Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] sustainability & invisible structures

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: kevin s <k.skvorak@verizon.net>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] sustainability & invisible structures
  • Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 15:27:15 -0400

so,

i have been thinking a lot about how sustainability relates to the invisible structure part of the permaculture canon, and am looking for some advice.

first, i want to describe a bit of how we are thinking about our little project, and then relate that to other alternatives

we are sitting on a secure landbase of 37 acres that has 5 or 6 good growing acres, 3 barns, and the rest is wetland. this is 'secure' because it is being gifted by the current owner to our newly forming CLT.

the house we live in, (an adjacent property, held by the same owner ) and another 150 acres of woodland is not secure, because it is loaded with half a million $ in debt that he can't pay and neither can we. we are developing a plan that hopefully will attract some local individuals and groups concerned about conservation to transfer ownership and hopefully still protect the land somewhat

we are using a CLT model because we believe that community held land is the best way to build a truly sustainable project protected as much as possible from the pressures of the unsustainable (and destructive) speculative real estate 'market'

an example of an 'invisible' structure. a CLT grounded in the local community , in partnership with those who are working the land. seems like a good idea anyway.

so my question is; how important is this type of issue to those involved in permaculture design? is land tenure an important design criteria? how do we measure sustainability in this area?

another goal we have is to share our limited skills and experiences with others. in this regard we are -another - permaculture demonstration site. we are organizing workshops, skillshares and the like. but we are trying to think and act as conscientiously as possible around this, and our first priority here is to create a sustainable economic model with our CSA, and other products from the farm and land. educational service here is important to us, but it cannot be, we believe, the economic driver of the community if we are honestly going to be a real demonstration of anything sustainable.

we are trying to measure all of our inputs here, and how can we be a model of sustainability if the input we are most dependent on is other peoples money? do other permaculture communities try to consider factors like this in measuring their dependency on workshops, certification courses and the like?

we have been offering our workshops on a donation basis, and people are responding well and we feel the exchange we recieve both in labor around the farm, and in donations is pretty fair. a simple relationship of mutual aid. part of the reason some respond well to this is because some people (rightly or wrongly) feel that permaculture education and workshops are too often too much about the money.

now, in fairness i know that there are few permaculture educators getting rich off of the profession, and it is a perfectly noble one. so i am not sure what my point is here, so it is more an open question than anything, and one that i am certain we are all aware of.

i know we all need that which money buys, but money is nothing in itself, it is only an exchange mechanism.

there are other communities that have ways of talking about alternative invisible structures (mutual aid , egalitarianism etc) in ways that i don't always hear from all permaculture identified communities.

what it might all boil down to in a nutshell is fundamentally whether people feel that permaculture is reconcilable with capitalism.

is doing a greywater design in a gated cohousing community doing permaculture? how about a green rooftop on a corporate headquarters involved in what is pretty clearly an act of greenwashing by the corporate PR dept? should we all applaud the design of a forest garden on GW's Whitehouse grounds?

ok, i'm done. thanks for the time if you have read this far. my apologies for the rant.

you know i really only wanted to ask if anyone out there had any advice to give about starting a community land trust, because we could benefit from others experience in this. anyone have any ideas on this?

is anyone itching to be on the board of directors of a newly forming Community Land Trust?

best,
kevin
dutchess co ny
rattlesnakemountainfarm.org




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page