Community Voices, Pt 1: PermaWHAT?

     I am so filled with gratitude from the wonderful turnout at the two launch events we held for Root to Rise.  On Thursday, May 24th we met at Schilling Brewing Company where members of our community leadership gathered to network, to learn more about Root to Rise and our work, and to hear from Todd Workman of PermaCityLife about the success stories of Franklin, NH where permaculture has laid the foundation for economic development and community revitalization.   Taylor Caswell, NH State Commissioner of Business and Economic Affairs, who attended the event, said that, “The key to New Hampshire‘s economic future is our communities and what they offer to a wide variety of people who want to live and work in our beautiful state.  The role of organizations like Root to Rise to help meet those expectations is a big part of how it will be done." 
     On the second night, Friday, May 25th, the Root to Rise Board hosted a public event at Rek-lis’ Brewing Company and asked the participants to share their insights on permaculture, ideas for community revitalization, and ways to connect with efforts already underway in our region.  We shared, laughed, gave away prizes, and at the end of the evening, walked away with lots of great input from the community as well as many new friends. I want to share with you some of the ideas we heard from the community, and over the next few weeks, we’ll share more of what we heard from those two events as well as efforts underway to integrate Root to Rise’s mission of permaculture education and community resiliency into the great work happening in our region.
            At our first event, several community leaders had pulled me aside to say, “So Stacey, what exactly is permaculture,” and “can you give me a few talking points so I can share it with others.”  Although I love to teach and practice permaculture, I often find it hard to capture the essence of this lifestyle in a few sentences.  At the second event, we asked the participants, “What do you know about permaculture and why might you be interested in learning more?,” and this is what we heard:

• Looking at the geography of the land and getting it to its natural state while enjoying the environment
• I’ve never heard of permaculture (It’s all new to me)
• My brother and sis-in-law own a woofing permaculture farm in County Wicklow, Ireland, so I know some.  I’m headed to Costa Rica to study permaculture in October too!  It’s calling me but I definitely need to know more
• I know permaculture is the symbiotic balance and relationship between humans and the Earth.  This is also why I want to learn more about it.  I wish to create a healthier relationship between myself and the Earth
• It can bring a better quality of life and less carbon footprint if done properly
• I think it’s using a substitute growing medium rather than the soil
• Using the resources you have, purposefully, to maximize your potential.  I want to learn more so that I can benefit from what’s around me.
• I think people know little about permaculture unless they are within that community – it helps to do more events like this
• Apply it to businesses, non-profits etc; organizational contexts for personal and organization transformation (applying social permaculture in practice)
• Don’t know much about permaculture but have experience gardening.  I assume permaculture has to do more with the larger ecosystem.
• Want to learn more because it can benefit the individual and the environment – win-win!
• Utilizing the landscape to its highest potential
• Always interested in learning something new
• I have my Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) but not a ton of hands-in the dirt experience
• Interested in learning more and building a bridge between Root to Rise and the homeless shelter that I manage
• I know it attempts to complete cycles (eat . . . . compost . . . .garden . . . . eat) and attempts to use life cycles as examples for design. 
• Why interested?  I love nature, its beauty and its design
• Agriculture that provides for continually nurturing soil
• Permaculture is a form of landscaping that is more than just landscaping.  It creates a relationship with people and their gardens

      Permaculture is all of this, and so much more.  I shared this definition of permaculture at our events and it seems to resonate with people:  Permaculture is the process of using systems thinking and ecological design to meet human needs while creating resilient, diverse and thriving ecological and social systems. In its simplest form, it is the intentional restoration of community and physical landscapes. Instead of focusing on the components of our landscapes, permaculture focuses on building and restoring relationships between components. Permaculture is built upon an ethical foundation and is guided by a set of evolving ecological principles. Permaculture can be applied to the landscape, buildings and infrastructure, and social and economic systems.  Even this definition opens us up to ask why or how, it makes us pause and reflect, sometimes asking as a follow-up “well, what does that mean.”  Know this.  Permaculture is a lifestyle.  It’s a practice, an embodiment, and a belief that we can be a healthier, more connected, resilient community of humans if we learn from nature and restore our natural habitats.  Permaculture includes gardening and growing food, but it also includes building relationships, taking care of each other, building strong neighborhoods and communities, giving more than we take.  And honestly, permaculture is not something that we merely read about or study, it’s something we do.  The best way to learn about permaculture IS TO DO permaculture. 
     And that’s where I have good news for you!  This summer, Root to Rise will be hosting a permaculture design workshop at Rek-lis’ Brewing Company the week of July 5th – July 12th.  We will have students of permaculture and those with permaculture design experience participating but anyone can participate, and we encourage you to participate to really understand this practice.  This workshop is supported by the Dorr Foundation so instead of monetary compensation for attending the workshop, we just ask for your full commitment to the design process and that you “give back” by participating in at least one implementation workshop, or what we call a PermaBlitz, where we take a design and spend a day or two with shovels, gloves, mulch, plants, good food, and good company making the design come to life.  For more information, please contact me at stacey.roottorise@gmail.com.  This is just one of many workshops and hands-on learning experiences we are providing.  Come out and join us, and embrace your own definition of permaculture.