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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] "certified permaculture designers"

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] "certified permaculture designers"
  • Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:10:23 -0700

This thread always captivates me, since my professional investment is not in permaculture, and I am periferal to the 'make a living doing permaculture' scene, but as someone fully engaged in professional 'resource management' take very seriously the need to penetrate the core of society with sound ecological design theory and education.

Many professional certificates have exams... you are put on the spot, instructed to perform, and your output is judged by a panel of experts. Is this kind of meritocracy not acceptable -- or do we hand out 'status' based on good intentions?

Can you assess the permaculture quotient of a design or a site? I'd suggest that many of the characteristics of permculture-based systems can be objectively characterized. This is a personality free assessment -- either its Pc or it ain't regardless of where it came from. This feels stronger to me... after all, what we silly monkeys say is less important than what we do. We talk alot.

Otherwise we have a system of lineage. Apprenticeship systems would be stronger if the indentured apprentice was adding value to the master's business model. Thus the master would be strengthened by accumulating apprentices rather than plagued. However many permaculture business models are not based on labor-limited returns... It seems like there are more permaculture institutes than permaculture farms, and institutes can only support so many 'hangers-on'. However, at this point it really does appear like a lineage system... kind of like Kung Fu or something (imagine a dubbed fight scene.. "my taproot permaculture will crush your shallow bird-roost permaculture"..).
In my particular version of society the period of time that folks are willing to financially spend in a 'internship' is limited, particularly when the financial reward of completing the service is minimal... unless of course you really are planning on 'dropping out'. (I can imagine a kind of idealist/realist split not unlike the German Green Party.)

There could well be a breakthrough whereby the permaculture brand adds value to a business... it sounds like this is happening in Australia to some extent... I suspect that in America other brands will dominate the 'ecological design' market. There isn't that 'homegrown' mystique that Pc can ride on downunder. I'd anticipate in America that Pc as a professional thing will be subsumed by architects, engineers, designers, and educators that have their credentials from a source other than Pc but are strongly influenced/

The other factor is that Permaculture alone is insufficient to provide professional services... if you are designing land development then you need additional skills and experiences related to land development... if you are a permaculture banker you need to understand banking... so permaculture is like a garnish on whatever set of professional credentials you have built already.

Assuming of course that professionalization is the goal.

Paul Cereghino





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