Permaculture Comes to Aruba
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, News — by Amber Bacca May 28, 2011
Editor’s Note: A former PRI Australia intern shares exciting news of efforts she has been successfully engaged in since her stay at Zaytuna Farm. Well done Amber!
A U.S.-based non-profit, Resilient Futures International, recently travelled to the beautiful island of Aruba to participate in the country’s first Permaculture Fair, which took place between April 10-20, 2011. Over the course of a week, RFI presented the permaculture concept and methods to around 700 participants from various sectors of Aruban society, including but not limited to businesses, the tourism industry, and local NGOs.
Observations on Permaculture Aid and the PRI’s Project Aid Worker Training Course
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Ethical Investment, Food Shortages, People Systems, Project Positions, Society, Village Development — by Steve Grace May 27, 2011
Interns at PRI’s Zaytuna Farm
There are few things in this life as disturbing as the suffering of another human being. Perhaps one might be the fact that we the privileged have become so desensitised to it, so selfishly removed into our own little worlds of such great importance. Is it not the responsibility of the privileged to ensure the basic elements of survival are provided for those less fortunate than ourselves? How can we continue to spoil ourselves with riches, when the knowledge of another’s pain is so obviously clear?
Comments (6)Animal Systems at HEPA, Vietnam
Aid Projects, Animal Housing, Bird Life, Breeds, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Fencing, Fish, Livestock, Working Animals — by Marty Miller-Crispe May 19, 2011
At SPERI’s Human Ecology Project Area we have a number of Farmer Field Schools (HEPA FFS) which are host to students from a variety of indigenous minority groups from Vietnam and Laos. The students are here to learn about eco-farming and permaculture whilst respecting traditional laws and customs.
The main focus of the farms isn’t to be productive, but rather to provide an environment where the students can experiment with various farming methods of growing crops and raising animals. So, although we do obtain a yield from the farms, the greater yield is the knowledge the students gain from trial and error.
HEPA FFS is in lush rainforest near the Laos border south-west of Ha Noi. The weather here varies from very cold winters (no snow but feels like it could!), to hot dry summers toasted with hot winds from Laos, and moving into cold monsoons and flooding at other times of the year. As such it is a challenge for the students to obtain a yield from the crops year round, and even more of a challenge to keep healthy animals.
Comments (4)Only Two Weeks to Go Before Ethiopia PDC Begins!
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor May 17, 2011
| "We are an oasis of green sitting amongst the dusty hills of Konso, Ethiopia. A land of proud and simple, solid folk, with hoary palms and wooden arms, who hoist and toil through their days to push that rolling rock, the wheel of life, ever on and up around, amongst those rocky rugged slopes, on the edge of the Great Rift Valley." |
Regular readers will have appreciated the great work that Alex McCausland is doing at Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge, in an amazing location in Konso, Ethiopia. His updates have been of great interest to me personally. I’m looking forward to visiting his project myself at some point to do what I can to shine a spotlight on this excellent developing example of a self-replicating permaculture demonstration site. (See also this great series by Alex Metcalfe to get even more of a sense of the flavour of the people and place.)
Anyway, in less than two weeks time their latest Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course will be held, lead by the competent hands of the PRI’s Rhamis Kent and Strawberry Fields’ Tichafa Makovere. The course runs from May 30 to June 11.
This is a fantastic opportunity to gain an experience of a lifetime, whilst supporting a valuable permaculture aid endeavour — the type of which we’d like to see replicated across the developing world.
Comments (0)Democracy Comes to Town
Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Economics, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Marcin Gerwin May 10, 2011
Sopot, Poland
On the 6th of May the city council of Sopot in Poland has passed a landmark resolution that starts the process of participatory budgeting in our city. It means that the citizens of Sopot will have a direct say in what the public funds are spent on. We’re beginning with a modest amount of 1.1 million USD – I say “modest”, because it’s less than 1% of the total budget expenditure. Nevertheless, in the city of 37,000 residents many small projects can be funded with this amount.
Comments (7)ABC’s Bush Telegraph Helps Push National Permaculture Day
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Podcasts, Social Gatherings, Society — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor May 6, 2011
This little promo interview by ABC’s Michael Mackenzie with Geoff Lawton, Kat Lavers and Liz Silvolli was for Australia’s National Permaculture Day — which saw a flurry of permaculture activity across Australia just a few days ago, on May 1. I post the talk for your interest. I’d welcome reports from the day from organisers and observers of some of the various events. It would be a great way to get people to start thinking about May 1, 2012! Just email me on editor (at) permaculture.org.au
Click play below to hear the interview.
ABC's Michael Mackenzie talks with Geoff Lawton, Kat Lavers and Liz Silvolli Comments (1)Dispatch from the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka ‘Greening the Desert – the Sequel’) – April 2011
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Urban Projects — by Dan Smith May 4, 2011
The Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka ‘Greening the Desert – the Sequel’)
Here at the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project in Jawasari, we’re hard at work building the main facilities and enhancing the fertility of the site while we’re at it. Those who had the chance to see the system last summer may have had some pangs of fear looking at some of the fruit trees, nearly prostrate beneath the intense yearly roasts the Jordan valley experiences in last months of summer — last summer being particularly severe. But today, the system is strong and growing. Acacias, Prosopis, Tipuana tipu other hardy nitrogen fixers have shot up, and the formerly-moribund fruit trees are twice their size, growing healthily in the shade of the pioneers. Apart from one sickly palm, not a single fruit tree was lost, and we even have our first yield of fruit!
Comments (10)Australia’s Permaculture Day, May 1st – Only Two Days to Go!
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Social Gatherings — by Penny Pyett April 29, 2011
Dear permaculture people — if you haven’t seen the National Permaculture Day website recently you should see it now!
With over 70 events showcasing permaculture happening around Australia this Sunday, it’s going to be a fantastic day with our co-operative efforts gaining maximum public and media attention. Local and national newspapers and radio are certainly picking up on this. Various permies have already done several interviews about the day — I’ve done a few and expect to do many more over the next few days. Be prepared just in case you are also contacted as I have been referring media to local people running specific events. There is a permaculture event in every state except the Northern Territory.
Media releases have gone out to all metropolitan and regional TV, radio and newspapers, plus news agencies and talkback radio. In total, 1136 emails to date!
Comments (1)Letters from Slovakia – the Homeless Camp Makes a Start
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Land — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 27, 2011
The wind turbine generates some of the site’s power
All photographs copyright © Craig Mackintosh
Since my last visit to the homeless camp in north central Slovakia, it seems some unrestrained enthusiasm for all things permaculture has lead Daniel Diškanec to leap in and try to make a start with his site development. The first design step, to observe, got somewhat overlooked in the rush, so a few errors were made, as we’ll see below. Guiding this enthusiasm will be important to the success of the site and last weekend we made a start to accomplish this.
Comments (3)Gold Coast Permaculture Group Hosts Permaculture Skill Fair Day on May 1st 2011
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Presentations/Demonstrations, Social Gatherings — by Leah Galvin April 8, 2011
Click for larger, printable version
Coinciding with Australia’s National Permaculture Day, the Gold Coast Permaculture Group will host a Permaculture Skill Fair Day on May 1st, 2011. This event will incorporate fun, interactive and educational talks, workshops and stalls relating to permaculture, organic vegetable gardening and self-reliance. The goal for the day is to inspire, create connections and increase awareness for the people of the Gold Coast community.
Where: Three Worlds Community Garden
When: 10am-3pm, May 1st, 2011
The Gold Coast Permaculture Group is a non profit association, focused on building community capacity, education and sustainability. We have worked with the community garden groups, schools, workplaces and general public for the past 4 years. Our focus this year is to develop supportive partnerships with the schools of the Gold Coast.
Everyone is welcome!
We are also looking for people who would be interested in doing a talk, workshop or have a stall on the day…. Just let us know!
Contact:
Leah Galvin
Gold Coast Permaculture Group
Phone: 0406 897 195
Email: leg30 (at) hotmaill.com
Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge – Update: Cob Oven
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Energy Systems — by Alex McCausland April 4, 2011
Editor’s Note: As many of you will have noticed, Alex has been making some great practical updates on the work going on at the Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge. Below is yet another little update on the practical application of permaculture in southern Ethiopia. In addition to the Steve Cran Training of Trainers course, the PRI’s Rhamis Kent will be making a May 30 – June 11, 2011 Permaculture Design Certificate course at Strawberry Fields in Ethiopia. Both of these courses are worth some serious consideration.
Another structure we built in the last couple of weeks was a small cob-oven. This is a great thing for our project to save on fuel wood consumption and allow us to make more kinds of food, like pizzas as well as baking loaf-bread rather than only flat bread which we currently make.
Comments (4)Our First Week at HEPA
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Marty Miller-Crispe April 2, 2011
Just over a week ago I arrived in Vietnam with three of my daughters to work as a Volunteer for SPERI (The Social Policy Ecology Research Institute). SPERI have a number of properties where they have established Human Ecology Practice Areas (HEPA) which run Farmer Field Schools (FFS).
Upon arrival in Vietnam we spent a few days in Hanoi with an introductory workshop at SPERI’s office. The following day we took a nine hour bus ride to HEPA and arrived around 9pm to freezing temperatures and torrential rain. But even in the dark, cold and rain we fell in love with the place.
Comments (4)Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge Update: Solar Powered Fridge
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Land, Processing & Food Preservation, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water — by Alex McCausland April 1, 2011
Editor’s Note: As many of you will have noticed, Alex has been making some great practical updates on the work going on at the Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge. The following article is another good example. I thought I’d mention that if you want to soak in some excellent experience at this site, Steve Cran will be leading a great course beginning July 1, 2011 that you might want to attend if you can.
The heat chimney for the solar fridge
The solar fridge is a new system which we have now managed to get set up after months of pondering, trying, adjusting, tweaking and trying again. We think we have finally got it kicking and pretty well integrated into the other functions of the kitchen area, so we can demonstrate permaculture principals with it pretty nicely.
The system is based on an old design for desert/dry-land cool storages which makes use of a heat chimney to create an up-draft which then sucks cool air in to the storage chamber from below. This air may pass through a long tunnel in its way to the storage chamber and hence be cooled by the ground on the way to the chamber. In order to enhance the cooling of the air on the way to the chamber, if possible, water, by evaporating will take in thermal energy, causing the temperature of the air to fall further. The main logistical issue to deal with, as usual, in building the system, was getting the theory to work in practice using available materials. Most of the construction work on this project was done by one of our long term volunteers, Duncan Colquin from Herefordshire, England, so a big thanks to him.
Comments (4)Permaculture Training of Trainers: Interactive Training for Permaculture in Aid Work in the Developing World (30 Day Program US$2000; 8-week follow-up internship program US$1000)
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Alex McCausland
Steve Cran brings his infamous Green Warriors (Permaculture-Aid Workers’) Program to Ethiopia. This course is a full-on intensive, interactive action learning Training of Trainers Course, inducting the participants on the practicalities of applying Permaculture to the development of food security in rural third world communities. This induction will be done through action learning: The participants themselves will run a “Community Sustainability Course” for two local Ethiopian School Communities in the local Konso area of South Ethiopia. Participants will thus be capable of leading community trainings in Permaculture for themselves by the end of the course. Another outcome of the course will be development of plans for Permaculture implementation in the two local communities. Those opting to take the follow-up internship will participate in the implementation of the plans developed by the school communities during the training, facilitated by you. This course will not only qualify you to lead Community Sustainability trainings in the future, it will actually result in the initiation two Permaculture schools in Southern Ethiopia.
Facilitators: Steve Cran, Tichafa Makovere, Alex McCausland
Dates: July 1st to July 30th (optional internship to follow, August 1st to September 30th, 2011)
Location: Konso, South Ethiopia
Venue: Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge
Requirements: A passion to help with food security in the developing world; strength of will and dedication; a previous PDC or experience practicing PC is not necessary though may come as an advantage.
Letters from Slovakia – a Homeless Camp Goes Permaculture
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Consumerism, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor March 31, 2011
Already doing what it can to operate along sustainable lines, a homeless camp in Slovakia is looking for a permaculture makeover and evolution.
In little more than eight years, more than 800 homeless people have come and gone through this little site. For some it was temporary salvation, giving them a roof over their heads just when they needed it most, for others it meant even more — redirecting their life from its downward, sometimes criminal trajectory, to give them a sense of self-worth, a new skill-set and positive purpose.
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