[Pil-pc-oceania] Permaculture Community Service Awards

[Robyn Francis]

On 16/11/07 10:23 PM, "Janet Millington" <miltech at bigpond.com> wrote:

> I like your thinking of peer recognition and I thought at first it was a
> great idea and then I put myself in the convergence and I changed my mind.
> Once you give something to someone then no matter what spirit it is done in
> then it appears as if there is competition and one project got something and
> another didn't.  That means there must be a value judgement made so then you
> say "by whom?"  and "by what criteria?"
> 
> The actions are all so diverse with diverse challenges and circumstances and
> resources may make one look better than another.  One may be better now and
> not later and same with individuals ....so it would be hard to judge.

Hi Janet - while I can appreciate where you're coming from re this, I do
disagree regarding giving individuals some formal acknowledgement for
outstanding service and commitment. The Pc Institute used to issue a number
of Permaculture Community Service Awards on a more-or-less regular basis
until the mid '90's. The award was simply a beautiful certificate to hang on
the wall, there was no other gift apart from the recognition of effort it
inherently embodied. The award arrived quietly in the post - no fanfare, no
competition, no big public display - the only public recognition was a
listing of recipients in the PIJ with a brief summary of their work and
achievements.

As a young permie, I felt incredibly honoured to receive one of these in
1985 (2 years after doing my PDC), and it gave me more encouragement and
confidence in my work and what I could contribute to permaculture and the
wider community than any number of comments from individuals. I knew how
hard I'd worked, the degree of self-sacrifice I'd made and what it
represented for me personally - and on a deep personal level I valued it
more than the Pc Inst Diploma I received at around the same time. A few
years ago Guy Rischmueller was looking at my collection of qualifications
and awards on the office wall and asked me if there was a fire and I could
only grab one them which would it be - my immediate response was The
Permaculture Community Service Award.

There are individuals who do outstanding work, have an exceptional level of
commitment to the greater good and are important catalysts in their
community and the lives of others, or pioneers and innovators. Often they
are quiet achievers that rarely receive recognition, and many are unknown to
the wider pc community. Honouring our own is important, and it gives the new
generation of permies something to aspire to.

I would like to see a range of awards introduced to recognise work done
by/commitment of individuals, as well as awards to projects or organisations
(e.g. schools, local pc groups, community gardens, pc enterprises). Not as a
win-or-lose competition, but simply as a formal recognition by the pc
community for outstanding effort and commitment. There should recognition
for youth as well as pc 'veterans', I'd like to see you and Virginia receive
acknowledgement for the massive effort invested in creating APT.
Acknowledgement is long overdue to people like Lachlan McKenzie and Steve
Cran for years of tireless work in East Timor often in the face of extreme
hardship and danger. And what of the incredible efforts of our permaculture
colleagues in Vietnam, Cambodia, Solomon Islands, Idep's work in Acheh and
throughout Indonesia, Narsanna exceptional work in India....

I think the Awards should be Australiasian and include acknowledgement to
people working in the Asia Pacific region - often struggling in isolation
and for whom an award of this nature would hold great value and meaning.

I am disappointed that the APC has reverted back to Australian and not
honoured the decision to be Australasian which was made at IPC-6 at the
request of kiwis and delegates from the Asia Pacific region.
I digress...

Interested in feedback...

Ciao
Robyn

-- 
Pathways to sustainability through
Accredited Permaculture Training
Certificates III & IV and Diploma of Permaculture
Erda Institute Inc

Robyn Francis 
International permaculture design and sustainability consultant, educator &
facilitator

Djanbung Gardens 
Permaculture Education Centre & Demonstration Farm
PO Box 379 Nimbin NSW 2480
02-6689 1755  /  0429 147 138
www.permaculture.com.au