Editors wanted for new journal

Editors required for new permaculture journal 

As part of The Permaculture International Research Network, we are developing a new online journal, Permaculture Research.  It will be an interdisciplinary, peer reviewed journal that publishes high quality research on all aspects of permaculture. To strengthen our editorial team, we are seeking Assistant Editors from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Follow the link to find out more.

Concrete decay destroys infrastructure (online)

How industrial civilisation is (literally) built on a foundation with an expiry date

The main issue is simple: putting in steel reinforcing bars lowers the cost and weight of installing reinforced concrete, but at the severe expense of reducing its lifespan. In other words, literally everything you see today that’s made of concrete will need to be replaced within a hundred years of its installation.
Our reinforced concrete infrastructure sends a dire warning.

'Organic Revolutionary' book review

Organic Revolutionary: A Memoir of the Movement for Real Food, Planetary Healing, and Human Liberation
A book review submitted to The Digest by Graham Bell; thanks Graham! All readers are most welcome to submit Digest content to research@permaculture.org.uk

I recommend this book to anyone interested in setting standards.  Grace delineates her progress from hippy farmer to state legislator in great detail.  In the process she describes the challenge of setting standards for organic production in the US.  Because the book took fifteen years to write there are great changes in mood.  For those similarly challenged with 'What is a good standard' (a debate raging in various permaculture circles right now) it clearly states the different positions people will take: purist and enabler would be the extremes.  It points out very perceptively the advantages and disadvantages of these polar opposites.

Personally I would like to have heard more about Grace the person.  Whilst in some respects she is very open about her life, loves and relationships, I feel a little more of these aspects of her story would have helped me appreciate her journey.

 Meanwhile a very worthwhile read.  I particularly like the section: Soil is anything but pure.  Quote: 'the reductionist model of nutrition gives no indication of the vital, living quality of a food product.', 'Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made' Mark Twain (AKA Sam Clements) and lastly: 'Yet in fact the push for higher standards actually made it easier for the large, professional business organisations than for smaller owner-operators.  They were simply better equipped to deal with the increasingly finicky and paperwork heavy demands of organic certification.' A salutary lesson for us all.

Urban gardens grow food and biodiversity (online)

Civic pride 'can help sustain urban biodiversity'

The establishment of community gardens in inner city areas can boost social and ecological sustainability, suggest researchers. A study found those that produced food were the ones most likely to deliver "win-win" scenarios. Urban green spaces managed by local people were more likely to be preserved for future generations, they added. Research has shown that green urban sites such as allotments, community garden, or cemeteries, can make a major contribution to sustaining urban biodiversity. They offer insect-friendly habitats, which improves pollination for plant species, and attract predators such as birds. This biological diversity also makes the space more appealing for people.

Building your eco-home (book)

The Eco-Home Design Guide: Principles and practice for new-build and retrofit

Designing an eco home is much more about working with your house's place and situation than relying in intrusive technology and hi-tech materials. In this book, Christopher Day draws on his extensive experience to explain the key principles of eco-home design, using common-sense methods to create a pleasant, comfortable and healthy home. With beautifully simple hand-drawn illustrations, he takes you through: using the local topography, combined with landscaping, to improve your home's micro-climate, designing to keep your home dry and warm in the winter, and cool in the summer, minimizing hidden environmental impact, making the house safe and healthy, both emotionally and physically.

Green energy futures (book)

Green Energy Futures: A Big Change for the Good

What will replace fossil fuel? Is there a way forward using renewable energy sources while avoiding nuclear power? This book argues that nuclear is unlikely to have much of a role in future, and shows that the nuclear debate has absorbed too much time and energy, to the detriment of a more relevant and urgent debate over what sort of renewable/efficiency mix we need. This book engages in that debate, exploring the implications of shifting to greener, cleaner energy sources. It argues there is no one green future, but a range of possible options: we need to choose amongst them. This book offers an overview of the technical, economic and environmental issues to help scholars, professionals and policy makers involved in discussing those options.

Vested interests versus renewable energy (book)

Renewable Energy Transformation or Fossil Fuel Backlash? Vested Interests in the Political Economy

Renewable energy is rising within an energy system dominated by powerful vested energy interests in fossil fuels, nuclear and electric utilities. Analyzing renewables in six very different countries, the author argues that it is the extent to which states have controlled these vested interests that determines the success or failure of renewables.