Help! How do I define Permaculture?
“What is permaculture?”
And there you stand. Speechless.
…Its not that you don’t know have words… its that you have too many!
This is a common problem for Permaculturists… how do we contain the idea of permaculture in a few words? How do we explain its AMAZINGNESS succinctly??
The issue is that Permaculture is a Holsitic field, a design science of, and for, life! Its water, its soil, its plants, its housing, its animals, its trees, its all vegetation, its weather and climate, its geography, its sociology, its community, its… its… its… I could go on for pages.
At times permaculture is better defined by what its NOT, and that is where the three ethics of permaculture come into play… if it violates any of the following three ethics, its NOT permaculture:
1) Earth Care
2) People Care
3) Future Care
But that doesn’t put us any closer to defining permaculture to a newbie does it?
As a permaculture teacher I will share that defining permaculture gets easier over time… you start to collect definitions and pull them out specific to your audience! This is a crucial skill! Consider who you are talking to… be strategic!
The internet shares hundreds of differing definitions of for you to peruse through. Some better than others.
Even more important than collecting other peoples AMAZING (or hilarious) definitions is to start to form your own definitions! What does permaculture mean to you?
You will find you have your own definition of permaculture in your head. As a permaculture teacher this has lead me to create several definitions of my own.
Wrestle with it and put it to words! What’s your definition of Permaculture?