Perspectives on objectives

I'm a newcomer to the forum and as someone from a philosophical background, I'm curious as to what people think are the OBJECTIVES of permaculture - both individually and at a wider level?

Hi, Benett, I'll bite. I think the objective of permaculture is to create and preserve ecosystems that can sustain human life indefinitely. Not individual lives, of course, just the species. Since we share air and water, it becomes a question of creating some part of our world's ecosystem that can sustain human life.

Ben Stallings wrote:Hi, Benett, I'll bite. I think the objective of permaculture is to create and preserve ecosystems that can sustain human life indefinitely. Not individual lives, of course, just the species. Since we share air and water, it becomes a question of creating some part of our world's ecosystem that can sustain human life.

Ben - that was one of the most eloquent descriptions of the objectives of permaculture I've read to date. Great job.

This ability to sustain is commonly evaluated through a bioenergetic lens and with an attempt to place individuals as designers and managers of systems where they can become responsible for the energetic outcomes of their behaviors. Another aspect would be that no system element is off the table, with cultural patterns being critical to system analysis.

I think that it is about respecting and supporting the natural systems in ways that they can heal and flourish as the were intended to by natures design. Those systems then return the healing and nourishment back to us. Those systems end up healing us in so many ways...physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Benett Freeman wrote:I'm a newcomer to the forum and as someone from a philosophical background, I'm curious as to what people think are the OBJECTIVES of permaculture - both individually and at a wider level?

So many levels of response. I think the first two Ethics pretty well state the objectives of permaculture. Care for Earth. Care for People.

After that you are getting into details

Permanent culture is more than just growing food in an ecologically sound manner that can be maintained indefinitely. It also addresses social structures, cultural norms, governments. and when you start looking at those areas, you really get into a morass because finding agreement in these areas is tremendously difficult. Lots of people will have lots of opinions about what is and is not appropriate, and arguments for why their view fits the ethics best.

If you look at the question as asking what are the goals of the design science known as permaculture (as opposed to what are the goals of those practicing permaculture), then I think you get something along the lines of "to teach as many people as possible to be capable of designing systems in accordance with the principles of permaculture".

So, there are just a couple of the, I think, myriad answers to the question.

Hi Benett. To live in greater connection with nature.

To teach gardeners how to be farmers and farmers how to be gardeners . It's a pragmatic approach . After that we get to be philosophers .

Surely it's largely about what YOU want from your site? Permaculture, while being a design science, is also a series of eco-friendly ways of doing things. (I'm deliberately avoiding Geoff Lawtons way overused word: 'systems'.) It has certainly given me so many ways of looking at my own virgin site, that I'd never have thought of before.