Urban Permaculture
Monday, 13 June 2005
Tony Anderson
Format: Slide Show
Summary
This was a presentation of slides from the Copenhagen Permaculture group, taken over the last 15 years. It is an example of urban Permaculture work done through negotiation with National and Local government organisations.
Key Points
- Tony has been practising Permaculture since 1980, working in a run down area of Copenhagen
- In 1988, the Copenhagen Permaculture group won a grant from the government in a competition in Ecological Urban design.
- With this grant, they set about planting trees, planting up courtyards and gardens which where previously rubble and compacted soil. Other work included building ponds, water treatment systems, water collection tanks, composting systems and putting in raised beds in gardens and parks.
- Work in schools and kindergartens included building playground equipment (using elm trees which had died back), rainwater collection, composting drums, raised beds and green houses to grow food to supplement school lunches.
- Copenhagen had a large number of old apartment blocks which were in a state of neglect and deterioration. * With the grant, they were able to show that it was more financially viable to retrofit these building than to bulldozer them and build new. These buildings were retrofitted with new, more sustainable heating systems (sterling motors), green houses put along the south side for solar passive heating, window boxes on the north side which were watered through rainwater tanks on the roof, grey water and black water recycling systems in the basement.
- Latest project is to put in raised plant beds on the street to help reduce traffic and transform the streets into green walkways.
- More work has consisted in researching the food and energy needs of the city and what could be provided in a Permaculture system. They calculated that 10-12% of food could be grown in Copenhagen, and that the rest could be provided in outlying farms. Wood for heating would need to come from sustainable forests in Sweden.
- Part of their design was to design the area of the city which was the old meat market. They put in an organic veg market, workshops for local tradesmen, an urban development centre, a 5 storey glass house on the south facing side and a water recycling system.
- They also have a 5 hectare farms which grows food for the 20 Permaculture members. They have a system of raised beds, mulched with grass and green clover which is grown along side. Free range chickens are used for pest control and for eggs.
- Since the Danish government changed to a conservative government in 2001, the grants that the group received from government funding has been cut. They rely on revenue from the 4 businesses that they have: an architect design company, a rainwater collection and composting tank company, a farm shop and a company based on street greening.