Template:Wikipedia

Note: this topic area is under construction. See Category:Agriculture for more pages relevant to permaculture.

Permaculture means many different things to many different people, and nothing to some. There is no one correct definition, as permaculture is holistic, integrated, and applicable on all levels and in all situations. At its core, permaculture is a philosophy of interdependence and ethical responsibility actualized through a whole-systems design methodology and on-the-ground action. Permaculture is grounded by ethics and guided by ecological principles, traditional cultural values, and applied scientific understanding. Permaculture is being applied at increasing rates and diversity around the world to develop strategic, long-term, practical solutions to the challenges facing humanity and the ecosystems of which we are a part.

Permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Australia during the 1970’s as a permanent agriculture for reversing the environmental degradation that seems to follow closely on the heels of modern development while simultaneously increasing the sustainability of food production systems by promoting localized self-reliance. Today, the concept and methodology have evolved to become supportive of a permanent culture, and are certainly not limited to agriculture alone.

The prime directive of permaculture as stated by Mollison is that “the only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now.”

The three interwoven ethics guiding permaculture are: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share/Return the Surplus. To borrow a concept from Buddhism, Right Action occurs when all three ethics are actualized by a given action or design decision.

See also Regenerative Design

The above description was developed by Jeffrey M. Adams, spring 2008



Permaculture is a form of whole systems design based on the sustainability of natural systems. It seeks to create sustainability in the human living environment, and is applicable to all realms of design. Permaculture is modular and applicable to any bioregion, bearing immense potential for satisfying basic human needs without compromising those of the Earth.

Because it is relationship-oriented and highly specific to local conditions, it is not a cut and paste methodology and can be difficult to practice for those not accustomed to close observation, critical thinking, and a systems perspective. Instead of discretely selecting individual plants, relationships between biota must be woven together carefully, in consideration of a plants relationships to fellow organisms, to the overall ecosystem, and to the people whose needs it may satisfy. Knowledge of such relationships is critical to the practice of Permaculture design, our understanding of ecological processes, our capacity for systems thinking.

Portions of this document copied from Permaculture
Information Web, licenced under the Creative Commons 
by-nc-sa 1.0 open source type license. Elements 
©left 2001-2004 by PFAF, Chad Knepp, and respective authors. 

Interwiki links

External links


This map contains sites actively demonstrating and applying permaculture and/or allied sites and organizations providing valuable education. This map is not by any means exhaustive, so please add other sites to it as you see fit. Original compilation by Jeffrey M. Adams

<googlemap lat="47.219568" lon="-123.200684" zoom="6"> 40.868857, -124.077896, Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT), HSU www.humboldt.edu/~ccat

Sierra Institute, HSU, www.humboldt.edu/~sierra/

Northwest School of Botanical Studies, www.herbaleducation.net


39.007446, -123.369598, Emerald Earth www.emeraldearth.org

38.967951, -123.145752, Solar Living Institute, www.solarliving.org

39.400122, -123.354492, Ecology Action http://www.growbiointensive.org/

40.841866, -124.064484, Arcata Educational Farm CSA

www.humboldt.edu/~farm

40.785741, -124.156494, Redwood Coast Energy Authority www.redwoodenergy.org

Humboldt – Del Norte Counties Cooperative Extension Services, http://cehumboldt.ucdavis.edu/


40.099084, -123.796692, Heartwood Institute, www.heartwoodinstitute.com

39.799041, -123.247375, Live Power Community Farm, http://www.livepower.org/

38.476169, -122.897186, California School of Herbal Studies www.cshs.com

38.400873, -122.832642, R.I.T.E.S. Project, http://www.ritesproject.org

38.349196, -122.682953, Sonoma State Environmental Technology Center, CA http://www.sonoma.edu/ensp/etc/

38.406254, -122.939758, Occidental Arts and Ecology http://www.oaec.org/

37.903032, -122.693939, Regenerative Design Institute (Permaculture Institute of N. California) http://www.regenerativedesign.org/

37.986422, -122.606049, Sustainable Fairfax, www.sustainablefairfax.org

Environmental Education Council of Marin www.eecom.net/

38.326575, -122.706985, Redwood Empire Chapter of US Green Building Council www.usgbc-rec.org

42.221399, -123.275528, Herb Pharm, www.herb-pharm.com/

42.187829, -122.703552, Sacred Earth Institute, http://www.sacredearthinstitute.org/index.html

Siskiyou Permaculture Resources Group http://www.sprg.info

42.311847, -122.974777, Birch Creek Arts and Ecology/ Dakubetede Environmental Education/ Trillium Farm, Siskiyou Mountains, Southern OR http://www.deepwild.org/

43.794393, -123.058548, Aprovecho, http://www.aprovecho.net/

Cob Cottage Company, www.cobcottage.com

43.920153, -122.822342, Lost Valley Education Center www.lostvalley.org

44.037751, -123.088074, Cascadia Permaculture, www.cascadiapermaculture.com

Food Not Lawns www.foodnotlawns.org

Maitreya Ecovillage, www.maitreyaecovillage.org/

Permatopia www.permatopia.com

Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living (CASL), U Oregon http://www.uoregon.edu/~casl/

39.216295, -121.05835, Sierra Permaculture Guild, Sierra Nevada region http://sierrapermaculture.org/

38.575011, -121.507416, Sacramento Permaculture, http://www.sacpermaculture.com/

38.246809, -122.637634, Institute for the Study of Noetic Science, S. of Petaluma http://www.noetic.org/

38.789416, -122.628021, Harbin Hotsprings, www.harbin.org

38.577158, -122.578583, Avalon Springs, http://www.avalonsprings.org/

37.753344, -122.601929, Indigenous Permaculture, http://www.indigenous-permaculture.org/

37.861844, -122.420654, Ecology Center www.ecologycenter.org

37.766372, -122.091064, Urban Permaculture Guild, SF Bay Area, CA www.urbanpermacultureguild.org

45.767523, -122.695312, City Repair Project, www.cityrepair.org

Portland Permaculture Institute www.portlandpermaculture.com

47.127615, -123.083267, Fungi Perfecti www.fungi.com

48.636993, -122.891693, Bullocks Brothers Permaculture Site, Orcas Island, WA http://www.permacultureportal.com/

47.062638, -122.904053, Wild Thyme Farm Retreat Center http://www.sonic.net/~wildfarm/

</googlemap>

Subcategories

This category has the following 11 subcategories, out of 11 total.

Pages in category "Permaculture"

The following 131 pages are in this category, out of 131 total.

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