Social Permaculture.
Social Permaculture is a nature-informed regenerative design framework for social systems. It has a particular focus on people care.
Social Permaculture is regenerative social design.
Social Permaculture is part of permaculture.
Permaculture is a nature-informed regenerative design framework. It provides principles guiding humans to care for earth, people, and fair share of resources. It particularly focuses on production of food, fibre and resources with abundance.
Here’s how you might see permaculture principles at play in social design.
Image by Earth Heroes
Design from patterns to details
Circle structure used for meetings and classrooms. Circle rounds in a meeting use slow and small solutions to hear each person in the group, getting into the details of their input in an effective way. Circles support transparency, being the most efficient pattern for all members to see each other while connected to a common unity through the central space.
Image by Earth Heroes
Use and value diversity
The eight forms of capital spread ‘wealth’ to eight key areas of resource availability (capital), rather than loading it with financial assets (as is most common). The eight forms of capital include natural, material, experiential, social, cultural, intellectual, spiritual, and financial. Assessing a system's level wealth through this spectrum of capital allows a broader perspective and accounts for far more enriching qualities.
Image by Earth Heroes
Observe and interact
Cycles are within and around us constantly, providing a rhythm by which behaviours, outcomes, and interactions can be observed, and for which more appropriate systems can be designed. Mapping cycles, year after year, allows an understanding of the patterns emerging in our lives; information we can use to design more specifically how we tend to self and community care.
Social Permaculture applies from the individual level to the broader community level.
Its scope includes personal growth, community, finance, business, health, art & culture, education, events, media and justice.
The tools and techniques for designing and practicing Social Permaculture are varied and cross-disciplinary.
Sociocracy is an example of Social Permaculture design to decision-making and group governance.
Go deeper with these Social Permaculture resources:
Books
'People & Permaculture - Caring and Designing For Ourselves, Each Other and the Planet' by Looby Macnamara (Permanent Publications)
'Change Here Now - Permaculture Solutions for Personal and Community Transformation' by Adam Brock (North Atlantic Books)
'ReInhabiting the Village: Co-Creating The Future' by Jamaica Stevens (Robert D. Reed Publishers)
'The Empowerment Manual - A Guide for Collaborative Groups' by Starhawk (New Society Publishers)
Interviews
Adam Brock interviewed by The Permaculture Podcast (August 2017)
Starhawk interviewed by Sustainable World Radio (September 2016)