Permaculture is a sustainable solution focused philosophy. Permaculture is a process we can apply to our thoughts and actions to implement effective solutions that are appropriate for the situation and respectful of others around us. The knowledge taught in permaculture is not new. People that have a love and connection with life are generally already following this type of life philosophy.
Permaculture thought goes something like this… “The earth supports life, we are life, we must support the earth to support ourselves”. We are not isolated from nature but apart of it. We are also bound by the natural universal systems. We must change and live in accordance with earth life-supporting systems. Not try and change the natural cycles of life. Everything is connected in this earth’s ecology. Even if we could make changes to the natural cycles what impact would it have on other natural cycles and how would they impact human natural cycle. Are the consequences of the possible killing of the human race due to lack of habitat worth the experiments to change any natural system? So for humans to have any chance of creating a truly permanent culture we must follow 3 fundamental practises. We must…
- Care of the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first fundamental, without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.
- Care of the people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.
- Return of Surplus: Reinvesting surpluses back into the system to provide for the first fundamentals. Returning a fair share back into the system to recycle into usefulness.
Permaculture designs emphasise patterns in the landscape, function, and species assemblies. It asks the question, “Where does this element go? How can it be placed for the maximum benefit of the system?” To answer this question, the central concept of permaculture is maximising useful connections between components and synergy of the final design. The focus of permaculture, therefore, is not on each separate element, but rather on the relationships created among elements by the way they are placed together; the whole becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Permaculture design, therefore, seeks to minimise waste, human labour, and energy input by building systems with maximal benefits between design elements to achieve a high level of synergy. Permaculture designs evolve over time by taking into account these relationships and elements and can become extremely complex systems that produce a high density of food and materials with minimal input. You can find out more about these complex systems on our youtube channel.
The design principles which are the conceptual foundation of permaculture were derived from the science of systems ecology and study of pre-industrial examples of sustainable land use. Permaculture draws from hundreds of disciplines some example include organic farming, agroforestry, integrated farming, sustainable development, applied ecology, philosophy, education, resource management, regenerative design, field biology, field geology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics. Permaculture is more than being just about the design of housing and landscaping, agroforestry, natural building, and rainwater harvesting it can be applied to everything we do. Permaculture’s design principles and theory provide the framework with which we can create successful integrating techniques for the benefit of all life on earth and the enhancement of our beautiful natural splendour.
