Permaculture: Reclaiming our place in Nature
Monday, 13 June 2005
David Holmgren
Summary
Permaculture is a way to help us live lightly on the earth. It offers an empowering response to the envirnmental and social crisis of climate change, land degradation, resource delpetion, family and community break down, addictive behaviour, national debt, robber baron economics and neofacist illussions and deceptions.
It is a creative designed response to the energy future after paek oil allowing a gentle descent in the face of the big changes. There are many opportunities arising from rising oil prices, local products, recycling and low input farming will all become more competitive. There will be a demand for permaculture as life skills.
Key points
- Permaculture is a design system for sustainable living and land use, its a grass roots movement of practitioners, designers and organisers.
- We are in an envirnmental and social crisis that hasn't hit home becausea rising energy base has allowed rich countries to avoid crisis by fixing symptoms and sending problems away.
- Peak oil production is the point of maximum production, reached when half the oil is used, it will be reached in 2017.
- Gas is the only other high quality fuel available, it is set to peak in 50 years.
- Energy futures include 4 accepted scenarios, techno fantasy, green technological stability, earth stewardship and atlantis (crash.) Permaculture works for earth stewardship.
- Permaculture practices cover many areas from gardeing to new ways of trading and finance.
- they all fit into 7 domains of permaculture action
- Land and nature stewardship
- The built environment
- Tools and technology
- Culture and education
- Health and spiritual education
- Finance and economics
- Land tenure and community governance
Resources and refernces
- The Parties Over - Richard Heinberg
Permaculture Magazine uk http://www.permaculture.co.uk/
- Permaculture Designers manual, Mollison 1988
- Principles and path ways beyond sustainability, Holmgren 2002
[ Scribe: William Mortada ]