Belgium/Philippines

‘Restoring ecosystems and upscaling permaculture efforts’

Bert has been in the Philippines for more than 33 years. He started permaculture in 2000 with a course in Findhorn, Scotland and with Geoff Lawton in Australia. Later he added a teaching course in Hilo, Hawaii. In 2000 Bert co-founded Cabiokid foundation, then registered the Philippines Permaculture Association (PPA) and more recently created the Brilliant Practices Permaculture Inc. as a consultancy agency. Most work went into setting up a development site through Cabiokid foundation. To see is to believe so they focused on what a permaculture site could look like in the middle of the plains of central Luzon on the island of Luzon. Through PPA, they build a network of practitioners and have been organizing national permaculture convergences since 2015. Their work is on publications, teaching and creating accreditation for good permaculture sites all over the country. Bert and his permaculture colleagues developed a learning and research center within the Cabiokid land development to allow people to come and study all about permaculture. Personally he is teaching, designing and growing stuff in the best of his capacities. A lot of what he does is still focused on advocacy as they promote the permaculture paradigm to cooperatives, farmers and government officials.

Bert will be sharing ‘Restoring ecosystems and upscaling permaculture efforts’ in the convergence.

Beliz

Christopher took his PDC in 1991 and started trying to replicate the arboreal architecture of primary habitat later that year. Some parts of their farm have similar functions of nutrient cycling and sub canopy species with market value.

Chirstopher offered their first PDC fifteen years later in 2006 with Toby Hemenway and Penny Livingston. have co-taught 15 PDCs. From 1997-2004 he worked in the cacao industry with indigenous farmers and have visited around 600 cacao farms in Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He is passionate about agroforestry.

The farm he manages is called Maya Mountain Research Farm. It is a 35 year old experiment in degraded land repair. Much of the work has been informed by a rigorous application of the permaculture principles.

Christopher and his team are focused on the intersection between agriculture and ecology, that sweet point where food, fuel, fiber, fodder, marketable and medicinal crops can be produced in systems that replicate ecosystem services of soil and soil moisture retention, habitat creation and carbon sequestration. Some of theri farm is covered in towering trees we planted, 35 metres tall, while other parts are being established presently.

New Zealand

Trish Allen holds a Diploma in Permaculture. She is also a registered permaculture teacher with Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Institute and also with Permaculture in New Zealand. Trish was formerly an IPCC Councillor for 8 years.

She has over 30 years’ experience as a permaculture practitioner including establishing the award-winning Rainbow Valley Farm in Matakana with her late husband Joe Polaischer. The farm demonstrated permaculture in action and inspired thousands. Trish has now moved on and established a village-scale model of permaculture and shares her knowledge by teaching permaculture-related courses and workshops. She has established a community garden in her village and set up a weekly greenswap where locals share the surplus from their gardens. She is also founder of Mahurangi Wastebusters which aims to divert waste from landfill and promotes a circular economy.

Trish would like to share her journey of building community resilience. Starting with establishing a permaculture farm (Rainbow Valley Farm) with her late husband in the north of New Zealand over 30 years ago, turning rubbish land into a permaculture paradise, becoming a permaculture teaching centre, and setting up a village farmers market where we sold our farm produce.

After her husband passed away she moved to the village where she established a community garden and set up a weekly greenswap where locals come together to share the surplus from their gardens. Trish also founded a non-profit organisation called Mahurangi Wastebusters which now runs two community recycling centres, diverts waste from landfill, recovers resources, promotes a circular economy and creates jobs. The organization now has 8 paid staff.

India

Narsanna Koppula is a permaculture practitioner, designer, teacher and campaigner of permaculture practices all over the world. He has pioneered permaculture in India as a protege of Dr. Venkat, Bill Mollison and Robyn Francis. He also served on the Board of the Permaculture Association of India. For the past two and a half decades, Narsanna’s environmental-humanitarian work has restored degraded lands while also improving the livelihoods of local farming communities in rural Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Narsanna’s expertise lies in watershed management, specifically in using efficient techniques in command irrigation. He also specializes in Tree Based Farming Systems (TBFS) and is currently supporting 1000 tribal families with cultivating 100,000 fruit and 3 lakh mixed forest species under the Tribal Development Program across XX acres of land. Narsanna is committed to strengthening agricultural livelihoods, and increasing ecological resilience through permaculture farming practices. He believes that forests are the future and he strongly advocates for forest-based farming, Permaculture through his non-profit organization “Aranya Agricultural Alternatives”, which presently operates in rural and tribal areas of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, India. Through the Aranya Permaculture Academy, Narsanna leads a six-month internship programme, where students work alongside local farmers to implement permaculture-based projects in rural areas. He also evaluates a wide variety of natural resource management projects and engages with multiple national and international organizations. Narsanna received his Permaculture Certificate from the Permaculture International Institute, Australia and holds MA .LLB degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad

Taiwan

‘From the solitary experiment of raising chickens on the balcony, to the collective practice of community chicken coop’

Shen Zhixuan is a permaculture practitioner with a background in industrial design. He started working at a design consulting company after graduating from graduate school. The days of working overtime quickly drained the enthusiasm of this fresh graduate. This low-quality life made it impossible for him to convince himself to create satisfying work. Shen Zhixuan kept pondering, “What kind of life do I really want?”

In 2018, an unexpected military recall order gave Shen Zhixuan a chance to catch his breath. He used this five-day break to recharge and think about his next steps in life. During his time in the military camp, he read some books that he prepared in advance, and was introduced to the concept of permaculture design. The books mentioned that chickens, which can recycle household food waste and lay eggs, are excellent companions in the pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle. Thus, the idea of raising chickens began to take root in Shen Zhixuan’s mind, and he started to contemplate how to recreate the rural chicken-raising scene in an urban setting.

In the convergence, Shen will be sharing “From the solitary experiment of raising chickens on the balcony, to the collective practice of community chicken raising; How can ‘raising chickens’ serve as a connection to build a better community life, thus achieving the sustainable spirit of caring for people, caring for the environment, and sharing excess resources? Through the over two-year practice story of the Hsinchu Six-Burner Large Chimney Insulated Chicken Coop, let’s explore the ‘chicken secrets’ within!”

Germany/Taiwan

‘The integration of mushroom cultivation into biodiversity-based farming systems’

Growing up in the German countryside nearby lakes and forests, Henner has been interested in protecting our natural environment and sustainable land management my entire life, which finally led him to pursue a master degree in environmental planning & water and costal management. His first practical experiences with permaculture was during an internship at Earth Passengers in Taidong, which led to a continued partnership with various mushroom cultivation agroforestry related projects. Now he is in the mid- to final stages of PhD at the department of forestry of the National Taiwan University, where Ihe intends to publish mainly in the fields of agroecology and biodiversity-based farming systems. One of his particular interests is the integration of scientific and local ecological knowledge for the improved management of our natural resources. He regards permaculture as one of the approaches in this regard that not only points at the problems but also provides solutions.
Henner draws his inspiration from natural ecosystems – particularly forests and riparian ecosystems, as one of his passions is to see things grow. Henner will be presenting ‘The integration of mushroom cultivation into biodiversity-based farming systems’ in the convergence.

In the frame of his PhD research he is exploring ways to integrate mushroom cultivation into biodiversity-based farming systems in order to support communities and farmers who want to diverge from the current production paradigm of agriculture. In his research he is not only looking at the technicalities that lie behind mushroom cultivation, but also at the underlying knowledge co-creation process, in which scientists and farmers are becoming co-researchers developing locally-adapted methods, using participatory methods. Thus, his presentation would both touch on the topic of mushroom cultivation agroforestry and the philosophical foundation for the transition from production-based science and agriculture towards biodiversity-based and holistic farming that is integrated into the wider socio-cultural context of the region. Examples for this research come from two Taiwanese cases (Earth passengers in Taidong and Homgoo Village in Yilan), where they worked with two different mushroom species (Lentinula edodes and Phallus indusiatus) over the course of the past 2-3 years.

Taiwan

Ya Jung Lin has been practicing permaculture for more than a decade, mostly focused on urban permaculture. Her practice and experiments mostly happen on an apartment balcony on the 11th floor in a building in New Taipei City, including having an edible container garden, raising quails and keeping bees. With these practices as a start, she also influences her family and gradually extends her influence in the local community. She has also been teaching introductory Permaculture in Taipei area. She will be sharing her urban permaculture experiences in the convergence.

Hong Kong/U.K

Children, Youth and Regenerative Education

Jenny grew up in England and arrived in Hong Kong in 1989 and never left because she fell in love with Lantau Island.
Her wake-up call for the environment happened when she stopped her house nearly burning down due to a vegetation fire started by grave sweepers. After that she joined many green groups and began planting trees.
Jenny set up a kindergarten and then worked as a primary school teacher. She left in 2006 to start Ark Eden Foundation, an eco-education permaculture community and registered charity, and continued working as an Environmental Consultant for the same foundation of 25 schools for the next 10 years, organizing many conferences and events.
In 2011 Jenny did her first PDC and made permaculture the main focus of Ark Eden. After that they ran two PDCs out of Ark Eden in 2012 with Steve Cran and in 2016 with Trish Allen and Daniel Tohill. They were going to run another PDC in 2020 with Joel Glanzberg but covid happened.
Jenny is the founder and Project Designer of Ark Eden and has a full-time team of five and a part time team of over 40 people. They run programmes for children and adults in everything pertaining to caring for the people and the planet.

Ark Eden has now planted over 37,000 native trees on Lantau. Jenny is going to share ‘Children, Youth and Regenerative Education’ in the convergence.

Japan

‘Transition Movement in Japan‘

Since learning Permaculture, Shunro has practiced for more than 13 years in the field where he lives. He has also participated building his house which is off grid, producing 100% their energy use. He has been teaching people who come to stay at his place about how to live in a sustainable lifestyle based on Permaculture principles and strategy.

In the convergence, Shunro and members of Transition Japan( all Permaculture practicioners) will share the 16 years of sustainable community building and over 70 initiatives in Japan. Transition is a experiment practice around the world in 50 countries more than 1500 initiatives which people are taking actions to make their community to a resilient place.

Hong Kong

Yip Tsz Lam is interested in agriculture. For more than 20 years, he has tried to use Permaculture as the guiding principle, and committed in various tasks such as agricultural management and education. Seeing that Hong Kong as a modern city, agriculture has been neglected for long time, Tsz Lam will be sharing ‘The role of food production in Hong Kong – an analysis from the perspectives of history, nature, people and society.’

American

’Permaculture Education: Online and Hands-on‘

Marisha has been teaching permaculture online at Oregon State University for 13 years. She has been offering hands-on permaculture workshops since 2004. Marisha specializes in food forests, ecology, food production, local economics, nursery work, and community building.

Her presentation will provide a summary of the work that she does with Oregon State University’s online permaculture program and contrast it with the need for hands-on education. What does online learning offer students internationally and how can hands-on experiences provide a compliment? She will share about her experiences and challenges followed by a discussion to hear about what other people are doing around the world. Together, she invites participants to brainstorm on strategies to engage students for connection, climate resilience, and community in both urban and rural areas around the world.

USA

‘Permaculture and Activism’

‘The Social Microclimate’

‘Teaching For Transformation’ Workshop with Rosemary Morrow

Alfred Decker is an award-winning permaculture designer, a certified educator with the Permaculture Association of Britain, and one of Europe’s leading and innovative permaculture educators. Since his first PDC in 1998 in California, Alfred has been involved with social movements and projects throughout Europe and the Americas. He is the founder of the 12P Permaculture Design consultancy, Permacultura Barcelona and the Forest Gardens project at Can Masdeu; is a co-founder of the Spanish Permaculture Academy (Academia de Permacultura Íbera); and was a member of the European Permaculture Teachers Partnership and the Permaculture Council of Europe.  Alfred holds a post graduate diploma in sustainable architecture and renewable energy (Centre for Alternative Technology).

After taking a “Permaculture Teacher Training” (PTT) course with Rosemary Morrow in 2011, he undertook a two year mentorship and later co-facilitated six courses as her assistant, ultimately earning a Diploma in Permaculture Education & Community Development in 2013 through the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute (Australia). Committed to furthering the PTT course that Rosemary developed in over four decades of teaching experience around the world, Alfred facilitated over 20 PTT courses as lead facilitator, co-edited all three versions of the PTT manual, and organised a successful crowdfunding campaign to develop the platform. Rosemary has asked him to organise the PTT trainings in Europe, and he has developed an online version of the course on the Permaculture Association of Britain’s online educational platform. 

His current passion and focus is how permaculture can be useful to refugees and migrants, and how permaculture education can be designed for them as learners…and how they in turn can best share their valuable knowledge and experience with others. 

Alfred lives in the old town centre of Berga, Catalunya (Spanish Territory), and is available for educational activities, design work and consulting.

USA/Thailand

‘Recognizing and Mainstreaming Forest Gardening as a path to Community, Ecosystem, and Planetary Regeneration‘

Michale completed his PDC with Darren Doherty in 2006. He has 22 years of experience working with ecological agriculture and community development. Michael practices Wanakaset (Forest Gardening and Self-Reliance) with his wife and family for 16 years and has helped coordinating the 3rd Thailand Permculture Convergence, joined and contributed to 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Thailand Permaculture Convergence. Michael joined IPC India 2017 and supporte Loong Choke (Thai farmer elder leader in forest gardening/ bamboo) to join as well and interpreted for him. Michael has helped with a few Permaculture courses, but far more courses on different related areas- such as bamboo, Thai medicine, essential oil production, Wanakaset agroforestry systems, etc. He has now worked for 8 year focusing on regenerative agriculture systems- forest gardening systems in particular.

In his sharing, Michael will present how Wanakaset forest gardening systems, which source from farmer community vision and experience, links to traditional practices of many generations, but also are continually developing, learning and evolving- and with the tie to key economic crops- rubber and coffee being the prominent examples in Thailand. These systems and their recognition by farmers, market partners, and other agencies have been able to and continue to expand and spread, with increasing regenerative impacts at farm, community, local economy, watershed and bioregional levels.

Congo

‘The impacts of permaculture in refugee camps’

ANSIIMA CASINGA ROLANDE is a permaculture trainer promoting community resilience in refugee camps through permaculture design training, women empowerment, arts, permaculture for children in schools and especially usage of the the permaculture principles and ethics in all the other aspects of life. She has hosted as a trainer and assistant trainer in 12 PDCs around Uganda, in refugee camps and host communities, she hosts an open space for women conversations about topics that matter including menstruation, reproductive health, financial security, food and nutrition, permaculture …
ANSIIMA CASINGA ROLANDE founded FOLONA a registered community based organization that allows her to implement the permaculture projects legally, and she works with 6 other volunteers.

In her talk, she will discuss her six-year experience as a refugee, how she came to learn about permaculture and began training it in various ways, her journey, the difficulties she faced and how she overcame them, and above all, the improvements permaculture has brought about in her camp and the other camps where she has trained it. And how it can still make a difference in marginalized communities.

JAPAN

‘Tiny Tsujido – Redesigning suburban neighborhoods for intergenerational and regenerative living‘

Hikaru Ishii a 33-year old living in Tsujido, Japan. He is the 13th generation landowner in his hometown. Every year he joins the local summer festival playing the Japanese drum and flute as it connects him deeply to the town.

Ever since he was a kid, he has always loved nature and animals – especially amphibians. In university, Hikaru majored in landscape ecology where he researched amphibians and insects in the Amami islands just north of Okinawa. After his studies, he obtained his Permaculture Design Ceritificate from Permaculture Center Japan. And he has also been trained to become an organic farmer for one year at Niconico-Nouen, a local organic farm.

In addition, for the last 6 years and a half, he has led a community garden for 30 families and in the last 3 years Hikaru organized community rice fields in the Tsujido area as well.

Many landowners in the Tsujido area succumb to building large apartment complexes as a way to decrease their inheritance tax. In his opinion, these large apartment complexes take away from the local landscape as well as habitats for other species. As a landowner he is interested in exploring alternative ways to make his hometown more nature-centered and regenerative using principles of permaculture.

About Hikaru’s sharing:

Tiny Tsujido is an experimental 9-family village located in the suburbs of Tsujido that opened its doors in 2023. This project was led by Hikaru Ishii, the 13th generation landowner with the vision “a life connected to the earth, created by loosely gathering together in this land” based on a permaculture philosophy. They aim to re-shape the townscape and create a landscape 100 years from now on.

Landowners in Tsujido are put in a challenging situation where the legal pressure of Japanese inheritance tax law and the cultural gravitation towards single family households incentivizes construction of large apartment complexes in order to maximize profit. While this minimizes losses for the landowner, the development of these apartment complexes inherently destroys biodiversity as well as the sense of local community.

Rather than taking the standard route, Hikaru Ishii spent 7 years conceptualizing and realizing his vision working closely with local communities, architects, and landscape designers to build an alternative form of suburban land development. For example, there are vegetable garden, fruit trees, chickens, water well, rainwater tank, compost, and common house. And there are many saving local trees which was close to be cut down in a few years Trees could lead birds and insects connecting to our mental health, according to academic journal. Instead of asphalt, parking lot was made from organic materials including straw, fallen leaves, bamboo coal, and stones for microbiome to live by many people working together including kids also.

IRELAND

‘Growing in Bosco’s Boots’ (Film screening and Q&A)

Shane has been studying permaculture for about 15 years, applying what he has learned to his garden in Ireland. In 2020, him and his wife set up ‘Bosco’s Garden’, named in memory of his late brother who also shared his interest. Over 4 years they transformed an empty field into a market garden and food forest, complete with 3 wildlife ponds. They began selling their produce from a farm stand and supplying local restaurants, giving garden tours and teaching people about the methods they were using to grow food sustainably and in balance with nature.

Shane will be screening his film ‘Growing in Bosco’s Boots’ which chronicles the creation of our no-dig permaculture market garden/farm in Ireland and followed by a Q&A and discussion on using permaculture techniques to grow food commercially.

JAPAN

‘Practices of Urban Permaculture in Japanese Universities: A Case Study at Musashino University’

As a faculty member at a university in Tokyo, Osamu teaches permaculture to students. Together with the students they have created a permaculture garden on the university campus to work on regenerating nature and building community. Additionally, they have established and manage a community garden in the local area. He is researching the impact of community gardens on social capital and well-being.

Osamu Akashi will be presenting their case with 4 other members, Emiko Tanaka, Nao Susuki, Leo Murase, and Riko Katahira. Their presentation introduces the permaculture initiatives at Musashino University, located in the heart of Tokyo. A rooftop community garden (Ariake Rooftop Commons) is managed through the collaboration of students and faculty staff, aimed at regenerating nature and community. Designed according to permaculture principles, it includes a natural vegetable garden, food forest, composting, and beekeeping. The main activities include a weekly open day and events open to the local community, managed under the principles of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. In addition to holding events such as garden experiences and workshops, the space has become a place where community members can connect and be themselves. A study on the social capital and well-being of community members showed improvements in both areas compared to before their participation in the community garden. The community garden has significantly contributed to regenerating human connections and nature in urban settings. Based on these findings, efforts to establish community gardens within local communities have begun. Additionally, the university has started teaching permaculture as part of its curriculum, with students who have taken the course beginning to practice and spread permaculture activities.

TAIWAN

‘In the Edges: An Ethnography on Pigeon Pea and Others in a Paiwan Grandmother’s Foodscape’

Emily first learned about permaculture during her internship with Earth Passengers in 2009. She enjoys building with earth and has some experience with bamboo and thatched fibers.

She completed her PDC at OAEC in 2019 and has been living on a 0.6-acre sandy lot since 2020.

Emily is academically trained in political economy and cultural anthropology. She is a freelance translator, project manager, and sourdough baker. In 2022, Emily completed her master’s degree in Austronesian Studies at National Taitung University, a cultural anthropology program. Her thesis, “In the Edges: An Ethnography on Pigeon Pea and Others in a Paiwan Grandmother’s Foodscape,” gained multiple awards and was published in 2024.

In her talk, she will share ideas about edges, precarity, and multi-species assemblage in the context of the Indigenous Paiwan People.

INDIA

‘How Permaculture transformed the livelihood of farmers in cold Arid region – A case study’.

Jigmet Yangchan has been working in field of agriculture sector as a scientistsof Soil water Engineering. She completed her PDC with Rosemary Morrow and has been teaching Permaculture to women in Ladakh.

JAPAN

‘The work that reconnects’

Koyama Mikae has been trained in Permaculture through several design and advanced courses provided by Permaculture Center Japan since 2008. She is also a member of Transition Fujino and Transition Japan, and later on since 2013 she has been involved in ‘The Work That Reconnects’. She is a staff and a teacher of Permaculture Center Japan.

In her sharing, she will be introducing how she is influenced by ‘The work that reconnects’, which was proposed by Joanna Macy. It is based on deep ecology, systems thinking, Gaia theory, spiritual traditions (particularly Buddhist and indigenous teachings), and group wisdom.

Danmark

Online Sharing:

1. Life Design with IKIGAI translated to permaculture / 2. Gardening is Activism: decolonising art & permaculture in gardens commons / 3. From Selfcare to Groupcare: vulnerability as the path to inclusion and safer spaces

Skye has the Diploma in Applied permaculture from Permaculture Association Britain and works as an artist, permaculture designer, activist and educator. She is a specialist in SOCIAL PERMACULTURE and LIFE DESIGN. Since 2016 she has re-designed her own life with Permaculture + IKIGAI and dedicated her work to co-create and nurture regenerative cultures. Skye has been in the board of the Danish Permaculture Association Permaculture Denmark, where she is still active in the education group and PR group as editor of our magazine PERMAKULTUR. See more here: https://www.skyejin.com/permaculture-design-teaching

India

Online sharing :

‘Community managed forests to support livelihoods and regenerate ecosystem‘

Ardhendu did his full PDC courses under Rosemary Morrow and Chris Evans in Auroville,TN India in 1991-2,and has worked as International Voluteer in Cambodia,1994-96. He has attended IPC London and India.

In his sharing, he will be sharing about forest based soil regeneration by indigenous people communities in Birbhum district West Bengal from 2020-2024. This project features mixed tree and shrubs plantation by rural communities. It is an initiative supported by an NGO, with partial wages paid by the Government through local authorities.

India

Workshop:

‘Zone 00-Finding my “Mojo” after a PDC’

He is a.k.a Kuttss. He has worn multiple hats in search of himself and has pursued Technology research, Organization Development, Leadership Coaching, Large-scale change interventions in communities, Systems design thinking, Journalism, Outdoor Education, Wilderness adventures in remote corners of the world, etc. To complete the loop of his search, he got back to his roots of Permaculture upbringing, he became a certified design practitioner and educator under the mentor-ship and pioneers of Permaculture like Narsanna Koppula, Rosemary Morrow, Tom Kendall, Lusi Alderslowe, Starhawk and other on-ground practitioners. He is currently involved in many design assignments in different climate bioregions. He has facilitated numerous Permaculture courses. His key interest areas in Permaculture are Restoration & Regenerative systems, System modeling, Biomimicry, Social Permaculture, Design for Disaster Mitigation, Hydrogeology and spring shed management, Rural development, Edible School Gardens, and Children/Parents in Permaculture initiatives. Some of his other work has been to enable individuals to lead and teach outdoor experiential education courses, enabling organization leaders to facilitate team excellence through Leadership coaching and mentoring social entrepreneurs to believe in their calling for the greater good of the planet. He is actively involved in mentoring non-profits in transformations and pushing their potential awareness to real tangibles.

During the IPC Convergence, Kuttss will be sharing in the form of a workshop about ‘Zone 00-Finding my “Mojo” after a PDC’. The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) represents a new dawn of endless possibilities. It is a catalyst for personal transformation, prompting the emergence of unique pathways for each participant. A pivotal inquiry remains: “How does one maintain this growth amidst the myriad of internal and external adversities?” This workshop delves into the synergy between permaculture and inner development objectives, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recognizing that these goals mirror each other, we will examine the personal micro-climates that influence our lives. Spanning approximately 2 hours, the workshop will be an interactive journey through diverse processes, system models, and inquiry tools such as the World Café, Future Search Appreciative Inquiry etc. Together, he will lead the participants to lay the groundwork rooted in the ethics and principles of permaculture.

Korea

‘Rice farming and carbon sequestration in Asia, with a focus on Korea‘

Soran is the founder of the Transition Village Movement in Korea. She works on designing transition Town Movement in Korea through permaculture.
Soran created the Korean School of Permaculture and started teaching PDC courses and founded the Korea Permaculture Network to connect permaculture ecosystems and permaculture designers in Korea.

About her sharing: In Asia’s agricultural landscape, rice farming is a major source of methane emissions. The more food we produce, the more it contributes to the climate crisis. Rice is an important food in Asia, including Korea. However, in previous societies, rice farming has played an important role in increasing food self-sufficiency and preserving the environment. In this article, Soran will propose a Korean permaculture farming method that can protect the future of rice, which is being blamed for the climate crisis.

Taiwan

‘The Menstrual revolution from the Himalayas, Nepal’

Claire attended the PDC program in the end of 2012, and based on what she learned from the Permaculture concept she started a social enterprise called Dhartimata Sustainable Workshop. The Workshop studio is located in the beautiful permaculture learning farm ,Hasera Agriculture Research and Training Center in a mountainous village, outside of Kathmandu , Patalekhet ,Kavre, Nepal. Since the establishment of the workshop Claire has been bringing volunteers, students and people who are interested in permaculture from Taiwan to Nepal.

The main product of Dhartimata is ‘Lovelady eco-friendly pads’ and they are hand-made by local Nepalese women with natural materials at our workshop. Dhartimata is committed to developing products that are friendly to the environment, and support women, and their families. Dhartimata hope that their enterprise can support the employment of these rural Nepalese women and help to create a more sustainable future.

Claire and Mithu from Hasera Farm will be sharing the story of ‘The Menstrual revolution from the Himalayas, Nepal’.

Japan

‘Natural Building in Japan: Past and Present/Workshop: Yakisugi-Charred Cedar Boards’

Kyle works as a builder, researcher and educator specializing in natural building materials and sustainable systems such light rice husk lime insulation, natural plasters and energy efficiency. He is a graduate of the Kyoto Plastering Institute and the first westerner in Japan to pass the highest Japanese National Plastering Exam. He also has a PhD in Bioresource Sciences from Nihon University where he researched the hygrothermal environment of straw bale walls and building practices to control moisture. In 2017 Kyle founded Permaculture Center Kamimomi, a Permaculture demonstration and education site in Okayama, Japan.

Bangladesh

’Bangladesh Disaster Adaptation Techniques (DAT)‘

GROWTH AND OUTCOME OF ECOVILLAGE AND PERMACULTURE VILLAGE IN BANGLADESH

Boniface Gomes participated in Permaculture Design Course, held in Sri Lanka in 2003, and Ecovillage Design Education, held in Australia in 2005. He also participated in various National and International Conferences, Seminars, Workshops and Networks’ Meetings and Gatherings in different countries (Scotland, Australia, Spain, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India etc.) for learning, experiencing and sharing this hottest issue.

He believes that ecovillages and Permaculture are the main options for climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster management which will save community people, country people as a whole the human being, domestic animal, creatures, plants, earth, water and air from this greatest danger.
So, Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development (BASD) started working on Permaculture Designing and establishing ecovillages in different parts of the country. Boniface Gomes will illustrate the gradual growth and initiatives of these programs and its outcome.

During the last two decades, BASD developed some of the following publications and Audios, Videos and News which are available and visualized in Website, YouTube, Books, hard copies, brochures etc.
1. WWW.basd-bd.org
2. Bangladesh Ecovillage Design and Environment Development – Book in Bengali
3. Permaculture Design Module – Book in Bengali
4. Ecovillage Design Module– Book in Bengali
5. Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture – Book in Bengali
6. Ecovillage and Permaculture Design – Brochure in Bengali
7. Successful completion of BASD’s 30 years – News in English –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k49rvalNsVc&t=918s
8. Case Study by Gaia Education in International News –
9. BASD’s Facebook: Basd Ngo, Link:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075518733587
10. BASD’s Facebook Page: BASD, Link:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085785193913
11. BASD’s You Tube Channel: BASD You Tube Channel, Link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNLm13ERUirFBcfl7MOPww
12. BASD’s Activities – Pictorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc45H_Jqld4&t=7s
13. Akti bari akti khamar by BTV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRN-x5VuxQ&t=141s
14. Hope of life, 2013: (Capacity building and community empowering, 2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5t9y6tTXQM&t=178s
15. Ecovillage and Permaculture Design by WVB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA3x-llfV6Y&t=118s
16. EDE in Bandorbon : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA3x-llfV6Y&t=92s
17. Shabolombi by BTV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRN-x5VuxQ
18. In the line of life (CC & Adaptation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abIKRUA9ScM
19. Permaculture Practice by Rohinga Refugees in Bangladesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDIerZrEUDc
20: Bangladesh Refugee Permaculture – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA77RTJ5z-8
21. Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, written by Rosemary Morrow, 514 pages, translated in Bengali.

Spain

‘Schoolyards x Climate change. Permaculture aply to schools to improve resielience of cities.‘

Mamen Artero is an architect by ETSABarcelona-UPC (2004), specialized in sustaineble-building and permaculture. Postgraduate degree in cultural management by the UB (2007-08). Postgraduate in Safety and Health in Construction by the ETSEIB (2010-11). Co-director of the Rabat & Artero architecture office specialized in rehabilitation and urban planning (2005-2012) and co-founder of El globus vermell, a group of architects founded in 2008 with the aim of empowering people to create healthier and more sustainable built environments.

Her areas of expertise are: Architecture and permaculture Design, Cultural Events Management, Eco Building, Project  management, Long Life Learning Education, On-site expertise

For the past 7 years, She has been coordinating patios x clima project (schoolyards x climate change) in Spain at national level. The aim of the program is bring nature to learning environments through permaculture tools, working with administrations or school-local communities.

She will share her experience and knowledge about greening the city throught the schoolyards. This project and all its different actions aim to establish a framework of action and reference based on the renaturation of school spaces, at the legal-administrative level and in practical issues of community, pedagogical and design action.

The redesign of the playgrounds and school spaces in a participatory manner has the objective of greening them and giving rise to learning processes within the center, integrating climate action into the educational curriculum. They are collective processes that reinforce the active participation of citizens and contribute to improving environmental conditions at the urban level. The introduction of nature in the city is key to mitigating the effects of climate change, while maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystem and increasing its resilience.

Japan

‘Creating A Forest Garden in the suburbs of Japan‘

Wakana Kawamura

Wakana Kawamura is an Illustrator & permaculture designer. She was born in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, in 1984. After working as a nurse upon graduation from the university, her fascination by American music & art brought her to the west coast of the USA in 2008. In the USA, she became passionate about plants and began learning landscape design. While studying botany and design, she encountered Permaculture. She attended “Urban Permaculture Institute” in San Francisco and studied urban permaculture centered around the city.

After returning to Japan in 2016, she became a part of “Permaculture Design Lab” that focuses on making edible forests in Japan. While working as a landscape designer, she also started working as an illustrator. Currently, she explores Sub-urban permaculture living at Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. She loves invisible creatures such as fermentation bacteria and soil microorganisms and colorfully draws the celebration of “life” that she encounters in her daily life.

About the Forest Garden:

It has been 10 years since the establishment of the Forest Garden on abandoned farmland in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. Forest garden is located right next to a residential area has become a place that provides a home for many living creatures.
It has become an essential place not only for living things but also for us humans. Because it is located close to a residential area, Forest Garden has more opportunities to show its permaculture models to many people.
In Japan, permaculture tends to be only known to a few people, but our Forest Garden team actively goes to local people, schools, community centers, parks, etc. and holds lectures and talks with them. We hold events and practice permaculture so that many people can use the system in their daily lives.　
They believe that applying permaculture in daily life is necessary for many people to increase their resilience and believe that it’s really important to check how we connect with nature in our daily lives, especially in the suburbs of cities. At Forest Garden, the team hopes to provide a way to enjoy and connect with nature while experiencing delicious food from our Forest Garden.
Personally, Wakana Kawamura works as a “permaculture illustrator,” and she think one of their strengths is that they communicate permaculture to many people through illustrations. Forest Garden has a lot of colorful art, and they are happy to let you enjoy the visuals.

The Philippines

‘Design Principles from the Edges‘

Sarah Queblatin is the Founder of Green Releaf Initiative in the Philippines working in disasters, displacement, and development. She holds a merit diploma in permaculture from the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute where she also studied Permaculture in Development particularly in precarious places. In 2021, Sarah drafted the beginnings of a proposal for Permaculture Principle 0, to honor the local wisdom and traditional ecological knowledge and stewardship of a place before the first principle of “observing and interacting.” She is currently drafting Principle 13 to integrate practices for designing for resilience and regeneration in times of increasing vulnerability from the polycrisis. Her life work is in restoring and restoring and re-storying narratives of place and belonging and is now weaving her love for the arts and culture with place based regeneration through her passion project, Living Story Landscapes. 

She finished her Advanced Certificate Course in Permaculture at Aranya Agriculture Alternatives with Guilda Permaculture. She completed her PDC from Green Warrior Permaculture and the Philippine Permaculture Association. Sarah is a founding member of Permaculture for Refugees, a Global Ecovillage Network Ambassador, and member of Re-Alliance.

About Sarah’s presentation:

Permaculture is a movement founded on 12 design principles inspired by how nature works. In the backdrop of the growing polycrisis, this session is inviting over 20 million practitioners of this design practice to explore the evolution of the principles to adapt to the current and emerging challenges the world is facing today. Since nature is rapidly evolving in response to the radical changes taking place, so must the way we design with it, especially as part of it. Join us to collectively define two new proposed design principles and practices. The first is Principle 0, initially proposed “to honor traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous wisdom in a place”as an attempt to address the need to decolonize permaculture. The second is Principle 13, aimed at how permaculture assists in adapting to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world facing climate emergency, biodiversity collapse, security issues, displacement, among other systemic challenges. Lastly, the session aims to update the existing 12 design principles with practices that are relevant to the challenges we are facing today and the future to come. 

Japan

‘TERRA -green planet’ (Screening)

A permaculture documentary that began its screening journey in Japan in April 2023. Filmed during a global pandemic, it follows a family with their one-year-old son as they travel across Japan and the West Coast of the USA, capturing stories of people who find joy and purpose in giving back to the Earth. The film spans over 30 locations, offering a vision of hope and sustainability through the lenses of permaculture.

trailer: https://vimeo.com/911191870

(2023 / 102min / Language: English & Japanese)

Nobuakai Kita has been a permaculture practitioner since 2019.
He has created a permaculture homestead with his wife Kei in Okayama, Japan. It is a totally off-the-grid, self-builded tiny houses with off-grid system, a workshop, chicken sheds solar-cookers and everything they need for self-reliance.

In the convergence, he will be sharing his documentary and leading a discussion with the audience.

USA

‘Climate data for permaculturists‘

In Nir Krakauer’s academic career, he has extensive experience in leading and publishing research into climate change and its impact on streamflow, agriculture, biodiversity, and health both in the USA and globally. He has worked with scientists and engineers, educational institutions, nonprofit groups, and government ministries from New York City to South Asia to monitor climate change and vulnerability and support and evaluate resiliency measures, including a trial of drip irrigation by smallholder farmers in three districts of Nepal. He has developed new tools and methodologies for assessing climate risks and making more accurate predictions, and contributed to the development of climate science and water resources engineering by convening conferences and editing journal sections and special issues. He has also mentored and introduced to research dozens of students from high school to doctoral levels, and developed and taught courses and training modules on earth science research methods. I developed a new course for my department on Sustainability of Infrastructure that takes a holistic approach to introducing ecological thinking, including permaculture concepts, for engineering students. His interest in permaculture goes back to college, when, while doing research in ecology, he read works by Bill Mollison, David Holmgren, Dave Jacke, and others. In New York City, he has been part of urban and peri-urban permaculture initiatives under the Green Phoenix permaculture umbrella, volunteer at the community garden on his street, and am promoting resource conservation at his college. He has also been active in promoting renewable energy as a longtime volunteer for the American Solar Energy Society, whose annual conferences he helps organize.

About Nir’s presentation:

Climate factors are in essential consideration for all permaculture designs. As global warming as well as misinformation campaigns accelerate, uncertainty over what to plan for continues to grow. Vast amounts of climate data that have been generated and are available through national and international agencies, but figuring out what’s available is a daunting text for most of us. He will draw on years of experience conducting climate research to give listeners free graphical tools for accessing climate information from credible sources and checking for different hazards, including hardiness zones, high winds, flooding, water storage requirements, and sea level rise.

The Philippines

Cultivating Diversified Permaculture Enterprises for a Sustainable Future

Albert (Ben) Anthony Z. Francia is a permaculture practitioner based in the Philippines. He owns, designed and manage, Habilin Farms. Aside from being a permaculture site, the farm is also an agritourism destination and a farm school accredited by ATI and TESDA. He has been practicing permaculture since he started the farm in 2020 but only took his Basic PDC (from the Philippine Permaculture Association) and Advance PDC (Oregon State Universition – online) in 2022. Since then, he has been conducting permaculture workshops and farm tours in Habilin. His goal is to help spread the teachings of permaculture in the country by starting from his local community.

About his presentation:
This talk will explore the concept of diversified permaculture enterprises and their role in fostering a sustainable future. The focus will be on how integrating diverse agricultural practices and business models can enhance ecological balance, economic resilience, and community well-being.
The talk is intended for farmers, agricultural entrepreneurs, environmentalists and sustainability advocates, policy makers and educators, students and researchers in environmental sciences and agriculture, members of the general public interested in sustainable living and permaculture

Salvadoran/Australian

’The 20 Natural Directives Cycle‘

Juan learnt and start practicing permaculture in Australia in the 90’s. In 1993 he moved to his birth country to help in the rural reconstruction of a post-war period with a basic permaculture knowledge aquired in the temperate and subtropical regions down under. By 1994 he joined a movement of peasants named “farmer to farmer”, an horizontal learning agroecological methodology. In 1998 Juan and a Guatemalan Permaculture Instructor delivered the first Permacuture Design Course in El Salvador to a group of 22 students from Central America.

In 2000 he was awarded the Permaculture Diploma by the Permaculture Institute led by Bill Mollison. By 2002 the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador and the Mesoamerican Permaculture in Guatemala were created as non profit legal institutions to serve the purpose of teaching grassroots organizations.

Juan has applied the permaculture knowledge in different situations such as:
-Developing his own home habitat
-Retroffiting with Permaculture a Farming cooperative community, hit by a 7.3 earthquake in 2001.
-Teaching Certified Permaculture Design Courses at a continental level in America.
-Developing a permaculture curriculum suitable for indigenous tropical bioregion.

About Juan’s presentation:

The life cycle of 20 natural energies or elements in the Mesoamerican Native’s Cosmovision is fundamental to understand by the human being interacting with nature.
Permaculture design deals with natural directives or principles, to get to understand them by following their presence in the intervened ecosystem is the key for total success. Therefore this workshop aims to provide the designer with an ancient conception of time and space synergy.
Cooperation rather than competition in today’s challenge from global warming is a must.

Nepal

‘Ancient roots of Permaculture: Nepal’s Case‘

Balkrishna Dahal is an agriculture graduate (B Sc Ag in 2020 and MSc Agricultural Economics in 2022). He was a permaculture graduate in 2019 from HASERA, Nepal and Permaculture Design Course Professional Certificate in 2023 from OSU, USA. He has been engaging with small farmers for their capacity development on permaculture adoption and also with commercial business for sustainable commercial farms development.

About his presentation:

“Ancient Roots of Permaculture: Nepal’s Case” delves into the historical and cultural foundations of permaculture in Nepal, highlighting the alignment between traditional agricultural methods and modern permaculture principles. It underscores the sustainable farming practices that have been integral to Nepalese agriculture for centuries.
The focus is on Nepalese farmers and indigenous communities who have practiced these methods over generations, as well as contemporary permaculture enthusiasts and researchers who study and advocate for these ancient practices.
Set in Nepal, a country with diverse ecological zones from the Himalayan mountains to the Terai plains, the article showcases the rich agricultural heritage across various regions. It traces the roots of these practices back to ancient times, emphasizing their enduring relevance and adaptation over centuries.
Traditional Nepalese farming methods such as crop rotation, organic fertilization, integrated pest management, and water conservation are explained as mirroring permaculture principles. Specific techniques like terrace farming to prevent soil erosion, diverse crop cultivation for soil fertility, and community-based resource management are discussed.
The article’s core message is to illustrate the effectiveness and sustainability of these ancient practices and advocate for their integration into modern permaculture movements. It aims to show that traditional Nepalese agriculture offers valuable lessons for contemporary sustainable farming globally. Overall, the article is a tribute to Nepal’s agricultural heritage and a call to incorporate ancient wisdom into current and future sustainable practices.

Hong Kong

‘竹、泥、人：營造香港南涌生態社區

‘Bamboo, Mud and People: Building an Eco-Community in Namchung, Hong Kong‘

Loky is an architectural designer and builder with a focus on rural development, participatory design process, and natural building. He worked in an architectural office for 6 years and came across Permaculture around 2018. Since then, he commits to a more holistic approach to sustainability. He has completed natural architecture in various scale including bamboo structures as community kitchen, mud ovens, mud stoves, and public furnitures. In 2018, he joined the first eco-community in Hong Kong, the Partnership for Nature Education and Conservation (PNEC). As a core member and education coordinator of PNEC, he is closely involved in the community building process: co-creating core values, establishing organizational structure, facilitating group conflicts, designing and conducting experiential learning programmes. Recently, he founded “zuk collective” with other crafts makers to promote the use of natural materials in the architectural industry.

In the convergence, Loky will try to unpack our approach to the global ecovillage movement by sharing the making of the PNEC community in Hong Kong, as well as the fun, joy and struggles involved.

The birth of the PNEC eco-community originates from the land conservation movement in Hong Kong. Since 2013, a group of activists has come to the rural village of Nam Chung to curb the urban sprawl by re-cultivating abandoned farmlands. At present, PNEC has grown into a community of a dozen live-in residents and 40 more members, promoting ecological farming, food education, natural architecture and eco-tourism. Over a decade, how do we evolve from an ‘organization’ to a ‘community’? Growing up in a market-driven and highly competitive society, how do we (re)learn to live and work as a collective? How do we reconnect with the Land to cultivate love and trust, to help reconcile our relation with the world and oneself? These are the questions that will be addressed.

USA

‘Permaculture & Syntropic Agroforestry Business Synergy – How to produce food, fiber, fuel, oils, habitat and right livelihood while generating a profit and sequestering carbon‘

Jeremiah has been been self employed in Permaculture for over 30 years with two businesses in New Mexico and consulting and implementation around the world. He also has two businesses in Kenya, one a regenerative agriculture business (ForestFoods described below) and an eco-lodge. His passion is to help, the earth, plants, soil, animals and people all at the same time.

Forest Foods was founded in 2021, to be an example of a profitable regenerative agriculture business based on the ethics of Permaculture. Since then Forest Foods has started two productive farms at different ecotones in Kenya with plans for wide expansion throughout the region. Forest Foods has also designed and created post production facilities and sell directly to consumers, restaurants and to a locale distributer that delivers with electric vehicles.

India

‘Community farm and its impact(s)‘

Manasvini Tyagi wants to share her own story woven in the community farm that she joined as a volunteer and run it single handedly. It’s within the country’s biggest Cancer institute. The institute is 12 years old now and has beautiful stories and impacts around people care, earth care, fair share and so much more.

Manasvini Tyagi started her journey in 2012 as a volunteer at the community farm. This farm was going to be started in the campus of Tata Actrec cancer Hospital kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The main purpose was to grow organic vegetables for pediatric cancer patients. She started as a volunteer but slowly she found herself enjoying the whole of it. The cause, meeting new people, exploring this new lifestyle, growing food, working with soil, converting the construction debris dumping place into a yield producing plot. In the process she learned plants names, their propagation, sowing time, how to manage people, how to be kind, productive, patient and so much more. Then she started assisting in workshops and finally in 2018 Manasvini Tyagi did her PDC with Aranya Agriculture. Since then she became even more active to apply what she learned and she conducted a lot of workshops on her own, teaching people how to grow their own food, and she also organized parent child workshops, and corporated engagement programmes, fund raising etc.. She also did a lot webinars during Covid and post that, she also started taking farm projects. Now Manasvini Tyagi wants to grow more, meet new people, expand the community.

Kenya

‘Power of Youth for Regenerative Future‘

For over 15 years, Steven has been working with youths, women and children in slum settlement of Kisumu and part of rural Kenya to improve their livelihood, education and health. He first learned about Permaculture during Erasmus Project –EU funded in Berlin. He and his colleagues did their first introduction course in 2018, second training in Malawi, field attachment with Ghana Permaculture institute in Ghana and finally a full PDC course in western Kenya in April 2019 and lately did a refresher full PDC in Mwanza Tanzania . Some of Steven’s projects has been:- Water Management project, improving soil health through waste management upscalling, carbon absorption project, and Bokashi using the farm waste to improve soil structure and water holding capacity. Steven and his partners have trained over 300 farmers and Children in Permaculture. Since 2020, they have reached 20 primary schools with basic permaculture education and hand on experimental learning to create different permacultures project through school 4k club and thus reach over 10,000 pupils Community Permaculture training
Steven’s passion is to see Africa green, healthy and with abundant food that can feed rest of the world, and to rewild Africa and bring back prosperity and wealth through permaculture.

Colombia

‘Global Permaculture Insights‘

Maria Paez, International Coordinator at the Permaculture Association Britain, has dedicated her career to supporting communities and the environment. Her journey began with her involvement in marine and coastal research in Colombia. With a diverse skill set ranging from physics to engineering, Maria has played an important role at PAB, fostering connections among global permaculture communities, while amplifying the movement’s visibility. In her presentation, Maria will share insights gleaned from a recent global permaculture survey and conversations with international permaculture leaders, offering valuable perspectives on the movement’s challenges and opportunities.

This presentation offers insights gathered from the global permaculture survey 2024, complemented by information collected via conversations with international permaculture leaders. Delving into challenges, opportunities and the scope of the movement, it provides a concise overview of key findings, highlighting the diverse perspectives and trends shaping the global permaculture community.

Myanmar

‘Permaculture for Myanmar’

Eaint started to encounter the concept of permaculture in 2018 when she was 19 years old and as soon as she heard about Permaculture, she was so sure that this is how I want to live my life. After that, she started to learn about gardening, ecology and permaculture by myself. This year, she got a chance to finish the PDC in Gaia Ashram, Thailand and she gained a lot of confidence in her knowledge about permaculture. She believes in permaculture because it provides the knowledge and approach how people can encounter and work with mother nature in order to meet the need of us and the need of the eco system.

She will be sharing about how she wants to integrate Permaculture principles and techniques in rehabilitation of Myanmar and how she wants to use permaculture as a tool for peace building, community building and sustainable development in Myanmar.

Taiwan

‘The Permaculture Response to the Hualien Earthquake: A Community and Cooperative Economy Approach’

Professor/Director of the Master’s Program in Sustainability and Disaster Prevention, Tzu Chi University; Permaculture Design Teacher; Certified Design Thinking Instructor.

PDC Teaching Experience: Taiwan, Mainland China, India.
Design Projects: Taiwan, Vietnam, Denmark.

About Chiu’s sharing:

The April 3rd earthquake had a severe impact on Hualien. Prior to the earthquake, the Hualien Permaculture team had already established local development network systems, including participatory design for elder care in the Biyunzhuang community, the Sustainable Food Consumer Cooperative, and a certification system for local small farmers’ permaculture-friendly practices.

After the earthquake, efforts will focus on using the Biyunzhuang community as a case study to promote a community currency mobile app, enhancing mutual support among residents. The initiative also includes upgrading the community’s livelihood systems, such as implementing disaster-resilient rainwater harvesting, food forests, and composting toilets.

In addition, the integrated development of community and campus consumer cooperatives will be prioritized, involving disaster preparedness storage for the cooperatives and supply assurance mechanisms with local friendly farmers.

Through the dynamic adjustment and refinement of the above-mentioned permaculture systems, the aim is to enhance resilience across economic, social, and environmental dimensions in the region.

Taiwan

‘Post-growth economics and permaculture activism in Taiwan’

Permaculture Designer, Educator and Certified Instructor, Co-Creator of Ziran Permaculture Design, a Design and Education Collective

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada (U.S.), settled in Taiwan in 1986. Permaculture Design Certificate, Robyn Francis; Permaculture Teacher Training and Permaculture Landscape Design, PRI, Australia in 2012. Have taught at Ananda Suruci in Yujing, Tainan (2012-2018), Taipei Indigenous Community College (2013-2016), Yonghe Community College (2016-Present), Taichung Food and Agriculture Education Development Association (2017-Present), and have led build-outs, workshops and courses throughout Taiwan and also in China and India over the last 12 years.

Given the driver of so many of our climate, ecological and social crises is growth economics, a group of Taiwan-based permaculturists and social innovators and activists in Taiwan have come together to create educational programs and workshops that aim to raise awareness of alternative economic development paths informed by permaculture design.

Taiwan

‘Permaculture and Contemporary Art’

Weed Day is based in Taiwan run by two foraging artists. They are conscious of the current city landscapes and the ways in which humans interact with nature. They make weed tea among other everyday essentials with the foraged weeds. When foraging they choose the more dominant and invasive plants leaving more space for native species resulting in a more biodiverse environment.
They would like to share about their community based art projects that they have worked this past year and also some of the work that we have made in the pass that we believe to be very related to the permaculture principles.

Taiwan

‘The Drive of Indigenous Smallholders’ Seed Conservation: Taste, Love, and Belonging’

This presentation will share how the Cixin team promotes seed conservation efforts in indigenous communities with the aim of sustainably preserving traditional crops. The team started with millet, the traditional staple food of indigenous peoples, by identifying and interviewing farmers who still grow millet within the communities. This process provided valuable insights that shaped the subsequent seed conservation promotion efforts.

Initially, the focus was on asking farmers, “What are you planting?” and “Why did you stop planting?” Eventually, the pivotal question emerged: “Despite the challenges, why do you still grow it?” This question fundamentally influenced the direction of the team’s seed conservation initiatives.

The findings revealed diverse motivations: some grew millet because they loved eating it, others needed it for rituals, some planted upland rice because it was their grandchildren’s favorite, and others did so out of nostalgia for their parents. These reasons highlighted that indigenous farmers’ persistence in growing traditional crops stems from profound emotional connections, developed through early-life experiences and interactions with these crops.

Thus, the team’s efforts in promoting seed conservation go beyond simply assisting current farmers in solving challenges related to growing traditional crops. They also focus on creating opportunities for younger generations to interact with and appreciate these crops. Initiatives include providing millet weekly for primary and secondary school lunches, inviting seed-conserving farmers to schools to share stories about millet, involving green restaurant chefs to teach creative millet recipes, and establishing school millet gardens.

The goal is to plant beautiful memories of traditional crops in the lives of young people, hoping that these emotional bonds will someday inspire them to take action and continue the legacy of preserving these culturally significant crops.

4o

Taiwan

‘Natural and Social Lab under Tectonic Forces: Pugu’s Practices in Natural Architecture and Permaculture Promotion’

Hsiung completed her PDC in 2022. She is a nature and architecture enthusiast with a background in software startups, now practicing natural farming on a small plot of land. Actively promotes permaculture and sustainable lifestyle.

Pugu is situated in the Huadong Valley in Taitung, Taiwan, a scenic but challenging location subject to frequent earthquakes, seasonal drought, typhoons, and a remote distance from urban areas. As a newcomer to this land, Pugu has experimented with various natural building techniques and explored different methods to promote sustainable living. We would like to share our tried and error and some unexpected interesting found.

Taiwan

‘Traditional Wisdom in Taiwan’s Indigenous Plants and Culture’

Mr. Cheng Han-Wen was born, raised, and dedicated his career to serving education in Taitung, Taiwan. Committed to advancing education in remote areas, he began his teaching career at Fuyuan Elementary School, the northernmost school along Taitung County’s East Rift Valley. During this time, he also served as a science and visually impaired students’ counselor.

When he became a principal, he chose the most remote school on Taiwan’s most distant island—Langdao Elementary School—where he initiated Taiwan’s first community-based integrated development project centered around the school. Later, at the request of then-Taitung County Magistrate Chen Chien-Nien, he oversaw the construction of Donghai Elementary School in Taitung City.

Three years later, Mr. Cheng was assigned to Xinxing Elementary School, the northernmost Paivan community school, where he established Taiwan’s first sustainable campus, earning the Pan Shih Award. He then transferred to Taoyuan Elementary School, the southernmost Bunun community school, historically one of the last areas to be governed by the Japanese during their rule. There, he introduced the first KIST public-private partnership school.

Throughout his 40-year career, Mr. Cheng has maintained his passion for education and continues to contribute tirelessly to Taiwan’s educational development.

KIST stands for KIPP Inspired Schools in Taiwan, modeled after the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), the largest public-private partnership school network in the U.S., with 224 schools and nearly 100,000 students, 90% of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. KIPP students earn college degrees at three times the rate of peers from similar backgrounds.

Taiwan

‘The wisdom of plant applications in the construction of Tao’s Tatala (traditional fishing boat)’

Tribal name: Sia Manmisiva, a member of the Tao people, born in 1965 on Ponso no Tao (Island of the People, Lanyu). After graduating from Provincial Taitung Senior High School, he began working at Taitung Senior High School, where he is currently employed.

In his early years, he studied under Su Yan, known as the “Father of Diving in Taiwan,” and worked as a diving equipment technician and instructor. He holds certifications as a diving and lifeguard instructor from the Chinese Underwater Association and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI).

Returning to his hometown of Lanyu in 1995, he became a passionate advocate for environmental and ecological conservation on the island and the preservation of local ecological culture. In 2009, he received the “Water Resources Conservation Merit Award” from the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

In addition to his regular work, he actively engages in field research on the history and culture of the Tao people and the collection of information on local flora, fauna, and ecological culture. He has co-authored several papers with Dr. Cheng Han-Wen on topics related to ecological culture, including the shellfish, birds, fish, and traditional canoes of Lanyu.

Japan

‘Urban Permaculture, a Japanese Case’

Shoko is a permaculture designer and the founder of a permaculture community called “Aichi Urban Permaculture” in Aichi, Japan. Aichi Urban Permaculture organizes permaculture workshops and a market event for sustainable living and society called “Sukoshizutsu. Market (Little by Little Market)”.

Shoko will be giving a presentation on examples of Urban Permaculture practices in Japan.
(Examples at train stations, universities, offices, etc.)