permaculture

Permaculture is a design science, rooted in the observations of natural systems, that explores the design of human settlements that have the stability and resiliency of natural eco-systems. Coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s, permaculture is rooted in working with nature to build sustainable environments and human settlements that do not degrade but rather improve the environment. It also reduces the reliance on industrial systems which Mollison points out are fundamentally and systematically destroying Earth's ecosystems.

Permaculture operates on 12 design principles. They are:
1. Observe and Interact
2. Catch and Store Energy
3. Obtain a Yield
4. Apply Regulation and Accept Feedback
5. Use Renewable Resources
6. No Waste
7. Design from Patterns
8. Integrate
9. Small Steps
10. Value Diversity
11. Use Edges
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

These principles, though new in terminology, have been used throughout civilization and are now being applied to modern environments such as urban settings and cultivating unfriendly climates.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “permaculture”

• Skeuomorphs of Nature

  
  Wilson's Blogmanac — Authority: 134
  Sydneys Hyde Park and New Yorks Central Park are skeuomorphs of Nature. A skeuomorph is a derivative object which retains ornamental design cues to structure that was necessary in the original. Arguably, permaculture is also a skeuomorph. Im still working on this question, as, I have no doubt, are many others. ...
  2 days ago

• Freegan Sheet Mulching for Beginners

  
  The Wild Green Yonder — Authority: 91
  The following account of sheet-mulching a hell strip is from Denver permie and Wild Green Yonder affiliate Jonathan Hontz. Enjoy! I have a love/hate relationship with my tree lawn.  It used to be  a 15 x 24 foot strip of weedy, sun-baked, and compacted land that neither the City nor I wanted to spend any time ...
  4 days ago

• Edible Forest Gardening Workshop

  
  Humble Garden — Authority: 103
  (Eric and Jonathan teaching on first day of workshop) Recently I had the great fortune of attending Eric Toensmeier ’s Edible Forest Gardening workshop in Holyoke, MA Oct 16 to Oct 18. Before I go any further let me just say that if you have a chance, please go to this workshop the next time they hold it. You ...
  4 days ago

• Rainwater Harvesting with Brad Lancaster

  
  RAW INSPIRATIONS — Authority: 117
  Brad holds the torch for our rethinking our relationship with rain water. Using this valuable resource can solve a lot of problems. Wed Nov 2 7 PM pst / 10 PM est www.VisionaryCultureRadio.com Brad Lancaster is a nationally renown speaker and author of the acclaimed Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Volume ...
  4 days ago

• Back to the Old House: a few days at The Hollies

  
  Transition Culture — Authority: 506
  Spent the half term weekend in West Cork in Ireland, revisiting people and places that made up my life between 1996 and 2005.  It was like visiting a parallel world, a ‘Sliding Doors’-like glimpse at what could have been, offering reflections on where I am now and where I have come from.  I will write [...]
  6 days ago

• Sustainable Illawarra

  
  Darcy Moore's Blog — Authority: 110
   Sarah and I attended the ‘No Dig’ workshops delivered by Sustainable Illawarra and The Garden at Kiama Public School today. We learnt much about how to create a No Dig  vegetable patch and more importantly, in many respects, to see how our environment and the community prosper from partnerships ...
  1 week ago

• Should we make our future educational organic farm a non-profit?

  
  Ask MetaFilter — Authority: 628
  Should we make our future educational organic farm a non-profit? If so, how? I inherited some old family land out in the country (about 50 acres), and my partner and I are planning to build a rammed earth passive solar house and organic permaculture farm there. Since it is in rural north Georgia, it will be one of ...
  1 week ago

• A Permie Plant

  
  Sustainability Blog — Authority: 99
  The chayote is blooming! Its true California is blessed with an amazing climate. But in my ignorance before embracing permaculture, I thought of winter as an off season. Now Im enjoying finding crops that are winter crops, like tree tomatoes, fava beans and chayote. We are using the "edge" of our deck to grow ...
  1 week ago

• Permaculture Principles: Diversity

  
  Planet Green — Authority: 677
  Diversity breeds resilience. Cultivate it wherever you can-but too much of a good thing can get you in trouble too.
  1 week ago

• What the heck is permaculture?

  
  Wilson's Blogmanac — Authority: 134
  "Permacultures popping up all over. Its really catching on with young green activists like Juno star Ellen Page, who recently took a break from Hollywood to talk on the Ellen DeGeneres show about her experiences studying permaculture design in an eco-village near Eugene, Oregon ... "But what the heck IS permaculture ...
  1 week ago

• Looking for TIPS?

  
  Permaculture & Regenerative Design News — Authority: 121
  The International Permaculture Solutions Journal After a long hiatus, Dan Hemenway of Barking Frogs Permaculture is reviving the International Permaculture Solutions Journal; Publication date for what will be Volume 2 is December 2009. Volume 2 is 100 pages of solid information, no advertisements. TIPS ...
  1 week ago

• Reading the Great Book of Life

  
  Zone5 — Authority: 108
  Book Review:The Living Landscape: How to Read and Understand itPatrick WhitefieldPermanent Publications 2009334pp48 color photosWhen I first saw in the recent Permaculture Magazine that Patrick Whitefield had written a book on reading the landscape I became very excited and thought, “That’s probably a book David ...
  1 week ago

• Population and Environment

  
  Better World Movement — Authority: 136
  I made this for my Population and Environment class, Fall 2006, University of Oregon, Geography Department. Leave a comment, I’d like to know what people think.Population and Environment is a post from: Better World Movement Population and Environment is a post from: Better World Movement
  2 weeks ago

• The Refugee Reality

  
  National Anarchists AUS/NZ — Authority: 99
  Asylum Seekers are once again front page news in Australia. The media and politicians love the refugee issue, it always gets people talking. The whole situation causes a lot of division amongst Australians. Obviously, its a serious issue and it must be addressed. Most recently, a boat carrying about 255 Tamils, ...
  2 weeks ago

• Greening the Desert Revisited

  
  Flashtoonz Films — Authority: 112
  Ten years after Permaculture guru Geoff Lawton’s attempt at greening a small part of the desert in the Middle East,  is a new video currently being produced by Craig Mackintosh called “Greening the Desert II.”  Geoff and Craig are currently in Jordan filming and documenting the site and looking back at what ...
  2 weeks ago

• Permaculture Design 101 Workshop

  
  Seattle Greendrinks - Convening and growing Seattle's environmental community since 2003. — Authority: 134
  Event Date:  11/14/2009 - 10:00am - 5:00pm Event Location:  OmCulture Studios 2210 N. Pacific St. Seattle , WA , 98103 United States See map: Google Maps Where: OmCulture Studio When: 10 ...
  2 weeks ago

• Tour de Urban Permaculture Slide Show

  
  Seattle Greendrinks - Convening and growing Seattle's environmental community since 2003. — Authority: 134
  Event Date:  11/13/2009 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm Event Location:  OmCulture Studios 2210 N. Pacific St. Seattle , WA , 98103 United States See map: Google Maps Where: OmCulture Studio, 2210 N. ...
  2 weeks ago

• An oasis in the desert (Martin DEWHURST / CNN / W. Van Cotthem)

  
  Desertification — Authority: 147
  Just found a message of Martin Dewhurst on Facebook :Martin DewhurstCNN take a peek or is that “peak” into the future of sustainabilityI Just Saw This on CNN.com: An oasis in the desertSource: edition.cnn.comAustralian Geoff Lawton has traveled the world explaining his technique that turns desert sand into fertile ...
  2 weeks ago

• Video: The Permaculture Concept – Bill Mollison

  
  Green-Change.com — Authority: 106
  This is a post I wrote a while ago on my personal blog, but I think it’s really appropriate here. Plus I still don’t have much time to post anything new yet.Don’t you hate it when you know you’ve seen something in a video (say, Bill Mollison talking about planting in guilds), but you can’t [...]
  3 weeks ago

• MI: Winter Farmers’ Market

  
  A Book Without A Cover — Authority: 436
      [IMG: http://abookwithoutacover.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/pressrelease-2009-oct-12.jpg?w=510&h=632][IMG: http://abookwithoutacover.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/09dyfmwinterflyer.jpg?w=510&h=661][IMG: ...
  3 weeks ago

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