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Report 1 Draft for EUPC By Anna Schmidt

International Permaculture Research Project

Analysis of the First International Permaculture Research Survey: Who’s doing what?

The International Permaculture Research Project has the aim to connect permaculture researchers from the academic and practical sphere. It so far consists of a series of surveys, the analysis of the first one being subject of this report. The overall goal is to support research collaboration in becoming more effective and vibrant, thereby shifting Permaculture toward broader acceptance in the public and academic sphere.

A project developed by the Permaculture Association

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The idea for the project itself was developed in a joint effort of Permaculture Association members and its research advisory board. It’s objective is to reach out to permaculture researchers all over the world, in order to eventually develop a well organised and vibrant network of academics and practitioners, which a. enables researchers to connect and share results, b. makes it easy for researchers to support each other and collaborate with research projects and c. enables permaculture research to become more organised and consequently more recognised in the public sphere, by governance and academia.

In order to achieve this goal, a series of surveys, of which the first two already exist, are developed:

Survey 1: Who is doing what?
Survey 2: What research is wanted?
Survey 3: How do researchers learn and communicate?
Survey 4: What do researchers think about a potential research protocol/ platform?

The aim of the first survey is to gain an overview of 1. Who is out there? 2. Where are they situated? 3. What research are they conducting? and 4. What do they need in order to pursue their research?

After the launch of the first survey in May, we received a lot of feedback fairly quickly. Within six weeks, more than 200 people had responded to the survey. We received tremendous support in our effort to translate the survey into different languages, in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible, and as international and representative as possible. After our first news update on the progress of the survey, participants contacted us and translated the survey free of charge. As a result, the survey is now available in 9 languages!

Even though an analysis of the results has been carried out, the survey will continue to stay open for people to participate. If you know someone who might be interested to join our network, please put us in touch!
Indeed, a lot of promotion work is to be done in order to create a broad, international awareness of the project. One of the main challenges in regard to this is to promote the survey in different countries and networks, and to set up a reliable, logistical system that enables good communication and an efficient management and analysis of data.

We truly hope that this first overview of the results that came together will inspire people and motivate you to take part and play an active role in developing this project in order for it to strive and succeed in becoming a well- functioning, established and recognised platform for permaculture related research.

Many thanks go out to all the participants and people who contributed to developing the project up to this point. We hope you enjoy reading this report!

 

CHAPTER 1: Participants

Responses and distribution

Added all language versions together, we received a total number of 262 responses to survey 11. As Figure 1.1 demonstrates, the language versions of survey one have been answered very unequally in terms of numbers of responses. This is partly to do with their launch date: The English version was launched in May, the French, German, Spanish and Italian version end of June and the Chinese, Swahili and Portuguese versions only end July 2012. However, also varying levels of connectivity and access to networks used by speakers of the languages in question have an influence. Although we have been working within particularly French and German speaking networks, there is a lot of work in terms of building connections to other networks and to increase communication with non- English speaking permaculture researchers.

1 Figures based on data received up to 24/07/2012



Figure 1.1: Existing language versions and respective number of participants

We are aware that being based in the UK, our network and connections are mainly English speaking. Being sensitive of that fact, we will do our best to develop this project as open and diverse as possible in terms of language. This of course is not a job for the Permaculture Association alone, but requires co-operation between networks, institutes and individuals. At the end of the day, this project is aimed to be a joint initiative of different players from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, working in a multi- lingual way.

In order for the project to receive the attention it deserves here at our Association, we have decided to recruit an intern, to start in October 2012, whose specific task it will be to work on the development, promotion of and collaboration for this project.

Countries

A total number of 51 countries are represented by our survey participants, which we think is a great success!

 


Figure 1.2: Countries represented followed by respective number of participants.

Participants per continent



Figure 1.3: Participants per continent (%)

As figure 1.3 demonstrates, over 53% of participants represented are from Europe, 23% from Northern America, which means that South America (7%), Oceania (6%), Africa (7%) and Asia (7%) are under- represented. Once again, this is mainly to do with our allocation and already existing networks and connections in place. This once again makes me refer back to the importance of active collaboration on this endeavour. Ideally, we would have regional coordinators, who can access networks, translate and distribute and feed information back and forth.

Organisations, projects and institutions



A list of 410 organisations, projects and institutions that survey participants are involved with came together (see Appendix 1). Amongst them are over 30 universities, and 30 institutes, 24 networks and 10 associations involved with permaculture research in various countries.

Instead of just providing an alphabetical list, our future vision is to develop a better search tool that allows you to find what you specifically are looking for, and provides you with information on the project and people involved. If you feel you have some skills and resources to contribute to the development of such a system, please get in touch. Also, if you want more specific information on who is involved with a certain organisation, institution or project, please write an email to [email protected], and we will provide you with the information you need.

CHAPTER 2: Your Research



A vast pool of research questions, areas and disciplines has come together through the survey. Questions are very different in their ambition, some very practical and some very academic. Figure 2.1 demonstrates the diversity of participants’ areas of work in that respect: 164 participants are practical researchers and 75 work in the academic sphere, of which 56 do practical research in addition to their academic work.

 

Participants about their occupation:


“I am working with George Mason University, Virginia, USA, to establish permaculture research support.”

“I love to make my permaculture model a learning tool for people in Southern Africa”

“I'm a former academic, now full time farmer/grower”

“I am a practitioner with hopes of making it more a part of my academic job.”

“I’m an undergrad student studying permaculture and transferring to UC Davis for masters in International Agricultural Development.”

“My research and activities are related, but not specifically tied into permaculture. It is more of a hobby and goal for the future”

“I have 16 years of experience in organic gardening and testing methods in the area of agroforestry […].”
Academics and practitioners



Figure 2.1: Numbers of academics, practitioners and both




Analysing the answers, we found that people are looking for different things and different kinds of collaboration. Some are academics wishing to connect and collaborate with other academics, some academics wishing to collaborate with practitioners on rather quantitative, numerical research, some are practitioners wanting to collaborate with other on research projects, poly- culture trials, or wanting to get advice from the academic world on various issues. Resources that people need and have to offer seem to have a great possibility to match. A useful tool for a future website might thus be a space where people can request and offer resources such as training, land, specific research on issues and more.

Areas of research

We created a list of research questions that came together as a result of researchers answering the survey (see Appendix 2).Sorting questions into categories or summarising them has proven to be a difficult task, as there is a real danger in simplifying and boxing issues. In addition to differences between academic and practical approaches, we found that Permaculture related research is marked by a highly interdisciplinary character, covering a vast number of issues.

Even though we decided to find a few headlines to give the number of questions some sort of order, I would like to encourage all readers to not pay too much attention to these, as questions could be sorted in a completely different way, and some of them would certainly deserve their own category. However, we hope the way of “ordering” things a little bit serves the purpose of giving readers a rough overview of what is covered.

We furthermore decided to not provide names or any further information in relation to the questions, as this would probably be beyond the capacity of this report. However, we strongly encourage you to contact us for more information on topics, questions, countries or researchers of your interest. Once a platform in form of website is established, you will be able to get in touch with each other directly. Until then, please contact [email protected] for any further information.

Thinking about future ways of managing data and developing appropriate search tools, one approach could be the development of a search engine incorporated into a potential website, which enables researchers to search for keywords and to specify, whether they are looking for academic, practical or both entries.

CHAPTER 3: Access

What would help you with your research?


Analysing the question “What would help you with your research?” we found that many people are looking for similar kinds of support. Most people indeed are looking for knowledge exchange, for example in form of a research peer group (43) and access to research in form of journals, books (22), literature reviews or openly accessible databases (10). 21 participants stated that access to more land and skilled permaculture practitioners would help them with their research, and methods training would be appreciated by 23 participants. 14 people would find a research guidebook helpful. Also time (7), funding (10) and qualified staff (5) are resources needed.

A selection of quotes on the question “What would help you with your research?”


“All of the above! But firstly common methods of data capture so that results can be compared with others' would be useful.”

“Training would be great , or maybe just is an experienced permaculturalist, and someone who is experienced in business plan writing.”

“A research peer group would be excellent. Also, a comprehensive bibliography of permaculture research would be great.”

“Information exchange with people involved in similar activities.”


Figure 3.1: A total of 144 participants have answered this question. Answers in %

The answers received are very encouraging when looking at our project, as its main purpose is to connect people and the research they are doing - which is what the majority of people stated as a major resource that would help them to develop more efficient research.

Barriers to conducting research

The main barriers to conducting research named by participants are funding, time, collaboration, skilled labour, low acceptance of permaculture as a research discipline and lack of knowledge.

However, people also named other reasons, such as distance, no access to land, training and assistance, language barriers, access to institutions and internet access.


Figure 2.3: Total number of answers: 144. Answer choices by participants in %

Here a few quoted by participants on the question:

 

“A barrier for my research is still the lack of a clear mapping of the permaculture design method as well as a mapping of the academic research method in order to find similarities (common ground) and then see what one can bring to the other.”

“A general lack of knowledge about permaculture makes it difficult to access funding from mainstream sources. It also makes it difficult to attract interdisciplinary collaborators. At the same time, a general (and probably justified) wariness of the academy among many permaculture practitioners can be an obstacle to academic-community collaborations. “

“It would be really helpful to know other people's research results on permaculture. Currently I'm constrained by how much time I have to conduct research. I have not faced major barriers to conducting research though since I am doing this as a part of my PhD program, received funding to do the research, and am supported by two organizations working on permaculture in Malawi.”

“There is very little published /peer reviewed about permaculture.”

“Usually outside any formal funding frameworks, so special efforts are needed to find alternative sources of support. Permaculture needs higher profile, therefore a focused effort, with a much clearer research programme.”

“Our work on Permaculture is not really taken seriously in Switzerland. Often, there is a lack of professionalism.”

Barriers to accessing other people’s research



Figure 3.3: 120 people responded to this question. Answers in %

CHAPTER 4: Participant’s ideas and comments

How do you think this survey could be improved?

We got a lot of positive feedback, and also a lot of new input and suggestions. Some of them here:

"Research is such an open topic. Asking some leading questions on particular areas of research might have elicited more specific response.”

“As a lot of people are doing research without their own web site and what could be called professional ways of publication and presentation.”

“Ask if people are willing to be part of research teams! Reveal which research topics are currently being explored by participants in this project”

“Ask what research means for you, in order to account for the diversity of approaches that people with diverse backgrounds may have to research.”

“Good questions. I need to see the results - what the other people wrote.”

“I am curious to learn more about the diversity of people in the field of permaculture”

“It would be great to have all information transparent and available in an openly accessible place, like for example the Chaordic institute, Gaia university as a transnational organisation of the permaculture global database for example.”

“Maybe ask: What are the questions you would like to research? Could do some linking up of people with similar interests...”

“You could have asked what I had to offer e.g. 18 acres of a permaculture trial site”

“Questions regarding permaculture and higher education would have been nice.”

“The first page, with name of project and website, may look at bit formal to some people like me, who just do things individually on a very small scale.”

“I would be especially interested in a list that discussed ways to do pc outreach through organizations that function effectively.”

“Thanks for doing this! I hope this will help to connect permaculture researchers.”

We would like to thank all participants for their input and will try to work on the issues raised in the future. Due to the great number of participants and little resources we are not able to process and answer all questions personally. However, in case you have a request on specific information or suggestion that is important to you, we would appreciate if you email us!

CONCLUSION


To conclude, we would like to express our satisfaction and gratitude for all answers we received. We received over 250 responses from over 50 countries, and gathered a list of over 400 projects, institutions and organisations, of which over 30 are Universities. A vast number of research questions have come together, revealing the inter-disciplinary and broad character of permaculture research. Thanks to the engagement of volunteers, the survey is accessible in 9 languages!

We hope that also you are happy with the results presented to you, and that this report gave you a fair overview of the current state of this project . In case there are any questions left open, please do not hesitate and write us in order to enquire the information you are looking for.

Although participation and results are encouraging, we also would like to point out the areas of work that need to be addressed.

1) Establishing networks of co-operation with institutes, projects, individuals
2) Establishing reliable systems of translation in order to analyse and feedback data. Ideally a person responsible for regions/ languages.
3) Establishing a plan for a platform/ website. This requires us to collaborate with web designers/ qualified IT people

 

 

 

 


If you feel that you can help with any of these following, or know someone who can, please contact us. Also, if you have any proposals, ideas or concerns regarding the strategy for developing an international permaculture research platform/ database, please get in touch.



English: www.surveymonkey.com/s/irs1
French:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/frirs1
German:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/deirs1
Spanish:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/esirs1
Portuguese:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/ptirs1
Traditional Chinese:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/tchirs1
Simplified Chinese:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/chirs1
Swahili:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/swirs1

Survey 2: What research is wanted?

English: www.surveymonkey.com/s/irs2
Portuguese:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/ptirs2

Useful contact details

Anna Schmidt (international coordinator) [email protected]

Chris Wartenburg - Brown(research coordinator) [email protected]

Andy Goldring (CEO) - [email protected]

 




Address:
The Permaculture Association
Hollybush Conservation Centre
Broad Lane Kirkstall
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS5 3BP
UK

Website: www.permaculture.org.uk

Phone: +44 (0) 845 458 1805
From abroad: +44 (0) 113 230 74 61
Fax: +44 (0) 845 458 1092

 

APPENDIX

Appendix 1: List of projects

Name

website

A

 

Aberystwyth University

www.aber.ac.uk

Academia Danubiana

http://academia-danubiana.net

ACOS Nepal (Agriculture Concern Society Nepal)

www.acosnepal.com

AGROKARBO-Akademie

https://sites.google.com/site/agrokarbo/

Alan Enzo, Ph.D., M.B.A.

www.PermacultureEducation.com

Alaska Permaculture Guild

http://akpermaculture.ning.com/

AlaskanEcoEscape Permaculture Center

https://sites.google.com/site/alaskanecoescapeedu/

Allmende e.V.

http://allmende.de.vu

American Anthropological Association

www.aaanet.org

American Society of Permaculture

www.permacultureusa.us

American University

www.american.edu

Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire

APAA Congo

 

Apios Institute for Regenerative Perennial Ag.

www.apiosinstitute.org

AppleSeed Permaculture LLC

http://www.appleseedpermaculture.com

Aranya Agricultural Alternatives

www.permacultureindia.org

Arkansas Tech University

www.atu.edu

Artemis Plants & Gardens

 

Association Paysanne pour l'Autosuffisance Alimentaire

Athens Permaculture

 

Atlantic Energy

 

B

 

Balmeggberg

www.balmeggberg.ch

Baumplan

www.hanftipi.de

Bee Child

 

Better World Cameroon

www.betterworld-cameroon.com

Bindura University of Science Education

Biochar Initiative

www.biocharsolution.com

Biomimicry Europa

biomimicry.eu

Bishops Castle Community Land Trust

www.bcclt.co.uk/

blaeneinion

www.blaeneinion.co.uk

Bloomington Permaculture

 

Boulder Permaculture Guild

N/A

Brin de Paille, France

http://asso.permaculture.fr/

Bristol Community Land Trust

http://bristolclt.wordpress.com/

Bristol Food Network

Bristolfoodnetwork.org

Bristol Permaculture Group

http://bristolpermaculture.pbworks.com/w/page/11835023/Contacting%20Us

British Ecological Society (Agroecology group)

http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/getting_involved/special_interest_groups/agricultural_ecology/index.php

BUND-Göttingen

[email protected]

Büro für landbauliche und soziale Permakultur

www.hanftipi.de

Büro Weichen stellen, Trubschachen

www.weichenstellen.ch

C

 

California State University at Stanlislaus

http://catalog.csustan.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=12&poid=1180

Campaign For Real Farming

http://www.campaignforrealfarming.org/

Carleton University Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

http://www2.carleton.ca/geography/

Casa Hogar de Niños San Pedro Pescador

Cascadia Permaculture Institute

pending

CCIAM research Institute

www.sim.ul.pt

CELL Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg

www.cell.lu

Cense Equi Voc

http://sites.google.com/site/censeequivoc/

Cense equi-voc ASBL

http://sites.google.com/site/censeequivoc/

Central West Permaculture

https://www.facebook.com/centralwestpermaculture

Centre for Alternative Technology

www.cat.org.uk

Centro Arca

www.centroarca.com

Chad Hellwinckel

http://knoxvillepermacultureguild.ning.com/profile/ChadHellwinckel?xg_source=msg_share_event

Cherokee Food Forest

 

Choka Sangha Permakultur Steyerberg

http://permakultur-akademie.net/front_content.php?idcat=12#choka

CIDEP

http://www.cidep.org

Colorado Permaculture Guild

http://www.coloradopermaculture.com/

Columbia Basin Permaculture

http://sites.google.com/site/columbiabasinpermaculture/

Community Psychology UK and Europe

www.compsy.org.uk/

Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire, UK

www.ccri.ac.uk

Cranfield University

www.cranfield.ac.uk

CUSP

www.curtinuniversity.edu.au

D

 

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage

www.dancingrabbit.org

Deep Garden Design

http://www.facebook.com/groups/deepgardendesign/

Delta E

http://www.deltae.be

developing partners cic (no capital letters please)

www.developingpartners.org.uk

Die Kindertherapeutin

www.hanftipi.de

Direct Sponsor

http://directsponsor.org/

Duck Heaven Farm

none

E

 

Earth Activist Training

 

Earth Ways

 

Earthaven Ecovillage

www.earthaven.org

Earthworks Edible Landscaping, LLC.

www.edibleearthworks.com

Earthworm Housing Cooperative

Eco-Cacao

N/A

Ecoescuela El Manzano

www.elmanzano.org

EcoReality Co-op

http://www.EcoReality.org

ecotourism-israel

http://www.ecotourism-israel.com/

Ecotrancoso

ecotrancoso.com / ecotrancoso.com.br

Ecoversidad de los Andes Ecuatoriales

www.ecoversidad.redsemillas.org (under construction)

Ecovillage DR Congo

 

Ecovillage Training Center

www.thefarm.org/etc

Edible Forest Garden

www.facebook.com/groups/centreforurbanag/

Ekopedia

Ekopedia.org

El Manzano

elmanzano.org

Environmental Learning Facility

http://www.netwaste.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=34

Equipe pédagogique de permaculture

équipe pédagogique francophone de permaculture belgique

eRECICLAJE

www.ereciclaje.com

European Agroforestry Federation

Exposantd

Exposantd.be

F

 

Facebook Diploma Group

 

Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre

www.fambidzanai.org.zw

Farm Woodland Forum

www.agroforestry.ac.uk

Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute

fingerlakespermaculture.org

Forest Farming

www.forestfarming.co.uk

Forest Food Network

www.forestgardens.org.uk

Forschungsinstitut f. Permakultur u. Transition

www.permakultur-forschungsinstitut.net

Four Winds Farm

 

Fraternités ouvrières à Mouscon (Belgique)

Pas de site web

Freo Permies

www.freopermies.com

G

 

Gaia University

www.gaiauniversity.org

Gallifrey Permaculture

www.gallifreypermaculture.com.au

Gemeinschaftsforschung am Insitut für Soziologie Uni Münster

http://Gemeinschaftsforschung.uni-muenster.de

GEN Africa

www.GENAfrica.org

Georg-August-University, Faculty of Geosciences and Geography

http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/oekosystemmanagement-bsc/84972.html

George Mason University Sustainability Institute

GesundheitsManufaktur

www.gesundheitsmanufaktur.de

Global Ecovillage Network

gen-europe.org

Global Village Institute

www.i4at.org

GRAB (Groupe de Recherche en Agriculture Biologique)

http://www.grab.fr/durette-2206

great lakes permaculture

www.greatlakespermaculture.com

Grow Ritzville!

http://www.growritzville.com

Guba Swaziland

www.gubaswaziland.org.sz

H

 

Habitat groupé de Buzet

 

Heartland Gardens

www.heartlandgardens.org

her 2010 MFA thesis at the University of Tennessee.

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2011/apr/06/knoxvilles-urban-land-scouts-train-foragers-farmer/

Herbaid

www.herbaid.co.uk

HNEE

www.hnee.de

Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung

http://www.hnee.de

Hofgut Fleckenbühl

diefleckenbuehler.de

Holt Wood Herbs

www.holtwoodherbs.org.uk

Holzer´sche Permakultur

http://www.krameterhof.at

Hombres de Maíz

http://www.hombresdemaiz.com.mx/

I

 

I have a small permi farm in New York State

none yet

Ikskile Transition Initiative

www.parmainupilseta.wordpress.lv/in-english/

In the process of establishing Permaculture Association for Serbia

n/a

Independent Permaculture Farm

Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild

http://www.inlandnorthwestpermaculture.com

INRA

www4.paca.inra.fr/psh/

INRA/AgroParisTech (UMR SAD-APT)

http://www.versailles-grignon.inra.fr/sadapt

Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften an der Universität Potsdam

http://www.geo.uni-potsdam.de/

Institute of Energy and Sustainble Development

www.iesd.dmu.ac.uk

Instituto Chileno de Permacultura

permaculturachile,org

Instituto de Permacultura de El Salvador

www.permacultura,com.sv

Instituto de Permacultura Huerto del Sol

www.huertodelsol.es

Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura- Guatemala

[email protected]

Interantional permaculture Asociation

http://www.ipcon.org/

Interdependent Web LLC

http://www.interdependentweb.com

International Biochar Institute

 

International Cermaculture Convergence support group

International Permaculture Support Group

IPC Support Group

ipc-support.ipcon.org

IPOEMA

www.ipoema.org.br

ITAB

www.itab.asso.fr

J

 

Jardín Botánico UNACAR

 

Jones Family Farm Sanctuary

n/a

Jordanian Society for Organic Farming

www.jsof-jo.org

Jugendhilfe Leimbach

diefleckenbuehler.de Haus Leimbach

Just Food Ottawa

http://www.justfood.ca/

K

 

Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden

www.kfbg.org

Kalen

 

kampana

www.kampana.be

Kansas Permaculture Institute

 

Kasisi Agriculture Training Centre

Katie Ries began the grassroots enterprise last year as

http://urbanlandscouts.com/

Kaw Permaculture Collaborative

http://kawpermaculture.org

Keinkaufswagen

www.keinkaufswagen.ch

Kibbutz Lotan Center for Creative Ecology

http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/

Kingston Permaculture Reserve at Knollmead & Transition Town Kingston

http://www.ttkingston.org/groups-and-projects/knollmead/

Knoxville Permaculture Guild

www.knoxvillepermacultureguild.org

Kosters Trädgårdar

http://www.kosterstradgardar.se/

kubus media

www.kubusmedia.com

KURVE Wustrow - Bildungs- und Begegnungsstätte für gewaltfreie Aktion e.V.

www.kurvewustrow.org

Kusamala Institute of Agriculture and Ecology

http://www.naturesgift.org/

L

 

La Fous

N/A

La Granette

N/A

L'ADyRE

N/A

Lampeter Permaculture Group

www.lampeterpermaculturegroup.org

Land for Wildlife

 

Land O Lakes Malawi

 

Las Canadas

http://www.bosquedeniebla.com.mx/

Las Cañadas

www.bosquedeniebla.com.mx

LASHAIA

www.lashaia.ch (soon new website)

Latvian Eco-Health Farm network

Latvian Permaculture Association

www.permakultura.lv

Leeds Diploma Group

NA

Leeds Permaculture Network

www.leedspermaculturenetwork.org.uk

Legume Futures

www.legumefutures.eu

Leimbacher Kräuter & mehr

diefleckenbuehler.de

Liberation Ecology Project

liberationecology.org

Liberation Psychology

http://libpsy.org/category/libpsy-news/

Lichthof Kraichtal

www.lichthof-kraichtal.de

Linkedin Permaculture Supporter

little portion green

http://www.projectstraw.com/

Lots of Life in One Place Permaculture Farm

http://lotsoflifeinoneplace.blogspot.com

LPN

www.leedspermaculturenetwork.org.uk

M

 

Malindi Rural Centre

 

Many transition groups

 

Marbletown ECC

http://www.marbletown.net/

Maya Mountain Research Farm

www.mmrfbz.org

McGill University

www.mcgill.ca

mein Unigartenprojekt

permakulturtuchemnitz.worpress.com

Melchhof Landwirtschaft

http://www.melchhof.de

member of IPC group

 

Midcoast Permaculture

midcoastpermaculture.com

Milkwood Permaculture

www.milkwood.net

Mon Petit Fruitier

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mon-Petit-Fruitier/158902240826621

Morocco Permaculture Association

not yet

Mount Kenya Organic Farming ( MOOF.AFRICA)

Movimiento Mesoamericano de Permacultura

Mt Kenya Environmental Group Network

My own business

http://www.cygnus1.com

N

National School of Forestry and Centre for Wildlife Conservation, University of Cumrbia

www.cumbria.ac.uk/forestry

Native Power

www.native-power.de

Natures Friends

www.naturesfrinds.ning.com

Naturewise and UK association, memberships lapsed, need to renew them

Natuurlijkeveerkracht

natuurlijkeveerkracht.eu

Nepal Permaculture Group

ww.npg.com

Netzwerk Wachstumswende

http://wachstumswende.de/

Never Ending Food

http://www.neverendingfood.org/

New York Permaculture Exchange

www.permaculture-exchange.org

New Zealand Farm Forestry Association

http://www.nzffa.org.nz/

newengland permaculture

new england permaculture

No tiene nombre, pero trabajamos conectados con muchos

North East Permaculture Noetwork

www.transitiondurham.org.uk/index.php/nepn

Northeast Permaculture listserve

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG)

nefood.org

Northern Green Gathering

www.nggonline.org.uk

Northwest Permaculture Convergence

http://www.nwpermaculture.com/

O

 

Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm CSA

http://www.the-oak-tree.co.uk/

Oblong Food Coop

http://www.oblongleeds.org.uk/

Occupy Wall Street (Knoxville)

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyKnoxville.info

Ökodorf Sieben Linden

www.siebenlinden.de

Oregon State University

http://groups.hort.oregonstate.edu/group/permaculture-oregon-state-university

Organic Horticulture Benifits Alliance

Ohbaonline.org

P

 

Palaterra GmbH & Co. KG

http://palaterra.eu/

PaLS = Permakulturpark am Lebensgarten Steyerberg

http://www.declan.de/index.php?id=76&kat=12

Panvita

www.panvita.nl (under construction)

panya project

panyaproject.org

Patrick Whitefield Associates

http://www.patrickwhitefield.co.uk/

PC Association Britain

 

Peacetree Permaculture and Edible Landscapes

http://www.ptpc.com.au

Penninghame Permaculture Project

http://www.penninghame.org/programmes/permaculture

Perennial Solutions

www.perennialsolutions.org

Permacultura America Latina

 

Permacultura Portugual

http://permaculturaportugal.ning.com/

Permaculture Assocation (Britain)

http://www.permaculture.org.uk/research

Permaculture Australia

https://www.facebook.com/PermacultureAustralia

Permaculture Belgium

 

Permaculture Center of Japan

http://www.pccj.net/

Permaculture Credit Union

www.pcuonline.org

permaculture cymru

http://www.permaculture.org.uk/wales

Permaculture Design Certificate

EcologicalEducation.org

Permaculture Global

http://www.permacultureglobal.com/

permaculture group Norfolk

 

Permaculture Institute of North America

Permaculture Institute USA

www.permaculture.org

Permaculture Institute USA

www.permaculture.org

permaculture israel

http://www.permacultureisrael.org/

Permaculture listserve

 

Permaculture Mag Uk

https://www.facebook.com/PermacultureMag

Permaculture Namibia

permaculturenamibia.org

Permaculture Network

 

Permaculture Network in Malawi

Permaculture Network in Malawi (very loose network)

Permaculture Ottawa

http://permacultureottawa.ca/

Permaculture Powell River

www.permaculturepowellriver.ca

Permaculture Project

www.permacultureproject.com

Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) Australia

www.pri.org

Permaculture Research Institute of Kenya

www.pri-kenya.org

Permaculture Research Institute, Australia

http://permaculture.org.au

Permaculture Research International

www.pri.org.au

Permaculture West

http://permaculturewest.org.au/

Permageeks

https://github.com/Permageeks

Permakultur Akademie Deutschland

www.permakultur-akademie.net

Permakultur Akademie, Germany

www.permakultur-akademie.de/

Permakultur Austria

http://www.permakultur.net

Permakultur Forschungsinstitut

http://www.permakultur-forschungsinstitut.net/

Permakultur im Alpenraum

http://www.bio-ernteland.at/

Permakultur Institut e.V.

www.permakultur-institut.net

Permakultur Institut eV

www.permakultur.de

Permakultur Schweiz

www.permakultur.ch

Permakultur Verein Schweiz

www.permakultur.ch

Permakulturakademie

permakulturakademie.net

Permakultur-Akademie

http://permakultur-akademie.de/front_content.php?idcat=1

Permakulturbetzwerk Bayern

www.permakulturnetzwerkbayern.wordpress.com

Permakultur-Forschungsinstitut

www.permakultur-forschungsinstitut.net

Permakulturfreunde Allgäu

www.permakulturfreunde-allgaeu.de

Permakultur-Park Bischbrunn

http://kreislauf-gaerten.de/page16.php

PermaKulturRaum

in progress

Personal and unofficial project on own land

http://www.permaculturinginportugal.net

Phayao Permaculture Center

none as yet

Phenology UK / Nature's Calendar

yes

PIA Förderverein f. nachhaltiges Wirtschaften Allgäu

www.pia-verein.de

PIA Permakultur Akademie im Alpenraum

http://www.permakultur-akademie.com

Plan Africa

www,planafrica.co.za

Plants For A Future

http://www.pfaf.org/user/default.aspx

plukrijp

www.plukrijp.be

PNM (Permaculture Network in Malawi

Polyculture design group

N/A

Polyculture Design Too

https://github.com/Permageeks/Polyculture-Design-Tool

Polycultures in Suburban Gardens

Portland Maine Permaculture

http://www.meetup.com/portlandpermaculture/

pospolitost pre harmonicky zivot

www.zajezka.sk

Practical Action

www.practicalaction.org

PRI

permaculture.org.au

PRI Cold Climate

http://www.pricoldclimate.org

Private

plateformeco.com

Project MAYA

www.mayaproject.org

Project Native

http://www.projectnative.org

Projekt Lebensdorf

www.lebensdorf.net

Projet Apiculture

 

Projet Maraichage Collectif

 

Projet production de céréales

 

Q

 

Quailsprings Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm

www.quailsprings.org/

R

 

reclaim the fields

www.reclaimthefields.org

Red de Guardianes de Semillas

www.redsemillas.org

Red Permanezca de Costa Rica

www.permanezca.org

Rede CONVERGIR

www.redeconvergir.net

RegenAg

www.regenerativeagriculture.co.uk

Regenerative Landwirtschaft

www.regenag.com

relocalisons - plaine des bordes

none

Remineralize the Earth

remineralize.ning.com

Rescope Programme

www.seedingschools.org

Research in Community

www.researchincommunity.net

reseau d'échange

http://reseaudechangeenpermaculture.ning.com

ReThink Red Deer

www.rethinkreddeer.ca

Revista Allpa

www.allpa.redsemillas.org (construction)

Rondout Valley Permaculture Meetup

http://www.meetup.com/RondoutValleyPermaculture/

Rondout Valley Watershed Council

http://www.clearwater.org/ea/ej/watershed-management/rondout-creek-watershed-council/

Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew)

http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/save-seed-prosper/millennium-seed-bank/index.htm

Rurban SPIN-Farming Apprenticeship

www.facebook.com/groups/centreforurbanag/

S

 

Sahara Forest

http://saharaforest.org/

sam rossiter

naturalfarmer.noblogs.org

Santa Barbara Califronia Permaculture Network

http://www.sbpermaculture.org/

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network

www.sbpermaculture.org

Schumacher College

www.schumachercollege.org.uk

SCOPE Zimbabwe

 

SEED

www.seed.org.za

SeedCity

www.seedcity.ethz.ch

Séminaire de Floreffe

http://www.semflo.be/

Seri Germany

seri.de

Sheffield Hallam University

 

Shift Bristol

www.shiftbristol.org.uk

Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI)

www.speri.org/ www.speri.ffs.org

Society for Applied Anthropology

www.sfaa.net

SOLINSA (support of learning and innovation networks in sustainable agriculture

www.solinsa.net

Southeast Permaculture

http://www.facebook.com/groups/189781091070688/

Southern California Permaculture convergence

http://www.facebook.com/SoCalConvergences?sk=wall&filter=1

Spokane Permaculture

http://www.spokanepermaculture.com/

SRH Berlin

www.srh-hochschule-berlin.de/

St. Pauls Baptist Church, Petersburg, VA

Stockton Borough Council

www.stockton.gov.uk

Studium Oecologicum

in progress

suomineito ekoyhteisö

dissidentti.org

Syzygy Community House

http://www.syzygyhouse.com

T

 

T4 Sustainability Ltd

http://www.t4sustainability.co.uk/

Taller ecologista

http://www.tellerecologista.org

Tatnam Organic Patch

http://tatnampatch.org.uk

TECP

www.rootsandfruits.org.uk

Terra vitae

http://terra-vitae.org

Thabang - Hilfe für Südafrikanische Kinder

thabang.org

Thanet Way Allotment Association, Whitstable Kent

ARI Allotment Regeneration Initiative

Thanthwe, my home in a rural village

The Ark Permaculture Project

www.thearkpermacultureproject.com

The Garden of Union

www.thegardenofunion.com

The Growing Revolution

www.thegrowingrevolution.ca

The Inkpot, 18 acre permaculture site

the Israeli Permaculture Institute

http://www.permacultureisrael.org

The Old Stone House

theoldstonehouse.org

The Permaculture Association

The Permaculture Research Institute

www.permaculture.org.au

The Urban Farmer

www.theurbanfarmer.ca

the virtuall laboratory for sustainability (Hebrew)

http://www.bayadaim.org.il

The Worldwide Permaculture Network

www.permacultureglobal.com

Transição Universitária

www.tu-fcul.net

Transition Cornwall Network

 

Transition Ipswich

www.transitionipswich.org.uk

Transition Leicester

www.transitionleicester.org.uk

Transition Marbletown

 

transition network

 

Transition Network (Germany)

 

Transition Norwich

http://transitionnorwichnews.blogspot.co.uk/

Transition Town Goettingen

http://tt-goettingen.de/blog/

Tribal Networks

http://tribalnetworks.org/

Trifolium

 

U

 

UABB

www.urbanagriculturebasel.ch

UHDR.net

UHDR.net

UK Permaculture Association

http://www.permaculture.org.uk/

una cum terra - permaulturkreative

univ of oxford

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~soca0025

Universität Göttingen

uni-goettingen.de

Université populaire de permaculture En France

http://permaculturefrance.org/

University of Exeter Earth System Science group

http://lifesciences.exeter.ac.uk/research/essg/

University of Florida

ufl.edu

University of Ghana at Legon

http://www.ug.edu.gh/index1.php?linkid=614

University of Helsinki

http://www.helsinki.fi/agriculturalsciences/index.html

University of Illinois / Multifunctional Landscape Assessment Laboratory

illinois.edu

University of Leicester

 

University of Reading

www.reading.ac.uk

University Of Strathclyde

http://www.strath.ac.uk/sipbs/

University of Tennessee

www.utk.edu

University of the West of England

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/

Unter die Haut

www.hanftipi.de

upp

brin de paille

Urban Agriculture Basel

www.urbanagriculturebasel.ch

Urban Agriculture Basel

www.urbanagriculturebasel.ch

Urban harvest

Urbanharvest.org

Urtica e.V., Witzenhausen

http://abenteuerbiotop.blogsport.de/projektvorstellung/

V

 

Vallis Veg

www.vallisveg.co.uk

various, including Aberystwyth Uni School of Lifelong Learning as a pc tutor

Vegboxpeasant

www.vegboxpeasant.com

Verein Blühende Gärten

http://sites.google.com/site/vereinbluga/

Virginia State University

 

Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research

http://www.agri.gov.il/en/home/default.aspx

W

 

Wandlitzer Erden

http://wandlitzer-erden.de/

Wheatstone Ethical Enterprises

Wildlife garden, home based

Kent Wildlife Trust (I think)

Wolds Woodland Farming Project

http://deanom.wordpress.com/

World Food Programme Malawi

Worldwide Permaculture Network

www.permacultureglobal.com

www.metagarten.de

 

Y

 

Year Round Gardening press

YearRoundGardening.me

York St John University

www.ysj.ac.uk

Z

 

Zeitschrift "Oya - anders denken, anders leben"

www.oya-online.de

ZHAW Wädenswil, Institut Umwelt und natürliche Ressourcen, Vertiefung Biologische Landwirtschaft und Hortikultur

http://www.iunr.zhaw.ch/science/iunr/studium/bachelor-studium/vertiefungen/biologische-landwirtschaft-und-hortikultur.html

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix 2: Research questions

FOOD PRODUCTION AND SECURITY

Food autonomy (French)

Can Permaculture Feed the World? Is Permaculture a viable alternative towards securing food security and income Generations in Africa ( Kenya).

This research compares the food security, diet diversity and agricultural practices of smallholder farmers working with two permaculture organizations, to those who practice conventional agriculture in Central Malawi. Previous research has shown that there are socio-cultural, economic, and environmental constraints to permaculture adoption in Malawi. Given these constraints, this research investigates if smallholder farmers are able to use permaculture practices to improve their household food security and diet diversity

Designing a 99% materially closed food system.

How to enable village women to grow the nutritious foods and medicines their family needs in Zones 1 & 2

Promotion of food production by using local resources: compost and local farmers -Possibilities to combat malnutrition among children and nursing mothers

PLANTS

Appropriate permaculture designs for andean communities and farms - Cultivation and seed saving of native andean crops and trees, and creole (foreign adapted) plants. - Food culture in the andes

intensive planting in the 4 dimensions ground cover with edible crops yearround plant combinations

Sustainable cultivation and harvest of medicinal trees and shrubs

Generating lists of potential useful perennials, trialling those species in the field and learning their characteristics, working to develop functioning polycultures. Also researching perennial staple crops and perennial farming systems and their potential to sequester carbon and solve multiple problems. This is mostly academic research, working on two peer-reviewed papers with PhD candidate Rafter Ferguson.

Plant ecology - spatial and temporal patterns in (natural) community composition. Biodiversity and productivty of food-producing systems

Plant varieties and growing conditions laying ducks and forage conditions

Polyculture in annual crops - domestic scale

Growing of fruits, nuts, vegetable, firewood, lots of plantation timber, plus ecological zones, and learning as I go. Farmlets comprising 65 Ha or 161 acres. Experimenting, small scale, with DIY electric vehicles, and PV solar systems, and reusing / recycling strategies. It is all part of my lifestyle.

I am working on local food systems through seedsaving and adaptations over the years.

I am investigating different ways of growing vegetables and soft fruit on my allotment and also noting the wildlife in my garden. I am especially interested in polycultures in allotment gardening, in gardening for drought, in using non-mechanical methods of cultivation, in companion planting, in the benefits of allowing native wild species to grow amongst the crops, in using organic soil enrichers, in keeping down costs for equipment by various strategies, in minimising workload by careful planning and eliminating unnecessary tasks.

As a practitioner: I am working at building a collection of regionally hardy varieties for use in East TN, I am working on methods for re-purposing over-farmed TN karst land for agricultural use, I am developing methods and connections for collecting and using recycled/repurposed materials for urban/suburban gardening in the greater Knoxville area, and I am involved with the development of methodologies for creating sustainable urban and sustainable communities.

1. Forest gardens and other polycultures 2. Action research project: What makes the difference between ethical projects/ enterprises succeeding or failing?

1) Agroforestry: use of paw paw and nut trees in espalier treatments with alley crops Restoring herb and bush layers in Southeast mixed forests 2) Habitat: Reclaiming grasslands habitat in Southeast mixed forest regions 3) Maintaining riparian buffers in a small forest stand

(1) Plant species for a Mediterranean climate perennial planting, based on long term survivial and food value to humans (and, possibly, livestock), including effects of climate change on local weather patterns. (2) Various plant breeding projects to decrease chill requirements, and document actual chill requirements for setting fruit.

Feasibility of perennial food crops

fodder trees and shrubs for cool temperate areas

FOREST AND FORST GARDEN

Design and implementation of a Wet Land Forest Garden,..Pre 1950s methods of agriculture, and Horticulture and applying to the present day. Slug control methods, French intensive horticulture pre first

world war mainly growing out of season vegetables. Design and implementation of a normal Forest Garden. Polycultures

Semi-arid climate woodlot management; Animal forage as part of food forest

Development of soil and a food forest. Production of berries, vegetables and herbs. Plus the house is on off grid solar power, recycles all waste back into the soil and basically has no services attached. The ultimate aim is self- sufficiency.

Project 1: Attempting to establish a food forest garden on an urban residential plot consisting primarily of cold hardy varieties of fruit trees, perennial fruit-bearing shrubs, and native species polinators and medicinals. The property has been covered in mixed deciduous and coniferous wood chips and shredded leaves to mimic a native forest floor - this is intended to speed up the "chop and drop" process allowing a faster establishment and expedited productivity of the food forest. Rainwater collection systems are being installed to channel thousands of litres of rainwater to nourish the plants throughout the growing season, and urban beekeeping and chickenkeeping will be added to complete the over system design in the years to come.

We are just in the beginning of research, currently doing baseline research for a reforestation project on Rusinga island incorporating FMNR and permaculture

URBAN PERMACULTURE

Yield potential of permaculture supply systems; contribution of permaculture towards resilience of urban eco- systems (German)

Focused on organizations that advance pc in urban areas, strategic planning, edible and pc education, fruit tree advocacy, cognitive frame use in engaging different demographics, energy powerdown change, community and school garden designs appropriate to differs social circumstances; rural urban farm promotion

Urban permaculture. Vertical farming. Systemic. Giving courses, getting to know as much as possible about permaculture.

The community benefits of urban agriculture, which may include social, economic and environmental benefits.

Large scale compost in the city Reclaiming destroyed land for food forest and crops Creating social structures for public garden use

Contribution of Permaculture to urban resilience (German)

PEDAGOGY/ LEARNING/ TEACHING

Technique of knowledge transfer for PDC’s (long and short). Experimenting with gardens and pedagogy. (French)

What is the most effective pedagogy to teach permaculture that maintains its original integrity.

We work with schools on sustainable gardening projects and want to incorporate permaculture principles into our lesson plans and design ideas.

the most effective means to accelerating the development of competent permaculture practitioners on a global scale

Care: Enable people to take responsibility for themselves; adult pedagogy; pre- conditions and necessary frameworks for self- designing learning processes. //

What does it mean for learners to design earning processes themelves? What resources are needed? // How can people studying permaculture best be supported to design their learning processes according to their needs? (German)

learning and innovation in sustainable agriculture

Permaculture as a tool for improving educational delivery in schools

Is the model of "transformative learning" a good fit for permaculture education? Along with Dr. Mary Beckie of the University of Alberta, we are conducting research on the impact of our 7 week permaculture internship program for Canadians in Cuba.

A research about the processes, synergy and potential benefits of integratiing philosophy and techniques of permaculture (with special attention to cio- intensive cultivation) into the “Casa Hogar San Pedro Pescador”, where 65 children live in an old school with dormitories (an area of app. 5,000 m2) (Spanish)

This research is concentrated on how permaculture can benefit 68 children living in a foster case to learn and receive education, social support and the creation of a business with the goal to achieve self- sufficiency in food production, to then later improve their financial situation and help them enrol into a programme to become entrepreneurs. (Spanish)

Effectiveness of the PDC and teaching on illiterate or very poor people, and those suffering trauma

SOIL

Influence of holistic field management, additions to soil and workng of soil with the keyline plough on the development of soil and humus (University of Potsdam, Germany). Influence organic charcoal on degree of humus of soil (HNE Eberswalde). Influence of the wholistic field management on biodiversity, yield and soil structure (Melchof Landwitschaft)

The reclamation of soil, and the uses of science in that context, by ecological movements permaculture more specifically

Whether it is possible to generate enough nitrogen for crop growing just using permenent clover beds at the side of mounded raised beds.

The effect of EM on dead soil and curing diseases like clubroot and other pest infestations

Soil management, composting, intercropping, rainfall harvesting, grey water reuse

soil remediation for very alkaline, shallow near-desert environment; rainwater collection/distribution; cold/dry/hot environment plant species; native food species guilds; earth-sheltered greenhouses

Soil health, bio-diversity

NATURAL BUILDING

Growing food an small spaces; traditional handicrafts; alternative building methods; new methods fo growing vegetables (German

Sustainable sanitation (French)

cheap hi/insulation building techniques, green roofs, efficient stoves, passive solar design, vegetable gardens, pasture management, etc.

1. Natural Building materials using hemp straw and other biomass materials, lime and earth, to make wall infills, plasters etc and combining with in-wall passive solar heating solutions. 2. Compost toiltes, reedbeds, wetlands, vacuum collection for municipal systems etc.

ENERGY AND RECYCLING

1) How to create an evidence base for permaculture. 2) Provision of sustainability and energy efficiency advice and renewable energy installations. This tends to revolve around relative costs of different technologies

use of biochar in backyard food forests

waste management, urban farming, energy production

Retrofitting all classic coal fired power stations and rural coal and woodburning stoves so they are emission free, promoting a next generation electricity transmission pylon which supports air CO2, particulate filtration and solar and wind technologies and developing sollar assisted aerostatic lift to enable glacier and reservoir shading and historic CO2 and remote methane capture.

Producing Ethanol from food surplus (waste in non-Perm words)

I live in a research development facility (home) that was built in 1985 as a passive solar house that recycles all its waste and collects all of its water and is built into the side of the mountain.

I am starting to think about landuse questions and how to integrate large scale PV solar arrays into a permaculture approach

SOCIOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL QUESTIONS

1) What are the attributes of people who choose to express pro-environmental behaviours through the practice of Permaculture? 2) Which of these attributes explain the difference between people who fully engage in Permaculture practices in their personal lives and people who believe in the philosophy but do not fully engage in practicing Permaculture? 3) Which theories or combination of theories explain these differences

The impact of permaculture on eudemonia.

Social permaculture; community building, self- sufficiency through gardening, exploration and understanding of self (German)

How can we use Permaculture principles for our human reations in everyday life in order to design appropriate structures that allow everyone to develop their full potential (German )

The way of living in 3. millenium

Social permaculture - how to integrate people's needs into social design? how to make community garden projects work by social design? how to bring in people to the sustainability movement who are not from the outset interested?

What are the outcomes that matter most to people who are socially excluded when they engage in community activities with community organisations? Does participatory video production and the most

significant change approach evidence these outcomes in such a way that it fits with the person, their interpersonal relationships, their organisations and their communties lived experience?

Psychological aspects of the permaculture

Concepts of the relationship between humans and nature and its effects on sustainability processes on a community level, eco- villages and international community as experimental learning areas for sustainability. (German)

Permaculture applied to business and community organisations. Permaculture practise for use in home education

I developed a design pattern, that offers a structure for highly complex (living) systems. It is based on permaculture design. I am researching the healing power of nature in the practical and contemplative area. I work in child therapy. (German)

What is the world conception implicit in Permaculture? What is the true defenition, and route towards, a permenant culture?

How can we apply permaculture to the human processes (organisation, collaboration etc) that are essential to making projects/change happen? What difference does it really make? i.e. does it actually work as an approach to designing non-material systems? And if so, how does it compare and/or connect up with other approaches to working together?

How have urban forests in the Ottawa Greenbelt been historically conceptualized socially? How does permaculture design through the Permaculture Ottawa Community Urban Food Forest Project alter such perceptions of forests? What sorts of understandings and best practices can be learned from this and applied in urban planning?

Academically: The intersection between Conservative Christian intentional communities and ecological awareness and the green movement.

A) What are the best no-till methods of gardening in East Tennessee? B) How to build a critical mass of people using permaculture practices.

Extent & characterization of permaculture movement, science and practice in the movement, assessing the potential of global perennial staple crops, politics and theories of change in movement culture.

COMMUNITY

what guilds work well in my bio-region what make a "community"

Academic research on Transition Towns and community action for sustainbility. Interested in future research on explicitly using permaculture design approaches to develop replicable projects to promote community resilience.

The establishment of non-profit permaculture demonstration sites that are education centers and based in community land trusts

The impact of Permaculture in changing the lives of resource poor communities

Open Source + Permaculture Appropriate technology Community Management Semi-Urban Permaculture techniques and systems

The ability to grow and provide soil enrichment without bringing resources from outside. Trying to grow my yearly food supply, fresh and preserved for winter. If I can do that for one I can expand that for two. Provide extra produce for the elderly in a low income building (Northgate) in Knoxville Tn.and a few people at church. I try to share information with anyone that takes interest in my endeavor

My main interest is in low impact, small-scale farming both in itself and in how it fits into wider society

how does the fabric of a community change to start thinking and planning using systems thinking. we are totally involved with our community by examining the power of invisible structures, right at the moment we are involved with the financial structures

How to change my gardening practices (400m2 of suburban garden), how to involve my neighbours & the local council in small neighbourhood schemes (planting our streets & nut tree scheme). Comment modifier mes pratiques de jardinage (400m2 jardin en banlieu) & impliquer mes voisins & les institutionnels dans un projet de fleurissement des trottoirs et de plantation / gestion d'arbres fruitiers à coques sur un terrain à proximité.

DESIGN, Permaculture principles

Application of systematic design consultancy on permaculture projects (Spanish)

Connecting Permaculture and “Dragon Dreaming Permaculture” – an improvement of the classic permaculture

I am trying different methods of permaculture (plant-beds, building effective compost, collection of rain water, small-scale urban garden ecosystems).

Relation between permaculture principles and social-ecological resilience

implementing a Permaculture design (mine) in Northern Thailand.

Design of a space (French)

redesign of production systems to reduce reliance on phytosanitary inputs, setting up a pilot farm in

agroforestry and agroecology in Avignon: http://www.grab.fr/durette-2206 (French)

Create a kitchen garden with the help of natural agriculture for 20 years already (French)

Optimising processes. Highy quality soil, water, food; leads to healthy human beings and environment (German)

Applying permaculture principles to the organizational systems we use for networking, fundraising and outreach, as well as self-organizing in non-hierarchical ways.

MIXED INTERESTS

What edible plants can grow under difficult circumstances? With which effort? Growing vegan food – which varieties are suitable? How can species be improves through breeding? What fruit can be stored best? (German)

Well known techniques and general knowledge that could be implemented in my country, such as: Keyline planning, aquaculture, agroforestry, biochar, etc.

Urban and rural integration, ecosystem services, multifunctional land-use, and well-being. Sustainable woodland products. Agroforestry design and sustainable land-use

Local wisdom in Land Use Planning and Livelihood Sovereignty

reintroduction of plants and their uses as colour plants

uptake and understanding of sustainable living

For now my practice evolved around everything that affects mainly the vegetation (garden, orchard, tree-wood, wild plants, medical) and also ecology, ecosystems, insects .. Also well-being of humans (communication, and now, relationship, education, ...) (French)

natural building, soil food web, community living, legal fitting in society

we work in different areas of permaculture: Agroecology: Culture bio- intensive and Soils (soil monitoring station), edible forest, chickens for eggs, milk, pasture, agroforestry production, corn and beans, seed bank, evaluation and breeding.. Bio-walling: Wood, bamboo, earth Ecotechnologies: ecological sanitation, saving stoves, ferrocement tanks, photovoltaics, gasification of firewood. etc. Education: Courses, Community High School. Spirituality and health: Temazcal, homeomatía, herbs. Economy and Finance: Self food, firewood, timber tenure and earth community government: Cooperative, collective land tenure. (Spanish)

low tech house construction; permaculture gardens; political action (German)

Agroecology; agroecology, indigenous peoples

Carbon storage with agroforestry and woodland systems Perceptions of woodland planting Bio-economic modelling of agroforestry systems

Looking for young intern who already have studied permaculture in order to start my project in brazil in 2013 (French)

How does soil life work? Methods of Jean Pain. Methods and possibilities of transition; planting grain; permaculture and transition in general (german)

MycoRestoration - research using mushroom mycelium to restore mountain forest ecosystems from mine damage and pine beetle kill. MycoFoodForestry - research utilizing mycorhyzzal fungi and mushroom mycelium to amend soils for optimimum food forest ecology Carbon Farming - researching synergistic blends of biochar, mycorhyzzal fungi, mushroom mycelium and compost teas and extracts to create superior soil amendments and sequester carbon. Appropriate Scale Organic Ethanol - research using permaculture techniques to produce organic feedstocks that are fermented and distilled into alcohol fuel which we use as a replacement for petroleum in our automobiles. Research includes distribution systems and a "Food and Fuel CSA" business model.

Cosmovision

ormus, Polyter, electroculture, Geopolymer, EM bacteria, obtaining varieties sieversii penalty, and any resistant varieties, and relevant information about the timing of harvests, ground cover, attempt to find vulnerabilities which raises the level of tree health (cancer) and other illnesses to the trunk, frame ... well .. use of the best varieties portghes grafts, better propagation techniques (ultraponie, layering sub-Saharan Africa, apical bud grafting) (French)

Integrated house/garden organisation Development of dedicated household-level carbon calculators Food, land-use and carbon flows at a macro scale Recycling nutrients at household scale, especially compost systems, and urine Controlled horticultural pilot trials of 'permaculture claims', untested new ideas and old wives tales Big Picture decarbonisation of entire national economies Innovations in research methodology to address 'applied research' and real-world problems

Informally I am experimenting with soil regeneration, polycultures, group dynamics, animal foraging systems. I have in the past researched animal welfare on organic farms and pesticide residues in brassicas.

Application of Mycorrhiza fungi to a variety of ornamental crops and herbs

Bamboo Chicken Forage Forest Gardening Bonfils Grain Growing

Agroforestry and Bamboo; agroforestry, close to nature forestry

Biochar, Terra Preta, Flächenproduktivität, Humusanreicherung, Sytemoptimierung

CO-OPERATION AND NETWORKING / RESEARCH

As a practitioner I want to link myself to Permaculture experts to help me develop Research questions

how can I act in my communities of practice in a way that empowers others to act

We would like to create a platform for designing, documenting and testing productive polycultures.

Opportunities for alternative land- use in southern Germany, which inspire people to take on responsibility and to have fun while doing something useful (German)

LAND - project that is part of the PA (as part of an EU project about innovations in sustainable agriculture, called SOLINSA)

Create a site that allows everyone to practice permaculture and to benefit from that experience. (French)

How Latvian farmers view permaculture ( 2010) In the future we would like to do some more practical permaculture experiments with practices in the Latvian context and document results; I would also be interested in doing research in other countries, time and funding allowing

How can we manage our university in am more sustainable way, with little money? (german)

I am interested in how permaculture is used in the context of intentional communities as part of broader strategies for developing more sustainable livelihoods and cultures. I am also interested in exploring how permaculture theory and practice on the one hand and environmental anthropology theory and practice on the other can complement each other in pursuit of shared goals.

How can you build Genuine & Maintainable local-resilience as quickly as possible; incorporating Permaculture, the Transition Town Initiative, local governments, Businesses local & nation and the job-centre?

How to integrate the concept of permaculture in academic research? How co-operative structures can help people take back control over food supply chain, housing and work? How to bring issues of social change into people's everyday life in order to enhance connectedness with these issues?

How to decide to use a common land and how to make it good for everyone including plants and animals

Current research focuses on how we can best share knowledge to create a sustainable future. I also work on developing a peatland carbon code.

ECONOMICS / BUSINESS

Direct marketing of agricultural products (German)

There are many, depending upon whether we are working on schools education, sustainable healthcare, or market access. Some related to market access are as follows: 1) To what extent does a participatory, practice-based and intensive farmer learning approach enable the mastery of permaculture concepts and practices that result in improved food and income security? 2) What is the potential for organic certification to increase income generation for participating permaculture farmers? 3) In what ways do national organic standards advance the interests of certified producers and consumers of organic produce? 4) What critical factors enable or constrain a successful transition from subsistence to commercial organic farming? 5) What is the wider impact of increased productivity & market access, and how are these benefits articulated by producers themselves? 6) What factors enable and constrain the wider acceptance and increased uptake of successful permaculture practices?

Project 2 The urban SPIN-Farmer Apprenticeship (RSFA) program is a project of ReThink Red Deer and partners designed to provide in-depth and comprehensive training in sustainable, small-scale, rurban farming methods. Through formal classes, hands-on training, field-trips, online learning, farmers' market sales and supervised apprenticeships, RSFA instruction will prepare students to produce market fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, cut flowers, and other value-added products using permaculture methods. Participants will also learn the knowledge and skills needed to design, install, and manage farm and community landscape infrastructure in urban, peri-urban, and rural settings.

Economical performance of farming production applying permaculture principles

Economics

Optimal nitrogen fixing for cacao as a cash crop. Optimal Water Catchment in Tropical Soil latex cement and bamboo water systems Medicinal tropical poly culture systems per hector yield of tropical agro forestry based around cacao as keystone species and main cash crop

CLIMATE CHANGE

heavy clay soils, warming climate, use of unwanted green matter

How to prepare Malawians and the Subsaharan to avoid desrtification

Reversing climate change, nuclear power/weapons proliferation and other existential threats.

How can permaculture help adapta to climate change? How to measure it? Where are the projects already doing pratical adaptation and what are they doing?

LAND AND LANDSCAPE

dry lands

Permaculture in landscape restoration

Plant community ecology, landscape ecology, remote sensing & GIS, ecological modelling, functional traits

Traditional farming methods and practices of sub-Saharan Africa with special interest in Ghana

working on a gently-sloped, clay, compacted acre to develop alternating wet/dry areas

welsh food security and traditional welsh methods of 'hoarding the harvest'

What are some ecological methods for bringing Agropyron repens into balance in the garden ecosystem?

 



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