permaculture

[Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>]

Thanks for the suggestion and connections Steve.

I think Skeeter has put out feelers for N Am convergences before and he's
been instrumental in organizing the Inland NW PC convergences the past 3
years.  There are several annual bioregional convergences and conferences
here in N Am each year of varying quality, duration and content.

I'm grateful for the work everyone is doing in their various areas.  It's
not a simple matter to pull together a national network or professional
organization type of conference.  I'm excited to see more and a continued
broadening and credibility building set of gatherings to help us all
increase our skill sets, competencies and connections to each other to
support the work that's needed.



On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM, Steve Hart
<stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com>wrote:

> good viewpoints there Scott n Andrew. Some may say you are becoming a
> grumpy ol'man there Scott....but I do sympathise with you. Being a PC
> purist my self I have commented many a time on the watering down of many
> elements of Permaculture. Where many many things toady are called PC which
> are very firmly not. So what do we do about it ?    Simple, strengthen
> every aspect..quite simple in theory. In practice, well quite a strategic
> challenge. Is it worth it ? What are the consequences if we do nothing ?
> The recent conference series of the European
>  Permaculture Teachers Network goes a long way to evolving this strategic
> journey...perhaps its time Scott, Andrew et al to call a Nth American PC
> Teachers convergence and ask delegates from Europe to assist..or otherwise
> send a few Nth Americans to the last two conferences in Europe. The last is
> in July in Bulgaria in association with the European Conference...any
> takers ?...Steve Hart
>
>
> IPC11 Musings
> >
> > It had been 3 years since my last visit to Havana and the change was
> > shocking.  Many more automobiles spewing smoke from 1950's models of
> Ford,
> > Chevy, Olds, Pontiacs and various other brands was throat tightening and
> > eye
> > watering.
> >
> > I was in Havana for the International Permaculture Convergence.  The
> first
> > event was a gala dinner in an old estate in the heart of Havana.  The
> place
> > was packed and there was panic among our hosts from Fundacion Antonio
> Nunez
> > de la Naturaleza y el Hombre as the numbers continued to grow and they
> > scrambled for more place settings, tables, and chairs.  The problem was
> > that
> > over 140 unexpected guests had arrived who had not RSVPed their intention
> > to
> > attend.  This set the stage for a chaotic two weeks of trying to
> > accommodate
> > 25% more people than had been planned for.  It was also apparent to me
> that
> > most of the attendants of this event were there to party rather than deal
> > with the many issues facing the rapidly growing International
> Permaculture
> > movement.
> >
> > Permaculturalists from 47 nations descended on Cuba over 400 strong and
> > overwhelmed the organizational capabilities of our sponsors.
> >
> > The conference was held in a large Havana hotel and the speakers were
> > translated into English and Spanish for those of us who are language
> > challenged.  For the most part the speakers were English speakers who
> > represented both the well known and the unknown in the permaculture
> world.
> > I was disappointed in the selections as I was hoping to hear from Latin
> > American permaculture which represents an incredible array of projects.
>  A
> > majority of the presenters were from the U.S.A. and Australia.  I was
> most
> > impressed by Tierra Martinez an Argentinian permaculturalist who
> presented
> > on projects both urban and rural that are making a difference in the
> lives
> > of thousands of people through the work of his organization Instituto Na
> > Luum.
> >
> > While the presentations of Albert Bates, Robyn Francis, Andy Goldring,
> and
> > surprise guest  Darren Doherty were very educational and exciting I was
> > still left with the question of where are the  Latinos.
> >
> > My sympathy and admiration went to the translators who were faced with
> > multiple English and Spanish idioms and with speakers who seemed unaware
> > that they needed to take into account that their words were being
> converted
> > to another language.  The translators continued with us for the rest of
> the
> > journey, through the convergence and on the tour and did an incredible
> job
> > against all odds.  Herding cats comes to mind.
> >
> > The conference began what was to be a pattern of standing in line for
> > meals,
> > and standing in line for accommodations; sometimes for over 2 hours!
>  This
> > was again the surprise guests who suddenly materialized the night before
> > the
> > conference.  This of course threw the whole schedule of speakers off and
> > Roberto Sanchez, known for his role in the video "Building Community",
> was
> > doing everything except pulling out his hair, and he may have done some
> of
> > that.
> >
> > Our final day in Havana was an urban tour of permaculture projects.  I
> had
> > seen most of the projects three years ago so I only went on the morning
> > half
> > of the tour.   I once again was disappointed in most of what I saw.  This
> > was definantly not permaculture! Sorry.  It reminded me of the ubiquitous
> > "herb spiral" which monotonously decorates every first permaculture
> design.
> > I saw keyhole gardens where the key hole was too small to accommodate the
> > knees of the gardener, paths that were considerable larger than the
> > vegetable beds, and a shocking lack of food amidst the ornamentals.  I
> > certainly appreciated the proud gardeners as they took us through their
> > home
> > gardens pointing out the salient parts but it seemed more beginning
> "master
> > gardener" level than having been designed.
> >
> > Is this sour grapes?  I don't think so, I am attempting to inject a
> little
> > realism into an event that took thousands of dollars, and gallons of fuel
> > to
> > bring to fruition and I think that we should be more mindful of our
> purpose
> > and more in engaged in the process than I feel was exhibited during this
> > IPC.
> >
> > I spent a lot of time reflecting on what is being taught, in the world at
> > large, as permaculture?  Is there any continuity in permaculture design
> > from
> > country to country, how subjective is what is being taught, following the
> > whims and limited knowledge of the teachers.  This is an important thread
> > to
> > pursue and I will continue this journal of my Cuban trip in the next
> > segment
> > "the convergence" where I discuss my presentations of "Capitalism and
> > Permaculture", "Permaculture Professional Standards", and "Developing a
> > "Permaculture International Aid and Relief Group".  These are all
> subjects
> > dear to my heart and, much to my surprise, were well received.
> >
> > Lest I sound dour and curmudgeonly I would like to say over all my
> > experience was a very positive one and this was the result of many
> > conversations with new and old friends who all share my concerns
> regarding
> > the state of the world and permaculture.
> >
> > Scott Pittman
> > www.permaculture.org
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2013 09:53:17 -0800
> > From: Andrew Millison <amillison@gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [permaculture] IPC11 Musings
> > To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Message-ID:
> >         <
> > CAKo1s6EAuxqFDaced0qg8GZy9VE8eoRuyW6P-KeFQQyf_1-hXg@mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >
> > Thanks for the reflections, Scott, and the honest assessment of the first
> > part of the event from your perspective. I found the sub-theme of the
> whole
> > trip very interesting: how our small society dealt with the logistical
> > chaos, which you are attributing to the 140 event crashers which pushed
> the
> > planning and infrastructure over the edge.
> >
> > I'm not refuting your statements, just adding a bit to what you said.
> >
> > As far as the Havana tours, one thing that I found very valuable was
> seeing
> > how the Permaculture flag was being waved at multiple locations within
> > neighborhoods, and imagined how many places it was seeping in to the
> fabric
> > of the community that we couldn't see. Also where our guides explained
> how
> > the government had officially recognized the value of sites, and gave
> them
> > official recognition and protection, showed the level of support they
> > garnered. I would put my own neighborhood here in Corvallis, Oregon up
> > against them in a contest of urban food production density. (shouldn't we
> > have "most food grown in the city" contests?). But it was fascinating to
> > observe their "activist" Permaculture systems, with signage and
> intentional
> > community education.
> >
> > The 20 acre urban farm we saw that day had many interesting layers to it
> as
> > well, from the mosaic of fields with productive hedgerows surrounding, to
> > their large scale worm composting system, to the community enterprise
> piece
> > that employed many with a diversity of types of yields.
> >
> > I reflected at the time that it would have been very hard for it to not
> be
> > an amazing experience, simply for the opportunity to meet and connect
> with
> > so many wonderful people and all of the communication on so many topics
> > that occurred. I didn't know what to expect or have previous trips to
> > compare it with, so seeing it all with new eyes, I took the value that I
> > could from each facet.
> >
> > I appreciate hearing what Scott and others have to say about their
> > experience. It's good to get the collective memory out there to get the
> > most learning from it that we can.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> > Kia ora
>
> [image: Picture]
> *Steve Hart*
> Ecology Architect
> skype: stevenlawrencehart
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