A permaculture approach to science education (#journal)

Cultivating Attitudes and Trellising Learning: A Permaculture Approach to Science and Sustainability Education

This article reports on an inquiry that used permaculture design thinking to create a science and sustainability education intervention for a secondary science class. The aims were to cultivate student attitudes towards science, towards learning science in school, and towards the environment, and to trellis learning of science and sustainability. As a context for learning, local permaculture food production projects, as experienced through field trips in the intervention, appear to promote the relevance of science and sustainability learning and the ability to engage students. Science and sustainability learning outcomes appeared to vary among students, although nearly all of them reported they enjoyed learning science with a focus on the environment, including one group of students who reported they did not generally enjoy learning science in school.

Practical permaculture (book)

Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth

Permaculture's principles are simple: take care of the earth, and the earth will take care of you. Ecological landscape designer Jessi Bloom and permaculture expert Dave Boehnlein provide all the tools you need for this holistic approach to living that leads to healthy food, a healthy home, and renewable resources. The book covers the basic principles of permaculture, showing the entire design process, and offers detailed information on the plants, water, waste, energy, shelter, food, animals, and structures that make up the garden. Filled with real-life examples from all over the world, this invaluable resource will help you turn your home garden into a sustainable ecosystem.

 

Landscape design for therapy in a Palestinian school (thesis)

Physiosocial landscape interventions for the Holy Child Program, a school for children with behavioral difficulties in Beit Sahour, Palestine

My studies in Landscape Architecture have shown that our surroundings can powerfully influence our behavior, and so through this thesis I seek to bring about healthful behavioral change through interventions in the built environment. The site where I propose these environmental interventions is The Holy Child Program, in the West Bank, Palestine, a program aimed at educating young people with emotional and behavioral difficulties. I propose a site design and implementation that is holistic in a way that suits the gravity of life in this region. The framework is Permaculture, and it focuses efforts on collaboration with the land, pairing human ingenuity with existing resources to draw abundance from the land. My assertion is that active engagement with natural processes will help bring healing, respite, and delight to the Holy Child Program community, through the act of observing and working with natural cycles.

Agroecology and permaculture (journal)

Agroecology and permaculture: addressing key ecological problems by rethinking and redesigning agricultural systems

This paper explores how industrial agriculture is a key contributor to many ecological problems and how redesigning agricultural systems using agroecological principles could address many of these problems.  Agroecological methods have the potential to boost production and farm incomes, particularly in the global South. Permaculture, perhaps the most widely practiced form of agroecology, also provides an ethical framework and principles that serve as a basis for discerning actions that enable the design of diverse, sustainable systems. Widespread adoption of agroecological methods and permaculture principles could significantly reduce energy, pesticide, and freshwater usage while simultaneously restoring degraded soil, sequestering carbon, creating more biodiverse agricultural systems, and satisfying human needs for healthy, nutritious food.

Intro to Permaculture - in Samoa (online)

Introduction to Permaculture

Matuaileoo Environmental Trust Incorporated (METI) in Samoa has developed an introductory manual on Permaculture. This manual has been prepared as a self-instructional course for Taiala (front-line education and sustainable development workers) to enable them to teach people in their communities about permaculture. The Manual provides an opportunity for Taiala to learn about and be able to teach permaculture. Unit 1: Philosophy and Ethics of Permaculture // Unit 2A: Managing the Environment Naturally // Unit 2B: Managing the Environment Scientifically // Unit 3: Design and Practice /

Permaculture gardening guide for schools (online)

Permaculture food gardening guide for schools

This booklet was developed for teachers, learners and community members who would like to learn more about food gardening. It documents the gardening process so that other schools can learn from it and be inspired to start their own garden based on permaculture principles. If you create a food garden based on ways found in nature, by listening and watching carefully how nature works, you will be playing an important role in repairing the earth.

Food forestry on the US West Coast (online book)

West Coast Food Forestry

Forest gardening is a central practice of Permaculture, an ecological design strategy for sustainable living. In a typical Permaculture forest garden, you are likely to find plantsfor all uses. However, in very limited space, a ‘food forest’ may be the best choice. A food forest is a garden with at least three layers of food plants. The main focus of this book is on plants that can be included in food forests on the West Coast of North America, primarily the areas west of the Cascades and Sierras. The plants listed in this book are suited for this region (usually for USDA Zones 8 and 9, unless otherwise noted),though many of them can be grown throughout North America and other temperate region.