Permaculture Guilds and Resilience

What can permaculture guilds teach us about resilience?

Overview
Introduce permaculture
Define permaculture guilds
Examine their principles and likely sources of resilience
Open up topic for discussion
Suggested application: Urban planning/zoning
Brainstorm actions each of us can take away from this discussion

Permaculture: An excessively short introduction
“A design system for the creation of sustainable human settlements” (Rob Hopkins)
Originated with Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1970s
Values wisdom of indigenous peoples along with contemporary sciences
Seeks to observe nature and build/regenerate ecosystems, not fight nature with monocultures

Selected Permaculture Principles: Ethics
Follows three primary ethical principles:
Earth care
People care
Fair share

What are permaculture guilds?
Combinations of complementary plants (and sometimes animals) known to thrive and build resilience together
Example: the “three sisters” guild of Native American agriculture (corn, beans, and squash)
Substitutions welcome
Some guilds have ten or more members

Selected Permaculture Principles at Work in Guild Design
Principles that may foster resilience include:
Prioritizing observation of nature
Preferring native plants to exotics
Favoring perennial plants over annuals
Selecting/siting plants for relationships to others
Valuing diverse elements and relations
Choosing elements that have multiple functions
Ensuring each function is supported by multiple elements
Matching inputs and outputs to close loops
Stacking plants, other elements in space and time

Conversation starter: Are lessons from permaculture guilds relevant to urban planning?
Are monocultures inherently fragile?
How can we tell what combinations (of businesses, schools, residences, spaces, etc.) work well together?
What challenges might we face in applying lessons from permaculture guilds to regenerating urban environments?

Brainstorm your action plan
What discussion points resonated most with you?
Can you point to steps you can take in your life or work based on our discussion?
Alternatively, what would you tell others about permaculture guilds and what they could learn from them?

Permaculture Guilds and Resilience

by guestac4e4015 on Apr 18, 2010

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Permaculture Guilds and Resilience — Presentation Transcript