Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] What is permaculture?

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: John Schinnerer <eco_living@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] What is permaculture?
  • Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 23:57:48 -0700 (PDT)

Aloha,

Your general FAQ organization seems clear enough, and sensible. I see
a bit of a contradiction in these two bits of your proposal:

> So permaculture should be a word, that describes a technic or
> attitude towards planing and practice.
...
> as "Part II - Practical Permaculture" I would like to add some basic
> technics as an example of permaculture (things like the chicken
> tractor).

If PC is a "..technic or attitude towards planing and practice" (which,
if I read you right, I basically agree with), then isolated techniques
(elements) such as chicken tractors, swales, etc. are *not* "examples
of permaculture."

They are simply pieces which *might* be elements of a PC design, *if*
they are in fact interrelated with other elements in the ways indicated
by the 'attitude' PC brings to arranging pieces.

IMO an example of "permaculture" needs to focus on the multiple,
multi-directional relatings between elements in a design (whatever
those elements might be). It could be a relatively simple example (few
elements), as long as it emphasized relatings over 'things'.

I think this is a very important distinction to make - that PC is
relations and patterns and not any of the oft (over?) used examples of
bits and pieces (elements).

Anecdotally at least, it seems that this is what people new to PC most
often *don't* understand (it sure took me a while to really 'get' it) -
that it's about relatings, not elements in and of themselves. I may
have chicken tractors and swales and banana circles up the wazoo
(ouch!) and have nothing like a permaculture design... ;-)


=====
John Schinnerer, MA
-------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Food - Water - Shelter - Community - Technology
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
http://health.yahoo.com




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page