Lesson Plan for Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles
by Gene Griffith
The Purpose in #Permaculture Design is to follow Nature’s Rules.
Introduction to Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles These design principles uses the rules Nature has evolved over time. These qualities persist, they are proven time over time again. They are what make nature robust and resilient and able to withstand the changing world. These are the most powerful design tools available..
What Are Ethics? The concepts like compassion, empathy, fairness, truth and justice? Or by having a set of relative rules, comparing each actions benefits and loses using situational ethics to make the decision.
Could it be that What really matters is it much deeper. Appreciating the intrinsic value of nature and life. From the air that flows around and through us and sunlight generating nourishment for us everything is connected in a web of life. These design principles are efficient and able to adapt, store resources, produce food and shelter and persist.
Evolution of ethics continues seems to progress, we move forward but not smoothly. Could the ultimate ethic be as simple as All is One? Expressed as Care of the Earth.Care of People and Fairness
Multiple connections enhance life, by closing loops and producing no waste.
Create Permaculture Design that is functional, sustainable and persistent, has many connections between elements and provides a yield.
Part 1
Ethics in Permaculture
Part I Ethics in Permaculture
Key message: Intrinsic value of life and everything is connected.
A. Introduce concept of ethics, doing the right thing for the right reason,{.what it is and why it is important.}
Including: Indigenous peoples living more in harmony understanding the importance of nature, traditional communities honor and respect the old ways., ]
rules of behavior and taboos.
Ethics are culturally evolved mechanisms that regulate self-interest, giving us a better understanding of good and bad outcomes.
“The greater the power of humans, the more critical ethics become for long-term cultural and biological survival.” David Holmgren
B. The 3 ethics of permaculture:
1) Earth care, care for the earth, includes all living and nonliving things, such as animals, plants, land, water, and air;
2)People care, caring for people, promotes self-reliance for both personal responsibility and community care; and
3) Fairshare, making sure everyone has the air, water, and other resources they need for life. Not overproducing or over consuming. Fairshare has also been expressed as Share Surplus, Care of Future. Give Away Surplus, pass on anything surplus to our needs including food, labor, money, information, share the surplus with both people and the earth.
“The Earth is a living, breathing entity. Without ongoing care and nurturing there will be consequences too big to ignore. “Holmgren
Permaculture is an ethical system, stressing positivism and cooperation.
“The permaculture approach is to focus on the positives, the opportunities that exist rather than the obstacles, even in the most desperate situations.” - Holmgren
Part II Design Principles in Permaculture
Key Message: Permaculture design is functional, sustainable and persistent, has many connections between elements and provides a yield.
A. Design and permaculture principles are composed of both aesthetics and function.
Functional design includes:
Functional design includes:
1) Strong Sustainability―it provides for its own needs without depleting the natural stock.
2) Provides good product yield or surplus yield. This happens when elements have no product unused by other elements, and they have their own needs supplied by other elements in the system.” PDC Certification Handbook
B.Here we will List and describe many permaculture principles (using 12 principles from David Holmgren as basis and adding in Mollison)
“Permaculture is a design system for sustainable living and land use. It came out of awareness about the limits of resources” Holmgren
The ethical foundation of permaculture (centre) guides the use of these design tools, ensuring that they are used in appropriate ways.
Each principle can be thought of as a door that opens into whole systems thinking, providing a different perspective that can be understood at varying levels of depth and application.
1. Observe and interact "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
Observation Prolonged observation rather than hasty action
2. Catch and store energy “Make hay while the sun shines”
Catch and store as high as possible and reuse many times as possible before it leaves system.
3 Obtain a yield “You can’t work on an empty stomach”
Must be useful and produce a yield immediately.
4. Apply self regulation and accept “The sins of the fathers are visited on the feedback children of the seventh generation”
Refuse or refrain when possible, review regularly to see if improvements are possible, and to accept feedback.
5. Use resources wisely and value renewable resources “Let nature take its course.”
Biological resources: manure, compost, fungi, microbes, insects, plants, animals. Renewable energy. Conserve and reuse,:solar, thermal, water, gravity. tides, biological
Appropriate Technology: Correct tool for the job. Wind, water, ram pump, solar, tidal, geothermal,
Necessary and Conservative: Use resources only when necessary and then conservatively as possible.
Precautionary principle: Do no harm.
6. Produce no waste “Waste not, want not”
No waste in nature, only humans who have not figured out how to use a product call it waste.
Law of return: Whatever we take we must return.
“Reduce waste hence pollution; thoroughly replace lost minerals; do a careful energy accounting; and make an assessment of the long term, negative, biosocial effects on society and act to buffer or eliminate these.” A Designers Handbook, Mollison
7. Design from patterns to details “can’t see the forest for the trees”
Relative location: Guilds, zones.
8. Integrate rather than segregate “the whole being greater than the sum of the parts”
Concentrate your energies increase efficiency by many connections
Natural succession, stacking vertically, stacking in time
9. Use small slow systems “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”
Small scale intensive systems. Use small integrated systems rather than large ones.
10. Use and value diversity “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”
Multiple elements per function Redundancy and resiliency
Multiple functions per element Multitasking elements, stacking functions
11. “Use edges. Value the margin “don’t think you are on the right track just because its a well-beaten path”
Increase edge. “An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent but different plant communities, such as forests and grassland.” Ecotone definition WIKI 11/2010
12. Creativity use and respond to change “vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be”
Unlimited harvest. Only limited by imagination and resources. Why careful thought and renewable energy are important.
Chaos or Disorder Principle “If resources are added beyond the capacity of the system to productively use them, then that system becomes disordered (goes into chaos). Chaos or disorder is the opposite of harmony, as competition is the opposite of cooperation. In disorder much useful energy is canceled out by the use of opposing energy, thus creating entropy or bound energy. Society, gardens, whole systems and human lives are wasted in disorder and opposition. The aim of the designer is therefore two-fold: To use only that amount of energy that can be productively absorbed by the system. To build harmony, as cooperation, into the functional organization of the system.” PDC Cert Handbook
Tipping point. Asymmetrical engineering, little effort great effect
The solution in the question How you ask the questions. “To many slugs or not enough ducks?”
Have Fun, use art, beauty, celebration , In all aspects of life incorporate beauty.
Permaculture design is functional, sustainable and persistent, has many connections between elements and provides a yield.
Use permaculture ethical and design principles in all aspects of your life, personal, business, and community.
Appreciate the intrinsic value of life and that everything is connected.
Final Challenge realize you can use this way of problem solving, now turn that knowledge into action, make it yours intentionally..
Books:
http://www.permacultureprinciples.com/ethics.php by David Holmgrem
Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren
Permaculture, A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
PDC Course Outline Handbook
Visuals:
http://www.permacultureprinciples.com/ethics.php by David Holmgren
PowerPoint slides
Slide presentation
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Aa5ahYKcA5IYZGhrZHg5cXJfMTc3ZHhqNDVxZ20&authkey=CLPT3vIL&hl=en
Vocabulary
Ethic: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation, a guiding philosophy, a consciousness of moral importance, a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness)
Principle: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
Design: design is composed of both aesthetics and function.
Earth Care: care of the earth, plants, animals, air, minerals, water
People Care: care of people, caring for others as you would to own family
Fairshare: not to over consume or overproduce, share surplus, care about future
Share the surplus: share back to nature and to people
Care for the Future: persistence, sustainability, stability, thrive vs growth,
Ecotone: a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities
Permanence and Sustainability: a functional system which require no additional inputs and produce no waste. It uses its outputs as inputs and provides function.
Limits to population and consumption: the easy way to save the energy, by using less energy and resources.
Precautionary: a measure taken beforehand to prevent harm or secure good
Stewardship: the office, duties, and obligations of a steward; the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care <stewardship of natural resources
Strong Sustainability as long as the natural stock sustainable
Weak Sustainability as long as it’s profitable it sustainable.
