permaculture

[Russ Grayson + Fiona Campbell <pacedge@magna.com.au>]

Good to hear from you again Skye.

Skye wrote:

> Hola a todos
>
> Obviously the section of the standard sylabus on clasical landscapes,
> specifically the part on coral island atolls is not only irrelevant to
> these mountain people, but more so, is so totally outside their realm of
> experience that the very concept of an ocean island is incomprehensible.
>
> So, can I work with these people in the name of Permaculture or not?? I
> am certainly not about to waste their time with coral atoll
> strategies!!!!
>
> If not, then the previous comments about Pc being elitist are starting
> to sound very real. Can we only teach Pc to those with sufficient
> education, access to information (and maybe internet) and a wide
> experience of concepts???

> I have heard and read many Pc people claim Pc takes many of its
> concepts/inspiration from nature - has anyone ever noticed that nature
> changes and evolves???? Are we prepared to also grow and evolve -
> Natural Succession is a basic premise of PC for me - lets try doing in
> our organisation as well as our gardens!!
>
> Skye

I understand your concern regarding the classical landscape stuff Skye. Here, 
in
Sydney, in the city, we have an analogous situation.

First of all, there's a need in permaculture courses for an understanding of 
urban
environments and landscapes and their modifications by the process of 
urbanisation,
such as the heat island effect etc, as well as for an understanding of the 
landscape
the city is situated in, it's climate and landforms.

Second, stuff about zones three and four, while still important to teach, are 
of less
value in the city because all that people have in their homes is zones one 
and,
sometimes, zone two. In Sydney, there are a few remnant market gardens which 
represent
zone three systems.

Sydney is at present undergoing a building boom in apartment construction, 
many more
people are opting to live in medium density units, so this means that many 
will have
no zone one, or that their zone one will be a balcony garden, if their 
balconies face
sunward (north).

What we say in our courses is that zone one may be some kilometres from zone 
zero, the
home, if it is an apartment or if, as is often the case, the person is 
renting and is
not permitted to build a garden in their rented premises. In these 
circumstances, zone
one becomes the nearest community garden. Now, I'm aware that some folk will 
say that
there is an energy cost in travelling to a community garden to obtain fresh 
food, but
that's rather small compared to the energy, road congestion and pollution 
cost of
railing or trucking the food in from the country.

I wonder how this modification to the permaculture zonal orthodoxy is 
impacted by our
supposedly having to teach permaculture as per the syllabus provided by the
Permaculture Institute Australia and, as explained in his recent mailing, 
which is the
intellectual property of Bill Mollison?

There is a valid argument, I believe, for developing an adapted permaculture 
design
course for urban areas. The fact in Australia, as elsewhere, is that more and 
more
people are living in cities and, if the cities canot be made sustainable, 
then it is
questionable that the rest of the country can be made sustainable.
An urban permaculture course content would retain all the ethics and 
principles as, I
believe, they are universally applicable. However, there would be less focus 
on rural
material and its replacement by material pertinent to the sustainable 
development of
cities and on how to adopt sustainable lifestyles in urban areas.

A number of PDC students have told me that the existing course is too rural 
in outlook
and content and, as they have no intention of moving to the country, more 
content on
urban living would make the course more relevant.

Skye, this gets to the final statement in your email, above, about 'growing 
and
evolving'. Yes, I agree - permaculture has to take a clue from nature and 
grow and
evolve in an analogous way. What we need, maybe, are bioregionally adapted
permaculture coursee (we already have some, I believe) - some for different 
parts of
the country, some adapted to life in the cities.

What I'm talking about is not wholesale change of the design curse 
curriculum, but
adaption to local circumstances and needs.

...Russ Grayson

PACIFIC EDGE PERMACULTURE
Russ Grayson and Fiona Campbell
PO Box 446, Kogarah NSW 2217 AUSTRALIA

Phone/ fax   02-9588 6931   (IDD-61+2+9588 6931)
Email: pacedge@magna.com.au

PERMACULTURE/ COMMUNITY BASED ESD: permaculture education + Australian City 
Farms and
Community Gardens Network (NSW contact) + organic gardening training + 
EarthWorks
training (community waste minimisation training) + overseas development 
assistance
project management services.

MEDIA: journalism/ photojournalism (global development; environment and 
society;
social change; sustainable community development) + publication design + 
desktop
publishing services.


>
>
> --
> Skye - Apdo # 391,  Patzcuaro, Michoacan, CP. 61600 México.
> fax  (52) 01 (434) 24743
> Profesor y diseñador en Permacultura
> Director del Instituto de Permacultura de México A.C.
> Talleres de desarrollo humano, planeación participativa y
> economía comunitaria.
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: pacedge@magna.com.au
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
> leave-permaculture-75912D@franklin.oit.unc.edu