Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Thoughts on permaculture standards, Mollison & Holmgren.

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Michael Pilarski <friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Thoughts on permaculture standards, Mollison & Holmgren.
  • Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:53:40 -0800 (PST)

Thoughts on permaculture standards, Mollison & Holmgren.

All this talk of curriculum, standards and certification.  The conversation
does have its value.

On the one hand, we all know that each site is unique, each client is unique
, each permaculturre project is unique, each permaculture teacher is unique
and each permaculture design course is unique.  So anyone who is thinking
standardization is going against the natural flow.

On the other hand, it is valuable for people to discuss standards of
knowledge and conduct for teaching permaculture and the relative values of
different courses, teachers and projects.  It is not reality to see
everything with rosy-colored glasses. There are permaculture con artists out
there and would-be permaculture dictators and well-meaning "teachers" who
deliver mediocre or poor courses. Thankfully they are a small minority.

We do not have any legal framework to deal with circumstances of poor
standards, but we do have social networks. We compare notes. Permaculture is
a woven net of individual friendships. Friends talk and if one has a bad
experience with another person they are apt to warn their friends.  People
earn their reputations to a large extent.

If there are people teaching permaculture in my neighborhood who I think are
doing a bad job or are ripping people off, that is a cause of concern for me. 
They are downgrading the name of permaculture. This is a (relatively) free
country and they can do what they want. But I can still talk to my friends.

This is not to say I condone idle gossiping, speculation and quick
conclusions.  My personal ethos is to assume that all permaculture people are
doing a good job , unless I experience otherwise or hear something from a
trusted friend.

I would consider it a last resort to question/censure any person's name or
organization in print. It doesn’t happen very often.

We need to have a certain level of self-critical thinking, both as
individuals and as the permaculture movement.  To limit ourselves to only
saying nice things and never critical comments, means people aren’t going to
learn as fast - nor is the movement.  There is no unified mindset in the
permaculture movement (the three permaculture ethics are the closest we are
likely to get).  There are a wide variety of opinions on a wide variety of
subjects such as certification. By talking among the movement (via internet,
in person or at face-to-face gatherings) we find where the edges of the
belief system are and where the middle is. We together create a psychic field
of consciousness, the overall permaculture mind, as it were.  Continually
evolving, shifting and growing.  We all tap into it at some level.  We all
contribute to this general field. No one person is the master-mind behind it
all, even though Bill Mollison and David Holmgren got the ball
rolling.

I honor both Mollison and Holmgren for their brilliant initial work and their
continuing contributions. Both are personal friends of mine. Since Mollison
is so often discussed in this permaculture forum I would like to add my
personal viewpoint.

Bill Mollison is a brilliant inter-disciplinary thinker. He has an
open-hearted, charismatic personality that enabled him to almost
single-handedly jump-start permaculture movements in countries around the
world.  Bill has a strong personality that doesn’t suit everybody.  He has
pissed a lot of people off over the years, as well as endeared himself to
many. As a result he has a mixed reputation which wasn’t helped by his recent
attempts to establish some control over permaculture.  

I am amazed at the amount of book-bashing there has been regarding
“Permaculture: A Designers Manual”. Yes there are mistakes in it, and they
should be duly noted. But name any other cross-disciplinary, leading-edge
book about sustainably living on the planet in every climate zones that
doesn’t have mistakes.  The vast majority of the information is valid.  I
have read and re-read the book many times and still refer to it whenever
teaching a design course.  Yes, it would be good to replace it with a wiki
type evolving body of knowledge that would supercede it.  But I don’t think
it will happen any time soon and so the book is still indispensable reading
for any permaculturist at this time.  It is not like a bible in that it is
the only book you need, but it is one of the best practical handbooks we have
at this time.  It is valuable “in addition to” the other 100+ books out there
on permaculture today.  You don’t need to read books
to understand and practice permaculture, but it sure helps.

Bill Mollison is certainly not perfect, but it pains me to see people in the
US vilify him and seem to wish to cast him out of the permaculture movement. 
I (we) owe a lot to Bill and even if I don’t agree with all of his policies,
I am still sending him my love.

David Holmgren, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his
body.  I have never met anyone who did not like and admire David. David is
deep thinking, tactful, considerate and also a brilliant thinker.  He was not
the charismatic leader like Mollison was at the beginning of the movement,
but instead focused on hands-on work and local organizing. In the recent
decades he has done more teaching and movement building as well as his
writings have been more widely published.  His book “Permaculture: Principles
and Practices Beyond Sustainability” is one of the permaculture must-reads.
And everyone online should check out his new website
http://www.futurescenarios.org/

Enough for today. This is a lot to wade through, but it appears the
permaculture movement is going through some sort of self-reflection prior to
another evolutionary leap. My recent posts are contributions to this process.

Michael Pilarski
Friends of the Trees Society





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page