The Permaculture Association is the national charity that supports people to learn about and use permaculture, connect with other practitioners, and build local networks. Over the last 40 years we have been working to build an alternative story and model for a very different future, one that puts people and planet first.
In the light of Covid-19 and the escalating ‘triple emergency’ of climate, nature and social justice, and the growing interest in permaculture as an alternative to the status quo, we are bringing our work together in a new project called Permaculture Responds.
Permaculture Responds is all about supporting our network of 80+ educators and 100+ demonstration sites and local projects to get prepared to welcome a big new wave of people to find out about permaculture and the many associated eco/social practices. We want to make sure that people can find projects near to them, learn the practical skills and theory of permaculture and be able to apply it in their own homes, neighbourhoods and communities.
Ultimately permaculture provides inspiration, tools and frameworks that help us to live in a really self-reliant, conscious and compassionate way. Adopting permaculture can reduce costs of food, energy and transport, making household budgets go further. Projects usually have a strong community element, and help to connect people within a context of positive practical action, building skills and confidence.
Covid-19 has shown just how vulnerable so many people are to the effects of poverty, discrimination and isolation, and its vital that permaculture shares its strategies and stands in solidarity with the people that have been most badly affected. We also need to get ready for increased heat waves, droughts, extreme weather of all sorts, and even potential food shortages in years to come. Climate change is not going away, and we need to plan and act now to make our communities more resilient, caring and productive, something that permaculture has been working on since the 1980s.
Through the project we will be improving and updating our map of local groups and projects, and helping the network be more confident to open their doors after the Covid lockdown. Practitioners are now meeting each other on monthly online calls and developing a new community of practice that will increase mutual support. Members of the public, and other project leaders and groups will be able to visit projects and attend events, and have easier access to our information and knowledge.
Increasing equity is really important for us, and we are really happy that we will now also be able to provide bursaries for people that haven’t been able to access permaculture education before through our new online ‘Designing for Resilience, Foundations in Permaculture’ course.
There is so much more to say, and so many brilliant projects, so if you are interested, please do visit our comprehensive website or get in touch via the contact form to see how we could connect. Thanks.
As part of this project we created a new series of films shot by permaculture filmmakers at projects across England during 2021.
There is a vibrant network of projects in the UK using permaculture. These videos show just some of those contributing to their community’s resilience in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and economic downturn.
These amazing people are helping to create healthier places, communities and ecosystems.