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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Are we involved in this network ?
  • Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2016 11:01:40 -0400

On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 12:35 AM, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
wrote:

> The Business of Landscapes
> By Duncan Pollard (the Nestle guy)
> http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/the-business-of-landscapes/
>
> Are landscape approaches the next big thing or a passing fad? The World
> Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) , The Sustainable
> Trade Initiative (IDH), International Union for Conservation of Nature
> (IUCN), and EcoAgriculture Partners are all part of landscape initiatives
> sprouting up to promote, learn and encourage companies to get involved. But
> what’s in it for business?
> Actually, many companies are already involved in landscape approaches,
> they may just not know it, or call it that. Water stewardship,
> jurisdictional approaches, and many large-scale projects involving multiple
> stakeholders are all landscape approaches
>
> - well, that's pretty straightforward and in sync with basic permaculture
> principles.
> Why do they not mention permaculture in their writings or have people in
> their organizations empowered to integrate permaculture into their
> proposals, research and outreach?
>

http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/the-business-of-landscapes/

A recent seminar convened by EcoAgriculture Partners, Sustainable
Agriculture Initiative Platform, IUCN and the Sustainable Food Lab set out
to understand where and how companies should or could be more involved in
this movement. The consensus from the companies present[1]
<http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/the-business-of-landscapes/#_ftn1> was
that there is a strong case for corporate engagement at a landscape level
when:

- there is a high level of dependency upon a landscape by the company
(either through sourcing of raw materials, the presence of fixed assets
such as a factory, and/or the need for a “license to operate”)
- there are major sustainability risks that can’t be solved alone i.e.
local participation and multiple stakeholders are needed, especially
governments
- supply chain approaches, with simpler tools such as certification have
not worked or are unlikely to work

The latter point on simplicity is an important qualifier – landscape
approaches are complex so need serious commitment and time. From our
deliberations, two types of sustainability challenges stood out clearly as
appropriate for landscape approaches:

- Water stewardship
- Helping farmers become resilient, principally to extreme weather
events and climate change

There may be others.

The concept of landscapes grew out of the conservation community, and it is
still seen as a way to deliver conservation outcomes at a broad geographic
scale. It would arguably be more relevant for companies if the advocates
promoted the potential to deliver on social outcomes too. Ultimately too,
governments need to be at the center of any initiative for it to succeed.



--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared




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