Permaculture design system

The ESC program "Sustainable Synergies" I have the honour to be part of is like a seed of empowerment for change makers. I'm living concretely an experience of building resilience: first of all in my own livelihood, living a genuine happy simple life, then in the community of the surrounding of Athens and at last of global ecosystem/human society. Being the witness of another way of living is the most powerful act to change the world we live in, right here and now. [1]

What we are here for is the dissemination of Permaculture, a way to approach life in order to create a Permanent Culture. It is a design science that permits to create man-made environments that are energetically and ethically sustainable, imitating natural processes that produce neither waste nor pollution and that satisfy the needs of all the elements that make up the system. [2]

It is a process of assembling conceptual, material and strategic components into a design that works to benefit life in all its forms, based on three fundamental ethical principles:

Earth Care - Recognition and facilitation of ecosystem regeneration, providing for all life systems to continue and multiply.

People Care - Pursue the well-being of the individual within the community.

Fair share - Conscious management of resources by setting limits and redistributing surplus.

These ethics represent the core of the design development, unfolding in a way that respects pure values and protect both internal and external landscapes.

Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies, imitating the closed-loop systems typical of the natural world; it is an archive of practical tools for creating resilient communities regarding agriculture, ecology, geography, water management, architecture, energy, appropriate technologies, health, education, spirituality, economics, sociology and community life.

Permaculture is a creative design response to a world where the availability of energy and resources is diminishing. It brings together the different ideas, skills and ways of life that need to be rediscovered and developed to enable us to move from being dependent consumers to becoming responsibly productive citizens. [3]

Implementing holistic solutions that are applicable in both rural and urban contexts, at all scales and sizes, we are actually able to achieve sustainable sustenance of human society. From this concrete approach to reality comes a process of learning, a cultural evolution that leads to the transformation of our belief systems, social and economic structures and choices regarding the use of technologies and resources. [4] It's about re-discovering the ancient knowledge of our ancestors, who have lived for thousands of years sustainably, and integrating it with the modern understanding of ecology and the current cultural sytem.

Here in Nea Guinea project the aim is to raise awareness about the different techniques to face the issues designing our lives. The location of Nea Makri is a perfect bridge through which people from Athens can experience an approach more connected to nature; the scale of the design is perfect to be brought home and be implemented in many parts of the city. In fact, most of the solutions experimented at the field are of a small degree, making them suitable in an urban context. 

People attending the "School of the Earth", thanks to a 10 weekends classes both theoretical and practical, are well prepared to meet their needs in a more mindful way.

"Despite the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple" - Bill Mollison.

[1] Charles Eisenstein, "Ascent of humanity"

[2] Saviana Parodi, "Manuale di permacultura integrale: imparare a imitare la natura per una nuova economia della felicità"

[3] David Holmgren, "Permaculture principles and pathways beyond sustainability"

[4] Dave Jackie and Eric Toensmeier, "Edible forest gardens vol.2"