[Sdpg] DYNAMICS OF CULTURE & Relevance of Permaculture

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DYNAMICS OF CULTURE & Relevance of Permaculture
Some thoughts on the issues of teaching in other cultures
Robyn Francis visit her website at http://www.earthwise.org.au/

Cultures are dynamic and human memory short - I have been alarmed at the 
rapidity of change, at the loss and erosion of sustainable traditional 
practices as 'Green Revolution' techniques and concepts introduced only a 
few decades ago have been accepted and applied unquestioningly in the 
'developing' world. This has been compounded with the introduction of 
centralised education and schooling which gives the young little 
opportunity to learn traditional skills in the traditional way together 
with the infiltration of the cash economy and the general devaluation of 
farming as a profession.

This in turn is largely a result of the shift from subsistence farming to 
commercial agriculture which in turn is exacerbated by the corruption of 
local wealthy families, their exploitation of the poor, and the control of 
international markets which keep prices artificially low - especially at 
the producer end - in the name of the 'free economy' and globalisation. The 
end scenario is that the rural poor are poorer than ever before, the young 
are increasingly alienated from their culture and see little or no future 
in farming or village life.

In Bali one rarely sees a young person working in the fields or rice 
paddies - it's the old folk out there and one wonders what will happen when 
they are simply too old to continue such hard physical labour. I'm informed 
that it's not only in the relative affluence of Bali that this is 
happening, it's a phenomena occurring in all too many places, countries and 
cultures.

I was invited to teach a PDC in Indonesia in March 1999. Thirty-five 
participants from all over Indonesia, from very different cultures and 
climates from Sumatra to Kalimantantan to West Timor, converged in Bali for 
the course. There was concern amongst some participants and organisers as 
to whether the course would be truly appropriate or whether it was just 
another kind of colonialism - an Australian concept taught by an Australian 
teacher. This is a trap and a risk that I am acutely aware of and careful 
to avoid. In many respects it depends upon how the teacher sees 
permaculture as well as the way it is taught.

The risk is greatest when the teacher sees permaculture as a kind of 
formula and teaches sheet-mulching, banana circles, mandala gardens and 
Zones 1 to 5 - there are a lot of things, ideas and design strategies in 
permaculture that people can readily turn into perma-dogmas. When this 
happens then - yes - it's a new perma-colonialism. You don't need to do a 
PDC to make a herb spiral, chook-tractor or create a food forest - these 
things can be easily done from the plan, from the books.

What I see as being the most valuable thing about permaculture, and the 
greatest challenge for a permaculture teacher to teach, is the process of 
lateral thinking and questioning, of developing the art of analytical 
observation - not just of things but more importantly of the processes at 
play, of seeking and interpreting information and applying it appropriately 
to the situation at hand. The greatest challenge is that these 'process' 
skills cannot be simply taught - like one can simply teach how to make a 
tyre pond - the best one can do as a teacher is to try and facilitate the 
student's own learning of these process skills through example and by 
providing opportunities for the students to practice, explore and interact.

At the end of the Bali course the most rewarding feedback from students was 
"Thank you for teaching me how to think" along with "Thank you for helping 
me see my culture in a new way and the importance of our sustainable 
traditions that are being lost."

As westerners we take so much for granted, especially our 'freedom' of 
thought. It was a cultural shock for me to fully appreciate how repressed 
human thinking and creativity can be. My Indonesian course participants 
explained how their education is all rote learning with no room (and severe 
penalties) for original thinking, questioning or creativity, how this is 
re-enforced by the day to day reality of living in a controlled and corrupt 
socio-political environment.

Living in some traditional cultures can also be ruthlessly 
thought-repressive, the young (including young adults) have no say, do as 
they're told, and 'you do it this way because this is the way it's done and 
because it's what you've been told to do'. There are no other reason's why 
and to question is to defy authority. The opportunity for innovation is 
severely limited.

This lack of analytical questioning and creative thinking leaves a culture 
exceptionally vulnerable, especially when an expert, respected as a figure 
of higher authority, comes along and says 'don't do it that way-do it this 
way'. Change can be, and frequently is, accepted without question or 
thought. People may feel intuitively uncomfortable with some of the changes 
and concerned about the results as they manifest over time, but lack the 
knowledge to understand why it's not working and lack access to information 
to look at alternatives.

Permaculture as a process of analytical observation, lateral thinking and 
creative problem solving together with a basic understanding of ecology and 
natural process certainly draws upon examples of sustainable traditional 
systems from around the world. Yet it pays to remember that most of these 
systems evolved countless generations ago as a result of trial and error 
without necessarily understanding the why's, or if the why's were initially 
understood that information has not always been passed on. (Beware of the 
'noble-savage' syndrome).

I have found when teaching permaculture in developing countries and with 
indigenous peoples that my students are exhilarated with their awakening 
awareness of process and creative thinking, and of having a framework of 
principles of sustainability by which to look afresh at their culture and 
measure the relative sustainability of remaining traditions, introduced 
practices and a fresh enthusiasm to rediscover (recover) the traditional 
practices, knowledge and wisdom that is rapidly being lost.

Culture is dynamic, just like an ecosystem is a dynamic system, 
continuously evolving and adapting to new influences and changing factors 
around and within itself. The risk in human culture is that the good 
practices that have sustained in the past can be so easily lost and 
replaced with new techniques and values that erode human security, 
well-being and the environment and resource base it depends on.

In the same way Permaculture also needs to be seen and taught as a dynamic 
system of thinking, planning and design which is adapted and reinvented in 
each new culture and context into which it is introduced. Permaculture 
needs to constantly adjust and adapt to the changing needs, perceptions and 
demands of a changing world. Indeed, this is the only sustainable future 
for permaculture as a concept and as a movement or it risks stagnation and 
becoming frozen in the dogmas created by its perpetrators.


Robyn Francis is well known as a designer and teacher of permaculture since 
1985 and was founding director of Permaculture International. She continues 
to pioneer new frontiers in her work and share this accumulated experience 
through her courses. Robyn established and manages Djanbung Gardens 
Permaculture Education Centre and the ERDA Institute Trust at Nimbin in 
Northern NSW.

This article was published in Permaculture International Journal in 2000