Holmgren on Permaculture• A more current definition of permaculture, which reflects the expansion of focus implicit in

Permaculture One, is ‘Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs.’ People, their buildings and the ways in which they organise themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture.

• THE DEsign sysTEM • For many people, myself included, the above conception of permaculture is so global in its

scope that its usefulness is reduced. More precisely, i see permaculture as the use of systems thinking and design principles that provide the organising framework for implementing the above vision. it draws together the diverse ideas, skills and ways of living which need to be rediscovered and developed in order to empower us to provide for our needs, while increasing the natural capital for future generations.

• in this more limited but important sense, permaculture is not the landscape, or even the skills of organic gardening, sustainable farming, energy efficient building or eco-village development as such, but it can be used to design, establish, manage and improve these and all other efforts made by individuals, households and communities towards a sustainable future.

Permaculture EthicsEarth Care

People CareFair Shares

Ethics and Design

Design and Ethics

Permaculture Ethics

• Care of the Earth • Care of the People• Share the Surplus(put surpluses in service to the

fulfillment of the first two ethics)Sometimes stated as “fair shares”

Care of the Earth

Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply

Get your own house in orderLeave the wildlands alone

Care of the People

Take 3 minutes and turn to your neighbor to discuss what an ethic of Care of the People means, both philosophically and practically.

What are human needs?

Individually, take another minute and summarize your ideas in writing

Care of the People

My List:Material Comforts

Water, food, shelterSatisfying EmploymentSpiritual needs, experience of beingConvivial Human ContactEducational Needs

Max-Neef’s Fundamental Human Needs

Our Common HumanityAccording to Max-Neef, these nine fundamental human needs are common across all cultures and time periods.

Van Jones: Equity, Justice, Sustainability

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SmF3B3734E 3 min

• Van Jones Bioneers• http://www.godblessthewholeworld.org/van-j

ones-bioneers-conference-2007.html 7 min 18 seconds

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp979n502RM 7 min green jobs revolution

Share the Surplus

Time, Money, Energy, KnowledgeOnce our basic needs are met and we have

designed our systems to the best of our ability, we can extend our influence and energies to helping others achieve that aim.

Sometimes stated as “fair shares”, or living simply so that other may simply live

Sufficiency VS Growth

Life Ethic/ Deep Ecology

Recognizes intrinsic worth of every living thingA tree is something of value in itself , even if it

has no commercial value for us. That is alive and functioning is what is important. It is doing its part in nature: recycling biomass, providing oxygen and carbon dioxide for the region, providing habitat, building soil, etc.

Play Mallet Pines piece and hand out reading Thoreau Pines essay - Read and discuss with your

neighbor

CooperationCooperation is at least as important in the natural world as

competition, and far more important in human societies.

“Life is cooperative rather than competitive, and life forms of very different qualities may interact beneficially with one another and with their physical environment. Even “the bacteria…live by collaboration, accomodation, exchange, and barter”

(Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell)

“The mutual-aid tendency in man has so remote an origin, and is so deeply interwoven with all the past evolution of the human race, that is has been maintained by mankind up to the present time, notwithstanding all vicissitudes of history.”

Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: a Factor of Evolution

New research indicates that people are wired for cooperation

Mollison

• We ourselves are part of a guild of species that lie within and without our bodies. Aboriginal peoples and the Ayurvedic practitioners of ancient India have names for such guilds, or beings made up (as we are) of two or more species forming one organism. Most of nature is composed of groups of species working interdependently …chapter 4.8

Prime Directive

• Prime Directive of Permaculture: The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now.

Respect for OthernessWhat kind of world do we want? Radical redesign for regeneration and renewal Deep Ecology, Deep Economy

Relation to Principles

• “But in the end, the question is not, 'How do we use nature to serve our interests' It's 'How can we use humans to serve nature's interest?' Now, as a designer, I find that question really interesting” William McDonough

• “In higher states of consciousness, individual desire becomes spontaneously aligned with the need of nature, the need of the time”

End Ethics

Our Common Humanity• Cross cultural human needs identified by Chilean economist and

Right Livelihood Award winner Manfred Max-Neef:• Max-Neef has defined nine fundamental human needs which are

considered to be universal across all cultures and historical time pe- riods. They are: subsistence, protection, affection, un- derstanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity and freedom.11One way to understand this list is by asking yourself the following question: “What would happen if I were to be completely deprived of one of these?” Max-Neef points out that no one of these fundamental human needs can be substituted for another and that a lack of any one of them represents a poverty of some kind. For example, no amount of affection can make up for the absence of food.

• Max-neef video• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=NJRiGobjb00

• Nor is a need the same as a want or a desire – you may want caviar, but what you need is subsistence, and what you do to fulfil this need will depend greatly on your income, culture, location and social network. Each of the nine needs must be met if people are to remain physically, mentally and socially healthy.

• The Brundtland definition of sustainability as “develop- ment that meets the needs of the present without com- promising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” raises some important questions: What is a human need? Do we all have the same needs? And how do we know if they are being met?

Share the Surplus

Time, Money, Energy, KnowledgeOnce our basic needs are met and we

have designed our systems to the best of our ability, we can extend our influence and energies to helping others achieve that aim.

Cooperation

Cooperation is at least as important in the natural world as competition, and far more important in human societies.

“Life is cooperative rather than competitive, and life forms of very different qualities may interact beneficially with one another and with their physical environment. Even “the bacteria…live by collaboration, accomodation, exchange, and barter”

(Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell)

Kropotkin

Life Ethic/ Deep EcologyRecognizes intrinsic worth of every living thing

A tree is something of value in itself , even if it has no commercial value for us. That is alive and functioning is what is important. It is doing its part in nature: recycling biomass, providing oxygen and carbon dioxide for the region, shelterign smal animals, building soil, etc.