At the launch of Permaculture Sydney South a few weeks ago I was moved to tears by the gentle yet committed words of Geoff Lawton, an established and renowned permaculture practitioner. It was so heartening to see over 300 people come to the Leichhardt local town hall for the event with their plates of food, healthy attitudes and large helpings of joy and enthusiasm.
People ask me what permaculture is quite often and it’s a tricky one to answer considering it’s such a simple idea. Permaculture is both a way of life and a way of designing. It approaches any interwoven system (like businesses, ecosystems, or gardens for example), generates little to zero waste products, and incorporates or integrates any diverse existing elements.
Permaculture is inclusive and has wide-reaching potential.
The old saying goes that any problem not just HAS a solution, but IS a solution in permaculture.
That is, say if you had too many snails it means you don’t have enough ducks. The key to preventing the situation of the ducks becoming another problem is good consideration, planning and design.
Permaculture is about setting up a simple system to allow nature to come in with all its complexities and work its magic.
When Geoff Lawton spoke at the launch of Permaculture Sydney South (which merges Permaculture East, Inner West and South together into one large umbrella group) he inspired me deeply.
Geoff spoke of diversity and integration, of experiencing “time quality” instead of being “time poor” – and how much do you hear the words “I just don’t have enough time” these days?
Permaculture in essence encourages community, sustainability and learning.
Geoff Lawton is contracted to design the landscape of a new city in Abu Dhabi that will be completely sustainable. It’s called Masdar City and will have no fossil fuelled cars for its population of 40,000 but instead will provide public use of 18,000 solar powered and magnetic cars. Watch the video, it will astound you – see below – and click here for an article about the Sydney-based designers. Construction has already begun with stringent and thorough energy audits to continue throughout the project. The first thing constructed was the power plant to maximise energy efficiency during construction using mainly solar and wind power.
There’s many ways to find out more about permaculture.
Tafe runs a once-weekly course based on its principles at Maroubra Bay Public School, contact me to find out more (or just leave a comment here).
Permaculture design courses are run all over Australia and the world, you could use Google to find one closest to you. And Permaculture East are a fantastic group for the eastern area of Sydney, you can find out more by contacting me. Just leave me a comment (I see them all) and I’ll contact you back.
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