Starhawk, author and permaculture designer and teacher, on the need for social permaculture….
“To be honest, in Permaculture, the trees and the vegetables are the easy part. The people are often the challenging part. In Permaculture, there is a sense that disturbance is necessary for the regeneration of ecosystems. In Social Permaculture, we look at how this same principle can be applied; occasionally it is necessary to shake things up a bit in order to get a fresh look at things.
“One of the principles in Permaculture is diversity. Diverse systems are more resilient than systems that are homogenous. How do we create systems of meaningful diversity, not tokenism, where we can really come together, across our differences, and form the alliances that we need to regenerate the world and recreate it on a basis of justice? How do we confront things like racism and sexism, homophobia and economic injustice, and the tremendous environmental injustice inherent in things like climate change, and do that effectively?
“Groups often come to grief on the same issues around conflict and communication, so if we can address those issues – if we can become more skillful – we can increase the effectiveness of every single thing that we’re doing.”
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