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Introduction to Permaculture

(1 review)

Andrew Millison, Oregon State University

Copyright Year: 2017

Publisher: Oregon State University

Language: English

Formats Available

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CC BY-NC

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Reviewed by Angie Mestas, Adjunct faculty , Chemeketa Community College on 3/5/19

The textbook is an introduction to permaculture. It is divided into four sections. The first section provides basic information on the principles, ethics, design processes, leading contributors, and applications of permaculture. The second section... read more

Table of Contents

  • I. Section 1 - What is Permaculture?
    • 1. What is Permaculture?
    • 2. The People of Permaculture
    • 3. State and Challenges of the World
    • 4. David Holmgren's Future Scenarios
    • 5. Permaculture Ethics Investments & Directives
    • 6. Scales of System
  • II. Section 2 - Where Am I?
    • 7. Climate Change & Site Analysis
    • 8. Permaculture Site Analysis: From Macro to Micro
    • 9. Watershed Patterns
    • 10. Deforested Watershed
    • 11. Watershed Restoration
    • 12. Sectors
    • 13. Solar Aspect
    • 14. Microclimates
  • III. Section 3 - Permaculture Design
    • 15. Design as a Response to Zones and Sectors: Cause Studies
    • 16. Scales of Permanence
    • 17. Design Methods Resources
    • 18. Permaculture Principles
    • 19. Zones
  • IV. Section 4 - Climates
    • 20. Soil
    • 21. Trees
    • 22. Shelter
    • 23. Food
    • 24. Water
    • 25. Energy
    • 26. Community
    • 27. Where to From Here?
    • 28. World Permaculture Organizations

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About the Book

Permaculture Design is a method of land planning that can be applied at scales from the home garden to city block to village to farm. It is an ethically based whole-systems design approach that uses concepts, principles, and methods derived from ecosystems, indigenous technologies, and other time-tested practices to create sustainable human settlements and institutions. Although rooted in horticulture and agriculture, Permaculture design is interdisciplinary, touching on a wide range of subjects including regional planning, ecology, animal husbandry, appropriate technology, architecture, social justice, and international development.

This open text book is derived from the content of the Massive Open Online Course “Intro to Permaculture”. The original course also included interactive mapping and design tools that accompanied this content. The course and book provide a general overview of the Permaculture design system. The book can be downloaded as a print version. However, there are many accompanying videos and content pages that are linked to throughout the text, so it is best viewed online where the links can be accessed.

About the Contributors

Author

Andrew Millison brings over 20 years experience in designing and building permaculture projects to his teaching and wants to share that rich, real-world experience with his students.

He has been studying, teaching and practicing permaculture since he took his first design course in 1996. He began teaching permaculture design at the college level in 2001 and has been an instructor at Oregon State University in the Horticulture Department since 2009. Andrew currently teaches the Permaculture Design Course and the Advanced Permaculture Design Practicum at OSU on campus and online.

Andrew first learned permaculture design in the drylands of Arizona, where he studied for his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Prescott College. His focus was on rainwater harvesting, greywater systems and desert agriculture. He started a permaculture landscape design and build company and also worked in an ecologically-based landscape architecture firm.

In recent years, Andrew’s focus has been more on broad scale farm planning, permaculture housing developments and obtaining water rights. In 2015 he founded Permaculture Design International, a collaborative design firm that works on large-scale global projects.

You can stay current with Andrew’s Permaculture conversations on his podcast www.earthrepairradio.com.

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