Permaculture South Australia hosted an incredible three-day event celebrating permaculture, sustainability and urban food movements from across Australia. Featuring inspiring keynote speakers, workshops, stalls, hands-on activities and more, it was a weekend of learning, connecting and sharing. Held at the beautiful Mount Barker Waldorf School, at Yaktunga / Mount Barker in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills and with the autumn sun shining, it was an APC for the memory books.
22nd to the 24th April, 2023
With special thanks to the incredible team at Permaculture South Australia and all their amazing volunteers, who put in months (years even!) of energy, hard work and passion to create a wonderful event that will be celebrated for years!
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When the last minute cancellation of the Permaculture Australia AGM was announced by the board, a quick decision was made to not lose the opportunity for a gathering of great minds in creating a vision of the future.
Graciously facilitated by Meg McGowan, the 40 plus in the room and 10 online were given the following framing
Human organisations in the dominant culture have traditionally been dendritic (top down). Permaculture Australia also adopted this model but by default it is not the only pattern. If we are to redesign the organisation we need good questions.
What do indigenous patterns teach us?
What would nature do?
If Permaculture was a forest, what role would Permaculture Australia play in that ecosystem, perhaps it would be the soil, sun and rain creating the environment that supports the healthy growth of permaculture?
Perhaps it would be the mycelium,connecting the various life forms that rely upon it for connection. But what about animals, birds and insects?
No clear answers emerge because organisational design is a wicked problem.
We know the current pattern no longer serves us and we do not yet know what the new pattern will look like, so we need to establish a clear collective vision and join together in heading in that direction.
Fortunately we have joint stewardship of a powerful model for redesign – permaculture.
Set alongside client interviews, visioning planning, implementing, learning and then proceeding around and around the design spiral – learn – dream – plan – do – repeat
We will not find answers today but we might evolve great questions
What does the Earth need?
How might we contribute to that?
How might we design in a capacity to evolve and adapt?
And how do we incorporate the ethics and principles of permaculture not as a design overlay but as a base map.
Activation Question
It’s 5 years from now and Permaculture Australia is the world’s best example of permaculture ethics and principles? What does this look like?
In the interest of keeping as true to the discussion as possible, the dot points below are grouped in their working groups. They may not read clearly and smoothly as they are a bit of a visioning, mind dump process. Points have just been cleared up for content and clarity.
The zoom recording is available if you would like to view it please contact hello@permacultureaustralia.org.au
These are the responses from the group work
Million dollar charitable organisation
All Permaculture organisations in Australia being members of PA
Public liability insurance for members of PA to run tours etc at their site
Register of sites around Australia – similar to what the UK has done
Peak body of research that is communicated to the World
PA is recognised as a leader of land restoration and climate action and recovery and emergency response
Permaculture units are core in a variety of diverse qualifications
Permaculture is taught in 90% of schools
PA funds international permaculture projects being a philanthropic organisation
PA has a strong marketing and PR campaign group to get the message out to the rest of the World, Australia and into the Mainstream
Active permaculture media that documents all the wonderful things we are doing around Australia
It has a position as the peak body within Australia and other industries and is consulted and our voice is included in national matters and decisions that affect all of us
It is known as a functional organisation that attracted the best and broad talents within the Permaculture community
It’s a driver in offering formative permaculture education and that the educators are accredited using peer review model to help set standards within permaculture teaching and training and helps maintain those standards
Recognise and interact with indigenous communities and learn from them and work together
Sociocracy
PA building connections – collaboration with state permaculture organisations in a meaningful way
Lobbying for planet and for people
Professional partnerships with other sustainable organisations and also great relationships with international bodies
A PA that is inclusive – so actively and meaningfully supporting inclusivity projects
Having a first nations advisory team
Actively promoting diversity
Permaculture translation support for people applying for grants and funding but also for educational materials
And standing against white supremacy actively
Education – helping people to get the certificate 4 training and assessment by running it as a national body a couple of times of year
Being a hub for information so that is Youtube – ebooks, educational resources
Helping with professional development
PA is very well organised so that it doesn’t burn through people. It adds to people’s livelihoods and adds to the fun in their daily lives
It uses sociocracy and that leads to an inclusivity and empowerment of people and transparency
Scrum mentioned as another way to organise ourselves in groups
Strong marketing PR group -paid, which ensures PA is relevant
An active Permaculture media
PA has a position as a peak body, is consulted and has a voice in important matters.
It is known as a functional organisation that attracts effective and best talent
PA has a strong presence
PA is a driver and offers formative permaculture education.
PDC educators accreditation using a peer review model
Recognize and integrate with indigenous community
PA delivers effective communication
Giving out $500,000 of micro grants annually
Fund projects around the globe and in Australia
Implement school gardens across the country
Upside down pyramid – at the top local permaculture groups – connected to the regional – PA at the bottom
Being a voice on global and national issues and handing out solutions from our wealth of knowledge within the movement
Write the solutions and slip them on the desk in Canberra and let them grab it and take it forward
Stand with other groups and voices
Coordinate permaculture education – teaching permaculture training that doesn’t have to go through a separate university – university of permaculture
Effective communication between the smaller groups and the larger groups
Connecting the smaller groups up via membership
Free membership if you are member of your local organisation you are automatically a member of PA
A heart group doing the nurturing the well being of the whole
Enabling not controlling
Inclusive
Filled with opportunities and really well funded
Place specific and connected with first nations cultures
First nations advisory team
Connected through the biosphere regions and connected with state and national organisations
Permies want to join
Representative
Regenerative and supportive
People are proud to belong to it
Everyone has a voice
Resources rich in information that is widely shared with everyone and highly accessible
Cost not being a barrier as well
How to be well funded though – have to work that through
Organisational structure made up of circles and links interconnected and decentralised
But also well connected outside the permie community
Being able to engage in lobbying role in local state and national government as well as the education sector and business sector but that nodes are still relatively autonomous
Structures in place that help build and are represented by past present and emerging leaders through meetings like we have right now – but maybe other structures similar as well
And that we have diverse representation that is really inclusive
Elder recognition and allowing space for exhalation for our elders and
Succession planning
Terms of PA board 2 years or 3 and 3 that swap so that there is not a full change over
Fair representation for youth
Structures where there are interlinked in groups
Sociocracy
Talk about things like the taurus where pressure in the change is welcomed as a pathway toward flourishing
figure of 8 infinity symbol to do with the ecological succession modelling because theories of change we need to welcome as well as well as theories of solidity
Fairness – farmers market funding young farmers as a model that PA could use to fund
Resource to new people to run courses and make scholarship through Permafund to help get those things up and running
Needs based – organisation supports each of the directors of PA checks in on where it meets their needs to be there and how it can so they don’t burn out so easy
And what are the needs of PA directors and board so that they get care as well
Peak body
Political influence and an advisory role
Representation of not only the states but also by Bio regions
Overlays and connecting in many different ways
Education from School through to university and research beyond that
Peer reviewed journal / magazines
Not top down
Indigenous voices connections and leadership
Have moved past the white fragility stage
At our core we are a safe place and our ethics of care are paramount in everything we do
Not aligned with narrow philosophical beliefs
We have an international presence
Website is an amazing online resource that is like our organisation, it is inviting and inspirational and respected
Not like a one stop permaculture warehouse but more of a social forest ecosystem where you can go for a walk in the forest and come out with something that you need and you might not know that you needed
The body for Permaculture Australia, being involved in Politics
Representing all of Australia at a governmental level
Advocacy role to represent our views to decision makers, from refugees to agriculture implementation would require ramping up communication,
Increased visibility of PA
Permaculture is a grassroots effort from the soil to the top of the atmosphere, a peak body would have to keep this in mind to be sure to be heard
PA could collects points of communication from the whole country, from grassroots people
PA could have a larger role as a hub in regards to all states
Connection between states, has been some discussion over the years to look at joint memberships as an example
Committee associations to connect with PA board
Growth, reason to be a member. Accreditation, how to make people aware of events in their area
Discounted books and online workshops and in person lectures
Education at a tertiary level could be our approach to keep younger generations engaged
Permaculture Australia is the peak body that represents all Permaculture groups at a federal and state level, integrated in education at all levels including tertiary education. PA connects with all state and territory community organisations to build deeper connections for our aims. Our biggest opportunity will remain in the future generations that we leave this earth to by assisting them to use our knowledge through the challenges we face through climate change.
PA is a peak body that embodies the space, operating as a beacon and is very aware of what it does do and what it doesn’t do
It has a lot more members and the reason it has a lot more members is because it offers great value to its members – in the form of insurance, resources, particularly for new people entering the permie world. Pathways so that goes to training, mentorship
research – international as well, looking at what other organisations around the world offer
Courses
Advocacy
Global ecological design – basemap of australia working with indigenous people to do a base map of australia
Trusted form of leadership
With a stronger focus on fair share the sense is that we need more assistance from PA in that area and a non competitive model of economics
Diversity – one person in the group wanted centralisation others want decentralisation
Offering multiple levels of access
PA also provides fantastic support to local groups to begin and lots of resources to begin local permaculture groups if they don’t have one locally
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