Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] International Permaculture Conference PDC, September 3-15, 2011 - Amman, Jordan

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] International Permaculture Conference PDC, September 3-15, 2011 - Amman, Jordan
  • Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 06:21:41 -0700

International Permaculture Conference PDC, September 3-15, 2011 - Amman,
Jordan
Warren Brush, Brad Lancaster, Geoff Lawton, Nadia Lawton, Bill Mollison, Rosemary Morrow:
September 3, 2011
to
September 15, 2011
http://www.ipcon.org/index.php/pre-ipc-pdc-course


The Permaculture Design Certificate course is an internationally-recognized, seventy-two hour course resulting in a Permaculture Design Certificate. It provides an introduction to permaculture design as set forth by movement founder Bill Mollison.
The PDC serves as foundation for further permaculture work and study and is a prerequisite for the Diploma in Permaculture Design, offered through The Permaculture Institute. Credit for this course is now accepted by a growing number of universities around the world.
To date, thousands of permaculture designers worldwide have been certified through this course, and now comprise a global network of educators, ecological activists who influence major corporations, individuals creating new business alternatives and groups of committed people working together to change the way we view and design into our landscapes.
The course covers sustainable living systems for a wide variety of landscapes and climates. It includes the application of permaculture principles to food production, home design, construction, energy conservation and generation, and explores alternative economic structures and legal strategies supporting permaculture solutions.

Dates: September 3-15, 2011
Location: Amman, Jordan
Teachers (see bios at bottom):
* Rosemary Morrow
* Brad Lancaster
* Warren Brush
* Geoff Lawton
* Nadia Lawton
* with special guest talks by Bill Mollison
Costs:
International Students: US$2,000
Jordanian residents: US$1,000
Accommodation/Meal Information: TBA soon! (check this website for updates)
Booking Info: TBA soon! (check this website for updates)
Teacher Bios
Rosemary Morrow (Rowe) trained in development work in France where she also lived in Trosly-Breuil l'Arche community, and in England at Jordans. Most of the 1970s were spent in Lesotho. Back in Australia in the 1980s permaculture provided the powerful basis for her concern for Earth restoration. She considers permaculture 'sacred' knowledge to be carried and shared with others. Since then she has travelled to teach people anxious and concerned to restore their environments. As a teacher of permaculture Rowe has been inspired for many years by Parker Palmer, the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and non-violent resistance. She works in di?cult places responding to people who have been disempowered and who would not otherwise have access to permaculture.
Brad Lancaster is the author of the best-selling, and award-winning books Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volumes 1 and 2. Living on an eighth of an acre (0.05 ha) in downtown Tucson, Arizona, where rainfall is less than 12 inches (305 mm) annually, Brad practices what he preaches by harvesting over 100,000 gallons (379,000 liters) of rainwater a year., creating an oasis in the desert by directing this harvested rainwater not off their property and into storm drains, but instead incorporating it into living air conditioners of food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape that includes habitat for wildlife. This living example, dynamic public talks, and countless hands-on workshops have inspired thousands of citizens and numerous businesses in Tucson and around the country to harvest water and sustainably grow their local resources.

Warren Brush is a certified Permaculture designer and teacher as well as a mentor and storyteller. He has worked for over 25 years in inspiring people of all ages to discover, nurture and express their inherent gifts while living in a sustainable manner. He is co-founder of Quail Springs Learning Oasis & Permaculture Farm, Sustainable Vocations, Wilderness Youth Project, Trees for Children and his Permaculture design company, True Nature Design. He works extensively in Permaculture education and sustainable systems design in North America and in Africa as well as in other countries worldwide. He has devoted many years to mentoring youth to inspire and equip them to live in a sustainable manner with integrity and a hopeful outlook. His mentoring includes working with those who are former child soldiers, orphans, from troubled families and situations as well as those youth from other varied and privileged backgrounds.

Geoff Lawton is an internationally-renowned permaculture educator, consultant and practitioner. He emigrated from England to Australia and later studied permaculture with Bill Mollison in Tasmania. He established the Permaculture Research Institute at Tagari Farm in New South Wales, Australia, a 147-acre farmstead previously developed by Mollison. PRI was eventually moved to Zaytuna Farm, in The Channon, where it continues today. Since 1985, Geoff has designed and implemented permaculture projects in 30 countries for private individuals and groups, communities, governments, aid organizations, and multinational corporations. He has taught the Permaculture Design Certificate course in 30 countries.

Nadia Lawton, co-teacher and translator on this course, was born and raised in the Jordan (Dead Sea) Valley, in the lowest and one of the driest places on earth. She completed her PDC with Sindhu Webber in Jordan and went on to complete a Permaculture Diploma in Education and Site Design. She regularly travels with her husband for aid project and permaculture consulting work, and assists in teaching permaculture design courses. Nadia established PRI Jordan and the Jawasari Permaculture Society.

Bill Mollison is a researcher, author, scientist, teacher and naturalist. He is the developer of the curriculum for the world class Permaculture Design Course, and authors many other books dealing with Permaculture. He established and continues to direct the first and longest running Permaculture Institute in existence. He is the first teacher of anything Permaculture both domestically and on a global scale and continues teaching Permaculture Design Courses today, most recently in Istanbul in Nov 2010. Students will be privileged to hear Bill speak at the PDC!
From venaurafarm@bellsouth.net Thu May 19 11:18:45 2011
Return-Path: <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
X-Original-To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Received: by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix, from userid 20217)
id 48A43E8BC1; Thu, 19 May 2011 11:18:45 -0400 (EDT)
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on
mailman1.ibiblio.org
X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED,
DKIM_VERIFIED autolearn=ham version=3.2.5
Received: from nm15-vm0.access.bullet.mail.mud.yahoo.com
(nm15-vm0.access.bullet.mail.mud.yahoo.com [66.94.236.17])
by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 01F35E8BBB
for <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>;
Thu, 19 May 2011 11:18:43 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from [66.94.237.192] by nm15.access.bullet.mail.mud.yahoo.com with
NNFMP; 19 May 2011 15:18:43 -0000
Received: from [66.94.237.98] by tm3.access.bullet.mail.mud.yahoo.com with
NNFMP; 19 May 2011 15:18:43 -0000
Received: from [127.0.0.1] by omp1003.access.mail.mud.yahoo.com with NNFMP;
19 May 2011 15:18:43 -0000
X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 319890.36462.bm@omp1003.access.mail.mud.yahoo.com
Received: (qmail 84882 invoked from network); 19 May 2011 15:18:43 -0000
Received: from [192.168.1.67] (venaurafarm@65.5.197.216 with plain)
by smtp103.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP;
19 May 2011 08:18:42 -0700 PDT
X-Yahoo-SMTP: c5cR1iqswBAL69WHluJFuhWbBKf0NOdLgGLeT6yCzJZKlgZ.16E-
X-YMail-OSG: 6HYYSjEVM1mL1mX34weCd7S8YLKUWkHk1YZp7YZtDs5AOxQ
Rkqu0cvAKi58LJdv_W.dnIm2aBB5_4d8URtWr2lWBu_4pO9Y6ApbRiXYq4UL
O6IHwuaItVNT13gEp8ML1gDIzB4yEwk7Xh96CbUkIlRiX_4wnZaYFjYAmRF6
pbkXZPhjcXBH1U8q7NTpLcnbfdCxIKe6XTqJKIqSnlM5JU6T6yybyciPjk6i
0zp3E6iHmIEe4p1DfRHhWnOQQaTkiU.RUi__VmeabImvRh.6HKW25nay2sZ2
6bC5.hmenxS6VH70kCo6s5wHQDfjpjB5HwEL_PzeR.J4pUkK0emnAtNBcpZc
HbKuytn5pHKkSNQVolzU6sdQoNMazfxmGctcbo.8HO81skVf3dVXoNrAaPlb
egFCgZ_fMEW7Lxb_1_TxfzPU0v17Enw--
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-3
Message-ID: <4DD534D4.7040209@bellsouth.net>
Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 11:18:44 -0400
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
rv:1.9.2.17) Gecko/20110414 Lightning/1.0b2 Thunderbird/3.1.10
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Subject: [permaculture] BBC News - Protein flaws responsible for complex
life, study says
X-BeenThere: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9
Precedence: list
Reply-To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Id: permaculture <permaculture.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture>,
<mailto:permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture>
List-Post: <mailto:permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture>,
<mailto:permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 15:18:45 -0000


BBC News - Protein flaws responsible for complex life, study says
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13445951

Protein flaws responsible for complex life, study says
By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News
SEM of Pyrococcus furiosus archaea Some proteins have remained largely unchanged since they first appeared
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

'Grape' is key to fossil puzzle
Ancient ancestor's legacy of life

Tiny structural errors in proteins may have been responsible for changes that sparked complex life, researchers say.

A comparison of proteins across 36 modern species suggests that protein flaws called "dehydrons" may have made proteins less stable in water.

This would have made them more adhesive and more likely to end up working together, building up complex function.

The Nature study adds weight to the idea that natural selection is not the only means by which complexity rises.

Natural selection is a theory with no equal in terms of its power to explain how organisms and populations survive through the ages; random mutations that are helpful to an organism are maintained while harmful ones are bred out.

But the study provides evidence that the "adaptive" nature of the changes it wreaks may not be the only way that complexity grew.

Single-celled life gave rise to more complex organisms, and with them came ever-more complicated networks of gene and protein interactions.

Michael Lynch, an evolutionary theorist at Indiana University, teamed up with Ariel Fernandez of the University of Chicago, both in the US, to look specifically at protein structure.

They considered 106 proteins shared among 36 modern-day organisms of widely varying complexity, from single-celled protozoa up to humans.

The pair were studying "dehydrons" - regions of proteins that make them more unstable in watery environments.

These dehydrons - first discovered by Dr Fernandez - make the proteins more sticky in water, thereby raising the probability that they will adhere to other such proteins.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

We've opened up the idea that the roots of complexity don't have to reside in purely adaptational arguments”

Michael Lynch Indiana University

The analysis showed that organisms with smaller populations - such as humans - had accumulated more of these defects than simpler organisms with vastly higher population numbers.

The suggestion is that it is the acquisition of these defects, with sticky proteins more likely to work together in ever-more complex protein-protein interactions, that nudged cellular complexity upward.

"We've tried to bridge the gap between protein structure and evolution and believe we've uncovered evidence that proteins develop mild defects in organisms with smaller population sizes, over the great divide from bacteria to unicellular eukaryotes to invertebrates up to us vertebrates," said Professor Lynch.

These slight defects may decrease protein function even as they increase protein cooperation.

The authors suggest then that other adaptations occur that "undo" the deleterious effects of the sticky proteins.

For example, the protein haemoglobin that carries oxygen in our blood, is made of four identical subunits, each with a range of dehydron flaws; simpler organisms have globin molecules that accomplish the same job with just one subunit.

But the overlap of the four subunits actually masks the flaws in each one.

The authors stress that they are not arguing against natural selection as a process; they say rather that it can be aided by "non-adaptive" mechanisms.

"There's been this general feeling that complexity is a good thing and evolves for complexity's sake - that it's adaptive," Professor Lynch told BBC News.

"We've opened up the idea that the roots of complexity don't have to reside in purely adaptational arguments.

"It's opening up a new evolutionary pathway that didn't exist before."
'A mess'

Ford Doolittle of Dalhousie University agrees that this mechanism, separate from Darwin's vision of natural selection, is an important consideration.
Artist's rendering of haemoglobin molecule The haemoglobin protein in our blood contains four identical subunits co-operating

"Darwinists are a little bit like the pre-Darwinists before them, who would have marveled at the perfection of God's creation," he told BBC News.

"We tend to marvel at the Darwinian perfection of organisms now, saying 'this must have been highly selected for, it's a tuned and sophisticated machine'.

"In fact, it's a mess - there's so much unnecessary complexity."

While he called the Nature study "important and interesting", he disagrees with the mechanism that allows organisms to recover from the protein flaws.

He has long argued for a "presuppression" mechanism, in which some organisms may have a way to overcome the limited functionality of the slightly damaged proteins, and those that do survive best.

"He's putting the cart before the horse," Professor Doolittle said of Professor Lynch's idea that subsequent mutations solve the problems raised by the protein changes.

"But we both agree that much of complexity does not have an adaptive explanation."



  • [permaculture] International Permaculture Conference PDC, September 3-15, 2011 - Amman, Jordan, Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, 05/19/2011

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page