The Permaculture Neighborhood Center, California
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Urban Projects — by Erik Ohlsen March 15, 2012
Three years ago, here in California, we bought an asphalt/gravel lot with a satisfactory house and decided to call it home. We had hoped to purchase a property in the country, but that was too expensive and felt too isolated for our young family. The first place we looked at in town was a 1/3 acre lot right next door my best friend’s house. The property was covered with 50% asphalt and cement and 50% gravel. Aah, a permaculturists dream come true!
Comments (8)12th Annual Pan-Hellenic Festival for the Exchange of Local Seed Varieties
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Seeds, Social Gatherings — by Spencer Woodard
If you’re in Europe this April, consider a trip to the Peliti Seedbank in Mesochori, Greece.
On April 21st – 23rd Peliti will be hosting the 12th Pan-Hellenic Festival for the Exchange of Local Seed Varieties.
This annual festival, organized by Peliti (www.peliti.gr) since 1999, includes farmers, activists, researchers, students and thousands of visitors from all over the world who will come to share knowledge and experience, and exchange seed. The Festival includes speeches, seminars, workshops, distribution of local seeds, eating, dancing, music, money-free barter of goods, etc. The activities take place from 11am to 5pm. Entrance to the festival is open to all visitors and it is free.
The event is made possible this year with the support of the Europe-wide Seed Campaign, as well as with the support of the Municipality of Paranesti and the Centre for Environmental Education of Paranesti.
Comments (0)Worldwide Permaculture Network Helps Projects Network and Prosper
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Networking Sites, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor March 14, 2012
Get yourself (and your project) onto the permaculture map!
I just wanted to share one of many expressions of gratitude we’ve received for our building and making the Worldwide Permaculture Network, launched a year ago, available to the world’s permaculturists.
Comments (1)Dear Geoff and team,
I am writing to advise you about an ambitious new permaculture project we are starting up in Bali this year. I have already posted a full Project Profile on www.permacultureglobal.com, under the heading Bukit Peninsula Sustainability Project. We have already attracted quite a bit of interest directly from that site, and have volunteers from around the world making their way to Bali to assist us at the end of this month.
I’d like to thank you for making the above website available to projects like ours for free — it has proven an excellent way of publicizing it and attracting interest.
White House Event to Be Live Streamed – Watch Permaculture on the U.S. National Stage!
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Presentations/Demonstrations, Society, Urban Projects — by Ryan Harb March 13, 2012
Hi All. We’re heading to Washington, DC in less than 48 hours and just found out the following: The White House Campus Champions of Change event will be live streamed on Thursday, March 15 from 2:50pm — 4:20pm (EST)! This means anyone can watch permaculture being talked about at The White House by tuning in here during that time.
I just wanted to share the good news!
Comments (1)The Konohana Family Farm – Successful Sustainable Living in Japan
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, People Systems, Village Development — by Keveen Gabet March 12, 2012
This micro-documentary about the Konohana Family Farm will take you to the heart of a successful intentional community flourishing about three hours from Tokyo. Their farm was established on the foothills of Mount Fuji, about 18 years ago, by a handful of people who sought an alternative lifestyle. They knew almost nothing about sustainable living practices, eco-villages or permaculture.
Comments (0)Surveying Commons Activism on the International Stage
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Community Projects, Eco-Villages, Economics, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by David Bollier March 10, 2012
The following is an adaptation of my notes for my talk at the Occupy Wall Street “Making Worlds” conference on February 16-18, 2012.
I am so pleased that the Occupy and Commons movements are finding each other and starting a new conversation. Occupy is an incredible force for change. It has a bracing vision, a deeply principled philosophy, and an independent, risk-taking spirit that is unusual in American political life. There are many challenges for Occupy, however, as it tries to imagine new ways to move forward and grow. I’d like to suggest how the commons framing and language may be strategically important by surveying the international scene of commons activism, which is remarkably robust. There is a lot is going on — but I won’t presume to be comprehensive; my apologies for any significant omissions.
Let me start by giving a brief speculation about why people from so many backgrounds are embracing the commons. First of all, it is a way for people to assert the integrity of their existing communities, or to try to reclaim that integrity. The commons also provides a way to assert a moral relationship to certain resources and people that are endangered by market forces. It’s a way of saying, “That _________ (water, air, software code, cultural tradition) belongs to me. It is part of my life and identity.”
Many people are embracing the commons, too, because it provides a powerful critique of neoliberal capitalism. But it is much more than that. It is a pro-active set of alternatives that work. And therefore it provides a positive, constructive scaffolding for practical alternatives to the prevailing market economy and corrupt political process. But the commons is still more than this. It is not just a policy critique or political philosophy, but equally a distinctive worldview, language and social ethic.
Comments (19)Time for a FRESH Start
Community Projects, Consumerism, Demonstration Sites, Society, Village Development — by Kenneth Gronbjerg
Editor’s Note: For background on the FRESH project ("the world’s wildest supermarket"), please see this previous post.
From: Sepp Holzer’s Permakultur, Leopold Stocker Verlag, 2008
Danish food revolutionaries take matters into their own hands in order to do what needs to be done — without funding, permits and other bureaucratic fumblings.
In this article, I will answer the following questions:
- What is FRESH? What kind of people are in the movement? What is it doing?
- How is FRESH doing (or planning to do) what it does?
- How is FRESH progressing?
An Innovative Approach to Water Storage at a Sustainable Tanzanian Home
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Courses/Workshops, Dams, Demonstration Sites, Irrigation, Land, Material, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Harvesting — by Robert Cork March 9, 2012
Just outside of Arusha, Tanzania, is ‘Kesho Leo’– a sustainable home for vulnerable women and children operated by FoodWaterShelter. The principles of permaculture underpin the daily lives of the Kesho Leo residents. It is currently the home of seven families, each headed by a Tanzanian mama who cares for up to five children, including orphans. In addition to the daily essentials, Kesho Leo provides the many other aspects that a ‘home’ needs; access to family and social support, access to education and health, and very importantly – access to community.
Permaculture meeting the needs of the Kesho Leo residents
Revolving around the community and education aspects of Kesho Leo are the permaculture systems that strive to provide all of the food, water and energy needs of the residents. Basic needs of water, sanitation and power are provided through rainwater harvesting, innovative batch compost toilet systems, and solar power.
Comments (7)Sail Power Reborn – Transporting Local Goods by Boat
Community Projects, Energy Systems, Markets & Outlets, Processing & Food Preservation, Village Development, peak oil — by Anthea Hudson
Peak Moment host Janaia Donaldson joins Fulvio Casali, Kathy Pelish and Alex Tokar, co-founders of the Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, on the deck of the sailboat Soliton, docked in Ballard, near Seattle, Washington.
The Salish Sea Trading Cooperative have teamed up with Nash’s organic produce in Sequim, where twice a month they arrive by sailboat, to collect the produce, before heading back to Ballard for distribution to the local community through their CSA scheme.
Comments (0)Permaculture Resiliency Project with the San Bushmen in the Kalahari Vergenoeg, Namibia
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Food Forests, Irrigation, Potable Water, Village Development, Waste Water, Water Harvesting — by Warren Brush March 8, 2012
In a land of contrast, mystery and years of imperialism, a small village of over 300 people on the edge of the Kalahari in Namibia germinated a new permaculture resiliency project in January of 2012. In talking with the headman of the village, he shared that their people, the San Bushmen, have lived in harmony with the land as hunter gatherers for eons. They are often cited as the first peoples of Africa and very likely all of humanity may have descended from their ranks many millennia ago.
The village elder sadly shared that colonialism has destroyed the San migratory way of life — a hunter gatherer tradition that was sustainable for thousands of years. He told us that they were no longer allowed to roam freely and trophy hunters destroyed the vast herds of game that formed their principal supply of food. Both Black and White farmers alike built up huge herds of cattle that destroyed the ecology of the Kalahari and subsequently the foods that had been their staple diet. They soon found they had to work for the farmers to be able to feed their families and hence a cycle of poverty and separation from their cultural roots ensued.
Comments (6)An Experiment in Back Yard Sustainability – and a Revisit, Four Years On
Community Projects, Consumerism, Demonstration Sites, Food Shortages, Plant Systems, Village Development, peak oil — by Anthea Hudson March 7, 2012
Part I
Scott McGuire of ‘White Sage Gardens’, Janaia Donaldson’s guest for this episode of Peak Moment, asks the question: What would it look like if we were to really start feeding ourselves?
Comments (5)Re-imagining Urban Design and City Life
Building, Community Projects, Consumerism, Economics, Land, Society, Village Development — by David Bollier
I have been asked to address what the commons might have to say about urban spaces and urban life. The short answer is, a lot!
First, the language of the commons helps us assert a moral entitlement to public spaces again. It lets us challenge the unholy alliance of politicians, developers and professional architects and planners, and insist that city spaces serve our needs as ordinary people. This means, first of all, that commercial considerations cannot crowd out vital common purposes – as we see when the market or authoritarians take over.
Comments (0)UMass Permaculture Wins White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge!
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education, Education Centres, News, Society, Urban Projects — by Ryan Harb
We did it everyone! It is now official. The UMass Permaculture team will be heading to the White House on March 15! This has been an amazing and inspiring week to see the voting results unfold and be in the center of it all. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support you’ve provided us with.
I’d like to share some reflections for how this week has been for me personally.
Comments (7)Permaculture to the White House – Please Take Three Seconds to Vote!
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Urban Projects — by Ryan Harb March 3, 2012
Further to the last post on our UMass Amherst Permaculture project potentially being spotlighted by the White House and MTV, here’s the latest — we were leading the race but another project unexpectedly gained 20,000 votes today and has taken over first place due to their project being featured in USA Today. We are thus making a big final push to get permaculture back on top and I think we can do it!
Please take three seconds to vote here — make your vote for "UMASS Amherst Permaculture Initiative – Ryan Harb, University of Massachusetts at Amherst"
Please also note:
Comments (5)A Forest of Food in the Center of Seattle
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Land, News, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Andrew Beard March 1, 2012
Click for larger view
In the Beacon Hill community of Seattle a revolutionary community garden is being developed to feed her people. The Beacon Food Forest is transforming a previously unused piece of public land into a vibrant food forest filled with hundreds of different varieties of edible plants, fruits and nuts. The seven acre plot uses perennial crops and sustainable methods rooted in permaculture to create a source of food available to all.
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