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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Permaculture as a movement, permaculture defined.

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Permaculture as a movement, permaculture defined.
  • Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 11:30:16 -0700

The rains just came back last night after the long dry season, fall has come in ernest, and cold weather seeds are sprouting.

Perhaps I am not a romantic, but Permaculture (and I am only talking about in theUSA) is a word. It was **used* *by Bill Mollison and associates **to promote* *a design approach based on systematic and intuitive analysis of whole system function. Secondarily it is a **brand name** for a training program that tries to enable other individuals begin designing using a permaculture analysis. There was whole system functional analysis before Bill Mollison and there has been substantial development since. We can drape whatever we want on the word, and then wrap ourselves in the word, but as Permaculture critique would suggest, what we say doesn't mean as much as what we do, and poor ole humans are piss poor at reporting what they do. A movement is what I did this morning after my bowl of oatmeal.

I would suggest that the idea of permaculture as an umbrella is a trecherous path. It can be construed as arrogant and paternal, and attempts to maintain some status for people who drape themselves in the Permaculture word that encompasses or overshadows other disciplines. I suspect that permaculture would become more powerful if it were more narrowly defined and developed as an analytical system and a certificate program that is adjunct to other technical disciplines, and not 'encompassing'. It could follow the path of LEEDS and be the arbiter of 'permaculturalness' and gain prestige by providing a penetrating ecological and social critique of physical systems. If it remains a vague sub-cultural status symbol, permaculture will stagnate, while some elements with more concrete physical outcomes (PDC as the key branded product, and limited subscribership technical information sharing networks) continue to evolve.

Here's some other ideas that I believe support this direction:

Permaculture as a brand name = minimal mainstream market recognition, increasing use within narrow sub-cultures, poor quality control, realtively low cost for use (compared to other brand lease options such as 'landscape architect' or 'engineer'). The cantankerous independance of practitioners and the attempt to maintain a mystical wholeness by avoiding narrow definition has led to poor brand clarity outside of the PDC service.

Permaculture as a business model = some minimal networking value, some income potential to a limited population of teachers who try to protect their brand control, some opportunity to reduce operating costs through well designed production workflow and reduced input costs. If I go back into selling design or construction service, using 'permaculture design' as a front end adversising tool wouldn't get me far, hence my reluctance to invest in a PDC despite ongoing study of PC principles. The theory adds value, but not the brand.

Permaculture as a sub-cultural identity = satisfies need to feel part of an elite vanguard that is somehow responding to perceived failure of mainstream systems. I have some reservations about the potential for unintentional isolation and elitism that comes with vanguard thinking.

Permaculture as an applied skill set = Permaculture still borrows heavily from other disciplines where technical development has been more aggresively stimulted by participation in the marketplace (agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, agro-forestry, etc.). The struggle for economic independance is a brutal taskmaster. Permaculture's unique contributions include resurrection of old technologies to replace fossil fuel dependancy, as well as some engineering of new technologies based on functional needs. I doubt that skills or specific technical solutions will ever be effectively 'permaculture' branded, as most of them are adopted from pre-permaculture practitioners (Yeomans for example).

Permaculture as a method of design critique = potentially potent, and can borrow technical approaches from other fields: life cycle analysis, informatics, facilitation... It could evolve into a set of techniques for system evaluation and design that can be transmitted through high quality multisensory training programs, or as a 'ranking' system (not unlike the LEEDS system).

I just had a prolonged conversation with a friend of mine who has wandered from small engine mechanics to 'Hellerwork' to 'Body Talk' approaches to healing human bodies. His approach to analysing and manipulating human bodies was startlingly similar to my presentation of my design ideas (very strongly inspired by Permaculture). We were both talking about alignment of systems components to maximize feedback loops and synergy effects. He specifically said his practice focusses on identifying the smallest adjustment he can make to shift the vector of system development. Is he doing permaculture? YES. Can he use the permaculture brand? NO. Does the permaculture brand have any value to him? NO. Is it exciting to share concepts? YES. Has it changed how I design ecosystems? NOT YET.

Paul Cereghino
Olympia, WA, USA







Tonight a chef at a natural foods store asked me what Permacultre was.
I described it as an umbrella concept encompassing such disciplines as agriculture, landscaping, architecture, energy and land use, ecology and social values; a system of thinking that uniquely empowers people with inspiration and creativity so they will be able to live their lives and do their work with much greater reward and satisfaction
knowing that in the process they have trod lightly on the Earth and have
helped others in many ways.

LL






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