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  • From: "Michael Kramer" <MKramer@hawaii.rr.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] societal permaculture
  • Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 09:15:44 -1000

Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org> wrote

> I must have missed the course that changed zonation categories from land
> use to "societal Permaculture" could you elaborate on this system??
>
> Scott Pittman

Thanks for the question, Scott. Indeed permaculture as a system is evolving.
There are new ideas and new courses being offered today which build upon the
excellent foundation of the books and Basic Permaculture Design Course
created by Bill and the pioneers of the permaculture movement. As with any
maturing successional model, evolution occurs when the conditions improve so
that new elements may enter into the system and thrive; a guild forms over
time and simultaneously supports the original species while expanding the
diversity and therefore health of the system. I'd offer that this is what is
happening these days within the field of permaculture, and it's a very
exciting time.

As you know zonation is a design concept. While it was written and taught
about it as it applies to land-use, it has numerous applications to non-land
systems.There's a lot of interest, particularly among the younger generation,
in various aspects of our lives: intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics,
economics, community development, and politics. To broaden permaculture's
appeal and capacity for application in those areas, it is important that we
as educators and leaders in our field articulate how the various strategies
we teach about are part of a larger design. We can use zonation to do so. We
may live on a piece of land and can create intelligent activity patterns
based on frequency and intensity of participation with the site, but we
simultaneously live in a neighborhood, community, bioregion, state, country,
and planet. How much time we spend at these levels determines what zone they
are in our own personal life design. We simultaneously are part of a global
economy and must consider how we earn, save, and spend every dollar; this
financial pattern can be redesigned using zonation. We simultaneously
determine on a daily basis the amount of time and energy we devote to our
physical, psychological, spiritual, emotional and intellectual health - what
some are calling Zone 0 - so we can apply zonation to the way we set personal
goals and the way we relate to others, even the way we teach permaculture
(which is the essence of the Permaculture Teacher's Courses we lead). When
one applies permaculture principles and design to these arenas of our lives,
permaculture becomes much more than the sum of techniques. The Permaculture
Credit Union, political party platforms, social movements, land trusts,
bioregional and urban planning, small business development, corporate reform,
government regulation and policy, regenerative investing, community-based
agriculture, local utility ownership, industrial recycling, and wildlands
preservation are all important topics and strategies, so how they relate to
one another in an organizational pattern is a form of design; zonation at
this level is a form of social architecture.

Consider the permaculture movement itself. We have people working full-time
(gee, how many?), part-time, and volunteering out of personal interest. We
have farmers, independent consultants, authors, teachers and some businesses
and local guilds. We have people living permaculture at their home level to
varying degrees of intensity. Some are active locally, regionally,
nationally, and internationally. We have people who live it, others who
teach, some who write, others who network, etc. If we applied permaculture to
our own movement, we'd use zonation to create a design that will build a
strong system; we haven't done it yet, but we could.

Currently, the permaculture movement has not yet developed the kind of
sophistication required to articulate a design for our society either; we are
dealing not with these zone 3-5 areas; the Permaculture Credit Union is a
notable exception. Rather, we focus primarily on zones 1-2 at the home and
neighborhood level - local-scale food, water, shelter,and energy systems,
which is primarily the curriculum of the Basic Permaculture Design Course -
and some attention to applications at schools, gardens, parks and community
facilities. So addressing one's lifestyle and choices in terms of zonation
merely weaves all forms of participation in society together in a design, and
it appeals to students because it helps them see the importance of everything
from inner spiritual growth to political activism on a global scale. If
people examine the frequency and intensity of use of their time, money,
self-reflection, personal well-being, and public participation - if we look
at everything we do within the continuum of degenerative to regenerative
activities and resources - then we can truly design their lives and our
society to reflect the ethics and principles of permaculture.

Our movement will become much more popular if we expand permaculture's
application to all spheres of human influence and build our infrastructure
through self-organization and stronger links with other professions,
movements, and forms of human organization. Bill used to speak about
permaculturists "going where we're wanted", but the United States doesn't
seem to really "want" permaculture yet, even though this society desperately
needs it. So we need to go where we're needed, articulate the permacultural
Magna Carta for the 21st century, and create social change at all zones of
human activity.

-----
Michael Kramer
Natural Investment Services
P.O. Box 390595
Keauhou, HI 96739

www.NaturalInvesting.com
888-779-1500

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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  • [permaculture] societal permaculture, Michael Kramer, 04/17/2004

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