7. Homestead:
For this list, the homestead scale refers to a rural property that is bigger than a suburban lot but smaller than a working farm. This means that the area under management is between 1 and 5 acres or .5-2 hectares. A homestead will not usually rely solely on the fruits of their land for income and sustenance, but is big enough to have more diverse and extensive production systems. This is a very popular scale for Permaculture projects throughout the world, and offers the potential for significant animal rotation, growing large trees, ponds with more substantial water collection, multiple larger structures, and profitable cottage industry with multiple residents. There are some really beautiful Permaculture homesteads out there! Below are links to some projects and resources:
Melliodora, Australia, Designed by David Holmgren
8. Farms:
Permaculture farms are diverse agricultural systems that are designed with a range of different enterprises that work together to make profitable businesses and healthy landscapes. The layout of a Permaculture farm is influenced by the shape of the land, to maximize production and minimize effort while building soil, benefitting the water cycle, and providing long-term resilience and abundance to the farmers. Permaculture farms look different than conventional farms because they work with natural patterns and integrate animals, crops, trees, water storage, renewable energy, and people in a harmonious and productive way. Below are links to Permaculture farm projects and resources:
Forest Agriculture Enterprises, Viola, WI
Seven Seeds Farm, Williams, OR
Bullocks Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
9. Educational Centers:
There are many overlaps on these scales of systems, especially for educational centers, because many are also farms, or homesteads, or suburban or urban lots, or retreat centers. But Permaculture demonstration sites with a focus on bringing people into touch the systems and learn and be inspired is a category of Permaculture sites that we find. Demonstration sites are often some of the most rich and diverse ones because they are designed for interaction and education of the public. Many sites offer full Permaculture Design Courses (PDC), which we encourage you to take if you want to get deeper into this inspiring field. Below are links to Permaculture educational centers:
Quail Springs Permaculture, California
Fambidzanai Permaculture Center, Zimbabwe
Maya Mountain Research Farm, Belize
10. Broad Scale Agroforestry:
It is not just homesteads and farms that have taken up Permaculture. Some large commercial and industrial-scale producers have seen the value of Permaculture systems and investing in large scale projects that are benefitting whole regional economies, ecology, hydrology, and food security. There are corporations who have invested in these projects, like M&M Mars Inc. in Vietnam. There are also projects that are not under the name “Permaculture”, and are called agroforestry, yet share many of the same design principles, strategies and techniques. This is a growing area where there is the potential for industries to apply Permaculture design to existing supply chains, which turns consumer dollars into agents of land regeneration, like Lush Cosmetics is doing (link below). Below are links to broad scale Permaculture and agroforestry projects and resources:
11. International development:
International development is another field ripe for the application of Permaculture design. There are already many channels where money, experts and other resources are working to assist in the economic development of other countries, and Permaculture has it’s own initiatives to make international development sustainable and regenerative for economies, ecosystems, and societies. Many non-profit organizations already employ Permaculturalists to conduct trainings and development projects in many countries. Below are links to Permaculture international development projects and resources:
Permaculture Research Institute, Resiliency in International Development
Permaculture Research Institute, Integrating Permaculture & International Development
Quail Springs Permaculture, PDC for International Development
Accounting For International Development, Permaculture Institute of El Salvador
12. Disaster Relief and International Aid:
There are many instances where teams of Permaculture “first responders” have arrived in areas after a major natural or human-made disasters. Often times this is with the support of a non-governmental organization. Permaculture is very suited to organizing safe and ecological survival systems in refugee camps and places which need to be rebuilt. In many disaster situations, appropriate technology and Permaculture design can really benefit things like the safe processing of human waste through composting, keeping water clean and soils in place through erosion control and layout of camps, fuel efficient cooking using appropriate technology, and fast growing gardens that turn garbage into compost into food. Below are links to Permaculture for disaster relief:
Haiti: How permaculture is proving a vital tool in disaster relief
Hurricane Yolanda Permaculture Relief Aid Workers, Philippines
Treehugger, Rethinking Disaster Relief for Haiti and Beyond
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