Menu
Our approach to permaculture
Permaculture was developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Australia in the 1970s, as a response to the environmental degradation caused by industrial agriculture. It combines traditional and Indigenous knowledge with modern environmental science, innovation, and appropriate technology.
It evolved into a design science for creating systems that mimic natural processes, aiming to regenerate ecosystems while supporting the wellbeing of people and other living organisms. It is based on three ethical principles: Earth care, people care, and fair share.
Permaculture design begins with water management and soil regeneration, enhancing biodiversity and organic matter. It then integrates human activity so that our actions and outputs contribute to the regeneration of the system. Alongside ecological design, it includes social design to support long-term sustainability, cooperation, and the wellbeing of the people involved.
Social permaculture is the aspect of permaculture that focuses primarily on the ethical values of caring for people and the fair distribution of resources. It is applied to social organizations and systems that contribute to achieving environmental sustainability and explores how the principles of permaculture apply to ourselves, human relationships, and social systems worldwide.
Social permaculture is applied at four different levels:
Each level is a system of systems—a system composed of elements that are themselves a system of elements. The following are examples of the elements into which each level can be broken down:
We can imagine social permaculture as a network/mycelium that connects elements, each of which is itself a network of many other networks and elements. A defining characteristic of these elements is that they apply (each to a different degree) the principles of permaculture to social systems. Some of the areas associated with social permaculture include:
Social and solidarity economy, ecovillages, nonviolent communication, sociocracy, systems theory, environmental activism, the transition movement, deep ecology, the food self-sufficiency movement, CSA’s, self-care, indigenous knowledge and culture, theories on group dynamics and roles within groups, Theory U, bioregions
Social permaculture is a fundamental aspect of permaculture that is often overlooked by permaculture teachers and practitioners. There is little literature available on this topic, even though it is key to the success of permaculture projects.
We are currently conducting research on its application in Greece and on adapting international experience to the context of our work.