Agreed - the holistic overview, the making of connections between components and systems seemingly unconnected, the view which sees the flow of energy, materials and information from component to component to produce higher and more diverse productivity and better outputs is the strength of permaculture. I think it's called systems thinking.
- Although agreeing that Permaculture promises a lot more than one sees on the ground, I would like to contribute to this discussion suggesting ( and this is our strategy here in Brazil, and I am repeating what I said in another thread) that one of the major functions of permaculture is its multi-disciplinary vision, it has an organized overview which ofen lacks in specific local projects.
Yes, networking - the transfer of information - is a way by which we learn from each other and is vitally important for the development and cohesiveness of something like permaculture. That's why websites, email discussion lists, newsletters, magazines and video is a useful area of permaculture application. I remember Bill Mollison, some years back, make the statement that permaculture is an 'information rich' activity. Although I could be accused of feathering my own permaculture nest, I think media work is a valid and positive aspect of permaculture.
- Besides teaching people to have this overview, I think that one of our major functions in international aid is in networking, locating what already exists and linking that up, locally and internationally.
As to your comment about linking up that which already exists - the British economist and author, EF Schumacher ('Small is Beautiful'), wrote that most solutions are already there but they are scattered, hidden and difficult to find. The role of permaculture media workers could be to locate those solutions, write them up, photograph then, analyse them, record user comments and put that information in various media so the solutions become available to others.
I understand your concern about lack of language but I also realize that in most of the places where I have taught that there was no one locally who was teaching permaculture. Bill and I taught the first permaculture course in Brazil in 1994, and although neither of us spoke the language we planted so very prolific seed in that soil. The same story is true of Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Bali, Mexico, Cameroon, Ecuador, and Colombia, just to name a few of the countries that I know about personally. If I had waited until a native speaker had been trained, I may well be still waiting.
- In a practical vein, tropical Permaculture is extremely well anchored here in Brazil, and we are dedicated to training these young idealistic people who would like to do this kind of work(and also others in other regions of Brazil). They can have real-life experience in alternative communitites and in other projects in places which will not be harmed by their lack of experience( and lack of the language).
The skills that seem to be to be lacking in various degrees, depending on the country, are translating existing skills into dollars, or pesos, or sucres. Business skills are nonexistent in most of the areas I teach. In the past the system of barter worked very well but in the new world of "tv created wants" there is a need for money, and no matter how much one wants to dismiss this need, it still is very real and in many places prosperity is tied to the ability to generate some income. The whole area of "invisible structures" is critical to converting vegetables into money to pay the electric bill. Unfortunately the invisible structure part of the course has always been poorly presented and understood and therefore a critical piece of the sustainability picture is missing.Yes, I think it's about introducing skills and knowledge not locally available and of training local people to use and adapt those skills so they can continue to use them when the foreign teacher leaves. That way, the development worker leaves a useful legacy. Local people and their organisations can identify a needed skill and, through networking with aid organisations in developing countries, locate people willing to go and work with them.
- So I would suggest that the function of foreign teachers coming in as part of an aid program could be to help already-exisitng local programs take the next step, adding new insights
I agree too, but refer you to my previous paragraph on native speakers. In many cases it takes the travelling barefoot permaculturalist to get the ball rolling.I agree completely with your question Marsha and ask it frequently. In Sydney, we have worked to assist communities and local government establish community food gardens for the dual purpose of access to fresh food and improvement of the urban environment. Yes, there is poverty in Australia too.
- In the end, why travel? After all, each of these countries has its own slums, its own collapsed farms, its own third world embedded in apparent affluence. ( My sister was director of a program which collected food for the hungry-- in the rich United Sates! I Was absolutely shocked when she sent me the statistics of the extent of this hunger...)The inspired young people could travel in instead of out... But-- needing adventure-- Brazil is at their disposition!
We see people doing permaculture courses with the intention - usually fairly vague - of assisting people in developing countries. This is positive, of course, but ignores the valuable community work to be done here. We see permaculture design course graduates sent overseas but few engaging in work in their own country. It is, after all, still development work when done in their own country and has analogous aims to that done overseas. My observation is that people complete their permaculture design course, experience the 'permaculture eureka' effect, find no organisations dynamic enough to attract their participation, then merge back into the life they lived in their pre-permaculture design course days.
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