I just came back from an amazing week in Turangi where I attended the Australasian Permaculture Convergence with some of the other Sustainable Practice students. It was only a few months ago that I had to ask them what the term "Permaculture" actually meant :-) The name apparently stems from permanent agriculture or permanent culture, and refers to a sustainable way of growing food and living. Now I think of it as a type of science that sprouted after the realisation that we (humanity) are marginalising and forgetting 'the old way of doing things'.
In true spirit, all of the food we ate was provided by Awhi Farm down the road (organic of course) and various donations. The line up was really impressive and attracted over 500 people! I imagine that many more people would have found it very interesting, its just that its brilliance was hidden under the name few people recognize. More than once I sat there marvelling at the incredible microbiology and nutrient cycling knowledge that was being discussed!
Not surprisingly, there were a few Jesus-look-a-like-most-probably-a-vegan greenies around, and they're all aware how that tends to block adoption of their fascinating information by mainstream. More than that, many wonder how to overcome the issue. One beautiful conclusion that was reached in one of the last panel discussions was that it definitely doesn't require rebranding, but definitely diversification! Leave the pioneers their integrity, but then spread the knowledge under whatever form that fits.
Overall, I only got to experience a tiny slice of all the things on offer at the conference (since there were usually 10 sessions running concurrently at any one time). Topics included: local currency design and timebanking, waste management, deep ecology, co-operative business structures, eco-village examples, food self-reliance, terraquaculture, scything, biochar, seed saving, regenerative agriculture and soil health for food and human health, urban permaculture design, edible food forests (I love this concept and plan to erect one on my parents property - more updates on that once I have started the design), fermentation of foods, the natural step framework, hempology, composting toilets, how to grow mushrooms, emergency response examples, natural burials, indigenous foods, eco-schools, permaculture education systems, and more. I'll have to write separate posts on my favourite plenary talks.
The best highlight was getting to meet so many kind and interesting people with big dreams, it was really really really quite fun! ;-)
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