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Permaculture was – and is – a weaving together of ideas inspired and informed by Indigenous knowledge and science and many thinkers, both past and present, working in the realms of landscape design, ecology, ethics, perennial agriculture and architecture. And … guess what? Drawing this knowledge into a grassroots design system that could be used to regenerate landscapes meant that it was one that could regenerate community, too. These principles that focused on designing in partnership with ecosystems, rather than separate from them, could also be used to support the re-emergence of regenerative communities, from the individual to the city level. This should come as no surprise if you look at Indigenous wisdom and practices, which remind us that Country and people are indivisible: we are not separate from nature. What’s good for Country is good for people. But it bears repeating here: like most of modern thought and design, permaculture theory – including its ethics, principles and skills – is, directly or indirectly, based on the wisdom, knowledge and science of traditional and Indigenous peoples the world over. Some permaculturists actively acknowledge these legacies, while others are criticised for not adequately recognising such histories. For us, this recognition is central to permaculture, and to our combined ability to use what skills and knowledge is available to everyone, to build better and more just worlds and futures. Concepts like our reliance on the regeneration of and reciprocity within our ecosystems are not ‘new’ – quite the opposite. And yet, in our current society we seem to have forgotten them. They are fundamental truths that we each need back at the centre of our lives, no matter where or how we live now. It is vital that these truths once more become a core part of our decision-making for ourselves, our families, our communities and our ecosystems. Whose Ancestral Knowledge are We Talking About here? I’m not only talking about other people’s ancestors or unbroken lines of traditional knowledge; your own family histories, interrupted as they may be by participating in colonisation, white supremacy and other systems of violence, can also form a part of this traditional lineage. While we’re well versed in the collective damage previous (and current) generations have done to ecosystems and communities across the world… you are also the direct descendant of people who once held land-based knowledge; people who cultivated community, knew their local waterways like family, and saved and passed seeds from hand to hand through generations. So some of this is your people’s knowledge, too. The point of permaculture design and thinking, as we see it, is to respectfully draw on these fundamentally excellent concepts and principles to inform our everyday lives. “It ’s about living with integrity at all the levels – from the macro to the micro.” Tyson Yungaporta, For the Wild podcast And you can do this in a way that works for you, using your household and your ecosystem to make your life better, while actively practising gratitude for and solidarity with the traditional and Indigenous knowledge-keepers, both past and present, to whom we owe pretty much everything. Since the 1980s, the permaculture movement has decentralised into a worldwide, mycelium-like network of designers, thinkers, makers and doers. Permaculture principles are used all over the world, by all sorts of folks – to design ecovillages in Argentina, accountancy practices in London, schools and entire suburbs, community centres and university courses, to create alternative currencies and community resilience plans, and many a garden, home, homestead and farm, too. Permaculture has even been used, on occasion, as a principle-based toolbox to help reboot traditional agricultural systems, which, once up and running again, no longer use the word ‘permaculture’, because the old ways have re-emerged and been reclaimed. It’s an incredibly useful framework for thinking about how we relate to place, and how we can live like it matters. Because it does. For many of us wanting to do better by our planet, we need all the help we can get when it comes to principles and frameworks for living well and in relationship to our ecosystems. Permaculture is just one set of ideas – scaffolding you can use – to build an amazing and resilient life, home and community, to build reciprocity with your ecosystem, and to enable a future of possibilities, even in a world out of balance. So, what could this all look like at your place? To help make these ideas more clear, permaculture can be broken c lo c k w i s e f r o m t o p   Kirsten with partner Nick, and kid, Ash; Fair shares in action; Building a compost pile from garden waste. The compost feeds the garden, creating continued cycle of nutrients. 6  | www.permaculture.co.uk
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“ These core ethics, or some form of them, can be found in all traditional cultures. Bill Mollison and I, back in the 70s, saw that this ethical foundation was an essential basis for sustainable design – or what we called permaculture.” David Holmgren, Permaculture Living course issue 118 winter 2023 down into three ethics and twelve principles that you can use as thinking tools, goals and guides to build a meaningful life. Permaculture Ethics At the foundation of permaculture are three ethics: Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share. We see these ethics as top-level thinking tools, and a good ‘first things first’ guide for how to live. You can use these ethics as a framework to guide your decisionmaking and actions while planning for a life worth living. Here’s what they mean to us at Milkwood. Earth Care This is care of the big Earth, our combined home, and care of the small earth, the soil beneath our feet. Earth care can be many things, including but not limited to organising, voting and taking action on things like climate justice; tending the earth that sustains each and every one of us with just and equitable food systems; and understanding that we are part of our ecosystems, not separate from them, and that we each need to step up to the responsibilities that go along with that. People Care People care is living our lives in a way that is kind, safe and healthy – for ourselves, our households and our communities – while doing the least harm possible to others. People care is supporting mutual aid, considering what we consume and its impacts on people far away, and how we vote. It’s how we show up in our communities – both in times of plenty and in times of crisis – to ensure the best outcome for everyone, not just ourselves. People Care is how we work on decolonising our thinking and our actions, along with dismantling our inherited and internal racism; how we seek to be lifelong learners, to co-create a more just world; how we attempt to do the work, and not carry destructive patterns forward – for ourselves, our families and our communities. Fair Share Fair Share is passing on the surplus and, importantly, ensuring our portion is no larger than it needs to be. It’s reassessing what ‘need’ is to us, and making do with less if we can, to ensure there’s more for others – people, plants and all the other life, too. Planting more than we need, so that there’s enough to share. Voting, advocating and taking action in a way that creates equity for those in our community who do not have our privileges. Fair Share is sharing seeds, skills and knowledge, so that more folks in more communities can thrive, and so that ecosystems and biodiversity can thrive, too. |  7

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Permaculture was – and is – a weaving together of ideas inspired and informed by Indigenous knowledge and science and many thinkers, both past and present, working in the realms of landscape design, ecology, ethics, perennial agriculture and architecture.

And … guess what? Drawing this knowledge into a grassroots design system that could be used to regenerate landscapes meant that it was one that could regenerate community, too.

These principles that focused on designing in partnership with ecosystems, rather than separate from them, could also be used to support the re-emergence of regenerative communities, from the individual to the city level.

This should come as no surprise if you look at Indigenous wisdom and practices, which remind us that Country and people are indivisible: we are not separate from nature. What’s good for Country is good for people.

But it bears repeating here: like most of modern thought and design, permaculture theory – including its ethics, principles and skills – is, directly or indirectly, based on the wisdom, knowledge and science of traditional and Indigenous peoples the world over.

Some permaculturists actively acknowledge these legacies, while others are criticised for not adequately recognising such histories. For us, this recognition is central to permaculture, and to our combined ability to use what skills and knowledge is available to everyone, to build better and more just worlds and futures.

Concepts like our reliance on the regeneration of and reciprocity within our ecosystems are not ‘new’ – quite the opposite. And yet, in our current society we seem to have forgotten them.

They are fundamental truths that we each need back at the centre of our lives, no matter where or how we live now.

It is vital that these truths once more become a core part of our decision-making for ourselves, our families, our communities and our ecosystems.

Whose Ancestral Knowledge are We Talking About here? I’m not only talking about other people’s ancestors or unbroken lines of traditional knowledge; your own family histories, interrupted as they may be by participating in colonisation, white supremacy and other systems of violence, can also form a part of this traditional lineage.

While we’re well versed in the collective damage previous (and current) generations have done to ecosystems and communities across the world… you are also the direct descendant of people who once held land-based knowledge; people who cultivated community, knew their local waterways like family, and saved and passed seeds from hand to hand through generations.

So some of this is your people’s knowledge, too. The point of permaculture design and thinking, as we see it, is to respectfully draw on these fundamentally excellent concepts and principles to inform our everyday lives.

“It ’s about living with integrity at all the levels – from the macro to the micro.” Tyson Yungaporta, For the Wild podcast

And you can do this in a way that works for you, using your household and your ecosystem to make your life better, while actively practising gratitude for and solidarity with the traditional and Indigenous knowledge-keepers, both past and present, to whom we owe pretty much everything.

Since the 1980s, the permaculture movement has decentralised into a worldwide, mycelium-like network of designers, thinkers, makers and doers.

Permaculture principles are used all over the world, by all sorts of folks – to design ecovillages in Argentina, accountancy practices in London, schools and entire suburbs, community centres and university courses, to create alternative currencies and community resilience plans, and many a garden, home, homestead and farm, too.

Permaculture has even been used, on occasion, as a principle-based toolbox to help reboot traditional agricultural systems, which, once up and running again, no longer use the word ‘permaculture’, because the old ways have re-emerged and been reclaimed.

It’s an incredibly useful framework for thinking about how we relate to place, and how we can live like it matters. Because it does.

For many of us wanting to do better by our planet, we need all the help we can get when it comes to principles and frameworks for living well and in relationship to our ecosystems.

Permaculture is just one set of ideas – scaffolding you can use – to build an amazing and resilient life, home and community, to build reciprocity with your ecosystem, and to enable a future of possibilities, even in a world out of balance.

So, what could this all look like at your place? To help make these ideas more clear, permaculture can be broken c lo c k w i s e f r o m t o p   Kirsten with partner Nick, and kid, Ash; Fair shares in action; Building a compost pile from garden waste. The compost feeds the garden, creating continued cycle of nutrients.

6  |

www.permaculture.co.uk

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