Permaculture is a set of design principles as well as a practical philosophy for living in harmony with the natural environment. The ideas that inform the worldwide permaculture movement today were first developed by Australian’s Bill Mollison and David Holmgren as a system of sustainable agriculture, and have since expanded to encompass human communities integrated into their natural environment with maximum efficiency and dynamic equilibrium.
Permaculture is based on the idea that in order for human communities to function at their best, they must make provision for all life systems that sustain them to flourish. The fate of human culture is not separate from the fate of the planetary ecosystem, and in fact depends upon the health of that ecosystem for its very existence. Permaculture shares this idea with deep ecology, but carries into the realm of practical application in daily life – through an intimate understanding of the food cycle, the recycling of waste products back into the cycle, working with the landscape and local materials, and maximizing synergistic interactions between various components of the system to reduce energy consumption, waste and human labor.
At Yggdrasil, we will employ permaculture principles in the design of our community infrastructure – including but not limited to our gardens, and our building projects and our energy systems. We see this commitment not just in practical terms – although it will be that – but also in terms of building a more intimate relationship in our daily lives with the land on which we live, the more-than-human creatures with whom we share that land, and each other as co-stewards with a responsibility to care for the environment that sustains us.
From time to time, and as the opportunity presents itself, Yggdrasil the schoool may sponsor courses in permaculture, green building design, alternative energy systems and similar subjects.
