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Introduction to Permaculture

The permaculture perspective has more resonance now than at any other time since the term ‘permaculture’ was coined in 1978. The Paris Climate Agreement of 2016 has the world admitting it needs to turn civilization onto a different road. Permaculture design has been scouting out that path for nearly 40 years, and now it’s time that the world sees some of what we have learned about living in cooperation with nature.

This free introduction to permaculture is meant for the novice and the professional alike, with no prior experience necessary. For the person new to permaculture design and land stewardship, this book will provide a foundation from which to build upon with subsequent training, and introduce a new perspective that can be applied in many careers and facets of life.

For the gardener, farmer, nurseryman, architect, landscaper, land manager, developer, engineer, aid worker, planner or activist, this book can help to deepen and focus the good work you’re already doing, and provide a grounding in the permaculture design process that you can apply in your current endeavors. The book is not teaching specific techniques as much as a system and process of design which can be used to enhance work in many different fields.

Introduction to Permaculture Links to an external site.

Book cover for Introduction to Permaculture  

Permaculture Design: Tools for Climate Resilience

One of the 12 Permaculture principles articulated by its co-founder David Holmgren encourages us to “Design from Patterns to Details.” This means that we establish a general ecological and social context for a site before ever examining and designing intricate details of a place. We begin to establish our site context from the widest possible view. Climate is the largest scale geophysical pattern that we need to understand in order to place ourselves within the world.

This book is predominantly about climate, and the macro influences of climate and climate change on design. As we get through the topics of climate analogues and climate change forecasting, we will end up moving down this list to see the climate’s influence on specific design choices.

Permaculture Design: Tools for Climate Resilience Links to an external site.

Book cover for Permaculture Design: Tools for Climate Resilience