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The (un)Quiet Revolution: Permaculture (Documentary)

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The documentary, Permaculture, A Quiet Revolution, investigates communal-self-reliance and economic-environmental sustainability through permanent (agri)culture or permaculture.

back to the land, agriculture, sustainability
Part of the permaculture design system is a practice called zoning, the correct placement of things to afford minimal energy input and maximum output. Permaculture is design. It’s not just organic. It’s design, and if the design element isn’t there, it may be green, it may be organic, may be environmentally sound, but it isn’t permaculture. Image from “Permaculture – A Quiet Revolution”

Revolutions of the Land and Culture are Never Quiet

Permaculture — from permanent and agriculture — is an integrated design philosophy that encompasses gardening, architecture, horticulture, ecology, even money management and community design. The basic approach is to create sustainable systems that provide for their own needs and recycle their waste.

Bill Mollison, who published Permaculture One in 1978, developed the theories after spending decades in the rainforests and deserts of Australia studying ecosystems. He observed that plants naturally group themselves in mutually beneficial communities. He used this idea to develop a different approach to agriculture and community design, one that seeks to place the right elements together so they sustain and support each other.

As traditional media sources fail to provide accurate news of the world’s dire environmental predicament, the Earth sends a clear message in the form of record-breaking natural disasters, famine and epidemics. People are mobilizing for what lies ahead through permaculture.

“I teach self-reliance, the world’s most subversive practice. I teach people how to grow their own food, which is shockingly subversive. So, yes, it’s seditious. But it’s peaceful sedition.”  — Bill Mollison, Permaculture Pioneer


Permaculture, A Quiet Revolution, Vanessa Schulz

permanent agriculture, environmental sustainability
If in permaculture we can provide accurate models of all the systems that we’ve developed, and build energy-efficient houses that use renewable energies, with eco-friendly sanitation systems, biological systems that are part of the overall design, we can significantly reduce resource use.

In May 2007, the 8th International Permaculture Convergence (IPC8) was held in Brazil, bringing together visionary activists from 43 countries in the common goal of preparing for, and mitigating, our looming global crisis. Their strategy: Self-reliance and sustainability through permaculture.

This timely documentary offers practical steps on how to ‘permaculturize’ our lives. It invites viewers into a permaculture community that spans the globe. Most importantly, it gives the critical inspiration needed to turn our backs on that which is failing us, and to create a sustainable future of our own making.

STORY: Permaculture Lessons From Fire: Restoring Paradise

Celebrating IPC8 Brasil 2007 – International Permaculture Conference & Convergence from SB Permaculture Network on Vimeo.

Updated 19 September, 2020

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  1. Pingback: Convivial Degrowth: An Ecologic Reckoning for an Ailing Planet | WilderUtopia.com

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