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Permaculture Definition
Permaculture
"What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. We don't know what details of a truly sustainable future are going to be like, but we need options, we need people experimenting in all kinds of ways and permaculturists are one of the critical groups that are doing that." -- Dr. David Suzuki biologist, geneticist, broadcaster & international environmental advocate
Permaculture (permanent agriculture, leading to permanent culture) in its simplest form is a design methodology to help us realize more sustainable human communities.
How do we acquire the skills we need to "indigenize" and to bring wildness to the places we live? How do we bring into our communities the diversity of skills needed to have thriving local economies? How do we live in our towns and cities and not continue to damage ecosystems around us? And how do we become"eco literate", that is, know, understand, and belong in our environments?
Design for human habitat that satisfies food, housing, energy, education, health, creative human outlets, bio diversity, clean water, and a resilient, diverse, local economic base is quite specific to people and place. This is certainly the key to the success of permaculture around the world. As Bill Mollison, the father of permaculture recently wrote "permaculture isn't culture-changing, it's culture-enhancing."
Permaculture is the most comprehensive and holistic design approach being taught on the planet. It holds a reverent appreciation for nature, and strives to empower people to connect to the ecosystem in which they live, understanding that we are necessary and active members in that community of people, plants, animals, fungi, water, and air.
An ethical design system for creating human environments that are ecologically sound and economically viable, permaculture integrates innovative science in to the conscious development of cultivated ecosystems that have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.
A thriving and rapidly growing international grassroots movement, permaculture is being taught and practiced in every country on the planet, in both rural and urban environments. It is inspiring a new generation of visionary and capable leaders among our emerging sustainable cultures.
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