United Colors of Ho avy: Growing Trees and Growing with Them, Madagascar
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Food Forests, Nurseries & Propogation, Social Gatherings, Trees, Village Development — by Martina Petru September 2, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is an update for the ho avy project in Madagascar. Previous updates here and here.
EcoExplorers Madagascar 2010 from Shannon Kohlitz on Vimeo.
Here we are past July’s time for fleece, hat and socks, wouldn’t you believe! Manintsy – cold (25/16 °C day/night or less) was the semiarid southwest Madagascar in winter; winter in the dry southwest where ‘it never rains’. Well, never say ‘never’ and/or be prepared for rain in the no rain season and for beautiful double rainbows arching gently over the glowing morning skies….
Since our last update in February, ho avy has been on a ‘high season rainbow ride’ – exciting in a way, admittedly speedy and bumpy some of the time – more like a downhill slalom race against time, where falling over exposed tree roots is unavoidable. Retrospectively, it’s been a valuable growing time: our trees are growing and we are growing with them.
We especially enjoyed the rainbow of colors left behind the pens, pencils and brushes of Eco-Explorers – talented undergraduate students of the University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design. These young students overflowing with creativity came to Madagascar expecting no rain. Although they got some, they seemed to greatly enjoy this mad ride, and so did we on ho avy & Madagascar Eco-Explorers’ tour and project service work in Ranobe.
Comments (2)Permaculture for Kids
Community Projects, Education Centres, Society, Village Development — by Paul Douglas August 30, 2010
Editor’s Note: Please welcome new contributing writer, Paul Douglas of Victoria, Australia!
During my two week immersion into permaculture design, Bill Mollison was asked by a student, "How do we go about teaching permaculture to our children?” to which Bill replied something along the lines of, “I don’t believe we should be teaching Permaculture to children. They already have enough on their plates in terms of responsibilities and such, so we shouldn’t overburden them with yet another subject.”
True enough, if you take permaculture as the full 72-hour course that we adults tend towards. But I approach the idea that teaching children permaculture is vitally important to the sustainability of life itself and needs to be taught to youths so that by the time they are adults, permaculture is no longer a subject, but a way of life that is as natural as breathing.
Comments (10)Fun-tastic Permasphere, L.A. Arboretum PDC
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Urban Projects — by Owen Hablutzel August 28, 2010
The Los Angeles Arboretum:
is a unique 127 acre botanical garden and historical site jointly operated by the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and located in the city of Arcadia [just outside of Los Angeles]. Home to plant collections from all over the world, including many rare and endangered species… (from the LA Arboretum website)
This respected Los Angeles institution has now broken new ground by being home to a Permaculture “first,” as detailed in the article that follows…
Fun-tastic Permasphere, L.A. Arboretum
by Erin Marteal
The planting methods in the Permaculture Sphere follow two basic Permaculture principles: 1. Make use of the resources you have, and 2. Mimic nature. When you eat a tomato, simply smoodge the seeds out on the ground and let nature take it from there. Look to the fruits of the market to provide your seeds rather than those little expensive packets. The squirrels might make off with some, but they’re bound to leave a few behind to take root in your garden.
Comments (2)Australasian Permaculture Convergence 10 – Only One Month to Go!!
Community Projects, Conferences, Developments, Social Gatherings — by Georgina Lemke August 27, 2010
What: The Tenth Australasian Permaculture Convergence (APC10)
When: September 24 – 27, 2010 (and post-convergence tablelands tour Tuesday, September 28)
Where: In the heart of the rainforest, Kuranda, Far North Queensland
Costs: Here
Register: Here
Why: Coz it’ll be bloody awesome! Read on to see why!!!
You could spend $50,000 and the rest of your life visiting all these amazing people and seeing their projects, or a hundred dollars now to meet them all in the one place at the same time. – Sarah-Jane, Star APC10 Volunteer, talking with Cairns locals at the Sustainable Living Expo last weekend.
Only One Month to go! We are not booked out. But you must register now!
This is our last APC10 Update before the event, which we have come to realise is likely to be the most important gathering of permaculture minds. The key themes in this convergence will be transition initiatives, engagement with the mainstream and renewing our networks and movement’s structure. In our extensive correspondence with permi people world-wide, there is a call for permaculture to move away from the margin to become an effective and credible voice in the future of Australia’s planning and preparations for the changes that will come as a result of climate change, peak oil, economic pertubations, migration shifts, etc.
We have summarised our plenary presenters below but we have an impressive line-up of speakers from around the world – in all about 50 people. Our programme is a conventional conference style programme, but interaction, discussion, round tables and time-out to network are vital to the convergence’s success. We will be testing our capacity to skype in speakers from around Australia and the globe – doing so on a shoe-string budget with volunteers. The complete and final programme is on the website: www.apc10.org
Comments (0)Letters from Sri Lanka – Sarvodaya and the Tea Plantation Challenge
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Consumerism, Economics, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh August 26, 2010
Part IX of a series – If you haven’t already, please read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII and Part VIII before continuing. This series is part of my work for the Sustainable (R)evolution book project.
Preamble: Described as ‘the champagne of tea’, Sri Lankan tea is consumed the world over. Second only to Kenya in exports, Sri Lanka’s tea industry accounts for a full 15% of the nation’s GDP, generating about $700 million per year. Yet very little of this money is seen by the people actually producing it…. Tea plantation workers are trapped in low paid manual labour positions and live in miserable housing conditions, while people around the globe slurp on the fruit of their misery. Sarvodaya has its work cut out to try to assist, but they’re giving it a good try.
Sri Lankan tea plantation worker
All photographs © copyright Craig Mackintosh
Permaculture and Society – a Look at the Example of Detroit
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Economics, Food Shortages, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh August 24, 2010
Rhamis Kent, friend and regular contributor to the PRI, recently gave a talk to Schumacher College in the south west of England. He starts with a look at the meltdown of Detroit’s once thriving manufacturing base, its dramatic consequences for the city and residents, and shares that the current state of affairs for the beleaguered city is a direct result of the economic model that’s been in place in the U.S. over the last century. Rhamis goes further, to share that this is, to one degree or another, the present trajectory of most of the world’s cities.
But, not stopping on the negative, Rhamis goes on to show some of the exciting movements within Detroit that these circumstances are giving life to. Out of necessity, people are working to increase their resiliency and quality of life – turning the problem of Detroit into a solution. Rhamis joins the dots between our socio-economic problems and the environmental catastrophes taking place, and begins to look through the lens of permaculture to see how we can turn things around by imitating natural systems to create low- to no-impact societies that don’t operate on the boom-and-bust model that present day Detroit is arguably the most striking example of.
Duration: 82 minutes
Part way through the talk Rhamis presents the following Urban Roots film trailer. I’ll put it below for convenience. To jump back to where the trailer below (higher quality) ends in the video above, click on 31:40 on progress bar above.
Comments (8)Permaculture Continues To Take Root In Kenya
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, People Systems, Village Development — by Warren Brush August 23, 2010
Take a PDC in Kenya (PDF) or donate, either way will help to underwrite the course expenses so that local Kenyans can participate without cost….
There are two very unique and exciting opportunities to learn Permaculture Design and obtain your certification in Kenya this coming December of 2010 or in March of 2011. Students from around the world are invited to join local Kenyan students and International permaculture teacher and designer, Warren Brush, of Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm and other teachers from the local culture for this learning journey of a lifetime.
Get Paid to Share Your Permaculture Passion With the World
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Project Positions, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh August 18, 2010
How to Help Us Educate the World and Save Our Futures
Tongue-in-cheek instructional video
Note: This is an update on PRI’s position and direction, and an opportunity for you to get paid to help!
The short version: We’re now paying you to write for us! Click here to get started.
The background/long version follows:
Over the last two years since I took over the running of this site, I’ve been pleased to see significant growth in traffic. I’m not so narrow-minded as to believe this is just due to my efforts or Geoff and Nadia Lawton’s or the rest of the PRI team, however. Aside from the tremendous support and input from the wider permaculture community, I also note that current events and the spread of information through the internet is threatening to actually wake the world up – and this ‘awakening’ is seeing an unprecedented growth in interest in sustainability, transition and the creation of resilient people systems. This interest certainly isn’t coming too soon, but better late than never.
Comments (20)Morocco Observations, Past, Present and Future – Part III
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Alex Metcalfe August 14, 2010
Written by Alex Metcalfe. Photo credits to Alex Metcalfe, Asiya Brock, Helen Evans and Houssa Yacoubi. Part III of a series. Be sure to check out Part I and Part II.
Journey to Igourdane: Large communal extended family home.
Only the part on the far right is now inhabited.
The days on the course were spent going through the theory and wandering about on the farm trying to apply it to surrounding landscape. Every now and then we might be given some mint tea, batboot and olive oil.
Comments (4)Sustainable Hawaii Coming this October
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Developments, Education Centres, Urban Projects — by Nichole Ross August 12, 2010
PRI-USA Offers a Unique Series of Permaculture Courses on Isle of Molokai
In partnership with Sust`aina ble Molokai and the Ho`ala Hou Program, the Permaculture Research Institute USA is proud to announce an upcoming series of key Permaculture courses on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii.
We are offering the following four foundational courses between October and December this year:
- Permaculture Design Certificate Course with Andrew Jones and Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones, Oct 10-22
- Practicum: Incorporating Traditional Hawaiian Plants, Foods and Fuels into a Permaculture Design with Andrew Jones and Hunter Heaivilin, Oct 25-29
- PDC Teacher Training Course with Andrew Jones and Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones, Nov 1-6
- Earthworks with Geoff and Nadia Lawton, Dec 6-10
These courses will be held in conjunction with the Ho`ala Hou Program, a substance abuse and prevention program that works with youth and families to set up up community garden plots. Courses will take place on Ho`ala Hou’s 20-acre site.
This series is also part of an island-wide initiative with local nonprofit Sust`aina ble Molokai to work toward the goals of the Molokai Sustainability Plan, a plan created by the people of Molokai that honors Hawaiian traditional and cultural pathways alongside modern strategies for a sustainable future.
For more information and to register for these courses, please visit the Permaculture Research USA website at www.permacultureusa.org.
Aloha and A hui hou!
Comments (5)Port Kembla Part 1 and 2
Community Projects, Urban Projects — by Patrick Blampied August 9, 2010
Part 1: Geoff put me in touch with Benn Wolhuter, a very active permie from the coal and steel town of Port Kembla. So on my trip through NSW I got in touch and Benn kindly gave me a tour of some impressive Permaculture projects throughout the region.
In Part I Benn is talking about the laneway project where a small group of volunteers have taken to the lanes, transforming them from bland overgrown backstreets to pleasant, rich & productive places to go for a walk, relax or feed yourself.
It’s really good to see Permaculture spreading like wild fire in an area that according to some reports has significant environmental and health problems due to its industrial emissions.
Comments (0)
A Call to Large Scale Earth Healing and Lessons from the Loess Plateau (Video)
Alternatives to Political Systems, Biodiversity, Community Projects, Conservation, Consumerism, Dams, Deforestation, Economics, Food Shortages, Gabions, Global Warming/Climate Change, Land, Plant Systems, Population, Regional Water Cycle, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Swales, Terraces, Trees, Village Development, Water Contaminaton, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh August 6, 2010
The world is coming unglued. The world burns. What are we going to do about it?
Map of fires in Russia
As I type, half of Russia is on fire after its hottest summer on record, Pakistan is dealing with the biggest floods in living memory and Australia is still in the clutches of a decade long drought. The last decade, worldwide, was the hottest since records began, and 2010 may break the records of 1998 and 2005 to become the hottest year we’ve ever known. We could spend weeks just examining the extreme weather events going on on a country by country basis.
Comments (12)Mining Madness – We Need Help Here in South Africa
Community Projects, Economics, News, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Santa van Bart August 3, 2010
In May 2010 life changed dramatically for the community here at Groot Marico, South Africa. We became aware of a prospecting and mining company called ‘African Nickel’ and its plans for us.
The lifeblood of our area is the Groot Marico River, which begins a few kilometers south of the historical town of the same name.
The Marico River is graded as an A/B (least impacted) river, and is one of the few remaining such rivers in the country. This means that the water is clear and safe to drink! In fact the town of Groot Marico and all the farms along the river derive their drinking and household water directly from the river.
Comments (9)Looking Back at a PDC in Southern Ethiopia
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Pierre Theriault July 29, 2010
A personal account from taking the Permaculture Design Course at Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge, Konso, Southern Ethiopia, 9-15 June 2010
Together with three Ethiopians and eight other international participants, I recently attended a 72-hour permaculture design course hosted by Alex McCausland and the Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge in the Konso province of southern Ethiopia.
Comments (1)Only Two Months to Go Until the Next Biggest Event in Permaculture
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, News, Social Gatherings — by Kym Kruse
The 10th Australasian Permaculture Convergence APC10
September 24 – 27, 2010
Do not delay registering for this premier event and promote it throughout your business, training and social networks.
An exciting programme of forums, presentations, workshops, round-table discussions, plenary speakers both skyped in and visiting from around Australia and the world.
Talking about Transition Towns, Indigenous knowledge, urban planning, agriculture, humanitarian & emergency responses, ethics, advocacy, population, gender, business, education & training and so much more.
Plenary speakers and presenters include: Bill Mollison, Daryl Hannah, Maj. Gen. Michael Jeffery, Mark O’Connor, Gunter Pauli, Janet Millington, Sonya Wallace, Russ Grayson, Geoff Lawton, Darren J.Doherty, Andrea Pape, Robin Clayfield, David Holmgren and Costa Georgiadis and many, many more.
An event for newcomers, as well as the traditional Convergence.
All set within the pristine, protected beauty of the tropical Queensland wet tropics rainforest.
Read the July Update and the Programme (PDFs).
Do not leave it to the last minute. Do not miss out.
Comments (1)
