The Lost Stories
Remembering Bill in print — the legacy of Bill Mollison from the pages of the Permaculture International Journal
The Lost Stories are Bill Mollison’s articles published in the print magazine originally named Permaculture, then International Permaculture Journal and finally the Permaculture International Journal that was published between 1978 and 2000.
All stories and other content © Permaculture Australia unless otherwise noted. ……….
1987: A village development alliance
1987, Edition 26, Permaculture
…Bill Mollison
Published as an article in World Visions … and realities
SEVERAL GRADUATES and associations show a keen interest in developing or redeveloping villages and setting up a village alliance offering services, trade, accommodation and exchange of data and personnel.
Carl Winge (Seattle USA) and the Permaculture Services groups are interested to hear from people wishing to set up investment trusts for specific developments. The consultancy services as a whole are interested in working with existing villages to redesign and develop new concepts and employment opportunities. We envision a world permaculture village federation with a great potential for mutual aid and exchange, trade and education.
Max Lindegger and Geoff Young in Australia have projects in Queensland (Crystal Waters) and Fiji; the Earthbank group in Maui are also keen to develop a village in Hawaii; Dan McGrath in Oregon, Alan Campbell in New Mexico and other graduates have expressed a keen interest in any such development.
People interested in investment, work or residence can register their interest with Carl in the US, and we hope that he reports here or that others report to this journal.
Indian and Nepalese graduates are keen to assist existing villages. In the USA, Mike Corbett at Village Homes, with long experience in village design and all associated problems, has offered to assist in consultancy. Village Homes is well-established and can offer facilities to any future network.
We are suggesting a Village Development Group — finances, planners, consultants, residents meet as a subsection at all future congresses and plan better communications. Smaller projects between village locations can use networks of trade and market.
We can develop a global ‘string of beads’ with a little organisational effort, giving more outlets for village enterprises and taking advantage of group and financial power.
…
Recent Notes:
The Earthbank Society was an Australian initiative of permaculture practitioners in the 1980s. It was set up to develop the then-emerging ethical or social investment movement and community economic initiatives.
Village Homes was an early urban subdivision in the US that integrated productive landscape and energy-efficient dwellings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Homes?wprov=sfsi1
The village development alliance proposed by Bill can be seen as analogous to the later Global Ecovillage Network in which one of the developers of Crystal Waters Permaculture Village, Max Lindegger, has played a prominent role: https://ecovillage.org/