July 2007 • Issue 402


act

Action

Try an introductory course.

Try an introductory course. It takes no more than a weekend, is not expensive (usually with special rates for the unwaged) and will introduce you to a network of new contacts. Many countries have Permaculture Associations, with local links to courses, projects, resources and events. The Permaculture Association and Permaculture Magazine in Britain have provided an international networking service between them for 15 years and are useful wherever you happen to live.

International Permaculture International Limited www.permacultureinternational.org

Australia The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia www.permaculture.org.au

Britain The Permaculture Association www.permaculture.org.uk

Canada Vancouver Permaculture Network www.alternatives.com/vpn

Ireland Irish Permaculture Worknet c/o Training Workshops in Horticulture, College Orchards Church Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin 9

Japan Permaculture Centre of Japan www.pccj.net

New Zealand/Aotearoa Permaculture in NZ www.permaculture.org.nz

United States The Permaculture Institute www.permaculture.com

Worth reading on permaculture...

Books The books of Bill Mollison, though sometimes dense, can also be eloquent and inspiring. Try the relatively short Introduction to Permaculture (with Reny Mias Slay, Ten Speed, Australia, 1997). David Holmgren’s increasingly influential Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability (Holmgren Design Services, Hepborn, Australia, 2003) updates the debates and looks to wider applications and current issues, like ‘peak oil’. For me, the best written and most useful books about permaculture (in Britain, though quite possibly elsewhere too) have been by Patrick Whitefield, Permaculture in a Nutshell, followed by The Earth Care Manual (both from Permanent Publications, East Meon, Britain). The first is encouraging, the second weighty and expensive, but indispensable when you actually get stuck in.

Internet To get some idea of what’s brewing worldwide, it’s worth browsing www.permacultureactivist.net. It gives you a ‘Planetary Permaculture Directory’ with hundreds of links, particularly in the Majority World.




also by...
THIS AUTHOR

Human rights in a time of terror
At the beginning of a year that brings together the Beijing Olympics and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, David Ransom assesses the damage done by the ‘War on Terror’ to the one race that really counts.

Another production is possible

Permanent culture
Permaculture is now going to make a difference to me – and it might just do the same for you as well.

Global common sense
‘Zone Sectoring’ does not reach much beyond Zone V – Wilderness – or out into the world beyond. Yet bright ideas like permaculture have a habit of making their own way around, into every ‘niche’. And I can explore where they’ve got to by emailing friends and contacts, as well as surfing the worldwide web – without leaving my barge or consuming any air miles at all.

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other articles
FROM THIS ISSUE

Burundi
A small landlocked state in central Africa, sandwiched between its vast neighbours Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi has suffered as much from ethnic conflict as its other (equally tiny) neighbour, Rwanda. Yet while the 1993 Rwandan genocide continues to commandeer international attention, Burundi’s travails tend to slip under the radar.

Of robbers and plants
Economic crunch in Mauritius

Edible Earth
In search of bright ideas, David Ransom begins by learning some very basic lessons about how to design a more sustainable, permanent culture.

The ethical heart of permaculture
Maddy Harland outlines the principles that make it beat.

The Islamophobia debate
When is it fair to criticize Islam and when is it not?

recently
IN THIS COLUMN

Human rights - the facts
Human rights refer not just to personal civil and political rights, but collective economic, social and cultural ones too. Worldwide, they are more violated than respected.

Breathless in Beijing
Sam Geall reports on broken promises at the Olympics.

Who killed Maksim Maksimov?
Not that no-one knows. Maria Yulikova reports on the brutal assassination of a journalist in Russia.

A guide through the maze
The Declarations, Covenants and Conventions that make up the International Bill of Rights.

Off the buses
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed).

The eternal minority
The Roma – still widely known as ‘Gypsies’ – have had a raw deal for centuries and are only now starting to raise their voice on the international stage. Eleanor Harding looks at their plight in Romania, while the NI traces their history back to India.






Voices from the margins:

Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.

House of Hunger Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
Raised Voices video:
Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change
Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power
Iranian Women Speak Out
Iranian women speak out
3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
Raised Voices audio:
Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
Vinayan from India on agriculture