Introduction

Permaculture has been described as a 'quiet revolution' ('Interview with Bill Mollison' by Scott London, in Hopedance, www.hopedance.org/archive/issue31/toc.htm, accessed 05/05/04). The interview concludes: 'So it's a revolution. But permaculture is anti-political. There is no room for politicians or administrators or priests. And there are no laws either. The only ethics we obey are: care of the earth, care of people, and reinvestment in those ends.' - which suggests that pc is anarchic rather than revolutionary. Pc activists often describe themselves as 'world changers' rather than revolutionaries, a phrase that still suggests radical change rather than piecemeal reform.

Scott London defines pc as follows: '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.' Mollison remarks in the interview that 'no one had ever applied design to agriculture. … We'd had agriculture for 7,000 years, and … everything was turning into desert.' So, what is revolutionary about pc is that it's about applying design to how we grow food, and to everything else that contributes to caring for people and planet. Which sounds such a brilliant idea that it should have caught on big-time worldwide. Sadly it hasn't: the majority of people haven't heard of pc; those who do, and take a look at what's going on in the pc world, often move rapidly from initial enthusiasm for the ideas to disillusion with the implementation. And they turn back to whatever else they were doing to make the world a better place.

But if pc design is as powerful as its founders and committed followers believe, why not apply it to designing the revolution which pc practice on its own may not be able to achieve? This is the hypothesis I hope to explore in my work towards gaining a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.

As in any pc design, I shall begin by surveying the territory: the revolution/world-changing territory, identifying the elements, noting their characteristics and their potential for complementing each other - or not. This is a big landscape so I won't be able to visit it all, so I shall just wander or hang around and observe what catches my attention, but I shall do this very openly so that anyone who finds this project interesting can join in.

Pc designs as originally conceived were land use designs for clients, and an early stage in the design was identifying clients' needs. In my design, everyone and everything is a client in the sense that the 'revolution' is directed at 'people care, earth care and universal equity'. This could look like a problem until you realize that it actually simplifies the task. In the same way that a socialist revolution would lead to common ownership which is the same as no ownership or property at all, 'everyone is a client' leads to there being no clients, so that aspect of the design can be ignored. Instead, the objective will be to reconcile the goals of the various would-be revolutionaries - forming guilds, perhaps. There is an added complication in that many people and groups in the revolutionary territory have most to say about what the 'client' does not want. But some critiques of the status quo are interesting and valuable, and will be included in the survey.

When I have gained sufficient understanding of the territory and its resources and constraints, I shall move on to design, in particular looking at how to bring combinations of the disparate elements together to bring about revolutionary change. Noam Chomsky is a highly respected analyst of the modern world. Near the end of the very bleak picture he presents in Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, he allows himself a few words of hope. He identifies a 'promising development' which has the potential to become 'the planet's "second superpower"' consisting of alliances at grassroots level and global bonds of solidarity and human rights. A manifestation of this consolidation which gets even Chomsky optimistic is the World Social Forum, but this coalition is already showing a tendency to fall apart into antagonistic sectarian fragments. In my view this is inevitable unless the process of change they all passionately desire is consciously designed.

In this Diploma project I may not complete even the outline or essential features of a design for revolution, but I hope to show that design is needed, and that every activist and group seeking fundamental change would benefit from considering how their strengths could be applied, and their difficulties resolved, by participating in a consciously designed cooperative revolution.

Goals

(1) Increase my understanding of permaculture design practice and develop my own design skills;

(2) study the potential for a revolution from (unsustainable and unjust) global capitalism and US imperialism - probably to a system based on nodes of local community sustainable socialism. Local communities would be self-governing (by full participation and consensus) and self reliant where basic needs are concerned. They may have links of various kinds to other communities nearby and in the wider world as they choose, rather than on an essential or compulsory basis;

(3) make a systematic study of various revolutionary/ world-changing initiatives, including ecovillages, permaculture projects, intentional communities, lifestyle movements, political parties, single issue campaigning groups, and critiques of the current system;

(4) identify the characteristics of world-changing initiatives and their members, including how they operate and what distinguishes/ separates/ alienates them from other initiatives;

(5) participate personally in enabling disparate groups to cooperate;

(6) work on my own tendency to flit from one world-changing group or tendency to another, usually because of disillusion with the old and enthusiasm for the new;

(7) promote permaculture as a generally useful approach to world-change, whether lifestyle based or political.

End Products

The end products I visualise are:

1. a website recording the results of the analysis stages and design ideas, perhaps eventually including a description of a proposed Design for a Revolution;
2. a networking process whereby the analysis and Design is publicised locally and regionally, possibly including 'launch' events;
3. building on 2. above, new activities planned and underway within a 'grassroots revolution forum' in the Exeter and South Devon area;
4. permaculture project follow-up on behalf of the Permaculture Association (Britain) embarked upon and a method of approach drawn up for further work.

Activities within Action Learning Pathway

Step 1: Planning

Produce Diploma workplan for discussion/ acceptance, including Action Learning Pathway
(This paper plus refinements)

Step 2: Data collection

Explore suitable sources of information including:

Groups and projects in the local community (Exeter and South Devon): those linked to permaculture projects and others, using pre-existing descriptions, reports and observations gleaned from personal visits.

Examine critiques of capitalist system with view to identifying:
§ what critics object to,
§ what level of change they think is feasible,
§ what methods of change they propose,
§ whether they are basically anti-capitalist or reformist,
§ what alternative visions are described,
§ degree of success, support, credibility,

§ and noting whether there is any intention or evidence that such critics are taking practical (lifestyle) action themselves.

Subject to overall constraints of elapsed time and available resource, a flexible and open-ended approach will be taken to this step, to take account of new material encountered, and favouring groups, campaigns, issues with which I can become involved with in a practical way, particularly on a local basis.

Step 3

From Step 2 distill a short list of elements of revolutionary change for further study including ethics, approaches, obstacles.
Draw up a standard data set and method of evaluation for use in documenting and assessing each element.
Collate information on and assess each element examined: triggers, motivations of players, strengths, weaknesses, current trends.

Step 4
Review main findings and conclusions with support group/ action learning guild.
Write project report, place on web site with suitable index and cross references.
Design and carry out other dissemination and launch activities.
Draw up next steps to refine or build on results so far.

How will this project utilise the core principles of Action Learning?

Looking at the elements in the 'learning from experience' cycle illustrated above:

The 'project' is 'designing a revolution'. 'Revolution' is specifically directed at replacing the capitalist system. ('World change' is sidelining or working independently of the capitalist system, or campaigning seriously to challenge or subvert it, especially with regard to sustainability and permaculture ethics.)

'Doing project work' involves identifying 'elements' of potential 'revolution' or 'world change' and subjecting them to a 'process of analysis'.

An 'element' could be
§ a permaculture site, eco-village or other project,
§ a current issue or problem at any level/place from local to global, and associated group of political activists,
§ a book or other writings by a critic of capitalism or an architect of future societies,
§ an intentional community or lifestyle system outside the permaculture community.

The 'process of analysis' will evolve with iterations of the 'learning from experience' cycle, but initially it involves consideration of such characteristics for elements under study as: practical / theoretical, membership or players, their structures / relationships with each other / with others, modes of communication, goals, methods, strengths / successes, weaknesses / difficulties. Also relevant are my opinions and involvement and how those might change, what links I could make, how one element relates, or could relate, to another. I shall need methods / tools for writing this up.

'Observing effects' will initially concentrate on critically monitoring my own progress in collecting evidence and beginning to form conclusions, and in making useful contacts to further the work. (I am conscious of needing to demonstrate 'theory in action' i.e that I am making practical use of permaculture principles in my lifestyle and work.)

My particular weakness that I want to address through this work is that I'm inclined to think and talk but not do, even write. I'm lazy: I have intentions but don't follow them through, or not very far. While seeming confident I am actually quite shy. Also I 'don't suffer fools gladly', and am selective about whom I respect and want to work with.

'How the theory fits' is about testing how I am making use of the permaculture analysis and design tools in this unusual environment.

'Needs and Offers' is a potentially useful pc tool for my project: helping to identify what is useful and what is lacking in an element. The lack can be a defect - like sectarianism hindering cooperation - but better to see it as an opportunity for some other element(s) to make good.

'Designing next steps' will involve refining the work of identifying and analysing elements.

Timetable

Supporting Notes - what could be useful

1. Could do an ALP diagram like Aranya's:

2. Essential Criteria (60%)

Theory in action: live the theory
Design Practice
Design Frameworks: CEAP, pc acronym and simplest: Collecting Info., Evaluating, Applying pc principles, Planning implementation, maintenance and change.

Design methods most obviously relevant:
i. build a pattern language
ii. analytical design
iii. observation
iv. deduction from nature (cooperation better than competition; an important but trivial point)
v. options and decisions
vi. zone and sector analysis
vii. application of principles, esp. every element functions in many ways, every function supported by many elements
viii. creating guilds.

Design methods not so obviously useful, or I don't understand them:
'planning for real or rapid rural appraisal'? but 'open design process' is OK
'future history, future searches'? but 'vision design' is OK
'date overlay'? but 'exclusion zones' maybe
'random assembly' maybe - link to creating guilds
'flow diagrams'?
'incremental or rolling design methods' maybe

3. Note: Need to explore implications of pc ethics:
People care: who?, how?, where?, when?, hostility?
Earth care: depth and kind of concern?
Universal equity: depth and kind of concern?

4. Complementary Criteria (40%)

Dissemination: big part of my project
Community Building: big part of my project
Symmetry - give back to Diploma WorkNet: willing in principle
Evaluation and Costings - yields etc.: yes, but not like land based project.

5. Designer's Profile

My special area of expertise is Research

6. Timetable to incorporate Action Learning Guild and Tutorials

I'm concerned about getting my project accepted so timetable is provisional.

7. Theory in Action / starting with my lifestyle

My weaknesses/ tendencies:

initial enthusiasm, poor carry through, criticality/ negativity
one-activity-at-a-time
talk, not do
retreat home
laziness
poor memory, especially of names
can be over-adamant

My strengths:

knowledge of global environmental/ world development issues
knowledge of political theories and ideas
systems analysis skills (used to be paid employment)
good with children, some teaching experience
craft projects: costumes, banners etc., design skills,
web work: fairly basic technical knowledge, needs building on,
writing: good but slow (some published work),
copy editing / proof reading: Chapter House, Exeter certificate,
Consultant Editor of Permaculture Magazine for 12 years (since inception)
speaking & workshops: (10 years) on land use/ land degradation,
facilitating groups: some skills and experience,
ideas: readily grasp and able to articulate.

I need to work on how to make myself as useful as possible in the communities of activists I get involved with.