European Permaculture Network – Harmony & Synergy

10/09/201910/09/2019

IPEN & Education News

iLAND Centre Network

The pilot iLAND Network is taking shape with so far 3 aspiring LAND Centre projects having applied in Europe (in Latvia, Bulgaria and Ukraine), 4 across Africa, 1 in Armenia and 1 in Laos. We expect more to apply, to reach our target number of 12 projects in the pilot network, which we will provide more support to and which will help us refine the iLAND systems. We hope to have iLAND project profiles on the iLAND webpages by the end of October. From there we expect the network to expand significantly in Europe and around the world. For more information see: https://www.ipenpermaculture.org/ipen-priorities/iland-demonstration-centres/

Education Resources

A number of additional Case Studies of inspirational projects both in Europe and elsewhere are now available via IPEN’s Resources webpages, that can help provide guidance and inspiration to permaculture projects and organisations in Europe. A number of useful teaching and curriculum guides are also available, including the still highly valuable resources produced by the European Permaculture Teachers (EPT) partnership project – use the filter tool to search the topics at: https://www.ipenpermaculture.org/education-resources/

52 Climate Actions – https://www.52climateactions.com/

The webpages for the 52 Climate Actions project have now been launched. IPEN and other EuPN members were involved throughout and IPEN drafted an outline for community-led Climate Action Training which is available through the website. With various EuPN members, we are aiming to host a number of online events that will share examples of permaculture-led climate action training and engagement activities, including a recent successful pilot that has been run in South Australia.

Ecolise BLAST Project

The 2-year BLAST project is underway to develop, strengthen and support a growing Europe-wide community of practise for community-led transformative blended learning for sustainability and climate action, with several members of the EuPN involved. This will help widen access to tools and a platform for blended learning, that can be used widely by permaculturists across Europe.

EuPN ReLeaP Project

It is hoped that the ReLeaP partnership project, taken forward by the Resources for Action Working Group, and involving 9 EuPN members, will be able to be confirmed by the end of the year. If Erasmus+ funding is approved this will deliver a 2 year ‘Regenerative Leadership Programme’ starting in January 2020 to support the pioneers and leaders in permaculture networks, organisations, projects and teaching across Europe, with the aim that at least 50% of the participants will be under 30 years old. The project will involve a series of physical and online events, and produce a number of good practice guides and resources to stimulate and support the permaculture movement across Europe.

10/09/201910/09/2019

Introduction to Engaging Children in Permaculture courses

In this two day course for parents, teachers and other educators to learn how to engage children in permaculture, participants will learn how the permaculture ethics and principles can be applied to education; discover some great benefits of outdoor learning; learn how to create child-led sessions which engage the whole child: eyes, heart, hands and head; and much more!

28&29 Sep @ Landmatters, Devon, England

5&6 Oct @ the Sustainability Centre, Hampshire, England

5&6 Oct @ LearningInNature, Espoo, Finland

9&10 Nov @ Montrose, Angus, Scotland

and more… watch this space:

More info: http://childreninpermaculture.com/events/

17/07/201918/07/2019

The Swiss Permaculture Academy is born!

It is with great pleasure that we inform you of the birth of the Swiss Permaculture Academy!

According to Barbara Garofoli “it was a great co-creation process where everyone gave their best for a common goal. There has been so much cooperation, attention, sensitivity and commitment from everyone, so touching.”

A special thanks to Massimo Candela and Elisabetta Dallavalle, both presidents of the Accademia Italiana di Permacultura and the Ellipse group, who repeatedly supported Barbara Garofoli from a distance and helped to “untangle” some knots in Switzerland and to clear the way. A special thanks to Elena Parmiggiani who came directely from Italy to support the birth of the Swiss Permaculture Academy.

As a diploma-holder of the AIP – Accademia Italiana di Permacultura – Barbara Garofoli organized in 2013 the first PDC in french-speaking side of Switzerland and since then accompanied a group of students in their Action Learning Pathway.

In 2016 the first diplomas were delivered in French Switzerland by the AIP and on 2018 the Swiss Permaculture Academy was born, in collaboration with the AIP and the Permaculture Association of the Italian Switzerland.

Working in connection with the AIP is a great example of simmetry, a complimentary criteria during the accreditation but so important to built cooperation, partnership support and sharing.

At the moment in Switzerland are 21 diploma holders and more than 70 students involved in the Active Learning Pathway .

To support students the Academy offers an Action Learning Manual as well as a list of tutors with a description of each diploma-holder.

The objectif of the ASP is to be a reference for the permaculture movement in Switzerland, supporting students in their active learning pathway and working in collaboration with other permaculture experiences around the world.

The ASP engages to co-create a structure interconnected with all the permaculture institutions in Europe and representing the different visions of all the actors involved in the permaculture movement in Switzerland.

Official documents are available in French, Italian, German and English, about PDC curriculum and criteria as well as Accreditation criteria for the diploma of Applied Permaculture Design.

For further information you may contact : secretariat [at] permacultura [dot] ch

10/07/2019

Spanish National Permaculture

This last May, some 80 permaculture designers and fans gathered under the full moon in the region of Albacete in Southern Spain. For four days we shared knowledge and practical information, as is typical for Permaculture convergences, but we also collaborated on the design of the national organization Permaculture Íbera and together dreamt it into the next phases. Several dynamics were used to slow down, be present, reflect, observe and then interact. New workgroups (anillos = rings) such as Finance and Legalities and Education were suggested to be added to the previous sociocratic setup by the pilot group, middle ring or core group, which has been working (voluntary) towards a solid structure for 5 years now already. Willing participants positioned themselves in their working area of choice, and as we write/read, these new action groups are committing to sharing time and experiences in search of practical solutions to regenerate our landscapes and to up resilience through reinforcing connections across the bioregions of the Spanish country.

Photos of the event are here and if you read Spanish, a lovely write up was made by Igor, one of the event’s kitchen coordination group and fervid Permaculture Designer himself.

10/07/201910/07/2019

Search for niche innovations in Europe in the field of food and agriculture

Dear European Permaculture-Network,

We from NAHhaft together with our project partners Friends of the Earth Europe and Nyéléni Europe and Central Asia would be grateful for your support. This would involve reaching out to people from a variety of sustainable niche initiatives in the agriculture and food systems of Europe, and increasing awareness of these initiatives.

The research project aims at finding a plurality of food and agriculture related niche innovations that are not yet or barely known in Germany. By means of their Europe-wide promotion, impulses for a sustainable adaptation of the niches in many regions across Europe should be set. In addition, the diversity of niches is meant to unleash synergy effects on a sustainable transformation of these food systems.

We are currently in in the research phase. In order to reach as many initiatives as possible, it would be of great support to the project, if you could pass on the document in attachment to your members and associate networks or if you could upload it to your homepage and social media platforms.

Additional project related information can be found here:

https://www.ernaehrungswandel.org/fileadmin/Website/NEuropa/NEuropa_Flyer.pdf

If you have suggestions in this regard, please write them to us: helen.engelhardt [at] nahhaft [dot] de

You are invited to visit our homepage, if you are interested in getting to know more about our work at NAHhaft: https://www.nahhaft.de

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best regards

NAHhaft–

Helen Engelhardt

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin