Elements Survey- Holistic Client Survey

In Permaculture Design Companion by Jasmine Dale, I learned about a type of client survey I had not known about before. This is a more holistic type of client survey called the Elements Survey.


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In the Elements Survey, there are five elements for looking at aspects of the client:
-Earth: This seems to describe more of the physical resources and abilities that are available to the site's design and implementation.
-Water: This mostly describes anything about the client and the site that are changing over time.
-Air: This mostly is about ideas, thoughts, and philosophies that influence the client.
-Fire: This is primarily about the passions and joys of life that drive the client.
-Spirit: These are things that distinguish the client as an individual.

Dave Burton wrote:In Permaculture Design Companion by Jasmine Dale, I learned about a type of client survey I had not known about before. This is a more holistic type of client survey called the Elements Survey..

As a single (female, older) person wishing to work with Nature rather than attempt to impose myself on Her, I am frequently overwhelmed with options, not to mention the amount of time and effort that is generally called for.  Thus my approach has been to do little things here and there rather than to think of overall planning.  And yet without overall planning, how will projects fit together and be successful in the long run rather than the short?  How do I work with Nature rather than against her?  How do I help, rather than hinder, while making my own life comfortable, too?

Even though I've happily discovered that my approach to living on the land has always been in alignment with the principles of the thing called Permaculture, I'm actually a newbie to the on-purpose practice of it. The client survey thought process seems to me to be a useful tool for especially someone like me.  Thanks for sharing it!

Lif Strand wrote:

Dave Burton wrote:In Permaculture Design Companion by Jasmine Dale, I learned about a type of client survey I had not known about before. This is a more holistic type of client survey called the Elements Survey..

I am frequently overwhelmed with options, not to mention the amount of time and effort that is generally called for.  Thus my approach has been to do little things here and there rather than to think of overall planning.  And yet without overall planning, how will projects fit together and be successful in the long run rather than the short?  The client survey thought process seems to me to be a useful tool for especially someone like me.  Thanks for sharing it!

Lif it sounds like you do work in a totally respectful way to the earth, and I also believe overall planning really helps our projects be effective in the long run. In these challenging times, it feels more imporatnt than ever to be effective, look after ourselves and regenerate land for All species. The design process is a powerful tool for these outcomes. The design process (survey, analysis, design, implement/maintain and evaluate) is a framework that holds us steady, that breaks down information and ideas into manageable steps, manages the complexity and reduces / eliminates the overwhelm. Having this structure, holds us step by step, breath by breath and looking back on 20 years of permaculture practice and 10 years of teaching, for me it created the space to deepen connection with nature and myself as apart of the ecosystem. This of course guides my actions to be aligned with the good of the earth and ecosystems we steward, whether a large farm or a small garden.

Within the 5 Elements client survey, I encourage people to draw, paint, doodle as well as writing down words under each heading. Starhawk's book Earth Path has had a big influence on this aspect of my work. Mapping our inner landscape feels to me imporatnt in capturing a sense of the whole system. The more linear traditional people survey (what yields do you want, what's the budget, timescales etc) is also a good tool, organising and clarifying our impulses and ideas. Both are useful, though taken together, they are more than the sum of their parts.