pcplantdb

["John Schinnerer" <john@eco-living.net>]

Aloha,

> 2. What is an estimate of the actual number of pemaculture practitioners
> there are? (I know this is somewhat impossible to answer, but significant
> when applying for funding.)

I agree with LL that from PC perspective, there are a lot of people practicing
it (perhaps for K's of years) who don't call it that.  If PC considers them
practitioners, then they count towards the total IMO.

> 3.  How will Permaculturists benefit from this project, or encourage new
> members?

Agree with coverage already posted...don't have anything unique for this one.

We're not a membership-based organization

> 4.  Besides Permaculturalists, who will benefit from this project and
> how?

This could be a book.  I'll ponder it for a while.  Some good suggestions
already posted.  Basically everyone, everywhere, though not directly or
immediately.  That's not helpful for grant BS, though, I know... :-)

> 5.  Given that most people do not have the interest, or the space to
> grow their own food, what can be done to make large scale organic farming
> more sustainable, and how will your program contribute to that effort?

Truthfully, PC exposes the inefficiencies, pathologies and 'true cost'
problems with large-scale agriculture, organic or otherwise, as well as the
fallacy that "organic" as officially defined is at all 'sustainable'.

So we show them that scaling down, localizing, and shifting to
perennial-polyculture-based systems, etc. is more sustainable, and more
profitable in the long run (and in some cases maybe the short run too).

The "given" they propose won't be a given much longer.

There's plenty of space, it's just not legally accessible in most cases.

There will be plenty of interest when the fit hits the shan for water, fuel
and fertility issues, and that may be sooner than I'd wish.

> *This is a tough one, because presumably this will benefit only people
> who have internet access,

This is usually one of my rants... :-)
However, if we make it accessible to lowest possible tech (text browser over
dialup), as well creating other ways to disseminate the info - hard copy
formatting for printed output, audio (via CD, tape, radio), video (lots more
TV's in "non-industrial" world than computers; community access cable; etc.),
tech resource sharing (there are more than enough computers in the world
already to serve every village that has a phone line - it's a distribution
issue, not a quantity issue)...

And likely people with *no* access to *any* of the above tech are probably
"lost tribes" still living PC as a way of life somewhere in a pocket untouched
by industrial world and they don't *need* this info for their region, they
already live it.

> We could say that it will help the world’s hungry/poor by equipping others
> with the ability to help them help themselves?  What do you think?

Yep, teach to fish vs. just give a fish.

The site can be a package with a front end/home that links to and/or provides
some definitions, examples and applications of PC.  Lots of that out there
already.

Also we can solicit cross-linking from a whole realm of established sites,
including government site that have anything to do with food, farming, plants,
critters, etc.

> 5.  Also a tough one- becuase perhaps Permaculture has no intention of
> being applied on a large-scale (yes in terms of widespread practice, but
> not necessarily in terms of large-scale agriculture)?

Entirely possible in terms of large-scale earthworks, large-scale
reforestation, etc. - done by local desire and means instead of
industrial/colonial impositions.

As a design system, PC scales from zero to towns, farms, cities, suburbs,
counties, entire watersheds and bioregions.  This might be a useful lever for
grant-getting at different levels...?


John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
------------------------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net