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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Open letter to the Australian permaculture movement

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  • From: Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Open letter to the Australian permaculture movement
  • Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 10:06:53 -0500


Also - if Permaculture is to include design of culture (which it will
implicity anyhow, if not explicitly), it seems a bit of a cop-out to
throw up one's hands and say that the dominant cultural shifts of the
moment (as told to us by a few 'specialists' with their own particular
biases, which include our cultural love affair with numbers and
statistics over and above actual human beings) are nothing we can
'really' affect and we'd better join 'em cause we can't beat 'em.

To me it's necessary to both work with 'what is' - e.g. the current
cultures of urbanizing development and what's getting built - and to
educate about the *consequences* (as seen via the PC lens) of 'what
is', in case it helps some people to think twice or three times about
supporting 'what is' any longer.

Numbers and "what is" are frequently dismissed by any number of "alternative" movements, largely at their peril IMO. PC and similar design concepts need to be applied to the mainstream if it will truly have a broad impact and this will only happen in the USA at least if the economics are sound AND can be documented. I am watching the rebuilding of Ford motor company's river rouge plant in Michigan with particular interest as it will be the largest living roof in the world once completed and have a huge living machine water treatment system. This is the kind of project that will take sound design to the next level precisely because bean counters will scrutinize it and the Wall Street Journal will report on it.

Also, in realms of whole systems design it has been theorized, and
anecdotally shown, that sometimes (rather often, in fact) very 'small'
sytemic changes have very 'big' systemic consequences. So there are
most likely openings for 'little' PC to initiate 'big' shifts in larger
cultures.

This is a good point. When designers are seen as adjusting the fine points rather than overturning the world order they will get a seat at the table rather than tear gassed in the street.

I appreciate and agree with your points about the necessity of PC
practitioners/educators to continually and thoughtfully observe 'what's
going on' in our human cultures and integrate those observations into
praxis/teaching. That's what PC is fundamentally all about, as I
understand it.

cheers,
John S.

Again, its tweaking the system, not trashing it.
Mark



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

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Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
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