permaculture

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

"Lawrence F. London, Jr." wrote:

> On Fri, 7 Jan 2000, Russ Grayson + Fiona Campbell wrote:
>
> > I have never seen the book Patterns in Nature. Could you mean 
> > Photographing the
> > Patterns of Nature?
>
> Thanks for the pointer. I think this book is Pattern In Nature by Ian
> McHarg. I have another by him called "Design With Nature".
>
> On another subject, what is happening with the Permaculture International
> Journal and their International Permaculture Directory? I had planned to
> offer some online resources here at MetaLab that they could to make adding
> to and updating their directory easier and round-the-clock _online_. Would
> they be interested in this?
>
> LL
>
> Lawrence F. London, Jr.  Venaura Farm

Thanks for your reply.

Here's some information in response to your question about the Permaculture 
International
Journal...

First, I should make it clear that although I am a member of Permaculture 
International
(PI), the following comments are mine alone - I am not speaking for PI.

The Permaculture International Journal is alive and well in Lismore. The next 
edition
should be out in a month and a half or so. Permaculure International, 
publishers of the
journal, are based on Southern Cross University premises on the edge of 
Lismore, in an old
farmhouse the land around which is destined to be the university's Cellulose 
Valley project
to produce medicinal herbs in association with the natural therapies course 
at the
university.

As you are probably aware, the journal is produced on a shoestring budget by 
a few
part-time staff who seem to put in just as much time voluntarily. When I 
visited there last
year, I found the staff motivated and committed to the organisation although 
they were
somewhat overworked. The journal is not laid out at the premises - that is 
done by Eve
Stinton, a journalist with a Byron Bay newspaper (Byron is on the coast about 
40 minutes
drive from Lismore).

You may also know that the journal plans (I think this has now been done) to 
sell off its
book service because the financial returns are too low and so they can focus 
on their core
activities - publication of the PIJ and networking.

The is an up-to-date version of the Global Directory currently on the market. 
It sells for
AUD$15. My understanding is that there was uncertainty over the idea of 
publishing the
Global Directory on the web. This arose because sales of the directory 
contribute
much-needed funds to the organisation and going online would deprive them of 
the income. I
believe that there is an awareness of the advantages of going online - that 
it would be a
valuable networking service for permaculture globally - however my guess - if 
there still
is doubt about going online -  is that with funds so scarce the directory is 
likely to
remain an in-print publication.

When I last visited PI, they had shut down their website - I am unaware if 
they have
launched it again yet. The problem was a shortage of staff time to maintain 
the site - I
mentioned earlier that PI is run by a couple part-time staff and a number of 
volunteers. I
am aware that they would like to get it up and running again, but maintaining 
it needs to
be the specific job of someone on staff, and with funds so tight and staff 
time at a
premium, I don't know when that is likely to happen.

Incidentally, if you are interested in online resources, Permaculture Sydney 
- a
community-based organisation - has made a trial launch of their website. At 
present, it is
piggybacking on our site while we wait for a domain name registration from IT 
Melbourne.
The site will be added to progressively and aims to provide information about 
permaculture
in this bioregion, including a calendar of events. Designed on Adobe GoLive, 
the
Permaculture Sydney site, which also houses a page for Permaculture North in 
the northern
suburbs, should be 'officially' launched in the near future.

I'll let PI know about your enquiry.

Regards...

...Russ Grayson

---------------------
PACIFIC EDGE
Permaculture & Media
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

WWW: http://www.magna.com.au/~pacedge/

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

MEDIA: publication design + desktop publishing services  + website design + 
journalism/
photojournalism.