Building the Natural CommunityAn introduction to Permaculture Design by Larry Santoyo and Kirk Hanson Special to the Green Pages Imagine ... living in a community that is blended into the natural environment. Homes crafted from the native landscape are designed to heat and cool themselves while remaining elegant and affordable. Integrated into the surrounding neighborhoods are natural water systems where food is grown safe from harmful chemicals and waste is managed for productivity. Neighbors, young and old, routinely help one another by sharing resources and skills. Local needs are met by efficiently managing local resources, thereby reducing transportation and pollution. By design, this community saves you money while making leisure time more abundant. Most importantly, however, the design of this community preserves the Earth's precious resources. Through the simple and practical strategies offered by permaculture design, a village lifestyle like this is not a dream. Developed by Australian ecologist Dr. Bill Mollison, "permaculture" is a contraction of the words permanent and culture. Permaculture design is a highly developed art, science, and philosophy with practical applications in architecture, agriculture, land-use planning, landscape design, and many fields related to community service. Dr. Mollison researched for decades, working around the world with various cultures and ecosystems until he developed what is now a globally recognized framework for an environmentally benign system of land use management - a permanence in culture modeled on nature. In nature, total resource efficiency is accomplished by managing waste for productivity and by balancing consumption with multi-functional contributions from each of the elements in the system. Permaculture sciences design human systems that model the same inter-connections and multiple functions found in natural ecosystems. Though relatively new to development in the U.S., permaculture brings to home owners and design professionals an innovative approach to planning, building, and retrofitting. Permaculture design is now taught regularly through regional groups, private colleges, and universities throughout the country. Permaculture designers are trained to "read the landscape" and to "turn problems into resources". Every property is considered to have a unique pattern of natural characteristics. Proper alignment with these natural patterns is the basis of permaculture design. Rather than imposing generic designs on the landscape, nature is allowed to direct the land use plan. By skillfully using permaculture methods of site analysis and evaluation, elements such as buildings and roads, as well as practices such as farming and forestry, are established only in optimal areas. These methods work with nature in an efficient and economical way. Permaculture design teaches important principals derived from natural systems. Among the most important principals is "relative location," or the careful placement of elements within a system. The constructed environment is treated as a whole and elements are placed "in relation to" the dynamics of a site's topography. Houses are sited not only for optimum solar gain, but off of prime agricultural land and out of fire sectors, prevailing winds, and predictable flood zones. Proper siting uses simple physics along with specific observation skills developed by permaculture designers. Equally, simple biological solutions are employed in order to reduce or replace expensive and resource consumptive high technologies. By way of example, proper shading alone has reduced cooling costs of buildings in desert areas by up to 20%! Permaculture designers also learn to observe and research naturally occurring plant and animal assemblies. Carefully selected perennial fruit trees, shrubs, and vines, together with annual commercial crops and animals, are designed to mimic nature's self-sustaining polycultural design. Food, timber, and wildlife habitats can be combined to create a food and resource system that requires fewer subsidies yet provides higher yields than conventional monoculture systems. These polycultural designs are used for sustainable farming and edible home landscapes. Comprehensive water and soil conservation planning is integral to any sustainable design. For water conservation and flood control, permaculture design uses roofs, parking lots, roadways, and landscapes for "harvesting" water and to "convert" flooding into a useful resource (i.e. low cost irrigation for planted areas). Permaculture designers use these same principals for regional planning and economic development. Mixed-use plans are developed with an "access by proximity" design (i.e., participants live, shop, and work within the same area), thereby reducing transportation and traffic problems. Home-based and locally-owned businesses are encouraged and actively network for efficiency. Other strategies for community design include producing food in the city or linking nearby farms (CSA's) and other rural enterprises directly with suburban and urban consumers. In addition, recreational areas and open spaces are designed with integrated biological waste management and recycling areas. Good planning, together with resource efficiency, saves money for an entire community. When our basic needs are provided for where we live, our sense of security is enhanced, community spirit is raised, and economic vitality can be restored. Opportunities also exist for vocational rehabilitation and employment training programs. For recreation and tourism industries, the resource protection and restorative value of these designs is vitally important. Permaculture is committed to caring for the earth and to helping people in their efforts toward sustainable lifestyles. Its purpose is to improve the quality of life for human communities as well as for the plant and animal communities of the world landscape. Permaculture is also about hope - providing practical solutions for the many environmental and ultimately social and economic problems now facing communities throughout the world. Permaculture in the South Sound Community Permaculture has had an evolving presence in the South Sound area for several years. Recently, Permaculture West, a Washington State non-profit, became incorporated in order to address issues relating to sustainable urban and rural redesign. By facilitating workshops, lectures, and hands-on projects, Permaculture West is seeking to educate community members about the many ways locally available resources can be used with greater efficiency. A former home site is currently being redesigned on the east side of Olympia as an example of integrative principals of urban design. The site is being developed as an educational/healing facility and presently hosts a variety of home businesses, gardens, and an evolving land-use plan. It also serves as the meeting place for many groups. Permaculture West is also actively co-managing Wild Thyme Farm, a research and educational facility south of Olympia. Seminars relating to sustainable rural design are routinely hosted at the farm on topics such as agroforestry, bamboo, wildcrafting, and general permaculture design. The farm also has many evolving examples of integrative design, including: polyculture orchards, animal forage systems, coppice lots, herb and vegetable gardens, and more. From September 6-19 Permaculture West will host a two-week intensive permaculture design course at the Wild Thyme Farm. For more information about Permaculture West, the events they sponsor, or the sites they maintain, please contact them at: Permaculture West, 72 Mattson Rd., Oakville, WA 98568; phone (360) 352-6509; fax (360) 273-7117; email permawest@olywa.net. Larry Santoyo specializes in subtropical and urban design and has taught permaculture in the U.S. and abroad for over 10 years. Residing in Santa Cruz, Californai, Larry presently runs a land-use planning firm while continuing to teach. Kirk Hanson has been organizing permaculture workshops and events in the South Sound region for over three years and, in 1996, incorporated Permaculture West, a Washington state non-profit. He currently co-manages Wild Thyme Farm, a permaculture research and education facility in Oakville.
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