Sharing goes with Caring!
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This newsletter promotes the Permaculture Design Course in Otaki in January 2018 and describes three Toru events which embrace and highlight this wonderful human capacity and love for sharing and caring:
- Talk by social-business enabler Martin Large on new approaches to land ownership on Monday 9 October, at EDA, 275 Cuba Street, Wellington
- Movie night 'Tomorrow' about sharing hopeful stories from around the world, screening on Wednesday 1 November, at EDA, Cuba Street, Wellington
- Inaugural Bread bakers' festival of sharing on Saturday 4 November, at 59 Wellington Road Paekakariki, "to bake and break bread in the spirit of Parihaka". The event is inspired by the heart wrenching story of the Maori Parihaka settlement in 1841.
These events are all examples of the permaculture ethics of caring for people and planet and fair share. I often get asked to summarise what the permaculture course is all about - in one sentence... (no pressure!). My 'one sentence' answer is that it is a design tool, designing the type of sustainable life which creates abundance and resilient communities and livelihoods which truly 'add up for all', for planet and all people. The movie 'Tomorrow' is a more elaborate answer.
The movie begins with highlighting the numerous current challenges but only for five minutes and then focusses on wonderful, hopeful and inspiring stories and solutions around the world. Stories of grass root people power in community taking initiative and responding to core practical challenges. It left me uplifted and deeply hopeful. Some stories explicitly describe their approach as 'permaculture', others don't but implicitly embrace the ethics and principles of permaculture. And it is exactly THAT what attracted me to permaculture; that permaculture is not a 'thing', not an 'explicit recipe' and certainly not a fixed philosophy that one has to subscribe to. It is a 'way of looking' at challenges, it is at foremost a design tool, It could be, for example,
- designing the next steps/goals in your personal life,
- creating the scaffolding/framework for your community strategic plan, or for your organisation/business/enterprise,
- designing your garden or lifestyle block, or
- help you to create your personal inner landscape/life.
Yes, sometimes it is about gardening, but that is just one example. it touches and strives to create interconnectedness between all realms of life. It is practical, hands-on and also a lot of fun. It is a programme but has an exciting, unpredictable aspect to it, as it is the 20 participants coming together that have a large input into what truly happens. And THAT is the other reason why I got deeply involved after I first completed my permaculture course as a participant. It is the unexpected and the miraculous that happens when people connect over 15 days living together! It is the learning, sharing and caring between people that goes way beyond a programme. 'Living it!"
We have been busy with registrations coming in (already half full) and wonder who are the remaining participants who commit to a very different type of summer 'holiday'. We are also delighted to announce that past participant Keith Townsend will join our tutor team as our intern. See here for our full team of experienced tutors. Keith is closer to the experience as a participant than some of us tutors and is happy to answer any questions of 'what was it like.....? E-mail Keith your questions on keith.townsend@hotmail.co.nz
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PDC 2016 participants Ruby Gray and Keith Townsend presenting their project.
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Innovative approaches to land ownership.
Come and join the talk/conversation on Monday 9 October with Martin Large, visiting from England
Martin Large founded the Biodynamic Land Trust (UK) and describes himself amongst other things as community land trust and social business enabler. He co-founded Stroud Common Wealth Ltd in 1999 for social, economic and cultural renewal. His Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to the USA in 2003 led to UK wide action research resulting in 175 community land trusts for social housing, several farm land trusts and reinventing the co-op community benefit society structure. Books include, Social Ecology (1981), Futures that Work (2002), Common Wealth (2010), and Commons Sense: Co-operative Place Making for 21st Century Garden Cities. (2013).
You may enjoy listening to this interview
https://www.mixcloud.com/21stCenturyPermaculture/23rd-nov-2014/
Wellington:
Monday 9th October. 5.30pm – 8pm. Talk and conversation on “Co-creating a Common Wealth Society.” Come for a shared soup/bread inner at 5.30 and 6.00 beginning of the talk.
Venue: Enspiral Dev Academy, 275 Cuba St, Te Aro, Wellington.
Cost: Koha
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Movie event 'Tomorrow, jointly held by 'Conscious Consumer, EDA and Toru Education, on Wednesday 1 November, at 275 Cuba Street, Wellington
"What if telling a hopeful story that points out solutions is the best way to solve the ecological economic and social crises that shake our world?"
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Inaugural Breadbakers' Festival of Sharing on the 4th November in Paekakariki, calling all bread bakers alumnae and friends!
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This festival has been inspired by the heart wrenching story of the Parihaka Maori settlement in on the 4th November 1841. Come and hear this story and what it has to do with bread and sharing. Bring your dough and share your latest bread experiment. All details here. Let's bake and break bread! There is a limit to our living room, so please RSVP
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Bread baking with Doris on the 4th November
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If you want to become a 'bread baker alumnae' just in time before the bread bakers' Festival, come to the course in the morning of the festival!
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Another class on the 2 December!
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What a feast of Toru events! See you there!
Doris, for the Toru Education Trust
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