There are 5 main topics in the 3rd and final module for our PDC:
Waste Disposal and Recycling,
Design for catastrophe,
Energy Recycling in the Community,
Waste Disposal and Recycling,
Permaculture Village Development.
Waste Disposal and Recycling
The use of water and different plants as cleansers of system pollution. Waste reduction and recycling methods: domestic, commercial, community recycling of materials and other resources. (See also TOPIC: Recycling in the Community).
Design for catastrophe
Fire: Criteria for fire control: plant species to assist fire control. Strategies for saving house, stock and garden in case of fire. Flood: Earth-movement: Avoiding flood areas by reading the landscape and conserving essential forest pockets. Methods for lessening damage potential. Working in a flood prone site – mobile plants and animals, conserving fragile soils. Cyclone, Hurricane: Tsunami: Best house design and siting. Crop saving strategies. Drought: An understanding of macro and microclimatic conditions, water behaviour and plant life cycles help to design for drought. Dealing with unexpected drought, home grown mulch; fire retardant species; plant management during drought. Man-made disasters: Air-borne, water-borne and soil Pollution, soil erosion, blue-green algae and more.
Energy Recycling in the Community
Appropriate Energy Conserving Technology. What Is Energy? The history of human ‘energy’ use. Forms of Energy. Why Change To Renewable Energy Sources?
The effects of climate change on plant and animal species, Oxygen, CO and the greenhouse effect. The two Ozone layers. Transport, the car and the mobile society. The cost of our waste and the mounting problems for future generations
Domestic energy use: Behavioural
Lifestyle choices: Including: Cooking, holiday choices, night activity, power independent entertainment, meal sharing.
House design: as discussed extensively in Buildings and Structures the house must be designed for climate, utilizing energy conserving siting, use of plants and use of structures such as greenhouse, shadehouse, ponds, etc. Transport: the hidden costs of current transport choices. Technological: energy generation and choice of appliances. Climate control and room heating options. Hot water supplies; Electricity and lighting; Photovoltaics, Windpower, Energy-conserving lights, Hydroelectric power, Gas and Kerosene lighting. Cooking and cook-stoves, food preserving methods: Why each person should become part of their food production processes (cooking, preserving) – and Kitchen design and use to encourage interest in cooking and nutrition. Refrigeration and cooling. Washing and drying clothes. Water conservation: Water tank off roof, ideally located uphill from the house; Grey water catchment designs; Compost toilets; Dual-flush toilets; Hydraulic Systems; Pumps and waterlifts; Hydraulic rams and pumps; Water wheels; Water turbines; Hydro-pneumatics (air compression); Harnessing tide or stream flow. Biothermal systems: Composting toilets etc. are discussed in Waste Disposal and Recycling, Compost heat, biogas, solar ponds, wind kettles, etc.
Permaculture System Supplies.
Seed saving – collection and exchange. Perennializing annuals – how to reduce the need for seeds. Need for specialised, permaculture nurseries for unusual plants, e.g. bamboo, palm, cacti and forage species. Seed companies -why you should buy from small, non-hybridized stock. Books, association, magazines and centres. Government bodies providing advice. Developing Local Contacts.
Classical Landscape Profiles
Recognising different landscape profiles and how this affects the design. Reading the landscape can help anticipate natural disaster, the use of ‘fill’ on commercial properties, flood potential and more. Learn to work with all landscape types including Volcanic, High Islands, Low Islands, Coastlines, Wetlands, Estuaries and
Humid Landscapes: Keyline system of water control, Treatment of Individual Slopes, Flatlands. Arid Landscapes: Swales, Dams, Mulch, Pits, Shade. Climatic Differences in soil fertility; growth patterns; energy needs. Learn about the most productive methods for different landscapes and climates. Permaculture designers are equipped to work further afield, from deserts to atolls.
The Use of Pattern in design
This is an important part of Permaculture Design. Observation skill development and awareness is the basis of evolutionary design. The value of different patterns in your design work. Observing patterns in natural ecosystems. Design for growth and predicting patterns of change. Understanding the Edge effect and how to use it.
Flow Patterns
River flow patterns can be used to scour deep ponds, aerate the water, to accumulate mulch on edges, and to build up a layer of silt. Flow patterns need to be appreciated in order to work with water and wind systems.
Community Recycling
A worthwhile goal of any community is to keep the money saved and earned cycling within itself. The only way to do this is to establish financial and economic systems in the community, such as credit union, revolving loan fund, or local currency. Wealth is stored energy and Energy is wealth. Community economics falls into 2 broad categories: The informal economy (e.g. barter) and The formal economy, subject to accounting procedures.
Learn about your local money/exchange structures. Are you a member of your local LETS network? Where are the local Co-ops. Choose which bank should have the privilege of your money. Learn about Earthbank and ‘ethical investment’, community land access schemes and much more: Producer-Consumer cooperatives, Community savings and loans, Bioregional currency systems – Local currencies, Earthbank
Leasing systems, Land Access And Urban Systems: City Farms, City as Farm, Gleaning, Farm Link, Farm and Garden Clubs, Commonworks
Trusteeships and land trusts, Legal Forms: Discretionary trusts, Non-profit, Education, Charitable trusts, Subscription trusts (investment trust)
Permaculture Village Development
Why not cities? Towards new Eco-cities; renovating exisiting cities. Limiting factors to the growth of cities. City attractants – why people move to the main cities. The role of agriculture in supplying cities, and the dependence of cities on fossil fuels for production and transportation costs of its consumables. Learn how to design and set up a Permaculture Villages. Permaculture Village infrastructure and activities. Design for Diversity: occupants; needs and interaction. Design for all ages to be active members of the community. From care for the aged through to care and design for children.
Small business opportunities in Permaculture
Potential Enterprises and Occupations (Commerce). Co-operatives and Decentralised work places. The Role of ‘Cash’ crops in Third World and developed Nations. Setting about in Small business as a Permaculturalist. Strategies applicable to small business.
What makes a small business successful? Eco-tourism: what are the costs and benefits to the environment and the community?
Permaculture and Industry:
Leading arguments in the Environmental Quality Systems. Quality Assurance. Total Quality Control and the issues relating to reduction of waste (human and material resources). Environmental Quality Systems.