- 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
- Wikipedia:Category:Permaculture for a collection of articles.
External links
- Permaculture: A Brief Introduction, by Jillian Hovey (2000)
- Permaculture Information Web
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.
E
- Elements (16)
G
- Guilds (3)
K
- Kitchen permaculture (3)
P
- Permaculture wikis (3)
- Permaculture.info (18)
- PermaWiki (2)
S
Pages in category "Permaculture"
The following 136 pages are in this category, out of 136 total.
A
B
C
- CCAT remediation zone
- Ceiling insulation out of recycled Tetra pack at Pedregal
- Ceiling insulation out of recycled Tetra pack at Pedregal/pt
- Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute
- Centro Ecoagroturistico
- Chemical fertiliser production
- Chicken Tractor (Optimized Construction and Design)
- Cold frame
- Cold frame/zh
- Community climate action plan
- Community Currencies Workshop
- Compost (Chirapa Manta)
- Compost tea
- Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
E
K
M
P
- Pattern
- People Centered Permaculture Wiki
- Permablitz
- Permaculture
- Permaculture compared to conventional approaches
- Permaculture convergences
- Permaculture courses and course materials
- Permaculture Demonstration Center in San Andres Huayapam
- Permaculture Demonstration Center in San Andres Huayapam/zh
- Permaculture Design Course
- Permaculture Design Course/teaching resources
- Permaculture diploma
- Permaculture education
- Permaculture ethics
- Permaculture ethics/id
- Permaculture ethics/ru
- Permaculture facebook groups
- Permaculture Forums
- Permaculture garden in Cook County
- Permaculture Playing Cards
- Permaculture wiki
- Permaculture/ru
- Permaculture/vi
- Permaculture: A Designers' Manual
- Permaculture: A Designers' Manual/fr
- Permaculture: A Designers' Manual/hu
- Permaculture: A Designers' Manual/ko
- Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability
- Permanence scale
- PermaWiki
- Permiechat.slack.com : a chat for all permies in all languages (and a common good)
- Permiechat.slack.com : un tchat pour tous les permaculteurs du monde (et un bien commun)
- Permies
- Polyculture
- Polyculture/id
- Principles of permaculture
- Principles of permaculture/hu
- Principles of permaculture/ko