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APC11 Presentation: Permaculture Disaster Response to Japan’s 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster, by Toru Sakawa
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conferences, Food Shortages, Nuclear — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor May 17, 2012
At the recent Australasian Permaculture Conference (APC11) held in Turangi, New Zealand, one of the highlights for me was hearing Toru Sakawa’s tale of permaculture aid work in very unusual circumstances. I say unusual, as the triple woes of having an earthquake and tsunami followed by a nuclear disaster is somewhat unprecedented. Some parts of Japan were suddenly left without food, fuel, water and many other supports that we generally take (a little too much) for granted, and efforts to help oneself were restricted for many by the need to stay inside, out of radioactive harms way.
It was inspiring to hear Toru share how he and his peers did their best to help people in coastal areas, and how permaculture played some part in enabling them to do so. Toru and his friends, with fuel supplies cut, made their own biofuels from waste oil, and used it to transport their permaculture produce, and other supplies, to the people who needed it. They also brought people back to care for them, and to give them time away from the more radioactive areas.
It should help remind us what permaculture is really about; that being to not only create permanence, but also resiliency against abrupt shocks to the system, and the compassionate care of the people around us.
Comments (0)The Transition Trail to Resilience
Community Projects, Society, Urban Projects — by Emma Crameri
by Emma Crameri, Gustoso
“The Transition Trail to Resilience” illustrates the steps our local communities can take to transition to living with climate change and shrinking supplies of cheap energy and oil.
I was inspired by first developing The Permaculture Path to Sustainability which deals with how individuals and households can transition to a life with a smaller footprint on the earth.
I then wanted to expand these issues to encompass a community wide scope and take on the perspective of the Transition movement.
Comments (0)Saturday Morning Breakfast, Queensland Style
Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Zaia Kendall
Editor’s Note: Besides making a mean Saturday morning breakfast, Tom and Zaia make a formidable team to learn from as well. It’s not too late to jump onto their next PDC, starting in just a few days… (May 20).
Saturday is a special day for us: it is our only day off in the week and we like it being a family day. That is why I like making a nice pancake breakfast on Saturdays. This week our breakfast was made with mainly homegrown or locally grown ingredients.
by Zaia Kendall, PRI Sunshine Coast
Bunya nut pancakes, avocado chocolate mousse,
raw cream and a dollop of yakon & passionfruit jam. Mmmm….
Saturday is a special day for us: it is our only day off in the week and we like it being a family day. That is why I like making a nice pancake breakfast on Saturdays.
Last Saturday we had a feast of mainly homegrown yummies on the table: Bunya nut pancakes, Yakon and Passionfruit jam, raw cream, avocado chocolate mousse and bananas.
Comments (1)Soil Microbes Help Save Plant-growing Input Costs (Video)
Compost, Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Structure — by Doug Weatherbee
Learn how beneficial soil microbes can provide soluble nutrients and plant disease suppression to your farm or garden.
Comments (3)Swales: The Permaculture Element That Really “Holds Water”
Conservation, Dams, Food Forests, Irrigation, Land, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Rob Avis May 16, 2012
by Rob Avis
Michelle, Rowen and I were driving home from a vacation in the mountains when we passed by a swale on a farmer’s field in the middle of Alberta cattle country. Naturally, it piqued my curiosity and I had to stop the car to investigate. It was such a great example of how this simple technique can catch and store water on a large scale, we decided to make a short video about it….
What’s a Swale?
 Rob walking along a swale after a huge rain event at the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia |
Simply put, swales are water-harvesting ditches, built on the contour of a landscape. Most ditches are designed to move water away from an area, so the bottom of the ditch is built on a modest slope, usually between 200:1 to 400:1.
Swales, however, are flat on the bottom because they’re designed to do the opposite; they slow water down to a standstill, eliminate erosion, infiltrate the surrounding area with water, and recharge the groundwater table. When water moves along the flat bottom of a swale, it fills it up like a bathtub — that is, all parts of the bath tub fill at the same rate. The water in a swale is therefore passive; it doesn’t flow the way it would on a slope.
Comments (7)Three Exciting Workshops Coming to PRI
Courses/Workshops — by Bonnie Freibergs May 15, 2012
Bob Corker stands above the valley where
the new Kotare Village is being established
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
At the Permaculture Research Institute’s Zaytuna Farm we have three fantastic workshops with guest teachers running at the end of May:
1) Villages for the Future, with Bob Corker — May 26-27 (two days)
Villages for the Future is a theory-based workshop teaching the philosophy of Community Land Trusts, using the example of the developing Permaculture Settlement ‘Kotare Village’ in New Zealand. It will give you an outline of the philosophy and global context for this alternative model of land ownership, with an explanation of the legal, social and environmental structures that are being used to develop Kotare Village, and other possibilities in Australia and around the world. Using International examples, Bob will look at ways to identify your resource base, and begin investing in self reliance, and explore pathways to establish a Community Land Trust.
Comments (0)Bill Mollison Four-Book 20% Off Special Offer
DVDs/Books — by Bonnie Freibergs
Click here for more info and to purchase.
Comments (0)The Social Factor in Sustainable Architecture
Building, Society, Village Development — by Marcin Gerwin
Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy. Photo: Edgar Barany/Flickr
I was recently struck by photographs of energy-efficient houses that were described as ’sustainable’ — built mostly with natural or recycled materials and even finished with environmentally friendly paint — however, they looked like regular modernist buildings. Can modernist architecture be called sustainable, if only ecological techniques are used? Or, is there still something missing?
Comments (2)Arab Grain Imports Rising Rapidly
Consumerism, Food Shortages, Population — by Earth Policy Institute May 14, 2012
by Sara Rasmussen, Earth Policy Institute
The Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, yet they take in more than 20 percent of the world’s grain exports. Imports to the region have jumped from 30 million tons of grain in 1990 to nearly 70 million tons in 2011. Now imported grain accounts for nearly 60 percent of regional grain consumption. With water scarce, arable land limited, and production stagnating, grain imports are likely to continue rising.
Tyre Tank Stands
Aid Projects, Building, Conservation, Irrigation, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Harvesting — by Robert Cork
A finished tyre tank stand
You may remember reading about the work of FoodWaterShelter to develop a sustainable home for vulnerable women and children in Tanzania. And you may recall their innovative approach to water storage. Well here’s another innovative use for old tyres — and one that may alleviate some potential concerns of unwittingly contaminating the environment through alternative uses of tyres.
Comments (1)APC11 Presentation: Regenerative Agriculture, A Case Study – by Dan Palmer
Conferences, Presentations/Demonstrations, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor May 11, 2012
Dan Palmer, of VeryEdibleGardens (VEG), gives an interesting look at the basis of Regenerative Agriculture, and how it applies in practice — sharing his experiences consulting for a 10-acre property about 2.5 hours northeast of Melbourne, Victoria.
Comments (0)Following McDonalds’ Example Towards a Healthy Diet
Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Health & Disease, Land — by Campbell Wilson
Images copyright Cam Wilson 2012
Who would have thought we could follow McDonalds’ business model to get our kids to eat healthy food?
Comments (2)Enhancing Permaculture Through Research
Community Projects — by Andy Goldring
Bill Mollison and David Holmgren developed permaculture through a combination of years of study and observation, many late night discussions and practical testing in the field (in fact it was a garden!) What has emerged since is a powerful network of action learners busy putting permaculture theory into practice the world over. But can we do it better? Is there more to learn? I think there is. For many years the Permaculture Association has focussed on supporting learners and educators, but more recently we have begun to realise that to do this well we need to be doing more research. Research is essentially a refined learning method that gives us the capacity to understand how things work, how well different methods work, how we could improve practice, and what we might learn from others.
To get an understanding of who is already conducting permaculture research — either as academics, or as practitioners using a research approach in their project work — we have put together a series of surveys that will be rolled out over the next six months:
Comments (0)Mulloon Creek Intern Program, Spring 2012
Courses/Workshops — by Campbell Wilson
Our intern program is centred around learning by doing. Here at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms there’s a great mix of both the established bread and butter commercial operations, as well as a lot of innovative development that’s taking place over the coming years within our ecological agricultural practices. If you’re interested in the large-scale design and implementation side of landscape health within a productive farm environment, be sure to visit our website to find out more.
Comments (0)Paper Parks
Biodiversity, Consumerism, Fish — by George Monbiot
The UK’s marine reserves offer no meaningful protection to the life of the sea.
by George Monbiot: journalist, author, academic and environmental and political activist, United Kingdom.
What do the terms “marine reserve” and “marine protected area” conjure up for you? Places in which, perhaps, wildlife is protected? In which the damaging activities permitted in other parts of the sea – such as trawling and dredging – are banned? Wrong.
A marine protected area in the United Kingdom is an area inside a line drawn on a map – and that’s about it. In most cases, the fishing industry can continue to rip up the seabed, overharvest the fish and shellfish, and cause all the other kinds of damage it is permitted to inflict in the rest of this country’s territorial waters. With three tiny exceptions, our marine reserves are nothing but paper parks.
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