[Pil-pc-oceania] Pil-pc-oceania Digest, Vol 8, Issue 10
stevehart
stevehart at raglan.co.nz
Thu Jun 7 15:38:46 EST 2007
CENTRALISATION....was the topic chosen to offer an alarm....and what
a great response Cecile....do you think IPC should operate the same
way as the world bank and all those other organisations you allude
to.....I don't and am not suggesting we do. The point is, that we
need to respond to the global situation far quicker and far more
effectively than ever before. In my opinion IPCs are a great forum to
bring global thought, experience and energy together.....IPC9 is in
Africa...IPC10 maybe Cuba.... I just think we are missing a huge
opportunity to be even far more effective on a far wider scale. I was
not advocating a dictatorship or anything of the sort......lets put
our PC intellect together and consider how we could be MOST effective
here......vitual is great....who manages that ? IMO we are a long
way behind the 8 ball after 30 years we have not performed to the
level that the world is now demanding.......but hey I am also a fan
of running workshops on H2BO&KYAG.... have you got any solutions/
strategies proposals....PIL was a good beginning is it time for PIL
to evolve to the global NGO ....Steve Hart
On 7/06/2007, at 4:58 PM, pil-pc-oceania-
request at lists.permacultureinternational.org wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: CENTRALISATION (Cecile)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 14:26:07 +0930
> From: "Cecile" <anhinga at internode.on.net>
> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] CENTRALISATION
> To: "'permacultue discussion list'"
> <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
> Message-ID: <001c01c7a8c0$29696a30$1101a8c0 at Anhinga>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I am very wary of centralised systems - the World Bank being a prime
> example. One office = one boss = one distator - in most instances.
> One of
> the things that greatly attracted me to permaculture was the
> emphasis of the
> grass roots structure of the organisation which would be in grave
> danger of
> being lost or greatly compromised in a centralised system. IPC
> works in
> that 2 teachers who had never worked together before came together
> to teach
> the design course at IPC 8 and were of one accord on what to teach
> and how
> to teach in spite of them not having any centralised structure and
> coming
> from very different situations. The existing Bill Mollison based
> course
> obviously has very solid and broad foundations and proved very
> adaptable to
> the wide variety of situations at the international design course.
> (Haven't we had enough of governments?)
> Cheers
> Cecile Storrie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pil-pc-oceania-bounces at lists.permacultureinternational.org
> [mailto:pil-pc-oceania-bounces at lists.permacultureinternational.org] On
> Behalf Of stevehart
> Sent: Thursday, 7 June 2007 1:31 PM
> To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] CENTRALISATION
>
> CENTRALISATION V DECENTRALISATION....is just another pendulum of
> time......but here is one to ponder.... and vitual activity could
> help here
> too. IPC is an interesting structure just as is APC....but many of
> the PC
> world are now anxiously desiring to move a little quicker, widen and
> intensify and develop more models and have greater influence before
> we have
> to start designing our descent scenarios....thats what we do after the
> collapse....and after the workshops on H2BO&KYAG. Many
> international NGOs or
> ONGs are failing,
> collapsing being ineffective and other are becoming
> corrupt.......so there is a big gap and a bigger demand. What is
> the global
> PC fraternity interested in doing. My suggestion is that we need to
> re-start
> think how PC can become far more active globally.
> PIL is an interesting model. What of a global NGO with a central
> office
> facility and all the other tools that may be required but also
> being very
> virtual. From IPC8 it was obvious there is a huge demand for teachers
> worldwide that can offer sound credible course with a solid
> structure which
> can apply to all levels in all situations. The question is do we
> want to
> develop a highly effective very active international NGO ? if so how ?
>
> Regards Steve Hart
>
>
> On 7/06/2007, at 2:00 PM, pil-pc-oceania-
> request at lists.permacultureinternational.org wrote:
>
>> Send Pil-pc-oceania mailing list submissions to
>> pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>>
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>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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>>
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>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Pil-pc-oceania digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Re: indoor plants clean pollutants from the air (Robyn
>> Williamson)
>> 2. Re: PCC newsletter/Permaculture Directions and PIL (penny
>> pyett)
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 22:40:38 +1000
>> From: Robyn Williamson <robinet at aapt.net.au>
>> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] indoor plants clean pollutants from the
>> air
>> To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>> Message-ID: <20EA28DE-142B-11DC-B5DC-0030657170AA at aapt.net.au>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>>
>> On Wednesday, June 6, 2007, at 12:00 pm,
>> pil-pc-oceania-request at lists.permacultureinternational.org/Petra
>> Kahle
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Other names for some plants:
>>> Chinese Evergreen- Aglaonemas
>>> Marginata and Janet Craig ? 2 types of dracaena, look like
>>> cordylines
>>> "Devils Ivy" or "Golden Pothos"- Scindapsus aures - synonym
>>> Epipremnum
>>> aureum
>>> spider plant -Chlorophytum comosum
>>> Draceana massangeana- not sure about the ?massangeana? bit but
>>> dracaena
>>> are cordylines
>>> Spathiphyllum- Peace Lily
>>
>> All the above are really good plants that can live indoors and with
>> the
>> exception of Spathiphyllum don't mind drying out between deep
>> waterings. Spaths are water addicts, you can even sit them in a
>> saucer
>> of water although not recommended because over time the soil in the
>> bottom of the pot becomes anaerobic, accumulated salts do not get a
>> chance to be leached out and your plant will not grow vigourously.
>> The
>> spider plant is very easy to look after indoors but it's an
>> environmental weed in Sydney so be prepared for some sneers if you
>> have
>> bush regenerators over for dinner. All the Dracaenas are good
>> performers indoors but any plant with dull green, coloured or
>> variegated leaves like D. fragrans cv. 'Massangeana' [Deremensis
>> Group]
>> needs much more light than those with deep green, glossy leaves like
>> the cultivar 'Janet Craig'. Personally, I love the parent species
>> from
>> Africa, D. fragrans. In the olden days it was commonly known as
>> Happy
>> Plant and a Chinese grower told me that if it ever gets a flower to
>> rush out and buy a lottery ticket because it's a sign of inheriting
>> great wealth. I've had mine for 25 years now with still no sign of a
>> flower.
>>
>>> I also heard that it?s the little critters in the soil that do the
>>> actual
>>> cleaning.
>>
>> So maybe any plant might do something similar? although some are
>> bound
>> to be better at it than others. I know that big Dracaenas are fairly
>> expensive outside of Queensland, especially 'Janet Craig' if you can
>> find one ... it's very popular with the indoor plant hire companies.
>>
>> I was in the interior plantscaping industry in the early eighties
>> when
>> I first heard about the NASA research into indoor plants. At that
>> time
>> they were saying they'd already taken indoor plants to the moon and
>> found they cleaned the air in the space capsule better than the
>> sophisticated equipment on board. Dr Wolverton was working for NASA
>> then but he now has his own consultancy. His website
>> http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/ is really worth a browse
>> because
>> he is also into wastewater treatment using plants
>> [=phytoremediation].
>> His latest book is called Growing Clean Water ..... Nature's Solution
>> to Water Pollution.
>>
>> I've also met a man in Kenthurst near Sydney who was conducting
>> similar
>> experiments for UTS, can't think of his name just now but I can find
>> out if anyone's interested.
>>
>> Robyn
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:44:23 +1000
>> From: "penny pyett" <pennypyett at hotmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] PCC newsletter/Permaculture Directions
>> and PIL
>> To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>> Message-ID: <BAY108-F4A03A2D4A0EB630F85507CF260 at phx.gbl>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>>
>> Amongst Russ? many good points that I don?t have time to comment
>> on, he
>> makes one serious error that I must rebut. He accuses me of favouring
>> ?centralisation?, and nothing could be further from the truth. He
>> seizes on
>> that word, which does appear in the summary he has read but is not
>> a word I
>> used in my talk. Being structured, coordinated and organised ?
>> yes, that is
>> important; I said so and I stand by that. But central control is
>> antithetical to permaculture ideals and I do not know of anyone who
>> supports
>> such a notion. So this is a diversion from the important debates
>> we should
>> be having about how precisely to get organised in democratic and
>> effective
>> ways.
>>
>> Permaculture North (PN) in Sydney is making the effort: our re-
>> localisation
>> plan has seen local groups spawned from our bioregional group (of 260
>> members) to match local government areas. Members of these groups
>> retain PN
>> membership but act locally on issues of concern to them. At another
>> level,
>> PN is supporting the Sydney Basin Group, which provides a forum for
>> co-ordination, cooperation and support for other permaculture
>> groups and
>> individuals throughout Sydney. It is not a centralising body.
>>
>> I agree that there are a number of organisations that provide
>> helpful models
>> for us and I thank Russ for his ideas. Tim?s analogy is also
>> wonderful and I
>> think these issues should be high on the agenda for APC9 next March.
>>
>>
>> Penny Pyett President 2007
>> Permaculture North Inc.
>> (02) 9888 2575 or 1300 887 145
>> "mail to: president at permaculturenorth.org.au"
>>
>> Sharing sustainable solutions with communities.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: "timwinton" <timwinton at internode.on.net>
>>> Reply-To: permacultue discussion
>>> list<pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
>>> To: "permacultue discussion
>>> list"<pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] PCC newsletter/Permaculture
>>> Directions and
>>> PIL
>>> Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 12:46:01 +1000
>>>
>>> I heard a story recently about some research that indicated fungal
>>> networks
>>> in woodland areas of Africa could communicate in complex ways over
>>> large
>>> areas. The study claimed that interconnected fungi alerted groves
>>> of trees
>>> about the presence of browsing elephants in distant stands. The
>>> trees would
>>> then emit bitter compounds into their leaves making them
>>> unpalatable before
>>> the elephants got there. Fungal networks have no identifiable
>>> center, but
>>> occasionally they become visible as fruiting bodies. This may be a
>>> model
>>> for
>>> permaculture as a 'linking' discipline- loose networks working
>>> mostly
>>> autonomously that can communicate effectively and periodically
>>> coordinate
>>> for major activities.
>>>
>>> PIL has been through a major transformation in the last few years
>>> from an
>>> organization with a physical publication and a physical office to
>>> a virtual
>>> organization based on a web site, listserve and some core
>>> permaculture
>>> functions. The board has recently made a decision to commit some
>>> energy to
>>> networking and communication among regional pc groups. We are
>>> essentially
>>> using the Community Gardens network approach. The idea is to
>>> improve basic
>>> networking and communication functions between groups and members
>>> without
>>> seeking to become an exclusive center. Historically it has been a
>>> major
>>> node
>>> in the network and now that it has been restructured we intend to
>>> offer up
>>> that possibility again.
>>>
>>> If you would like to assist with the networking and communications
>>> subcommittee please email me off list.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Tim
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tim Winton
>>> Director
>>> Permaculture International Limited
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "pacific-edge" <info at pacific-edge.info>
>>> To: "Vicky Gear" <vickyg at aapt.net.au>; "pil"
>>> <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 12:06 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] PCC newsletter
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4/6/07 4:25 PM, "Vicky Gear" <vickyg at aapt.net.au> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi All
>>>> Here is the latest PCC newsletter, as you will see we have been
>>>> out and
>>>> about
>>>> spreading the permie word.
>>>
>>> Permaculture Central coast's newsletter - The Permie - is always a
>>> pleasure
>>> to receive because the editor and designer pay attention to
>>> useability -
>>> the
>>> editing of stories and design and layout that makes reading easy.
>>>
>>> Reading the lead story in the latest issue, 'Getting Organised' -
>>> Volume 1
>>> Issue 8 June 2007 - was to experience a bout of deja vu because it
>>> revisits
>>> a discussion that has surfaced repeatedly within Permaculture.
>>> That is,
>>> whether Permaculture works best as a centralised or decentralised
>>> movement.
>>> It's a dilemma that has reappeared at Permaculture convergences
>>> over the
>>> years and it's obviously one that still has plenty of currency.
>>>
>>> The story in The Permie reports an address by Permaculture North
>>> president,
>>> Penny Pyett, in which Penny is reported as urging the movement to
>>> become
>>> more organised. I have no general disagreement with what Penny
>>> writes. As
>>> someone who has sometimes felt frustrated by the invisibility of
>>> Permaculture in public fora and who has on occasion advocated some
>>> level of
>>> higher organisation, but who fears that something could be lost in
>>> doing
>>> so,
>>> may I comment on some of Penny's reported ideas?
>>>
>>>
>>> ALTERNATIVE OR MAINSTREAM?
>>> The article states: "For those with an interest in ensuring
>>> Permaculture
>>> becomes more a mainstream environmental solution rather than an
>>> Oalternative? idea... ".
>>>
>>> May we make a brief excursion into history?
>>>
>>> Permaculture once laboured under the perception that it was a
>>> 'hippy'
>>> activity. Hippies, of course, like the dodo and the Thylacine,
>>> disappeared
>>> long ago but the mythology, as always, lingers, although this
>>> particular
>>> perception of Permaculture I thought had been laid to rest by the
>>> late
>>> 1990s.
>>>
>>> 'Alternative' is not 'hippy' and it is reasonable to view
>>> Permaculture in
>>> its early iteration as an outgrowth of the alternative movement of
>>> the
>>> 1970s, the decade of its origin. That should not be surprising as
>>> it was
>>> from that movement that progressive social ideas as well as the
>>> environment
>>> movement came, as did many of Permaculture's early adoptors.
>>>
>>> But I'm not sure that it's accurate to refer to the alternative
>>> movement as
>>> if it continues to exist. It was a social phenomenon that grew out
>>> of a
>>> unique period of Australian history and, in my opinion, is now
>>> part of
>>> social history rather than current reality. The movement was the
>>> product of
>>> the boom in youth numbers coming of age in that decade, a cohort
>>> that was
>>> fortunate enough to find itself growing up amidst the
>>> opportunities brought
>>> by the economic growth and affluence of the time and the
>>> blossoming of new
>>> ideas stemming from technological development and social change.
>>> Now,
>>> however, is not then, and I wonder if history has finally broken
>>> the link
>>> between Permaculture and alternative.
>>>
>>> But I understand where Penny's coming from, but in place of
>>> refering to
>>> Permaculture as alternative movement, may I propose 'fringe' as a
>>> more
>>> accurate term? I suggest this because theories of idea
>>> dissemination posit
>>> the new and innovative moving from the fringe of society towards the
>>> mainstream if the ideas have what Martin Gladwell (author, 'The
>>> Tipping
>>> Point') calls 'stickiness'... a property of adherence that comes
>>> from the
>>> idea being attractive, answering some need, making possible the
>>> doing of
>>> something that could not have been done before or allowing us to do
>>> something better that we already can.
>>>
>>> Permculture has not been all that sticky to the mainstream but,
>>> propelled
>>> by
>>> world events and the changes now taking place, it is becoming more
>>> so. In
>>> part, and especially in the UK, this is because Permaculture has
>>> become
>>> part
>>> of the relocalisation movement that has arisen as a response to
>>> Peak Oil
>>> and
>>> global warming. It seems that when Permaculture has a big picture
>>> to hang
>>> from it does better than it does alone.
>>>
>>>
>>> ORGANISED AND STRUCTURED OR DISORGANISED AND SCATTERED?
>>> The article states: "Penny?s main point was about the need for the
>>> Permaculture movement to get organised and structured. As Penny so
>>> rightly
>>> explained... the bigger and better organised you are, the more
>>> likely you
>>> will be heard by those who most need to hear".
>>>
>>> The idea of a more formal and centralised structure for the
>>> movement -
>>> these
>>> things would most likely be part of Permculture becoming more
>>> "organised
>>> and
>>> structured" - has a long and somewhat contentious history. And
>>> Penny is
>>> right - to be heard at the social/institutional/political level,
>>> being
>>> organised helps because you have to be seen as representing a
>>> substantial
>>> body of opinion to be seen as credible. As journalists might ask
>>> when
>>> seeing
>>> some announcement from an unknown Permaculture organisation: "are
>>> they
>>> representative or is it just two people with a fax machine?'.
>>>
>>> To increase the design system's influence among decision makers
>>> may involve
>>> a higher public profile and engaging in public discourse - you
>>> have to be
>>> visible and have a presence. This might present a challenge to
>>> some in the
>>> movement because there has been ambivalence to participating in
>>> advocacy.
>>>
>>>
>>> COMPARISION WITH INSTITUTIONS
>>> The article states: "Some examples of movements that are well
>>> organised and
>>> consequently have a voice in Australia are organisations like The
>>> Country
>>> Women?s Association, The Returned Services League"...
>>>
>>> May I suggest that a more useful comparison would be the environment
>>> movement as its origins lay in the same milieu as Permaculture.
>>> The CWA and
>>> RSL grew out of a different history, one which, especially with
>>> the RSL,
>>> fostered its rapid absorption into society because so many of its
>>> members
>>> had a shared experience.
>>>
>>>
>>> UNCOORDNATED BUT ENTHUSIASTIC VOLUNTEERS
>>> The article states: "... Permaculture in Australia is not a
>>> coordinated
>>> movement as such, it is in fact many enthusiastic individuals and
>>> groups
>>> Australia wide, all of whom have common goals, but also who have no
>>> centralised or systematic approach. In fact there is a lack of
>>> cohesiveness
>>> across the permaculture regions, organisations and the movement in
>>> general.
>>> That is, there is no established or supported organisational
>>> structure".
>>>
>>> Penny is right in her description of Permaculture as made up of
>>> uncoordinated individuals and groups doing their own thing where
>>> they live.
>>> But doing their own thing can certainly be systematic and
>>> coordinated at
>>> the
>>> regional/local level... Permaculture South Australia, for
>>> instance, has an
>>> active program of local activity.
>>>
>>> I wrote at the start of this commentary that contradictory attitudes
>>> towards
>>> centralisation and decentralisation have existed within the
>>> Permaculture
>>> movement. I was swayed towards the idea of a more structured
>>> movement when
>>> someone spoke to me about the way the Bushcare/bush regeneration
>>> movement
>>> quickly structured itself, formulated formal TAFE training and
>>> established
>>> paid positions within local government and in small business.
>>> Riding the
>>> wave of popularity that developed around native plants, and
>>> pushing that
>>> ideological barrow itself, bush regeneration has gained perhaps an
>>> inordinate level of influence in local government and has caused, on
>>> occasion, more than a little difficulty for Permaculture in its
>>> linking of
>>> the design system with bushland weeds. Fortunately, that seems to
>>> have
>>> receded in recent years, but the point is the success that the bush
>>> regeneration movement has achieved through a more formal structure.
>>>
>>> Permaculture simulates the training of the bush regeneration
>>> experience in
>>> a
>>> lesser form through its Permaculture design courses and, now, the
>>> accredited
>>> training. It differs in that the design system has not developed the
>>> advocacy of the bush regenerators nor sought to emulate their role
>>> in local
>>> government. I may be talking mainly about the NSW experience here
>>> as I'm
>>> not
>>> familiar with the history of bush regeneration as a movement in
>>> other
>>> states. What's important is whether that movement holds any
>>> lessons or
>>> models for Permaculture's ddevelopment.
>>>
>>> Critics of a more centralised structure have raised the idea that
>>> permaculture has, at its core, an approach and methodology
>>> founded in
>>> independent, localised actions. The ideology of bioregionalism
>>> that came
>>> into Permaculture from the USA in the late 1980s certainly pushed
>>> this
>>> strand of thinking and probably continues to influence it.
>>>
>>> You can see the validity of both arguments and it gets down to
>>> what social
>>> role and future you see for Permaculture, and that seems to be
>>> quite a
>>> variable thing because Permaculture is, in reality, an alliance of
>>> organisations that adopt different foci for their activity and of
>>> individuals with a wide ambit of political, ideological and economic
>>> allegiences. The various sets of Permaculture principles (Mollison,
>>> Holmgren, Morrow and my own), while compatible, are variable
>>> enough to
>>> accommodate a broad range of interpretation and application.
>>>
>>> This brings us to something that has seldom, if ever, been
>>> articulated -
>>> the
>>> need for a 'grand narrative' of Permaculture - a cohesive,
>>> achievable
>>> vision
>>> of what a society influenced by Permaculture would look like. This
>>> is a
>>> difficult thing to do and to claim any such vision as
>>> Permaculture's alone
>>> might be challenged because many of the ideas Permaculture has
>>> incorporated
>>> into its knowledge base are also promoted by other sustainability
>>> organisations. Some may have originally been adopted from them.
>>>
>>> Way back in Permaculture One, the design system was described as a
>>> 'synthesis', and that means that it borrows from others and
>>> repurposes
>>> those
>>> borrowings or integrates them into a larger scheme. This accounts
>>> for the
>>> substantial overlap between Permaculture and the broad but largely
>>> unstructured sustainability movement, another entity that is an
>>> example of
>>> Penny's "uncoordinated organisations and individuals" but one with a
>>> powerful public voice and capable of joint action towards a common
>>> goal.
>>>
>>> PIL?
>>> The article states that there exists "no established or supported
>>> organisational structure" within Permaculture. So much is
>>> obviously true
>>> and, unless the ground of opinion has shifted substantially over
>>> recent
>>> years, I suspect there would be substantial opposition to the
>>> centralisation
>>> of Permaculture in Australia. Any attempt to do this would have to
>>> answer
>>> questions about representation and legitimacy.
>>>
>>> The objections are predictable: How would a central organisation be
>>> structured to be democratic and representative? How would
>>> Permaculture be
>>> governed? Who would officially speak for Permaculture? Could
>>> others make
>>> public statements? What would the official Permaculture line on
>>> something
>>> be
>>> and how would you deal with differences of opinion?
>>>
>>> Permaculture International Limited (PIL) is the closest
>>> Permaculture has
>>> come to having a central representative body, but PIL represents
>>> only its
>>> members, not the design systems as a whole. PIL was established in
>>> the
>>> 1980s
>>> to publish Permaculture International Journal. The difficulty is
>>> that PIL
>>> is
>>> underresourced, which limits its range of activity and what it can
>>> offer to
>>> potential members. Getting paying members has always been a
>>> challenge and,
>>> as far as I know, it still is. Would Australian permaculturists be
>>> willing
>>> to recognise PIL as a peak body representing design system
>>> practitioners on
>>> behalf of the entire movement and giving the design system a
>>> national
>>> voice?
>>> Would they resource it, through paid memberships, to enable it to
>>> carry out
>>> this mission?
>>>
>>> SYDNEY IN PARTICULAR
>>> The article states: "From a PCC perspective, a more organised
>>> structure in
>>> the Sydney and surrounding region will be of benefit to our
>>> membership".
>>>
>>> The point about representation and legitimacy stated above applies
>>> here,
>>> too. Because it evolved in an ad hoc manner and because it did not
>>> take on
>>> a
>>> structure like a franchise operation in which Permaculture practice
>>> licences
>>> could be issued (yes, it was discussed), Permaculture has no legal
>>> structure
>>> to allow a single entity, including a coalition of Permaculture
>>> associations, to claim to speak for or represent the entire
>>> practice in a
>>> region. Anyone - any individual or organisation - could set up and
>>> claim to
>>> speak for the design system or simply to position itself as a
>>> 'second
>>> voice'
>>> in Permaulture with the same legitimacy and any other. Clearly, in
>>> the
>>> worse
>>> cases, this could lead to dissention and fragmentation.
>>>
>>> The Sydney region once had an organisation that provided a high
>>> degree of
>>> networking and shared activity. That was Permaculture Sydney, a
>>> group that
>>> drew membership and participation from all over the metropolitan
>>> area
>>> rather
>>> than from a defined region within it. It came into existence
>>> through Robyn
>>> Francis in the mid-1980s when it was based at the Permaculture
>>> Epicentre.
>>> Permaculture Sydney was later revived by Ian Mason, Brad Nott and
>>> a few of
>>> us in the early 1990s. Local groups were spawned from Permaculture
>>> Sydney -
>>> Permaculture Inner West, Permaculture South and Permaculture North.
>>> Towards the end of the decade, permacultures Sydney and North
>>> jointly
>>> developed and shared management of a substantial website which
>>> provided
>>> information on the design system and served as a first point of
>>> contact for
>>> Permaculture in the region.
>>>
>>> Rather than a centralised organisation for the Sydney region, why
>>> not a
>>> structure similar to that of the Australian City Farms & Community
>>> Gardens
>>> Network, which, in its different cities, hosts regional networks of
>>> community gardens and sustanability education centres which come
>>> together
>>> for shared learning and networking. This has proven to be a
>>> successful
>>> structure because it allows the Network to speak as an entity but
>>> does not
>>> restrict local independence. In political terms, is is called
>>> federalism.
>>> The Network is less a peak body than a major node within an
>>> extensive
>>> regional network and, like such nodes, becomes a transit point for
>>> information flow and a first point of contact.
>>>
>>> What about unassociated individuals when it comes to regional
>>> coalitions of
>>> Permaculture associations? There are plenty of individuals not
>>> linked with
>>> any Permaculture group. Last Sunday, at Sydney's green building
>>> expo, I was
>>> speaking with Permaculture activist Sue Mossman who asked where
>>> are all
>>> those Sydney permaculturists that have completed PDCs and other
>>> Permaculture
>>> training? As I said to Sue, that's a question we have asked for
>>> some time.
>>> Why have they come back from their courses to fade into the urban
>>> background? A regional network could establish places for these
>>> unattached
>>> individuals.
>>>
>>> Many of those individuals work with Permaculture ethics,
>>> principles and
>>> approaches within other organisations. Immediately, I can think of
>>> half a
>>> dozen and more in the Sydney region. They are not members of
>>> Permaculture
>>> organisations but they act out their Permaculture motivations
>>> without
>>> branding what they do as Permaculture. In fact, if we look right
>>> back to
>>> Permaculture's time of origin, we find Bill Mollison discussing
>>> the design
>>> system as if it were to be used in just this way - ie. by
>>> individuals in
>>> their livelihoods and within other organisations.
>>>
>>> Whether Permaculture should be a thing-in-itself or an approach
>>> applied
>>> within other fields of endeavour has been discussed on this
>>> listserver in
>>> the past and I don't think it is seen as a problem. What is
>>> Permaculture if
>>> it is not primarily a set of ethics, a set of principles, an
>>> approach to
>>> action and a way of thinking? These things, I believe, are the
>>> core of the
>>> design system and when acted upon, then Permaculture is being done
>>> even
>>> though the word might not be mentioned. This is not to suggest
>>> that the
>>> design system should not be branded with its own name where
>>> prudent and
>>> possible, for that remains important to maintaining a presence for
>>> Permaculture in the social marketplace for ideas.
>>>
>>> We can seee that the centralised/decentralised argument is a
>>> complex one. I
>>> see value in both arguments. Rather than rushing in to set up a
>>> netowrk or
>>> more formal structure, perhaps a starting point might be to define
>>> a shared
>>> vision for Permaculture in the region, its relationship to
>>> instititions,
>>> it's opportunities and constraints.
>>>
>>> ...Russ Grayson
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Pil-pc-oceania mailing list
>>> Pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
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>>>
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