Hello Permies !
I wrote in earlier posts about my views on
Permaculture as a design method. Essentially I was arguing that
permaculture is not something you “do” (like you “do” organic or biointensive or biodynamic etc.), but rather a design principle that one uses in planning one's life and living environment - house,
yard, garden, food production system,
energy system,
water supply system, income / livelihood, etc. (ideally all of these).
Since I joined a few years ago, I have been reading posts on Permies.com and have enjoyed and benefitted greatly from the knowledge and
experience shared on these forums. That said, I do feel that the current division of the forums into themes – even though very useful in its own way – may give the outsider a rather fragmented view of
permaculture. It might convey an impression that
permaculture is the sum of all these things – from rocket stoves to herb spirals to
spoon carving – which in fact it isn’t.
I think we're missing a section that concerns itself with the Big Picture, i.e., Permaculture as a method for designing
systems (or ecosystems, if you like).
In other words: a section / forum /
thread where the focus is not the minute detail in the design of a single element (“how do I make a Huegel bed?” or “what can I plant under my
apple tree?”), but rather the “system” – the interlinking of all the elements of a design into an efficient organism that works towards achieving a specific goal.
Such a forum could share and discuss projects that are already up-and-running, projects that are still at the implementation phase, as well as systems at the design stage (i.e., which only exist on paper). Specific cases. What works and what doesn’t. Successes, failures and mixes of the two.
Thoughts?
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