Permaculture Design

Design principles that focus on designing a sustainable habitat for humans. Defined during the 70's in Australia by a student and a professor who were interested in the effects civilisation has on its surroundings (nature). 
perma = "permanent"
culture = "agriculture"

Permaculture design commends the protection of the environment and the allowance to work with nature, instead of against it. Its main ideas are:

  1. care for the people → design that people can benefit from
  2. care for the earth → design that doesn't destroy the environment
  3. fair shares → recourses shouldn't be hoarded by one group alone, they should be accessible to everyone

Additionally to these three core ideas, permaculture design possess 12 design principles that should be followed:
  1. observe and interact → observe what already exists (environment, natural influences, already available systems, etc...)
  2. catch and store energy → use what is already available (what is locally available?)
  3. obtain a yield
  4. apply self-regulation and accept feedback
  5. use and value renewable resources and services
  6. produce no waste → recycle resources and especially don't introduce new resources that will cause future waste
  7. design from patterns to details → observe other examples and find similarities / patterns
  8. integrate rather then segregate → don't destroy biodiversities by introducing something to solve a problem - the more diversity exists. the bigger are the beneficial effects
  9. use small and slow solutions
  10. use and value diversity
  11. use edges and value the marginal
  12. creatively use and respond to change → make a design that can adapt to future changes
As an exercise we took a take-away pot of chopped-up pineapple pieces, bought from the supermarket, to analyse what impact such a product has on the environment and the people. In addition, our task was to create and close sustainable cycles with already existing tools.