Circular Economy: Material Flows and Sustainable Materials – Practical Applications

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2.9

Permaculture Design: Creating Sustainable Human Habitats

The concept of Permaculture was coined by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s with the development of their practical design framework.

Permaculture (a blending of the words Permanent and Agriculture) is an ecological design system that seeks to create sustainable human settlements and agricultural systems by modeling them on the patterns and resilient features found in natural ecosystems. It is guided by three core ethics and a set of twelve design principles. In the video below, the founders, Mollison and Holmgren, summarize the concept and practice.

You can watch a tour of David Holmgren and Su Dennett’s ‘Melliodora’ Permaculture home here.

Three Core Ethics and Twelve Design Principles

Permaculture is founded upon three core ethics that guide all decisions and actions within a system:

Earth Care: Focuses on maintaining and regenerating the health of soil, water, air, and all living systems.
People Care: Focuses on the well-being and needs of individuals and communities, ensuring access to essential resources.
Fair Share: Deals with consumption and distribution, requiring that people set limits on their resource use and reinvest any surplus back into the first two ethics (Earth Care and People Care).

In this video the 12 Permaculture Principles are listed.

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Permaculture Design: Creating Sustainable Human Habitats

Three Core Ethics and Twelve Design Principles

Further reading, learning and references