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  • From: "Gaden@ziplip.com" <Gaden@ziplip.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] Mainstreaming permaculture
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 10:41:06 -0700 (PDT)


Excellent pioneer work is being done in Australia and New Zealand in
establishing the credibility of permaculture education within mainstream
accreditation practices. In part, their rewards will be good placement within
a growing industry. It must also be gratifying to see something grow from
bare feet and dreadlocks, to formulated learning objectives and parchment
certificates of achievements.

Something gained, something lost? The innocence, the social naivety, the
self-righteous outrage of a protest counter culture. I doubt it. Permaculture
has a depth within to fulfill the needs of people from Turntable Falls to
Toronto. Permaculture has long been a loving provincial work of folksy tales
of sustainability. A blush of Eden, a taste of Utopia, pomegranates and
passion....

We all believe in the efficacy of permaculture to be, at least in part, the
answer to a wide range of personal, regional and world issues. To deliver on
that imbedded promise, it must move out of the forests and into the marbled
hallways of academia and corporate boardrooms. If permaculture is the
powerful agent of change and restoration that we feel it to be, it will
happen anyway, with or without guiding hands.

Economic imperatives of business will plunder any source for marketable
products that may turn a profit. Strip it of its binding cloths of ethics and
cultural values, wrap it up in plastic and styrofoam, and sell it for the
highest price the market will bear. Buy some political prowess, legislate and
regulate to disempower potential market competitors. Remove the small players
and monopolise control into the hands of the few. Market rules, people pay.

If the ethical and social justice foundations of permaculture are to remain
strong and intact, then the motivation and initiative for growth and
development must come from among the faithful. Those brave resolute souls
that step forward against the possible censure of comrades within a perceived
classless collegiate. To not lead is to falter into the indefensible chaos of
the herd. To abrogate the individual responsibility for each to be agents of
change. In joining with the process of development, each can play a part in
influencing the directions and progress of those changes.

Crossovers must be found which both satisfy the needs and demands of
mainstream society while still preserving the social integrity of
permaculture ethics. Good working models of such crossovers already exist.
The fine work of Cameron Little's team at the Ecoliving Centre in Sydney in
retrofitting suburban homes. Living Machines Inc. providing biotech
wastewater treatment solutions for industries and townships. And ofcourse
now, the design of nationally (Australia) accredited permaculture courses
ready for delivery through a wide range of traditional and conventional
modalities.

Other permaculture related interests are already at risk of being lost to
corporate control. The developing art of phytoremediation? Patenting of
genetic materials from plants, animals and humans. Arguable the organic
farming industry may already be lost to an overbearance of regulating
corporations. As the list of endangered species grows each day, so to does
the list of endangered sustainable microtech industries.

Good crossovers preserve the integrity of the source while successfully
positioning affordable marketable products. In Australia, ethnobotanist,
Peter Hardwick is working with aboriginal custodians to develop commercially
viable 'Bush Foods' enterprises. Such enterprises seek to utilise traditional
skills and knowledge. Not by exploitation but by collaboration, empowering
(and enriching) the custodians of such knowledge. The presence of the
traditional owners promotes ecological and spiritual integrity. Business and
marketing skills promotes commercial viability.

We must embrace and encourage the entrepreneurial initiatives of those
willing to take the risks. If we truly believe we can make reparations for
past over-exploitation and environmental abuses. If we are sincere about
fostering the ethics of permaculture to a much wider global audience. If we
are bold enough to assert that within permaculture lie the tools for future
sustainability of our planet. Then we must actively persue all opportunities
for easing the assimilation of permaculture principles and design tools into
our mainstream cultures.

Gaiden




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