permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

I see several things that need to happen.

1) Permaculture standards need to be defined and upheld. Based on those standards there is a need to develop 
permaculture curricula in the form of courses and field work with certification awarded to those who have successfully
completed this education.
[If you advertise yourself as a certified permaculture designer, teacher or 
consultant
and some entity like US\AID wants to hire you to go to Nepal to carry out a project they have set up, you need to assure 
them that you have the training, experience and can actually fulfill your contractual obligations to them
or perform your duties as expected as a salaried employee.]
2) A less informal approach to permaculture needs to be made available to 
individuals and groups so that community
development and farming and homesteading operations of all sizes, centered on the implementation of permaculture 
strategies, can happen and move forward. This describes Killian's situation as I see it and is what Paul Wheaton is 
talking about and advising others to go for. This is all about lots of permaculture designers, teachers and consultants 
working without credentials, i.e. formal certification or those people incorporating their knowledge of permaculture 
into other teaching or consulting work they do on the subjects of homesteading and/or some form of agriculture.

I hope those already working on this will be able to put together some sort 
of governing body that can oversee
all aspects of permaculture education and professionalism in the field, 
offering coursework and accreditation
to those enthusiastic about pursuing a career in Permaculture.