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  • From: Pacific Edge Permaculture <pacedge@magna.com.au>
  • To: Permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Permaculture conference Australia
  • Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 17:48:55 +1000


In her recent email announcement of this August¹s Permaculture Designer¹s
Gathering at Djanbung Gardens, Nimbin, Robyn Francis writes: "You are
encouraged to use the time until the gathering to commence dialogue on
important issues via the net".

I would like to kick off that process by raising for discussion issues which
I believe are pertinent to the future of permaculture.

It would be beneficial, I believe, were others in Australia who are planning
to come to the conference to do the same. Then we could gain some idea of
where this thing called permaculture is headed.

A FUTURE FOR PERMACULTURE?
I found it interesting that, in her email, Robyn writes "Meanwhile, the
years roll by, things change, the world around us changesŠ".

Robyn says that the gathering will "Š look at where permaculture stands as a
movement and develop strategies to meet the challenges of the year 2000 and
beyond".

What Robyn seems to have in mind is a three day think tank on the future of
permaculture. I think it is time for such a venture.

The future of permaculture has been a point of discussion among a number of
permaculture people. From that discussion, I have distilled three points
which I propose for discussion:

1. IS PERMACULTUTE STILL RELEVANT?
Is permaculture still a relevant methodology in today¹s circumstances?

The world has changed. Australia is fully a part of the global economic
system, a fact which has brought social, environmental, political and
economic change over the past twenty years. These changes have been
discussed by, among others, social analyst Hugh Mackay (Mackay Research),
who has identified:

- a persistent rate of unemployment
- underemployment (30% of the Australian workforce has been Œcasualised¹ in
part-time, unreliable work)
- an increasing polarisation of wealth and increased poverty
- a persistent social ambience of insecurity
- changed gender relations
- changed working lives
- reduction of government services at the same time as increasing regulation
of life
- fear of the future mixed with a belief that things will improve.

This is the social milieu in which permaculture must operate. And to operate
successfully ­ with relevance to the daily life of people ­ permaculture
activists must address the issues.

I propose that any discussion on the future of permaculture includes:

- how does permaculture propose we learn to cope with the factors which now
influence how we live?

- what constructive ideas to do this can we come up with?

- how can we use the new economic, social and political relationships as the
starting point of strategy development?


2. ARE PERMACULTURE IDEAS MAINSTREAMED?
Much of what permaculture designers and educators have proposed in PDCs and
elsewhere is now Œmainstreamed¹ - that is, it has become institutionalised.

This of course is good, but it means that permaculture has moved from the
Œcutting edge¹ of new ideas.

For example, energy efficient housing is now covered in local government
development control plans in some areas. The Sustainable Energy Development
Authority, a NSW government body, actively promotes energy and resource
efficient building design. Energy authorities operate Œgreen grid¹ systems
to buy back the energy produced by rooftop photovoltaic systems and remote
area power systems are promoted for rural areas.

All of these ideas have been promoted in permaculture since its beginning.
While they have become institutionalised, however, they are still far from
widespread. Is our role as permaculture activists now to educate the public
about them and to lobby local government for their adoption?

While educating local government and the interested public is no doubt a
core activity in permaculture, where do we find the new cutting edge, the
new ideas not yet institutionalised?

3. PERMACULTURE IN DECLINE?
Permaculture, some people point out, is in decline when compared to earlier
years. Others say the opposite is true.

What has become clear is that the practice of permaculture is like a mosaic.
There are areas of success, areas in decline and areas in statis. The
development of ecovillages, for example, is an area of progress, while some
community-based permaculture organisations are in statis.

A number of permaculture teachers in Australia report a shortfall of
students. Does this indicate falling interest in permaculture or is it
simply a function of market economics? Is it a case of temporary oversupply
and underdemand or is it indicative of a longer term downward trend in
permaculture?

MOSAIC OF DEVELOPMENT
In some areas, permaculture is doing well:

- permaculture has promoted home gardening, but, useful that this practice
is, it is becoming less relevant in the cities where more and more people
choose to live in apartments and medium density developments; perhaps the
clue is to do what Bill Mollison suggested and look at community food
strategies rather than home gardening

- permaculture design plays a part in the development of ecovillages;
judging by a turnout to hear Western Australian ecovillage developer,
Warwick Rowell, in Sydney recently, ecovillage development is an area with
appeal to the popular imagination

- permaculture continues to fulfil an inspirational role for overseas
development aid workers; however, according to some commentators, there is a
need for more specific training and preparation of aid workers coming
through the permaculture education system and a need to tone down the well
intentioned but sometimes damaging Œpermaculture missionaries¹ who are
empowered more by zeal than skills and knowledge; there is also a need for
greater cross-fertilisation of ideas between the development aid industry
and permaculture development workers, with a greater appreciation of
permaculture flowing to the aid industry and participatory and project
management skills flowing back into permaculture

- permaculture continues to have a positive role in ethical investment, an
area it pioneered in Australia; yet, many people of Œgreen¹ persuasion, even
may permaculture people, continue to put their funds into banks and
conventional investment opportunities; does this indicate a lack of
confidence in the ethical investment sector or are people just too lazy to
change their investment practices?

- community garden development in Australia is another area where
permaculture is strong; the movement is spearheading Bill Mollison¹s
proposal to return food production to the cities; community gardening also
accomplishes a number of things home gardening cannot, like rebuilding
communities by providing safe places for social activity and serving as
learning venues

- agricultural biodiversity preservation ­ inspired by the Seed Savers
Network in NSW, permaculture people participate in the saving of the seeds
of heirloom and traditional food crop varieties, either for their personal
use of to exchange with others.

WHAT OUTCOME?
A beneficial outcome of Robyn's proposed gathering would be to develop a
picture of the situation regarding the practice of permaculture today ­ a
Œsituation report¹ or the like.

Then, on the basis of this, to identify some ideas which could be used in
the development of strategies to reinvigorate the practice of permaculture
in the changed social, technological, economic and political landscape of
contemporary times.

ADAPTION NECESSARY
For those who are not at home with change, all I can offer is the suggestion
that, like any living organism, permaculture too has to evolve and adapt.

Failure to do so leads down the road to irrelevance, marginalisation and
extinction.

Grasping the challenges of the times, developing workable strategies to deal
with them, even to take advantage of them, can only move us along the road
to renewed relevancy, progress and sustainability.

It¹s all up to us. Nobody else. I can do no better than repeat the advice
from the back page of the Whole Earth Catalog ­ interestingly, the same
advice which appeared on the 1968 edition and on the Millenium edition of
the book - Live smart. Think for Yourself. Transform the future.


---------------------
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 + overseas development aid project services.
MEDIA: publication design + desktop publishing services + website design +
journalism/ photojournalism.






  • Permaculture conference Australia, Pacific Edge Permaculture, 05/29/2000

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