[Sdpg] Northwest Permaculture Design Courses & Economics
Michael Pilarski
michael at friendsofthetrees.net
Thu Jun 3 02:36:46 PDT 2010
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Northwest Permaculture Design Courses & Economics
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This email newsletter is devoted to:
*Permaculture Design Courses in the Pacific Northwest
*New Economic models
*Filling up my July 11-25 Permaculture Design Course
Please forward this information to people who would be interested in any of these topics.
Have a good 2010 growing season!
Michael Pilarski
www.friendsofthetrees.net http://www.friendsofthetrees.net
Shopping for a Permaculture Course
History and Current Situation in Washington State and Surrounding Regions
The following 16 permaculture design courses are all the courses I know of being offered in, or near, Washington State this year, 7 in Washington State, 4 in northern Oregon, 1 in Idaho and 4 in British Columbia. I do not have as intimate a knowledge of Oregon’s courses so did not attempt to review all of Oregon’s courses in this article. The reason for this article is to give an overview of the kinds of courses being offered, their prices, instructors and some comparisons. The article is meant to be a service to people looking to take a course and to the permaculture community in general.
Permaculture is a design science with a set of principles and ethics. Permaculture is a holistic, integrated systems methodology which deals with ecosystem health, food production, the built environment, and energy, as well as social and economic systems.
“Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems, which have the diversity, stability and the strength of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious combination of land and people, supplying their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without sustainable agriculture there is no possibility of a sustainable human culture.”
Permaculture Malawi
The first ever permaculture design course was held in 1980 in Australia. The first permaculture design course offered in the Pacific Northwest was in 1982 at Evergreen State College’s organic farm in Olympia, Washington. Australian Andrew Jeeves was the instructor and Bill Mollison (the co-founder of permaculture) taught for three days. I was a graduate of this first NW course along with 25 other people. It changed the course of my life, which is a common comment from people after their first PCDC (permaculture design course).
During the rest of the 1980s it was typical for one to three courses to be offered in Washington each year. Bill Mollison came several times during this time period. In 1986 Mollison taught a course in Eastern Washington in the upper Kittitas valley. A course which I hosted and graduated from. It was Bill’s first time teaching the dryland permaculture design course curriculum he had just developed. This was the first departure from the standard permaculture design course curriculum which he developed in 1981. In the 1990s the number of courses offered in Washington State gradually grew to become three to five courses a year. In the first decade of the 2000s this number has gradually increased. Eight courses are being offered in Washington in 2010, which is an all-time record for the state. I would estimate that there have been somewhere around 100 permaculture design courses in Washington State to date. With an average graduating class of 20 people that is around 2,000
graduates from Washington pdcs. There probably have been a similar number of courses held in Oregon so far and perhaps 30 in British Columbia. The inland Northwest has had much less action. Three courses in Montana and one in Idaho. There have been about 10 courses in eastern Washington, primarily taught by Simon Henderson or myself. There have been no courses in eastern Oregon to my knowledge. This adds up to around 240 pcdcs altogether in the Pacific Northwest. With an average graduating class of 20 people that is around 4,800 graduates from Pacific Northwest pdcs.
Here is a brief rundown on the permaculture design courses being offered in Washington State and vicinity in 2010. For each course I have listed date, title, venue, format, instructors, fees, class size, brief comments, and contact information. Notice that the length and format of the courses varies as well as the prices. There are a number of reasons for the range of course fees. Some venues cost more than others. Some courses are residential and have housing and food costs. Courses have differing emphases and themes. They are all supposed to cover the standard permaculture design course curriculum but some do a better job of this than others. Each teacher has their own expertise, some have worked in more climate zones than others, some have taught many courses and others are just starting their career, each has their own personality and style of teaching.
All of these courses (and instructors) are unique. Pdcs are not cookie-cutter stamp-outs. The diversity of courses means that they can serve a wider range of clients. People can pick the course format, theme and instructors that suits them best. All of these courses have value. Prospective students are encouraged to look at the range of courses available and do some research before choosing their first course. Some people take multiple courses to experience different instructors, bioregions and venues. I have completed 22 full design courses in many states, provinces and countries, most of them as senior instructor. Please note that there is currently no quality control mechanism for pdcs. Some courses claim to offer certification. Until recently there was a course certification program from Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Institute in Australia. He has recently closed this program due to the difficulties in insuring quality standards in courses all around the world. There
is currently a move afoot to set up certification standards in the US. Just because a course says they offer certification does not necessarily mean they are better than courses which do not make such claims. Prospective students are advised to research the reputations of courses and instructors.
People are not supposed to hang out their shingle as a permaculture consultant or teacher unless they have gone through at least one pdc and hopefully have a lot of practical experience under their belt.
Advanced permaculture design and advanced permaculture teaching courses started being offered in the 1990s. Only permaculture design course graduates can attend. The first advanced courses offered by US instructors started in the last decade. Northwest advanced course teachers include Jude Hobbs, Tom Ward and Andrew Millison.
* February 12-28, 2010
Sahale Permaculture Design Course
Venue: Sahale Retreat Center, Belfair, WA
Format: Two-week residential course
Instructors: Laura Sweany and Larry Korn. Guest instructor: Deston Denniston.
Cost: $1195, $995 early registration
Class size: 12 graduates
Comments: This was the fourth course at Sahale. Larry Korn was the translator for Masonabu Fukuoka’s book “One Straw Revolution” and has been part of the Northwest permaculture movement since the 1982 Olympia course. Laura Sweany is a relatively new to permaculture teaching. Sahale was a wonderful venue for the first and second Washington State Permaculture Convergence (an event for permaculturists statewide). 115 attended in 2008 and 170 people in 2009.
Info/contact: Laura Sweany lauraflora at msn.com (206) 369-7590
* February-September, 2010
Tacoma's 1st Permaculture Design Course
Venue: Kings' Books and Tacoma Waldorf School, plus many other sites around Tacoma
Format: Weekends course. One weekend a month including Friday night presentations.
Instructors: Kelda Miller with guest speakers Jenny Pell, Heidi Bohan, Marisha Auerbach and Paul Kearsley
Cost: $800-$650 Sliding Scale
Class size: 25
Comments: Kelda is a young firebrand of a pc teacher who goes out of her way to involve a wide diversity of less privileged folks. Her courses aim to reflect a multi-cultural outlook. The course emphasis is on urban areas.
Info/Contact: Patricia Menzies. sustainabletacomapierce at gmail.com 253-565-2599
http://divinearthgp.com
* April 3 - June 13, 2010
Vashon Permaculture Design Course
Venue: Vashon Cohousing, Vashon Island
Format: Weekends course. 6 weekends April 3 through June 6, 2010
Instructors: Emet Degirmenci, Kelda Miller; Guests: Larry Korn, Jenny Pell,
Mark Musick and Deston Denniston.
Cost: $650.
Class size: 10. They had a hard time filling the course.
Comments: Emet is new to the Northwest Permaculture scene but brings a lot of experience and an international perspective from her work in Turkey, New Zealand and Australia. Emet is teaching pc in Turkey, her native country later this year.
www.koruora.com
* May 8-9 to October 9–10, 2010
Seattle Permaculture Design Course.
Venue: South Seattle Community College
Instructor: Toby Hemenway and guests
Format: Weekend course meets every 2nd weekend of the month from May to October.
Cost: $900 for 12 full-day classes
Class size: They are expecting 40 to graduate.
Comments: This is Toby Hemenway's 3rd annual Permaculture Design Course in Seattle. It is sponsored by Seattle Tilth. Toby is a well-known teacher and he has brought in many long-time permaculturists as guest speakers.
Info/Contact: Carrie Niskanen CarrieNiskanen at seattletilth.org 206-633-0451 x101
* June to November, 2010
Portland Permaculture Design Course
Venue: Portland State University
Instructor: Toby Hemenway and guests
Format: Six Weekends.
Cost: $850.
Info/contact: Jenny Leis, patternliteracy at gmail.com 503-548-8459.
http://patternliteracy.com/workshops.html
* June 11-27, 2010
Tryon Farm Permaculture Design Course
Instructors: Marisha Auerbach, Matt Bibeau, Leonard Barret and guests
Venue: Tryon Life Community Farm, Portland, Oregon
Format: Residential course with non-residential option.
Cost: $1100 to $1300 sliding scale. $850 to $1,000 for non-residential, local students.
Comments. Tryon farm is an intentional community set in seven acres of rolling meadow, gardens, homes, naturally-built structures, and wooded cliffs which is adjacent to one of Portland’s largest urban parks. An oasis preserved from development by a community effort. Grass-roots urban. Marisha is one of the dynamic, 2nd generation wave of permaculture teachers.
Info/contact: permaculture at tryonfarm.org
* June 14 – August 27, 2010
Oregon Coast Permaculture Immersion
Instructors: Henry Stanley and Gabe Shaddy-Farnsworth with other guest instructors
Venue: Neah-Kah-Nie Natural Farm, Manzanita, Oregon
Format: 3-month long immersion course. Class is 3 days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Cost: $1750, Room & basic food staples are included.
Class Size: Small number of participants
Comments: North Coastal Oregon. I added this one because of the long-term format and it is close to Washington. Henry works with Trackers Northwest and Portland’s Village Building Convergence and has recently begun teaching courses.
Info/contact: Molly, Trackers Northwest 503-559-2825.
http://trackerspdx.com/immersion/oregon-coast-permaculture.php
* June 14-27, 2010
Feral Farm Permaculture Course
Venue: Feral Farm, Rockport, Sauk River Valley.
Format: Residential course. Camping.
Instructors: David Zhang and Laura Donahue with guest instructors Matt van Boven, Michael Pilarski, Heidi Bohan.
Cost: $800.
Class Size: Class size limited to 16.
Comments: A youthful course with young instructors. We will cover 72 hours of permaculture curriculum along with over 10 hours of primitive skills and wilderness awareness. Feral Farm is a model for incorporating edible and useful plants into already existing wild forests.
Info/contact: bellinghampermaculture at gmail.com (360) 223-5767
www.bellinghampermaculture.com
* July 3-17, 2010
Earth Activist Training Permaculture Design Course
Venue: River Farm, near Deming, Washington (east of Bellingham)
Instructors: Starhawk and friends, with guest teachers Bill Aal and Margo Adair of Tools for Change
Format: Residential course. Mainly tenting.
Cost: $1400-$1800 sliding scale until April 1, after $1500-$1900
Class Size: Usually around 25.
Comments: Starhawk is a well-known activist who combines a permaculture design course with activist training. Special focus on social permaculture and affecting the world. Circles, rituals and earth-based spirituality are part of the menu. These Earth Activist Trainings have been held in locations around the US. The curriculum was developed by Starhawk and Penny Livingston, a well-known California pc teacher.
Info/contact:. earthactivisttraining at gmail.com 800-381-7940
www.EarthActivistTraining.org
* July 11–31, 2010
Bullock Homestead Permaculture Design Course
Venue: Bullock Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island
Cost: $1900 ($1800 if paid in full by June 1st)
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, John Valenzuela, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Class Size: Course is limited to 30 participants. The course is full and has a waiting list.
Comments: One of the longest-running, annual courses in the PNW. The Bullock Brothers Homestead is one of the Northwest’s premier pc sites. The only 3-week course offered in the PNW. Emphasis on hands-on. A well-known and popular course. Douglas Bullock is one of the Northwest’s most experienced teachers. Brothers Douglas, Sam and Joe are all world-class plantspeople and between them have taught in many of the world’s climate zones. Their website is a great portal into the national and international permaculture scene.
Info/contact: Dave Boehnlein, 360-840-8483. info at permacultureportal.com
http://permacultureportal.com/courses
* July 11-25, 2010
Skalitude Permaculture Design Course
Format: Two-week residential course. Rooms or tenting
Venue: Skalitude Retreat Center, Carlton, WA (Methow Valley)
Instructors: Michael Pilarski, with guest instructors Andrew Millison, Josho Somine, Deston Denniston, David Sansone and others
Cost: $800. Innovative financing proposals considered
Class Size: 15 to 25
Comments: This is my course, so I am biased. Excellent facilities and teaching team. Focused on the Pacific Northwest, particularly the Interior Northwest. Andrew Millison is one of the few advanced pc teachers in the US. Pilarski has been teaching pdcs longer than any other Northwest instructor (since 1988). A few of my specialties include home food production, agroforestry, wildcrafting, native edible and medicinal plants, forestry, ecology, barter economies and permaculture cheerleading.
Info/contact: Michael Pilarski Michael at friendsofthetrees.net 509-486-4056
www.friendsofthetrees.net
* August 16 – 28, 2010
Kamiah Permaculture Course
Venue: FNA Ranch, Kamiah, Idaho
Instructors: Kim and Julie Pagliaro
Cost: $995
Comments: This course is added here as it is the only other Inland Northwest course offered this year besides my Skalitude course in Eastern Washington. I believe this is the first course at this venue. Includes footage of a Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton
design certificate course in Australia.
Info/Contact: Julie and Kim Pagliaro: kamiahpermaculture at mac.com 208-935-7793.
www.kamiahpermaculture.com/
British Columbia, Canada.
I don’t want to completely ignore our neighbor to the north. So here are the url’s of four 2010 pdcs just north of Washington’s border.
* April 3-May 16, 2010. weekends
Permaculture Design Course in cooperation with Selkirk College in Nelson, BC
Instructor: Gregoire Lamoureux
www3.telus.net/permaculture
* May 23 - June 4, 2010
Permaculture Design Course in Nelson, BC
www.vergepermaculture.ca/courses/permaculture-design-certificate-nelson-bc
* May 30 - June 12, 2010
Permaculture Design Course in Winlaw, British Columbia
Instructor: Gregoire Lamoureux.
www3.telus.net/permaculture
* July 4 – 17, 2010
Denman Island Summer 2010 Permaculture Design Course
Instructor: Jesse Lemieux
www.pacificpermaculture.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112:denman-2010
Online Permaculture Calendar!
Northwest permaculture courses as well as workshops are posted at the useful, permaculture calendar:
Northwest Permaculture Events, from Bellingham to Portland.
www.jocelynsevents.com/nw-permaculture/index.html
I hope you have enjoyed this brief peek at the world of permaculture design courses. Most countries and regions of the world have similar lists. There are dozens or hundreds of permaculture design courses running worldwide at any one time. The number of pc course graduates is now approaching something like 200,000 graduates worldwide! Positive solutions for a positive future. A permaculture course is one of the best investments in the future that a person can make.
PDF of article (128KB) http://www.friendsofthetrees.net/articles/pcdcs2010.pdf
Some financial aspects of permaculture design courses
LOOKING FOR PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE STUDENTS
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
Our Skalitude Permaculture Course has the infrastructure to handle a large course size. Would you like to have a place?
We are moving towards a new economic model to enable more participants.
Ways to reduce course fees:
* Barter for goods and services.
* Bring food in exchange for some course fees.
* Partial work trade for work during the course, primarily in the kitchen.
* Work off some of your fees on my farm before the course.
* Cook for your partner’s admission. Does anyone have a partner (experienced in cooking for groups) who would cook in exchange for the other’s admission?
* There are a limited number of partial scholarships.
* There has to be some financial contribution.
The goal is a fair equitable exchange of value.
Filling a permaculture design course with paying students is not easy in many cases. Over the years I have had to cancel 4 pdcs versus 22 completed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this rate of cancellation is somewhere near the national average. Plus many courses run with less than full enrollment.
There are a few, long-time teachers and venues which fill all their pcdcs regularly, Bullock Permaculture Homestead for instance, but these are relatively few. There are many reasons for this shortfall in students. To a large extent it is a lack of publicity or not reaching out to a wide enough diversity of people. There is a large market out there, but publicity for any one course only reaches so many people. If everyone who was potentially interested knew the full slate of offerings on a regular basis we can expect that all/most courses would fill.
Many people who would like to take a course can’t afford the price. Some of them figure out ways to do worktrade or get scholarships, but many people give up on account of the money. Some people want to take a course and have the money, but don’t have the time.
The economic downturn has made it harder for more people to afford permaculture design courses. That is why I have made the Skalitude permaculture course one of the lowest-cost, residential courses offered this year. This in spite of having an excellent teaching team and facilities.
As a permaculture teacher I research and talk about alternative economic systems. But am I willing to practice them? I am looking for more ways to go beyond the current monetary system
A couple sentences in Marisha Auerbach’s May 2, 2010 email newsletter caught my attention.
“Many of us are feeling the economic shifts. Money is not our only form of currency! Work/trade and barter are encouraged. If you feel drawn to one of these offerings, please don't hesitate to contact me and make arrangements!”
Thank you, Marisha. Ditto for me.
I want to fill the July 11-25 Skalitude Permaculture Design Course. Are you interested? Can you help spread the word?
Course PDF at www.friendsofthetrees.net
Michael Pilarski
509-486-4056
Michael at friendsofthetrees.net
Building the New Economy
BUILDING THE NEW ECONOMIES:
SOME THOUGHTS AND RESOURCES
Lately I have been studying local economic systems, historical, contemporary and evolving. What would be useful in the US at this point and into the immediate future? How do communities cope with the declining formal economy?
Here are a few thoughts, some findings and resources. I invite further dialog on the topic.
There are six types of overlapping economies in the world:
Export/import economy. Buying and selling products from outside the area; working for outside employers; growing crops for export out of the area, etc. The formal economy with reported income, salaries and profits.
Local economy. Providing, growing, exchanging and using local goods and services. Some is formal economy and some is informal economy.
Household economy. Raising children, growing your own food, building your own house, making and repairing objects,taking care of your own/family needs. Some people have large personal economies, and others have smallones. [In some categorization systems, my category of household economy is included in the informal sector.]
Informal economy. Barter, volunteerism, gifts, non-monetary exchange.
Black market economy. Drugs, alcohol, weapons and sex are major components of the black market, but it can also include illegal trade in currencies and goods. Under the table. Not formally declared, mostly uses currency and is generally imported goods. Some people’s definitions include parts of what I call the informal economy.
Nature’s economy. This is the sum total of natural resources and nature’s processes. Rain, sun, soils, photosynthesis, atmosphere, oceans, forests, wetlands. All those things that make human life possible. This part of the economy has been, and is being, systematically degraded. Time for a change.
All six of these economies exist in every community to one degree or another. Most economists focus on category 1 and 2.
Localization means that the local economy expands and becomes a more important part of the overall economy. In a downturn economy people are forced to increase their personal economy and informal economy because they will have less money to spend on products or services by others.
Thus I expect the latter four of the human economies to expand as the export/import economy contracts.
As long as the current financial system is working it makes sense to focus on increasing the circulation of dollars in the local economy. One of our permaculture principles is to keep energy in the system as long as possible and run it through as many interactions as possible before it exits the system. How many times can a dollar exchange hands before it exits the local economy?
Alternative currency and exchange systems are being experimented with in many places at this time and we also have lots of historical models to examine. A local currency and/or barter network can help an area have a thriving local economy even during downturns in the formal economy.
Where are the current best resource books, websites, thinkers which catalog these models of alternative currencies? Every region should have an economics study group which looks through the models to help design an appropriate version for their local situation.
Mutual Credit Clearing Exchanges - best thing since sliced bread.
I have been on the search for the holy grail of how do we run local economies when the dollar has gone bust. Thomas H. Greco, Jr’s. newest book (2009) has got the best ideas I have seen. In particular, his description of mutual credit clearing exchange impressed me. Anyone seriously interested in this topic should read his book “The End of Money and the Future of Civilization”. Here are a few of my interpretations of how it might work.
A local currency is set up. The local currency is entered into circulation by producers. The currency is based on local production and services. It can be spent at the participating producers or local businesses and individuals who will accept it. This money can circulate in the local economy and enables buying and selling even when dollars are scarce.
“As a member of a mutual credit clearing exchange, a business can have an interest-free line of credit, it will be able to acquire the things it needs without the use of cash, and (because it accepts payment in the form of exchange credit) will be a preferred source of supply for others who are members of the exchange.”
- Greco.
People who use the exchange have to balance their accounts. The more they sell the more they can spend. Productivity and resources are what is valued in this system. You don’t actually have to exchange money tokens or actual goods. It is basically like a checking account.
“In allocating lines of credit, it is important to allocate the greatest share of credit to “trusted issuers”: - i.e. those that are well established, financially sound, and whose products and services are in greatest demand within the local region.”
“This is the key to maintaining a rapid circulation of credits through the system, avoiding defaults, and preventing the excessive accumulation of credits in the hands of businesses that cannot easily spend them. In brief, the businesses that you wish to have accept community credits in payment are the ones that should be issuing them in the first place. By beginning with ‘trusted issuers’ the value and usefulness of the community credits is quickly demonstrated beyond any doubt. As the process gains credibility and general acceptance in the community, more businesses and individuals will want to join the credit clearing exchange; as each member develops a trading history they too can earn an overdraft privilege commensurate with their volume of sales within the system.”
- Greco
The need for local economic systems is becoming more and more acute as unemployment grows. Official unemployment is 10% but it is most certainly closer to 20% and going up. Some of these people are still getting government payments, but less and less of them are. These people are ready for a local economy since the formal economy won’t let them in.
How many people in the US are currently getting a government check?
The total government workforce in the US (federal, state, county, city, etc) is about 20% of employment. What if the governments went bankrupt and laid off half of their payroll? A lot of those people would be ready for a local economy.
How many people receive government checks for social security, veteran’s benefits, welfare, disabled, etc? Another 20%? What if the government went bankrupt and stopped sending checks? A lot of those people would be ready for a local economy.
What if the economy was in such a shambles that exporters have a hard time selling products and local stores have a hard time obtaining goods? What if tourism fell through the floor? More people are ready for a local economy.
We don’t know what scenario is going to happen with the US and world economy.
We climb out of the recession soon and the good old days return. Business as usual.
Long term recession
Long term depression
Wide-scale collapse, soon
The best way to prepare is to implement strategies that will be useful no matter which of the scenarios happens.
BARTERING
Barter is usually an exchange of goods between individuals. Money doesn’t exchange hands, goods (or services) do. Ideally, both individuals feel like they got a good deal.
Barter has always been an important economic activity after fiat currencies fail. Today there are sophisticated barter systems serving businesses via the internet.
Barter takes many forms. Single barters such as farmers trading manure for gravel. A beautician trades a hairdo for a basket. People exchange clothing, school supplies, homemade food, household repair jobs in carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work, medical and dental services, tutoring and tourism, among other goods and services. Barter events take place at various scales. Small flea markets based on barter. Big, regional barter fairs with 10,000 people.
Here is a statement about the cultural aspect of economic exchange by Stacy Mitchell.
“This brings me to a theory I have about the growth of farmers markets. The conventional explanation is that people are rediscovering local food. That's certainly true. But I think people are as hungry for the community experience as they are for the fresh broccoli. Several years ago, a group of sociologists from the University of California-Davis followed people around as they shopped in a supermarket. They found that your chances of having a conversation with another shopper are about 1 in 10. They then tracked people at farmers markets and found that your odds of having a conversation in this setting are nearly 70 percent.”
- Stacy Mitchell from A New Deal for Local Economies
In the event of a further economic downturn, I would recommend that towns, cities, and localities have a weekly or monthly barter fair, along with a larger, regional fall barter fair to celebrate and exchange the fall harvest.
ARGENTINA EXAMPLE:
Argentina has one of the biggest barter movements in recent history. When the Argentine currency collapsed in 2001, there were a few barter fairs. One year after currency collapse there were 3,000 barter fairs in the country. Many withered away as the economy improved, but recently there has been a new upsurge of participants, partly because of the economy and partly because people like the cultural experience of face to face exchange. Good article on barter in Argentina, December 30, 2009
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46452
Tonasket Barter Faire = Okanogan Family Faire
http://www.okanoganfamilyfaire.net/about.htm
This is an economic community event I started in 1974. 2010 will be our 37th annual barter faire. Many of my readers will have attended one of these barter fairs. One of the longest-running, alternative events on the West Coast. 400 people attended the first one and it was so fun and meaningful that attendance grew into the thousands by the fifth event. In the recent decade fair attendance is about 10,000 people. Unfortunately not all of them are there for the meaningful aspect of the event; some are there just for the partying. Even with the party crowd, it is still a great event, the economic aspect is huge, and there are lots of interesting people to meet. Look me up if you are at the 2010 faire. I haven’t missed one yet. Michael Pilarski.
How to Achieve Full Employment
I am interested in how a strong local economy would allow for full employment and increase natural resources and productive capacity.
For instance, how many people would it take to stop or reduce erosion on all the local watersheds? This has the economic benefits of stopping/minimizing flood damages as well as obtaining greater productivity from the floodplains and areas of land treated.
How many people would it take to bring local forests back up to a higher degree of productivity by thinning forests, doing forest care, tree planting, etc.? This has short-term and long-term payback.
How many people would it take to do wetland restoration work? This can have paybacks of reduced floods, cleaner waters, more irrigation water, and leveling out seasonal stream flows.
How many people would it take to do grassland restoration? This has paybacks in greater forage production for wildlife and livestock, reduced erosion and improved soils.
How many people would it take to plant and maintain windbreaks, shelterbelts and hedgerows where they would save on heating/cooling bills, shelter livestock with increased weight gains, increase crop yields, reduce drifting snow on roadways, etc?
These types of ecological restoration work create new resources, conserve current resources and perform many useful functions for society as a whole. Any sensible business manager knows you can’t run your productive assets into the ground. That is what we have been doing with our natural resources. Society needs to invest in increasing our natural resource base. How can this be accommodated in new economic systems? I contend that in a thriving local economy a portion of the production could go to help support the people who do the natural resource restoration work. This is a form of internal taxation. This can include things like housing, food, locally-produced materials and services. Some of the work can be done by volunteers. Some can be done by landowners and/or their hired help with or without public subsidies.
How can welfare for aged, ill, orphaned, handicapped people, etc be handled at a local level? Taxes are collected locally, sent to Washington DC or state capitals and then a portion comes back in welfare programs. Can local taxes stay local and be dispersed by the will of the local populace to meet welfare needs? Strong family and community ties enable a greater degree of local care. Full employment being a goal in that everyone is encouraged and enabled to be a productive member of society.
At this time of growing unemployment some people are willing to take almost any kind of job, no matter how inane, hazardous to their health or unethical. But the formal economy is shedding jobs by the bucketful. I predict that the government sector will start laying off workers by the bucketful later in 2010.
Local communities will be forced to come up with ways to productively employ the large masses of unemployed people who will still desire to eat, be housed and have their basic needs met. They shouldn’t be given make-work jobs. The work has to produce something useful for society. The US at this time has way too many consumers in proportion to producers. Gardening and producing food will become major pastimes. Local crafts and small-scale production of goods will be more important than imported goods. Natural resource restoration will be a major productive job category for several generations. Repairing and restoring houses and the building inventory will take several generations as well. Reconstruction of slums, brownfields and derelict areas will also take several generations. Preventative and natural health care is needed on a big scale for several generations to heal the accumulated affects of the toxic world so many people have been living in.
It is myopic to say there are no jobs, when so much work is screaming to be done all around us. The productive work needing to be done is in front of us. The ranks of the unemployed swell around us. In permaculture we say the problem is the solution. The connections are waiting to be made. It may come in the form of local economies or perhaps in the form of mass movements.
How is education going to function in the future? Federal and state funding for education is shrinking. Many state governments are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The federal government is bankrupt for all intents and purposes but is relying on printing fiat currency at incredible rates as long as other countries will continue to take it. This does not inspire funding confidence for schools and other public good.
In 2008 and 2009 we heard lots of international talk about nations around the world trying to decouple themselves from the sinking US economy. In a sense, local economies should be trying to decouple from the formal US economy. Individuals and localities need to work at decoupling themselves from the globalized economy. We need to create new vibrant local economies that meet the needs of people and the environment.
What will these new, vibrant, local economies look like? Following are some books and resources that are addressing this question. Please send in your favorite writers, models and references to add to this list.
-Michael Pilarski
michael at friendsofthetrees.net
A SMALL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fourth Corner Exchange is a Sustainable Community Currency based in the Pacific Northwest USA, which operates throughout the USA and the world. Currently over eight-hundred participating members, with branches in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, California in the USA and other local chapters in Canada and Sweden. Founded by Francis Ayley and a small group of friends in 2002, Fourth Corner Exchange formally started trading in January 2004. From those small beginnings they have grown to over eight-hundred members, exchanging a large selection of goods & services throughout the Pacific Northwest, centered around Bellingham and Port Townsend. Our vision: A world of economic freedom and justice for all, where all communities have access to a fair and equitable universal medium of exchange, issued by the people in sufficiency to meet their own needs and the needs of their communities.
Here are short reviews of economic books currently in my library.
* The End of Money and the Future of Civilization. Thomas H. Greco, Jr., 2009, Chelsea Green Pub. 268 pages. About 100 sources are cited. Greco is one of the best experts on the topic of people-centered economic systems and this is his latest synthesis. Chapter 18 is on Organizational Forms and Structures for Local Self-Determination and Complementary Exchange. Two examples studied are the Balinese Banjar governance structure and Spain’s Mondragon Cooperatives. He outlines credit clearing exchanges and mutual companies.
* Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender. Thomas H. Greco, Jr., 2001, Chelsea Green Pub. 295 pages. Greco’s earlier book on local currencies and community exchange systems.
* Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible. John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander, Editors, 2004, 2nd edition. 408 pages. A Report of the International Forum on Globalization.
This series of writings is on the more radical end of the spectrum of the books presented here. It is much more from the viewpoint of The Global South. It isn’t so much about tinkering with money systems as it is about tinkering with the power structure of societies. It includes writers such as Vandana Shiva, David Korten, Walden Bello and Helena Norberg-Hodge. The book has an extensive resources section which reviews about 100 organizations. Over 200 sources are cited.
* Direct Pointing to Real Wealth. Thomas J. Elpel’s Field Guide to Money. 2000, fifth edition. 186 pages. HOPS Press, 12 Quartz St., Pony, Montana 59747. $19.95. www.hollowtop.com
A very thought-provoking book. I haven’t read it yet, but a brief glance indicates it may be one of the closest stabs I have seen at looking at economics in real calories and not in currency. Elpel’s book is written for the individual person and family. A guide to how to live a better life with less need for currency. There is an 84-book bibliography.
* Slow Money. The long title is “Inquiries into the nature of Slow Money: Investing as if food, farms, and fertility mattered”. By Woody Tasch. Foreword by Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food International”. 2008. Chelsea Green Pub. 204 pages.
A most excellent development to divert some of the flow of investment capital to the needs of small farmers (and perhaps ecological restoration?). It currently depends on the smooth functioning of international finance systems and value of the dollar to do business. I expect that Slow Money will be incorporating some of the latest and well-thought out strategies to avoid the pitfalls of the past, so they bear close watching. I wonder what fallback plans they have to continue operation in the event of a US dollar collapse.
* Small is Possible: Life in a local economy. Lyle Estill. 2008. New Society Pub. 226 pages. Setting up self-reliant local economies.
* Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front. Sharon Astyk. 2008, New Society Pub, Gabriola Island, BC, Canada. 271 pages. A grass-roots, do it yourself, permaculture manual for adapting to a failing formal economy. Appendix one is a long list of practical personal steps you can do. There is an annotated bibliography of books on many practical topics.
* Ripples from the Zambezi. Ernesto Sirolli. 1999, New Society Pub., 151 pages. Describes Sirolli’s learning from 30 years of economic development in Africa, Australia and North America. Local entrepreneurship, locally-controlled, people-centered economic diversity. Includes a bibliography.
* Living Above the Store: Building a Business that creates value, inspires change, and restores land and community. Martin MeLaver. 2009, Chelsea Green Pub., 317 pages. The citations and bibliography sections list hundreds of books. How to set up ecological, useful businesses.
* Free I Got. Ernest Mann. 1993. Little Free Press, 1011 6th Ave. NE, #21, Little Falls, MN 56345. 326 pages. This is perhaps the most radical economics book of them all. Mann describes what he calls the Priceless Economic System. Everything is free. How could it possibly work!? It makes perfect sense . . . in a rational world. “In the priceless economic system everyone will have equal access to all goods and services.”
Some books not currently in my library, but recommended.
* Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth. by David Korten. He outlines an agenda to create a new economy-- locally based, community oriented, and devoted to creating a better life for all, not simply increasing profits. Korten has written other books on the economic paradigm shift. www.davidkorten.org
* Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. by Bill McKibben. Henry Holt, 2007. www.billmckibben.com
Korten is more focused on global systems while McKibben looks towards local movements but they have much in common.
* Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy by Peter G. Brown. 2009. In Right Relationship, Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver use the core Quaker principle of "right relationship"--respecting the integrity, resilience, and beauty of human and natural communities--as the foundation for a new economic model.
PDF of article (135KB) http://www.friendsofthetrees.net/articles/Economics104.pdf
A two-week intensive Permaculture Design Course
July 12-25, 2010
Skalitude Retreat Center, Methow Valley,
North-Central Washington
Instructors:
Michael Pilarski
Andrew Millison
Josho Somine
Deston Denniston
David Sansone
& other guests
Permaculture is the premier design system for high productivity and ecologically-sound, food systems. In addition to the plant landscape, permaculture also considers transportation, energy, buildings, water supply, community economics and governance.
Course tuition:
$800
Single day $80
Some partial work trades and scholarships available.
Tuition includes instruction, permaculture design certificate, camping, meals, and curriculum material. Graduates are entitled to use the term "Permaculture" in pursuit of livelihood and for educational purposes.
For registration and course information: Michael Pilarski:
michael at friendsofthetrees.net, (509) 486-4056
www.skalitude.com
COURSE TOPICS
* Permaculture principles & methodology
* Observation skills
* Zones and sectors
* Site analysis
* Ecosystem restoration
* Home food production
* Fruits, berries, nuts
* Edible landscaping
* Soils, fertilizers, mulches, inoculants
* Edible and useful native plants, wildcrafting
* Multi-story, food forests
* Vegetable and crop selection
* Sources for seed and nursery stock
* Plant propagation & seed saving
* Agroforestry & forestry
* Windbreaks, hedgerows
* Ethnobotany & ethnoecology
* Livestock and wildlife
* Urban permaculture
* Water in the landscape
* Swales, keyline, ponds & aquaculture
* Rain water harvesting
* Grey water & bioremediation
* Dry land strategies
* Natural building
* Alternative energy and fuels
* Intentional communities & ecovillages
* Local economies/barter systems
* Decentralized governance systems
* Large-scale design for cities, counties and islands
* and much, much more!
INSTRUCTORS:
Michael Pilarski is a farmer, wildcrafter and educator. He is the founder of Friends of the Trees Society (1978) and has written extensively on forestry, agriculture, agroforestry, permaculture and ethnobotany. He has lived in the Inland Northwest since 1972 and is the most active permaculture teacher in this region. He has taught 22 permaculture courses in the US and abroad. This is the only course he is offering in 2010.
Andrew Millison recently moved to Corvallis, Oregon after 14 years of doing permaculture in Arizona. He is very familiar with dryland techniques and has been co-instructing advanced, permaculture teaching courses. He has taught at Prescott College, Ecosa Institute, Oregon State University and founded the Prescott EcoHood.
Dave Sansone is an avid forest gardener cultivating over 400 species of edible and useful plants in a multicrop setting. He has taught numerous courses including wild edible and medicinal plant classes, ethnobotany of the Coast Salish, and Edible Forest Gardening workshops. He is the director of Perennial Harvest, a non-profit that advocates sustainable cultivation systems. www.perennialharvest.org
Deston Denniston, Abundance Consulting, has 12 years of natural building experience in earth, natural fibers, and salvage materials. A living home breathes, procures its own energy, cleans its water, and draws structure from its environment while offering back the same.
Josho Somine is a designer and builder from northern California who has been active in the permaculture network since 1997. He has worked with Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, the Lama Foundation, and Earthaven Ecovillage. He is currently finishing a master's degree in landscape architecture at UW Seattle, with a focus in urban green infrastructure.
Other guest speakers to be announced. Course participants will also bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to share. We are all students. We are all teachers.
The Skalitude Retreat Center is a 160-acre site surrounded by National Forest. The property and surroundings are gorgeous, fully-functioning ecosystems nestled at the end of a remote mountain valley in the North Cascades in the Methow River watershed. Carlton is the nearest town. Most of the course facilities are set up in one end of an expansive meadow ringed by forests and mountains. The adjacent forest provides shady camping.
Food:
We have a large, covered, outdoor kitchen where we prepare three meals a day of tasty, healthy food, mostly organic. The menu includes local meat, eggs and dairy as well as vegetarian and vegan fare.
Accomodations:
Tenting or RV - no extra charge
Shared room - $200 2-person bedrooms
Private room - $350
Shared rooms and private rooms only available July 16-25.
The word 'Permaculture' was originally coined in Australia in the 1970's by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Over the last 30 years, permaculture has become a global grassroots movement involving hundreds of thousands of people. Permaculture offers a huge storehouse of solutions, strategies and practical techniques gathered from around the globe and throughout history. If permaculture designs were implemented on a planetary scale in cities, farms and homes the world would become a garden of Eden.
The course covers the traditional Mollison permaculture curriculum as well as local knowledge. The species and techniques will be aimed at the Inland Northwest which includes Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana and southern Interior British Columbia. Participants from other bioregions are welcome. The main focus is learning permaculture principles and design methodology. The principles and methodology, once learned, can be applied and adapted to any site.
This course will impart permaculture principles and methodologies which can be applied anywhere in the world. Through lecture, slide shows, discussion, observation, field trips and hands-on activities, permaculture design students will develop the practical skills and knowledge necessary to design and implement sustainable systems that are in harmony with the natural world.
This course will be useful for gardeners, farmers, community food organizers, natural resource managers and anyone interested in self employment and local economies.
100s of strategies!
100s of techniques!
1,000s of species!
PDF (160KB) with more info... http://www.friendsofthetrees.net/images/permaculture_july_2010.pdf
Recommended Permaculture Resources on the Web
www.permacultureactivist.net
permacultureprinciples.com
www.spiralseed.co.uk/permaculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture#External_links
permaculture.org.au
www.holmgren.com.au
www.permaculture.org
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/perma.html
June 25-27 Fairy & Human Relations Congress!
The Fairy & Human Relations Congress is dedicated to promoting Communication and Co-Creation with Nature Spirits, Devas and the Faery Realms.
This is a unique annual gathering that brings together people on the pathways of Perelandra, Findhorn, Faery Underworld, Celtic Faery Tradition, Shamanism, Flower Essences, Herbalism, Biodynamic Gardening, Plant Spirit Medicine, Geomancy, Earth Healing, Animal and Plant Communication, Faery Doctoring, Spiritual Permaculture, and Deep Ecology.
www.fairycongress.com http://www.fairycongress.com
Sept 3-6 Singing Alive
A teaching gathering for ceremonial/devotional singing circles, dancing, and music. We change the world as we transform ourselves with songs of light, love, peace on earth and goodwill to all beings
Lillebakke, Cosmopolis, WA
more info... http://www.tribesofcreation.com/singing_alive.html
Spring Blessings!
Michael Pilarski
Friends of the Trees Society
PO Box 826, Tonasket, WA 98855
(509) 486-4056
michael at friendsofthetrees.net
www.friendsofthetrees.net
Use an explanatory subject line. For quicker results - write “Respond quickly” as part of the subject line.
Fairy & Human Relations Congress - Skalitude Retreat Center, POB 74 - Carlton - WA - 98114
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