples. We make links and connection to previous principles and show how they combine to create a powerful new way to think about our interaction with the world.

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The principles encompass those stated in Introduction to Permaculture, by Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay:

  • Relative location.

  • Each element performs many functions.

  • Each important function is supported by many elements.

  • Efficient energy planning: zone, sector and slope.

  • Using biological resources.

  • Cycling of energy, nutrients, resources.

  • Small-scale intensive systems; including plant stacking and time stacking.

  • Accelerating succession and evolution.

  • Diversity; including guilds.

  • Edge effects.

  • Attitudinal principles: everything works both ways, and permaculture is information and imagination-intensive.

 

and those in Permaculture, a Designers' Manual, by Bill Mollison:   

  • Work with nature rather than against.

  • The problem is the solution.

  • Make the least change for the greatest possible effect.

  • The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited (or only limited by the imagination and information of the designer).

  • Everything gardens (or modifies its environment).

Principles | Permaculture Association

Permaculture in Ireland

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All Ireland Permaculture – Permaculture

Some workshops on this website weave in permaculture principals. 

Resources

Principles | Permaculture Association

Permaculture Ethics - Earth Care • People Care • Fair Share (permacultureprinciples.com)

Permaculture Principles

Social Permaculture - The Permaculture Research Institute (permaculturenews.org)

Social Permaculture—What Is It? (ic.org)

Alfred Decker | 12P Permaculture Design (12pdesign.net)

All Ireland Permaculture – Permaculture

Home | Permaculture Association

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