Permaculture International Research Network launched!

The Permaculture International Research Network (PIRN) is launched! 

This week The Permaculture Association is launching what we believe is the world's first Permaculture International Research Network. Our first e-bulletin is going out to around 400 permaculture researchers on Friday 18th July 2014. PIRN has three initial activities; an e-bulletin issued six times a year, a facebook page, and the international soil trials. Currently the network is in beta stage; the full launch will take place in September 2015 at The International Permaculture Convergence in London. Anyone involved in permaculture research can join in the conversation on the facebook page; but if you want to actually join PIRN (its free!) and receive the e-bulletin, please e-mail: pirn@permaculture.org.uk

Social care farming (#journal)

Farming with care: the evolution of care farming in the Netherlands

 The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of the care farming sector in one of its pioneering countries, the Netherlands. Care farms combine agricultural production with health and social services. The number of care farms, and the legitimacy and diversity of the care farming sector, have increased rapidly over time due to changes in the care regime, increased media exposure, contacts with ministries and politicians, and the development of a quality system have contributed to the legitimacy of the sector. Changes in the care regime and collective action promoted a further expansion of the sector. The article sheds light on changes in agriculture and transsectoral collaboration.

Helping communities to save energy (report)

 Smart Communities: Working together to save energy?

Smart Communities was a three and a half year 'behaviour change' community energy project. In broad terms, the Smart Communities findings support the contemporary policy focus on demand-side action, community energy and energy consumption feedback. At the same time, the project highlights the long term and challenging nature of these strategies, and the implications of this for the funding of demand-side community energy. The findings emphasis a lack of 'energy know-how' among householders as a key constraint on change, and identifies ways in which more widespread know-how might be developed. The project also emphasises the benefits of action on energy within a primary school, and the ways in which this prompts engagement with energy in the home. 

Food movements as social networks (#journal)

The food movement in Canada: a social movement network perspective

In the Global North, there has been increasing analysis of the ways that alternative food initiatives (AFIs) are developing viable, place-based solutions that challenge the corporate-led industrial food system; however, there has been little study of the interrelationships among them. In an effort to better understand the possibilities for food system transformation, this paper builds on existing studies to investigate the increasing collaborations among AFIs occurring through provincial food networks in Canada. Contrary to assumptions that AFIs act in isolation, the paper demonstrates that they are part of actual and existing mobilizations through robust social movement networks. Together, these collaborative efforts may be illustrative of a new wave in food activism that is represented by the emergence of a multi-scaled and cross-sectoral ‘food movement’ – a network of networks.

Gardening after catastrophe (book)

Greening in the Red Zone

‘Greening in the red zone’ refers to post-catastrophe, community-based stewardship of nature, and how these often spontaneous, local stewardship actions serve as a source of social-ecological resilience in the face of severe hardship. Two types of evidence are presented in this book. First are explanations on the positive impact of contact with nature, and from resilience scholars who subscribe to the notion that identifying sources of resilience in the face of change is crucial to the long-term well-being of humans, their communities, and the environment. The second source of evidence are case studies of greening in red zones from post-disaster and post-conflict settings around the world, ranging from the highly visible like the greening of the Berlin Wall, to smaller-scale efforts like planting a community garden in a war zone.

Success factors in transition communities (#journal)

Learning from success—Toward evidence-informed sustainability transitions in communities

People around the world initiate transitions toward sustainability on various levels of society. Each initiative presents learning opportunities to build robust transitions. Little empirical research has been conducted on how the transition context and process lead to particular outcomes. This article presents an analytical-evaluative framework for appraising the sustainability of transition outcomes and reconstructing transition pathways in order to identify critical success factors. Ashton Hayes in the U.K. serves as an illustrative case study. The ultimate goal is to derive, accumulated over many studies, evidence-informed guidelines to improve the effectiveness of transitions.

Transition towns in the majority world (journal)

Jobs versus livelihoods: Sustainable settlements within the transition paradigm

How can the “transition paradigm” be implemented in poor communities in South Africa where most people are dependent on income from government grants? Here, the aim cannot be to have a transition to a lower consumption society; these societies are actually under-consuming. Rather, it is necessary to create settlements which are sustainable in almost every way: in terms of livelihoods, natural resources, energy and water usage, health and education, transport, and waste disposal. In this model, sustainable communities use the skills, assets and resources of their members to generate livelihoods. This paper observes three existing communities in South Africa with the objective of analysing how such models are integrated (or not) into the local economy. Thereafter aspects of a model that envisages ways that poor communities can create sustainable livelihoods, using local skills and resources, are presented. This model requires strategies for creating localised systems, including micro finance, local markets, com-munity exchange networks, cooperative construction, production and distribution systems; and infrastructure and technology systems.

Linking community initiatives and local government (#journal)

(Dis)connected communities and sustainable place-making

Despite a recent surge in the UK in 'sustainable communities' policy discourse, many community-led sustainability initiatives remain fragmented and disconnected from local government strategies. How can community- and government-led sustainability initiatives be better integrated? With particular reference to Stroud, England and Cardiff, Wales, this paper explores the twin processes of disconnection and connection between community activists and local state actors. It concludes that for community activists and policy-makers alike, there are many mutual benefits to co-production.

People and Permaculture (book)

People and Permaculture: caring and designing for ourselves, each other and the planet

The first book to focus on the use of permaculture for people. It widens the scope of permaculture taking it into the heart of our lives, our relationships and our society. It is full of ideas, exercises, knowledge, methods and quotes to inspire and enlighten.