Permaculture History and Ethics

Popularly seen as a ‘cool’ form of organic gardening, permaculture could be better described as a design system for resilient living and land use based on universal ethics and ecological design principles. Although the primary focus of permaculture has been the redesign of gardening, farming, animal husbandry and forestry, the same ethics and principles apply to design of buildings, tools and technology. Applying permaculture ethics and principles in our gardens and homes inevitably leads us towards redesigning our ways of living so as to be more in tune with local surpluses and limits. Permaculture is also a global movement of individuals, groups and networks working to create the world we want, by providing for our needs and organising our lives in harmony with nature.

from David Holmgren’s book RetroSuburbia

There are many definitions of Permaculture, the books, courses and videos publicly available have progressed with time and practice from land based focused designs to also include more social and invisible structures reflective of our needs as individuals, communities and species.