permaculture

[lbsaltzman@aol.com]

I think all of these definitions are excellent.  But the word culture, as in 
"permanent culture" opens broad vistas that Permaculture needs to address 
more deeply.  Modern anthropology has studied human cultures for well over a 
century now - perhaps as long as a 150 years.  In the course of that study 
anthopologists have defined a number of culture universals that are present 
in every human culture.  I believe these are deep patterns that are as worthy 
of study as the shape of leaves, or the flow of streams and rivers across the 
landscape.  Amongst these universals, are elaborate systems for defining 
family, clan and village relationships.  Cultural universals also include the 
presence of myth, ritual and religion as an integral part of every human 
culture. 

If we are to build successful human communities designed for sustainable 
living, I believe that we will have to find a way to address these critical 
invisible structures.  The attempt to create functional communities, is as 
much an exercise in recombinent ecology as the design of the landscape they 
are placed on. There is a great deal of cultural history and wisdom that is 
getting lost that will help us reconstruct the culture part of the equation. 
I think the process will be of recombinent human cultures will be a lot 
harder than the food and habitat structures to get right.

Larry Saltzman
  


-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence F. London, Jr. <lflj@intrex.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 4:27 pm
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Permaculture




Permaculture Defined:
1. From Michael Pilarksi (Friends of the Trees) in
   INTERNATIONAL GREEN FRONT REPORT (1988):
      Permaculture is: the design of land use systems that are
     sustainable and environmentally sound; the design of
     culturally appropriate systems which lead to social stability;
     a design system characterized by an integrated application of
     ecological principles in land use; an international movement
     for land use planning and design; an ethical system stressing
     positivism and cooperation.
      In the broadest sense, permaculture refers to land use systems
     which promote stability in society, utilize resources in a
     sustainable way and preserve wildlife habitat and the genetic
     diversity of wild and domestic plants and animals.  It is a
     synthesis of ecology and geography, of observation and design.
     Permaculture involves ethics of earth care because the
     sustainable use of land cannot be separated from life-styles
     and philosophical issues.
2. From Lee Barnes (Katuah Journal and Permaculture Connections),
   Waynesville, North Carolina:
      Permaculture ("Perm"anent "agri"culture and "Perma"nent "culture")
     is a sustainable design system stressing the harmonious
     interrelationship of humans, plants, animals and the Earth. To
     paraphrase the founder of Permaculture, designer Bill Mollison:
      "Permaculture principles focus on thoughtful designs for small-scale
     intensive systems which are labor efficient and which use biological
     resources instead of fossil fuels. Designs stress ecological
     connections and closed energy and material loops. The core of
     permaculture is design and the working relationships and connections
     between all things. Each component in a system performs multiple
     functions, and each function is supported by many elements. Key to
     efficient design is observation and replication of natural ecosystems,
     where designers maximize diversity with polycultures, stress
     efficient energy planning for houses and settlement, using and
     accelerating natural plant succession, and increasing the highly
     productive "edge-zones" within the system."
      Permaculture designs have been successfully and widely implemented
     in third-world countries, but there is current need to expand these
     principles in temperate climates, and especially urban areas to
     create more enjoyable and sustainable human habitats.

An Introduction to
ermaculture
t Sweetwater Farm CSA
 Sebastopol, CA
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
o, What Is Permaculture?
Permaculture (permanent culture) is the conscious design and maintenance
f cultivated ecosystems that mimic the diversity, stability and
esilience of natural  ecosystems. It  harmoniously integrates
andscape, people and technologies to provide food, shelter, energy, and
ther needs in a way that will sustain present and future generations.
t also supports community structures such as economic systems,  finance
nd trade  systems, as well as land access and cultural concerns. It can
rovide you with the techniques and tools for transforming
ven badly damaged land into beautiful, ecological, high-yield,
ow-maintenance oases.

>From warwick@bettong.eepo.dialix.oz.auTue Mar 14 11:21:00 1995
ate: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 10:51:14 WST
rom: Warwick Rowell <warwick@bettong.eepo.dialix.oz.au>
eply to: homestead@world.std.com
o: Homestead list <HOMESTEAD@world.std.com>
ubject: A definition of Permaculture
After the last spate of stuff about food systems there seems
o be some confusion about what Permaculture is. In an attempt
o clarify this, I have enclose below a one page definition
ith some characteristics that I have built over eight years
f dealing with people's requests for information about
ermaculture.
We are all moving in the same direction and have different and
verlapping mental frameworks for doing it. Arguing that "my theory
ontains yours" is not very fruitful. But one of the fundamental issues
e face is the order in which we come across ideas, and what we do with
ew stuff.
Most times we fit subsequent material into the first framework
e receive. Very occasionally we find a new framework that fits
ur experience of the world so well we go through the huge mental
ffort of changing.
Permaculture seems to me to be a comprehensive framework that is
ystem based, that is positive, personal, and pragmatic. For me,
t is a framework that contains organic gardening, sustainable agriculture,
omesteading, solar design, alternative power, frugal living,
lternative economics, independence/interdependence issues, and so on..

ere is the text of the handout:
    Permaculture is applied integrated design.
Permaculture started as a strategy for designing systems for Permanent
r Perennial Agriculture. It has developed to  include other systems
here carefully integrated design is desperately needed; houses and
actories, as well as economic and community structures. Permaculture
as drawn together a wide range of techniques, old and new, but it is
ifferent from most of them, because it is concerned about the >placement<
f >elements< within the >system<.

   Permaculture is about deliberately designing systems that
   are resilient and meet the needs of all their members.
   
Characteristics of Permaculture systems:
1.   The designed system uses and complements the natural systems that
re present. eg: water control by planted swales not concrete drains.
  2.   Each element performs many functions in the system. eg: A fruit
ree can provide a crop, wind shelter, trellis, soil conditioning,
hade, roosting.
  3.   Every function needed in the system is provided by many elements.
g: To keep warm: clothes, hats, gloves, food, exercise, find a sunny
pot, before lighting a fire.
  4.   The system's size is appropriate to the resources available to
esign, establish and maintain it. eg: Dont spend all your money on
uying a large block of land. eg: Dont look for the worlds best
echnique or machinery, look for something appropriate, inexpensive,
hat works, here. eg: Borrow a 4WD once a year..
5.   The local needs of the system and its participants are given
riority over external needs. eg: Design and finance a farm so most
eeds can still be met if there is reduced income from exports (that
s, anything going off the property).
6.   In the longer term, energy is conserved and variety is maintained.
g: Producing your own food saves energy used for transport and packaging.
g: Adding predators to the system, rather than trying to kill a pest.

lease feel free to distribute freely, but only with acknowledgement to
   Permaculture Applications, Consultancy and Education
         Perth, Western Australia.
 __________________________________________________________
                warwick.rowell@eepo.com.au                |
                                                          |
   Management Consultant     Permaculture Designer        |
_"Helping Managers Learn"___"Helping Land Managers Learn"_|

ate: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 23:28:34 EST
rom: Milogic@aol.com
o: carlyh@eagle.cc.ukans.edu
c: permaculture@envirolink.org
ubject: Re: "sustainable" v. permaculture
Carly,
Sure, got a few weeks?
"Sustainable agriculture," as taught by any educational institution that I
ave yet to hear about, is a present day oxymoron or two buzzwords linked
ogether. Any monocropped system run by machinery, sustained by chemicals and
orked by fewer and fewer people is, by definition, unsustainable if the
ossil fuels, pertrochemicals and transportation economics are factored in.
onocropping, per se, devalues land and soil and people. We are hooked on it.
t is sort of like a junkie who has gone off heroin and onto crack or speed.
"Permaculture" which is locally focused, polyculture emphasizing ordering of
atural systems organized to meet the needs of all creation within it, may be
ustainable or at least come nearer to approximations thereof.
Probably not as profitable to corporations, though, unless they succeed in
rradiating permaculture, co-opting and pre-empting it as "sustainable" has
een.
Milo Clark
erkeley CA USA

ate: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 15:46:06 -0800 (PST)
rom: swrpi@igc.apc.org
eply-To: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
o: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu, permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
ubject: Re:
At 02:29 PM 1/4/98 -0800, Jeff Owens wrote:
>I encountered several discussions of Permaculture recently.  Many
>on the net, some in magazines, and also mention in newspapers.
>Each one was different and I found it pretty confusing.  My
>attempts to define Pc also resulted in some confusion and I
>wondered if others run into these same problems.

>Ideas, corrections?
>
> ----------
>Jeff Owens (kowens@teleport.com)  Zone 6-7  Permaculture
> Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
>
i Jeff,
The most important description relating to permaculture is that it is a
design* system.  I use the following definition for a quick opener:
"Permaculture is an *ethical* design system based on information derived
rom the study and observation of natural, or wild systems that is then used
o inform the design of domestic systems.  The subject of permaculture is
ll aspects of the human living situation with a goal of sustainable human
ettlement in harmony with the wild environment."
Of course this simple definition then leads to a discussion of permaculture
thics, and what is sustainable etc.  But I have found that there is no
voiding the long conversation, nor do I try if someone is truely interested.
What makes permaculture unique and not just another gardening system, or
orestry system or building system is that it is a design system.
ermaculture practicioners are designers first and foremost - I hope.  At
east this is what I learned and now teach.
My greatest fear is that permaculturists are taking the easy bits of
ermaculture such as gardening, animal husbandry, water harvesting,
onstruction and land forming and leaving out the hard stuff like ethics,
attern, and invisible structures.  When this happens permaculture is
viserated of its power and wonder.
************************************************************************
swrpi@igc.apc.org>
ermaculture Institute
cott & Arina Pittman
O Box 3702
ojoaque, NM 87501
Ingenio Patet Campus

excerpt from a document defining Permaculture written by Stephanie Gerson]
Permaculture is a form of sustainable agriculture that employs nature as its 
odel, seeking to design landscapes which mimic
atural ecosystems.  It is modular and applicable to any bioregion, therefore 
earing immense potential for satisfying basic
uman needs without compromising those of the Earth.  However, because it is 
elationship-oriented and highly specific to
ocal conditions, it can be difficult to practice.  Instead of discretely 
electing individual plants, relationships between
lora must be woven together carefully, in consideration of a plant’s 
elationships to other plants, to the overall
cosystem, and to the people whose needs it may satisfy. [..............] 
ermaculture-centric characteristics such as
nputs, outputs, and multiple functions - critical to the practice of 
ermaculture design, our understanding of ecological
rocesses, and ultimately, our capacity for systems thinking. People 
practicing 
ermaculture worldwide are discovering
elevant and useful information about plant relationships [...........]


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