permaculture

["Scott Pittman" <scott@permaculture.org>]

From: Scott Pittman [mailto:scott@permaculture.org] 
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 1:37 PM
To: 'permaculture'
Subject: RE: [permaculture] Democratic solutions to Permaculture conflicts?

Just reading all of the emails generated about this subject leads me to
believe that it is a critical piece of permaculture's growth that needs
addressing.

As far as democracy is concerned - it got us George Bush at least once and
maybe twice.  It is also strange that everyone likes to use "democracy" to
pile onto an idea that they usually don't want to work on or implement but
enjoy talking to death.

I formed a 501c3 in 1985 called the Permaculture Drylands Institute and
attempted to hold a national pc meeting where we could discuss standards and
how to create an organization that was responsive to graduates who needed
help in establishing themselves as teachers and designers.  The meeting was
attended by about 50 people, if my memory serves, and it was a cat and dog
fight from day one. The main problem seemed to be that some members were
perfectly content with an anarchical organization that incorporated
everything, including the kitchen sink, into permaculture design and others
were more traditional and didn't see a place for primal screaming in a
design class.  That says nothing about primal screaming but more about the
difference in apples and oranges.

In 1997 Bill Mollison and I formed another 501c3 named the Permaculture
Institute, it shared the name with the Australian institute and was meant to
serve the same purpose i.e. issue certificates, diplomas, and coordinate any
national programs that might develop out of the effort to create
professional standards in the field of permaculture.  Our intention was that
as we grew and developed as an organization we would attract the best
examples of pc designers and teachers and that they in turn would contribute
to the evolution of the institute.

So far this has been a solo effort of me, my wife and some friends.  It has
been funded by me and housed in my home.  I have run up the flag several
times to get input from others and mostly have received criticism for having
the audacity to try and form something without permission from everyone who
ever heard of permaculture.  Personally if I waited for permission for
everything that I do I would have ossified long ago.  To my mind if people
have a better idea they should either manifest it or share it and see if it
creates a positive response.  On the other hand if people disagree with what
the Permaculture Institute is trying to do then they should with hold
support and it will wither away.

In the meantime I will continue to plod along with a few friends to create
an organization that encourages and supports excellence in all things
permaculture.  I do this because I have witnessed a slow deterioration of pc
teaching and design and an increase in hyperbole over the twenty plus years
that I have been involved.  

My desire for higher standards in permaculture is not motivated by some
starry eyed idealism but by pragmatic self-interest.  I have spent all these
years developing a reputation as a teacher and designer and every time
someone teaches a half assed class or accepts payment for a crappy design it
lessens my credibility as well as everyone else who is using the word
permaculture to describe what they do.

It is tempting sometimes to just drop the name permaculture and use another
descriptive word like sustainable design to describe what I do, but if all
of the good designers and teachers did that then the enormous amount of
extraordinary work that has been accomplished around the world would be
diminished and inherited by the mediocrity that would inevitable follow.

For those who think they have a better idea or way then they should act on
that conviction and create another structure that they think is more
appropriate.  It is so easy to look over the fence and criticize your
neighbor's garden but that criticism doesn't have much weight until he can
see that you at least have a garden too.

For now the permaculture institute will issue design certificates to
institute approved teachers, and diplomas to those applicants that fulfill
the requirements established for issuing diplomas.  We will maintain a list
of institute approved teachers and designers that will be available to
students and clients looking for guidance in choosing a teacher or designer.
This is a beginning effort and anyone who wants to participate must be
willing to contribute both time and energy in creating a better
organization.  We understand that there will always be criticism and we will
respond to such criticism as is appropriate but the ultimate valid criticism
will be the creation of an organization that does it better than we do and
that proves itself in the court of permaculture opinion and participation.

I have never expected anyone to ask my permission to do anything and I don't
intend to start asking others for permission unless I chose to do so.  I do
hope that others will see a need for what we propose and will join us. 

Scott Pittman
Director
Permaculture Institute
www.permaculture.org
-----Original Message-----
From: kevin s [mailto:k.skvorak@verizon.net] 
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 1:45 PM
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [permaculture] Democratic solutions to Permacultures conflicts?

Hi folks,

I am wondering about the ongoing issues of certification standards, 
professionalization, protocols, etc., and have a simple question that 
i hope that those folks out there that have strong opinions will 
respond seriously to.

Scott, do you have any comments about this?:

Are there not possible democratic solutions that resolve these open 
questions, and do so in a way that does not further divide us all, or 
place people in turf battles, or cause any of the other internal 
problems that seem to plague the 'movement'?

For instance, why cannot a US national (apologies for those fortunate 
enough to reside outside of the evil empire) membership organization 
deal with these issues?

It is simple enough to set up a 5013c as a membership organization, 
and then this organization can collect dues from every PDC grad that 
wants to be involved, and then these members will direct the 
organization thru an elected board- just like virtually every other 
membership organization in the country.

  If there is a needs for some written standards or another, the board 
of directors can empower a working group of members to draft some 
proposals to get voted on at the annual meeting. There are plenty of 
examples of this like all the local organic certification standards 
that were hammered out by local farmers membership organizations back 
in the day (before they were naive enough to hand it over to the 
feds.)

Anyway, this all seems simple enough it is a wonder that it hasn't 
happened already....?

Is it because there is a lack of trust in democratic process and 
organization in Permaculture circles? Are the individualistic trends 
just too entrenched? (this is a serious question)

Personally, I tend to trust and follow a democratic process much more 
than i follow any doctrine handed down from above, and i suspect many 
other folks are like me.

  While i would be likely to follow and support any guidelines agreed 
upon in an open democratic way, in an organization that i have input 
into, i am am pretty unlikely to care much about any "protocols" 
handed down from the self-appointed presidents of the various private 
permaculture institutes, notwithstanding their wisdom, experience, 
etc. (no offense meant here to anyone in particular, this is a 
statement about my own feelings about process, about community, and 
about the deeper needs of a healthy sustainable society- so again, it 
is not! an attack on any particular personalities)

As the NE region, that i am a part of, continues to grow and mature 
as a community, i am hoping this is something that we will consider 
seriously at some point, as we have some of the same needs regionally 
that might be well met by a regional membership organization like 
this.

peas,
Kevin Skvorak
Regeneration CSA
High Falls NY