A group of community-minded gardeners have turned a former Athens airport into a blooming vegetable plot, showing how Greece’s eroded soil holds the keys to a revival in farming and a way to buck the jobless trend.

Read more at the Permaculture Research Institute Greece site: http://www.permaculturegreece.gr/2012/03/19/greeks-reclaim-the-land-to-ease-the-pain-of-economic-austerity/#more-156

A page from a recently published article on Transition Norwich, photo by Tony Buckingham

I highly recommend this article on the initiative, published earlier this year in Norwich Magazine.

To use permaculture lingo, Chikukwa can be described as a real edge, both in terms of ecology, culture and language, and the edge effect has certainly produced something rich. The community here has a sense of being both somewhat innocent and progressive at the same time. It is as if they skipped the industrialized phase and went straight into becoming a sustainable community. — Lindhagen 2010

The Chikukwa Ecological Land Trust (CELUCT) is a unique community permaculture organisation in the Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe. Set in the highlands bordering Mozambique, the region is heavily populated and has suffered from deforestation, serious erosion and soil degradation since the area was named a Tribal Trust Land in the colonial era. In this setting, the Chikukwa community has developed a successful permaculture program involving around 8,000 farmers in what Chan (2010) calls “one of the largest and relatively unknown permaculture sites in the world.” So, how did a remote Zimbabwean farming community learn and implement permaculture techniques? What have been the effects?

Read more at the Permaculture Research Institute website, an excellent source of regenerative design news from around the world.

This picture shows a small section of the Chikukwa clan lands as they are now. The houses nestled among orchards, the bunds with vetiver grass in the cropping fields and the extensive woodlots are all typical of this design strategy.

Photo: umasspermaculture.com

A recent article by Chad Cain, staff writer for Daily Hampshire Gazette.

AMHERST – Once destined to be a parking lot, a swath of land next to one of the University of Massachusetts’ dining halls is now officially a garden.

But this isn’t just any garden. For the last year, some 500 student volunteers have transformed a quarter-acre section of grassy lawn outside the Franklin Dining Commons into a so-called permaculture garden.

Ryan Harb, who oversees the garden as a sustainability specialist for UMass, told more than 200 people who attended a special dedication ceremony last week that garden preparations included moving more than 500,000 pounds of compost by hand and planting more than 1,000 edible plants. The plants are now being used to feed students.

Harb also announced new plans to break ground soon on a second garden on campus, this one in the Southwest Residential Area near the Berkshire Dining Commons.

He said the impact of the garden is being felt both on campus and around the world. In addition to presenting the idea of permaculture to some 10,000 students on campus, Harb has spoke about the project at international conferences.

“We are looked upon as one of the first and most successful in the country to regenerate under utilized land and turn it into food,” he said.

The basic idea behind permaculture is to restore ecosystem health by mimicking natural processes and eliminating the kinds of modern agriculture methods that can be harmful to the environment.

To Continue this Article click here

Permaculture 101

This permaculture interview is produced by The Global Oneness Project who are known for their richly produced films, media, and educational material. Their films explore the interconnectedness of the human spirit in our complex world. http://www.globalonenessproject.org/

The gorgeous campus and innovative bamboo architecture of the Green School

The emerald green Ayung River valley outside of Ubud, Bali seems an appropriate home for Green School, the world’s first school designed and built explicitly on permaculture principles.  Open-air bamboo classrooms are surrounded by organic gardens, rice paddies and fruit trees, and the curriculum is geared toward preparing children to be leaders of a sustainable future.

“Kids here get to step outside the classroom and apply theory to practice, connecting to the natural world and creating authentic motivations for learning,” said Ben Macrory, Director of Admissions.  “So we have an academic curriculum to make sure kids get the ‘nuts and bolts,’ but it’s wrapped in a green studies program that gives the students the chance to plant gardens, build structures and make solar ovens.”

And while traditional subjects like math, language arts, social studies, science, and the arts still remain the focus, the school also offers courses in eco-entrepreneurial subjects such as chocolate production, organic farming, and new methods of sustainable building with bamboo.  Eighty percent of the students are international, twenty percent are local Balinese and attend for free.   A major goal of the school is to create a truly integrated international school, one that models cross-cultural cooperation and sharing.

“In many private international schools, they dress up once a year in traditional garb but the only local kids who can attend are from the elite and there are big walls,”  Macrory observed.  “ We really wanted to break that model, so we have a good security team but no walls, and the local communities have full access to the campus.  It seems to be working well. “

School founders John and Cynthia Hardy have lived in Bali for over 25 years, and their commitment to the environment began with the business they started in the 1980s: John Hardy Jewelry.  The company, focusing on traditional Balinese techniques, incorporates a number of  green practices and programs, and today the brand is sold internationally at major stores.   In 2006, they decided to use some of the returns they had made on their enterprise to give back to Bali and develop a school on ecological principles.  They hired two permaculture designers, an Australian (John Button) and a Balinese (Chakra Widia), to create the plan for the site, which showcases biointensive growing methods.  Biointensive techniques are focused on maximum yields from the minimum area of land, while being completely organic and simultaneously improving the soil.

Bamboo, a renewable building resource, became the basis for construction, and the Hardys had a lofty vision for the physical environment of the school, which they wanted to soar and inspire but with a minimal environmental impact.  When they didn’t find a company that could do the things they were envisioning, they decided to start their own.  The result, called PT Bambu, is located across the street from the school, and designed, built, and furnished it, taking bamboo to a new level.  They set up a community bamboo program which distributed 50,000 seedlings to the local community free of charge and will buy back the mature bamboo after four years.

“I guess for me, the most important thing we’re doing here is giving these students (and their families, our Balinese neighbors, and the many visitors from around the world who come here) a chance to see some different possible outcomes for how we continue to develop, and in a broader sense, model creative and collaborative problem solving.” Macrory said.

“It’s been amazing just to see how moved and inspired people get just by being here… there is a pretty magical energy and lots of happy, engaged  kids.  I always tell people that we are a wildly overambitious project, but that these are times that demand such attempts.”

The Permaculture Movement Grows From Underground

By MICHAEL TORTORELLO   Published: July 27, 2011

Carrots from Claudia Joseph’s gardens. More Photos »

Read the rest of the article here.

Founded in 1849 for the introduction and trial of agricultural crops, Durban Botanic Gardens has come full circle, and is leading the botanic garden world in environmental education through permaculture.  This is no small feat as permaculture and botanic gardens have rarely merged through their storied pasts, despite the abundance of potential synergies along the way.

Set on 12 hectares (30 acres) in the urban center of Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, Durban Botanic Gardens (DBG) is home to a burgeoning environmental education program guided by the ethics and principles of permaculture.  Started in 2008 and designed by permaculturalist Gabriel Mngoma, DBG’s Permaculture Training Centre is sited on land that formerly served as a sports field and since coming under the jurisdiction of the botanic gardens has blossomed into a beautiful example of permaculture in a botanic garden.  Through progressive leadership, partnerships, and a commitment to building ecological literacy and fostering food security within the local community, Durban Botanic Gardens has become a model for the botanic garden world in how permaculture can – and does- serve the missions of many botanic gardens without compromising the rigorous aesthetic standards expected in the field.

In 2008, DBG’s Permaculture Training Centre was developed as a pilot garden as part of the larger Garden Window Project, which aims to connect people to plants through food plants, medicinal plants and urban greening.  Since inception, the Permaculture Training Centre does all of the above by empowering participants with theory, knowledge and hands-on skills to put permaculture into practice: meeting their own human needs while stewarding the land.

The permaculture program engages participants in a structured, interactive learning experience that invites discovery and observation of ecological systems in practice while providing tangible hands-on tools for implementing permaculture on any scale or circumstance.  Many school groups who participate in a DBG permaculture program go on to create permaculture gardens at their own schools, and many individuals continue coming back to deepen their understanding of permaculture.

One young participant reported, “…it was very fun because we really got our hands dirty… it was an awesome experience for me and my friends.  It was one of the best days of my life!”  Another said, “I learned that certain plants have certain relationships with the nature around them,” and a schoolteacher reported, “I didn’t know quite what to expect when we signed up for this program but it was really, really great and surpassed all my expectations!”  In addition to meeting learning objectives and advancing ecological literacy, school groups gain practical tips on growing their own food in an environmentally sensitive and informed way, and deepen their understanding of why doing so is such important work.

To meet the growing demand for permaculture learning in the community, Durban Botanic Gardens offers a range of courses tailored to the needs to educators, students, families, and community leaders, and all courses promote food security and social justice while fostering respect for traditional cultures and environmental action through food gardening.  In addition, a booklet, “Permaculture food gardening guide for schools,” was recently published

While Durban Botanic Gardens hosts approximately 500,000 visitors each year and the permaculture program extends this number through local outreach, the engagement continues beyond Durban.  Durban Botanic Gardens partners with Woza Moya, a community centre located two hours southwest of DBG in the small village of Ixopa, a village affected by one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world. Woza Moya is dedicated to providing support services for families affected with HIV, AIDS and poverty throughout the surrounding Ufafa Valley, and Durban Botanic Gardens provides permaculture courses and support for village women to grow their own food.  This is a tremendous source of empowerment for women that can mean the difference between eating or going hungry.  These women then multiply the program’s reach by teaching their neighbors how to start their own permaculture gardens, spreading food security through the Ufafa Valley one woman at a time.  In addition to learning about ecological connections and earth care, participants use permaculture to empower one another, building a healthier and more resilient community.

Other botanic gardens are beginning to catch on to what permaculture can offer their institutions, and with DBG as an example, botanic gardens have a lot to gain.

Location: Rusinga Island, Kenya

Land Size: ¾ Hectare

Facilities / Elements:
Existing: nursery, office/ resource center/ seed bank, tool shed, banana circle, kitchen, shade/eating area, education hall and resource room, chicken/rabbit/quail house, indigenous tree forest, indigenous food crops and seed garden, medicinal herb and plant garden, meditation circle, food forest, mandala garden, compost heaps.

Future Projects: mudfish pond, alley cropping system, more banana circles, guest kitchen, fire pit, couples guesthouse, humanure compost heaps, compost toilets, shop, wormery, guest house, showers, campsite,

Livelihoods / Financial Style: Board of directors

Educational Programs:
- Permaculture workshops for local farmers
- Inaugural PDC course in March 2011
- Accepts WWOOF volunteers
- Organizes school scholarship programs for local students

Established: The Badilisha project was started by a group of seven local and international board members with funds seeded from the United States NGO Center for Non-violent Communication. Badilisha was founded on a dual vision of non-violent communication and permaculture practice.

Residents: There are currently no permanent residents on Badilisha’s grounds.

Mission / Purpose / Philosophy:
Badilisha Eco Village promotes permaculture farm design techniques and ethics: Earth Care, People Care and Share of Surplus. It is a model farm, or epicenter, for both sustainable agriculture and holistic community development. Our vision is for all peoples to live together in a way that supports mother earth as well as respects each person’s (universal) needs.

Badilisha embodies the motto of “think global, act local.” It seeks to address and mitigate the challenges facing the Rusinga Island community including food insecurity, HIV/AIDS, lack of education, and other social and environmental challenges.  Badilisha seeks to inspire change and change minds in the local context and international context, bringing individuals from across the planet towards a holistic worldview pivoting on the notion of global responsibility.

Governance: Badilisha is managed by a group of seven local and international board members.

Food Sources: Badilisha aims to provide a complete learning center in which to teach locals and farmers from elsewhere efficient and sustainable agricultural practices.

Water Supply: Rainwater harvest from roofs is the main source of water. During the dry season a motor driven pump brings water from nearby Lake Victoria. Badilisha hopes to convert this to a wind powered system.

Waste Disposal: Humanure toilets are in development, but meanwhile Badilisha uses pit latrines to dispose of human waste. Commercial, cooking and other wastes are disposed of in compost piles and used to refuel the soil.

Political and Social Engagement: Badilisha is a learning center for the local and international community and as such is constantly seeking new ways to engage the community in education and development projects. Badilisha runs an orphan sponsorship program, at times provides water to Rusinga island neighbors, and villagers charge cell phones for free on solar energy.  New projects in the community are in development stages but lack seed funding, such as deforestation mitigation and a beach sanitation program. Badilisha promotes informal education, sharing information and knowledge with all those interested in permaculture and community development.

Energy Use / Source: Badilisha’s office is powered by a solar panel with energy storage capacity.

On a small island, nestled between green rolling hills and the vast shores of Lake Victoria, lies the small town of Kasawaga, of Rusinga Island. The  physical beauty and interpersonal warmth of the tightly knit community initially masks the significant challenges borne by its citizens. Rusinga is located in one of the poorest districts in Kenya and all of sub-Saharan Africa. The social, environmental, and economic issues, all of which are multidimensional and interrelated, permeate the  lives of community members. Challenges include poverty, environmental variability and degradation (drought, deforestation, soil degradation and collapsing fisheries), health issues (HIV/AIDS, water-borne illness, infectious diseases including malaria), under-nutrition and malnutrition, food insecurity, domestic violence, and high illiteracy rates.

It is these challenges that have inspired a locally-conceived antidote: the Badilisha Eco Village Trust. True to its namesake, which means ‘change’ in Swahili, Badilisha promotes permaculture, with its specific design techniques and ethics, as a crucial and holistic approach to sustainable development. Badilisha thus promotes the UN Millennium Development Goals. Founded by community member, Evans Odula, Badilisha has been a locally driven initiative since its inception.  The intimate relationship between the initiative and the community has been central to Badilisha’s proven success and have served as a positive model of the celebrated creed to tackle global issues locally.

The foundational principles of permaculture , Earth Care, People Care and Shared Surplus, are clearly demonstrated and promoted in Badilisha’s three year plan, which is currently well on its way to being realized. The three year plan includes a resource center (ICT, office, library), mandala garden, food forest, rainwater harvesting, banana circles, vermi-compost and compost heaps, indigenous forest, kitchen with solar cookers, on-site guest huts, compost toilets, meditation center, conference hall, medicinal herb garden, plant nursery, animal tractors, and alley cropping system. The Badilisha vision intentionally includes many elements. It seeks to act as a model or epicenter for permaculture promotion and education. It is not meant merely to  support and provide for the community but, as a permaculture hub, it seeks to inspire, teach and empower local and international people to implement these practices in their own backyards. Badilisha not only entails the technical designs classified as Earth Care, but also promotes community initiatives and involvement, thereby successfully integrating the ethics of People care and Share of surplus. The programs Badilisha runs (pending funding) include local and international permaculture workshops and training, voluntourism, orphan support, school feeding programs, beach sanitation programs and reforestation initiatives.