The Holistic Flower
Building, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, Energy Systems, Land, People Systems, Plant Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, peak oil — by Oyvind Holmstad August 23, 2010
I’ve found a wonderful flower; I discovered it not long ago. Still, it’s not so much what I know about it that touches me, I’m just drawn to its colors. This flower is unique, it thrives in every country and climate, and adapts very well to the specific conditions of culture and place. Its colors, smell and form is therefore of unlimited variety and complexity, yet it is the same flower. It is the permaculture flower.
Some people think the permaculture flower is a remnant of the hippie’s flower power movement, or that it has something to do with New Age – just another consumerism idea to be sold to the confused and rich people of the middle classes. Oh no, the ‘flower power’ of the permaculture flower has real power. It has the power to reunite humanity with the complex systems of nature, so they can live in symbiosis, enriching each other. Nothing else possesses this power.
Comments (4)Chicago’s $1.3 Million Experiment in Democracy
Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Eco-Villages, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Yes Magazine May 27, 2010
For the first time in the U.S., the city’s 49th Ward lets taxpayers directly decide how public money is spent.
by Josh Lerner, Megan Wade Antieau
On Chicago’s far north side, citizens are taking democracy into their own hands. Through the first “participatory budgeting” experiment in the United States, residents of Chicago’s 49th Ward have spent the past year deciding how to spend $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars. Over 1,600 community members stepped up to decide on improvements for their neighborhoods, showing how participatory budgeting can pave the way for a new kind of grassroots democracy, in Chicago and beyond.
Comments (3)The Tragedy of Suburbia
Building, Eco-Villages, Land, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh May 26, 2010
James Howard Kunstler takes an insightful and often hilarious look at the stupidity of contemporary big-box urban ‘design’, and looks at where we need to head instead. Don’t miss it!
Further Reading:
Comments (6)Transition Day Gathering for Information and Inspiration with David Holmgren
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Eco-Villages, News, People Systems, Presentations/Demonstrations, Social Gatherings, Village Development, peak oil — by Janet Millington
Where: Eumundi QLD (click for map)
When: Thursday 10th June, 2010
 Photo: Maureen Corbett |
Background: Transition Towns is a new direction out of Permaculture. It began in the UK with permaculture teacher Rob Hopkins and a PDC group designing a whole community in the face of peak oil and climate change. Permaculture design, ethics, principles, skills and knowledge are the basis of all Transition Town action.
Australians saw the potential very early and started the first Transition Town outside the UK on the Sunshine Coast in September 2007 and now there is a national network of Transition Towns all implementing permaculture design and principles at community and regional levels.
Sustainability leader and Permaculturist David Holmgren presents Future Scenarios that show how this long crisis may play out and how permaculture can provide tools for community resilience in the face of future challenges. David offers the Transition Movement some excellent tools to work with which can provide inspiration for whole towns and regions to begin permaculture action.
Comments (0)Letters from Chile – Eco Escuela El Manzano, a Nice Place to Learn
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh May 22, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part X of a series. If you haven’t already, be sure to catch Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX!
All photographs copyright © Craig Mackintosh
My time in Chile was encouraging. It gives me some hope in mankind to see a community rallying together to meet present historical realities. Not all is perfect of course. Not all are fully lucid and fully engaged, and whipping up enthusiasm, ethically, in a way that respects individual choice, is a challenge in leadership and patience (sometimes the shock of an earthquake or other disaster can help a little here…), but the good news is that the needed work at El Manzano has more than begun, and it should beget hope for the rest of us – that it is possible to awaken the people around us to unite around intelligent, historically appropriate plans for transition.
Comments (6)Letters from Chile – Building Community Around a Permaculture University
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Development & Property Trusts, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Ethical Investment, Financial Management, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh May 20, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part IX of a series. If you haven’t already, be sure to catch Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII and Part VIII!
My time in Chile is almost at an end. But, before I go, I want to share with you the present and future plans for transitioning the community here in El Manzano. They are not insignificant.
Letters from Chile – a Little Historical Context
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Ethical Investment, Financial Management, Food Shortages, Networking Sites, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh May 16, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part VIII of a series. If you haven’t already, be sure to catch Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII.
Contemplating the past, present and future – and land redistribution – in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Chile.
All photos © copyright Craig Mackintosh
He stares back at us from the t-shirts of millions of youths worldwide. Che Guevara’s face has become one of the most recognisable counter-cultural and political symbols ever known. The history books tell us the man was famously sympathetic to the lot of the poor, and that his overriding passion was to fight against inequality, oppression, control. Che comes to my mind as I write this article from South America, because, in his rise to power, one of his driving ambitions, and which became one of his key responsibilities under Castro, was land redistribution – where he sought to break the stranglehold that was keeping the masses impoverished and robbing them of their potential. I bring this topic up, as, when I look at what’s happening in the world, and the radical changes needed to put us onto a sustainable path, the issue keeps coming back to my mind. These two words – land redistribution – strike fear into the hearts of the rich, and feelings of ambition and even violent revolution in those of the poor, yet, if we’re to stake a claim on the future, I feel we must, both rich and poor, come to terms with them.
Comments (14)Letters from Chile – the Adobe House and Potty Training
Aid Projects, Biological Cleaning, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Potable Water, Rehabilitation, Retrofitting, Soil Conservation, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Contaminaton — by Craig Mackintosh May 9, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part IV of a series. Be sure to catch Part I, Part II, and Part III.
The ‘Adobe House’, El Manzano’s ecological demonstration house.
All photos © copyright Craig Mackintosh
In the middle of the little El Manzano village, on display to all in the community, is the ‘Adobe House’. This demonstration house is a project by Eco Escuela El Manzano to demonstrate to the community several low-tech but effective techniques for improving quality of life whilst reducing a home’s impact on the environment.
Comments (12)Keeping Heart in Pine Ridge
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Financial Management, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Cory Brennan May 4, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a series. Read Part I of Cory’s series here.
Many good things came from the Permaculture Design Course we held last September at the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation. Our project is on target to be self-sustaining within three years and has moved beyond that in a number of ways.
Comments (1)Letters from Costa Rica: the Ecovillage Fueled by Music and Homegrown Food
Eco-Villages, People Systems, Village Development — by Juliana Birnbaum Fox May 1, 2010
by Juliana Birnbaum Fox, fellow collaborator with Craig Mackintosh on the Sustainable (R)evolution Book Project.
Editor’s Note: This is Part IV of a series. Click to read Part I, Part II and Part III.
 Our daughters in the dipping pool outside our casita |
Life here at Tacotal ecovillage—also affectionately known as the “jungle work farm,” reached a natural peak recently as our population grew from 15 to about 40 during our annual members’ meeting. Then to follow that up, we welcomed about 250 guests to a grand wedding celebration for community members, Stephen Brooks and Sarah Wu, on the adjoining farm, Ecovilla Kopali. In addition to all the meetings and celebrations, we traveled to several inspiring permaculture projects: Punta Mona, on the Carribean side of Costa Rica, and Qachuu Aloom in the remote mountains of Guatemala (I’ll write about Guatemala in a separate article ).
Comments (2)Letters from Sri Lanka – Sarvodaya Catches Those Who Fall Through the Cracks
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh April 15, 2010
Part VIII of a series – If you haven’t already, please read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII before continuing. This series is part of my work for the Sustainable (R)evolution book project.
I didn’t have the heart to photograph her. It felt obscene to do so. She smiled at me – the strange white man with the camera – as she played with the other children. I did my best to smile back, a challenge to do so, whilst fighting back tears…. This little girl was only about six or seven, I would guess. The right side of her face and body was just like that of any other beautiful little girl, while the other was a gnarled mess of burned flesh that made one wince just thinking of the pain she must have endured, and weep contemplating the pain she will yet feel as she matures and begins to consider her own future.
She was one of dozens of children Sarvodaya was taking care of at one of their many volunteer-run, internationally-sponsored centres – this one a ‘Nutrition Centre for Abandoned and Malnourished Babies’. Children here are either abandoned by desperate or negligent parents, or have been plucked from the same by concerned authorities. This particular little girl suffered at the hands of an angry father who must have brought her to within an inch of her life. The left side of her head was missing all but a few small clumps of hair, her left eye all but melted over, the fingers on her left hand were melted to two or three centimetres shorter than they should have been. Her entire left side was a taut scar. She was a walking tragedy, yet she giggled and played quietly with all the other children – all of whom had their own, albeit less visible, tragedies.
Comments (1)Mullumbimby Community Gardens Moves Ahead Apace
Community Projects, Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Food Shortages, Land, Networking Sites, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Surveying, Swales, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Jeannette Martin April 12, 2010
Editor’s Note: For background on the excellent work going on at the Mullumbimby Community Gardens, an update for which is found below, see here, here and here.
Mullumbimby’s community garden is blossoming into a hive of activity with people from all walks of life building, creating and gardening together. Our communal gardens and new allotments are now brimming with organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers while 18 "Pods" (special interest groups) develop programs and projects that are launching MCG into a sustainable living education centre.
Comments (2)Towards Local Democracy
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Community Projects, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Networking Sites, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Marcin Gerwin March 23, 2010
It’s been more than a year since we’ve started our initiative in Sopot, Poland. It has the same aim as the Transition initiatives, however we have decided to focus on local democracy first. Democracy helps to eliminate the struggles of political parties and it weakens vested interests. What we have also quickly realized is that even if you come up with a great plan for improving public transport or installing a biogas digester in your city, there’s this little, tiny issue: how can you make it all happen? Where will the money come from? Who will give all permits and change the city plans? The city council may be supportive and help you with that, but what if your city council is not interested in preparing for peak oil and doesn’t care about climate change? Certainly, citizens can exchange the city council in the next elections, nevertheless, at least in Poland, members of the council don’t have to keep their promises. Their commitments are not guaranteed by law. With participatory democracy citizens are involved in decision making directly. Citizens don’t need to worry about political campaigns, they can think long-term. If most of the citizens share the vision of a sustainable city, and if they have a direct influence on budget spending, than realizing this vision becomes possible. And, what’s also important, all projects are not imposed on people by the mayor, but they are agreed upon by the majority of the population.
Please Get Behind Our Efforts to Demonstrate Sustainable Development and Relief for Chile Quake/Tsunami Victims
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Ethical Investment, Irrigation, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Harvesting — by Grifen Hope March 20, 2010
Editor’s Preamble: Permaculturists famously endeavour to ‘turn the problem into a solution’. At the moment we have a tremendous opportunity to apply this principle in wonderful, productive ways in disaster-hit Chile. The quake-tsunami combo that hit on February 27, 2010 has created a void just begging for sustainable relief and re-development. Grifen Hope, who writes below and who leads out at Ecoescuela El Manzano, a partner organisation to the Permaculture Research Institute, is well positioned to fill that void with all kinds of permaculture goodness – in the form of low-cost environmentally friendly buildings, improved sanitation and nutrient cycling through construction of composting toilets, water harvesting systems and in education in home garden design, etc. Grifen’s already established and successful project and his national contacts make this a particularly significant opportunity, to not only directly help people in great need at this time, but to also offer more holistic and community centred alternatives to local and national government – alternatives with far greater short and long term potential than those offered by the scores of contractors seeking to cash in on misery. PRI Australia feels so strongly about assisting Grifen with his noble ambitions, that we’re putting forward the first AU$1,000 donation. Both PRI Australia and PRI USA are taking donations for this cause (people in the U.S. will want to donate through PRI USA, to take advantage of their tax-exampt non-profit status). In the interests of transparency, PRI USA will take 5 percent of donations to cover administration and the work that had to be done to facilitate the legal aspects of sponsoring this project – but that 5% will help PRI USA develop its own projects). PRI Australia will pass 100% of donations to the project in Chile. Additionally, as we feel this work deserves significant exposure, and as we seek to ensure that valuable permaculture relief work gets noticed at the highest levels, to attract further governmental support for future disasters worldwide, PRI Australia and myself (Craig Mackintosh) will share the costs for myself to go to Chile to cover and report on Grifen’s work via photographs, writing and video. I would like to take this opportunity to ask people to get behind this in whatever way they can. Donations, large or small, will all assist in what is the very best form of aid work. Perhaps ask your employer to match your donation – many will. Additionally, people with contacts in government, aid agencies and other NGOs are invited to share this page with them. Thanks in advance to the worldwide permaculture community for getting behind this work. You never know – in the future you may be the recipient of such assistance.
Update: ‘Letters from Chile‘ reports from Craig are coming in. Check them out!
| Donate via PRI USA (USA residents)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| Donate via PRI Australia (rest of world)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| *Please be sure to click on the ‘Add special instructions to seller’ link, and then type ‘CHILE’ in the field provided, to ensure these fund are correctly diverted. | |
El Manzano in Transition – Towards Community Resilience, by Design
by Grifen Hope of Ecoescuela El Manzano
Comments (3)A Fresh Look at Gandhi – Part I
Eco-Villages, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Thomas Fischbacher March 19, 2010
A chinese proverb says: "the last thing a fish notices is the water in which it swims". And indeed, we often find that we are immersed so deeply in our present context and its corresponding mindset that we fail to ask the most important questions simply because we cannot see them. This certainly is true for the physicists who worked on the "Manhattan Project" and built the atomic bomb, genuinely believing that the situation at the time required all their effort to prevent Nazi Germany from using nuclear weapons in the war. It took a major catastrophe – the nuclear attack on two Japanese cities – to make a number of scientists ask themselves the question they perhaps should have asked much earlier: Is it conceivable that, all things considered, our present perspective on the general situation might be dangerously inaccurate? The relevance of this question has not changed since.
